Rating: 
Summary: Schizm - Dreamcatcher Disappointment ZERO STARS
Review: Pass on this one. This game is ego-driven by the creator. It is not fun entertainment. This game has inane puzzles for the sake of puzzles. The puzzles do not follow any logical order. Parts of each puzzle are not in the same area so you must solve the puzzle part here and then go there to solve the puzzle to complete the whole puzzle! A lot of backtracking. You must "move" both characters separately - very repetitive. Huge mathematical equations that go on and on to complete a task. This game contains a puzzle in which you must beat the computer. Until you do (twice in a row) you are stuck and cannot go any further in the game. I feel that there are only two good things about this game (1) If you want to solve this game you can purchase the cheats for an additional $... from the company and (2) this was a gift - I did not waste my money on it.
Rating: 
Summary: Atmospheric, but disappointing overall
Review: Schizm is a beautiful game, but not without its problems. First of all, its navigation is cumbersome. Unlike other adventuregames of today, it does not allow 360 degrees movement, wich is a bit of a let down. The movement by mouse is tricky, and often irritating - you can't stop the movement in time. Freezing is frequent, saving every two minutes imperative. The storyline reminds (to say the least) a lot of other games in this genre, especially The Journeyman Project 3, by Presto. I would say, it's almost identical. And then there's the graphics, wich, at least on cd-rom, are not quite the quality I've come to expect, having played Exile and Riven. The puzzles defy logic. I would say the're undoable without hints, nudges and pushes, or even een detailed walkthrough in times. That said, Schizm has a beautiful atmosphere, great music and superb sounds. The different worlds are stunning, although, again, a lot has been borrowed if not copied from either Riven/Exile or real life (Gaudi's architecture, for example.) Is it worth the money? Yes, well, maybe. But be ready for some major irritations and resorting to walkthroughs.
Rating:
Summary: Beware the Bugs!
Review: Although this title has quite a few reviews, I wanted to add the information that some people, myself included, have found the game to be extremely buggy. I have the CD version, and it has some serious bugs. The worst is that when you switch from one character to the other, the current game is not loaded. If you save often, you can always load the correct one, except when you get to a puzzle where both characters have to work cooperatively. In that case, it is impossible to get past this puzzle because no game will exist with the cooperative actions in it (if you see what I mean). After struggling with this game for 3 days, I threw it in the trash. I've never done that before. The bugs, combined with some of the most irritating puzzles I've ever encountered (can't save in a multiple part puzzle, for example) made this game a total waste of $...
Rating: 
Summary: Schizm: Mysterious Journey
Review: I bought this game because of the Myst and Rivenlike quality of the screenshots on the box. After installing all 5 discs I was disappointed to see the poor quality of the graphics on the monitor.A few days later A friend of mine showed me how sharp the game looked on his monitor and suggested I RAISE THE REFRESH RATE FROM 60 HZ TO 85 HZ ON MY MONITOR.This is what he told me:
Go to the control panel and click on display. Inside the display folder click on settings.Inside settings click on advanced. Inside advanced click on refresh rate and raise the refresh rate to 85. Make sure it stays put and doesn't revert back. It worked! All my 3d games now look great!
Rating:
Summary: Don't Purchase
Review: I agree wholeheartedly with reviewer Stebbins19. After a nice start, this game becomes furiously tedious. Shoveling discs around to get back to some island to ... I don't know, look at the shape of a sun? Or maybe not? The games are characterized by an arbitrariness (not clear logic) that destroys the possibility of satisfaction. I just spent an afternoon trying to work backwards from an answer (found in a walkthrough) to the clues or *instruction* provided in the game. I could find no link (the triangle puzzle). The sound (voice) puzzle is poor. I like the guys who made this game about as much as I like telemarketers.
Rating: 
Summary: As good as the Myst series
Review: I bought the DVD version from Dreamcatcher. It installed without problems, and there is no evidence of choppiness (at least so far). I'd say we're about two thirds of the way through.
The puzzles aren't easy - just about the right level, I think. Note to other reviewers: if you are trying to solve them by trial and error, it means that you either haven't actually solved the puzzle, or are still missing some information. Without giving anything away, I can think of at least two puzzles where the 'obvious' answer is not the correct one.
Another reviewer mentioned the multiple number schemes - you mean like decimal numbers and clock faces which count in twelves? Seems fairly natural to me.
Graphics are stunning, and the scene transitions are smooth and convincing.
One slight niggle - the rotation control was a bit too sensitive. Some means of adjustment would be nice.Definitely worth buying
Rating:
Summary: Don't buy the CD version
Review: I returned the CD version and bought the DVD version from DreamCatcher Interactive. The graphic is really better.
I don't know why Amazon.com offers only the CD version.
Rating: 
Summary: On second thought, worth playing
Review: As good as other adventure games, just be sure you get a walkthrough because the puzzles and plot are in no way intuitive. Graphics could be better, but are still very original, and at times excellent, at times blurry. Still, IF you like adventure games, you will not be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: I discovered something! DO NOT BUY THE CD ROM VERSION!
Review: Apparently, according to the games creators (of which there are 6 working to an extremely low budget) the DVD version carries 9.6 GB of data compared to the CD Rom versions 2.3 or so. Hence, many scenes and areas were cut and some puzzles lft out. It also comes on one disk rather than five or so. The graphical quality is far superior, but that won't change anything unless you're a fan of games such as Atlantis and Myst 3. Like puzzles that'll keep you scratching your head forever? Buy it! If not, then why'd you even think about buying it in the first place? Fools!
Rating:
Summary: I wanted adventure, but I got lame puzzles
Review: At least in Riven (which I also grew tired of), there was a sense of "being there," of exploring a mysterious, beautifully detailed world. I bought the CD version of Schizm, which was the only version for sale at Best Buy, dutifully loaded all 5 CD's, and was appalled at the low quality of the video. No sense of reality, no immersion. I KNEW I should've bought Myst 3, dang it. But the truth is, the puzzles in this "game" are what I'd expect to find in a newstand puzzle magazine. And I don't find those interesting, either. I'm a programmer, and I live to solve logic problems. So why don't I like Schizm? Because, based on the game's own description of itself, I was hoping that it would be more of an adventure, filled with discovery, wonder, and mystery. As if you were truly stranded on an alien world and trying to figure things out. The only game I've played like that is Thief II, which is WONDERFUL. You interact, you figure things out, you knock a few guys out here and there with a blackjack, and meanwhile a great story develops, PAINLESSLY. I can't wait for Thief III to come out... This game was nothing more than an interactive screensaver wrapped around some lame puzzles. Very disappointing. This is the second Dreamcatcher title I've bought. The other was Cydonia (now called Lightbringer, probably to throw people off the track who have read bad reviews of Cydonia). Lesson learned: if it says Dreamcatcher, avoid it all costs.
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