Wanderlust: The City of Mists

I’m glad I did. I’ll admit I thought Mad Head was too “quirky” for me. Some games were too sci-fi/Steam punk-ish. Not a fan of HOAG where I have to put machinery together. I usually agree with some old school gamer reviews but not the negative one. I thought at first it might be a little “janky” & I’d be clicking everywhere but I stuck it out & so glad I did. Yes Collins character is annoyingly smug, but that’s the point! Mad Head are you still around? If so please give more fantasy w/o sci-fi a try. Anyone know of ones I might of missed or wrote off as too Sci-Fi? I’m getting desperate for quality HOAGs (but admit I’ve found some older games/developers that I never would’ve given a try & found some gems💎) When it comes to this specific game..Awesome interactive gameplay & rich characters/storytelling. Bravo 👏🏻

After Mad Head fixed the unlock problem, I finally was able to play. There was much to accomplish in this adventure. The graphics were beautiful and you were able to use some super powers. At times this game was actually hilarious. It was lengthy, ingenious and creative. I do wish that the strategy guide was not such a pain to access and use. All in all, it was a good game, but the lack of touchscreen sensitivity was somewhat annoying. Also the hint button is quite useless. When I was using inventory that should have worked but didn’t, I second guessed myself. The hint button won’t show you what needs to be utilized. At times I thought I wouldn’t be able to figure out the solution to a problem, and I never resort to a strategy guide. The puzzles/ games were repetitive. Some of the tasks were extremely confusing, and as a rule I always know what to do. Also this developer uses way too many runes in the HO scenes and mini-games. I prefer the older games from Mad Head. They were more enjoyable and playable. This game had too much esoteric weird stuff, and it bored me after a while. In addition some of the collectibles were very hard to find due to the graphics being extremely intricate or else very dark. I just didn’t love it. My rating will remain at 3 stars.

I have okayed a zillion of these games and have never bothered to write a review before, but I enjoyed this so much I felt compelled to do so. The vibe of the game was super tongue in cheek, which I loved. I know others have said they found Collins annoying, but I found him hilarious. He reminded me of Kenneth Branagh’s portrayal of Lockhart in Harry Potter—pure ego but mostly harmless, and almost endearing in his absurdity. I was particularly amused by his ability to break the fourth wall. Seriously clever, and a level of intelligence and thoughtfulness unusual for this genre. The mechanics aren’t perfect; the inability to perform certain actions out of sequence or prior to triggering the dialogue was annoying, and there were a fee places where you had to click in a ludicrously specific spot. Overall, though, the writing outweighed these minor flaws—and the reusable toolkit was brilliant! As another reviewer noted, its always irritating to have to find 17 pointy things throughout a game, so this innovation was hugely appreciated. The graphics were lovely as well. I was sad to finish this one and will certainly play again. The bonus chapter was a true bonus, with adorable lizards and a reasonable amount of plot. I would love to see more of Collins (10/10 would buy a Collins series if it were this funny and whimsical). Many thanks to the developers (and the writers especially)for this one!