Unfinished Tales: Illicit Love Collector's Edition
4.5
5
89
89
Beautiful game
Another visually stunning game from Elephant, truly beautiful artwork. Ok so the story isn't groundbreaking, girl meets boy, another evil girl steals boy away, boy needs rescuing. However the story is well told and kept my interest.
There are plenty of achievements to aim for, and all attainable. Also keep your eyes peeled for those butterflies. The IHOGs are clear but still offering some challenge, and the puzzles are solvable logic thinkers. They have managed to give the puzzles a bit of a fresh twist so they have obviously put some thought in. I must admit a pen and paper helped me with a couple, but none were too hard not to be fun.
I also like the fact that the three difficulty levels were available during game play in the options. I played the 2nd one, and NO sparkles, huzzah!
The bonus chapter is one of the longer ones I've played and didn't feel hastily added as some do. The story does conclude nicely in the main game but the bonus gives a nice little twist. As someone who buys CEs for the bonus, I was quite happy.
Relaxing play but still with some challenge, decent length and a joy to look at.
November 2, 2012
What a pleasant surprise!
With the given game title, I really didn't expect much of this game (title was neither relevant nor appropriate), but thought I'd give it a try anyway.
The game started a little slowly, but after an hour of play I was totally hooked.
Lovely graphics and voice-overs. The main voice is a little girlish...until you realise you are actually Thumbelina.
The hidden object games were slightly interactive, and the puzzles varied in level of challenge, although I did find that a couple of the puzzles weren't clearly explained.
There were bonus objects to find, and achievements to earn.
The Strategy Guide was easy to follow, and the game included a map which you could also use to jump scenes.
Only thing missing was a journal.
The storyline, whilst predictable and not particularly captivating, was still okay, and the game was a decent length.
The bonus chapter was a follow on from main story, by another character, and was also a good length. Actually, the bonus game was easily as enjoyable as the main.
Definitely recommend this game, and definitely the CE version.
November 2, 2012
a real charmer
This was a really lovely fairy tale of a game. As always with Elephant games, it was lavishly drawn, had tons of color, many exotic locations and you had interaction with a lot of people. I must admit that it took me a bit to really get into the storyline as it seemed a bit old.. the evil witch steals your prince. But the more I played it, the more I loved it. There were some really tricky inventory items and some what to do next moments.. especially if you didn't use the hint system. Collectibles to find.. athough really you didn't have to look.. they were right out in the open. But there were potions to make, mad dogs to overcome, portals to travel through , a witch to outsmart and a cast of characters to help you along the way. I did find that the snake charmer guy had the worst british accent I had ever heard.. but no matter he didn't say much. This was a good length, had all the elements of a great adventure and I thouroghly enjoyed it. I liked that it was not overly heavy with Ho scenes and that many of the mini games were fun and original. Haven't played the extra yet but this one is well worth playing in my opinion. Enjoy!
just a p.s. to these two developers please remove the annoying sound when one tries an inventory object that's incorrect. It's so not necessary and can get annoying.
October 31, 2012
BRAVO>>GAME SENSATION>FANTASY&WHIMSEY> DESIGNED WITH PERFECTION
This game was so terrific, full of surprises, fun and challenges. Map was the bestt Things/places were labeled. Made the back and forth so simple.
Beautiful graphics,colors and Art work, hints good, mini scenes interesting and different style somewhat.
Look on top of everything,way up high, don't miss anything. You can back track using the map it makes it so easy.I had to go back and find and item and the map made it so simple. Remember what things look like, and i check my inventory to see what i have tells me a lot. Triggers my memory.
The story and the body of the gaming was well put tog and made it easy to follow the story line. Good story.
Talk to everyone, even the Parrot, and so on. Period Decor changes but does not interfere with story and stays with it. Beautiful story with WHIMSEY and FANTASY combined. Successfully done.
I had to do what was needed or i could not complete areas, needed to go forward in the game Sometimes jumping around in a story works, but not this one. Useless effort.
Lots to look for and lots to complete to continue. Be sure and collect the butterflys. Achieivments are told to you during the gaming. Nice.
There are portals i could use that opened up, that was good, but the map was faster.
I started playing at 4am finished at 10am, which includes 3 coffee and snack breaks. Eyes get tired.
Cute sounds, talking parrot, sound affectS of roaring, and more.Lots to do in the game that is fun.
Certainly worth every penny SE or CE. More Elephant games like this. Yeah!!
October 31, 2012
excellent game!!
It's been a while since i enjoyed a game as much as this one!!! good job Big Fish. Excellent graphics and great storyline. the only minor irritation is that the cursor in the game is a little sluggish!
October 28, 2012
Fun Hidden object game!
This is a fun game that is challenging but not so difficult that it becomes frustrating. Interesting story and some funny dialogue.
October 27, 2012
Beautiful game!
I bought this after only 10 minutes of the demo. This is one of the nicest looking games I've seen in a long time. Detail on everything is crisp, and I love that it's actually a full screen without being distorted.
I am getting more than a little tired of the sheer number of HO/adventure games but this one caught me right away. Not gory, not graphic, good tutorial, storyline is nice and the cutscene videos aren't distracting (for a change#. Even the tutorial #which I normally skip# was unobtrusive and helpful. I'm not going to post any info about the story since I don't want to spoil anything.
Check this game out, see if you think its one of the best looking games out today! You won't be disappointed and its worth the 'extra' price for the CE version. Bravo to its maker#s#!
October 27, 2012
Bought - Before Trying!
I bought this game w/o even looking at it, based upon Kiandi's review! SO glad I did! I love it! Way to go devs!
Has map - you can jump from location to location
Hint button refills fairly quickly
Collect butterflies!
Puzzles new and unique from what I have seen in short amount of play time
Hall of Seasons - AWESOME!!!!
Graphics are beautiful
Environmental Sound - great
Music - relaxing
Story line - you are Thumbelina (who doesn't like Thumbelina?)
and the prince you are marrying gets snatched by an evil witch (the prince jilted her!) and she ruins their wedding! Every girl's nightmare! Oh my!
All in all, this looks like a really fun game with lots of features, and all this discovered within minutes of playing!
A very lucky "sight unseen" buy for me!
October 27, 2012
Thumbelina to the rescue
The Raven Queen steals the prince and its off to the races! Thumbelina must rescue her love so she can have her happily ever after. The story line, music and graphics are well done., but I expect nothing more from Elephant Games. They always deliver!
October 27, 2012
Not a great fairy tale game or mystery game
The plot to the bonus game was much more interesting than the regular game, they should have switched them. The "twist" to the regular game was so obvious that it made the plot boring. Minigames and HOG were just average. So thankful that the voices could be muted because if I had had to listen to the stupid comments of the lead character I couldn't have finished the game. It seems the developers couldn't decide between making a fairy tale and a mystery game, and the result was just an average game. I'm on the fence about recommending this one, but I will due to the bonus game.
November 4, 2012