Reedu: The First Explorer. Solve Puzzles & Explore a Mysterious Island Inspired by Myst
by Paul Wilks
May 21, 2011 12:00 PM –
Install
Reedu: The First Explorer is an immersive adventure game where you, playing the role of Reedu, explore the mysterious island of Verida. If you have played games like ‘Myst‘ before you will probably be very familiar with the gameplay. The game requires you to roam lusciously rendered landscapes and solve a variety of puzzles that challenge dexterity, co-ordination and logic, while gradually unravelling the mystery.
Price: $2.99
Tested on: HTC Desire HD
Content Rating: Everyone
Pros & Cons:
Pros
- Beautiful backdrops.
- Nice graphics.
- Challenging puzzles.
- Very immersive experience.
- Relaxing ethereal music.
- Myst meets Alice in Wonderland.
Cons
- The mini-game controls sometimes feel a little counter-intuitive.
- Inventory could better if items were labelled.
Features:
You view your exploration from a first-person perspective, which leads to an immersive experience where you feel you might actually be on an island. The relaxing music that provides the sound track to your exploration is nicely done and lets you enjoy the glorious artwork that has gone into the game. The game requires you to move around a small island known as ‘Verida’. On the island you face several mini-games that are simple logic, dexterity and co-ordination challenges in order for you to collect items to help you through your journey. You collect these items in your inventory. Here lies one problem I had with the game, when you click on the inventory it doesn’t tell you what you have, it just displays small undescriptive pictures. This becomes a bit of a hindrance when you are trying to use the items and you don’t know which is the right one. The in-game help seems to lack a little here too, and you muddle through my trial and error rather than guidance.
This point aside I found the game very playable and challenging. The backdrops are beautiful- so beautiful I was a bit disappointed there wasn’t an option to add these as wallpapers. The mini-games break up your exploring. I found these a bit tough to start with but with patience you learn the best technique to use. On that basis the game demands some persistence, concentration and an open mind to try different methods to solve the puzzles. While this means the game might not be for everyone, for those who are fans of ‘Myst’ style explore-em-up games this will be just the kind of game you like.
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Reedu You will need to use this gun later.
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Reedu In-game visual
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Reedu In-game visuals
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Reedu In-game visual 2
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Reedu Grid signifies interaction required.
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Reedu Interaction
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Reedu Mini-game visual 2
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Reedu Mini-game visual 3
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Reedu Mini-game complete
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Reedu Mini-game complete 2
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Reedu Mini-game 2
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Reedu Menu
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Reedu Loading Screen
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Reedu Instructions
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Reedu Instructions 2
Fun Factor:
I think the game is a lot of fun. There are lots of challenges and the game forms the first part of a series of games in which to explore. The next episodes promise to deepen the plot further.
Addictive:
You cannot call this game addictive in an Angry Birds way, it is very different and requires a degree of discernment on behalf of the gamer. You will want to go back and try and better you mini-game scores but the bigger picture is completing the level.
Graphics:
Graphics can be differentiated between the stunning artistic vistas of the island you explore, and the pretty mini-game graphics. Both are very good.
Accelerometer, Vibration & Sound:
The music is really nice and helps immerse (I know I’ve used this word a lot but the game really does draw you in) 
you into the environment of the game.