Witches’ Legacy: The Ties that Bind Review – Toil and Trouble

In the world of witches, portals to other realms and magically sealed doors are ordinary things. Lynn hopes her marriage will be an ordinary thing, too, but on the day of the wedding her husband runs off to find his …

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In the world of witches, portals to other realms and magically sealed doors are ordinary things. Lynn hopes her marriage will be an ordinary thing, too, but on the day of the wedding her husband runs off to find his parents. It’s a trap, Lynn knows, so you and she set out to rescue her fiance before he finds himself in a real enchanted pickle.

Witches’ Legacy: The Ties that Bind is a casual hidden object game that sends you on an adventure through a world inhabited by strange spells and powerful witches. Most of your time will be spent shuffling back and forth to pick up items of note, things like small tools to open drawers or runes to complete magical seals that let you unlock doors. You’ll bump into all sorts of supernatural obstacles as you stuff your inventory full of items, so don’t be afraid to get a little creative with your puzzle solutions.

Mini-games come along at regular intervals while you play, serving up plenty of lighthearted distractions in this otherwise dismal setting. Most of them stick to a pretty simple design, employing gimmicks you’ll immediately recognize and can set yourself to solving. No need to figure out what needs to be done, just work out how to do it and you’re good to go.

Hidden object scenes pepper the Witches’ Legacy experience here and there. Like the mini-games, these stick to a pretty simple set-up you’ll be able to recognize right away. A text list of items sits at the bottom of the screen with a crowded slice of scenery at the top. Pick out the items and give them a click to collect them, or move things around to assemble or uncover items marked in a darker color. If a hidden object diversion isn’t your thing, you can always swap over to a memory game and play that instead. The world of witchery is surprisingly accommodating!

One thing that makes The Ties that Bind stand out is your little imp companion Pazu. His origins are detailed in the previous Witches’ Legacy games, but all you really need to know is that he’s friendly despite his odd looks. The little guy sits above your inventory bar offering quest tips from time to time. You’ll also need to send him out to perform small tasks such as fetching out-of-the-way items. He’s useful and he’s adorable in a weird witch kind of way. Just the type of companion you need for a game like this!

Witches’ Legacy: The Ties that Bind handles itself well from beginning to end, constructing fine sets of puzzles, straightforward mini-games, and hidden object scenes with one or two unique twists. Apart from a surprise here and there, nothing really breaks the casual adventure mold, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. If you’re in the mood for an old fashioned supernatural item hunt, grab your magical pendant and dive right in.

The good

  • Solid puzzles with unique solutions.
  • Fun variety of mini-games and hidden object scenes.

The bad

  • Some really awkward voice acting.
  • No real gameplay innovations or surprises.
80 out of 100
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