Messages

Ok, I restored from a game prior to that room and finished the game.

I might post my thoughts and vote if I get a chance

SHADOW

Once he bites you, he goes off screen and you cannot use the whistle on him. Is there some way to get him back onto the screen?

After something (not sure) the bat is above the screen and only returns when you try touching the door. You can't use anything on the bat during that time.

SHADOW

I've used it on myself in the cage (nothing happens) and the bat goes off screen when you're not near the door.

Are you supposed to do something else when in the cage?

SHADOW

I'm playing this game and I'm stuck:

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I can't get the bat into the cage. I think I have to use the whistle when I'm in the cage but I can't use it on myself

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Any help?

SHADOW

DOH...I am stuck again *surprise surprise*

As Alien for 2nd time. I see many possible events to accomplish but I am having trouble making any progress. I have these items:

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hanger, frozen leg of lamb, phone wire, hairspray

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Lucy:

Try

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getting past the dog in front of the treehouse

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Hint:

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you'll need a bone

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That's enough for now. Ask again if you're stuck.

SHADOW

I just finished the game.

In all, the game is EXCELLENT:

- The puzzles were logical (see below)
- The game is extremely funny and entertaining.
- Very unique system (I've seen it only once or twice before) where the same environment is visited in the same game by the player playing more than one character. It's a very cool effect to see the same, familiar environment from a different perspective!
- Graphics were smooth and highly appropriate for the game.

Areas I'd say that could be improved:

- I found the beginning to be very difficult. I have to confess that I almost stopped playing and was considering deleting the game (glad I didn't!) in the first scene because I was that stuck. It took over an hour WITH the hints on the forum to get past it. I would advise that in the future, give the player more satisfaction of achieving at least a few easier puzzles before hitting him/her with a difficult puzzle.

That said, I only needed a total of one post on the forum to complete the game so it wasn't THAT unreasonably difficult.

- For the length of the game, the plot is a bit short. There's not enough "story" to justify the amount of gameplay. In other words, there's too much of "do this so you can do that" without enough story unfolding.

I know I'm picking but only because if I didn't, there would be nothing to improve! I reiterate that the game itself was very entertaining and I'm amazed at the quality for a first game. You have a lot to be proud of, Nicky!

Kudos

SHADOW

Thanks, Nicky and sthomannch

I didn't notice the

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worm near the garage

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at all

I was able to continue and now I'm

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playing alien again

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SHADOW

I'm having fun in this game although progress is pretty slow.

Here's where I'm currently stuck:

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1) How do you get the key out of the tank?

2) Where do you find the cat food?

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Any hints would be appreciated

Thanks

SHADOW

Em how do you heat the pipe?  Ive picked up all i can pick up, i know what ive got to do but nothing in my inventory helps?  great game butI'm soo stuck help please thanks

Tina:

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heat the pipe by getting a human hand from the freezer to hold it in the fire.

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It took me a long time to figure that out!

SHADOW

Hint 2

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You need to heat the pipe

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And how do you

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heat the pipe

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?

Shadow

Ok, never mind, I figured it out...this game is great...lol

That was a really good game. Thank you

The graphics style and animations were perfect for the game. I'm not so sure about the music, though. The story was good and the puzzles were the right difficulty to keep the game fun and moving. I had to "cheat" twice using the medallion but I guess that's what it's for!

The story was quite well developed for a short game like this.

Good luck!

SHADOW

Yes, that's what I did prior to my post. What I was saying in the post is that I probably missed some dialog option.

Thank you!

SHADOW

Ohh...

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I had already tried speaking to the puddles with no luck. Then I did a few more rounds of talking to the book which I guess allowed me to talk to the puddle again. It's hard to know exactly what triggers the ability to do certain things.

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SHADOW

I thought that the stones referring to:

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the hourglass

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but putting that in the puddle does nothing....

SHADOW

Ok stuck again.

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When I drew the pentacle near the coffin, the chalk disappeared. The book is telling me to draw a pentacle near the spectral puddles but I can't without chalk!

[close]

SHADOW

Thank you! I was able to continue.

It didn't occur to me to

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try to burn the voodoo doll

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Great game...really enjoying it.

SHADOW

I'm pretty stuck myself:

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I've been in the building and found his secret wall, I have the hourglass, candlestick, chalk, doll, whiskey. I found the book (that I can't read), I lit the candle in the library, i drew the pentacle.

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But:

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the spirit leader keeps telling me to control my uncle and I keep saying I'll check the house. What am I looking for??

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I don't see any way to proceed at this point.

SHADOW

Thanks so much for the feedback Shadow, I appreciate it.  

You're welcome. Do you mind if I PM you?

SHADOW

[INTRODUCTION:]

Ok, my remarks/review now:

INTRODUCTION:

Lifedrinker of Landsdowne is (so far) the crown jewel in the Murran Chronicles series. Reworked graphics and a compelling plot made the long wait well worth it. A game like this only comes around every few years and is on par with some of the Ben Jordan games. The length of the game is about half of what would be considered a full-length game.

What I liked about the game:

There really is so much positive to be said about the game that I can only touch on what I felt were the best points:

- As I said in the introduction, the story really makes the game worth playing. Some games have stories that are just too complex to follow and detract from the game. This story has enough twists and surprises, is very well-researched and easy enough to follow to keep the game compelling. There are two parts to the plot that really make it into a non-linear story (one surprise and one sub-plot) but I don't want to post too much detail here. The fact that there are multiple endings and more than one way to get to the end certainly adds to the overall value of the game. There are few games I can think of with this much character development. Each character in the story has a unique and identifiable personality that really brings the game to life!

- The graphics and music created an enjoyable experience. The detail of the animation and effects was not overlooked. The perfect score was chosen for each room in the game.

- Very important: the puzzles were (for the most part) not random or illogical. I hit very few dead ends in the game. Anything that was not solvable with some thinking and trial and error was found in the Hints and Tips so I was never frustrated while playing the game (however see next section)

- As mentioned in the first point, the research that went into the game is very impressive. Combining detailed folklore with a modern environment was a great effect, rare in most adventure games.

- I liked the GPS navigation. One beef I have with most games (think king's quest) is that you spend oodles of game play time just walking. All that does is prolong getting anywhere in the game

What I didn't like about the game:

I know I'm nitpicking here but if I didn't, there wouldn't be anything to put into this section!

- I did say that the puzzles were logical but I do think that they could have been a bit more challenging. Other than the few that were not logical (see next), the solutions were very obvious. This kept the game moving at a nice clip but less satisfying to solve.

- Some puzzles that were not logical:

- There was a pixel hunt:

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searching for the guitar pick. I know it was the scene of the crime so it's expected to comb the area so not REALLY random but still...

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-

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Expecting the user to have jotted down hidden information about the cave directions BEFORE entering the cave. If you didn't make that connection (like most people), then you're stuck!!

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- I also have colour-recognition problems so I got really stuck on the related puzzle. I know that many games use colour puzzles so I can't really complain about something that is standard but I figured I'd toss that in here. It SHOULD have been easy but I needed the cheat that you posted.

- One thing I would have done differently: most of the progress of the game is dialogue-based rather than inventory-based. Unlike some games with ridiculous amounts of irrelevant dialogue, most of the dialogue here is meaningful and contributes to the game, but a better balance of saying the right things to the right people and using items as needed to create puzzles would have been better in my opinion.

CONCLUSION:

The amount of work and attention to detail in this game, combined with exceptional creativity and excellent gameplay makes Lifedrinker of Landsdowne a compelling must-play for any adventure game fan.

NOTE: I've been writing software professionally for over 17 years and I know what goes into a good, polished product. You have a LOT to be proud of, Bill!

Kudos!

SHADOW