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Star-Crossed Lovers in a Paradise Lost

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 70 / 72
Date: May 01, 2000
Author: Amazon User

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.

Important new game for girls--finally!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 40 / 44
Date: April 27, 2000
Author: Amazon User

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.

Lotus Spring, how does your garden grow?

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 15 / 17
Date: January 16, 2003
Author: Amazon User

"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"

Though Clunky, One of the Best Older Games

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: October 05, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I am a Myst, Atlantis, Syberia, Egypt II gamer (with even some Nancy Drew thrown in to play with younger friends; and a little Tombraider), and to this day, Lotus Spring remains as one of the most enjoyable & educational games I've played. I never traded it in. It stays in my collection. If you want to go back over the older games and you are a female gamer, try this out. It is clunky, but if you have patience, you'll enjoy the story and graphics. Most guys I know think it moves too slow and won't finish it. But I think gals age 12 to 80 will get through fine. Who wouldn't want to observe Koi fish in an oriental pond, then try to figure out how to "play them" to get to the other side?

Not tough, but pretty

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 7 / 9
Date: April 09, 2001
Author: Amazon User

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.

Beautiful graphics

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 13 / 16
Date: September 13, 2000
Author: Amazon User

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.

Good for girls, falls short for the women

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 7 / 8
Date: August 15, 2001
Author: Amazon User

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.

Use it to prepare kids for a trip to Beijing

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: April 14, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Sure, this game may not be top of the list, based on its plot flaws and lack of real challenge. Nonetheless it's a great tool for getting your kids interested in Chinese history and culture if you're headed to China soon. The setting for the game was painstakingly recreated from historical information about the Old Summer Palace (Yuan Ming Yuan) in Beijing. After playing the game, your kids will be much more interested in visiting the palace ruins while in Beijing. Buy it for its historical and cultural value, play it long enough to learn a little, and don't expect too much.

Reviewed by Barbara Strother, author of Moon Living Abroad in China (Living Abroad).

Plodding and static!

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 5 / 7
Date: July 14, 2001
Author: Amazon User

One of the single most boring games I have ever run across -- couldn't hold my attention for half an hour. Gameplay consists of moving around an almost silent, unoccupied, uninteresting Celestial Palace, making tea pour and flowers bloom. Characters are static, story is dull, puzzles are monotonous. For the faint of heart and the extremely patient only.

Lovely to look at, but somewhat disappointing as a game

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: December 28, 2001
Author: Amazon User

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.

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