Reflections of Life: Dark Architect Collector's Edition

Magic always seems to turn people evil in fantasy stories, probably because there’s always the desire for more power once you realize that you can control the elements. However, the same stories always end with the good guys winning, so maybe it’s not a bright idea to start a villain career when brave heroes are so eager to kick some evil butt.

Reflections of Life: Dark Architect Collector's Edition is a hidden object adventure game in which you become part of a fascinating universe filled with magic and wonderful creatures. Your goal is to investigate and find useful items that can unlock the way further, while also tackling a variety of puzzles. It’s not a very complicated game, but it can certainly keep you busy for a few hours.

The story starts with a princess that gets trapped by ice, and you must obviously rescue her. As it turns out, a great evil is at large, wanting nothing but destruction and death. You get closer and closer to the source of this evil over the course of the game, while finding all sorts of clues regarding your next step. You cannot change the story in any way, but the journey is definitely worth the time.

Besides classic hidden object sequences that dare you to find all sorts of mundane items, there are also all sorts of puzzles out there. Some of them require trial and error, while others come with a precise list of instructions that you must follow. These puzzles are fun enough to keep you engaged, but you shouldn’t expect anything too groundbreaking either, because this is still a casual game.

As far as the visual quality is concerned, the hand-drawn environments are as detailed as they can get, which works wonders for the general atmosphere. Even the cutscenes are nice and exciting, although the characters are still pretty stiff and inexpressive. The voice acting is not bad at all, and the music that keeps you company along the way is moody enough not to be annoying.

In the end, Reflections of Life: Dark Architect Collector's Edition is refined and expertly designed, which means that HOG fans should find exactly what they need in it. Moreover, the story is pretty interesting as well, at least if you are not expecting too much to begin with.