Posted By: Bernard
Small review of So Blonde. - 05/26/08 10:46 PM
I finished "So Blonde" this weekend and I want to share my thoughts about it here. To be clear, I played the German version, as far as I know there is no English version yet. (Please correct me if I'm wrong!)
The story.
You play the role of a 17 year old girl stranded on the shore of a mysterious island. Progressing into the game you learn about the history of the island, it's inhabitants and of it's curse. Of course you're the one person to correct all the bad things that happen on the island! The story is good and really involving.
The looks.
The graphics look great, a lot of small details and little puns. BUT, there's a bad side to them. A lot of the views are so big and the hotspots so very small, be prepared to hunt for pixels many times. The loading time between screens is often annoyingly long and to repetitive. Movement can be accelerated by double clicking but the panoramic views slow down the gameplay anyway. This wouldn't be a problem if you don't have to pass these areas too often. The awful fact is you have to do so many times!
The sounds.
Remember I played the German version! The voice acting was pretty good except for the main character, another bad example of an adult trying to similate the voice of a juvenile. I hope the English version will be better. The background music is appropriate to the scenes but sometimes it got lost somehow, could be my PC set up though,
The game play.
The puzzles are sometimes very easy and sometimes very illogical. There are many mini games that you can skip (thankfully!). After finishing the complete game you can find them in the Bonus option in the main menu, if you want to play them later(?) The worst thing is when you want to get new clues from the other characters you often have to talk to many others before you can do so. A lot of running around is the outcome, combine it with the long loading times between the scenes and you understand the frustration I felt.
The conclusion.
A great story, lots of humour but it's spoiled by bad programming, not very original puzzles and a lot of running around all over the place. It's one of those games that could have been so much better if the developers had more time to polish it into a sparkling gem. Should you buy it? Don't judge on my opinion alone, I'm a collector,I try to get all the AG's I can get my hands on but I also am critical about them. Never base your judgement on one review.
Bernard
The story.
You play the role of a 17 year old girl stranded on the shore of a mysterious island. Progressing into the game you learn about the history of the island, it's inhabitants and of it's curse. Of course you're the one person to correct all the bad things that happen on the island! The story is good and really involving.
The looks.
The graphics look great, a lot of small details and little puns. BUT, there's a bad side to them. A lot of the views are so big and the hotspots so very small, be prepared to hunt for pixels many times. The loading time between screens is often annoyingly long and to repetitive. Movement can be accelerated by double clicking but the panoramic views slow down the gameplay anyway. This wouldn't be a problem if you don't have to pass these areas too often. The awful fact is you have to do so many times!
The sounds.
Remember I played the German version! The voice acting was pretty good except for the main character, another bad example of an adult trying to similate the voice of a juvenile. I hope the English version will be better. The background music is appropriate to the scenes but sometimes it got lost somehow, could be my PC set up though,
The game play.
The puzzles are sometimes very easy and sometimes very illogical. There are many mini games that you can skip (thankfully!). After finishing the complete game you can find them in the Bonus option in the main menu, if you want to play them later(?) The worst thing is when you want to get new clues from the other characters you often have to talk to many others before you can do so. A lot of running around is the outcome, combine it with the long loading times between the scenes and you understand the frustration I felt.
The conclusion.
A great story, lots of humour but it's spoiled by bad programming, not very original puzzles and a lot of running around all over the place. It's one of those games that could have been so much better if the developers had more time to polish it into a sparkling gem. Should you buy it? Don't judge on my opinion alone, I'm a collector,I try to get all the AG's I can get my hands on but I also am critical about them. Never base your judgement on one review.
Bernard
