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Secrets of the Past: Mother's Diary User Reviews

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magfan's picture
magfan

Jan 5, 2012

User review by magfan

3

Although this game had potential, I can't give it more than 3 stars. The story had problems, especially with the ending, which is rushed and unsatisfactory. You never find out for sure whether or not the countess cheated on her husband or whether he merely believed that was the case. You never found out who changed her will or who benefited from it. Also unknown is whether the brother gambled away the entire family fortune or whether he was the one who changed her will. You never find out why two beautiful manor houses were abandoned and fell into such ruin in only 18 years.

The game was sluggish, especially with loading screens. Controls were fiddly. I often ended up backing up or finding myself in a different scene when I was trying to click on an object. The music cut in and out abruptly. Sometimes there would be a temporary freeze while the music loaded. The sound was not balanced. You could control the volume of sound effects and music, but not ambient sound, which was too low.

Then there were the mislabelled objects: A cut tree branch is not driftwood. A flute is not a clarinet. A pitcher is not a vase. A shovel is not a dustpan. Compasses means more than one compass. Some HOs were obscured by excessive haze or blurriness, so they were difficult to see even when the Hint pointed them out. The Hint worked outside HO scenes, but would only state "nothing to do here" if nothing was available in the current area.

Then there were outright bugs -- the noise of the sliding gem puzzle got stuck and followed me around after I finished the puzzle. Every time I moved the cursor I'd hear the sound of the gems sliding. At one point I found a book was stuck on the end of my cursor. It would go away when I left the room, but be back when I re-entered. The game took me 3 1/2 hrs to complete. It would have been less if not for the sluggishness.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful
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TeamSD's picture
TeamSD

Nov 11, 2011

User review by TeamSD

3

This game has a very interesting plot with various places to explore. Graphics are good and music are atmospheric. But in the other side, there're loads of HOG scenes and unfortunately there're pretty hard as well, puzzles are somewhat boring and there're too many backtracking - the game is also buggy too...

Still a solid HOG/Adventure, on the better side of the non-CE game offering lately!

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Nanna's picture
Nanna

Nov 6, 2011

User review by Nanna

5

I thought this was a great game,the storylinewas at first similar to many others,girl grows up,tries to find real family etc but even in the free demo hour it soon became clear it was a bit more involved & although it did as someone mentioned end abruptly,well a lot of games do too

It was comical in a way too with the naming of objects & to avoid the hint button it really made you think,now what could that be?? & that added to the enjoyment of the game IMO

lovely graphis scenery & well done game with no bugs found anyway & an over all enjoyable game with good length & you didn't immediately guess the ending as you often can

1 out of 4 people found this review helpful
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Miranda22's picture
Miranda22

Nov 6, 2011

User review by Miranda22

3

I was a bit uneasy after I bought and loaded this adventure HOG, then found out there was no WT. Turns out I didn't need one as all the tasks pretty much make sense, including where/how to use inventory items. In game hints are the lame "nothing to do here" ones until you happen upon the correct scene where there is an action remaining. No map. Story mostly makes sense, although it ends fairly abruptly. Puzzles mostly doable and entertaining. My biggest gripe about this game is the rampant mislabeling of search items: pumpkin is not a squash; flashlight is not a lantern; flask is not a canteen; shovel is not a dustpan, etc etc. After awhile, this made doing the HO scenes problemmatic as I never knew if they actually wanted the item named. These non-English made games really need better editing by a native speaker before they are released! But for the language mistakes, would be a solid 4 stars.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful
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Mummze_1's picture
Mummze_1

Oct 31, 2011

User review by Mummze_1

4

I loved playing this game. I know a lot of people did not like the huge eyeball that is the hint button. I loved it...it is so clever. It follows the moves of your cursor and is encased in a fancy metal case that closes when you click it. Then a round sparkle area appears as the hint on the screen, and when recharged, the eyeball is following the game play once again. That was just so fun. There were a few language translations that were funny/odd, but that didn't affect the game play for me.
The play was good and so were the puzzles. I played the demo first, and then decided I wanted more. Even tho there is no walkthru, I could find my way around and put the parts together where the pieces fit and where the next action might be. The graphics and art work really make this game a treat. The HO scenes were clear. I would have given this 5 stars except for the ending. I got lost. When I got to the end, it was abrupt. It was like...well, we ran out of stuff and story, so this is the end folks. I didn't get it. But the game play was still worth the cost of the game.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful
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jones's picture
jones

Oct 30, 2011

User review by jones

4

When I played the demo, I was enjoying it very much - like others a nice change. But then I came here and the first two reviews were 3 stars, so I decided to wait. Well I only needed one more game for a full card, and with BFGs 'SPOOKY' 4.99 weekend, I started researching the SE games that I didn't buy throughout the month...then I realized I had enjoyed playing the demo more than any of the others, so went ahead and bought it. I thought it was far from being stellar, but a good game. I too was creeped out by the roving eye but just am trying to ignore it. I've been playing a little over the last couple days and am not sure how much longer the game is but that's fine. I laughed when I was looking for a 'lily' (and there had been several in previous scenes, a white water lily in fact) only to be waiting for the creepy eye to re-charge and decided to click on the the only thing I hadn't already clicked on (and there is a penalty I learned during one click-happy HO scene, lol) and it was a fleur-de-lis in all other games, which translates to a flower of the lily, so I learned something! After all the CE releases that have Maps and SGs, this one is pretty 'vanilla', but I don't mean that in a bad way. If you want a nice change, this would be a good choice.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful
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Pumpkin1974's picture
Pumpkin1974

Oct 27, 2011

User review by Pumpkin1974

4

DISCLAIMER: I only played the free trial.

I was very pleased to try this game; it seemed like a nice departure from the Halloween-inspired and the Escape-the-Asylum themed games that seemed to predominate these last few weeks. A young woman who was adopted is given a box that belonged to her birth mother. When she puts on the locket that was in the box, she sees a vision of a mansion and a murder. She then sets out to find out what happened.

One of the first things I noticed and liked was the graphics; they are very well done. They manage to be clear and sharp even though the setting is a decrepit and neglected mansion. I also liked the gameplay. You did not receive items as soon as you needed them, so you had to actually think about where an item might be used. As I already mentioned, the plot was slightly different, and from what I saw, actually made sense.

Now for why I only game the game 3.8 stars. The first problem I had was the TOTALLY creepy eyeball that stares at you throughout the game. I have NO idea why they used it or how it was connected to the story. It freaked me out; I tried to ignore it. If that makes me a wuss, I'll accept that label. But please, let's keep this little fact amongst ourselves, shall we? Another problem was the hidden object scenes. They looked like a junk pile of assorted miscellaneous stuff. A very UGLY pile of assorted miscellaneous stuff. Lastly, many of the hidden object scenes didn't appear until you performed some action. This could be very frustrating to a novice gamer.

All-in-all, this is a very good game, but I think better suited for a more experienced gamer.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful
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jkf's picture
jkf

Oct 27, 2011

User review by jkf

4

A very pleasant game without the spook and scare theme. Visually pleasing, although the navigation could have been smoother. Nice game without an overused plot. There were areas that I paced back and forth aimlessly, since I played in the Advanced mode and the game gave only a little assistance in that mode. Lately I have played almost all games in the expert/advanced mode since it tends to give me more game time. This one took about 4.5 hours to play.

There were only a few things that I didn't like about this game. The main complaint being that as soon as you found an item, a HOS was waiting for you either in the same location or one nearby. It sort of bogged down progress as it made me hesitant to collect an object because I knew another HOS was coming right away. This didn't stop me from playing the game as the HOS were relatively easy and many of them were reused. The HOS are rather junkpiled and some scenes are dark and blended but manageable.

There is quite a bit of route retracing as you move onto the later part of the game. Multiple trips across the hallway and to the next building. This wasn't too bad until the very end where you would pickup something in one room that needed to be used in another and in turn got another object required going back to the previous room.

Some things that come to mind that seems funny, as others have noted, the translation didn't seem to fit well in some cases. I chuckled when I received a dustpan (shovel) and had to use the dustpan to dig dirt. And something that occurs in a lot of games... why I can't reach the lily in the middle of a stream but I can place a vase fragment on the far shore?

This game might end up being a sleeper because it wasn't all that appealing to me in the beginning due to the relaxed, subdued art work which I wasn't expecting, but the game grows on you as you make progress as your curiosity goes up trying to find out what went on. So I recommend that you at least try the demo.

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stamps's picture
stamps

Oct 27, 2011

User review by stamps

4

I bought the game after trying it. As in other reviews I have had to decipher what some of the hidden objects were. I find this one more challenging than usual. There are some needed objects that I can not find even after going back through previous scenes. At this time there are no walkthroughs or user tips. I am playing the advance level. I might start over for the easier level. I do love a challenge though.

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Silverwolf's picture
Silverwolf

Oct 26, 2011

User review by Silverwolf

2

I read the reviews. I looked forward to playing. No one warned me about the creepy purple eyeball that watches my every move. The purple eye (hint button) was very distracting while moving the cursor. That is the main reason for the low rating.

0 out of 2 people found this review helpful
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