Blackthorn Castle 2

Most everything relevant has already been noted by previous reviews, and evidently the annoyances have already been addressed or fixed accordingly. What I enjoy the most is the fact that nearly all the puzzles demand your attention and a pleasing amount of thought, without becoming overburdened or impossible to complete. I would note that one or two “puzzles” did seem to be absent any discernible logic (but it be fair, it might just be me), but all were eventually solvable. Thank you to all devs involved for crafting a series(?) of light games that are fun and ultimately enjoyable, absent any lasting frustrations. There’s always room to pick nits, but overall a fair investment for the enjoyment afforded.

Updating from my previous review - thanks to the developer for the speedy fix to the hints bug; the hints now work perfectly again. You’re awesome! But it appears that the hints - which I *paid* for - are now gone. The “link” to a video, which is offered instead, doesn’t even go to a video for this game - the video appears to be for Blackthorn Castle, not Blackthorn Castle 2. And even if it was for the correct game, sending the player outside the game, rather than within, is *not* an improvement - it’s an annoying distraction. If this is the change intended to make the hints free, then I want the extra money I paid for hints *back.* However, what I’d really prefer is to have the in-games hints I paid for, back. Help me with that and I’ll bump my rating up to 5 stars. :-)

Just like the other Syntaxity games, this one provides a few hours of hunting, searching, and puzzle solving. Nothing annoyingly tricky here puzzle-wise, but enough to scratch that puzzle solving itch. I like that the Syntaxity games make an effort to have the game tell a story, even if they are a tad silly. I also really appreciate that the games don’t revolve around darkness, psychological scariness, blood, and gloom as seems to be the trend with some in this genre. This is just me, but I prefer to solve puzzles without the lurking threat of zombies, mutants, monsters, and evil cabals (which is why I’m such a fan of the House of DaVinci games). Longer and more complex than the original Blackthorn Castle (which I also liked), if you enjoyed others in this series, you’ll get your money’s worth on this one. The Enchanted Worlds and Rescue the Enchanter are my other faves from Syntaxity. As with all of their games, this one does offer hints, but you shouldn’t need them, if you’re patient. This game, like all the others, also offers an ability to zip around the expansive map (over 100 different locations in this one), if you want to spend an extra $.99 for that feature (I don’t particularly mind tromping back and forth, since a second, third, or fourth look at a location often reveals something I missed the first time). Good addition to the lineup.