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Saturday, August 30, 2008
Azada: Ancient Magic
Azada: Ancient Magic is the next in hit series Azada ™. Created, produced, and currently only available from Big Fish Games, Ancient Magic is another puzzle game.Before writing the review, I replayed Azada. At the end of Azada, you free Titus. He says to keep in mind the words "Magic Book." Indeed, that is the trouble he calls you to solve. His great-grandfather Angus noticed that book characters had come to life, complete with bad and good personalities. They were complaining about not being read recently, or wanting more story lines. You are called in to help decipher what evil has brought the characters to life.
This involves flipping through pages of each storybook and solving the puzzles that arise. Some are search and find; some involve deciphering code. The answers aren't always apparent, such as when you bury a bottle of wine so it can become vinegar. When the puzzles are solved, the icon at the bottom right of the page will indicate that the page is complete. One of the items that must always be located is a card (almost like a Tarot card) that will 'free' the character from the book.
When the series of books are complete, the cards are collected in another book, and you analyze them for secret symbols to decipher which character is causing mischief. Symbols appear on the card as you look through the magic decoder ring. As in Azada, there are hints available for a time penalty, and orbs are earned to skip puzzles.
What they did well: You will be introduced to many childhood favorite characters. To name a few (but not give too much away), there is Rapunzel, Robinson Crusoe, one of the 3 little pigs, a character from Secret Garden.... It's fun to flip through the pages, and the satchel is handy for having the items from previous pages. There is more inventiveness in the puzzles, and I actually found them more fun than the first Azada. The story line also works well as a mystery, since the player is trying to figure out who is behind the evil. New music is an added benefit and also an improvement over Azada. Additionally, the puzzles are not as repetetive as in Azada. I giggled over how the garlic that was hidden in Dracula's kitchen had a BIG poison sign over it. The art is good for a puzzle game.
What could be better: While you do actually get to move from the library, which is an improvement over the first Azada, it's just to work the machine. Every time you finish with a set of books, it tells you to go use the machine. I found both the linearity and the reminder annoying. Why couldn't I wait to check the cards until I'd completed 2 sets of books? The cut scenes where Angus is explaining things have two buttons: a forward and a back. The forward button does not work. So I either had to skip through and miss the information, or wait the set amount of time before the text moved on to the next point. Unfortunately, the back button *does* work, but it meant I had to wait for the next few screens of text (that I'd already read) to complete their timer again. I also got pretty frustrated with one of the puzzles where you had to put things back in their original place from a hazy, black and white image. Finding where to put a necklace took me an annoyingly long time.
Even given the negatives, Azada: Ancient Magic is definitely a different and enjoyable take on the puzzle genre.
Recommended for: fans of Azada, puzzles, or brain teasers, or people interested in checking out the puzzle genre.
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