Product Details
 | Keepsake |
| List Price: | $29.99 |
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Product Description
This epic quest will take you on a journey of enlightenment leading you to the gates of Dragonvale Academy where you will become an apprentice. Your best friend Celeste is a scholar there at the Academy; however upon your arrival you discover something is terribly amiss… The campus is deserted and Celeste is no where to be found! After stumbling upon one of Celeste’s most treasured keepsakes, you suddenly realize that treachery and sorrow lurks in the halls of the Academy. You must uncover the mystery behind Celeste’s disappearance, Dragonvale Academy and the beloved keepsake… Accompanied by a charmed dragon named Zak, Lydia must quickly overcome trials in The Chamber of Passage, understand the secrets of the runes and glyphs, and master the forces of magic to uncover the mystery behind Celeste’s disappearance, Dragonvale Academy and the beloved keepsake…Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #5258 in Video Games
- Brand: DreamCatcher Games
- Model: PCO48650TB
- Released on: 2006-04-04
- ESRB Rating: Everyone
- Platforms: Windows 2000, Windows Me, Windows XP
- Format: CD-ROM
- Dimensions: .40 pounds
Features
- Uncover an elaborate mystery in this epic fantasy adventure game
- Learn to cast spells, overcome daring trials, and encounter many NPCs
- 3rd-person gameplay powered by state-of-the-art graphic engine
- Explore stunning environments designed in intricate detail
- Easy-to-use interface that evolves as new features become available
Editorial Reviews
From
the Manufacturer
This epic quest will take you on a journey
of enlightenment leading you to the gates of Dragonvale Academy where
you will become an apprentice. Your best friend Celeste is a scholar
there at the Academy; however upon your arrival you discover something
is terribly amiss... The campus is deserted and Celeste is no where to
be found! After stumbling upon one of Celeste’s most treasured
keepsakes, you suddenly realize that treachery and sorrow lurks in the
halls of the Academy. You must uncover the mystery behind Celeste’s
disappearance, Dragonvale Academy, and the beloved keepsake...
Accompanied
by a charmed dragon named Zak, Lydia must quickly overcome trials in
The Chamber of Passage, understand the secrets of the runes and glyphs,
and master the forces of magic to uncover the mystery behind Celeste’s
disappearance, Dragonvale Academy, and the beloved keepsake...
Features:
- Deep and involving storyline where suspense and mystery await at every turn
- Explore stunning environments designed in intricate detail using dynamic lighting and shadows
- Discover the elaborate grand hall, a labyrinth of rooms and corridors, and the vast surroundings of the Academy
- Encounter many NPCs and interact with Zak who will help you solve enigmas throughout your adventure
- Easy-to-use interface that evolves as new features become available
- Third-person gameplay powered by a state-of-the-art graphic engine
- Learn to cast spells, understand the secrets of the runes and glyphs, and overcome daring trials designed to test your wits rather than your dexterity
Customer Reviews
Pretty Much Fantastic
Best friends, Lydia and
Celeste were separated eight years ago when, after the death of her
mother, Celeste's father became a director of the far-off Dragonvale
Academy. Now Lydia is about to start her first day as a student of magic
at Dragonvale and looks forward to being reunited with her friend. But
when she arrives, she finds the academy deserted except for one odd
character: a wolf who claims to be a dragon. Where is everybody? What's
going on here? Can this wolf really be trusted? These are just some of
the questions you must answer as you explore the school.
Keepsake,
the first game from the Canadian Wicked Studios, is a lovely 3D point
and click adventure in the tradition of Syberia. And I mean "lovely"
literally: the first thing to strike you is the beauty of the
environments. The castle is ornate with knotwork motifs and colour
themes, making exploration a pleasure. There isn't a lot of animation,
but what there is is well done; the water effect was especially nice.
Characters are slightly less well-realised, but still quite good.
The
sound is also quite good. The music is beautiful, with a different
haunting motif for each character and section of the castle. The f/x are
somewhat limited and a bit repetetive: lots of footsteps and bird
calls, fire and water sounds, etc. However, they fit well with the
design of the rest of the game, so I can't complain. I'm very surprised
to see so many complaints here about the dialog. I really saw nothing
wrong with it or the voice acting. Rather, conversation is used to
explain points that are not necessarily elucidated by the action (the
philosophy of the magical system, for example) as well as to develop the
characters and their relationships. I considered that good writing, not
the opposite.
The game starts with a cute little tutorial, in
which one of the other game characters leads you through the controls. I
kind of liked that, as I dislike reading manuals and it obviated the
need for the kind of introductory sequence you find in a lot of games of
this type; you coul just jump right in. The puzzles are quite a mix:
several straight "games," a couple mechanical, including one that's
quite involved, some riddle-type, some inventory, a kind of slider, and a
huge maze (not counting the castle itself, that is). There are no timed
puzzles and you can't die. I liked the way the inventory worked: once
you had acquired the requisite item, it was automatically used in the
relevant spot. So you didn't have to keep opening your inventory,
picking up the item, clicking it on the hotspot, etc. As for the rest,
they were fairly straightforward...EXCEPT for the riddle-type. The clues
provided were so obscure that I can't believe anyone but the designers
could possibly make sense of them. Fortunately, the game includes a hint
feature, which give three hints for each puzzle, after which it offers
to solve the puzzle for you. I had to use the "solve" feature once, when
even having the clues explained didn't do much to enlighten me. But
when you use the "solve" feature, you don't actually get to see the
solution, just the result of it. So I still don't know what that puzzle
was about!
The hint feature also will tell you if you don't have
the prerequisistes necessary to continue a puzzle. If you use it when
you're not in puzzle-view, it will clarify your next objective. I found
both these aspects very helpful.
I did experience one bizarre
glitch with the game: at intervals, without reason or warning, the sound
would suddenly start to stutter and echo in a most annoying way.
Adjusting game settings had no effect. I eventually discovered that I
could correct the problem by exiting the game and rebooting my computer.
This seemed to be necessary once every couple hours.
I completed
Keepsake in about 25 hours--possibly a little more. I was deligthed
that it kept me busy so long as most adventure games these days barely
provide 10 hours of play. Some of the second part of the game did get a
little draggy, with a lot of toiling back and forth through the castle.
However, Keepsake is a good choice for gamers who like straight
adventure in a fantasy context. But for the glitch and a couple
illogical puzzles, I would have given it five stars. I eagerly look
forward to Wicked Studios' next effort!
Smashing
in spite of the footsteps.
How can a company,Wicked
Studios make the best adventure game in years, with an intriguing story,
a great female character and incredible beautiful and amazing graphics
and not work out a little thing like the sound of footsteps? When the
character stops walking -- the footsteps continue. I guess because
otherwise, the game would be perfect.
In spite of the footsteps
this is a perfect game those of us who like fantasy, castles, dragons,
magic, adventuresome girls, clever puzzles with hints and the incredible
scenes that will have you on your knees wondering why you can't go to
magic school.
Young Lydia comes to Dragonvale Academy to study
magic with her closest friend, Cynthia. Upon her arrival she finds the
school deserted and so begins her quest to find her friend and discover
what happened. She has a companion to talk to, Zac, a wolf who was
locked up and therefore escaped the disappearance. Zac, is somewhat
suspicious -- claiming to be originally a dragon but sounding more and
more like a student. Lydia's character is strong and adventurous and she
gains in wisdom and awareness as she goes through the trials to qualify
as a student at the Academy.
The game play takes place in two
castles and a sanctuary. -- But what castles! The designers have evoked
the feeling of being in a truly magical world with tapestries, dragon
sculptures, gardens, endless corridors with flickering lights all
created in a gigantic scale that both intimidates and amazes.
The
lushness and construct is beyond human scale and so evokes the feeling
of being in a truly magical place. Magical teleportation pads send you
soaring dizzingly through the towering heights instead of just appearing
from one place to another. The quest for the Oracle will lead you on
narrow paths to islands suspended in the mid-air. If everything is
magical, anything can happen. The wow factor happens when something
exceeds your expectation and I experienced it numerous times. You have
to see it for yourself.
The puzzles are many and are all
built into the architecture . Many are geometric, a few are mathematical
most are required to get something to work, or get an item for a
potion. When requested, hints to all the puzzles are given in three
steps. One which tells you what you have to do. This answers the
question, "What am I supposed to do with this?" The second hint starts
you on your way and the third solves it for you. This is the best hint
system I have seen and the technique could bring a lot of games into the
reach of the "casual gamer"
This is only part of the hint
system. Because the game is like walking in a three dimensional maze,
there are hints, if asked for, that will tell you where to go next and
gives you an image of that space. How you get there is your training in
how you find your way and skill in remembering locations .By game's end
you can pretty well find your way around. And the footsteps? What
footsteps? I don't hear them anymore.
If
only the characters were mimes...
As others have mentioned in
their reviews, the music, sound effects, and graphics were excellent.
Unfortunately, the dialog and voice "acting" were terrible. The game
play was extremely linear although you could travel to most places at
any time. This combination often resulted in puzzles you could not solve
and spending huge amounts of time going back to areas you have already
been. Although the graphics were well done, you often had to travel
though 6 or more scenes just to get from one place to another.
The
logic puzzles were well done, but the riddle-type puzzles were so
obscure that they made no sense, even with the hints! The same is true
for the order in which you had to solve puzzles. Without the buit in
hint system, you would have no idea what needed to be done next,
especially in the towers.
Finally, the plot and character
development were just awful. Within the first 2 hours you knew all the
characters, their background and even new how the game would finally
end. All conversations past this point are repetitive and add nothing
but extending the time it takes to play the game.
By the time we
were half way though the game, we just wanted it to be over.
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