Mystery stories is the latest title in the current crop of hidden object games to be ported to the DS console and is published by by Avanquest Software Publishing .As with all good quality hidden object game there is an accompanying adventure storyline to bring the gameplay together and set a theme.
Mystery stories revolves around journalist Michelle Deanfield who,while holidaying on a Caribbean Island ,gets wind of a kidnapping and a murder. Looking for clues players start off by searching locations such as Mayan caves, hotel rooms, a museum,the beach and,as the game progresses,you will be transported to Berlin
Characters are displayed in good quality real life photographs and the background graphics are good too. In most scenes there is movement such as a butterfly or tropical bird flitting across the screen which ,when accompanied with the ambient sounds did enliven the scene. However, and I consider myself quite experienced in the hidden object gaming genre, I did find some of the objects quite hard to find but I think this could be overcome by just sharpening some of the edges – everything else is perfectly in place in Mystery stories to compete with the dominant franchises in this genre.
Along with the obvious tapping of the screen for the listed objects there is also variants such as finding items by their shadows, their sound , torchlight,cryptic clues and dragging and dropping items. All-in-all Mystery stories boasts 1150 hidden objects and over 180 puzzles and mini games to complete including jigsaws and spot the difference type challenges.
Again the challenge to Avenquest when porting this sort of game would be displaying the objects on the diminutive DS screen however this has been resolved by showing a snapshot of approx 1/8 of the scene on the touch screen at any one time and to get to another area it’s a simple case of “sliding” by using the dpad or stylus.
There are two different modes in which to play the game, Adventure-takes you through all levels or Play-allows you to access already played locations from the adventure mode.
There are plenty of clues to be had and collected and there is a countdown clock too so really depending on the player’s experience they can set their own goals and limits.
If I were to have grumble about the gameplay at all it would be that once an object was selected it would disappear from the screen. Currently the object, when found, dulls in colour which can be distracting if you have to collect more than one of the same object say 3 bottles
Marks out of 10
Sound: 8–good sound effects and atmospheric ambient sounds
Graphics: 8– Good maybe could do with a little sharpening of the objects
Gameplay: 8– Enjoyed the variety of clues given and other puzzles
Lifespan: 8– worth revisiting from time to time
Top Star goes to the moving effects such as birds
