I have been hooked up by this game, immediately upon completion of the trial version, purchased the CE on BFG's Special Offer and I am now in the process of playing it. The voice-over is quite good though sounding a bit weird at times, giving the impression the text is being read too cautiously, hence a lack of natural flow, and the repetitive music becomes rapidly tedious. But these are mere trivia largely made up for by everything else in the game: well worded script, good sound effects, well crafted graphics, detailed, vividly colored and very artistic, not that many locales but all of them splendidly rendered, neat HO Scenes with objects not too difffcult to find, a generous hint system, objectives clearly stated, a decent storyline reminiscent of Templar, a mildly eerie atmosphere and, of course, the traditional useful-object-hunting. Tasks are interesting and putting the useful items to use always responds to logic. No special difficulty here, but enough to make you think. With five chapters, three game modes, lots of awards to win, and a good level of challenge, gameplay is fairly long provided one doesn't sneak peek into the SG or the walkthrough too often. But that's not all ! What about the puzzles/minigames then ? Well, there is a multitude of them, of all kinds, classics or innovations [some are unique], random or logical, easy or...not so easy. The less seasoned players among us will be happy to find that all the puzzles in this game can be reset [a plus] and are skippable, although they can all be solved with a bit of patience and ingenuity. Instructions for the puzzles are clear. Another plus In this case I have chosen the CE because a] I think the game is worth it, b] the bonus chapter offers a better conclusion although the ending of the core game is very satisfactory, and c] I have a weakness..... I love parking lot type slider puzzles (available only in the bonus chapter). Besides, BFG's Special Deal was so good it would have been a shame to miss it. T

From the first moments this game impressed me. The visuals are superb, spectacular - and the reverent, church-like music was inspired and inspiring. With more puzzles than HO scenes, this game is pretty challenging, with strikingly new ways of presenting familiar puzzles, and some innovative new ones. Fortunately, skip was activated quickly and hint was an excellent way of getting back on track, so despite the difficulty level, I didn't have to resort to the walkthrough. The story is perfect for this kind of game, and you could get as involved in it as you wanted to, with excellent graphic and sound representation of the characters you meet, or skip them and catch the summary in the journal. Mind you, I think you're missing a lot by doing that. Isn't there anything wrong with it? Well, I'd be hard pressed to find it... Sometimes the clicks had to be just so to perform an action and that gets very annoying. But really, in a production of this quality, it's quibbling. I have just finished playing the game for the 2nd time in a fortnight, and loved it as much as the first time: with 100 HOPA games on my desktop, that's one HECK of a tribute.

With so many games to select from BFG, this is a great game with an assortment of puzzles, etc. Has "all the right stuff" including great graphics and an interesting story line! Played the demo and knew within minutes that I would purchase! Actually, I purchased the Collector's Edition! Very pleased with 9:The Dark Side. Bravo!

I just played the free hour and liked the game. It is not confusing, has good clues and the graphics are really good. They are clear and very colorful. The game is not your usual tired mystery murders and mayhem, which frankly I am tired of. I bought the game and recommend it.

What really makes this game enjoyable, aside from the outstanding graphics and creative puzzles with just the right level of difficulty, is the logical use of inventory tools. For example, important tools that you know you will use over and over, such as a knife and a crowbar, STAY in your inventory, instead of being left behind, leaving you to find another one later on. Also, a crowbar can be used to break things, which is common sense. In most other games, even if you have a crowbar in your inventory, you just HAVE to find a hammer to shatter a vase, a crowbar just won't do! Also, if you need to pick up a flower or reach into water, you don't have to first find garden shears, or (god forbid you get your hands wet), look for gloves. In this game, you just grab it and go. I hope other games in the future take this common sense approach to inventory items. When you have a storyline where you are trying to save someone or are on an urgent quest, it makes no sense to take time to look for ridiculous items that you would never normally need, or look for items to perform an action that some other tool in your inventory could do just as well. So that is, bluntly, why I rated this game so high. Thank you developers, for a good story. But most of all, thank you for sparing me the headache of useless inventory items and designing your game with logical use of tools in mind. It makes the game play so much more realistic! I hope other developers follow your lead on this one. I'm not sure how many more 'gardening gloves' I can handle!

Definitely getting your monies worth with this one! There are 3 levels of play, casual, advanced and hard core. I normally play expert so I thought why not give hard core a try, glad I did, I like a challenge (but there where times I questioned my choice!). I enjoy relaxing to play, but I get tired of being pointed along an obvious path, while it was challenging it was also enjoyable. If you take a break and forget what you?re supposed to be doing you can check your diary. The graphics are better than most, not as good as some. There are some but not a lot of HOS which, if you?re a HOG lover you may not care for, they are fairly easy and very clean (read NOT cluttered). Length of play very good, possibly days? worth, if you don?t skip the puzzles and if you?re a puzzle lover I think you will be in heaven. Puzzles ranged from so simplistic to quite difficult. Some were very unique although there some of the usual standards. The music, you will either love it or hate it. I found it very appropriate being a medieval theme, there is chanting, usually when you?re doing a puzzle or HOG, at times when I?m stuck on a difficult puzzle (hours) it may have become somewhat annoying (I swear they were saying ?game on, play on?) but when I realized what I thought they were saying I did smile and felt like I was being rooted on. I also had to turn it off on some VERY tedious puzzles. Over all, LOVED it! I look for adventure games that don?t have HOG, they seem to be in abundance at BF, I know that may be their largest demographic, but some of us want more of a challenge. I hope BF does/gets more games like this. Try the demo if you?re not sure, after an hour I couldn?t wait to download, I even started over cuz I always feel like I need to rush before the hour is done to decide if I want to buy or not.

This game took some time, a nice change for most of the games that are put out. Some hogs and loads of puzzles. Could skip the puzzles if you want to. Good story line and great voice makeovers. I highly recommend!

This game has everything and a little more. It is the first game in a long time I didn't want to end and will keep in on my PC for a while so I can play it again. The Puzzles are great and challenging and the strategy component is interesting and addictive. There isn't really much more to say though I did finish it in 3 sittings so could be a little longer, though I didn't go for the collectors edition.

One of the greatest games on Big Fish. The graphics are unbelievable, puzzles are challenging. Storyline makes sense and keeps you interested. If they ever release a sequel, I'll be the first to buy!

I bought the CE on this game and it was well worth it, so the SE should be the same. This game is one great play. The storyline is interesting. The graphics are gorgeous. The voice-over is great with an intermittent chilling laugh which actually made me laugh. The HOs are above average. The puzzles for the most part are doable. I found 2 that were a big challenge and time consuming, but you do have a skip button. You receive achievements which I think are a fun bonus. The game is fairly lengthy. Took me about 5 hours. And this is definitely a game I will play again and again. I love a game that really makes me think and work to complete and this one did that. Can't wait for the next one. This is one great game. I highly recommend this game.