Wow! Just two weeks following their last release, increasingly prolific Japanese developer Place of Light has bequeathed onto us Loom Blend, another high-quality escape game to satisfy our mid-week cravings. Most excellent! The game's scenario is nothing new: you are in a room filled with diabolical puzzles and more than a few secrets, and must employ all of your wits to escape. A simple premise, but one that Place of Light does very well.
Before I get on with the review proper, one quick thing I want to mention: after Loom Blend loads, two swastikas appear around the game's title. These are not, however, the type of swastikas associated with the Nazis; rather, they are symbols of good fortune that have been used around the world for thousands of years. Nazi swastikas are tilted and the "arms" always run clockwise, while the traditional symbol is not tilted and may run in either direction. The swastikas that appear in the game fall into the latter category.
Ok! Lesson over, on to the review. Loom Blend is, to put it simply, excellent. Place of Light has consistently presented some of the best escape games out there, and this one is no exception; with attractive graphics, some exceedingly clever (and, for the most part, logical) puzzles and a professional, clean interface (complete with save feature!), Loom Blend is a joy to play. Oftentimes, one of the most enjoyable elements of an escape game is the room's transformation from seemingly ordinary to intriguingly complex as the player discovers its secrets; Place of Light seems particularly skilled at these sort of metamorphoses.
You will, several times during the course of the game, be presented with Japanese characters without an English translation. Don't panic! You do not need to know what they say or mean in order to escape. You may have to remember or identify the characters when solving some of the puzzles, but that's completely doable without an understanding of the language. Unfortunately, however, for those of you running Linux the game may be unplayable; it seems that there's one code (that changes every play-through) that Linux has a text display issue with and so will not display. Sorry, Linux guys/gals.
For the lucky rest, you're in for a real treat. So, enjoy...and let's hope that Place of Light keeps up the pace!
Walkthrough Guide
(Please allow page to fully load for spoiler tags to be functional.)
OK, full walkthrough time.
Note: All steps will be shown when the spoiler opens.
Look through the spyhole on the door. Note down the symbols you see.
Click the switch by the door to turn of the light. Look around the room. Note the message on the wall:
Powdered Green Tea.
Look at the wall on the left on the message. Note that the red line "breaks" a little. Click on the breaks and look a the hint shown there (not really needed to solve the puzzle but ok).
Turn the light on. Look at the table. Open notebook. Note that the message inside gives you the code - same letter, same number.
Apply the code to the message you found on the wall. The missing letter can be deduced, but you can also look under the table for an additional clue.
If you don't want to trouble yourself, the code is:
60391819 78112 514
Pick up the disk under the table
Solve the sliding puzzle on the table. You have to make an unbroken line from the dot to the arrow.
The arrow goes in the lower left corner. From the dot you go straight, turn left, straight, turn left, turn left, turn right, turn right, arrow. I would draw it in ASCII but really, it's not that hard, just work your way from the 1st column on the left.
Grab the red gem
Go back to the view where you see the entire wall with the table. Click on top of the linen with the japanese message. Click the nail. This will lower the shelf on the left.
Grab the handle from the lowered shelf
Open the first drawer on the cabinet. You've seen the solution of the puzzle in the spyhole.
It is, however, rotated 90 degrees to the left. The orientation of the triangle will help you.
Put the disk in the projector on the cabinet. Turn off the light. Look at the projection at the opposite wall of the projector.
It's the room you're in. Note there is a secret compartment on the floor right below the projection screen.
Turn on the light. Use the handle on the secret compartment. Open it. Grab the rake.
Put in the code.
It's the Powdered Green Tea one.
Don't be alarmed by the Japanese message. Look at the opposite wall - on the upper right corner four tiny characters have showed up. Jot them down and use them on the green wall panel.
Grab the key. Open the second drawer.
Click the flip-flop tablet in the drawer. Note down the symbols.
Use the rake to knock down the box on the shelf to the left of the cabinet. Click on the box.
Note the similarity between the upper side of the box and the linen on the wall.
Look at the linen on the wall. Now look at the symbols from the flip-flop table. Use this as a code for opening the box - symbols are black circles, the rest is blank.
Watch out for orientation, again. The yellow pencil is the key.
The code is:
XOXXXO
OXOXXO
Grab the handle. Use it to crank the mechanism on the right of the cabinet. Grab the screwdriver
Look at the blue box again. Note the screw on the cabinet. Unscrew it.
Open the 3rd drawer. Use the "hint" from the 2nd drawer schematic to help you solve the puzzle.
The "code" goes like this. You add a dot, then you add another dot, then you remove two dots and draw a line. Three lines make a circle and then you repeat the whole process.
Get the key.
Turn off the light. Go to the projection screen and "unlock" it. Note the diagram.
The diagram shows you "shelves" in certain order. You must follow the diagram and note the color of the shelves in order then put in those colors in the green panel (regardless of the actual symbols.
Get the key. Open the door. Do NOT get out.
Grab the spyhole.
Turn around. Look through the spyhole again. Note the message.
Get out wonder area
Translate the message to numbers via the same code as earlier. Leave the odd letter (u) out. Enter all the other numbers.
Put the "spyhole" in the projector power-up grid in the 1st drawer. Turn off the light and look at the projection again. Note the location of the blue gem.
Inside the 2nd drawer lock.
Look through the spyhole again. Click the message. This is the 3rd gem.
Get out. Yay!
Posted by: baba44713
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April 29, 2009 5:29 AM