Time Mysteries 2: The Ancient Spectres

My patience ran out on this one. Don't buy the game!

A better game than the first part but barely. First of all, my recommendation is to not play the game in expert mode. There are a lot of HO scenes that are repeats, constantly. Expert mode will not show them at all, and since they are enabled with internal triggers, it makes combing every screen a chore. The plot involves time travel across 2 different locations, one small and one big. Solving some puzzles in the past sometimes affect the future which is fun and fresh in this genre. For the most part, the puzzles are ok. It's the HO scenes as usual that are not the best ones. Since the things you have to search are shuffled and selected randomly, you can sometimes get very hard challenges in the first ones, and easier items in the repeats. The plot ends abruptly, presumably to be followed in the next game. There's also the classical bonus game after beating the main story that acts as a prequel and explanation to some events of the main plot. As always, get these games on discount if you've run out of HOs.

The travelling concept is awesome, a nice variety of hidden objects and puzzles. However, the quality of the hidden objects is terrible. The colours are badly blended and at one point an object was behind an item that had been opened on a previous play, which was not possible to move out of the way.

Time Mysteries 2: The Ancient Spectres, developed and published by Artifex Mundi, is a richly atmospheric hidden-object puzzle adventure that combines gothic mystery, supernatural intrigue, and a light touch of time travel. The game places players in the role of Esther Ambrose, a young governess whose life takes an unexpected turn when she inherits a mysterious London mansion in 1830. What begins as a straightforward inheritance quickly spirals into a complex tale involving her ancestors, ancient magic, and a conflict between the legendary wizard Merlin and a rival sorceress named Viviana. As Esther explores the mansion and the worlds beyond it, she discovers a tangled web of family secrets and a mysterious device that allows her to travel through time. This conceit forms the narrative and mechanical foundation of the game, giving it a sense of scope and mysticism that distinguishes it from more traditional hidden-object fare. Artifex Mundi is well-known for its atmospheric storytelling and detailed artwork, and The Ancient Spectres continues that tradition with beautifully rendered environments that are both haunting and inviting. Each location is hand-painted with an eye for tex…

This was originally released in 2011 and so you can expect a lot of pretty old school HOGS and not so many puzzles. However, it has a great alternative game. if you don't fancy the Hogs. The story is pretty good and there is a great time machine instead of a map. It's amazing to think Artifex Mundi made this and led the way to the current genre.

A really nice HIO. I doesnt really spoilers anything from the first game, i think, and works as a game for itself, which is pretty nice. The minigames are not to hard and not too easy, but the HOS are pretty challenging. Its weird that the aunt is the only one that isnt voiced, or this is a bug. The biggest downer for me is that its really annoying to play on expert, because you need to constantly look if the HOS are active again. But nontheless i really enjoyed the game and its mechanics. I can really highly recommend it (on sale that is ;-))