Did anyone play 5 Magical Amulets??

[Jhumjhum]

Hello!

I found a really interesting, beautiful, full-length fantasy adventure game. Its called "5 magical amulets". I'm finding everything right from the story , graphics & music, also the GUIs to be awesome! It is not an AGS game. It's freeware! It's not my game. (I wish I had made somethin so fantastic.)
I'm just writing this post, coz I wanted to share such a good game with u guys as I'm quite fond of the ppl here.

It's available at:
http://offstudio.fabry.cz

Try it! I'm sure u'll like it.

[Paper Carnival]

I downloaded it before, but I didn't get much into it. I'm not much of a gamer lately

[MillsJROSS]

Someone posted a link a while ago, I'm not going to search for it, though. I also think it was mentioned in The Inventory, though it seems everything I'm happy with, their not, and visa versa. I've played roughly about half of the game. This game capitilized on the wintermute engine. And so far, through playing, I have experienced pros and cons, as with most games.

The graphics, to me, are well above average and consistent, and they fit well into the fantasy genre this game seems to fit into. The music, to me, is also well orchestrated, it's a bit sappy, but the story lends itself to sappiness, so no problems there. The GUI is pretty much the same as CMI's, and is easy to use. Their are animations aplenty, and it is evident that the designer(s) put a lot of effort into this game.

The cons. I find the story is weak, and while not unimaginative, it does follow a very well used generic fantasy story line. Reminder, this is all based on about half the game, so maybe there will be  deviation from the expected. The dialog, to me, is also a weakness. While the grammar/spelling is well above average, as said previously this is a sappy game. And  a lot of sappiness oozes from the dialog itself. Sometimes it's just too much for me to handle. Also, while the designer(s) did put a lot of effort into it, sometimes when a problem presents itself, you can talk to anyone about a problem. For example. You have to bring together people who could potentially love each other, but your character tells everyone, even if it's evident that that certain character probably wouldn't care. We then have the puzzles, which so far seem to be a lot of "fetch me" puzzles.

All that said...I'm probably going to finish the game, and while I wasn't as impressed with it, as a lot of people, it's free and very much so, above average. So if you like midevil/fantasy adventures with a bit o' sap, this game might be right up your alley.

-MillsJROSS

[Ashen]

I've downloaded it, but haven't had much of a chance to play it yet.
I think this is the thread Mills was talking about.

[Seleceus]

Well, ladies and gentlemen, I have finished this game.  Yesterday, as a matter of fact.  Great praises at AD, and the Underground, convinced me to give this one a look/see.  It took me about 6 hours, and no help, to get through.

This being the first WM game I've ever played I don't want to mix my opinions of the game design, with engine issues.  If I do so, and one of the designers happens to read this post, I apologize in advance.

What I saw, at first, impressed me.  The background graphics were detailed, visually interesting, and well planned with one another.  I didn't see a great deal of effects, color clashes, or the ever-popular 'let's hide the hotspot'.  That's right, not once did I have to go pixel-hunting.  Not every object was easy to spot, but neither was it hidden.  The character sprites had a distinctive style that didn't do much for me, but didn't detract from gameplay either.  The only real complaint I might have is that all three bears, in the story, are about the size of border collies, comparatively.

The music was not anything mind-shattering.  Unobtrusive, melodic, and generally pleasant, but it was nice that it could be turned down, which, after a while, I did.  So, there's not much more to say on that subject.

Story.  The ever allusive plot that ties it all together.  How many 'truly' unique storylines exist anymore, anyway?  Well, I don't want to spoil anything, so I won't go into details, that's going to leave this paragraph wanting, but there you go.  The story was as tried-and-true as they come.  Orphan child goes on quest, finds long-lost past, completes quest, gets the reward, end of story.  Contrite, yes, but the best I can do without ruining it.  The only major downfall, of this particular telling, was the lack of  utilizing the bits of plot, and plot-twist, that it seemed to be set up for.  Quite disappointing.

Spoiler

You don't even need to get all of the amulets, and the end of play actually comes rather abruptly, followed by a long, and predictalbe, Outro.

[close]

The english dialog was very decent, particularly for a translation.  If I found any grammar errors I don't remember them (kudos).  I found that it made sense that every topic could be discussed with every character.  Not something you typically see, at all.  Although I felt that they missed a bit here, as well, in that it could have been the perfect means in which to build the characters.  They already went to all of that work, but didn't take advantage of it.

Now the puzzles.  If anything disappoints, it's these.  At least half of them anyway.  Get inventory, give inventory, get inventory, give inventory, combine inv...., you catch my drift.  Through the first 2 chapters, that's all you get.  And those are dreadfully obvious.  It gets better though.  There are some very creative puzzles (torn paper that needs reassembling, riddle + clues + object placement + twist (loved this one), and a very good placement + riddle with lots of running around to get clues once you figure out the key) near the middle, and end, of the game.  I'm glad I didn't give up on it, I would've missed those.  Just wish there were more. 

If I agree, or disagree, with MillsJROSS on most of his points, so be it, but I will say that  'Sappy' does seem to wrap it up best.  Very, very, playable, but sappy.  This said I do hope they make more.  They're good designers, and good for the community.

[stuh505]

I'm in the process of playing right now.  It will probably take me a lot more than 6 hours because I'm not very good at adventure games...but the only thing I have to add is this is definitely a game for ninnies.  I mean it was obviously made by a team of girls; the main character is so squeemish, when you click on a flower patch you can name every single rare flower, and so far the characters are all women or talking cute little forest animals!  Yuck!  Also, it says it's strictly serious...but there are some funny parts (at least I think so).

[Jhumjhum]

I think Linda reminds one of Rosella from King's Quest 4.

The theme was quite like KQ series. It may be sappy for some, but I kinda' loove sappy fantasy fairy stories so I was crazy about this one.Ã, 

I find the graphics better than KQ 1 to 6 (7 & 8 I haven't played so I dunno)

The thing I hated most about KQ, ie dead ends, was not there! (after you've played 3/4 of the game you don't need to go back!) and no timed sequences either.

I found the music very beautiful.

The game was better in many (I think all) respects from many commercial games. I found the game better than kq in all respects. (Music I shouldn't say coz I played all kQsÃ,  without music) Even the length is pretty good!

The game has a bug (only one) that it crashes at a critical point but it can be fixed with just an 8kb patch from the site.

I've gotten so bowled over by this one that I'm singing it's praises everywhere!


Seleceus is right about the abrupt ending though.

[Peter Thomas]

I was a little disappointed by the game in the end. I was always waiting for the plot to start, and it never really did. I guess I helped Linda do some stuff, but it never felt like I was helping her advance in some sort of quest or adventure. Some points of the story just seemed so improbable/cliched and I kept hoping they'd be explained away, but to no avail.

There was some absolutely painful dialogue in there (both in terms of length and quality of what was said), and there was so much of it that wasn't important!

Spoiler

Ask the pub owner about himself! He'll spend the next 10 minutes with his life story, and it won't help you one bit!

[close]

Character building is important, but only if they actually contribute to the plot sufficiently. A guy selling beer doesn't meet that mark for me.

And Linda! By god, she's the most easily manipulated woman on earth!

Spoiler

"No, I can't become Queen!"
"Pleeease?"
"Okay! You've talked me into it!"

[close]

I'd sure trust somebody like THAT with the 5 magical amulets that could destroy the world as we know it!

It wasn't a bad game. In fact, there were some places in there where I had a good old fashioned chuckle (despite it being 'serious'). I guess I'd just been carried away with the hype...