Pros: Great sound and oriental-themed art. Various mini-games. Earn power-up pearls. Ability to buy hints, shuffle, etc.
Cons: Fails to tie tasks and mini-games with the plot.
Liong: The Lost Amulets blends mahjong and hidden object game with many mini-games and puzzles thrown in. This unique combo provides a fresh experience and new approach to mixing up casual game genres. Oriental décor adorn the beautiful scenes and artwork.
You go on an exciting adventure in Liong: The Lost Amulets where you have to find the five amulets holding the five elements of earth, fire, metal, wood and water in balance. Wise Men once held them, but now they are lost threatening world balance. As soon as you get the first element, you realize that it's missing essential jewels for restoring the power of the five elements. So, continue your adventure in search of the gems and the remaining amulets.
Although a trivial story, the gameplay pleases with original mahjong tasks, hidden object scenes and mini-games between the levels.
After a brief intro, you enter a hidden object scene which looks different from most games. You see a top-down view of the place where you'll need to scrutinize the place because most of the items are very small. Padlocks, horseshoes, tiny yin-yang lockets spread all over. Hidden object games are not only based on the list of items, but also you will have to find 10 similar objects like pearls or yin-yangs or compare two side-by-side pictures.
Mahjong tasks make up most of Liong: The Lost Amulets and they're unusual. A set of five tiles appear at the bottom of the screen indicatating what tiles you can match on the board layout. You can match two, three or more identical tiles when other tiles don't block them with the goal of clearing the board.
Mahjong games have a diversity of special tiles like Memory or Lucky Kitty tiles. Memory tiles hide in a special shelter, you need to put your cursor on a Memory tile to see it. Lucky Kitty lets you remove any tile or two similar tiles from the board. Pay attention, as soon as your pile melts, you can find and grab jade pearls on the floor. You can exchange them for a hint or a shuffle option.
If you love classic mahjong, then you can switch to Traditional Mahjong mode and enjoy the game. You can adjust the game settings to your taste and difficulty levels. Choose from six different tile sets, turn on relaxed mode, allow hints and show free tiles.
In between levels, you spin the Wheel of Fortune, which picks a mini-game for you. Be it Bingo, Tiling or Memory game; all of them are fun and challenging. You can skip them, but you miss the opportunity to earn additional jade pearls.
Unfortunately, Liong: The Lost Amulets fails to unite all the tasks and mini-games and connect them with the plot. They look like separate games rather than parts of a whole. While playing the game, you can easily forget about the amulets.
One of the most impressive aspects of Liong: The Lost Amulets is its visuals and sound. As the game takes on an Oriental style, it has lots of Eastern items like Buddha statues, fans, various pearls and exotic flowers. The boards look great and appear in picturesque locations. The soundtrack varies from smooth to jolly and adds much to the atmosphere.
Liong: The Lost Amulets is a beautiful game with a great combination of genres. It looks fresh and provides hours of tile matching fun in fascinating locations.
