Mini review of Atlantis II


As usual, I don't cover too much about the game's plot and characters,
since there are lots of extant reviews where you can get that sort of
information.


Atlantis II is a Cryo game, so I expected excessively dark screens where
I had to find my way around almost by trial and error.  In this game, they
have improved a lot, and it has made this game much more enjoyable to play.


Graphics:
	Bright and beautiful, almost felt like I could walk into the screen.
	This game should be played just for its beauty and innovative
	internal worlds.  I found it a joy to wander around inside.
Music:
	Sometimes irritating because of the small snippets that were
	repeated over and over.  I kept wishing for complete songs,
	or at least longer musical phrases.
	The music was appropriate the the place and mood.
Character animation:
	Extremely good.  About the only quibble I have is that the mouth
	movements didn't look right, mostly because they never opened
	very far.  I think the designers were ashamed of their character's
	teeth, since we never saw any.  Other than that, I would call them
	almost perfect.
Plot:
	You have to save the world/universe by going on a quest to get
	the missing pieces of a mystical path.  In other words, Same old,
	same old.  However, it worked to drive the game, so I won't complain.
Voices:
	Excellent.  I could point out inconsistencies, but I would
	be quibbling.
Characters:
	Very good.  Considering how little interaction with other
	characters that occurs, I am impressed at how fully fleshed out
	many of them seemed.  Nice design work here.
Puzzles:
	Mostly good, with a few real stinkers.		
Ugly puzzles:
	Tone deaf people will have problems with one puzzle.
	One set of puzzles with real-time portions (but no too bad).

	Three puzzles in China which seem to be insoluble.
	Even after the walkthough, I still couldn't see any clues in the
	game which would help me to solve them.  Get a walktrhough for
	this game, you will need it.
Puzzle Difficulty:
	Wide range of difficulty, from easy to impossible.
Controls:
	Mouse-based, easy to use.
Bugs:
	None.

Pros:
	Realistic graphics, amazingly beautiful.
	A final puzzle sequence where you visit each world in rapid succession
	was a really nice touch.  It felt like going back to see old friends.
	With a few exceptions, pretty good puzzles.
Cons:
	Some puzzles required hand-eye coordination.
	One puzzle required good hearing.
	Three puzzles weren't soluble without a walkthrough (or trial and
	error).
Final Score:
      Flawed, like all games, but it goes into the top ten list.
      Its flaws were easily outweighed by its good features.
      Definitely recommended.