You have to enter the Nightmare Realm to find a cure for your daughter Emily, whose energy has been captured by the Creature.... This game provides fabulously crisp graphics, good music to fit the general atmosphere, 3 play modes, a good strategy guide. It widescreens nicely. The story spreads through the meanders of the Nightmare Realm, with each scene beautifully drawn and with intricate details, all adding to the general nightmarish atmosphere. The map in itself is a beautifully and cleverly conceived addition to the game, and shows event cards of important moments in your journey, character cards which you unlock by finding origami pieces throughout the game, and of course the areas you have covered. The mini puzzles aren't too hard to figure out and provide great fun. I really enjoyed this game.

I really enjoyed the first of this series and am very happy to see that the developers have brought us a even more exciting sequel that once again takes us into the Nightmare Realm. This game is far better than the first but does not come without some flaws. Although the graphics are beautiful, I wish that the resolution was better as it does tend to get blurry during the annimation cut scenes. The artwork is stunning with great attention given to details. There are voice overs but not as much as I wish. The story continues with Emily all grown up and ready to go off to college. The day before her departure, some sinister force has taken over Emily and once again it is us to her Mother to rescue her daughter. To her great surprise, she has discovered her husband is alive and held prisoner in theRealm and only his tears can save their daughter. Unfortunately she has only one hour before his execution. This does make me wonder if we literally have one hour until game over but I doubt that. Game Features offers three modes of difficulty to choose from, a journal that is very unique and a hint system which to be hones I have yet to use. The journal not only offers you progress details but there are mystical cards that will give you back stories to different characters you meet along the way. Unfortunately the map that outlines your route does not allow you to jump do there is some backtracking involved if you missed something earlier. There are collectables which come in the form of origamies that you find along the way. A group of them will unlock a story and they are not as easy to locate, so keep your eyes open. Gameplay is heavy on adventure with few HO scenes thrown in. During the demo, I onlt encountered one HO scene with interaction, I am sure there will be more to come. The mini-games are uniques and interesting but not overtly challenging. There are items to find along the way, puzzles to solve and the SG follows your progress. After my hour was up, I felt that time flew by too quick

I started playing the trial and thought it was just going to be the same old fare; widowed mother must save only child from alternate dimension inhabited by monsters. And it did, indeed, start off that way. But when the mother steps through the portal, into the other world, the story takes an interesting turn! I only encountered one list style HOS in the trial and it was interactive. Graphics are beautiful, music is suitable, some voiceover. Strategy guide Everything about this game is well done. The devs have taken a tired old tale and made it magical. I loved everything about it and will definitely be buying it.

CE's are usually a treat for me and this is definitely my last treat for the 2012. Dark with patches of humor (IMHO). Got out just long enough to post this review. Going back to play. I put this ahead of about ten other games on my playlist. There goes my knitting and football games.

BASED ON COMPLETED GAME IN NORMAL (2ND of 3 MODES) "NIGHTMARE REALM: IN THE END" sets a new standard that will be tough for other games to follow. This is the highest rating I have given any game in a year. I highly recommend this game to folks who like adventure, a light but very imaginative and unique sprinkling of HOS, and solid mini-games of easy to light-medium difficulty. The Details: GAME STRUCTURE/CONSTRUCT: Very intuitive, with actions and scenes tied in to unraveling the mystery. No junk pile or gratuitous HOS or mini-games. Just a game built around a unique storyline. "My Kingdom for a bottle opener!". This will make sense for those who have completed the game.... :) MAP-- Yes, there is a map that shows active areas, the player's location and "information cards" that become available throughout game play as well as other special cards with info unlocked as associated collectible origami are picked out in most scenes. The map did not allow jumping to locations. JOURNAL-- No, given that details are available at any time via the map, one was not necessary. It was have been nice for reference so I didn't have to rely on my own penmanship with Runes & other detail needed for mini-games. INVENTORY-- Allowed lock/unlock so the bar could be dropped when not needed giving more real estate on screen. This eliminated the sea-sickness of the bar popping up and dropping based on cursor movement. With the exception of one item, most of the inventory is used shortly after collection. SPARKLES-- In NORMAL mode there were few sparkles- YAY! However, there are heavy duty black bar hints so I later wished I had chosen the hardest mode but there was no opportunity to change this after game start. HOS-- These were few in quantity but top-notch in quality. They were creative, whimsical, fun, and expertly done from beginning to end. They varied from the traditional in several ways using techniques that I have not come across before, such

Don't get yourself distracted by the beginning ... as it is indeed a tee bit dark and spooky. First I thought - oh no - not another ghost story, not again saving children. BUT - I tell you after approx. 20 minutes you just get hooked with this game. For my personal taste it just has it all: gorgeous graphics, extremely inventive overall game play, fun mini puzzles, luckily no traditional HOS (they are interactive and also contain mini puzzles within the HOS that are simply fun to play), good storyline that makes sense, an unusual map, puzzles that make you think and in particular also to look properly at the scenes, non-disturbing cut-scenes that have to tell you the actual story (otherwise you'd be lost), logical build-up of the game and and and .... Yes, it is a bit spooky at times but as soon as you enter the first picture, you'll know it has so much more to offer than just darkness as the game is also very colourful and cheerful, and yes a bit sad in the end. I don't recommend the game to HOS freaks, you will not find your standard HOS. And honestly I could not have been more thrilled with the purchase, as it is quite different from the usual (quite boring) games I have recently played/demoed. It is adventure and puzzles all over ... the type of game, you don't want to end. Also the bonus chapter is still related to the main game (which is quite often in other games not the case and you wonder, why you have a bonus chapter at all, considering it should be a prolonged story) and it contains absolutely wonderful scenes, that are completely interactive. I HIGHLY recommend this game to all players who love a challenge, adore puzzles and enjoy an unusual game play. One of the best games I have ever played - and let me tell you, I have played a lot.

I played the sample for only about 10 minutes before I decided to buy this game. The graphics are excellent, the story line is interesting (but not for young children). The few puzzles I played were a bit different but not too difficult. I did not ecounter any hidden object games so it must be more dependent on adventure than HOS. I understand there are a few to play. I cannot comment on the music because I normally turn it off before beginning any game. I did not even wait to see if there was a map. Normally I only purchase a CE (collecter's addition) if it includes a jump map. The look and feel of this game interested me so much I am willing to take a risk.

Lots of eerie fun. Really creepy characters and lots to keep you amused. Good soundtrack, with sufficient challenge. Puzzles could be a bit more challenging, though. All in all, a great way to end the year.

I've been hoping for another game that measured up to the quality of the "Drawn" series. The artwork is very similar to Drawn, and for me, the artwork is what captures my interest instantly with new games. The storyline is also interesting, not childish like so many games recently that seem to target preteen girls. This game has some element of that "cute" factor, but it's well made up for with the graphics. Ran flawlessly on my computer, enjoyed it very much. I highly recommend.

This year brought tons fo great games, but this one really stands out. It is very different in a good way, not something you see in most games. The story is superb, the art is outstanding and it is VERY LONG it took me almost 7 hours to finish the main game, and another two hours to finish the bonus. I highly recommend this game!