Rating: 
Summary: Lotus Spring, how does your garden grow?
Review: "The Legend of Lotus Spring" is the first game from Women Wise, a feminist group dedicated to producing quality games that appeal to a female gaming audience. "Lotus Spring" is more of an interactive exploration than a game per se: there are really no puzzles, no mazes, and no missions other than exploring the now-extinct Garden of Perfect Brightness in 19th century China. You play as Emperor Xian Feng and are searching for your love, the concubine HeHanQu, who, as a Han woman, was forbidden from marrying the Emperor, and the jealousy of the Dowager Empress CiXi proves formidable as she sends HeHanQu, or Lotus Spring, to an island in the middle of the garden. But Lotus Spring has disappeared and now you must find her...."Lotus Spring" is filled with history and touches of now-vanished imperial China under the Qing dynasty. As you explore the many sights and locations in the Garden of Perfect Brightness you will stumble upon shared moments between the Emperor and Lotus Spring, many of which are poignant. Although not essential to winning the game, there are several exploration-type activities which are quite fun, including trying out various traditional Chinese musical instruments, brush painting, and more. Along the way you run across various animals and insects, although, much like Myst, there are no other people to interact with. The style is very similar to Myst, in a first-person point-and-click slideshow. The pros:
+ Beautiful graphics that bring imperial China to life: intricate jade sculptures, bonsai, Chinese silks and dresses, dim sum picnic lunches, ancient musical instruments...
+ The originality and depth of the story
+ A touching love story
+ Exploring the reconstructed garden and the numerous pavilions, temples, shrines, etc. as well as the garden itself
+ Access to the lovers' shared dreams and entries in a diary The only gripes that I have with "Lotus Spring" are:
- The music is too repetitive
- The doll cursor is annoyingly cute and overly large
- The pace may be too slow for seasoned gamers Women Wise has also commissioned a novella based upon the real historical events that inspired "Lotus Spring"
Rating: 
Summary: A Stinky Flower
Review: Game produced to appeal to a specific audience - namely teenage girls with nothing better to do with their time. That is fine, and may be benificial as the monotany may force them outside, away from their monitors. Repetitious and tedious. Buy if watching grass grow adds excitement to your life.
Rating:
Summary: A Stinky Flower
Review: Game produced to appeal to a specific audience - namely teenage girls with nothing better to do with their time. That is fine, and may be benificial as the monotany may force them outside, away from their monitors. Repetitious and tedious. Buy if watching grass grow adds excitement to your life.
Rating: 
Summary: Lotus Spring:Computer game
Review: I absolutely love the 3D animation! There is so much to see and so many places to explore.I love how simply the story plays out.
Rating:
Summary: sorely disapointed
Review: I am like most of the women here. I was excited that they were making a game for us.I get the game and you play as a man?! What's up with that. If you can call it play. Mostly the only value is learning about another culture. I was happy I found it on sale for only ... dollars. I was only cheated out of ... bucks, a pregame excitement and some time.
Rating: 
Summary: Gathering dust on a shelf
Review: I sometimes like adventure games, but this one has been hard to get into. I bought it, and have started playing it several times, only to put it down. Here at the beginning of the game, at least, I do not get a strong enough sense of plot and enough gratification to want to continue. "Lotus Spring" was aimed at women, as an alternative to regular PC games. I am their target market -- a woman interested in games, but not compelled by the majority of games out there, which are clearly aimed at young men. That is still a great idea, but this product misses the mark. Pretty graphics and music, but not enough fun.
Rating:
Summary: Important new game for girls--finally!
Review: I thought about whether this game should really get 5 stars, and I decided that it should, because it's about time someone created a game for women: i.e., a game that takes some intelligence to "win," and that doesn't necessitate killing everything in sight. My eleven-year-old daughter and I have both been playing this game, and I think we both have a feeling that it has its flaws, the main one of which is that the main character barely exists; but it is TRULY a work of art, exquisitely beautiful, and the music is poignant, as is the entire mood of the game. It is an important contribution to this genre, which almost invariably insults women in its attitudes toward them, their roles, their images and their intelligence.
Rating:
Summary: Myst-like...for grrrls
Review: I'd describe Lotus Spring as Myst-like...and it's definetly targeted at women and girls. The scenery and story are very intricate and detailed. The puzzles relatively easy. And there is no violence or shoot-em-up in this game at all. Just a nice and enjoyable game.
Rating:
Summary: Lame and Silly
Review: If all you like in a computer game is pretty scenery, then go for it. But if you're in it for the game, stay away. I got this game for free from the manufacturer, or I wouldn't have bothered with it in the first place. I am very suspicious of any entertainment that's marketed to women, as it is often patronizing. I was hoping to be pleasantly surprised here and was not. Yes, the garden is pretty and there are interesting things to look at in the many buildings. But this is mindless entertainment. First of all, where is the plot? The purpose of the game is to unravel the story you are told in the introduction, but to achieve that all you have to do is explore a museum-like world and passively watch from afar as a romance is played out from beginning to end in short cinematics. I wouldn't call that adventure, much less a game. It seems that to appeal to women, the designers are trying to create a game that focuses more on character relationships than on plot. But this game lacks both. The most successful adventure games combine great characters, intricate plots (and subplots) and at least a hint of danger. If you are looking for adventure games that are non-violent, or at least low on violence, here are some suggestions: Titanic: Adventure Out of Time, Dust, Amber: Journeys Beyond, Beyond Atlantis, The Longest Journey.
Rating:
Summary: Lame and Silly
Review: If all you like in a computer game is pretty scenery, then go for it. But if you're in it for the game, stay away. I got this game for free from the manufacturer, or I wouldn't have bothered with it in the first place. I am very suspicious of any entertainment that's marketed to women, as it is often patronizing. I was hoping to be pleasantly surprised here and was not. Yes, the garden is pretty and there are interesting things to look at in the many buildings. But this is mindless entertainment. First of all, where is the plot? The purpose of the game is to unravel the story you are told in the introduction, but to achieve that all you have to do is explore a museum-like world and passively watch from afar as a romance is played out from beginning to end in short cinematics. I wouldn't call that adventure, much less a game. It seems that to appeal to women, the designers are trying to create a game that focuses more on character relationships than on plot. But this game lacks both. The most successful adventure games combine great characters, intricate plots (and subplots) and at least a hint of danger. If you are looking for adventure games that are non-violent, or at least low on violence, here are some suggestions: Titanic: Adventure Out of Time, Dust, Amber: Journeys Beyond, Beyond Atlantis, The Longest Journey.
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