The Agency of Anomalies: Mystic Hospital Collector's Edition
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Excellent and Original
This has to be one of my all time favorite games on Big Fish! I loved the game overall. The attention to detail in this game really paid off and made me appreciate it even more. The visuals were simple yet impressive, the artwork was beautiful and creative and the sounds were down right creepy! A perfect combination for a real winner. As you play you'll feel like your in the world of the X-men, only during the world war I or II era. But the storyline is original. No fancy twists in the plot but its enough to keep you hooked.
One of the features that i really like in the game was a special HOG scene that i havent seen in any other series. In this particular scene you have to match items in your inventory to associated items on the screen (ex. if you have a match in your inventory, look for a lamp or cigarettes on the screen).
Another thing that sets this game apart from other titles is the attention to detail. Clicking on certain objects can make a certain sound and scare you in your seat, clicking on portraits and paintings can give you a little surprise too. I like that little addition, it makes the game more enjoyable.
Challenges and puzzles are fairly straightforward and easy to solve but still maintains a decent level of fun. HOG scenes and well done, objects are well hidden but not impossible to find on your own. You wont have to use the "hint" button or a walkthrough to get you though this game. Its very doable. My only criticism is that it felt a bit short.
The collectors edition is definitely worth it as it gives you additional game play where you are accidentally teleported to the island on the lake.
In the game, you journal has tabs for keeping track of the story and clues and also a tab for a specific list of objectives that you need to accomplish. This feature was very helpful to me. On the same corner theres a "Top Secret" folder section where you collect files from different locations that gives you a small video clip of the story and character development. This was also a very nice touch to the game. There is a Hint button but i never used it. You can skip puzzles that you must obviously be too lazy to solve, because all the puzzles are very easy and very doable, i never had to skip anything.
Overall this is a great game with hours of fun. The extra game play makes the collectors edition worth it. If your looking for a great HOG/adventure game, stop thinking and click "Buy it".
August 22, 2012
Left with a True Mystery
The storyline for this game was pretty simple and sounded fun. The graphics were not that great, I realize it?s supposed to be designed as though it?s under a veil of mystery; they were blurry in most places which left you having to basically shoot in the dark.
While the nice melody wasn?t bad, the other sounds that accompanied the game weren?t bad either, I was left with a headache and mounting frustration as I attempted to find my way around the game. Since there is no map, and the hint button which isn?t really called a hint button in this game but rather ADD DEVICE. On a couple occasions I did click on it when I couldn?t figure out things, and once it did show what was needed to do the task at hand. Otherwise, it would indicate that there wasn?t any anomaly in the given area. Never mind you haven?t a clue what to do next.
Even after reading back over the note book, I wandered around trying to find items that I knew I needed, namely one final medal.
I broke down and resorted to the strategy guide which was no help either. I read it over and over again, and never did see where this one item was even recorded until you got to the point of where I was in the game and it required said item to continue.
I do not recommend this game, even after trying the strategy guide I was unable to complete the game because of missing items
December 27, 2012
Creepy But Fun
I really enjoyed this game. It is creepy, but so much fun. The graphics, cut scenes and sound are great. The mini games and HOS are fun. You also have to look for post cards. i didn't find all of them, but it was fun to look for them. There are several buildings and areas to search, which is nice. The strategy guide is not integrated, which was a bit annoying; however, I didn't have to use it until I got to the bonus chapter.
The bonus chapter was okay, there were a couple of fun mini games and the ending was great. My only gripe about the bonus chapter was the staggeringly high number of HOS's (and I usually like HOS's). Even with that gripe, I still recommend this game and am looking forward to playing the sequel.
August 1, 2012
Not convincing
First off, I only played the demo. Took me less than 40 minutes. I was mildy entertained because the graphics are good and at least the story seemed to be somewhat interesting.
So you go to this hospital, completely unprepared knowing there are several supersoldiers gone mad with crazy powers waiting for you. How lucky they are not actually attacking you. That turned me off a bit.
Thing to was, after using a useful item once or twice you discard it. Then two screens later you realised, well if I only had kept xy then I could get to yz. I don't mind having to look for items to use in scenes but I expect games be more creative and logical about it. Let me keep an axe or a crowbar and smash my way through locks, doors and windows there are other obstacles to be had ...
After all am I playing Goofy or some supposedly smart investigator?
As for the few story telling elements - they are the typcial on the surface summaries: A did this, then B happend and C reacted. Nothing more. In Elementary school we told us stories with more depth.
In the demo there were few interactive HOS and riddles, all fairly easy and silly. Going back to the story: I am investigating some paranormal incidents with corpes lying around but fist I got do some embroidery? Really?
Might be the game for you if scenery and the most basic of story telling is enough for you.
July 29, 2012
Pretty Kewl HOG
I just did'nt like some of the HOS...even after I had lighten my pc screen, they were dark making it hard to find items but other than that, it's an okay game.
May 25, 2013
Creepy
This was a creepy, eerie game. It was a good game except that I was very disappointed in the Strategy Guide. It was very aggravating, to say the least, a big waste of time, but necessary for me to get to where I needed to go. I wish the game had a map also. If you like HOs, there are plenty of those in this game. I only gave 3 stars because of the Strategy Guide and no map. I did not care for the dialogue on the 'patients' and would skip over that. I also rushed through the other dialogue. It was a bit overdone for me.
May 10, 2013
Not as good as the Cinderstone Orphanage one
I played the Cinderstone Orphanage one prior to this game. This game was not as good.
Pros:
-Storyline was pretty good; experiments on humans went wrong causing those individuals to have powers that are used for bad.
-Hints reloaded at a good speed.
Cons:
-Graphics were not as good in my opinion. They werent as "sharp" as other games.
-Too many cluttered HOS in the game. Many of the items were hard to find because the scenes were way to cluttered and you had to do all of those scenes at least twice (some were done 3 times). If you click too fast, you are penalized.Too many HOS in game period.
-Some of the puzzles were easy, but many were just plain ridiculous. If you skip the puzzle, you are penalized. 30 minutes is added to your cumulative game play time.
-No map to jump to locations so it became annoying having to back track so much.
-Bonus play not very good. So boring going back and forth and finding objects in those cluttered scenes I finally exited the game; did not finish bonus play.
-Bonus content very puny. Not very much to offer.
-The strategy guide was not helpful because you can only access it through the menu. Each time you access it, you have to find the page you were on, no bookmarking.
-the hint button was not very useful.
April 7, 2013
wow!
Just two words, LOVE IT!
I played this one when it first out and never give a review. So I'm just say really enjoy this game from beginning 'til the end.
Thanks dev and good job!
April 6, 2013