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Didn't Like It as Much as I Wanted to...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 41 / 41
Date: October 11, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Fifteen years ago in game history, the Australian band Alida was an international sensation. Their debut album broke all sales records by over 200% and overnight the band members became wealthy beyond the dreams of avarice. They decided to spend the money building an island theme park shaped like a giant, fully functional guitar. As the project neared completion, inner stresses tore the band apart and the whole thing was abandoned. Now, fifteen years later, one of the band members has gone back to the island and disappeared. His wife has asked you to go after him and bring him back. But to do so, you'll have to solve the mystery of Alida.

Rating this game was difficult for me. I had been looking forward to it for a long time and I really wanted to like it a lot. I kept looking for reasons to like it a lot. I've heard it compared both to Rhem and to Riven, both of which I like a lot. But something in Alida didn't grab me.

It's a beautiful game, to be sure. The graphics are very well rendered, if a little dark in places. The soundtrack is appealing, although I have to say I would have liked to hear more of that "brand new music" the band was supposed to have invented. Gameplay was smooth and intuitive. The plot was coherent. Even the installation, which confused some PC-users, struck me as simple and straight-forward.

But the process of the game itself failed to delight me the way I wanted it to, even though the mechanical puzzles featured were the kind I typically like, with elements and clues spread over a wide area. When these puzzles made sense, they were satisfying in a dim kind of way. But often there was some twist to the solution that was not immediately obvious, making a good deal of random searching necessary even when the logic behind the puzzle was clear. I find this incredibly frustrating, and it wrecked a lot of my enjoyment of the game.

The game world also seemed very hollow. It was a big world without much in it and a long way to go between puzzles. I don't mind unpopulated game worlds as a rule, but something about this one really bothered me. It's just, for such a big place, there wasn't a whole lot to see or do. I think the game could have benefitted by a few more in-game movies, more journals, more insight into the people who had allegedly built this place. You got to know two of the characters a little, but the remaining three were an enigma.

Also, I had a problem with the fact that even when you solved all the puzzles, the giant guitar WAS NOT IN TUNE. Please!!! If it was some weird alternate tuning, you should have made that clear!

A lot of thought went into this game, which was pretty much designed by one person. Putting together puzzles of this sort-well, you can see the effort and tell it was a labour of love. I kept wanting to realy, really like it, but I just didn't so much.

Alida took me about 20 hours to play, and I got quite a bit of help, which is unusual for me. There are no timed puzzles, you can't die, and saves are unlimited. The five-disc game installs completely to your hard drive and no disc is necessary for the game to run. From the ending, I believe there will be a sequel. I'll certainly play it, but I may not leap on it as soon as it's released.

A musical Rhem

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 43 / 44
Date: September 07, 2004
Author: Amazon User

If you liked Rhem, with its acres of lovingly rendered enigmatic machines set in gorgeous scenery and no people around to fool with, Alida will most likely set your heart aquiver. If, however, you preferred Myst, with the same baffling machines and gorgeous scenery but with an essentially human mystery at the center, Alida might strike you the way it did me: beautiful, but oddly lifeless. "Art and technology," as the cover blurb says, are all very well, and Alida does them extremely well; but without people in it, without human interaction, why bother?

Interface and loading were seamless, though nonstandard. Graphics are stunning, though my 3-year-old machine had difficulty handling water motion in some locations. The problems are difficult, but not insoluble, though a fair amount of backtracking is required, and that can get a little irritating. Many problems rely on sound and music, so if you have a hearing deficit (or are tone deaf) this game will be difficult to impossible for you.

A lovely game, best for those days when you're just sick to death of PEOPLE.

This was created entirely by one man. You gotta respect that.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 10 / 10
Date: June 30, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I just finished the game minutes ago, and I have to admit that this game is tough. Very tough. Thank God for alidagame.com, which provides well-worded hints but still makes you figure things out by yourself. I had to take a few of these hints, but I never needed a solution spoon fed to me.

Okay, setting (it's a weird but strangely believable one): Australian band invents new form of music, becomes rich, builds an enormous guitar to be remembered as the creators of the eighth wonder of the world. But financial trouble sets in and to protect their wealth they seal it in a vault and convert the guitar from a world wonder to a combination lock.

The environment is rocky and barren, a lot like Riven. The puzzles (also like Riven) are really, really tough but logical most of the time. I say "most of the time" because there are a few that didn't make any sense to me at all. One of these I solved accidentally without really understanding the clues. And the first "flashing light" puzzle I encountered flew right over my head. I didn't even notice that it was a clue to a puzzle until I got a hint. I was expecting to find symbols, and a technical glitch kept me from seeing the flashes. But the ending made everything worth it...

...except for the guitar. There is no sound difference after you tune the guitar. I expected to hear different notes, but it sounded exactly the same as the first time! It scared me, because I feared I missed something and I'd have to scour the entire island to figure it out, but then I was rewarded with the ending. That is my biggest complaint with this game. All that work, and the guitar doesn't sound any different. A couple of the puzzles are obtuse, requiring a little too much of a stretch to understand. Finally, the game crashed a lot, so make sure to save often.

Overall, the rest of the puzzles are fair, if not a little mean at times. The most difficult one requires using the same device for the solution to two different puzzles! Figuring out which is which is mind-stretching.

The story is solid and everything makes perfect sense at the end. I got that rare sense of pride and accomplishment when I got the true ending the first time. I do wish we could've gotten to know the rest of the band, but what we have is outstanding because this was created entirely by one man. You gotta respect that.

One of the best adventure games!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 10 / 10
Date: November 06, 2005
Author: Amazon User

First off, let me describe the kinds of adventure games that I like, so you'll know how far to trust my review. I prefer first-person over third-person, and I like mechanical puzzles that involve figuring out machinery and that follow some sort of logic. I do not like inventory puzzles, nor do I care for puzzles that take too long to finish (i.e., once you've figured it out, it should be easy enough to do; that's not to say that I don't like puzzles that stump me for days before I figure them out).

Now, having said that, I can say that Alida is exactly the type of game that I like. It is first-person, there is very little character interaction ("lonely world" experience, which I like) and there is no inventory. Nearly all of the puzzles involve figuring out machinery and operating the devices on the island.

Story: Yes, there is a story, despite what some reviewers have said. No, it is not as involved as a game like Syberia, but then again that's the third-person/first-person difference coming through. You will find out enough in Alida to keep you going, but if you like the very interactive, dialogue-driven game, this is not it.

Gameplay: First person slide-show presentation like the original Myst. But it is more like Riven in that the entire game takes place on one island, as opposed to multiple "ages." This also means that many of the puzzles are connected.

Puzzles: This is what I care about most. I don't need a big story, as long as the puzzles are good. And the puzzles in Alida are *excellent*! Every one of them makes logical sense. They can be very difficult at times, but if you consult a walkthrough, you will not have that "Oh, I would never have figured that out" feeling. Everything makes sense.

Something that had me hesitant about purchasing this game was the guitar theme park setting. I was afraid that the game would feel too contemporary, and not have that "other worldly" feel like the Myst games do. But that is not the case at all. Aside from the fact that there is a giant guitar on the island, this game feels more like Myst than the last two Myst games!

Another note: I've read several times that people don't like how some puzzles do not give you feedback after you've finished them. Having played the whole game, I'm actually confused about what they are referring to. Every puzzle that gives you immediate access to something new will have feedback that shows you where you can go next. There are three or four "big" things (that are connected to a larger puzzle) that you need to do that do not give immediate feedback, but the fact that you did them in the first place means that you did them right. If you happened to have made a mistake, you'll know exactly where to go to fix it.

One final note: This game was created by one person (Cos Russo), and he is great about supporting the game. You can email him directly for hints (if the hints at his website aren't enough), and he's a great guy to communicate with. Fantastic support.

Anyway, I highly recommend this game. This is simply one of the best (if not *the* best) adventure game I've ever played. If you enjoy first-person, exploratory adventures with a lot of puzzles, then this game is exactly what you need.

Alida - A Myst like experience

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: May 14, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Having gone through all of the Myst series, I was looking for a game that was similar to Myst. Alida has much of the look and feel of the earlier Myst series like Riven. I enjoy working hard puzzles, and Alida certainly has some very difficult puzzles.

The environment was complete with good sounds, some music, and excellent graphic rendering. The graphic rendering is not a real time 3d rendering, walk anywhere, do anything but is done in the slide show style.

There is a story line to Alida that explains why Alida exists and reveals the various protagonists. There is some limited interaction with people but they certainly make up the minority of the game play. For the most part, you are on your own to explore, discover, and figure out the mystery of Alida. I did get stuck a couple of times and resorted to some on line walkthroughs. One of the walkthroughs missed the logic point behind the solution and simply told you what to do . . . found another one that pointed me at the proper logical approach. All of the puzzle solutions were solvable in the end through proper use of clues. None needed to be done by trial an error.

Overall - I would recommend this game to anyone who enjoyed the Myst type games, wants to get away from people for awhile, be in a beautiful virtual environment, and enjoys a good challenge.

Didn't Like It and Got Bored

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: November 23, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I didn't like this game. I play games as a way to relax between work, a way to escape, a way to keep my mind stimulated. Alida didn't do this for me. Most of the time I wasn't quite sure why I was running back and forth doing things, and I never could figure out the whole logic (or whatever) with setting the planets in those covered trays and had to do them all trial and error (and must have done them wrong since there was no indication when you got them right--the other segments had some means of letting you know when things were set correctly). When I finally go to the part where all the various items had been fiddled with and the lost chord should have played to open the vaults, nothing happened. I sat there for a minute thinking about what was probably off and decided that whatever the ending, it had to be pretty sucky since the beginning premise was pretty lame--and I decided it wasn't worth going back and refiguring anything. I just uninstalled it, took the game to work for someone else to try (for free). There was no initial reason for me (as the hero) to want to go find whatever-the-woman's-name-was boyfriend (I'm rather sick of someone telling me something needs to be done, I've gotten to the point where I'm going, "why can't you do it yourself you lazy bum???") and since adjusting all those gizmos didn't give me any incentive, I didn't feel any need to successfully complete the game. I seriously could not think of anything good (or interesting) happening if I'd just go back and correct my wrong setting--so I uninstalled. It wasn't fun, the graphics were just okay by today's high standard, a little more incentive would have gone a long way to encourage this player to want to find the final solution.

Riven wannabe that falls short.....

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: February 05, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I was hoping this game was going to be more exciting like Riven but it fell short.
First of all, the music is almost non existent which hurts the game and when it is cued, it's not that good.
Second, the puzzles, while some of them are good, the rest are very tedious work of going back and forth moving parts which takes a long time and gets very boring.
Third, you keep waiting for something to happen in this game that never does.
Some of the puzzles are very hard, but I like that....
There are parts in the story that make no sense.
It's tries so hard to be like riven that sometimes during the game, I wondered how they didn't get sued by Ubisoft by the blatant rip-offs in scenery and machinery and storyline.
If you like Riven, Myst games, give it a whirl, just don't expect much...

Amazing

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: April 24, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I really liked as much as the Original Myst! The place is so real and beautiful. The story is amazing and you will have fun with the puzzles, they are not difficult, but you need to find them out and finish all of them to see the end. And you will have a choice of ends. Really cool. You will have a lot to do. A lot to see. A lot to think. That's what I like when playing a game. I don't like fighting or knowing my life is in risk if I don't do something in time. I don't play games to be agitated. I love the challenge, though. And the sensation of fear around but not real. You will enjoy the scenario. It's a big game. Takes space on your PC. You like Myst, you will like Alida. A lot.

Stupid puzzles, more annoying than challenging.

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: December 21, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I play lots of adventure games. I'm smarter than your average bear. The puzzles were just stupid.

Here is an example. You look in a window, and an old lamp is flickering. You are supposed to count the flickers, they are a code. A code to what? Another, totally unrelated puzzle far away. How do you know this? You cheat and use a walkthrough.

The puzzles are so random. When you read the solution, you don't go "ah ha!" you go "What the heck?". With every adventure game, you sometimes have to go to a walkthrough to get unstuck. This game requires walkthrough help all the way through.

Too bad, the graphics were kind of cool, the idea had potential, it's just the puzzles that failed this game.

Fun but awfully complicated

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 4 / 7
Date: August 23, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I never actually finished this game. It was fun to begin with but it seemed like there was no logic to a lot of the puzzles. Or, maybe I should say, there was logic, but you had to know the end of the story before you realized what you were looking for.
If you are a brain or play this kind of game constantly, you will probably do fine. I'm an intelligent human being, but I don't play a lot of these games and don't really care if I get through them, so it was a little more complicated than what I like. Probably, it depends more on your gaming style.

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