Lost in Loss

[H1]Perfect if you like easy HOGs, except maybe for the mildly grating partner[/H1] This is a hard one to talk about because it’s very clearly made for a very specific crowd. The gameplay itself is extremely easy. Like, kid-level easy. The hidden object scenes barely hide anything and the puzzles never push back, which feels more like a guided stroll than a challenge. That would normally be totally fine…except the writing and character interactions really don’t match that child-friendly difficulty. Let me explain. You play as a detective helping Celesta, an anthropomorphized furret, figure out why the townfolks have forgotten who they are and started acting completely unlike themselves. There are 5 cases, each splitting into multiple sublevels with a few puzzles sprinkled in, all slowly pointing toward the source of the collective amnesia. The premise is genuinely interesting and original compared to most HOGs, and it had me curious the whole way through. Visually, it’s lovely. Everything is hand-drawn, lightly animated, and clearly made with care. No reused assets, lots of different environments, and a nice variety of items to search for. The achievements are simple and follow …

I did not enjoy this one. The good thing is that the artwork is nice, so it is pleasant to look at. The rest is really average. The main character is annoying and the story incoherent. It feels like it is all slapped together and there is no uniformity, you go from one random location to another one to find seemingly unrelated items. But what I disliked most is that this is a HOG genre game and the objects are hidden very badly. There is always the same number of objects and they are always the only objects that are partly obstructed from view. It again feels, like they were just added afterwards. So when playing, you just look at the scene, spot the items that are behind other ones in 10 seconds and then click on them in the order the hints appear. And to make it worse, the hints appear behind the last one, so you have wait for them to become visible too. But maybe I am not the audience, it will be enjoyable for children I think.

Cute little Hidden Object title! I will admit I'm a sucker for games with animal characters. Celeste is lovely. <3 The majority of items were fairly easy to find, but the devs did get me with a handful of sneaky ones that had me losing my mind. The game is short, which isn't necessarily an issue, but it ends on a cliffhanger...I don't know if that means a later update or DLC, or if it is implying a sequel. Needless to say, I finished it a bit confused. This game (at time of writing) shouldn't take you more than 2-3 hours, so if the time-to-price value is right for you, I'd say get it! The character art is good, but the backgrounds and environments are where the art really shines.

The HOG gameplay is way too easy, though the art work is nice. The main character doesn't seem to be too into what she is trying to do either. I'd give this one a pass. Does this game contain ducks?: At least one yes.

I giggled at the dialogues and found some of the characters absolutely adorable. Well, it’s a small cozy game, and I really enjoyed it. I especially loved the dialogues, the art style, and the TV puzzle. The only thing that really annoyed me was the candy puzzle. We are not friends. But overall, it’s a lovely game for an evening or a few. Especially during hoa hoa hoa season (yes, I’m already fully in autumn mode, don’t judge me!)

I would only recommend to the most diehard HOG fan. Not a great HOG. It feels like a child-targeted mobile game and that's primarily because basic QOL features of the genre are just plain missing. You can only look for one object at a time, no zooming or moving around the image, no hint feature if you're getting stuck, you have to completely restart each section if you don't do it in one sitting and they're short but it's still annoying if you need a break. Plus the way objects are hidden is really bad and inconsistent. Something that bothers me more than others, the image in the UI won't reflect the actual coloring/orientation of what you're looking for! Worse than the hidden object sections were the puzzle sections. They're mostly weird logic puzzles and one really jank match-3 game. Art is subjective and others seem to enjoy it but I found that the actual moving levels sent me right back to 2008 Newgrounds adventure flash game territory.