Review: The Several Journeys of Reemus Chapter 1

The first Chapter of The Several Journeys of Reemus is a point and click adventure which begins the story of Reemus and his sidekick Liam, who happens to be a bear. They are on a quest to reach the king for some as yet unknown reason but as usual there are plenty of obstacles in the way.

Now, there are a few things that every point and click needs to succeed. The first is a storyline which holds the attention either through good story telling or through humour and as you can probably see from the pictures the Newgrounds gang have chosen the more comical approach. The plot line is standard fantasy with its usual mix of monsters, magic and interesting locales along the way. It's not anything groundbreaking but the characters are likeable and the humour is good enough to carry it, especially since it's not exactly asking you to devote masses of your time.

The second major factor is the artwork and Newgrounds have done a great job here. The scenes look crisp and clear with the animated parts moving smoothly. The art style also remains consistent so there are no sections which feel out of place and it all reflects the humour of the story rather well. Definitely the best part of the game in this reviewers not so humble opinion.

The final and probably most important aspect aspect of a point and click though are the puzzles. If the puzzles are too easy then the game becomes boring and you get no sense of accomplishment when you finish it. On the other hand if they're too hard then they just become frustrating and when a game stops being fun you really should stop playing. To make a decent puzzle the clues must be there but without giving it all away within five seconds. Luckily Reemus manages to tiptoe across this rather uncertain tightrope with only one or two minor stumbles. The final puzzle in particular is well thought out and challenging, made even better by the fact that there are two different way to solve it for two different endings.

The problem with Reemus however is that whilst fun and amusing it simply doesn't do anything we haven't seen before. Sure it's a good example of how a point and click adventure should work but ultimately it all feels a bit too by the numbers rather than trying to add anything new. The multiple endings also doesn't feel worth it when you realise the difference between the two is so minimal it might as well be the same ending (the drawback of doing a story in chapters I suppose). It's a game still very much worth playing, just don't expect it to blow your mind.

Graphics: 8/10 It all looks very nice and moves smoothly
Gameplay: 7/10 decent puzzles that never feel unfair but nothing groundbreaking
Sound: 7/10 Music is alright but nothing special and the cartoonish sound effects are appropriate
Lifespan: 7/10 Depends on how quick you are to work the puzzles out

Overal: 7/10 Entertaining and it looks good but its still the same point and click we've been playing for years

Badge Hunters Notes: (30 points available)

The different endings are only affected by the final scene and how you choose to escape so for the second badge simply go back to that scene and solve the puzzle in the opposite way.