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Kaya Joshi Investigates
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Ironcode Gaming would like to introduce you to its latest gaming creation of Kaya Joshi. This young lady is a private detective who is the central character of Ironcode Gaming's Magic Detective title. This is a Hidden Object Adventure offering. With this game you will be invited to join Kaya Joshi as she responds to a call from a police officer friend regarding the disappearance of a young boy from an area that is best known for its strong gangster control connection.
Following the initial worrying call for help, with the accompanying dialogue being delivered by voice actors, the game presents you with a full screen view of the scenic view consisting of a particular area. This scene will be overlaid by various tools available to you. These tools consist of a centrally positioned Inventory which is sandwiched between a Map and Journal of the left with a Hint feature on the right.
While the Map will show scenes from those locations visited during the current chapter of your investigation, including your current position, it offers no assistance regarding moving between locations and where tasks need to be performed. The Journal, for its parts, splits its content between Goals and details of the story so far. Depicted in the form of a magic ring, the Hint feature will need to be recharged after each use and, as I quickly discovered, is not as precise or as useful as many such Hint features I have encountered. Often this magic ring Hint will merely indicate that you will need an item, you do not have, to carry out a particular task. You will need to fins the item and use it correctly
While the various locations visited by Kaya Joshi have a solid and almost real appearance, her investigation technique has more of a dream-like quality. In some cases, you will need to think out-of-the-box for help her make progress as she performs actions that do not seem obvious with the results delivering the complete opposite to what you might expect. A regular appearance facing Kaya has her meeting different characters in the game and having a conversation that involve the same dialogue used on earlier occasions and being asked to repeat tasks.
During her investigation, Kaya will need to tackle various mini game puzzles, such as causing a power blow-out, repairing the damage and releasing a trapped key, as she proceeds through a dream-like environment. The game also has a number of Hidden Object scenes where certain objects will need to be combined before they can be selected.
At least the game does feature an investigation that ranges over different locations. Kaya will need to include a trips to the boy's home, the local docks, a trip on an ocean liner (I still have not worked out whether she was a passenger or crew member), visit a hotel with its own master card making machine, a spiral staircase and a temple that is being used as part of a plot to take over the world. At the end of this investigation, if you manage to avoid the mind-controlled guards and other characters with red eyes, then you will have the opportunity to defeat the plans of Kar-Aul-Rak-Vaar in a battle between two rings but, like me, you may not even bother instead get on with more enjoyable tasks. You can download this game from Big Fish Games where it is priced at £7.70 or Gamehouse.com priced at $9.99..
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