Others say...

"Alida was, well, puzzeling, but fun!"
I love to explore and solve mechanical puzzels. Alida offered most everything I could want. I liked riven much more, however at a time when myst has been brought to a close and shoot/kill/drive games are at an all time its great to find some more myst like adventure where I can learn about a strange nwew world and discover keys to unlocking mechanical things. The sound was very well done. I choose 4 stars for the game, but just because this was made by one person (a stick in the game houses eyes) I give it a five! I hope the see another game released.

"Riven wannabe that falls short....."
I was hoping this game was going to be more exciting like Riven but it fell short.
First of all, the music is almost non existent which hurts the game and when it is cued, it's not that good.
Second, the puzzles, while some of them are good, the rest are very tedious work of going back and forth moving parts which takes a long time and gets very boring.
Third, you keep waiting for something to happen in this game that never does.
Some of the puzzles are very hard, but I like that....
There are parts in the story that make no sense.
It's tries so hard to be like riven that sometimes during the game, I wondered how they didn't get sued by Ubisoft by the blatant rip-offs in scenery and machinery and storyline.
If you like Riven, Myst games, give it a whirl, just don't expect much...

"Didn't Like It and Got Bored"
I didn't like this game. I play games as a way to relax between work, a way to escape, a way to keep my mind stimulated. Alida didn't do this for me. Most of the time I wasn't quite sure why I was running back and forth doing things, and I never could figure out the whole logic (or whatever) with setting the planets in those covered trays and had to do them all trial and error (and must have done them wrong since there was no indication when you got them right--the other segments had some means of letting you know when things were set correctly). When I finally go to the part where all the various items had been fiddled with and the lost chord should have played to open the vaults, nothing happened. I sat there for a minute thinking about what was probably off and decided that whatever the ending, it had to be pretty sucky since the beginning premise was pretty lame--and I decided it wasn't worth going back and refiguring anything. I just uninstalled it, took the game to work for someone else to try (for free). There was no initial reason for me (as the hero) to want to go find whatever-the-woman's-name-was boyfriend (I'm rather sick of someone telling me something needs to be done, I've gotten to the point where I'm going, "why can't you do it yourself you lazy bum???") and since adjusting all those gizmos didn't give me any incentive, I didn't feel any need to successfully complete the game. I seriously could not think of anything good (or interesting) happening if I'd just go back and correct my wrong setting--so I uninstalled. It wasn't fun, the graphics were just okay by today's high standard, a little more incentive would have gone a long way to encourage this player to want to find the final solution.

"One of the best adventure games!"
First off, let me describe the kinds of adventure games that I like, so you'll know how far to trust my review. I prefer first-person over third-person, and I like mechanical puzzles that involve figuring out machinery and that follow some sort of logic. I do not like inventory puzzles, nor do I care for puzzles that take too long to finish (i.e., once you've figured it out, it should be easy enough to do; that's not to say that I don't like puzzles that stump me for days before I figure them out).

Now, having said that, I can say that Alida is exactly the type of game that I like. It is first-person, there is very little character interaction ("lonely world" experience, which I like) and there is no inventory. Nearly all of the puzzles involve figuring out machinery and operating the devices on the island.

Story: Yes, there is a story, despite what some reviewers have said. No, it is not as involved as a game like Syberia, but then again that's the third-person/first-person difference coming through. You will find out enough in Alida to keep you going, but if you like the very interactive, dialogue-driven game, this is not it.

Gameplay: First person slide-show presentation like the original Myst. But it is more like Riven in that the entire game takes place on one island, as opposed to multiple "ages." This also means that many of the puzzles are connected.

Puzzles: This is what I care about most. I don't need a big story, as long as the puzzles are good. And the puzzles in Alida are *excellent*! Every one of them makes logical sense. They can be very difficult at times, but if you consult a walkthrough, you will not have that "Oh, I would never have figured that out" feeling. Everything makes sense.

Something that had me hesitant about purchasing this game was the guitar theme park setting. I was afraid that the game would feel too contemporary, and not have that "other worldly" feel like the Myst games do. But that is not the case at all. Aside from the fact that there is a giant guitar on the island, this game feels more like Myst than the last two Myst games!

Another note: I've read several times that people don't like how some puzzles do not give you feedback after you've finished them. Having played the whole game, I'm actually confused about what they are referring to. Every puzzle that gives you immediate access to something new will have feedback that shows you where you can go next. There are three or four "big" things (that are connected to a larger puzzle) that you need to do that do not give immediate feedback, but the fact that you did them in the first place means that you did them right. If you happened to have made a mistake, you'll know exactly where to go to fix it.

One final note: This game was created by one person (Cos Russo), and he is great about supporting the game. You can email him directly for hints (if the hints at his website aren't enough), and he's a great guy to communicate with. Fantastic support.

Anyway, I highly recommend this game. This is simply one of the best (if not *the* best) adventure game I've ever played. If you enjoy first-person, exploratory adventures with a lot of puzzles, then this game is exactly what you need.

"Fun but awfully complicated"
I never actually finished this game. It was fun to begin with but it seemed like there was no logic to a lot of the puzzles. Or, maybe I should say, there was logic, but you had to know the end of the story before you realized what you were looking for.
If you are a brain or play this kind of game constantly, you will probably do fine. I'm an intelligent human being, but I don't play a lot of these games and don't really care if I get through them, so it was a little more complicated than what I like. Probably, it depends more on your gaming style.