Developer: Ironcode Gaming
Publisher: KISS ltd
Platform: PC
Pahelika: Secret Legends – Review
Hidden object games with the point and click mechanic in combination with puzzle contraptions and riddles have always been a big thing throughout the gaming history. Over the course of the years, this genre has been adapted to many brilliant games, providing the player with great and hilarious narratives. Pahelika: Secret Legends, brought to us by Ironcode Gaming – the same developers of Pahelika: Revelations – may fall into the same category but it does not quite do the genre justice.
Story
The narrative in Pahelika: Secret Legends starts off with an old fairy tale saying: “Once upon a time” and continues the tale of how the peaceful town Roop Nagar in the mighty kingdom of Magadha has fallen into the hands of hordes of demons. Its King, banished to the wilderness when the demons claimed the town, came back one day and demanded a duel with the invincible leader of the demons. The ex-king had found a book, a powerful magical artifact, which he used to defeat the demons. Pahelika, the magical book, was to be kept in the safekeeping by the monks of the old order. That is, until you came along.
The storyline is certainly not the best part of the game, nor is it very original or refreshing but it will do.
Graphics
At first glance, the visuals seem horrendous but that is mostly due to the fact that you are met with storytelling cutscenes that will remind anyone of abstract and lousy drawn comics. The graphic design for the locations is luckily better than the cutscenes but it is still not great. Some scenes are great and have a good depth, others are rather dull while even others simply have too many patterns for it to look remotely good. It is as if certain scenes have received more attention than others, which seem rushed and it makes up for some confusing visuals. If that isn’t bad enough, the Pahelika games seem to share several locations which you will visit. This truly makes the game far from refreshing if you want to play them both.
Sound
The sound design is not something to write home about. The ambiance sound may become a small annoyance after a time but the overall sound design is okay. As for voice-acting, there isn’t much of it. The small periods of voice-acting you’ll come across are the ones during the storytelling cutscenes and these are not quite pleasant to listen to – the voice is rough and manages to tell the story in an uninterested tone.
Gameplay
If the narrative, visual and audio design isn’t that good, you’d think that the gameplay and its mechanics will make up for it but it doesn’t. The point and click mechanic loses its touch by having every useful item glow up if you hover over it. Other than that, the game utilizes the puzzle contraptions a bit too much for my own liking for it to truly feel like a point and click hidden object game or simply a puzzle game.
There are a few variants of puzzles that come back, which would be positive if the puzzles weren’t that childish or illogical. The re-occurring puzzles you’ll be facing are sequence puzzles, jigsaw puzzles, slider puzzles, combinations locks, riddles, setting levers and buttons in a correct position and a few others less obvious ones. Most of the puzzles aren’t difficult, in fact many of them are far too easy while some are simply guesswork. The same can be said for the riddles. Some of them are easy while others feel like they were asked by The Riddler himself.
North or south, east or west,
you cannot rest, are you the best?
When the west is south and the south is north,
the north is east and the east is west,
only then will you pass this test.
That being said, there are six main locations you’ll be teleported to. Each location has their own set of challenges to overcome so you may find a portal back home. During each of these teleportation’s, the story is further explained through the means of cutscene until you’ve managed to get a hold of the mysterious Pahelika.
Conclusion
If you are found of hidden object games with intriguing narratives and puzzles that actually require your brains to overheat, I wouldn’t recommend Pahelika: Secret Legends. The narrative is generic, the visuals are far from great and the sound design isn’t quite delightful to listen to. To top it off, the puzzles are far too easy when they don’t require guess work. However, the game would be a great way to keep young children busy with a narrative about spells, golems and the likes.
Pahelika: Secret Legends - Review,
No Comments