Rating: Summary: Good for girls, falls short for the women Review: The Legend of Lotus Spring is almost like an interactive, historical museum rather than an adventure game. Designed as a CD-ROM for women, this game will appeal to girls turned off to games focused on running and shooting, and art historians who favor Chinese history. As an adventure game, it has almost no adventure, relying instead on heavy "emotional" story content, much like a romance novel. The settings and animated movies are wonders of historical reproduction and lovers of Chinese antiquity will enjoy opening cabinets to examine robes, playing traditional instruments, or doing sumi painting, but action fans will most likely abandon this before finishing. I would've loved this as a junior high girl, but as an adult techno-goddess, it's back to the boys' games for now.
Rating: Summary: Good for girls, falls short for the women Review: The Legend of Lotus Spring is almost like an interactive, historical museum rather than an adventure game. Designed as a CD-ROM for women, this game will appeal to girls turned off to games focused on running and shooting, and art historians who favor Chinese history. As an adventure game, it has almost no adventure, relying instead on heavy "emotional" story content, much like a romance novel. The settings and animated movies are wonders of historical reproduction and lovers of Chinese antiquity will enjoy opening cabinets to examine robes, playing traditional instruments, or doing sumi painting, but action fans will most likely abandon this before finishing. I would've loved this as a junior high girl, but as an adult techno-goddess, it's back to the boys' games for now.
Rating: Summary: Lovely to look at, but somewhat disappointing as a game Review: Unfortunately, this game really did not meet my expectations. It was gorgeous to look at (and I *do* appreciate the scenery, as I'm very much interested in Chinese culture), but it felt more like one long lesson rather than like a game at all, let alone one of of Myst caliber. In fact I never even finished the game -- just didn't find it challenging enough.I'm not sure what exactly makes this game "women-gamer oriented" other than it's a love story. I appreciate the publishers' intent to create female-aimed games and would be happy to support future efforts of theirs... they just need be little more than a historical romance novel.
Rating: Summary: Lovely to look at, but somewhat disappointing as a game Review: Unfortunately, this game really did not meet my expectations. It was gorgeous to look at (and I *do* appreciate the scenery, as I'm very much interested in Chinese culture), but it felt more like one long lesson rather than like a game at all, let alone one of of Myst caliber. In fact I never even finished the game -- just didn't find it challenging enough. I'm not sure what exactly makes this game "women-gamer oriented" other than it's a love story. I appreciate the publishers' intent to create female-aimed games and would be happy to support future efforts of theirs... they just need be little more than a historical romance novel.
Rating: Summary: Not tough, but pretty Review: While fans of action games may be bored by Lotus Spring, I found it to be beautiful and engaging. The puzzles were fairly easy, but the maze-like layout of the garden added some interest, and it was full of beautiful images and sounds. The in-depth stories behind many of the objects in the garden offered a fascinating glimpse into Chinese legends and customs. If you like a lot of explosions, this isn't for you, but I found it to be quite enjoyable.
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