Lost Lands: Redemption Collector's Edition Reviews

Liked it because I've played the others in the series. This game, however, seemed to lack as much documentation, such as journal entries, for much of the action. Despite my familiarity with the series, I ended up randomly clicking just to get through scenes. If you're new to the series, start with Dark Overlord.

Noticed I had this game unplayed on my list. Since I played the others in the series a while back, figured I should deal with it. It seems the Lost Lands have calmed down a bit since your last visit. Sometimes you still go there to… relax? Unfortunately, it appears that calm is threatened by events on Earth. Some people have stumbled upon an ancient artifact related to an old wound. It appears the god of magic of the Lost Lands was killed long ago on Earth. And his heart has now been discovered… rather dramatically. You need to retrieve it before calamity ensues. HO scenes are fun, minigames challenging, and the plot engaging. Recommend in the bundle, just for ease of purchase.

What an excellent installment in the Lost Lands series! There are plenty of rewards for the those who have played from the beginning. If you play on the optimal Hard difficulty you'll be in for a really tough treat. The puzzles are the best I have seen in a HOG almost ever: very difficult at times but very rewarding for the effort when you conquer them. The diversity in puzzles is a 10 out of 10. The re-introduction of the son is a top move as it adds an extra layer of complexity to the story and bounces off Maaron and Susan very nicely. The voice acting is always very good for the most part and it's a large reason why you keep coming back to the series again and again. There are some dark moments in the game, which is nothing new for the series, but you'll almost be reaching for the tissues at some points. There are two major changes to the game which add another level of complexity. The hidden collectibles are much harder to find and less predictable. This could be frustrating for some but geez it keeps it fresh and interesting whilst you complete the main game. Good luck finding them all without the strategy guide. The second is the noticeable graphical overhaul and the game looks stunning, perhaps the best of the series. Environments are beautiful and the variety of locations is terrific. Hidden object scenes are terrifically diverse with even red herrings thrown in now to obscure trying to find legit items. There was only 1 description of looking for a 'bat' that ended up being a golf club, but that is a minor quibble. Overall, one of the best, if not the best of the series, drawing together elements from the earlier games and knocking it out of the park. Cannot wait for the next game from this awesome studio

I love these HO games and have enjoyed playing the Lost Land series though this one could be very irritating at times. Some of the puzzles make no intelligent sense to start with and go on far too long. One of the mini games was moving boards which, once I figured out what to do, took well over 100 moves to complete. That was from the included strategy guide which in this case I had to follow. I know these games aren't supposed to be easy but some of these go too far. On the plus side I think the game looks way better graphically and was fantastic to see another Lost Lands adventure. I do recommend it but buy it on sale. I think many will resort to skipping some of the mini games as they are too frustrating and long winded.

This game had some of the more annoying and tedious puzzles I've encountered in awhile for a HOG. You will definitely want to reference the strategy guide and walkthrough videos throughout playing the game unless you choose to skip most of the puzzles. Everything else in the game was alright with the expected high quality cutscenes and work put into a story that spans across the series. With the puzzles being as annoying as they were, I can't recommend the game at this time.

Reluctant thumbs-up. This is my least favorite of the series (which is very good overall). On the plus side, the video and story seemed better to me than host HOGs I've played. The mini-games were not just the same tired ones we see over and over. It was longer than average. (They are all too short for the cost, but this one was probably 7 hours for me.) On the negative side, I found many of the mini-games to be tedious and I skipped far more of them than is usual for me. The cursor was tiny. I could adjust nothing on my computer to change that. In this type of game, it's aggravating since we rely on the cursor changing as part of game play.

I've played all the prior games and sometimes skip puzzles I find tedious or just can't figure out. But this one is the first I won't recommend. Some of the puzzles are so badly described that you can't figure out what they want without going to the strategy guide. For example a potion making puzzle tells you to use the weights and bowls to figure out your portions. There is a clue telling you the colors and proportions. But you can't pick up the bottles. I went to the guide that gives you the solution. Unfortunately the solution requires you to weigh everything out in that order, which bears no resemblance to the order on the instructions. I spent close to ten minutes trying to figure out why the damn bottles couldn't be picked up. Just skipped it. The gong puzzle is fine except for two lines, then there's no combo that works. Sigh. Off to the guide, feeling like a stupid loser again. Picture of solution, first two steps as I did, third one doesn't even match the game. The picture literally tells me to hit a paddle that isn't even there. Skip. Moving garbage near the start of the game? Magnet will pick up pieces but not move some of them. But after skipping the solution clearly showed at least one of the immovable ones moved. One of the HO minigames has "Bat" as an item to find. After clicking on a baseball bat multiple times, then looking for an animal type bat, I gave up and selected hint. It went straight for a golf club. I don't know if the original team is farming stuff out but I'm really not impressed. Too bad, I liked this series.

This game is a perfect example of "be careful what you wish for". I was so disappointed when the audio didn't work, but now that they've fixed it, I almost wish they hadn't. The disappointment of not being able to play the game was better than the rage-inducing frustration caused by this game. I honestly have no idea how this game has so many positive reviews. I'll admit up front that I'm not a hardcore gamer. I play casually as time permits. Having said that, I very much enjoy puzzle games and don't typically have any problems with them (and that includes all of Five-BN's other games). This game, however, was simply infuriating. frozenFire782's review is right about the mini-games, and that's what makes this game infuriating. I played it for 90 minutes (the first 70 minutes of my 2.7 hour "playtime" was the initial time spent trying to get it to work and then diagnosing the audio issue), and 80-90% of that time I was miserable. As much as it pains me, I do not plan on finishing this game. Simply put, the mini-games are rage-inducing. They are not logic-based; they are trial-and-error. For example, the first mini-game you will encounter is the typical "Hey, you have to climb out of this hole using these handholds, but some of them (read: all except for one per step) are loose and you'll fall all the way back to the bottom when you grab them". That one will probably take at least 50 tries unless you're extremely lucky. Another mini-game has you placing "memories" (pieces of a picture) around a room. It begins great, with just enough of the picture giving you an indication where the piece belongs, but then they throw in several pieces which have absolutely no indication where they belong. They don't match anything at all in the room, so you spend 15 minutes per piece, picking the piece up, moving it a millimeter to the side, placing it down, seeing that's not the correct placement, and then repeating this several hundred times until the gods take pity on you (or you finally give up and skip it). The puzzle on which I finally had enough was one in which you have to string together extension cords to power four or five lights from one generator. As soon as you connect a plug (either from a light or from a power strip) to a power strip, you can't move the power strip, so to move it even a tiny bit, you have to unplug everything from it. The cords are so short that there is exactly one solution, and you will be very thankful that the strategy guide has the answer (unless, like me, you finally say "enough is enough" and stop playing). I don't know why Five-BN decided to take such a radically different route with this game, but this one is far different than all of their past games -- 1) complete trial-and-error mini-games rather than logic-based, 2) mini-games that take 15+ minutes each instead of a few minutes, 3) they removed profiles so you can't have multiple people playing the game (each with their own progress), and 4) the used a new engine (which is what caused the no-audio problem on Windows 7). I'm sure I would have found many more differences if I had decided to play longer, but it's not worth the frustration. I play games for fun, and this one just wasn't fun.

Nice addition to the series. Worth knowing before you play (no spoilers): - in one of the HO scenes (the one to find a ladder) you have to find a "bat". There IS a baseball bat, but "golf club" is what you have to click - there are a few longer-than-fun action puzzles that I skipped - there are a bunch of long Tower of Hanoi puzzles that I skipped as not fun

This is the 7th game in the Lost Lands series. It's more fun to play them in order because certain characters appear across all the games, BUT you can play them out of order and still enjoy it. This is not my favorite entry in this series, but it is a decent entry nontheless. Really the only downside is the Jimmy character being pretty whiny at the beginning, but he comes around. I heartily recommend Hidden Object games made by this developer, Five-BN, because of the cost. I've played this game for 11 hours and I still haven't beaten the extra puzzles that come as a bonus feature. Five-BN games are always under $8. Artifex Mundi, however, sells their newest games for $15 and I often beat them in 3 hours. Five-BN is definitely superior in terms of "getting your money's worth." I think Five-BN has comparable artwork and storylines to AM. They have the same weird lapses in logic. But Five-BN offers, in addition to a bonus chapter of the story, bonus jigsaw puzzles and other puzzles that you can solve for more achievements. And if there's an achievement that says "finish this puzzle in this amount of time" -- you can go into the extras from the main menu and play that one mini game over and over until you get it right, without having to play through the whole game again. TL;DR: A solid entry in the Lost Lands series, if not the best story compared to the previous 6 games. Best value for your money compared to Hidden Object games by other developers. Well worth your time.