Jane Angel: Templar Mystery (2014 - PC)

Yes, I have an addiction to these stupid hidden object games. They're not usually a bad way to pass the time if you want something relaxing to play with pretty pictures, but Jane Angel is the worst one I've completed since the first Clockwork Man. The hidden object scenes themselves are fairly standard, but they borrow Clockwork Man's scrolling feature. Here's the silly part, though: The objects on your list turn bold when they're on the screen. Sometimes all you have to do to find something is scroll the screen until the object's name turns bold or fades out and then you'll have an almost exact idea of where it is.

The story has something to do with finding the Holy Grail, but it's so poorly translated from whatever language it was originally written in that it makes absolutely no sense at all. Along with the HOG scenes, there are "find the differences" scenes, which I'm not very fond of, and some parts where you have to pick out objects in a painting that don't belong. Good luck doing that without resorting to just clicking everywhere, as the objects are often tiny and difficult to discern from the painting itself.

I only paid 99 cents for this game. If you're desperate for a HOG, maybe it's worth it for that price. But with barely any music or animation, it feels dated, and it just came out last year.
Rating: 1.5/5


Farscape: The Complete Season One (1999 - DVD)

I'm aware that this show has a cult following and I generally like things that Jim Henson and/or his company are responsible for, but I didn't enjoy Season 1 of this show very much. While it gets a little better towards the end when it finally decides to start following a storyline, much of the first 3/4 of it is just the characters going on random adventures, and while being episodic isn't necessarily a dealbreaker for me, it sometimes felt like even the self-contained episodes weren't complete stories so much as little random events happening. And the characters, a ragtag group of aliens with the main hero being a lost NASA scientist from Earth, were often unlikable. If I had to choose my favorite, I don't think I could because they all have some traits I find annoying, though Rygel is the worst of the bunch. You know there's something wrong when I actually enjoy it when a character gets hurt.

Because it started showing a little promise towards the end, I won't consider this score a general reflection of the entire series. I have Season 2 on DVD as well, and I'll reserve judgment for when I get around to watching it. I can say that the creature effects are excellent, although sometimes the CGI looks obvious and dated.

Oh, and one complaint I have about the DVD set: If you're new to this series, skip the special features. They contain spoilers for the later seasons.
Rating: 2.5/5

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