Lake Ridden

Decent little puzzle-adventure-exploration game. Suffers a bit from artistic choices that impair visibility, and personally I find the maps too big and full of 'fluff' for the puzzles they contain. Nonetheless, give this a try if you're into the genre.

This game is visually pleasing and the puzzles are just hard enough to use helpful in game hint system. I would highly recommend this game for anyone who enjoyed the Myst series, Call of the Sea, or HER games. I rave about it to my gamer friends all the time.

I had a lot of fun with this - I must say that I forgot that I had a dang map, so I spent a *lot* of time wandering around, which could have been avoided - but the setting is quite lovely during the day (when sunny and clear), and it's a gorgeous, moody place at night (when gloomy and fog-bound), so I'm not complaining. The buildings were well rendered even though drawer and closet contents were mostly identical unless something obviously important was inside. I wasn't surprised in the story when we learn that a structure in the compound had burned down -- lighting loose candles and lanterns everywhere I went made me think I'd be burning something down, myself... But lighting everything along my way was a good way to know where I'd already been. The mechanics were good, in my opinion. I used WASD/keyboard and my mouse and had little difficulty. Sometimes the "running" wasn't very fast - but it was when I was crouched, so it makes sense realistically. I liked that the letters/journals etc. were all saved in the inventory, and it was helpful that specific objectives were outlined under a tab in the notebook. I did find it weird and jarring that after a puzzle box was solved, the voice-over narration had the tone of a grown-up praising kindergartners for reciting their abc's ("Congratulations for solving the ... puzzle box, kids!") Maybe that was in character with the narrator and consistent with some nuance to the character I didn't catch onto, but it felt bizarre. That said, the puzzles weren't super easy at all. They varied in difficulty, whether figuring out solutions in the game-play to keep the story moving or solving specific puzzles. Some puzzles were pretty tough and I sought help with the hint system, but most of the time I could figure them out. The story was good, in my opinion, if a little loose. Anyway, I really enjoyed this game and it was a satisfying finish!

Short review: Lots of stumbling about in the dark and fog. You can light every lamp and open every drawer which is fun until it isn't. Some really great puzzles! And a mostly helpful 'hint' system. Some annoyingly repetitive puzzles. And a spooky story which is never quite fully explained. All in all, quite enjoyable! ^-^ Some can play it in 10-12 hours, it took me 15. Mostly wandering around trying to find 'the master bedroom' (which was earlier called the 'master study'), 'the wooden gate by the trees' (it looks like part of the fence) and the 'burned out building' which was actually the laundry. You're welcome. ;) --- First, graphics - gorgeous. I am a big fan of first person puzzle games, I love the feeling of being there. However, the first third was at night, and stumbling around the woods in the dark is tedious. The middle third was the day, kinda? Dusk? a kind of hazy gold. And the last third is evening in the fog. Which makes it a little difficult to admire the surroundings. However, As you get close to an object, building, or puzzle, it is rendered beautifully so you feel immersed in the game. Gameplay - I only experienced a little stutter when I came across an auto-save spot, otherwise it was pretty smooth, though the mouse sensitivity at times made the puzzles difficult to click on individual buttons or manipulate dials. There is no user Save feature, so you are at the mercy of the game. Have to leave? Be prepared to redo a few things. I have to give credit to the game devs, the Estate is magnificently designed, with 3+ floors of rooms and a courtyard of adjacent buildings, all filled with what you could realistically expect in a place so huge. Boiler, laundry, bedrooms, book cases, desks, distillery. You can light every lamp and open every cupboard and drawer which seems cool, until you open about a thousand. Unfortunately most contain junk and a teeny percentage contain critical clues. If I never have to open another drawer it will be too soon. Lamp lighting is slightly more useful, as it can help you keep track of places you have been and find your way in the gloom. I'm sure there's an achievement for lighting all the lamps, I just got bored of it. Puzzles - there was quite a variety of puzzles! I am a massive puzzle gamer and I have played oodles, good and bad. I would say this is middling. Earlier in the game the puzzles were more intuitive, and I only had to consult the 'hint' system for one in order to figure out the goal of the puzzle which was unclear. Later, they become more cryptic to the point I had to google a walkthrough because the hint system was like 'look closer' which was unhelpful. Still, the hints were good for the most part, nudging you toward figuring out the solution yourself. That said, there are some very very repetitive puzzles. The puzzle boxes. By the time I reached the end I wanted to strangle the game devs. A few less would have been fine, and the reward doesn't seem to match the frustration involved. Music - the music is calm and peaceful, except when it isn't, which sets a mood. Though there is one segment with creepy children humming as bgm and I had to turn down my speakers because it weirded me out. Story - This I'm a little torn. You play as Marie who is searching for her sister Sofia who has gone missing in the middle of the night when camping. Marie simultaneously is in the present, yet seems to be telling the story in the future ('You may wonder why I did this, at the time I was desperate to find my sister'). Then you stumble upon an estate owned by an eccentric scientist and discover that some spooky things happened back... when? The place is abandoned, in shambles. Notes are scattered about with no signatures. This happened/are happening, with no context. And the people you 'meet' are ghosts who are invisible or don't even talk to you directly. You meet a little girl (?) and a person who I thought was a girl but is actually a young woman, who may have also been psychic? That part is never explained. As is the ending. It's not an unsatisfying ending, and it does... kinda... explain what's been happening. But it leaves as many questions as answers. The unique puzzles were engaging, the story kept me curious, the graphics were immersive, and the spooky atmosphere was intriguing. If you don't mind the repetitive puzzle boxes (which slowly grow in complexity), and wandering around in the dark/fog, then you will surely count this as a highly enjoyable puzzle game.

Nardzo przyjemna gra, z chilloutową muzyką, fjna historia z happy endem :)

Was an interesting game, but the puzzles sometimes felt unnecessary at times, would have been nice to see a bit more from this developer but they seem to have called it quits

Immersive, escapist, challenging and engaging,

Крайне посредственная головоломка.