This game is called THE SECRET ORDER: SHADOW BREACH on PlayStation, but it’s called The Secret Order 7 on Steam. It definitely felt like part of a series, with references to characters, story and events from, I assume, the past six games I hadn’t played.
But I still had a good time with THE SECRET ORDER, a hidden object puzzle adventure developed by Sunward Games and published by Artifex Mundi in February 2019. It is definitely possible to play through without having played any of the other Secret Order games before.
As the protagonist, Sarah, I collected several magical artifacts scattered across the world in secret labs, forests, mansions, and mountain ruins. There were elements of fantasy and science fiction, with dragons, druids, ray guns, aliens, knights and scientists.
The beautiful artwork is the biggest appeal of THE SECRET ORDER, followed by the challenging puzzles. The story… well… the dialogue was so bad it was funny, almost like a porno.
At one point, Sarah walked into a room and said, “I’m looking for a special relic. It’s an urgent matter. There’s an evil force.”
And the dude replied something along the lines of “I don’t know anything about relics, but we have some great wine.” Then sent her to find his “secret room” in the cellar, which wasn’t a sex dungeon … but for a minute I thought it might be.
I played the entire game on “expert” mode and didn’t have much of a problem until the bonus chapter, which I found difficult and a bit weird.
I mean, games like this are always odd, in their own way, with elaborate puzzle locks on jewelry boxes, unusual ways to use every day items, and villains who somehow don’t notice me rummaging around in the piles of hidden objects five feet away. But this particular bonus chapter had some solutions that felt really random, achieved by just clicking everything, everywhere until something worked, rather than being able to think through logical connections.
Or maybe I couldn’t think straight because I was too disturbed by this purple genie creature who showed up out of nowhere to stare at me with its glowing eyes of judgment! What is this? Was it in previous Secret Order games? Why is it smiling at me like that?!
THE SECRET ORDER: SHADOW BREACH is for ages 12 and up. Available on PS4, PC, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and mobile phone apps.
This week I played EVENTIDE 3: LEGACY OF LEGENDS, developed by The House of Fables and published by Artifex Mundi in 2017.
I enjoyed the first Eventide game back in January 2018 and I tried the EVENTIDE 3 free demo back in September 2018. But I didn’t continue at that time because I wanted to play them in order. I played Eventide 2 earlier this year, so it was time to complete the trilogy.
Like the others, EVENTIDE 3 is a point-and-click HOPA (Hidden Object Puzzle Adventure) developed by The House of Fables and published by Artifex Mundi.
Of course, another family member is in peril and this time botanist Mary Gilbert must travel to the Cloud Kingdom to rescue her brother, a meteorologist with magical powers. She must prove her worth to the thunder god Perun and save the world from catastrophe.
EVENTIDE 3 was a fun finale to this fairy tale series. The voice acting could be better, but the music is relaxing, with lovely scenes and a good combination of story, brain teasers, and hidden object games, with the option to play in “casual” or “expert” modes.
Rated “E” for everyone aged 10 and up by the ESRB. Available on PS4, PC, Xbox One, and mobile phone.
EVENTIDE 2: SORCERER’S MIRROR is a 2016 point-and-click puzzle-solving adventure developed by the House of Fables and published by Artifex Mundi. I had a good time playing the first game, Eventide: Slavic Fable, back in January 2018, so I wanted to complete the trilogy.
The botanist Mary Gilbert returns in EVENTIDE 2. This time, she rescues her niece from an evil wizard, with the help of an herbalist, innkeeper, gravedigger, butcher and other inhabitants of a small village surrounded by magic and monsters straight out of Eastern and Central European fairy tales.
This video is a collection of edited highlights from my Twitch Try-It Tuesday live stream of the free PlayStation 4 demo. It’s not intended to be a walkthrough but to give an idea of the story and gameplay.
I bought the full game and completed it the next day. EVENTIDE 2 took about four hours total, compared to the six hours I spent playing Eventide: Slavic Fable. There’s no bonus level to this one. Instead, it features a branching narrative where the choices you make at certain critical points affect the progression and outcome of the story. I assume it could be replayed again to make different choices and see what happens.
I enjoyed EVENTIDE 2. I think the trilogy has beautiful artwork with a nice combination of story, brain teasers, and hidden object games. There are hints, if needed, and a choice of “casual” or “expert” mode.
EVENTIDE 2 is rated “T” for teens due to violence. Available for PS4, PC, Xbox One, Android and macOS.
SPOILER ALERT * * * The second half of this article contains major story details * * *
THE OUTER WORLDS felt like Firefly fanfiction, complete with twangy guitar riffs, a ragtag crew, old-timey frontier style speech, and an occasional cargo bay full of cattle, as seen in the episode “Safe” from the TV series.
This endeared the game to me, as a long-time Browncoat and supporter of the “Can’t Stop the Serenity” fan-run fundraisers that have contributed over a million dollars to charity.
I started THE OUTER WORLDS during my January 28, 2020, Try-It Tuesday livestream and continued playing throughout February and March.
The visual style was a gorgeous mash up of Firefly and BioShock, with stunning celestial skyscapes but very little variety to the enemies and locations. Conversations dragged and combat underwhelmed. More than once during the first half of the game, I considered quitting and playing something else.
Food, drink, alcohol and tobacco products provided boosts I rarely bothered to use. I only died a couple times and not during a fight – once from falling and once from being scalded by steam in a hallway full of leaky pipes.
Negative experiences, such as being burned or shocked too many times, triggered the opportunity to accept flaws, which weakened the protagonist but granted extra perks. I never bothered with flaws because the perks weren’t worth it, particularly perks for “Tactical Time Dilation” – something like Fallout’s VATS but not VATS, of course – and which I also rarely bothered to use.
The ship itself had an AI personality named ADA who got on my last nerve. Every damn time I returned from a mission or errand, she’d tell me that crew members were talking to each other. Yeah, I get it, they have scripted encounters to make the place feel lived in. Let me wander into the conversations naturally on my own, thanks. How many times do you want me to hear Nyoka yell at Max about hogging the bathroom, ADA? HOW MANY?
In a NoClip documentary about THE OUTER WORLDS, game directors Tim Cain and Leonard Boyarsky discussed the scope of the game and how much they had to cut, which might explain why it felt, to me, like an uneven, incomplete game that never quite realized its full potential. It says a lot, though, that I really wanted it to be more.
There’s a long side quest revolving around Parvati’s date night, as well as a kind of simulated sex scene between ADA and the ship’s cleaning robot SAM, but despite the emphasis on companion relationships and nuanced role-playing, there were no romantic options for the player at all.
In a Polygon article, Boyarsky said, “We felt like sometimes (romance) kind of waters down your roleplaying for your character because it turns into this mini game of how do I seduce this companion or that companion. So it was just one of the things we felt wasn’t really what we wanted to focus our time on.”
If Obsidian had limited resources and didn’t want to spend them on romantic subplots or alternate endings, I get that. But caring about the crew did not “water down” my game experience. The exact opposite. My fondness for Vicar Max, Felix and Nyoka is the main reason I played THE OUTER WORLDS to completion. They were awesome.
Devs could have at least acknowledged that players might want to roleplay something more than hammering out treaties or meeting Ellie’s snobby parents.
A couple lines of dialog for each crew member would allow them to be approached or flirted with, but then deflect the advances with an excuse befitting each character. Nyoka could say something like “you’re not screwed up enough to be my type,” Max could say he’s too dedicated to his own spiritual struggles to share his life with someone else, Felix could be pining for someone on another world, etc.
Something else that felt a bit incomplete: I obtained two pieces of information that should have been literal game changers but actually changed nothing.
One came from the Rizzo lab on Monarch, where a terminal entry explained how all of the dangerous creatures could be killed by changing the oxygen levels in the atmosphere, and that the change would not harm humans. Far as I could tell, I had no opportunity to discuss this information with anyone. That seemed like terribly important stuff for communities surrounded by packs of wild monsters and clinging to survival by a thread.
The other bit came from Adelaide, a lady I met early in THE OUTER WORLDS, who figured out how to deal with the plague and grow nutritious crops. When I reached the end-game’s big reveal – that Halcyon would collapse due to famine – I had no opportunity to share Adelaide’s discoveries. Instead, we set about rescuing the Hope, not for the inherent rightness of saving the lives on the ship, but because the scientists on board needed to solve Halcyon’s problems… that Adelaide had already solved. (?)
For all my criticisms, the game had its moments and I’m glad I played THE OUTER WORLDS. If there’s ever any expansions and I play it again someday, I’ll probably ignore a lot of the side missions, increase the difficulty setting, and only take one companion with me at a time, instead of two, to make it more of a challenge.
I got the happy ending and I’m satisfied with the choices I made. Overall, it was a good experience, but it could have been so much better.
Highlights and easter eggs are featured on my OUTER WORLDS playlist and my last livestream can be seen here:
~ J.L. Hilton
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As far as I know, there is nothing quite like UNTITLED GOOSE GAME. Its simple, storybook graphics remind me of Burly Men at Sea and Unfinished Swan, while its humor and mischievousness are akin to Catlateral Damage or Octodad. Goat Simulator also comes to mind, but that game is much darker and more violent, thus rated “M” for mature audiences.
UNTITLED GOOSE GAME is rated “E” for everyone. At worst, you cause people to hammer their thumbs or fall on their bums. You play as a wild goose on the loose, stealing keys, hiding tools, honking at frightened children, flapping your wings, snatching shoes, and generally wreaking feathered havoc upon a small English village.
Developed by four-person indie studio House House and published by Panic in September 2019, UNTITLED GOOSE GAME consists mostly of stealth and puzzles, with a number of creative ways to use the objects and environment to achieve each goal.
I spent six extremely enjoyable hours playing through the story and all of the bonus “to do” list objectives that are added after completing the main game. I did not do any of the optional “before the church bells ring” speed runs.
While single-player, it’s fun to play with others watching, as I did while streaming, or to play with family and friends, passing the controller around and seeing how different people approach each task.
I also love the “reactive” music in UNTITLED GOOSE GAME, where the soundtrack responds not only to the environment – such as playing different music when one moves from the garden to the high street shop – but also responds to actions in the game – such as playing slowly when the goose is in hiding then speeding up the tempo when the goose is noticed and chased by villagers.
Available for PS4, PC, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and macOS.
~ J.L. Hilton
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THE LAST OF US is an incredibly popular action-adventure survival horror game developed by Naughty Dog (who’s also behind the Uncharted franchise) and published by Sony Computer Entertainment as a PlayStation 3 exclusive in 2013.
I downloaded the remastered version, free via PlayStation Plus in October 2019, to give this highly-acclaimed, multiple award winning game a try.
THE LAST OF US features a post-apocalyptic story in which Tess, Joel and Ellie make their way across a ruined Boston wasteland where spores and desperation turn people into monsters.
If my video seems pretty exciting, just keep in mind that I cut 2-1/2 hours of walking, talking and climbing. With its quick-time events, confusing stealth segments, walking simulation and boring conversations, THE LAST OF US didn’t do much for me.
You take the path the game dictates. Slowly. You listen to the conversations it gives you. No dialog choices. No skipping. There aren’t any decisions to make beyond “do I use my alcohol for molotovs or health packs?” or “should I use my limited ammo instead of this pipe that will vanish after five hits?”
I liked Tess. But I reckon she dies or disappears early, since the promotional art and online discussion is all about Joel and Ellie, so that didn’t really encourage me to continue playing, either.
I’ve been told several times “the story is good.” Maybe I didn’t play long enough to mosey along to the interesting scenes. Everything that happened in the first four hours seemed to be some version of:
Lonely guitar riff: Bow-wow-wow
(Characters shuffle into a room)
Tess: I’m mad, you know that?
Joel (gruffly): Y’all know I’m from Texas? Yeehaw or somethin’.
I jus’ don’ reckon we shud be doin’ whut we’re doin’.
Tess: We have to. Let’s get going.
Joel: Yes, ma’am
Lonely guitar riff: Bow-wow-wow
(Slow pan to the skyline)
THE LAST OF US is rated “M” for mature audiences due to blood and gore, intense violence, sexual themes and strong language.
~ J.L. Hilton
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GLASS MASQUERADE is a beautiful, relaxing stained glass puzzle game developed and published by Onyx Lute.
Each puzzle is a colorful clock face inspired by the histories and cultures of twenty-five different countries. There are no time limits but puzzles may be repeated for a faster time, or just to listen to the enchanting soundtrack by Russian composer Nikita Sevalnev.
I enjoyed this game very much. My video shows the first five puzzles – France, Britain, Germany, Portugal and USA – with action sped up 5x to shorten the run time. The entire game will take about three to four hours, depending on how fast you work.
My only criticism of GLASS MASQUERADE is that manipulation of the puzzle pieces with the joystick is a bit awkward on PS4. I’m also disappointed that I can’t get the Halloween, Christmas and other bonus puzzles available to PC players. A sequel, Glass Masquerade 2: Illusions, is available for PC, and I’m hoping it will come to consoles soon.
GLASS MASQUERADE is rated “E” for everyone, and available for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC.
Private investigators search the Karakorum Mountains for a way to stop the demon Asmodai from returning to the world in ENIGMATIS 3: THE SHADOW OF KARKHALA, a 2016 point-and-click puzzle-solving supernatural adventure developed by Artifex Mundi.
The entire Enigmatis trilogy is good but this might be the best of the three, with improved graphics, storytelling, puzzles and settings. There are plot twists and new game mechanics that make things even more interesting.
ENIGMATIS 3 is rated “T” for teens due to blood and violence. Available for PS4, PC, Xbox One and mobile.
These are singleplayer games but work well for parties and sleepovers, with one person on the controller and the others suggesting solutions or pointing at hidden objects. Assuming your friends enjoy games, mysteries and puzzles, of course!
The search for an evil preacher leads a detective to a haunted nature preserve and a missing family in ENIGMATIS 2: THE MISTS OF RAVENWOOD. This 2013 point-and-click puzzle-solving supernatural thriller is the sequel to Enigmatis: The Ghosts of Maple Creek, which I played back in October 2018.
I enjoyed the story and puzzles but missed the more elaborate, picturesque hidden object scenes that are usually featured in Artifex Mundi games. (Update: They return in the next installment, Enigmatis 3: The Shadow of Karkhala. Yay!)
If you like this genre and the idea of defeating vampire trees, giant ravens and demon worshipers appeals to you, I highly recommend ENIGMATIS 2. It will take around 3-5 hours to complete, depending on how fast you solve the puzzles and whether or not you play the bonus level or complete the collections.
ENIGMATIS 2 is rated “T” for teens due to blood and violence. Available for PS4, PC, Xbox One and mobile.
Someone joked on Twitter about Mrs. Potts being impossible to draw without looking like some sort of demonic elephant, and they invited people to try it. This is my attempt, sketched in about 10 minutes from a reference pic. Not bad, I think, for someone who doesn’t draw.
Still looks a bit like a demonic elephant, though.
I played the entire game on “expert” mode and didn’t have much of a problem until the bonus chapter, which I found difficult and a bit weird.
In a 
