Sister's Secrecy: Arcanum Bloodlines: Adventure, Hidden Objects and Options
Company: Space Monkey International
At first glance, Sister's Secrecy: Arcanum Bloodlines might be mistaken as your average adventure/hidden object game like many of the others that have been coming out in the past few years, but as soon as you get into this particular game, it's obvious that there is a bit more. At least, that's the impression I've gotten from the hands-on demo I recently got to play through. Space Monkey International, the folks behind Voodoo Chronicles: First Sign, developed this latest title, and while this game has the same fantasy-rich feel as their previous game, this one poses an interesting story involving twin girls who don't know anything about their past. That is, until one of them learns something about their history and then disappears. Now it is up to the remaining sister to figure out what she found and follow her twin's clues. This adventure will take her into a dark parallel world filled with creatures like demons and dragons.
The game's demo took me through several locations from the missing sister's wrecked apartment to a dark port where you learn a little about the history of the world you find yourself in. This demo had me do everything from mix a strange cocktail for a massive dragon to fish out a little boy's toy boat so he would return to his mother. What's good is it did so in a very balanced fashion that should entertain any gamer who likes both classic adventure puzzles and hidden object screens. I did find it interesting that Sister's Secrecy: Arcanum Bloodlines found a few ways to make the game more appealing to players who lean further on either side of that fence. For instance, you can start the game in one of three difficulty settings. These settings determine how much guidance the game gives you in finding inventory items to pick up, or determining how to use those items. This is, of course, to help those gamers who lean more towards the hidden object side of things.
In order to not exclude those gamers who would prefer a purely-adventure style of gameplay, instead of forcing you to hunt your way across the cluttered screens, you can switch to a match-three puzzle game. Here, you clear away items in the list by making triangular tiles reach the bottom of the game board. I found this to be an intriguing option since you can easily switch back and forth between the two types of screens so you can play the match-three game for a while, then swap to the hidden object screen in hopes of seeing an item you might have missed earlier. This also means that you can work your way through the hidden objects that you feel are obvious, and when you find yourself struggling to find those last couple of items, you can use the match-three game to finish off the screen.
Like many similar games, Sister's Secrecy: Arcanum Bloodlines gives you inventory items when you complete a hidden object screen. These are used in the game's other puzzles, but for those gamers who don't like the adventure aspect, anything beyond the standard inventory-based puzzles will let you skip them after a bit of time. For instance, puzzles that involve simply using the right tool for the job are typically helped along by the hints given based on the difficulty setting you chose, but puzzles like determining exactly how to mix that dragon's cocktail or piecing together a stage coach ticket will give you some time to work on it, but eventually let you carry on so as not to slow you down too much. These bits of gameplay flexibility really impressed me, and while I feel like the game's story is interesting and fairly compelling, at least what I've seen of it so far, it is these gameplay options that really make Sister's Secrecy: Arcanum Bloodlines appealing to a wider variety of gamers than just the ones that like both genres. With these options, even gamers who prefer one genre over the other will be able to approach this game. If you find yourself even mildly interested in either genre, then definitely keep an eye out for Sister's Secrecy.
-J.R. Nip, GameVortex Communications AKA Chris Meyer
Related Links: Game Vortex’s Review of Voodoo Chronicles: First Sign
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