Royal Detective: The Lord of Statues Collector's Edition

Options include separate sliders for Music, Environment, SFX and Voices; slider for Brightness; Full-screen or Wide-screen; Custom Cursor and three Difficulties, which can be changed at any time. [b]Story[/b]: The statues in Martlet have come to life, and are waging a war against each other whilst the townspeople cower in fear. To top that off, local craftsmen have been disappearing and the Crown wants answers! Cue your dispatch -- the Royal Detective -- to solve this mystery and save the town. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2295954359 Our narrator speaks very slowly, but he has a bit of a Morgan Freeman vibe to his voice, which makes it less irritating. You CAN click through the dialogue to speed things up if you like. There is [b]NO Journal[/b], but only one instance where you'll have to remember a sequence that you saw in another room in order to solve a puzzle. Luckily, the solution was only a room or two away. [b]Gameplay[/b]: There is a nice balance of adventuring and [b]Hidden Object Scenes[/b], which are very lightly-interactive lists. During the adventure portion of the game there is a LOT of backtracking. Thank goodness for the insta-tra…

This is an older game (2016 for Steam, older according to copyright), but has obviously been updated. It works smoothly, uses a wide screen without distortion, and has an interactive map. The game also has a fully integrated guide, although it is less necessary than for many of these kinds of games. [Forgot to mention in original review: the bonus chapter is short and felt contrived (more than usual).] Pros: - excellent dry humour - coherent, interesting story - continuing character (protagonist) - the special feature of the game (acquiring certain living statues with different functions) is used intelligently by the writer(s), and feels much less gimmicky that expected - collectibles aren't obvious, but are reasonably noticeable if you're looking - about the right number of HO scenes (word lists) - excellent cut scenes, I enjoyed the fantasy movie feel :) [a note on the HO scenes: they're not easy, but all of the objects are distinct and visible; for the most part, objects are hidden by being well-placed; however, there were a few instances where there were too many neutral colours, or objects were hidden within a spot of the same colour] Cons: none to mention except as imm…

[h1]Short version: 72%[/h1] Royal Detective 1 is a great hidden object game in many aspects, including story, puzzles, pacing, and visuals. However, it carries a fatal flaw of having bad hidden object scenes, which can tarnish the rest of its design. [h1]Long version:[/h1] It is difficult to rate Royal Detective: The Lord of Statues, because it is a hidden object game that does [i]almost[/i] everything right. It has wonderful graphics. The music (when it plays) is incredible. The puzzles are varied, although sometimes a bit long. The classic point-and-click elements sit in a comfortable position between being both casual and challenging. However, the hidden object scenes are bad. They are often monochrome, the items are tiny, and the placement is lazy. If this happened in any other area, it would be a minor complaint, but these scenes are supposed to be the lifeblood of a HOG. As for the story, it is a mixed bag. The plot is remarkable for the genre's standards; for example, its big twist is genuinely surprising and witty. Alas, we seldom see traces of said plot, as we spend most of our time exploring the desolate town to search for clues on how to stop an army of rampaging livi…

Relaxing with a small story plot. Some puzzles are just too time-consuming but neither difficult nor interesting.