Customer Reviews

Legend of Lotus Spring (Jewel Case)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

PROS: ---- 1. The Legend of Lotus Spring takes place in the 19th Century Garden of Perfect Brightness, where the Chinese emperors housed the women they were forbidden to take as official concubines. This is a Myst-style game, with interiors reminiscent of a string of piercingly-lit, palpably inviting, 3-dimension-like shadow boxes. It feels as though you are making yourself at home in a historical summer palace, where for once it's okay to clamber about on the furniture. Here you find fascinating objects to examine and (sometimes) use -- a dragon's head seismograph, a dim sum picnic lunch, bonsai, jade figurines, ancient musical instruments -- every item in itself a work of art. Each room also has a key animation showing the Emperor Xian Feng and Lotus Spring when they were together; and occasionally there are hints that point to the tragedy that will soon separate them.

2. The Garden of Perfect Brightness, which was destroyed during the Opium Wars, was reputed to be one of the most beautiful places ever created. The attempt to recreate it here is intricate and splendid -- paths that wind lazily through delicately structured, astonishing, color-drenched scenes.

3. The Legend of Lotus Spring is contemplative, absorbing, and mysterious; it is set in a world so detailed that you see new things every time you visit.

CONS: ---- 1. The opening is a bit too sentimental, the music is repetitive, and the cursor can be annoyingly cute. Also, the Emperor looks pretty young to be acquiring (and losing) concubines. It took me awhile to realize that this game is not so much an actual reenactment of a historical incident as it is a myth-like drama, with the Garden as a stage and history as a backdrop.

2. Even though there aren't any difficult puzzles, it is possible to become "stuck" if you happen to miss an important directional arrow, inventory item, or hot spot.

BOTTOM LINE: ---- If you enjoy historical romance, or if you have any interest in art, gardening, or interior design, you will love this game.

I thought about whether this game should really get 5 stars, and I decided that it should, because it's about time someone created a game for women: i.e., a game that takes some intelligence to "win," and that doesn't necessitate killing everything in sight. My eleven-year-old daughter and I have both been playing this game, and I think we both have a feeling that it has its flaws, the main one of which is that the main character barely exists; but it is TRULY a work of art, exquisitely beautiful, and the music is poignant, as is the entire mood of the game. It is an important contribution to this genre, which almost invariably insults women in its attitudes toward them, their roles, their images and their intelligence.

"The Legend of Lotus Spring" is the first game from Women Wise, a feminist group dedicated to producing quality games that appeal to a female gaming audience. "Lotus Spring" is more of an interactive exploration than a game per se: there are really no puzzles, no mazes, and no missions other than exploring the now-extinct Garden of Perfect Brightness in 19th century China. You play as Emperor Xian Feng and are searching for your love, the concubine HeHanQu, who, as a Han woman, was forbidden from marrying the Emperor, and the jealousy of the Dowager Empress CiXi proves formidable as she sends HeHanQu, or Lotus Spring, to an island in the middle of the garden. But Lotus Spring has disappeared and now you must find her....

"Lotus Spring" is filled with history and touches of now-vanished imperial China under the Qing dynasty. As you explore the many sights and locations in the Garden of Perfect Brightness you will stumble upon shared moments between the Emperor and Lotus Spring, many of which are poignant. Although not essential to winning the game, there are several exploration-type activities which are quite fun, including trying out various traditional Chinese musical instruments, brush painting, and more. Along the way you run across various animals and insects, although, much like Myst, there are no other people to interact with. The style is very similar to Myst, in a first-person point-and-click slideshow.

The pros:
+ Beautiful graphics that bring imperial China to life: intricate jade sculptures, bonsai, Chinese silks and dresses, dim sum picnic lunches, ancient musical instruments...
+ The originality and depth of the story
+ A touching love story
+ Exploring the reconstructed garden and the numerous pavilions, temples, shrines, etc. as well as the garden itself
+ Access to the lovers' shared dreams and entries in a diary

The only gripes that I have with "Lotus Spring" are:
- The music is too repetitive
- The doll cursor is annoyingly cute and overly large
- The pace may be too slow for seasoned gamers

Women Wise has also commissioned a novella based upon the real historical events that inspired "Lotus Spring"

If you like playing games like Myst or Riven, you'll be bored to tears by Lotus Spring. It only gets one star because the buildings are pretty, and I laud the attempt to make a computer game appealing especially to women. But women who like to play computer games deserve much more than Lotus Spring. The story could have been acceptable -- except we're told in the beginning it ends tragically. So what's the point of solving the truly mindless puzzles and reading bad copy (and worse poetry) in Lotus Spring's Diary that must have been written by a non-native English speaker? There are women gamers out here who enjoy playing intelligent, challenging games that aren't fueled exclusively by testosterone-induced blood lust. If you're one of us, don't buy Lotus Spring--instead go to an online aution site and look for a (now out of print) copy of Obsidian.

If all you like in a computer game is pretty scenery, then go for it. But if you're in it for the game, stay away.

I got this game for free from the manufacturer, or I wouldn't have bothered with it in the first place. I am very suspicious of any entertainment that's marketed to women, as it is often patronizing. I was hoping to be pleasantly surprised here and was not.

Yes, the garden is pretty and there are interesting things to look at in the many buildings. But this is mindless entertainment. First of all, where is the plot? The purpose of the game is to unravel the story you are told in the introduction, but to achieve that all you have to do is explore a museum-like world and passively watch from afar as a romance is played out from beginning to end in short cinematics. I wouldn't call that adventure, much less a game.

It seems that to appeal to women, the designers are trying to create a game that focuses more on character relationships than on plot. But this game lacks both. The most successful adventure games combine great characters, intricate plots (and subplots) and at least a hint of danger.

If you are looking for adventure games that are non-violent, or at least low on violence, here are some suggestions: Titanic: Adventure Out of Time, Dust, Amber: Journeys Beyond, Beyond Atlantis, The Longest Journey.

If what you like about adventure games is pretty scenery, then by all means buy this game. If you actually like using your brain, look elsewhere.

I was totally offended that Lotus Spring was advertised as "geared towards women," and contained no real puzzles. Like, women don't like to do puzzles? Or is it just that we aren't smart enough to solve real puzzles? I also found it odd that you were playing a male character. What kind of message is that?

This game might be amusing to girls under the age of nine, and it might be a good parent-child activity, but it has nothing to recommend it to an adult on her own.

The Legend of Lotus Spring is almost like an interactive, historical museum rather than an adventure game. Designed as a CD-ROM for women, this game will appeal to girls turned off to games focused on running and shooting, and art historians who favor Chinese history. As an adventure game, it has almost no adventure, relying instead on heavy "emotional" story content, much like a romance novel. The settings and animated movies are wonders of historical reproduction and lovers of Chinese antiquity will enjoy opening cabinets to examine robes, playing traditional instruments, or doing sumi painting, but action fans will most likely abandon this before finishing. I would've loved this as a junior high girl, but as an adult techno-goddess, it's back to the boys' games for now.

The graphics are pretty, but the animations are boring and cheesy. The cursor looks like a fisher price person to me. I was totally lost in the garden of perfect brightness, the place was like a maze and I found myself constantly coming back to the same places over and over again. I like the way the scenery begins to darken with approaching night as you get further in the game, but all together while I was playing this, I found myself thinking, what exactly am I supposed to be doing in this game? Like I said before, the scenery is great, and I don't know much about China, but I would say they did a good job reproducing it. It was also a nice history lesson. Maybe more of a plot and less aimless wandering and I would have liked it more.

While fans of action games may be bored by Lotus Spring, I found it to be beautiful and engaging. The puzzles were fairly easy, but the maze-like layout of the garden added some interest, and it was full of beautiful images and sounds. The in-depth stories behind many of the objects in the garden offered a fascinating glimpse into Chinese legends and customs. If you like a lot of explosions, this isn't for you, but I found it to be quite enjoyable.

Unfortunately, this game really did not meet my expectations. It was gorgeous to look at (and I *do* appreciate the scenery, as I'm very much interested in Chinese culture), but it felt more like one long lesson rather than like a game at all, let alone one of of Myst caliber. In fact I never even finished the game -- just didn't find it challenging enough.

I'm not sure what exactly makes this game "women-gamer oriented" other than it's a love story. I appreciate the publishers' intent to create female-aimed games and would be happy to support future efforts of theirs... they just need be little more than a historical romance novel.