Reincarnations: Back to Reality

While Jane is driving, four angry entities ruin her peace.  They insist that she return to the past, set things right and restore her karmic balance.

For those of you who are unaware, this is the third game in the Reincarnations series.  The whole purpose is to explore the concept of reincarnation and karma.  The game is not perfect, it has a tendency to state the obvious and there are some lame puns.  One mess could’ve been avoided all together if it weren’t for the security guard’s stupidity.  The security guard is closing the museum, but he decides to let a woman that he doesn’t even know inside because she said she needed to do some research.  As you can imagine, that did not turn out well.  There is one part about a ghost that takes away the eyesight of the citizens.  When you’re trying to find the cure, you come across a drawing by a little kid that says, “Why don’t you want to play with me?”  While that is sad, you don’t get sympathy points for it, because that’s taking the easy way out.  Still, it was necessary, considering how that story turned out.  I’m not saying because I’m keeping this spoiler free and when playing it the conclusion is actually easy to reach.

The game play is actually fun.  Not only to you get to choose your own difficulty level, you also get to choose whether to have interactive help.  There are also an unlimited number of hints, and the hint bar charges fast.  It also comes with a list of tasks that you need to complete and inventory items to help you do so.  Of course, you have to collect the inventory items yourself, but not only can you use the hint bar to help you with hidden object scenes, you can also use it to point you in the right direction.  If that’s not enough, the game also comes with a free strategy guide to help you if you are stuck.  However, some puzzles contain inventory items that you have not obtained, so you will have to do quite a bit of backtracking.  For those of you willing to pay a little more, you can get the Collector’s Edition.  Not only do you get wallpapers, screensavers, concept art and music, you also get an extra level you can play in order to fully complete the game.

While, the story and characters are not great, the game is still fun.  I only have one question.  What effect does changing the past have on everyone’s future?  Yes, I’m aware that it’s about correcting past mistakes, but I’ve seen too many franchises where changing the past has a negative effect on the future, regardless of intentions.  So now, I have another question.  Was Jane destined to go back in time and correct everything?  I give this game 7 out of 10.  For those of you who are interested, you can buy the game at either Playfirst or Big Fish Games it’s up to you.

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