Mystery Tales: The Other Side – Review

Twola TV is celebrating 10 years of successful business by giving away free televisions to every resident of Twola! Things took a dark turn when residents began dying in front of their televisions. Is this a paranormal phenomena or some dirty tricks done by this evil corporation?

Let us add Mystery Tales to the list of HOPA franchises that overstayed their welcome. Mystery Tales has never been one of our favorite series since we feel like the series has no identity and can be confusing as to what it is trying to achieve. This latest installment makes matters even worse by incorporating some Sci-Fi elements, which overshadow the dark magic theme that the series has going for the past couple releases. Not only that, but the storyline itself is also a total bore and totally lacks the sense of urgency due to its slow pace.

Domini Games went overboard with the graphics. The over-saturation of blue and purple hues are extremely distracting, and so is the “fuzziness” of the graphics. On the bright side, Mystery Tales: The Other Side features pretty cool scene designs, some superb voice-acting, and rather pleasant soundtracks.

There is nothing particularly exciting about the gameplay in Mystery Tales: The Other Side either. The adventure does steer far from the standard HOPA mold and offers very little innovation. Domini Games also somehow decides to bypass simple logic with some of the tasks and interactions, leading to a handful of unconventional and illogical uses of inventory items. As for the puzzles, they are average at best. While a few of them are quite challenging, they are more frustrating than actually being smart.

Whether you like the game or not, Mystery Tales: The Other Side does not hold back when it comes to the extra features. The Collector’s Edition comes with a 45-minute bonus chapter, a strategy guide, wallpapers, concept art, soundtracks, replayable hidden object scenes, replayable puzzles, a College Yard, achievements, collectibles, and morphing objects.

Mystery Tales: The Other Side is lacking in logic, an original storyline, and even a partially interesting gameplay.