Lost Lands: Dark Overlord

About

In "Lost Lands: Dark Overlord," players assume the role of Susan, a determined mother who must rescue her son from the clutches of the Dark Overlord. The game is a hidden object puzzle adventure that combines intricate puzzles, captivating storylines, and immersive environments. Susan traverses a mystical world filled with mythical creatures and supernatural elements to save her child and restore peace to the Lost Lands.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

94%

Audience ScoreBased on 133 reviews

story33 positive mentions

monetization6 negative mentions

The game features beautiful graphics and a captivating fantasy world that enhances the overall experience.
Puzzles are varied and engaging, with a good balance of difficulty that keeps the gameplay interesting.
The storyline, while somewhat cliché, provides a solid framework for the adventure and is complemented by enjoyable voice acting.

The game suffers from excessive backtracking, which can become tedious as players need to revisit areas frequently.
Some achievements are frustratingly difficult to obtain, requiring specific conditions that may not be clear during gameplay.
The story lacks depth and originality, making it feel generic and predictable at times.

story
90 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
37%
57%
7%
The story in the game is generally viewed as a mix of clichés and basic plotlines, often revolving around a mother searching for her abducted son in a fantasy realm. While some players appreciate the engaging cutscenes and the overall narrative structure, many criticize the lack of depth and originality, describing it as lackluster or insipid. Overall, the story serves its purpose to connect gameplay elements but may not satisfy those seeking a compelling narrative experience.
- “I am so happy that you get a real conclusion to the story in the main game, and that the bonus chapter is not just a tacked-on addition.”
- “The storyline and music are very good.”
- “When your son is abducted by a shadow, you're thrown into a story of dwarves, dark lord, and the renaissance of this evil entity.”
- “The story is where the game is weak; the main character Susan is an absolutely generic Barbie doll housewife in search of her stolen son by a tiresome dark spirit that is simply evil because it's dark, has glowing red eyes, desires world domination, and possesses small children's souls.”
- “There is nothing unique or interesting to captivate one in the story, or compel one to complete the puzzles as there is little sense of urgency or even empathy.”
- “The graphics and music are beautiful, the puzzles are decent for the genre, but the story is mostly nonexistent and wouldn't take more than a page if written down.”
graphics
53 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
70%
25%
6%
The graphics in the game are widely praised for their stunning artwork, vibrant colors, and detailed environments, contributing to an immersive atmosphere. While some reviews note minor issues like slightly blurry cutscenes or robotic animations, the overall consensus highlights the visuals as a strong point, enhancing the gameplay experience with beautiful designs and engaging puzzles. Many players appreciate the combination of high-quality graphics and orchestral music, making for an enjoyable and captivating experience.
- “Absolutely beautiful artwork.”
- “The graphics are incredible.”
- “Gorgeous, clear, clean artwork/graphics/scenes.”
- “The game is an older one so consequently the graphics look a bit blurry.”
- “It wouldn't be the first time I've seen devs use existing assets from their minor projects to supplement a bigger game, but they could at least have made the art style fit a little better.”
- “The graphics are correct, the backgrounds are also beautiful but after a while, it got kinda long.”
gameplay
25 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
52%
36%
12%
The gameplay is generally praised for its smooth mechanics, varied puzzles, and beautiful visuals, making it enjoyable for fans of the genre. While some players appreciate the interesting hidden object scenes and the overall design, others note that the story may not be compelling. Overall, the game offers a solid experience, particularly for casual adventure and puzzle enthusiasts, despite minor technical issues.
- “It's gorgeous, the gameplay is interesting and varied, there is a ton of things to see and do... if you're an achievement-hunter like me, just try to let it go and enjoy the game.”
- “Great hidden object game, very nice and detailed visuals, quite decent puzzles, and fun gameplay.”
- “This is a real gem if you like casual adventure games and I was surprised how well designed (in both gameplay and presentation) the game is.”
- “I'd recommend the game on the proviso you're not looking for a compelling story but rather some solid puzzle, point-and-click, hidden object gameplay.”
- “Anyway, the gameplay is the standard one: puzzles, hidden object scenes, etc. However, this game is quite interesting as the minigames are easy to solve and the hidden object scenes are divided into three types: placing the object in the right place, finding the object corresponding to the silhouette, and the traditional list of objects.”
- “There were no outstanding bugs throughout my gameplay, though my game did crash once (when I tried to switch from full screen to window in the middle of the game) and froze another time (for no reason whatsoever).”
music
23 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
39%
48%
13%
The music in the game is generally praised for its quality and fitting orchestral style, enhancing the overall atmosphere and storytelling. While some users noted it can be repetitive, the soundtrack is described as beautiful and well-composed, aligning with the game's themes. Additionally, players appreciate the customizable audio options, allowing for a tailored experience.
- “The short: beautiful artwork, captivating stories, great cross section of medium to challenging puzzles, very apt orchestral music, detailed but simple menu system that allows instant travel across accessible places.”
- “Music has been composed with full understanding of the plot behind the Lost Lands series - hardship in overcoming challenges towards the end goal.”
- “Plus, the beautiful music, graphics, and environments make the atmosphere quite enjoyable to play and relax.”
- “On the technical side, the game is a well-done craft, featuring nicely drawn images and good (if a bit repetitive) music.”
- “Music has been composed with a full understanding of the plot behind the Lost Lands series - hardship in overcoming challenges towards the end goal.”
- “While the voice acting is okay, the music fits the game very well and never gets on your nerves.”
monetization
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization strategy of the game has received negative feedback due to excessive in-game advertisements and intrusive promotional content in the front menu, which detracts from the overall gaming experience. Reviewers express frustration with the developers' approach, perceiving it as greedy and disrespectful to players.
- “The game itself is generally fine, but the overall experience is completely tarnished by the naggy, spammy front menu which is completely full of advertising, as if the expectation from the developer is that PC gamers are no different from tablet gamers and enjoy advertising.”
- “I can't support the arrogance and greed of the developers with this insidious creep towards more advertising.”
- “Final thoughts: I have found the game developer's method of advertising their other games is unappealing.”
atmosphere
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75%
25%
The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its magical quality, enhanced by beautiful artwork, immersive environments, and captivating music, creating an enjoyable and relaxing experience for players.
- “Very magical atmosphere.”
- “Good artwork and atmosphere.”
- “Plus, the beautiful music, graphics, and environments make the atmosphere quite enjoyable to play and relax.”
replayability
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
75%
Overall, the game's replayability is considered low, as players can achieve most objectives and collectables on their first playthrough. While some may return to pursue 100% completion, the ease of spotting collectables diminishes the incentive for multiple runs.
- “On the upside, that's also why the game has replay value: you're unlikely to have found everything on your first go (although it is possible), so to get those 100% achievements, you need to replay it and do everything (and correctly) this time, without help.”
- “Once in, you’ll find it also has many collectibles to find throughout the areas in the main story, all of which were quite easy to spot - I’d think this lowers the replayability quite a bit, as completionists will surely not miss them on the first playthrough and thus would have no reason to go back and replay it.”
- “The replay value for the game is low.”
- “There is no technical replay value.”
- “Once in, you’ll find it also has many collectibles to find throughout the areas in the main story, all of which were quite easy to spot. I think this lowers the replayability quite a bit, as completionists will surely not miss them on the first playthrough and thus would have no reason to go back and replay it.”
grinding
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be enjoyable overall, though some puzzles can feel tedious, particularly those involving repetitive tasks like aligning rings or sorting mosaics. However, the inclusion of hidden collectible items encourages exploration and adds a layer of motivation to revisit previously completed areas.
- “Fun, but some parts were a little tedious as every item you needed required solving a puzzle.”
- “Puzzles: 6/10 - a lot of 'align the rings' and 'sort the mosaic' type games, which I find tedious.”
- “This would be tedious except the designers did hide collectible items throughout the areas, which are particularly hard to find, encouraging further exploration in areas you've already progressed through.”
emotional
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
33%
The emotional aspect of the game is criticized for its lack of engaging plot development and underwhelming character interactions, resulting in a generally uninspiring experience. While there are attempts to convey emotion, they fall short, leaving players feeling disconnected from the story and characters.
- “However, it’s also not the worst I've encountered, and you can kind of tell there was an attempt at giving some sort of emotional intonation to the text.”
- “Boring story with no plot development.”
humor
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is well-received, with players finding it amusing and entertaining, particularly in the context of the plot and challenges. The blend of humor with gameplay elements adds to the overall enjoyment.
- “I know as main characters we have plot armor, but it was funny.”
- “Funny story, decent challenges.”
stability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Reviews indicate that collector's edition bonus chapters often suffer from significant stability issues, including numerous errors, bugs, glitches, and poor translations, leading to a perception of them as the least polished aspect of the game.
- “It's a common joke by now that collector's edition bonus chapters are the laziest and most unfinished part of HOPA games, riddled with errors, bugs, glitches, and horrendous mistranslations.”