Meridian 157 Reviews

Basically because about 25% of the puzzles don’t make sense. I finished in 1 afternoon. Basically about 4-5 hrs. However, if I didn’t have the hints & was forced to Think the puzzles thru, I’d have solved the majority of them. I probably would Not be finished. But I do think that there should be a website, possibly with the explanation and logic behind the puzzle. Maybe even a link. Teach me. Don’t just do it 4 me. I did enjoy them. However, the hints ended up just doing it 4 u. Or giving u the option to skip the puzzle altogether & what fun is that!?

This is a good story game, evocative of the original Myst. The problem is that since all the backgrounds have a slightly watercolor feel, you can’t tell what is manipulate-able and what isn’t. For some puzzles, it’s not obviously if you should click things, slide them, rotate them, etc. The hints are all-or-nothing. Give me multiple levels of hints, e.g. “I think I need to draw a pattern here” or “it looks like these knobs can be rearranged”. Right now, the hints aren’t “hints”, they’re just answers, which is less fun.

Good design, really suspenseful. The puzzles are not quite as clever as they were in the other two. It feels like we’re going deeper and deeper into this mysterious cave, but as the backstory of the island gets more and more developed, I start to get the suspicion that the creators are sort of making up the mystery as they go. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it’s a funny though that the people making this know just as much about the dark guy and the diary as we do.

All that being said, THERE IS SOMETHING THAT REALLY IRKS ME OFF AND HONESTLY IM GOING TO PUT 1 STAR IF NO ONE HELPS ME. Beyond the blue bunker door after the gas filled stairs there is a box in the dark room with weird symbols on it. I just don’t know what to do. Even when I go to easy mode and turn on hints it keeps telling me that’s what I need to solve and it gives me the solution but even THAT doesn’t make sense either this is a glitch or a weird puzzle

Yes, there are games out there with more challenging and creative puzzles. Most of the puzzles in this game are fairly basic and don’t require a lot of deduction. On occasion a puzzle arrives that is so obscure that logic doesn’t help. Generally speaking, the hint system prods you along nicely when employed, but suddenly when you find yourself confronted by one of these obscure puzzles, frustratingly the hint system abandons you and just solves the puzzle for you move by move.
But where the Meridian series might be lacking in puzzle creativity, it more than makes up the difference in sheer style. The environment is deeply immersive (I really feel like I am walking through these creepy places) and beautifully rendered. Really a gorgeous game to play.

I thoroughly have enjoyed all the “meridian 157” chapter, and I’m always excited to see the new chapter appear on Meridian157 Store. These games are a fairly good length for the price, this middle chapter was not as good as the first chapter, but such is the blnature or any episodic game/book/whatever. The “middle” is always the kind of low point of any journey, and it was still plenty entertaining. If I was going to complain at all it would be about the puzzle clues, not the hints, but the clues sometimes are very obtuse relative to the puzzles solution which can be frustrating. Also more puzzles would be nice, but I still love the games, and totally recommend playing if you enjoy room escape, or point and click adventure type games.

This continues (obviously) from the Chapter 1 game and is quite good. They have a new feature where some items you find can be “put together” to complete an object. This adds a new twist which is nice.
Like the other Meridians, I think it’s greatest strength is having a camera to take images of important clues thereby not having to keep a notebook. ALL puzzle games should have this feature.
The only negative is that some puzzles, you just do not know what they want you to do even though you found all the clues.
BUT having the feature to let the game solve it for you is another great design.
Looking forward to the next Chapter.

I’ve played both of the other installments and this is on par with the others - great! I’m probably somewhere in the middle now, playing on the hard setting without hints (as I did with the others) and I can tell you that there are some challenging moments. Will update when I finish!

Complete. The dice puzzle was the hard one for me and I’m not sure I understood the right side of it totally. Other than that, I enjoyed the game and it was well worth the cost.

Looking forward to another installment!

I just finished playing this chapter and enjoyed it so much that I wanted to leave a review. Amazing artwork, free hints whenever you want, no boring dialogue, and it’s super long....what more could you ask for. Also, it’s challenging at times, but not so difficult that I got frustrated. It’s intuitive and makes sense...if you play a lot of point and click adventure games, like me, then you know what I mean. Great job, can’t wait for chapter 4!!!

Nice episode number 2. Thank the stars for the great hint system when needed. Some of us NEED that feature. I got lost less in this version. That is my norm in real life travel too. I am always heading north when I should be going south. All of that counts when playing. Not everyone is logical or a person who can read a map. I was supposed to go to Yosemite and ended up in San Francisco. I DID take some time when back tracking for something here but I stopped to take a good look at all that went into both the layout but the art too. So, clever story, a ton of thought in the artwork and a great hint system. I was occupied, happy/frustrated and am keeping fingers crossed we can spend some “outdoor” time next episode. I do hope we don’t have to wait too long. If you are keeping stats...I am an “ancient one”. Thank you. PSST you need to get episode one...even if you didn’t do that yet...go back...

I hate puzzle adventure games where what you need in order to solve the puzzles are so obscure or have no basis in logic that it makes it frustrating and not fun. Prologue, Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 all made sense. It makes the time that you put in to figuring out a solution feels incredibly rewarding. They’re not EASY, but they can be solved with logic, exploration, analysis and determination. That’s a win. That’s what makes it fun.

Just finished Chapter 2. I really enjoyed playing chapter 1 and chapter 2 but want to make sure I didn’t miss something. Was the chapter 2 supposed to end at reaching the Lambda hole or could I have gone inside? Sometimes I go through these games so fast I think I might have missed something.

Some of the areas were so dark I thought I might be missing clues (I play on my iPad) but other than that it is a great game overall and love the graphics. Hopefully, there will be more to follow.

If you haven’t yet played the prologue and chapter 1, go do that right now. And if you have, then you won’t be disappointed with chapter 2. It’s every bit as good and even better than the ones that went before. The graphics, the puzzles, the story, the music.... all great. And it’s long. NovaSoft just keeps getting better and better. If you like puzzle adventure escape games, this is a great one. Thanks, NovaSoft! I’ll be looking forward to chapter 3 and all your future games!

Excellent! Meridian 157 just keeps getting better from Prologue to Chapter 2.
Finally! All of the puzzles makes sense, they are all logical if you are patient, and can be done with absolutely no walk-throughs on difficult level, with no hints.
It’s well worth $1.99 because it took me two weeks to work through it. It obviously has been well tested with various users. I love the addition of the combination tools.
I like this better than most escape room games because the story could be real, it’s relatable, not a sci-fi fantasy adventure. For example you are in a snowy woods and underground lab tunnels in Chapter 2. If you like Meridian 157, similar games also well-developed and logical are Rime created by IsumiArtizan, and all of the Glitch Games.

I see endless possibilities for the developer, such as the setting for the story could be an old abandon carnival, a “haunted” house, a “ghost town“, an abandon ship, just to name a few.
If I were to make any suggestions I would say it would be good to have the ability to pan the room, or click side to side. The graphics and details in each room are amazing, but the rooms seem kind of flat without being able to pan. I think that would give more possibilities for less obvious clues as well. Completing logic puzzles to get into rooms is challenging, but it’s a little too simple to find clues without the need to pan, they are basically right in front of you.
On to chapter 3!

Plenty of cheap fun to be had here with a good-quality addition to the genre. I did find this one to be a little less challenging than I prefer, both with puzzles and the strictly linear gameplay (solving one puzzle leads you directly to the next). But, the graphics are nice and the storyline is interesting.

Best of all, it works on my old iPad from 2013. So many new games do not, which is a shame because this thing still works great. Big thank you to the developers for this!

Chapter 2 is the 3rd installment (free Prologue then Chapter 1). All the great graphics, story, mystery and puzzles of the first two installments. Very well made. See my review of Chapter 1 for more details.
You really get around in this chapter - many diverse environments. Puzzles were fun except one with knobs that I couldn’t figure out so I used the hint system which is a great feature.
Eagerly looking forward to Chapter 3 which the end states is the conclusion “to be concluded...”
Very enjoyable and worth the price.
Great job development team!

I really dig the Meridian series of games! They just keep getting better. The graphic art and design is top of the line. I enjoy the games so much and the attention to detail. I don’t want the games to end when I’m playing them.
Please create and produce more. These are the best games available. I love the challenges and the visual aesthetics of these games. Most games out there are garbage and wannabe posers that don’t quite pull it off. Your team of designers and programmers have done a beautiful job with this game . Thank you and please create more. mushy78

I thoroughly enjoyed this game and the previous ones. The puzzles are fun and challenging but not too hard. You can play on the hard mode if you wan5 the challenge. I Like having the hints when I’m not sure what to do next. The music and overall feel of the game fits the creepy atmosphere. I was actually creeped out a few times which never happens. 👽 There were no glitches or problems in the game which is nice after some of the games I have played recently. Thanks for making a great game. Looking forward to the next one!!!

I found these games while looking for something like Myst or Riven and have not been disappointed! The plot is interesting and spooky without being scary, the puzzles vary in difficulty and type (some are spatial, others are logical, etc), the graphics are great, and I personally love that it’s slideshow style (makes it so much easier to confirm what’s important). Extra perks include a camera feature that make it so you don’t have to use a notebook to record clues, and an optional hint function that will help you move forward in the game when stuck without giving too much away. I’d love to replay this on my PC! Highly recommend!

Great atmosphere, storyline, artwork. Good price for the length. Lots of puzzles.. though this chapter was much easier than chapter 1. Most of the clues were within 1-2 steps from the puzzle. Not sure if the dev felt pressured into simplifying their clues? Since that’s exactly what happened to Big Fish...they simplified their games to mindless tapping. Haven’t purchased a BF game in years. So it’s always a joy to find more intelligent, creative point-&-click adventure games. This dev is definitely up there with the big adventure devs. Just hoping they don’t drop the level of difficulty any lower. There’s already an easy option. And IMHO, the hard option was easy.
Much thanks!

5.31 Edit for reply:
Thanks so much for the response
I’m really pleased to hear that you’re planning to make future releases with a similar difficulty style as chapter 1. There will always be folks out there who complain about something being too hard. But there are even more of us escape/adventure gamers who appreciate clever, creative puzzles that challenge the mind. Such games make the world a better place! :)

So for sure, I’ll be the first in line to pre-order chapter 3!
Cheers

I did the Prologue, Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 over the last few several days. Each chapter gets better and better, puzzles are excellent and not too difficult. If you get stuck then assistance is given after a period of time. Anxiously waiting for Chapter 3 and I hope many more after that. Time spent per Chapter is really good and unless you have a lot of time on your hands you won’t finish it in once evening. Graphics are very good and I would say the tunnels were my favorite so far. Only suggestion would be to have a bit more of a plot or story line versus moving along solving puzzles. I rate this a 9 out of 10 or an A, it could be a 10 or A+ with the addition of some story line to increase intrigue or to make the game more immersive. Overall, it’s awesome. Get all three that are available and play them in order, you’ll enjoy it immensely if you are into puzzle solving games.