9 Clues 2: The Ward

Game rating: 8/10 Playing Time: About 3.5 hours for a Pass on the highest Difficulty summary: + interesting And exciting and exciting history + Collectible cards + easily achievable Achievements (but require to play through a second Time) + alternatively to Ending the Hidden Object Scenes, these can be solved by Mahjong (but for the Achievements you need both) + Quick Travel Function by Map +/-quite dark story-minor Graphic Errors, such as missing Heads in Characters, disappeared Wheelchairs-especially at the Beginning spelling And Grammar errors-text bars in the upper Area are very big Commentary: "9 Glues 2: The Ward" surprised me positively. I had lower Expectations for this Game because its Predecessor 9 Glues: The Secret of Serpent Creek is not one of my Favorite Games from the Artifex Mundi Collection. Usually it's that I only start a Hidden Object Game when I feel Like puzzling (and teetering). However, It happened to me the first Time that the Puzzles and Search Scenes suddenly became incidental because I desperately wanted to know how the Story went on. To cut a long story short, The Story is interesting, exciting and until the End I didn't know who the Killer is. But it is quite gloomy for Artifex Mundi conditions. I don't think that's bad. However, I wanted to point out that this Game may not be suitable for very young Players. Graphics and Music are at a good Level. Graphics and Music are not comparable to a Game like Grim Legends. But everything seems coherent and is very pleasant most Of the time to look at and listen to. But there Is still an Outlier: Namely the Penalty screen, if you click next to it too often in the Search Scenes. This one is pixelated, spongy and loveless. The Animations are partly a bit jerky, especially when the Characters are moving. The Quality of Voice Accounting is mixed. There are some good Talkers and some worse ones that sound very unmotivated. You shouldn't be put off by That, though, otherwise you'd miss a good Game. (One of the Voices I found quite awful in the Beginning also improved over Time, even making Sense toward the end in a cranky Way.) Rattle and Hidden Object Pictures are rather light in this Game. There are very few that are a bit more complicated and most can be solved by simply trying out. Many Puzzles are usually also known from other Hidden Object Games. There are few direct Criticisms of mine: As with all recent Games from Artifex Mundi, the Text Bars are very large. And as always, I'm bothered by it. Personally, I find that they cover up too much of the Screen and take it as very disruptive when I want to search the upper Part of the Scenery. Occasionally, minor Graphics errors have run my Way. A Wheelchair disappeared and various Characters suddenly stood there without a Head. When I look at the other Reviews, the Problem seems to be more common. For more experienced Hidden Obbatographers, most Achievements are known and easy to achieve, as they are practically taken with You while Playing Through. The Game must be played for 100% twice. In addition, you should look very carefully at each Scene, because there are 3 Achievements for hidden Objects and Symbols. Conclusion: If You value a Hidden Object Game with a good Story, you should definitely look at it. As with almost all Hidden Object Games, I find the Full Price to be a bit too high, so I would advise waiting for an Offer. Preliminary Knowledge from the first Part is not required for the Game.