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MCF Dire Grove, Sacred Grove
Dec. 29th, 2017 08:13 pmA new computer and time to play meant that I could finish Big Fish Game’s Dire Grove, Sacred Grove game over the holidays. I had started it a few years ago, but couldn’t finish because my computer was too slow. The cursor - custom cursor turned off - sloooooowly moved across the screen. It was terrible! I gave up not even halfway through the game.
It’s been years since I played a Mystery Case Files game and it was so fun to return to that world. I used to look forward to getting a new MCF game every American Thanksgiving, although the games have never been quite the same since BFG closed their studio down. The world of mystery hidden object point and click games is fiercely competitive I guess, with a lot of Russian and Chinese studios being able to offer cheap games. The result, unfortunately is that the games look, sound and act a bit cheap. The original Dire Grove had lush backgrounds, interesting music and fantastic environmental sounds that most of these games don't have. BFG kept raising the bar for MCF games until the studio shut down. The snark that made the games so delightful started to disappear and, well, the games started looking like Russian or Chinese games. Dire Grove, Sacred Grove, narrowly avoids this and Elephant Games did a great job producing the game. I say this because I started on the next game in the series, Key to Ravenhearst, which I’ll review when I finish :-D
Basically, as the MCF detective, you return to Dire Grove and once again find it frozen over again due to the power of the spirit of the forest. The local druids and hunters blame each other and a really interesting story unfolds as you work through all the puzzles. The story was top notch and not too predictable. I played on the hard level, so there were minimal hints. If you care to, you can play on insane level with no skip button :-D I skipped over a few of the super puzzles that marked the end of each chapter. The super puzzles are just one giant puzzle where you have to figure out what goes where. It often involves doing things in the right order or, at least, a highly specific order. One of the puzzles was ridiculously obtuse and I couldn’t follow along with it using the strategy guide. At that point the puzzle wasn't fun!
I really enjoyed Dire Grove, Sacred Grove overall, and because I bought the collector’s edition, there were bonus chapters and extra puzzles, including an alternate ending. Maybe it was the first draft of the story or they coded it and realized it wasn't going anywhere. It was still challenging, but I’m glad they didn’t go with it because it wasn't as powerful. The story would have ended in a very lame, overused way. Perhaps one of the reasons that I enjoyed it so much was that I simply could be absorbed in a game for hours. That hasn't happened for a very long time because my computer was too slow and I barely have time to sit down at it these days. It was like playing a good book!
It’s been years since I played a Mystery Case Files game and it was so fun to return to that world. I used to look forward to getting a new MCF game every American Thanksgiving, although the games have never been quite the same since BFG closed their studio down. The world of mystery hidden object point and click games is fiercely competitive I guess, with a lot of Russian and Chinese studios being able to offer cheap games. The result, unfortunately is that the games look, sound and act a bit cheap. The original Dire Grove had lush backgrounds, interesting music and fantastic environmental sounds that most of these games don't have. BFG kept raising the bar for MCF games until the studio shut down. The snark that made the games so delightful started to disappear and, well, the games started looking like Russian or Chinese games. Dire Grove, Sacred Grove, narrowly avoids this and Elephant Games did a great job producing the game. I say this because I started on the next game in the series, Key to Ravenhearst, which I’ll review when I finish :-D
Basically, as the MCF detective, you return to Dire Grove and once again find it frozen over again due to the power of the spirit of the forest. The local druids and hunters blame each other and a really interesting story unfolds as you work through all the puzzles. The story was top notch and not too predictable. I played on the hard level, so there were minimal hints. If you care to, you can play on insane level with no skip button :-D I skipped over a few of the super puzzles that marked the end of each chapter. The super puzzles are just one giant puzzle where you have to figure out what goes where. It often involves doing things in the right order or, at least, a highly specific order. One of the puzzles was ridiculously obtuse and I couldn’t follow along with it using the strategy guide. At that point the puzzle wasn't fun!
I really enjoyed Dire Grove, Sacred Grove overall, and because I bought the collector’s edition, there were bonus chapters and extra puzzles, including an alternate ending. Maybe it was the first draft of the story or they coded it and realized it wasn't going anywhere. It was still challenging, but I’m glad they didn’t go with it because it wasn't as powerful. The story would have ended in a very lame, overused way. Perhaps one of the reasons that I enjoyed it so much was that I simply could be absorbed in a game for hours. That hasn't happened for a very long time because my computer was too slow and I barely have time to sit down at it these days. It was like playing a good book!
