I wasn’t sure what to expect from E.P.I.C.: Wishmaster Adventures, and truth be told, the title isn’t going to give it away.
Mostly a point and click adventure, the game puts you in the role of Susan, a girl living with her greedy uncle in a bee farm. Susan dreams of being taken away by a charming prince and living happily ever after. And someone does take her away, except these are space pirates and Susan’s priority becomes getting back home safely.
E.P.I.C.: Wishmaster Adventures lets you play in either Casual or Expert mode. Casual mode shows you a silhouette of each item in the hidden object scenes, faster hint recharge and sparkles in areas you need to inspect or interact with. Expert mode doesn’t have the silhouettes or sparkles, the hints recharge slower and the puzzles are somewhat more complicated.
The story takes you through a series of planets, intriguing landscapes, and introduces you to strange creatures and extraordinary sci-fi situations. And while the initial puzzle revolves around placing statuettes according to the four elements to activate what seemed like a magical tree, the fantasy setting gives place to science and technology soon enough.
The adventure portion itself takes some thinking and observation to complete. You can click on items to inspect them, others can be picked up (the shape of the cursor changes into a hand). Items that you pick up go to the inventory, where you can combine them. Combining things requires a little logic, and it’s not the random “mix this with that and see what happens” procedure.
You can use your Diary as reference, since it becomes a log of your adventures and actions, and can give you a hand in finding out what to do next.
Aside from the point and click adventure, E.P.I.C.: Wishmaster Adventures mixes in some hidden object scenes and other puzzle mini-games. Fortunately, the hidden object scenes aren’t overwhelming and are quite clever in their construction. There are movable parts that reveal other sections packed with things, such as a curtain, a drawer, a flooded pool or a door. You can always use the hints to help you out, and don’t think of clicking all over the place, since this will just freeze your actions for a while.
As for the mini-games, they add different puzzles to the game. In a vending machine we will find a match-three puzzle where we can earn candy. Somewhere in a cave, a moving puzzle will have you rotating gears to drop three balls into jars. Another one involves removing pieces of yarn from a tangled web by finding the beginning and end of each strand. If you can’t figure out a solution, you can skip puzzles once the skip button is active.
As the story reveals itself, you will meet a bird-man, a cat-man, a robot with emotions, a talking cybernetic head, little creatures that have been cloned over and over again to feed a monster. It’s a cruel universe and there are several impressive technological advancements that aren’t exactly being used for the greater good. And in all of this, what should have been the greatest revelation of all was a given pretty much from the start screen.
Fortunately, there is still a surprise as you reach the end of the game. You are given a major choice that will impact what you see in the ending sequence (a series of conclusions will play regarding the fate of major characters in the story) and you realize that some of the lesser choices done throughout the adventure also have some importance. For this reason alone, there is replay value. I found myself doing a speed run after finishing the game just to see what would happen if I made the opposite final choice. I was pleased with either ending, with one exception: the fate of the last two Ariukana creatures, which supposedly I told to come with me and that I would help them during my adventure.
Overall, I truly enjoyed E.P.I.C. even if I didn’t see the happy ending I was expecting. Choices and consequences though, not only Susan’s but the other person’s as well. And you’ll only know what I mean when you play and beat the game!
