Posted By: Reenie
The Beast of Lycan Isle - 12/19/17 02:30 AM
I searched for an existing thread but didn't find one, so started this one to submit a Review.
I just finished playing The Beast of Lycan Isle, and overall liked the game. It felt much more like a standard Adventure game than a Casual game, maybe because it didn't have all those annoying pop-ups and sparkles and a monotonous, closed-loop musical track (in fact, it had no music at all). I loved all of that. Having no music made it feel more real ~ since we don't encounter sound tracks in real life, of course.
The puzzles were more or less even in terms of difficulty, so that was nice. A couple of times, it wasn't clear what you were supposed to do, even with the Explanation, but you could figure it out. None was what I'd call “Hard,” and many were downright “Easy.”
I have a few quibbles with the game, so I'll get those out of the way.
1. The Inventory does not identify what objects are with any label. The objects just sit there and you have to figure out what they are and how to use them. Some are identifiable, but others are not. Example: I had what I thought was a piece of wood and carried it around for ages before I asked the Hint what I should do next and it said, “Give the CIGAR to the statue in the Tower.” I'm thinking, "Cigar?" And give it to a statue bust? ha ha ha
2. No navigation by Map. Yes, you do get a Map, but you can't use it to jump from place to place, or else I simply couldn't figure out how to make this work. It means you do a LOT of jogging around. It is a big, complex landscape and I did get confused by some of it, even up until the end.
3. Many items you are supposed to look for don't look much like you expect them to do. This makes them pretty hard to find, of course. At one point, I knew I was looking for a rug, and I jogged all over this world tagging every rug on every floor and got nowhere. Finally gave up and asked the Hint and it showed me the rug I needed was rolled up and hidden in a corner of one distant room.
4. I played the CE version, so I had a Bonus Game, but it started so oddly that I wasn't sure it was a “game” at all. I had to shag all over the landscape again, rounding up a dozen museum pieces that had been looted and hidden, basically a gigantic HO scene. They weren't that easy to find, and I nearly bailed, since make-work is not why I play. But I ultimately finished (with one Hint when I got tired of looking for the final object), and then there WAS more game. About half an hour's worth. Whew!
Bottom Line: I think I will replay this game at some point, despite the warts. I did like the style of it.
I just finished playing The Beast of Lycan Isle, and overall liked the game. It felt much more like a standard Adventure game than a Casual game, maybe because it didn't have all those annoying pop-ups and sparkles and a monotonous, closed-loop musical track (in fact, it had no music at all). I loved all of that. Having no music made it feel more real ~ since we don't encounter sound tracks in real life, of course.
The puzzles were more or less even in terms of difficulty, so that was nice. A couple of times, it wasn't clear what you were supposed to do, even with the Explanation, but you could figure it out. None was what I'd call “Hard,” and many were downright “Easy.”
I have a few quibbles with the game, so I'll get those out of the way.
1. The Inventory does not identify what objects are with any label. The objects just sit there and you have to figure out what they are and how to use them. Some are identifiable, but others are not. Example: I had what I thought was a piece of wood and carried it around for ages before I asked the Hint what I should do next and it said, “Give the CIGAR to the statue in the Tower.” I'm thinking, "Cigar?" And give it to a statue bust? ha ha ha
2. No navigation by Map. Yes, you do get a Map, but you can't use it to jump from place to place, or else I simply couldn't figure out how to make this work. It means you do a LOT of jogging around. It is a big, complex landscape and I did get confused by some of it, even up until the end.
3. Many items you are supposed to look for don't look much like you expect them to do. This makes them pretty hard to find, of course. At one point, I knew I was looking for a rug, and I jogged all over this world tagging every rug on every floor and got nowhere. Finally gave up and asked the Hint and it showed me the rug I needed was rolled up and hidden in a corner of one distant room.
4. I played the CE version, so I had a Bonus Game, but it started so oddly that I wasn't sure it was a “game” at all. I had to shag all over the landscape again, rounding up a dozen museum pieces that had been looted and hidden, basically a gigantic HO scene. They weren't that easy to find, and I nearly bailed, since make-work is not why I play. But I ultimately finished (with one Hint when I got tired of looking for the final object), and then there WAS more game. About half an hour's worth. Whew!
Bottom Line: I think I will replay this game at some point, despite the warts. I did like the style of it.
