G5 seem to have a hold on the fairly recent sub-genre of the Hidden Object Adventre and if you’ve played any of the other games in this genre then you’ll know exactly how this one goes.
That’s no bad thing for fans of these games. of course. Â The stories are always interesting, the puzzles are varied and there are strong female leads in most of the games. Â G5 know by now what their audience want.
The second Tales from the Dragon Mountain is no exception and continues the story of Mina and her nemesis, Strix in a land of monsters and magic.  It does focus a little less on the hidden object aspect, though, just using them as pieces in to unlock the puzzles instead of being puzzles themselves.  This makes the puzzles more diverse, from block sliding to typical aventure game tasks of working out what item works with another to open an area.
G5’s games always look pretty and this one is no exception, with some fantastic backgrounds and character designs, only slightly let down by the mediocre voice acting and script. Â Small effects such as fires burning or creatures moving about bring static scenes to life in sometimes unexpected ways.
Over the course of the 63 different settings, many of which will need to be revisited multiple times, there are 27 different puzzles to solve in order to move the story forward. Â A hint system works well for those truly stuck on the easier difficulty setting and this level also makes important objects shimmer to help the less eagle eyed spot them. Â Most puzzles are fairly straight forward on any of the 3 diffculty settings, though, with my only stumbling block being my inability to find certain objects in the very detailed scenery. Â Even the less skilled player won’t take too long to figure most of these out, though.
Tales from the Dragon Mountain: the Lair is another solid entry in G5’s line-up and well worth the adventure if you’re a fan of the genre.
Pros
- fantastic backgrounds and character designs
- Good story
- Interesting puzzles
Cons
- Puzzles are fairly straight forward even on higher difficulty
- Fairly short adventure
- Voice acting not up to the usual quality
