Imogen

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eMTe
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Imogen

Post by eMTe »

about MICRO POWER - developer of original game

IMOGEN is an animated adventure game in sixteen sections; Each section contains a number of puzzles based on a particular theme. It is not possible to be killed off although the number of times you can change character has been limited. The number of permitted changes is given at the top-right of the screen.

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When the townspeople of Egmain were besieged by a monstrous firebreathing dragon they called for the assistance of Imogen, a local wizard with powers of metamorphosis. Responding to their pleas, he transformed himself into a dragon even more powerful than the real one. The monster was quickly destroyed but the strain of the transformation was so great that when Imogen returned to his normal state, his mind snapped. He forgot his friendship to the townspeople and used his power to destroy their crops, burn their houses and fill the sky with black clouds so that the town was in permanent night. After a few weeks of this, a spokesman set forth to seek the advice of the greatest and wisest wizard in the land.

When the Great Wizard had heard the story he said, "This insanity will pass, but until that time he must be imprisoned. I shall design a cave to hold him and your craftsmen will construct it in the mountain that overlooks the town." "How will we know when to release him?" asked the spokesman. "He will free himself when the time is right. I shall provide the spell for his release and split it in twain four times. The sixteen pieces
will then be placed within the cavern and the route to each guarded by a
test of stamina and intelligence. Only when he is fully recovered will he be able to retrieve the entire spell and set himself free".

And so the cavern was constructed, and with the Great Wizard's help, Imogen was secured within the first section, ready to begin his quest for freedom.

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The objective is to assemble all sixteen spell fragments by solving the puzzles in each section of the game. The completed spell can then be activated to escape the cavern. As a wizard, you can hold and use objects discovered in the caves, and also transform yourself into different creatures - a monkey to climb ropes and trees, and a cat to leap rocks and wide chasms. It is possible to swap between these characters
at any stage in the game.To enter a new section of the adventure, use the spell fragment in the previous section, which will transport you directly to your destination.

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Developer: Ovine by Design

Download:

http://www.imogen.ovine.net/imogen-download.php
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Last edited by eMTe on Sat Jul 26, 2008 15:45, edited 1 time in total.
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Scythe
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Post by Scythe »

After playing 14 out of 16 levels, I came to the conclusion that this game unfortunately isn't very fun. Pixel perfect jumping tends to get on your nerves after a while, and that is pretty much the only challenge in this game. Doing a jump over and over again until you get it right makes you very sleepy...
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eMTe
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Re: Imogen

Post by eMTe »

I relaunched the game, only to discover that I can't even beat the first level.

So, smelling some sort of hipocrisy on my part, I checked what I've written about the game when we'd been deciding whether to host it or not (it was decided that we won't host it in the end). Because I can't seriously believe that I can't beat the first level now if I havent beaten it then. And if I havent beaten even first level then - that speaks ill about my gh-ing capabilities.

"Strong 4 atm.

While the concept is great (concept of original game of course since this is remake) gameplay is only ok. Puzzles are not too hard and require more skill than brain, also the main idea behind magic points is not well-thouhgt...once you find solution you can just bbeat the level and save at the beginning of next one...but maybe there wasnt save feature in BBC MICro game... Was save feature available in any game at that time...?

Handling is...8bitish. Very 8bitish. Reminds me of Alley Cat. And that's probably how it was in original. But since Ovine tries to make remakes as faithful as possible without losing playability I cant criticize leaving handling as it was. Matter of getting used to, that's all. Platformer lovers, beware, Imogen is not SuperFrog. Once you jump you immediately fall.

Graphics - poetry. All Ovine games have beautiful graphics. Comparing it to original one must admit that Ovine are masters of redesigning. Eveyrthing looks the same except it is not 8bitish. Masters.

Music. Suitable. Not anoying. Nothing special, nothing bad.

While I love thee concept and Id probably love original if I was born 20 years earlier and I love the execution there's too little meat in this game to call it very good. I'll wait with rating though since I beat only 4 levels and maybe a miracle will happen...

edit: yes, some levels require more brain and are quite ingenious (and funny at the same time) like "No Climbing" level. But there also levels requiring perfect timing and I mean "perfect". Like the level with two mice playing with ball... Frustration is good word for what you should expect...

Still strong 4, why isnt there 4.5 option. :D

Tonight will be rated.

Rated 4."

So, I have reached at least "no climbing level", whichever it is. But, could I have lied and rated the game just to push the things forward? Sounds unbelievable - I'm a maniac when it comes to not using solutions, no matter what, so I couldnt have watched Youtube video, read solution or review in web or use cheat code if it' available.

The conclusion is, I must have progressed enough to provide substantial opinion about this little piece of software.

Anyway, these doubts prompted me to start this topic...

https://www.curlysworld.com/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=8672
"As you have noticed over the years, we are not angry people." (itebygur)
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