Mystery of the Ancients 2: Curse of the Black Water (IHOG)
This is a standalone story

There are sliders for Music, Effects and Ambient Volume, plus options for full-screen and custom cursor. There are three difficulty levels, which can be changed at any time via the Options panel.

Story:

The town of Black Water is evacuated after the water literally turns black overnight. The two archaeologists who stayed behind have not been heard from in days, and it's your job to find them and help them escape the island. Face the supernatural in your quest to save the town... and the world!

The journal documents what's happening in the game and adds a bit of extra story. WARNING: When you open the journal, you will be on page two. Page one of the journal contains a spoiler about the ending of the first game, Lockwood Manor.

Gameplay:

The hidden object scenes are not indicated by sparkles unless you are playing on the easiest difficulty setting. The HOS are lightly-interactive, with items listed in yellow needing some kind of task before they become visible/accessible. These are some well done scenes, interesting to look at and not horribly cluttered. There is no misclick penalty on the first two difficulty levels. Not sure about the hardest level, though.

The adventure portion of the game is really fun, and there are a LOT of locations. Finding the hidden turtles added to the interest, and really made you *look* at the beautiful artwork. Some of those turtles are masterfully-hidden, and I love that they don't all look the same.

There is an interesting mechanic added about half way through the game, and I won't spoil it, but I will say that I thought that it really added to the story.

HOS do NOT repeat, and were nicely-spaced with the rest of the gameplay (not HO-heavy at all).

The devs added something that I truly appreciate -- when a tool won't work for the task at hand, it will show and/or tell you why it won't work. Those little extra touches are definitely appreciated.

Mini-games are SKIPPABLE, and the instructions are not in-your-face -- you can access them if you want them, or try to solve the games without the help.

Our MAP is interactive, and has insta-transport available. Any turtle you've found will be pictured on the map, so you can easily see where you might have missed one. The task bar at the bottom of the screen is retractable, but you can be locked into the open position.

Sights and Sounds:

The music is nicely environmental, and the voice overs are about what you'd expect from a casual game. Not terrible, but not amazing, either.

The graphical choices really made me happy. So often developers use exactly the same color palette and style for every single scene in the game, regardless of whether it's inside or outside. It absolutely drives me crazy! I was very pleasantly surprised to see that not only is there a wide color palette in Curse of the Black Water, but the various areas of the game have different styles... and it STILL feels completely cohesive. Bravo, devs! :okay:

CE Content:

• Integrated Strategy Guide
  
• 39 Collectible Turtles - one on each scene
  
• 15 in-game achievements
  
• Bonus Chapter
  
• 10 Concept Art
  
• 11 Wallpapers
  
• 7 Music Tracks (I don't see a way to save them)

Bonus Chapter:

The final chapter of the game takes up right where the main game left off, and is the true ending of the story. Not only that, but there is a small tie-in to the first game, Lockwood Manor, if you're paying attention to the journal. The gameplay is just as good, but they took a departure from the main game on the hidden object scenes!

Instead of find-by-list HOS, we have hidden object puzzles. Items to be found are listed as almost-there silhouettes, and you have to figure out how to interact with the scene in order to collect everything. It's great, and I'm hoping they used this approach again in the subsequent games of the series!
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1742544387

Verdict:

Mystery of the Ancients: Curse of the Black Water is interesting, beautiful, fun-to-play and a good length. This is an excellent IHOG and a high-quality offering all the way around. Definitely recommended!

The graphics and story really added to the Hidden object mini games. The other puzzles were a good change of pace and only 2 had me walk away and come back to figure them out (which I liked having to think about).

This gamer is similar to The Malgrave Incident. I love the puzzles and story but there were bugs in the game. For example, the final room was all automatic and it never gave me a chance to get my last turtle. There was one puzzle that wasn't a puzzle at all and I was forced to install a different mouse so I could finish it. They seem to have made the HOS mini games easier than previous games. I am looking forward to playing more games in this series.

Highly recommend. So much fun!

Pros
.Elaborate, exciting story
.Lovely, soft-colored artwork/graphics/scenes
.Enhancing music/sounds/voice acting
.Difficulty modes of casual, advanced and hardcore
.Mini-map with fast travel (and collectables' locations)
.Toolbar can be locked in up position
.Complex adventure play
.Enjoyable hidden object scenes
.Plenty of mini-puzzles, some quite challenging
.A journal, a guide and a hint system for assistance
.Bonus chapter
.Solid length

Cons
.No widescreen
.No indication when objects in correct position for possible use

Final thoughts (10/10):
I was so entertained playing this. Between the tentacles destroying the pier before I even moved in-game and the adorable little snail in the first hidden object scene, I was immediately hooked and the delight never stopped.

An excellent experience all around. A classic supernatural horror story with superb graphics and animation, solid hidden-object scenes and excellent puzzles. There's nothing flashy or groundbreaking here, just a very good rendition of a beloved formula. Even the bonus adventure is good and adds a new twist on the style and gameplay.

Strongly recommended.

Note that this is Mystery of the Ancients #2. The first entry, Lockwood Manor, is not on Steam. It's also excellent. The stories are unrelated and you do not need to play them in order.

nice graphics, music, loads of puzzles and ho

Very interactive. Not too easy but not so hard that progress can be made.