Reviews for Desolation: The Beginning

[chaosbot]

Tiresome. Music got muted almost immediately - maybe time for some different music (game feels really empty without any BGM). Didn't feel like any new ground was broken with this game - what little story there is feels awfully contrived - maybe spend some time actually developing the story??

For example, start with "Your father recently passed away. Today you meet the executor of his will." So you leave your house (I'm sure you've got a picture of a nice house stashed somewhere) by clicking on your car with your keys. At Bill's office, you can click on the building to find "Bill's Office is in here. He was your father's solicitor and trusted friend for many years". Click on door to enter building and go straight to Bill's office. In Bill's office he hold out an envelope to you, saying "Other than inheriting your father's estate, he also wanted you to have this". Inside the envelope is a list of addresses, the first of which is the Adandoned Asylum in Humphrey, New York, with the words "Magic Book" written next to it... obviously your next destination is the Abandoned Asylum!

Clue for Bill Johnson is lame: should have been graffiti carved with purpose on the toilet wall rather than written on a piece of special non-rot paper. And the mysterious dude is a bit stupid - how long has he been waiting there? What's wrong with a box that requires you insert the gems... you could even have for the description: "A gem activated box! Your father use to talk about these - you always thought he was making them up!"

One other thing: ANYONE could have wandered past an solved these. There really needs to be a diffraction grating or something gifted from this father figure that lets you see the clues... or at least makes them glint slightly so you know which ah, a clue... (this means you can hide the clues in plain site: like the building can have a proper name, but only certain letters glow!!; or all the graves can be numbered, but only two glow!!)

With a bit more thought and better writing, this COULD be a fantastic series. As it is, it is just another excuse for ANOTHER "puzzle" game.

Quick walk-through:
D: vines: silver key
C: hint = deus ox
F: map
P: matches
E: candle: blue key
B: crowbar
H: stuck door: green key
J: shovel
K: coathanger
N: hint = 247 285
M: number box: gold key
A: toilet: red gem; hint = Bill Johnson
O: Bill Johnson: purple key
R: hammer (on floor near door); hint (glass above door) = ┘┌└ ┐ └ ┐┘┌
Q: word box: binoculars
S: flashlight
N: star gravestone: purple gem
L: triangle box: green gem
M: darkness: blue gem
D: distance: hint=5247136
I: green squares box: press the green squares in the correct order (the hint gives you number of the green square = the first square is "5", the second square is "2", the third square is "4", the fourth square is "7", the fifth square is "1", the sixth square is "3", and the seventh square is "6" = so you press the fifth, then second, then sixth, then third, then fifth, then seventh, then fourth square to open the box!!)

selfdefiant responds:

The story could have been longer but I didn't want to go into great detail. The last time I did, things got out of hand. Strange, I know. Besides, sometimes it's better to have a general idea and let your own mind make things up as you go. :)

[OKinfinite8]

The game has several problems. First, the pointer sometimes has the highlighter and sometimes it doesnt. This is useless because in the end you have to squeeze everywhere anyway. Second, the map has flaws and does not correspond to the route, Third, why there are no more chapters in this series, we were left with the book unused at the end, and finally as in most of your games, theres a lot to go and very litttle to do.

[Digideus]

A fairly good game that is visually up to the usual standard, but its ruined by a couple of things.

A lot of times in a lot of your games, the clues dont always add up. using the flashlight to find one of the jewels for instance... there is no clue for that. its just blind luck.

Perhaps worse, and this really annoys me, is when you mix up the number clue at the end. Thats just stupid. if you give someone a string of numbers to open an essential part of the quest items, but the actual code is in a different sequence without supplying a clue that its changed, then its a pointless part of the game and effectively broken. No-one will solve that without looking at the walkthrough, and thats reflecting on your games negatively.

Apart from those game breaking things, every game you make is interesting and visually excellent, but you really need to work on those quests and clues pointing the player in the right direction. Some parts of this game make it impossible without the walkthrough, and thats not what I expect from any game

selfdefiant responds:

Thanks! If you don't understand a clue, it doesn't mean I messed it up. It means that you are not reading it correctly or the way I am. I have pointed out before that the number clue can be read 2 ways, you are obviously reading it the wrong way. The same thing happened in Abandoned in China. You say this like it happens all the time? It isn't me messing it up.
If you have a flashlight, that means that something is hidden in the dark, what other clue should I leave? If I added some text stating something might be hidden here in the dark, it would be too easy.

[tadame]

It's nice to have a prologue at the beginning. However, I didn't understand why the guy had to visit an abandoned asylum to find out the mysterious loss of his father unless his dad had a history or some kind of relationship with the abandoned asylum.

Game play was just okay. It took me quite some time before I found a hanger and a shovel. Thanks to the walk through, I coulnd't spot a hammer on the ground next to a white door. Also, I have to say the anagram is rather difficult for someone like me who doesn't know a lot of vocabulary. I used the anagram solver to crack it. Then, the green-red lock wasn't a straightforward puzzle. I didn't know @Selfdefiant's logic in swapping the numbers.

Graphics are fine. The song is getting old.

[TharosTheDragon]

The major problem is that there are too many items that don't change the mouse cursor. You have to click around at random to see what will respond.