The Phoenix Rises from the Ashes! Coolness!

I have acquired my brand new 21-inch iMac desktop 'puter. It is a thing of great beauty. It has 8 gigs of RAM and a 2T hard drive. (I also acquired an iPod classic, which fortunately cost considerably less than 400 monies.) As I'm making more money from Kirkus, I ought to be able to pay Dad back in about six months. Am alllmost halfway there already.

It arrived, I unboxed it, and of course the first thing it asked me to do was to download all my data from my time capsule. That took all night, 12 hours, but when I got up the next morning, there was my old 'puter right there on the new 'puter! It copied and installed my wallpaper. I didn't have to reload the printer software--it just worked. It even saved my progress in a stupid little match-three game I had going. Everything. No data lost at all, and I only had to click one button.

But the coolest thing is that instead of having my Windows XP on Bootcamp, now I have it in a virtual machine. I got VM Fusion instead of Parallels because it had a $30 rebate, and the two are virtually identical in what they do. This thing loaded the XP program easily. It uses the Mac mouse (the new, spiffy magic mouse, with just a flat smooth surface that scrolls up, down and sideways). I can drag and drop stuff between the Mac and the XP window. I can have it go full screen, or run in a window. I can take "snapshots" and reload those if I want to undo some problem. I can just minimize the whole XP window and surf on my Mac while stuff loads.

The only problem is that two of my older games have bad color depth. But they run fine. Newer games look perfect.

I'll have to start Ghost in the Sheet all over again, but here's something fun. I can play the game in an XP floating window, and have this blog open to write as I play! Hah! (Addendum: no, I can't. The game captures the cursor. Might as well run it in full screen, then.)

First though, I have a copy of the Lemony Snickett's A Series of Unfortunate Events game. I've had it for years and insist that I will play it because I adore Tim Curry's voice work. He narrates the game, brilliantly, just as he read the books, brilliantly--the kid actors are another story, alas. It would never load on my former bootcamp XP. However, it loads on Fusion (although with lousy color in the animations--the rest of the scenery is fine--it's just that the Beaudelaire children glow even with the brightness turned down). I tried playing it on my Dad's HP laptop with Vista and it seemed to run fine, but it turns out that it left out whole areas, and stopped cold when I was about halfway through. I won't know if the problem is in the disc, or if it was incompatibility with Vista until I get to that point.

It isn't the type of game I really like much. You have to use the keyboard and the mouse, and it's a bit of a shooter, jumper style thing like the Harry Potter games. But I've had so many false starts with it on the laptop that I'm now pretty good at the combat. I should be able to zip through to the halfway mark in a day or two. [Edit: I got through it! I think there may be something wrong with the disc at that point, because the background color looked unstable, but the game let me into the tunnel where it had frozen on the Vista laptop even after reloading. So I can probably finish! Hooray!]

But you cannot revert to an earlier saved game. The game saves at set points, and that's where you start. If you missed anything, too bad. Lousy game design. However, I did miss something, so I just reverted to an earlier snapshot on my virtual machine!

I am loving this. I don't have to restart the whole 'puter and have my Mac unavailable to me while I'm in Windows. Now I have both running right on the same screen.

And Fusion even gives you a free one-year subscription to McAfee security.

So I'm set! Let the games begin! Again! (Um, after two more Kirkus books and Lemony Snickett)

Tragedy Strikes

It isn't the hard drive.

It's the whole 'puter.

It is dead.

It won't even power on. It's lonely little round light comes on, but no Mac tone, and the little light goes out in a few seconds.

It was a wonderful 'puter. It got me through four tough years.

Alas. Sad. Mourn.

Next Wednesday I'll have the $$$ to get a new 'puter. Can order it right from the Apple website. As I'll have to do that the day before Thanksgiving, I certainly won't get it until the following week.

But perhaps I'll get back to Ghost in the Sheet.

More 'puter troubles

Alas, we again are on hiatus. The brand new 1tb hard drive put into the 'puter only seven months ago has crashed. The people who put it in for me are still in business but are not doing repairs anymore, so I have to find another tekkie.

I'm told the drive has a two-year warranty, so I should be OK there. Wonder if I can get 'em to pay the labor?

Ergo, no cute animal photos. I may continue with Ghost in the Sheet, as I was able to download it again from Big Fish and I'm gonna have to start over anyway. I like that download feature, a lot. May be better than owning the CD, as it turns out.

Anyway, until the 'puter comes back, I'm stuck on the awful HP laptop.

Lord but I hope I get the 'puter back before Bracken Tor is released!

Ghost in the Sheet (2): Questioning Ghosts

Copied the instructions on the wall to the gas pipe puzzle, but as there didn't appear to be anything available to manipulate, I went exploring. Found lots of new areas in the factory, but mostly, I found other ghosts.

Alas, the first was the hapless soul I met earlier. He seemed to be a bit angry at me. I presume calming him down was a puzzle, but if so, all one has to do is choose the right dialogue question.

Anyway, we talked. Quite a lot. Oh dear, the voice acting in this game is primarily script reading. Well, it's a low-budget indie game, so I won't complain. Big publishers with big budgets have no excuse for lousy voice work, but cut the little guys some slack. (Also makes me appreciate the little indie operations who do use decent actors.)

I did quite a lot of wandering around. Still haven't found anything to manipulate, but there are some intriguing things. A pipe with something stuck in it, but I can't see what it is. No doubt we'll be going back there somehow. The door to the boss's office opens, but so far I haven't found the route to that yet.

Found the monster that was hiding behind the junk in the first factory room. But right now I'm just exploring. We'll see the monster again later, obviously.

Met two more ghosts in the dressing room. One the old fireman, who's now taken up residence in his locker with his pipe. The other the only lady involved, Larissa, who doesn't know she's dead.

Long conversations, but I didn't really learn anything that would give me a clue for my next action. I know I have to fix the gas lines, and I have to fix the fan in the lobby.

But how to do those things must remain a mystery for now!

Ghost in the Sheet (1): Beginning

As Halloween is coming up, I thought I'd try the little game, Ghost in the Sheet, which I first noticed mentioned on a few adventure game sites. Seemed like an intriguing title, then I found that Big Fish has it for cheap, so I downloaded a copy over on my XP side. Looked at a review which says it's a short game. I have a few days before my next delivery of Kirkus, so I thought I'd try it while I'm waiting for Bracken Tor.

At first I thought I wouldn't be able to play it. The ghost is supposed to have special powers, which you can pick by using the function keys. But my function keys don't work on the XP side, except for their normal Apple functions such as changing brightness. But I'm OK. All the special functions appear in the upper left corner of the screen, so all I have to do is click on them. Shoot, I'd rather do that anyway, as a mouse addict.

The first scene is a simple-as-pie find-the-way-in puzzle. Once I realize that I can access the special powers, in this case telekinesis, in the corner I have no difficulty at all getting in.

I go ahead, then! Hmm. It certainly is low budget, but that's fine with me if it's got imagination. I've only seen one other game that has just one scene per location, the even-lower-budget Intrigue at Oakhaven Plantation. However, the screens are really well done. It's a bit difficult to see everything so this is going to take the usual strategy: explore everywhere.

OK. Forward. I'm in a cable-car bay, and my character says he's supposed to get in the car and cross the chasm. Click on the hole in the floor and that's where I just was. So, I go to the left and find a new room. Looking around, I find that the next room beyond that has a machine that's obviously a puzzle. I figure out how to push the buttons, but nothing happens. Back up. Ah! I can move the odd, glowing brick. Under that is a diary. This gives me some good number codes and a bit of backstory. Plus, I find the diarist's employee card with some useful-looking numbers on it. Also, throughout the diary they keep changing the "cellar door codes." I notice a pattern in the progression that ought to help later on.

Keep looking around and I find some instructions for the machine on the wall in the office. Lights have to be on? Maybe that's why I can't get it to do anything.

I go back to the cellar and examine the fuse box more carefully. OK. There it is. Sure enough, now I can get lights on the machine. It isn't straightforward, but it doesn't take me too long to solve it.

I wonder what the ladybirds are?

So, I'm off across the chasm! My, this is low budget indeed. But so far the puzzles haven't been too tough or solvable within 10 seconds, so that's fine.

I think the lead character here is voiced by our old friend Klemens Koehring from the Lost Crown. I'm sure of it. Sounds exactly like him: same accent, same intonations.

Speaking of intonations, I see that some of the written English in the game is just hilarious. Examples: "Empty papers" instead of blank papers. And a real gem: "Wooden door leading to the factory entrails."

And looky! I have acquired a new special power up in the left corner.

Oops! By clicking "exit to the station" I wind up on a cable car ride back to the original location. So I go back.

We have acid dripping from a pipe. I can lift a pot, but that doesn't help. I click it on everything, but make no progress. I do manage to open the gate (good misleading graphics on the numerical pad), but can't get through the door. Look around, look around, look around.

Ooohhh. I find an "asbestos sleeve." So by this I see that some of the hot spots are teensy. I try the sleeve on everything, and find where it goes. I try the pot on everything, and find where it goes. I try that on everything and find out what that does.

But I still can't get through the door. Oh, there it is. I just missed a teensy cursor change.

So I'm in Hall A. Hey! I find a real person and have a conversation that ends with the first (intentional) good joke of the game. Laugh out loud. I look down the rest of the corridor, but the thing that needs to be done here appears to be the gas line puzzle.

So I'll save here and go take care of Dad.

Black Circle (3): Endgame

Oh dear, I am speedy. Yup, I was at the endgame, or just a few steps from it, anyway.

I am mad at myself for looking at a hint before trying all of my items at one point. I just assumed I didn't have the item, but you never know that in this game. Mostly, though, I got through it without actual hints--I think I only looked at two or three. I did look at locations several more times, though. It does get tedious when you don't know where you need to go, although often just finding an inventory item will help clue you in to that. Aha! There's what I need to get into that thing! And off you go.

There is some suspense at the end, but it isn't like you could get killed, or anything. (Is it? Heh.)

Lovely graphics, as always. Except for the wallpaper. Carol said she chose that stuff. Ouch.

There was one weird thing. At one location in the woods there indeed is a circle of black stones. One would think that would have something to do with the title of the game. But we never do anything with it at all. We can't even look at it closely. I presume "black circle" referred to the cult that was operating in the game. Anyway, that was strange.

So, I have no excuse now but to finish the Kirkus books. Well, get 'em done, and then maybe I can find something else to play while waiting for Braken Tor!

The next question is, when is Mikael Nyqvist getting his next game out? Sure hope this isn't the end of the series. This one seemed shorter to me, but it probably wasn't. Had I played all day as I did with the other one, I'm sure it would be about the same length.

And again, it has a much better ending than the earlier games. Didn't just stop. The music added a nice touch of suspense too. Ya never knew when the bad guy was gonna turn up behind you when you were in certain locations.

So, fun as usual, and pretty. Not too challenging, just most enjoyable--for women of a certain age.

Black Circle (2), Having Fun

And I'm having fun with Black Circle. I'm pretty far into the game. Could be approaching the endgame already, but I still have quite few inventory items that are unused, so maybe not.

It's a typical Carol Reed mystery, although Mikael had a bit more fun with this one. First, he himself appears in the game as a transvestite (I recognized him from an earlier game). That had to be fun.

Also, he had Jonas showing around attendees at an adventure game convention who wanted to visit sites used in games in Norrköping. However, Jonas doesn't play those games, because they're just for women. Actually I'd imagine that's true. No doubt I fit the demographic perfectly, too.

But I progress. Finding the janitor's notebook was quite a challenge. Plus, it was only by accident that I found a key I needed. Sometimes I do get lucky. I'd grabbed the contraband buried in the floor, but aaaaalmost missed the key!

I must say that I'm getting rather sick of derelict buildings, though.

Interesting for an American to see all of these Swedish apartments, too. All of them seem extremely small, especially the bedrooms and kitchens. The views are nice, but the only place I wouldn't mind owning is the house in Time Stand Still. At least it had a modern bathroom, much nicer than mine, actually. Plus, they're always, always messy. Guess there's just not enough room to stash stuff. I'm not accusing--my place usually is every bit as bad. I do wonder how Mikael convinces his friends to leave their apartments in their natural state when he photographs them, however.

Anyway, I have explored the possible bad guy's house and retrieved keys of many colors (wait, wasn't that the last game?). I'm ready to go exploring the mine and perhaps enter the sanctum sanctorum of the cult.

Till tomorrow!

Black Circle (1), and Why Not?

Well why not start Black Circle? So what if I just finished another Carol Reed game. I like Carol Reed games.

I decided, though, to stop playing at a reasonable hour. I've made good progress, although I'm sure I'm not a quarter of the way through the game yet.

This time I had no idea what the game was going to be about--or at least, what the mystery is. Didn't look up any reviews. I do worry about poor Carol though. She's always doing work for her neighbors, and never seems to get paid. Maybe she sells her dollhouses?

An interesting note--in the last game, I noticed that two wall clocks were missing their hands. That little mystery never got solved. Now I see the same thing in this game. It's becoming a theme. I'm really curious as to why these handless clocks are all over the place in these games.

At any rate, I got a fairly good start. The Nyqvists are pretty good at moving their games along. The few times I wondered where to go next were solved by looking at the hint book, but not getting any hints. It's most helpful just to know where to go.

Anyway, I'm pretty sure that the kid I'm looking for is the murder victim spotted by Carol's neighbor. Now I'm learning about a weird cult that operated out of a foundery. Wandering around that, I marvel at how Mikael Nyqvist is able to find all these derelict buildings, presumably around Norrköping. I mean, there seem to be dozens of them.

Slowly gathering inventory items right now. So far, except for keys, none of them has been useful, but that's normal in these games. Eventually they will all come in handy.

I note that we've returned to the old Tower, which was used in an earlier game--one of the first two, as I recall. Plus, we're back to the library to do online research.

I saved at the point where Bigge, the crazy janitor, wants his cell phone back, and I have to get him out of the way before I can break into the railroad building. But I still don't have the item I need to get his phone. If only I still had that boat hook from the last game--that would work.

Well, I'll look tomorrow. Until then, it's back to Kirkus books. At least these last two aren't due until November 1st, so I can play for a few hours a day without feeling guilty.

Till tomorrow!

Color of Murder (2): Well That Was Fun

It was indeed, lotsa fun. Finished my extra-zippy review for Kirkus, and had the whole day free to mess around.

Didn't expect to play the rest of the entire game, but I did. And that was with reading to Dad for an hour, and fixing him a very nice dinner, too.

Probably wouldn't have finished but for the in-game hint system, which is pretty good. I forgot about it for about half the game, but it works pretty well to just give you hints if you want them without revealing the solution unless you want that too. I only needed one or two actual solutions. Did almost all of it on my own. Yet, the Nyqvists always have some tricky puzzles, and this game was no exception.

Plus, this is the best game yet. Finally they produced a really finished game, without just stopping at some point and telling you the solution to the mystery. This one allows you to figure out the solution, or at least the culprit. Then there's a very nice cutscene to end the game.

That sports club I remembered must have been from East Side Story. The missing kid in this has a membership to a paintball club, but that turns out to be completely derelict (although not quite as bad as the Station Hotel).

Also, I finally found the little stepladder I needed to get to high places, and later to climb over stuff. I remember now--one of the ways the Nyqvists add length to their games is to have almost all necessary inventory items placed in some location other than where they're needed. But it allows us to wander about and see more of Norrköping, which is fine with me. Half the enjoyment of their games is the scenery.

I was pleased to see that there weren't any action sequences in this one, as there was in East Side Story. That kind of thing just doesn't fit with these games.

So I just played all afternoon, opened up new locations and explored, found items and figured stuff out. Finally it all came together nicely. Plus, that hunka-hunka Swedish gardner, Jonas, is back. Serious scenery right there.

I'm continually impressed with the Nyqvists' devotion to these games. This one was planned out extremely well.

Most enjoyable.

Now then, should I read another Kirkus book, or should I play Black Circle tomorrow?

The Color of Murder (1): Starting Over

It's time to get back to my old friend, Carol Reed!

I had started this game months and months ago, but my hard disc crashed and I lost everything I had on the XP side of my Mac. Among the lost stuff were the first three Carol Reed mysteries from my old reviewing days at Four Fat Chicks. One of their folks had reviewed the first two, and sent me all three so I could play them and review the third game: Time Stand Still. After I finished them all, I sent the games back, but kept them loaded on the 'puter.

The crash took care of that. I saved almost all my stuff on the Mac side because it was pretty obvious that something bad was happening inside the 'puter, so I dragged it all to my Time Capsule. But the XP stuff was un-back-up-able.

I had bought a copy of The Color of Murder and had started playing it. Once the 'puter was fixed I tried loading it again from the CD. But alas, somehow I'd scratched it, and despite about a dozen attempts on two different computers, it would never fully load. I'm poor. I can't just start throwing around $$$ to replace copies of stuff.

But I then found out that Big Fish Games had everything for cheap except the second game, Hope Springs Eternal. So I was able to get new downloads of Remedy, Time Stand Still, The Color of Murder, and the new one, Black Circle. Yay!

To the game:

I really like these games. Primitive, absolutely. But gorgeous. I doubt I'll ever have the cash to do it, but I'd like to visit Norrköping (and Polperro, also). I don't care that the actors are amateurs. As I said in my review of Time Stand Still, these people are the Nyqvist's friends. They ought to be amateurs. It actually adds a sweet quality to the game.

So out I go to Carol's allotment. What is an "allotment," anyway? They seem to have them in European countries. Do people buy, or are they assigned, little plots of land for gardens in the outskirts of towns? Seems so, because Carol just has a shed there. Her garden doesn't seem to be doing very well this year. But we have a new case from her allotment neighbor.

Off we go to the first apartment. I note that the clock on the kitchen wall is missing its hands. I find clues. I find a closet that has an item I can't reach.

Now here's something I don't like. Carol can't reach on top of the shelf in the closet, but right there in the kitchen are perfectly good, solid chairs that could be moved to the closet and stood upon. But no, we have to find some obscure inventory item in some other location and cart it back here to get to the shelf. Humph.

Anyway, I go to the kid's workplace and to a theater. There I find a puzzle that I stumped me in my first try at this game. This time I figure it out and get a key. That gets me into another place, where I turn on the lights in another closet. There I find another door which has a puzzle the Nyqvists have used before: a punch pad with discolored numbers. You should be able to tell which numbers have been punched a lot, and work out the code from that. Maybe not, though, because this time I can't work it out. Perhaps there's a code hidden somewhere, but for now, I'm locked out.

However, I find another location that gets me to the murder victim's apartment. I have his key, thanks to my intrepid puzzle-solving. And in there I find several things: a color-coded box that I'll just bet has something to do with the title of the game. Don't have the code for that yet. His wall clock is also missing its hands, and he's into clock repair. I find a key in a green vase-like thingy that I'll need a paper clip or magnet so I can fish it out. Alas, there are no refrigerator magnets to use, as in an earlier game (I keep hoping they'll recycle some of their puzzles). I do find a tall refrigerator, however, and I need something to stand on for that, too. So eventually I'll find a folding thingy, portable, that I can use to climb up stuff. So far, nothing.

I find the guy's boat. Find a boat hook on that, which you'd think you could use to fish something down from a tall place, but nope.

Something strange: I remember clearly when I played the game last time, I got to a sports club and found clues threre. Haven't found that yet, although I've progressed further in the game this time than I did then. Must go back to the first apartment and look around a bit more. I did find the kid's membership card, but the game didn't add the location to it's map. Maybe I need to manipulate the card a bit more.

All these locations will have to be scoured a bit better, frankly. I just kinda zoomed along in the game at first, really glad to get back to it! But I figured that was enough for a very busy day.

Tomorrow! Back to the colors!

Lost Souls (18): Endgame

Sigh. I finished. Got both endings too.

I should have been able to play this entire game in about a week, and would have done that but for responsibility, and frankly, fear. I let the game get to me. Normally I would have played my heart out in the evenings, but I really didn't want to play this game unless it was daylight.

Well, also, I did want to drag it out. I love Jonathan's games. I'm really hoping that the next TLC game will be every bit as long as the first (sorry Jonathan!)

Plus, it's true that for over a month I had other things that pulled me away from the game. Dad had some problems. I had my first vacation in two years. Kirkus, thankfully, tripled the number of books they sent me. Also, when you stop for awhile, inertia sets in: hey, I really want to get back to my game--tomorrow, absolutely! Nope.

But, sigh, it's done now.

Actually I did get some playing time in on Tuesday, just for about a half an hour before my sister arrived. I did find an item in Matilda's room, but there was no message from Echo.

So, where to go? I never could figure out how to get into Room 2F, which is boarded up (but not crossed out on the map, so I thought there might be a way). Absent that, though, I figured I was finished with the second floor. Tried to get up to "my" room on the third floor and got killed again.

OK, where else do I have unfinished business? Back out to the fire, and at last I learned that I had acquired the item that the fire wanted (not saying where or when I got it). Also, I acquired the last doll (not saying where I got that either).

Back to the owl's hunting ground, and when I got there, wow! Are the ghosts taking over? That's where I saved, and returned to the game today, after I got my Kirkus book done.

At last, the doll puzzle. Clearly, it was time for the endgame. Really, after all this time thinking about the items and clues I have, it was a cinch. Got the last bit of the ringed thingy, and figured out how to work that. The TV movie helped lots, although the same information is available in the book of symbols.

Got a message from Echo about hiding "here." Looked everywhere in the area, but nope, nothing there. Also, tried the ladies room again, but no, there was nothing different in the script there. Dunno why that scissors stash is there by the fire.

Nowhere else to go but back to the third floor. And indeed, Echo tells me to go there. I figure that the ringed thingy would get me up the stairs, and yup, this was a nice effect. Also, when you first get to the third-floor hallway, I swear it tilted back and forth. Very nice indeed.

Leading me to the final major puzzle. Simple, really, Creepy, absolutely. The real problem was figuring out what the dratted puzzle was. However, there really aren't too many possibilities. All you can do is touch stuff, and listen. Eventually it becomes fairly clear what you have to do. It does take a bit of thinking, but that's a well-designed puzzle.

At last, I faced Room 3F. I've got the key. I enter.

Dunno what other players would think of Room 3F, but I loved it. Especially as I happened to pick the more optimistic ending. I remembered a brief episode from much earlier in the game that referred to the optimistic ending, so it all fit together and made sense. Plus, I got to do one more lock pick puzzle.

Went back to see if the other choice was any different, and it sure was! It's probably the choice the Inspector himself would have made, but then, we've already decided that he's a bit mad. Nicely done ending, also. Really didn't expect this game to have a happy ending.

My verdict on the game: A-minus. It would be a straight A except for the moth and "shiny packages" puzzles, which were lame, and a few technical glitches. I though it was a bit too creepy, but that's just my taste. I try not to fault games that don't fit my taste--that's not the game's problem. For folks who want horror games (actually my favorite genre, despite my squeamishness in this game), they won't find a scarier one anywhere.

The graphics were absolutely marvelous. Way too much gore, I thought, but damn, it was well done gore. Just being in that derelict building was enough to keep you on edge, which is the main reason I mostly stuck to my vow to play only in the daylight (although I finished the game well after dark tonight). The mannequins really worked to raise the creepy level. Still don't know why they were there in the hotel, but the effect was splendid. The trash in the hallways, the graffiti on the walls, the excellent eerie sounds (always a major feature in Boakes' games), everything works to grab you right in your reptilian brain, and squeeze.

With the two notable exceptions, the puzzles were really well done and extremely well integrated into the storyline. My favorite episodes, of course, were the flashbacks to 1947 and saving the three Lost Souls (would that we could have saved the rest of 'em!) but actually, those really didn't fit this particular storyline.

I very much wish that I'd just gone ahead and sat down and played the thing in about a week, even if it meant playing at night. I allowed myself to get dragged away, although some of it was unavoidable, but lots of it was just, frankly, because I was scared of this game. Well, that's a tribute to the game.

One of the reasons I started this blog was to give myself another incentive to get back to gaming. There are some long-awaited games coming up soon: Bracken Tor, The Last Crown, Gray Matter. I also want to play the last two Carol Reed games (started one and lost it when my hard disk crashed). I want to get back to playing every day, as I used to do.

I will play Lost Souls again, absolutely! I wound up with a few items in the inventory that were never used, such as the vodka and pills, and a light bulb. Did I miss something? Although I was mad at myself for going to the WT so often--some of that was because I stayed away from playing for such long periods--next time I think I might just print the WT out and follow it. I'll undoubtedly find more stuff, and I really want to get everything that's in there!

Too long, too short? Nope. Quite a nice length for the story it wanted to tell. I'd love to see a prequel to this series. My fave part of both the first and third games were the 1947 bits. It would be great to go back to 1947 and watch the whole saga begin. I'd like to see the old hotel as it was meant to be, and really meet Gloria and Andrew, Matilda, Edith and Betty and all the rest. They're like old friends by this time.

Lost Souls really sets a standard for the horror genre. Let's just see someone try to come up with a game that's creepier and downright more frightening than this one. Go ahead and try.

Lost Souls (17): The Last Time Travel?

Well, I have saved Matilda Fly. My last time travel in the game, I would guess. Actually, Matilda's episode was a lead-pipe cinch. Once I found that I could discern her lines, I was able to get everything right.

Didn't take very long either.

I was responsible. I finished the doorstopper from Kirkus before I allowed myself back into the game. Still have to write the review, but I can knock that out once I finish this blog post.

Won't be able to get to the game tomorrow, as I'm due to get a couple more books from Kirkus (they were scheduled to arrive today, but it's the official celebration of Columbus Day so there were no mail or UPS deliveries). No doubt they'll arrive tomorrow, and I know one has a due date for this coming Sunday, so I'll have to really glom that one.

But tomorrow also is my day out. My sister drives down from L.A. to Dad-sit, and I get to do the shopping. Also, I eat lunch out.

So it may not be until the end of the week before I get back to the game.

I'm determined, though, not to allow days and weeks to pass before I get back to playing my games. By playing hooky yesterday I found that I could relax and have fun and still get my work done in plenty of time. No reason to deprive myself just because I have books to get out.

I intend to finish the game before Friday, unless that new Kirkus book is just impossible.

The fun time is over, though. I most enjoyed the trips back in time to free the hotel guests. Now I have to confront Amy, no doubt. However, I haven't yet found the third doll (maybe it's still in Matilda's room--I haven't left it) so there must still be some things to do before the final battle.

I imagine Echo will contact me as soon as I leave Room 2B.

I will find out before Friday!

Lost Souls (16): Finding Matilda

Just a brief update, 'cause I really do have to finish that Kirkus book before I get back to the game.

Still, I wanted to get to Matilda! First, I went places I hadn't been able to solve previously, because now I have lockpicks. One never knows where a coin might lurk. I tried the lockpicks on the metal toolbox by the fire outside the ladies room and found only another scissors stash. That means, I'm sure, that eventually I'll be killing the Throbbing Thing in the ladies room (as these are simply enormous moth pupae, does that mean that Amy will turn into a giant moth? Doubt that).

But still no coins. Alas, the Station Master's chair turned out not to be a coin-dispensing chair after all.

Reluctantly, I went to the WT. Yes, I was right about what the item was and where to get it, but the WT said, "use the two coins you took from Mr. Bones."

Huh?

By that I knew I'd missed something. However, I've never actually encountered Mr. Bones personally. I only met him through his game in the buffet, and during the TV interview. Nowhere else.

Pondering upon the problem, I realized that I must have missed something in Amy's latest cache, out in the owl hunting grounds. The timing made sense. It's about the right time to find those coins. I figured that the skeletion must be Mr. Bones himself, in person. Amy must have bumped him off. Went there, examined the place more thoroughly, found Mr. Bone's ID card (apparently I had that earlier, but didn't examine it--thought it was Amy's latest party invitation, which I'd read and acted upon), and finally, found the two coins. There. That's a good use of a WT. It didn't give me the actual answer, but jogged my thinking so that I could figure it out.

At last, I got the elusive item, placed everything, and have had my initial conversation with Matilda. I'm now outside her door with the proper glowing symbol, and am ready to enter.

I saved there. Now I have a good incentive to finish that damned book before I reward myself with my Matilda Adventure.

But alas, I note that this was pretty near the bottom of the walkthrough. I gather then, that Matilda is the last ghost I'll be dealing with, besides Amy. Must mean that I'm approaching the endgame.

Will there be no episodes with dear Edith, Betty and George? No saving poor little Timmy or even Tom? Guess not. Damn.

Anyway, must hit the book.

Lost Souls (15): On the Hunt!

I had a fantastic, fun time today with our game! Whoosh! I only had to go to the WT one time, and that was because I was stupid.

So, after games with Amy, I found my way into Andrew Verney's 1947 room. Now this was an excellent puzzle. It was so good that it just about made up for the moth room and the "shiny packages," et al.

Also, I like Andrew. He was a sweet guy even in the first game. It's nice to help him out of Hell.

Had fun looking around his room and found abundant clues, but couldn't find an actual puzzle. After quite enough frustration I hit the WT and learned that I needed to get a photograph. There was a perfectly good clue for that, but I didn't tumble. Once I had that, I was able to proceed very nicely.

I really enjoyed going out into the hall in 1947, and seeing how the hotel was supposed to look during its lifetime. It was a nice little hotel run by nice people, and it didn't deserve what happened to it. Poor hotel.

Found Andrew's next object easily, and clues in his desk told me that I'd be getting into the safe this time. Goody. I couldn't understand why I was unable to open that safe earlier. Had the clue to the "numbers" on it, but not the combination. Clearly, I would get the combination in this episode.

However, I couldn't do much at all, so I went back to the awful "present." Decided I had to explore some more. Bingo! Found my way into another room, this time during the war. An odd thing happened. There's the baby's crib, there's the sound of the baby crying, and I was able to find three items to put in the crib. It wanted a fourth, but I was blasted back into the present before I found it. Still, the next object I needed for Andrew was in the crib. Was it a glitch, or was the game just forgiving? No matter. I got what I needed.

Plus, almost had the game crash while I was putting together the latest torn up letter. Again, the game froze when my cursor was pulled to the left. Fortunately after lots of trying, I got free and all was well after that. Jonathan really does need to get a patch for these jigsaw puzzles.

Found my way into the present-day awful bathroom, and pretty clearly Andrew's items are to be placed in there. Frankly, I don't know why we have to kill these Throbbing Things. I suppose it adds yet another gruesome element to the game, but the atmosphere is creepy enough without that stuff, I think. That's my own taste, of course. If it were more difficult to kill the things--but it's easy. Oh well. A task that has to be done.

Got all three items placed and had a nice conversation with dear Andrew. This time the items are placed during the episode, not at the end. Fine. Andrew gives me the code I've been looking for. I know what it is instantly, and off I go to get the telescope, I think. And I do find it, I think.

But it still wouldn't fit on Andrew's tripod in 1947. Hmmm.

There's his case sitting on the bed, but I need a key. How will I find the key?

Idiot. I have lock picks.

So that worked. After that the puzzle is a cinch. Got all six constellations (similar to Andrew's telescope puzzle in the first game--I like that). Andrew is free! And what's this? Look! If I can manipulate time, so can Andrew! His story gets a happy ending after all.

Good. Andrew deserves it.

So the whole Andrew Verney episode is a really great puzzle. Plenty of layers, some good clues, a little bit of exploration and you can find your way home. Nicely done.

However, Amy really is a little skank, isn't she? Yes, I found my way to the "owl's hunting ground" and used my lock picks again. I found her little stash and her three little boxes. Probably coffins, knowing Amy. I have two dolls now. A third is coming soon, no doubt. Amy is one ghost I'd rather not free. She's quite happy right where she is, and she deserves to be there.

Maybe I'll get to stab her with scissors.

Gad, but the Inspector is an idiot. Or nuts.

However, the order of the symbols in the TV movie is correct, as I suspected. It matches the order in the book. I now have five rings, and at least I know how to line them up when the time comes to do it.

And, I'm off to find Matilda Fly! Easy to get into her room, easy to find two of the objects she wants. I note that we did the object placing at the end of Gloria's episode, in the middle of Andrew's, and now we're placing objects at the beginning of Matilda's. OK.

I know what the third object is. There have been huge clues to that. I know where to get it too, but I need a coin. So I stopped there. Dunno where to find the coin, but if I get playing time tomorrow (might not--more Kirkus books are coming) I'm going to check the place I where found the first coin. Maybe there's another one. Or maybe Echo will give me another clue.

What fun it was just to grab several hours and spend them playing an absorbing adventure game. Dad was watching his Nascar race, so I had the time free. Yes, I should have finished that damned book, but I can whiz through most of that tonight.

So, I'm on the hunt and making sense of things at last!

Lost Souls (14): Being Irresponsible

Today I threw responsibility out the window and went back to my game!

First, we had The Week from Hell, with Dad in the emergency room twice, and then doctors' visits, with our transportation abandoning us at one point. Humph. And then I got a load of books from Kirkus to get done ASAP.

Well, I'm working on a 400-pager that I don't much like, and I'm halfway through, and Dad was sleeping, so I grabbed some time and I played Lost Souls! Completely irresponsible behavior. Hah.

So I was still trapped in the second TV room. I took some good notes on the TV movie regarding the ordering of symbols (if that's even the clue at all), found another missive from Amy regarding angels, and got outta the room. Found lots more eyes. Figured out a cryptic message from Echo that took me back to old haunts. Did have to go to the WT at one point just to get going in the right direction, but after that I was fine.

And at last I have saved a Lost Soul! Got the key to Room 1E, Gloria Grable. At last I went back in time! And woo hoo, now here's a revelation: I had always thought that Matilda Fly was the Sly Fox, in cahoots with Gloria.

It was nostalgic listening to Gloria--my old friend Nanny Noah from Lost Crown. She was my favorite character. Love this actress--she does a nicely subtle job and is completely convincing.

Anyway, I had a good old time sorting through Gloria's stuff, and opening her puzzle box (which was easy peasy--sometimes I do get lucky). Also I killed a Throbbing Thing, just like the one in the ladies room sink, so I know what to do with that when it comes up again.

I did encounter one game glitch. We need three items to help Gloria get released. I got two of them, but suddenly, at one point a bloody bank note just appeared--and I hadn't picked one up. The game seemed to want one more item, so I went back and found Gloria's journal again, and this time I was able to pick up the bank note. After that the game ran fine.

But the stuff in this room is just fun, old-fashioned adventure find-the-item, puzzley stuff, which I like. Gloria has been released, and she gave me lock-picking tools and a clue about bad Amy.

So after that I had to go find a lock to pick. I think I'm finished with all the first floor rooms, so it made sense to go upstairs another flight. And there was a nice padlock. Took me awhile to figure out the sound clues (good thing I played Lost Crown) and I opened it. Ta-Da!

However, by that time it was night, so I just saved. I'll go exploring down the second-floor hallway when I'm feeling irresponsible again. But now that I'm into saving souls, which is the heart of the game, I think, I should be more motivated. Going back in time is not as scary as wandering these decrepit halls.

So today, I had fun! Yay!

Lost Souls (13): I'm Baaaaack!

Who knew that "tomorrow" would mean September 27th? This happens to me sometimes. I just get pulled away from my games. I come back, though!

Explanations:

Stuff happens. My first duty is to my Dad, and that interfered. I can't remember what tore me away from the game. Also, I had a vacation and several more deliveries of Kirkus books (far more than usual but it paid for the vacation).

After the vacation (said goodbye to my beloved pandas at the San Diego Zoo, Su Lin and my special Zhen Zhen, who just returned to China on Saturday), I had a whirlwind of doctors' appointments with Dad.

And then, well, to be honest, I was kinda scared of the game. Really, this is the scariest game I've ever played. That, of course, is a major reason to play it, but I also want to figure it out!

However, at last I decided that today was the day! So . . .

I unashamedly went to the WT, after having been off for so long. In fact, I've had to consult the dratted thing three times today, because again I ran into, shall we say, excessive difficulties. First problem: when I found the blue eye, the scissors kept breaking even when I finally switched the controls to "easy." Turns out, champs, that they will break if you let go at all. You have to keep on manipulating the scissors until the eye pops out. This process takes a long time.

Second, the next "clue" from Echo I figured out (shiny packages), but once again we had the moth problem. You have to grab far, far too many of the things before you find what you don't know you're looking for. I grabbed several, found either nothing or cockroaches, and figured that it was just local color in the game. There either needs to be fewer grabs, or some clue that you have to keep going.

As it now stands, the only clue to keep going is that your progress in the game will halt, and you won't know why. You'll have to go back over everything, and even then, will you grab enough "packages?" Not unless you're just lucky or to keep going and going and going far beyond reason.

This isn't a good way to add difficulty or playing time to a game. Once someone figures out the clue, there ought to be a reward for it. Normally Jonathan is great at that, but now three times (chrysalises, scissors manipulation, and shiny "packages") the player is expected to simply get lucky.

Humph.

Anyway, I am making real progress now. I have found the third sisters book, three eyes of three different colors, lots of mannequins, the last door on this floor that I can't enter yet, and it has a glowing symbol on it (!), and abundant trash. Amy is playing games with me. Echo communicates. I have found my way to the second TV room, and found the knob to run the "program" on the TV. (After my experience with the other three "puzzles" I just kept grabbing things until something popped up. That worked.)

Haven't yet figured out what the movie means. I'll watch it again when I return, and explore the room more. Well, I'll have to explore it more, because Amy has locked me in it.

I really would like to make more progress in this game. I know you kinda go back in time to 1947 and help out our old friends, the ghosts from the first game. I want to do that.

But sheesh. Doesn't look as though I'll get there anytime soon!

Still, I persevere.

Lost Souls (12): ZOOM!

Finally! Progress, real, unadulterated, actual progress has occurred.

I figured during my time off that those glow-in-the-dark chrysalises were too prominent to ignore. I thought, hey, if I grab enough of them something will happen. I grabbed and grabbed. Nope.

I went to the walkthough. Yes, it was time to do that. The puzzle? Just pick the correct glowing chrysalis.

Dumb puzzle.

Why it's dumb: There are way too many chrysalises. Nothing happens when you grab the first 20. Ergo, you just have to get lucky in order to solve the "puzzle." You have to be facing in the right direction. If you start in the opposite direction, as I did, you will be grabbing chrysalises for quite a while. You will become frustrated with the game. You will stop grabbing chrysalises eventually and look up the solution in a walkthrough.

I think my idea of grabbing the pictures in the right order is a better puzzle.

However! I am now zooming along in the game. Not only do I have scissors, I have already used them twice to break into new areas. I have broken one pair and grabbed another one. I found three more pages in the library book, with more symbols. I've encountered Echo and Amy again. I've died again (can't figure out why that happened). I've also made it outside again and can now re-enter through the outside door to the train platform (very nice).

I would happily have continued but I don't have as much playing time today (especially after wasting all that time grabbing useless chrysalises). I think I might visit the unformed giant moth in the ladies room sink and stab it with the scissors. Maybe that's the object the fire wants.

Till tomorrow . . .

Lost Souls (11): Zoom . . . not

After all that anticipation I find myself in the moth room . . . stuck again. My progress in the game is at about the rate of the two creatures pictured above.

There is a puzzle here. I know there is a puzzle here. I know there is a clue. The question is, what is the puzzle, which clue, and what does it mean? I've learned that Boakes leaves clues--usually pretty good ones, but you have to interpret them properly. I find them. I just don't seem to interpret them properly. The can 'n bones puzzle is a good example, and the TV puzzle and the video puzzle. The clues on the walls in that room now are gone--so they must have been clues to the video puzzle which I just sort of stumbled through.

But, I went through the freakin' huge hole in the freakin' wall and now I find myself in a room filled with moth chrysalises dangling from the ceiling and some pictures of moths in various stages of mothic life. To get through the door I need another inventory item. No doubt I will receive it once I solve the moth puzzle (or, I will blow another freakin' huge hole in the freakin' wall). But what is the moth puzzle?

I think this puzzle must be like the video puzzle--just choose the different pictures in the right order. One of the pictures must be the clue--two of them are possibilities for that role. Of added interest is that when I turn off the lights the chrysalises glow. When I grab one it opens up and I find an undeveloped, red, pulsating thing that matches the thing in the sink in the ladies room outside the station. So now I know what that thing is. I went back there, but there's no change in that location.

I have looked at those pictures dozens of times in different sequences. It makes sense that I should follow the development of the moth--but so far nothing has worked. I've scoured the room. I'm confident that I haven't missed anything. I had lots more time for playing today, but have made essentially zero progress.

It just doesn't work. Probably I haven't tumbled to what the real puzzle is.

Well, I'll be gone shopping tomorrow. Maybe by Wednesday some possible solution will pop into my head.

Lost Souls (10): Proceeding!

Progress! And anticipation.

I have examined each and every node that appears to be possible in the hotel. I did find one new thing: I hadn't viewed all of the TV interview between the inspector and Mr. Bones. Their shadows are different. By clicking on the shadows you get more dialogue. Not from the inspector, but Mr. Bones gives more information about where Amy went at her own choosing. She called her "angels" by a dark light, and her angels now live in the hallways.

Nice! However, that new discovery did not advance me any further in the game, at first.

I found the scissors by looking through the keyhole in room 1B, but can't get into the room at all.

Trying to get up to the top floor keeps getting me killed.

To sustain suspense, I'll write today about my impressions so far. First, the graphics are spectacular. My only quibble is that they don't follow the decor of the first game very well. Yes, the layout is mostly the same, but the pictures on the walls are different. The dining room is now a buffet, and that does appear to have a different layout. The door into the kitchen is gone. The reception area is very nicely done and does look like the old one, but where's the restroom at the end of that hallway?

And what, pray tell, are these freakin' mannequins doing here?

Still, the graphics are completely creepy and the building is such a mess that I worry about the state of Mr. Boake's mind. The wall decorations, absent the pictures, really make the difference in turning the decor from creepy into something really frightening.

And of course the sound will scare the casual gamer if the artwork doesn't. Boakes has always done background sounds better than anyone else. The music is enough to keep you permanently on edge--just the right attitude for this game.

Also, I found an old interview with Boakes during my time off the game in which he talked of the attention he pays to camera angles. As a professional photographer with some experience in TV, he knows about such things. I never before realized it, but those camera angles indeed make his games much more interesting. These don't seem like just static shots in what still essentially is a slideshow presentation even if the transitions are smoother than the old-style slideshow in the first game. You just don't notice, really, that it's still a node-to-node slideshow because of the interest the camera angles lends to the scenes. Pretty impressive work. I especially like the shot from the top of the first flight of stairs looking down to the reception area.

And, are these hallways sometimes tilted? The camera angles often make the atmosphere even more uneasy.

Also, I must add that I indeed did find a clue that should have led me to the solution to the can n' bones puzzle. There is a graphic drawn into a book in Amy's overhead cache in the dining room that almost spells it out. Yes, I found that graphic and even copied it down, but I didn't tumble to what it was telling me.

So that's my own fault. I must remember that Boakes plays fair. Next time I'm stuck on a puzzle I must remember to look around. Somewhere there will be a clue.

Still, without consulting the WT I wouldn't have found the coin that I'd missed. I was right to look that up. Otherwise finding that coin would have been pure tedium, and that's not what we play games to experience.

So, back to the present:

There I was, stuck again.

At first, I thought the next step would be to retrace all my steps outside in the hope that I missed something else. Tedious. However, then I thought that I might still be missing something in the video. Went back to that and . . .

BLASTED A FREAKIN' HUGE HOLE IN THE FREAKIN' WALL!

So I can proceed.

But not tonight, because I didn't have enough time. Had cleaning to do, had to cook Dad's Sunday (very nice) dinner, and his friend, who visits us most nights, arrived early.

Ergo, I will have to wait until tomorrow to find out what terrors await me through the hole in the wall.

Doom must wait.