Reviews by Valentina Pagliai

Eschalon: Book II
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Very good sequel

I played this after Book I, so I got to continue following the same character. However, you don't need to have done the previous game to enjoy this one. I appreciate that this time I could play as a female, and there were more and better choices with regard to background and training. The whole game was better organized and, although I am generally a sword-wielding slasher, this time I enjoyed doing some alchemy too. One thing I liked was that in this game you can explore different kingdoms and areas of the same world. Looking forward to play the next game in the series!

by Valentina Pagliai, USA - Jul 15th 2014

Legends of Solitaire: The Lost Cards
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Average, good for beginners

If you like solitaires you will enjoy this one, but don't expect anything special. The graphics are simple; the storyline is barely there. You can choose between different levels of difficulty, so if you are just starting on solitaires, this is a good one to start from. Practically all the characters shown are white guys, which is a downer for me.

by Valentina Pagliai, USA - Jul 15th 2014

Dracula 1 - Resurrection
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Wonderful game with great story

I have done (and bought) this game twice now, and I loved it both times. I did it when it first came out, and now I bought it again so I could play it with my kids on a new computer. It is horror but not a splatter, and the story and adventure elements are much stronger than the horror side. Still, it does keep you on edge, which is a plus for me. The puzzles are not too difficult, so you can pretty much do the whole game without having to go see a walkthrough, which I appreciate - I hate games where you get stuck and bored for hours, but this is defintely not one of them. I consider this one of the best adventure games ever.

by Valentina Pagliai, USA - Jul 8th 2014

Avadon
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Engaging

This was the first game I played by the makers and I liked it enough to go on and buy their other games. While not as good as the original Avernum, it is a great game. I had not problems with bugs (on a 2012 Mackbook Air with OS 10.7.5). There is a lot to read, true, but I didn't mind because it helped develop the characters, and I like to play with fuller characters. I did not like you had to play inside the establishment (as an Avadon agent), but I did like the game allowed you rebellion. I did not like that gender choices forced you into class choices (a problem solved in Avadon 2).

by Valentina Pagliai, USA - Jul 8th 2014

The Dark Eye: Chains of Satinav
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Masterpiece!

Yes, this game is intelligent, beautiful, with a great story line, and great characters. Absolutely worthy of the adventure Hall of fame. The graphics are so good I had people commenting positively on them from behind my back as I played (in the train). The puzzles are challenging and a few times you get stuck, but not impossible. Generally, the challenges follow a logic, you just have to find the logic.

by Valentina Pagliai, USA - Jul 8th 2014

Avadon 2: The Corruption
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Nice sequel (with some romance too)

I was ready to buy this game because I had enjoyed the previous one and I wanted to see the sequel. Well, they changed the characters so it is only partially a sequel. Also, depending on the choices you had done in Avalon 2, this could not be the sequel (which was my case, and I will not say anything else to avoid spoilers). I still enoyed it quite a bit. I liked that this time you could choose gender independently from the fighting class, and you had more choices in companions. There was also some romance - not very developed but I hope in the future the makers will consider developing the romance side further (and give more choices there too, not only hetero love).

by Valentina Pagliai, USA - Jul 8th 2014

Broken Sword 5 - the Serpent's Curse
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Fun as always

Fun to see the couple up to miskief again :)

A good story and the graphics had definitely improved. Some really comic moments. I played it with my kids and we really enjoyed it. One thing we didn't like was that it was kind of slow: it took forever for characters to move around and to talk. The ability to regulate speed would have been a great plus. I loved that they looked into gnostic religion this time. I loved to meet again the grazy American couple. I had a sensation that George received more active time in this game than before, with less active time given to Nico. I wish they had 50/50.

by Valentina Pagliai, USA - Jul 8th 2014

Campfire Legends - The Hookman
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Short but with enough tension

This was my first hidden object game, and I enjoyed it. I thought it was good how the game was able to keep the tension up, and there was an engaging story line. I did it together with my 11 year old daughter (who loves hidden object games) and she liked it too, even if she was a bit scared a few times (not enough scared to quit it :)

by Valentina Pagliai, USA - Jul 8th 2014

Memoria
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One of the best ever

I wish there were more adventure games like this one. It features absolutely beautiful graphics, an engaging storyline, and intelligent puzzles which are not too frustratingly hard to solve. This is the second on a series of two games, and I suggest you do the first game first, which would be "The Dark Eye: Chains of Satinav." The two can stand alone but you would miss a lot of the character development if you start from this second one - and character development is a real plus in this game. I played this on a macbook air with OS Lion and did not meet any bugs.

by Valentina Pagliai, USA - Jun 2nd 2014

Eschalon: Book I
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Simple game, enjoyable

I enjoyed playing this game although there are no stunning graphics or anything particularly sophisticated about it. As a strategy game, I liked that it has a lot of flexibility and you can really explore several ways of engaging in battles. There is also an interesting storyline that connects most of the quests and moves the game forward. One thing I like a lot about this game is its very lively community of fans. They are ready to help and in many ways they make you like the game more. So if you do buy this, I suggest you take time to meet the community (at The Drunken Lizard Pub). A minus for me was that I could not play as female (this is resolved in Eschalon 2, by the way). However, the storyline is really gender-neutral and so what I did was to simply add a female avatar (you can upload your own, which is nice) and give the character a female name - it worked fine for me. I played this on OS Lion and encountered no bug.

by Valentina Pagliai, USA - Jun 2nd 2014

The Bard's Tale
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It grows on you

At first, I did not like this game. Partially because it was not thought for a Mac, it takes a while to master the movements on the trackpad. Once you have done that, however, it gets really fun. There are a few cheats to be found online. Most did not work on mac, some did. (I am a big cheater, I admit it :) - I play to relax, so I like to have it easy).
The songs are great. I have even been singing them with my kids. So yes, a great game.

by Valentina Pagliai, USA - May 9th 2014

Settlement: Colossus
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Hidden Object game

As an hidden object game, this is OK. But although it may look like a time management game, it isn't really. Main problem in the storyline is, I believe, that you have no enemies, so the timing is irrelevant. I was looking for a game like "All my gods" and this isn't like it at all.
One aspect that bothered me is the sexism of the game. Most characters are male. The few and far in-between females are shown in the most stereotypical roles, such as holding babies. Come on! We are in the 21st century and 50% of the population is female, so what kind of society is made of males only?

by Valentina Pagliai, USA - May 9th 2014

The Settlers 7 Paths to a Kingdom: Deluxe Gold Edition
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Worst game ever.

Please don't buy this. Most boring and frustrating game I ever made the mistake to buy

by Valentina Pagliai, USA - Jun 26th 2013

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