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(More customer reviews)Best friends, Lydia and Celeste were separated eight years ago when, after the death of her mother, Celeste's father became a director of the far-off Dragonvale Academy. Now Lydia is about to start her first day as a student of magic at Dragonvale and looks forward to being reunited with her friend. But when she arrives, she finds the academy deserted except for one odd character: a wolf who claims to be a dragon. Where is everybody? What's going on here? Can this wolf really be trusted? These are just some of the questions you must answer as you explore the school.
Keepsake, the first game from the Canadian Wicked Studios, is a lovely 3D point and click adventure in the tradition of Syberia. And I mean "lovely" literally: the first thing to strike you is the beauty of the environments. The castle is ornate with knotwork motifs and colour themes, making exploration a pleasure. There isn't a lot of animation, but what there is is well done; the water effect was especially nice. Characters are slightly less well-realised, but still quite good.
The sound is also quite good. The music is beautiful, with a different haunting motif for each character and section of the castle. The f/x are somewhat limited and a bit repetetive: lots of footsteps and bird calls, fire and water sounds, etc. However, they fit well with the design of the rest of the game, so I can't complain. I'm very surprised to see so many complaints here about the dialog. I really saw nothing wrong with it or the voice acting. Rather, conversation is used to explain points that are not necessarily elucidated by the action (the philosophy of the magical system, for example) as well as to develop the characters and their relationships. I considered that good writing, not the opposite.
The game starts with a cute little tutorial, in which one of the other game characters leads you through the controls. I kind of liked that, as I dislike reading manuals and it obviated the need for the kind of introductory sequence you find in a lot of games of this type; you coul just jump right in. The puzzles are quite a mix: several straight "games," a couple mechanical, including one that's quite involved, some riddle-type, some inventory, a kind of slider, and a huge maze (not counting the castle itself, that is). There are no timed puzzles and you can't die. I liked the way the inventory worked: once you had acquired the requisite item, it was automatically used in the relevant spot. So you didn't have to keep opening your inventory, picking up the item, clicking it on the hotspot, etc. As for the rest, they were fairly straightforward...EXCEPT for the riddle-type. The clues provided were so obscure that I can't believe anyone but the designers could possibly make sense of them. Fortunately, the game includes a hint feature, which give three hints for each puzzle, after which it offers to solve the puzzle for you. I had to use the "solve" feature once, when even having the clues explained didn't do much to enlighten me. But when you use the "solve" feature, you don't actually get to see the solution, just the result of it. So I still don't know what that puzzle was about!
The hint feature also will tell you if you don't have the prerequisistes necessary to continue a puzzle. If you use it when you're not in puzzle-view, it will clarify your next objective. I found both these aspects very helpful.
I did experience one bizarre glitch with the game: at intervals, without reason or warning, the sound would suddenly start to stutter and echo in a most annoying way. Adjusting game settings had no effect. I eventually discovered that I could correct the problem by exiting the game and rebooting my computer. This seemed to be necessary once every couple hours.
I completed Keepsake in about 25 hours--possibly a little more. I was deligthed that it kept me busy so long as most adventure games these days barely provide 10 hours of play. Some of the second part of the game did get a little draggy, with a lot of toiling back and forth through the castle. However, Keepsake is a good choice for gamers who like straight adventure in a fantasy context. But for the glitch and a couple illogical puzzles, I would have given it five stars. I eagerly look forward to Wicked Studios' next effort!
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This epic quest will take you on a journey of enlightenment leading you to the gates of Dragonvale Academy where you will become an apprentice. Your best friend Celeste is a scholar there at the Academy; however upon your arrival you discover something is terribly amiss… The campus is deserted and Celeste is no where to be found! After stumbling upon one of Celeste's most treasured keepsakes, you suddenly realize that treachery and sorrow lurks in the halls of the Academy. You must uncover the mystery behind Celeste's disappearance, Dragonvale Academy and the beloved keepsake… Accompanied by a charmed dragon named Zak, Lydia must quickly overcome trials in The Chamber of Passage, understand the secrets of the runes and glyphs, and master the forces of magic to uncover the mystery behind Celeste's disappearance, Dragonvale Academy and the beloved keepsake…
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