Surface: Strings of Fate

Parallel worlds and alternate dimensions are common in the realm of fantasy video games, so they rarely surprise the players. That doesn’t mean they are boring, on the other hand, since it’s always fun to explore weird realms and discover their secrets, but it’s not easy to come up with an original concept nowadays. Hence, it’s more about the story and the journey, rather than the worlds themselves.

  Surface: Strings of Fate is a hidden object adventure game that follows the classic rules of the genre and aims to provide you with a riveting adventure into a fantasy realm full of mysterious events and curious creatures. Don’t expect too much in terms of new gameplay mechanics or puzzle ideas, since they are as common as they can get in the HOPA genre, but the overall product is worth your time.   The story starts with the main character, Rachel, finding out that her little sister has been kidnapped by the two Brothers of Fate. Naturally, she embarks on a journey to find and rescue her, but she cannot do it alone. Hence, she asks for the help of the third Brother of Fate, who is kind enough to lend her a hand and track down his evil brothers.

The puzzles are not particularly difficult, but they do not come in annoying quantities either. Most of your time is spent investigating the environments anyway, since every scene requires you to search for useful objects. It’s not difficult to spot them, especially since you can only interact with objects that can be picked up, which is quite the bummer if you are looking for a true challenge.   On the other hand, this is more about the journey than the puzzles, and the game does a good job when it comes to creating the proper atmosphere. Every scene is incredibly detailed and hand-drawn, which truly makes you feel like you are exploring a magical world. The music and the voice acting are decent as well, and even the cutscenes make a good impression most of the time.

In the end, Surface: Strings of Fate has all the makings of a decent time waster, but it does not bring anything new to the table in terms of gameplay mechanics or graphics. Thus, it’s a great addition to your collection if you are an HOPA enthusiast, but don’t go in hoping for more than a casual experience. NOTE: This is a downloader for the game. Once run, the application will automatically download and install the game on your computer.

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