Winning. Such an interesting concept: a tavern built atop a series of mines and catacombs, it's so nice. The tavern feels cozy, and yet you feel like something is lurking underneath all the time. They're closely intertwined, and that's noticeable when you realize just how many ways there are to get into the underearth. Not only the tavern, but a...

This is one of the best fan missions I've played. The authors made the amazing choice to allow killing, which gives you a lot more freedom in how to approach areas. Sneak-killing guards with arrows is very satisfying, and I didn't even know you could do that. The level is huge, with so much to see, all of it unique and mysterious. Enemies are gi...

I think this could be rated fifth in the 20th Anniversary Contest, based on how it plays and how it looks. The forte here is level design, which is top-notch because of the layout. So many ways to navigate the mansion, it's maze-like yet not really. Rooms look very distinct, which makes mapping out the place a joy. It's not hard, and feels like ...

The best way to describe the first Mystic Gems - Unlucky Soul - was... neat. It felt good to play, didn't really show issues, but wasn't that impressive either. Heart of Bohn took an elevator all the way to the topmost floors of a skyscraper, because it is amazing. The first thing I noticed was that readables no longer contain spelling errors, w...

The premise seemed reasonable: find out why the locals are being rousted out of the area and clean out a bank vault while you're at it. Fair enough. I was dropped into a city environment that was frankly, on the whole, unimpressive. After a couple of minutes, I found myself pinned down in an apartment with one entrance/exit after the barest glim...

This mission really feels like a beginning mission, something like Bafford's Manor or Running Interference. It's quite short, quite simple, but quite fun. It doesn't do anything exceptional, but it doesn't feature any flaws either. I did expect the apparently-cursed Mystic Soul to do something cursed, but it didn't. That's the only thing I could...

1 ARKFORD
Bequest-quality puzzles with one problem

Triad's first mission ups the production quality of Bequest. Cutscenes and visuals are of a higher quality, and there's even stronger emphasis on mystery. The puzzles and progression keys are just as good as they were in the predecessor, with one cave-at: this is one of those city maps, the...

It’s easy to see why a 20+ year-old FM like this might fly under the radar—but for fans of old-school missions, there’s solid fun to be had here.

While I'd always recommend playing the series in its entirety, this installment is actually where the "gem mine" part of its title really takes off. You’re tossed into an abandoned mine/temple compl...

Short as it was part of a contest but very well executed.

Having played Ominous Bequest, I thought I'd try another by Eshaktaar.

One of the puzzles had me searching around everywhere for ages - I knew what I was looking for (thanks to the clues) but couldn't find anything suitable. Then I remembered the wise words of the Thief world cog...

I played this after reading Thirteen1355's glowing review and was very glad that I did.

Read the above review for a much better effort than I could make.

I was a bit annoyed that I finished with one secret short and approx 1000 short in loot but I didn't seek any help with the puzzles, although admittedly I stumbled upon some of the answer...

First thing that I want to say that : I clearly remember that 3 years ago I could not finish this FM in , but I didn't remember exactly what was the main reason, I thought maybe it was hard so I gave second try.

A quik remark : I'm huge fan of Bathory Campaign and Nosferatu, I like the ambient and the historical background and the time era ,...

This is the first mission I played that was made by Melan, and I can certainly see what lies in store for me. Good things. Although I think navigation is a bit of an issue in this mission, it has a really nicely set-up level layout. There is not much to see, but what's there to see is great and feels interesting to discover. The level actually f...

There's not that much to say about Keyhunt, other than that it's well-executed. It mainly gains points for being a unique outing, not really being about stealth whatsoever. Puzzling is the way of Keyhunt.

These puzzles aren't very difficult either, and the mission isn't very long. They're varied and manage to make you think. I'd say it's a n...