Dream Hills: Captured Magic Reviews

Despite some problems, this casual point-and-click adventure is still quite fun. Its strength is its goofy tone. The story is a silly patchwork of fairy-tale nonsense, which ends up delightful because it doesn't take itself seriously. The characters are funny! The problems are in gameplay. In the hidden-object scenes, instead of hiding objects in plain sight they are sometimes obscured, fuzzy, behind other objects, or poorly named. They also need pixel-perfect click accuracy. Also, the point-and-click adventuring doesn't always make sense. For example, [SPOILER]I was confused as to why I could not add potion ingredients to a cauldron until the hint button told me to add them to recipe scroll instead. Huh?[/SPOILER]. Luckily, the hint button will usually get you out of trouble.

pros + a fine story is inspired by fairy tales + two difficulty options + gorgeous looking and colorful graphics + nice variety and fun puzzles. you can also combine items in your inventory and make new things + hidden object scenes fun + relaxing background musics + hint button is helpful cons - no voice overs - sort of kid game and very easy - some tedious slider and trial error puzzles - no map - no achievements and cards - no bonus chapter Overall this is an fine and casual hidden object puzzle game.

A decent enough point-and-click HOG, although not without its issues. As for the art, it's generally nice, except that HOG scenes are generally very dark and frustrating. There's also some pixel-hunting. As for the minigames, there's a good variety and they can be challenging. As for the point-and-click puzzles, well, the solutions aren't always obvious, but the hints in the protagonist's dialogue and the tasklist certainly are. That was fine for me because I was playing in a different language for practice, but if that's not the case for you, then it effectively erases all challenge from the game. As for the story... well, the idea is interesting, but the developers certainly took some liberties with the what they call "characters you have known and loved since childhood." In particular, Snow White now seems to be a black BDSM dominatrix, which I do not remember from my childhood. Also, the text in the opening cutscene was completely corrupted (at least in the Czech version), so I just missed the entire first part of the story. Also, this game sort of crashed every time I exited it, and I had to alt+ctrl+del to actually close it and restore the ability to operate my computer. But, well, if you don't mind all these things, then the game is pretty decent.

I enjoyed the first half of this game until I realised that I would have to use the hint button continually to work out where to go. The puzzles were pretty easy all except one that I couldn't be bothered doing. The story was ok, but I just wanted it to end. There are no achievements and no bonus chapter. Took 4.2hrs and that was cheating to find the next location.

Just okay. The graphics are gorgeous but the game has maybe two or three music soundtracks so the game soon becomes very repetitive. The puzzles are okay but the developer used the HOG trope of a dark palate to increase the dificutly in finding objects. Also the game has no map so there is a ton of walking back and forth. Fortunately the journal is great at telling you what to do so you will not be completely lost. Overall, while I was disppointed in the final product (I expected way more) I can still recommend the game becasue it truly is a casual game. I got the game in a bundle so I feel I got my money's worth.

I loved it! There is a nostalgic charm that combines kids' games and fairytales, that is so wonderfully relaxing for an old soul. I love the character design, the pokemon-esque soundtrack, and the puzzles. My only criticism is that it's too short - I'd love to play 100+ hours of this! There are no achievements, to exp hunting or grinding, just plain old enjoyment with no pressure! Highly recommended!

not bad of an HOG with really good sound tracks and amazing artwork...... just no full resolution option which forces you to use the windows magnifier tool just to see the game especially if you have a high resolution monitor like me :( but due its original release date in 2013 i won't complain about it. pros. great artwork nice sound tracks ok game play time (almost 3 hours for the main story) ok story cons. no full screen option (use windows magnifier tool) no bonus story no voice acting very slow paced transitions from area to another.. very annoying you give a pig a pie and he enjoy it saying my brother make amazing manure pie GG! xD i enjoyed playing this game and do recommend it tho mind the lack of full screen option. try to get it on sale as there are a few better options for this price even if it isn't really much. 6/10

I hesitated to buy this because of the negative reviews, but I'm glad I did. It is a good solid HOG Adventure game. I wish it had a map, but the hint button works fine. It does not make you wait to reload if you just need to know which direction to take. Good story, artwork is gorgeous, and the puzzles are good but can be skipped. The HOS have mostly decent graphics. Sometimes areas were to dark for me to see. New locations are always opening up, so this is a good memory challenge.

I really hate pixel hunting. Especially when you can see what you need to click on, but you have to get it juuuuust right.

Disclaimer: I love hidden object games. I own more than I publicly admit, and I play them obsessively, usually until I get all of the achievements. And sometimes I play them for fun even after I finished all the achievements. I even work towards getting a badge in every game. I'm including this information so you understand that I'm not a newbie when it comes to hidden object puzzles or games. That being said, I found that I just don't like "Dream Hills: Captured Magic" even though I honestly wanted to like it. The story is simple but interesting, with fairy tale creatures and characters from a variety of stories. The artwork is good, not spectacular, but good. The problem I have is with the hidden object puzzles themselves. More than once I've had problems finding an object, only to finally discover it in the darkened edges of the play area. It feels like the developer couldn't be bothered trying to blend objects into the scene, so defaulted to making the object physically difficult to see. So if that doesn't bother you, then by all means get the game. But it bothers me enough and makes the gameplay not fun enough that I'm not finishing the game. You've been warned.