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TR Forge Advent Calendar 2010 - Mystica by Luke

Andzia9 9 9 9 9
Bene 9 10 10 10
Bigfoot 10 10 10 10
Blue43 8 10 10 10
CalrOsario 9 10 10 10
Christian 9 9 10 10
Diz 9 10 10 10
DJ Full 9 10 10 10
dmdibl 10 10 10 10
Gerty 9 10 10 9
izzynoodles 10 9 10 9
Jay 10 10 10 10
JesseG 9 9 10 10
Jorge22 10 10 10 10
Jose 7 10 10 9
manarch2 10 9 10 10
MichaelP 9 10 10 9
Minaru 8 9 9 10
Mytly 7 9 10 9
Phil 10 10 10 9
Ruben 10 10 10 10
Ryan 9 10 10 10
TheStig 10 9 10 10
Treeble 8 10 10 10
young Lara Croft 9 9 10 10
 
release date: 05-Dec-2010
# of downloads: 154

average rating: 9.59
review count: 25
 
review this level

file size: 83.85 MB
file type: TR4
class: Xmas
 


author profile(s):
email(s):
lukas.raabl@tplus.at

Reviewer's comments
"This TR/Customs was been really enjoyable. The gameplay and puzzles (some of them very original), give an unforgettable experience at all levels!! Bit hard sometimes with dificult timed runs. Ennemies not very hard, despite somes untill you get the right way to beat them. The atmospheres was good, with scary atmosphere nuances integrated with perfect audios/sounds. Good cinematics/animations also !! Wonderful textures, specially in the last level. The lighting is perfect !!. A great game – 100% recommended !!!" - CalrOsario (02-Jul-2023)
"One of my favourite levelsets! A very awesome and creepy vibe with some compelling puzzles. The locations were very well thought out. I loved the theme of this along with the soundtrack - there needs to be more like it! I highly recommend this spooky snowy levelset. Took about 5 hours to play" - izzynoodles (13-Sep-2022)
"I am not sure what I was expecting exactly, but this was definitely far from it. While part of the advent calendar, this level clearly leans more towards dark and spooky themes, with quite a few jumpscares along the way as you help (and fight) ghosts on your quest for many, many keys. The main level is a massive sandbox with several areas of interest and it branches off to a handful of side levels, and even by following Manarch's walkthrough (ie. never roaming around aimlessly) I still found myself sitting in front of my PC screen for the whole of my evening and my engagement started to wane the longer it went on. Perhaps it's in your best interest to split this into smaller sessions, I forced myself to reach the end and ultimately I think that took its toll on me as it seems to get bigger and bigger around every corner. I have no regrets however as the settings in here are very unique, all of which are carefully assembled. The only place I wasn't too keen of was the dark forest, and the mines felt a bit claustrophobic at times, but I guess that's the point. 2h30min, 10 secrets. 08/22" - Treeble (28-Aug-2022)
"This is undoubtedly one of the most immersing levels I've ever played. The surroundings here are close to perfect and the spooky atmosphere is top notch, particularly in the prison and cellar areas. There's actually a surprising bit of enemy action, although if you did read the storyline, this Advent level isn't peace and mercy mild, and there's plenty of flying skeletons and knights to keep things challenging. The secrets are also a challenge to go for and some require thought. The entire game is close to perfect, but I did have to deduct a point for the frustratingly tight timed runs and the fact that a couple of the puzzles were a little too cryptic for me. I also experienced a bit of frame rate drop in the open areas, although it wasn't nearly as bad as in other levels. Every experienced raider should try this." - Ryan (18-Dec-2017)
"I am not kidding but I have played this one at least 4 times from the start before I finally finished it. Not sure what was going on but I had quite a few random crashes throughout the game. Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy this set of levels and as always I got lost many times. I am sorry to say that at certain points I needed the walkthrough but even then that was also quite confusing. But I am glad that I did finally finished it and I kept a savedgame separate of that nasty timed run as I probably give this one another go a year or so from now. Very well done, nice story, great objects, nasty enemies and although somewhat dark at my I did have a good time." - Gerty (08-Oct-2014)
"I loved this level very much. When it was first featured in the advent calender I downloaded it immediately, started playing and somehow never got to finish it. Things have changed and I was able to replay and pick-up from where I left off. I was not disappointed with my time spent, it is and it will be one of the most beautiful and visually stunning levels I've ever played. I was impressed with the capacity of containing so many elements within the levels, the amount of objects that the level editor can support. Luke did a fantastic job, I wasn't expecting Mystica to be so long!!! loved every part of it, except for the last one (maybe too many traps and a short, abrupt ending), but over all I was pretty content with everything, and it's place in the Hall of Fame is well deserved!" - young Lara Croft (13-Jan-2014)
"Quite interesting custom. It has nothing with the X-mas, but I liked it very much. Very often game went very slowly, I don't know if was something wrong in my PC, or someone else had the same problem. Anyway, textures were beautiful, music and sounds were perfect." - Andzia9 (02-Dec-2011)
"Amazing adventure. I really enjoying the gameplay throught the 3 levels and the many originals puzzles, a bit hard sometimes. The new objetcs are very well and the ennemies too. The atmospheres was good, scary sometimes and the news audios perfects. The textures are wonderful, specially in the third level. The lighting is not to dark, it's perfect. I also really like the differents news characters (Wolf, Skeleton, Ghost ...). A great game, I hope play another levels of this author near in the future. Very recommended." - BigFoot (27-Nov-2011)
"What can I say? This is a huge level, quite impressive and enormus (regarding the extension). I liked hte snowy surroundings of the whole thing and the ominous places underground. I especially liked the frozen lake with the blue bright floating balls, it was mesmerizing. My favourite part of the game was the poem-puzzle where you had to use the compass to know where to place the statues and thar one you had to pull switches that where on the columns, I find it quite imaginative. However, there were some confusing parts where you didn't know what to do because there was no lineal way to continue. I revealed all the receptacles before finding anything to put on them, so I felt lost. I still don't understand why I had to place the things in those particular places. Finally I would like to add that the tight timed-runs where pretty hard and I got on my nerves several times because of them: they where related to luck more that your own skill. So, in the end it came up to be a fantastic level and I want to congratulate you for sharing it with all of us." - Minaru (27-Aug-2011)
"After 2 hours of circling around and finding the Mine Key only, I spent another 2 hours circling around... to realize it was all my fault, because I didn't notice a nearly obvious (here was a spoiler, so I removed it), located in the (here was another part of the same spoiler) - of course, the only place of the whole accessible area I have ignored. Typical me. Anyway, finding the thing caused a radical change of thinking in my brain, which switched from "logical" to "exploration" mode (so PLAYERS, DO THE SAME, at least IN THE FIRST PART OF THE GAME - otherwise You'll get stuck like me, probably in the same place). From that moment the level became entertaining: I visited some mountains, a forest, a crypt of a Norwegian individual named Wulfgarsson (I don't know the guy, but he required solving some logical puzzles from me), and the more I progressed, the more satisfied I were, encountering various kinds of puzzles, often finely linking and overlapping each other - all of them set in environment of a level of detail highly exceeding what is consider "good". Proceeded to the prison location, satisfaction was replaced by positive surprise (after being introduced to the wolf and the hungry skeleton, what gave the game a soul)... but it wasn't the end - the 2nd level (Mana Caves) made my mood jump from astonishment to admiring. Why? Transparency is applied there in a way I've never seen before. Wanna have a whole new usage for every single object type? Make them all of mana. So simple way of creation, but truly ingenious: it results in feeling mana concentration getting higher and higher as one makes it through the caverns of flawless lighting, to finally approach the boss (made of mana as well). If we say about enemies - nearly all of them are also modified and placed exactly where they should be, with a proper sound played everytime one is ambushed - heartbeat, diabolical laugh, scream... BTW, sounds fill almost every corner of every location, creating a neutral ambience (in the woods), smoothly transiting into magical "behold the light" mood (when one enters open space of the shiny lake), and - what is the best - spicing up the climate by sudden horror atmosphere (e.g. filled with skeleton groaning as we proceed through the dungeon corridor). You may think I made some spoilers here - but I can assure You if You don't hear it, You won't have an idea what I've just told You about. In the very end of the game, I noticed one thing repeating throughout it - Luke has mastered usage of the "Take-A-Look-In-The-Future" rule. Half of the game contains wall crevices, metal bars or doors we can look through and nothing can compete with the "aah, this way leads me HERE!" feeling when we finally reach those places we already know from the other side. Bravo for this. I'm impressed. The only flaws in gameplay are: one puzzle that requires backtracking if one needs to get a hint, as some people WILL ignore that hint and try trial-and-error method (like me) rather than backtrack (even if it takes less time to do the latter thing); two identical slots for two different puzzles, what shouldn't have been done; rather abrupt ending, leaving a feeling of unfinishment. SUMMARY: After I've already completed this game, and its various locations disturb my mind, I'm still surprised all of those memories are from the same game - because variety of its particular episodes is so wide it's hard to believe they are indeed. However, that variety doesn't disturb unity of the whole game - because of cleverly designed storyline and puzzles, joining different episodes together perfectly. But this causes a problem for many players - especially newbies, not yet used to treat equally important parts of some levels as one organism called Raid. For them, this game will be "Mystucka". It's definitely not a level for beginners, but, as long as this problem is a matter of their (in)experience, it won't spoil my rating for gameplay. BTW, manarch2 has provided a walkthru, so anyone who has a problem to find the (another spoiler here) or combine (yet another spoiler) with the (the last of the spoilers), is now able to look there for a solution and - thus - not to transmit frustration on the author at last. I could do the same mistake (as You can read in the beginning), but I took my time, solved this thing... and it was well worth it. MORE CONDENSED SUMMARY: The best one I've played since "Beyond the Scion". MINIMUM MIND REQUIREMENTS: Intermediate Raiding Experience driver 3.0, Brain Explorative Mode, with alternative Logical Puzzles Adapter supporting the latest version of Patience Propeller." - DJ Full (11-Jan-2011)
"I spent 3 hours and 10 minutes enjoying this large adventure that stretches over 3 levels. The areas look wonderful and are nicely decorated (well, in a spooky sort of way). The cutscenes were cute and Lara will encounter many different beings, including an impolite wolf and a singing spirit with a tip jar set outside of his cage. Timed runs and some amazing enemies make the journey interesting. There were only a few minor things that set me back. One was a ladder after a monkeyswing above the trapped wolf, because it was impossibly hard to grab for some reason. It took me dozens of tries before Lara somehow got a hold of it. Another thing was that the objects, as decorative as they were, sometimes prevented me from seeing well. This is especially true of the fog effect objects. Other than that it's a brilliant journey and everyone should check it out." - SSJ6Wolf (06-Jan-2011)
"I don't know what to say about this awesome levels. There is a lot of good work behind, with all that new features; environment is fantastic and I've enjoyed a lot some puzzles and the atmosphere. From the other side, the gameplay is not too bad, but too no-lineal for me; in first level there are very huge areas already in the very beginning, you don't know where you can go or you're going to start to look for, and many times you have to backtrack and continue searching 'cause you don't have the proper items: example; when you reach the end of the path with all those falling snow balls. Another times there are too hidden objects like the high jumpswitch in one of the three pillars, you need to be very lucky to find this small item in a very huge area about several square kilometers; the timed runs were very very hard for me, especially the trapdoor in the snowy village. Recommended only for those who have a lot of patience." - Jose (01-Jan-2011)
"It is rare that you get a custom levels that is so immersive that you simply forget to take a break playing it, but this set of linked levels is a case in point. It just goes on and on and you always want to know what is behind the next corner, behind the next door you eventually manage to open. It provides around 4 hours of net gaming time, centered around a fairly big snowy area in the mountains that serves as a hub that you come back to several times to branch out into the other levels. The tasks that you need to accomplish are greatly varied and not always easy to master - from snowball escapes to many symbol lever and pushable puzzles, from short tight timed runs to elaborate torch action - it's all here. There are also a few very unique and original moments like the 'ghost slide' and the only reason I could not quite award a 10 for gameplay was the (for me) rather tedious passages with a mazelike feel to it in the prison and underwater at one time. Then, just when I thought the end is near, you get an entire new area to explore with the blue tinted caves and an eerie cemetery with yet another clever hint for a multilever puzzle. There are also 10 secrets to be found (of which I got only 6) and the array of enemies is very impressively used throughout and greatly supports the story and the atmosphere. The biggest gripe I have is probably the rather not very spectacular ending. This huge adventure surely deserved a bit more than this short and uninspired little flyby, but in the end that is a minor gripe about an otherwise very remarkable set of levels. Absolute must-play! Do not miss it!" - MichaelP (01-Jan-2011)
"This is easily one of the two or three most immersive custom levels I've ever played. It has a little bit of everything, and there's rarely a dull moment in the four and a quarter hours it took me to reach the treasure room at the end. Had it not been for Manarch2's walkthrough I'd be playing on into the new year, for the complexity of these interlocking levels is immense. This enchanting release will easily make the Hall of Fame before long, and the only thing that keeps it from achieving perfection in my mind is that too much of it was too dark. The spooky atmosphere throughout is quite effective, to be sure, and there are ample flare pickups to be had, but there are ways of achieving this effect while allowing the player to enjoy the details of the surroundings. There are two timed runs fairly early in the game that took me many tries before I could move on, and even when I finally made each one it wasn't cleanly. When I bumped into the closing gate at the first one, the gate obligingly opened for me. (And a good thing, too, for if I'd gone barreling in I would have been set aflame in the room beyond. Not very sportsmanlike.) And when I reached the rising trap door at the second one, I was able to fall right through it into the room below. I would ask the builder to consider adding a half second to each of these timed runs, to make the levels accessible to a wider range of players. This, and the darkness, are about the only negative things I can think of to say. Everything else is pure exhileration, and I can't recommend these levels highly enough." - Phil (29-Dec-2010)
"It's been a while since I've rated a level with four tens and I wasn't counting on doing so to an Advent level (mind you, not a Christmas level at all, I didn't see anything even remotely related to Christmas safe for the snow if you count that as Christmassy) but I have to admit I was astounded by the sheer perfection of this creation. Quite cryptic a bit too often and I guess that suits the name well, but as flawless as possible in every sense. The sceneries, the story, the atmosphere, the music and sounds and then quite unfergettable moments such as the descent along some kind of ghost tunnel at a certain time, something I've never seen before in a Tomb Raider game and perfectly achieved, among loads of enemies, traps and mind-boggling puzzles. The lake, the wolves part, the village and so much more, it's all utterly rewarding. Quite frankly, I'm out of words. I've seen several levels referred to as an example to other levels - I don't like that idea much or every game would become the same, so I'm not even going to say anything of the sort here. It's a very long level (taking time from other Advent levels) and the end is even somewhat materialistic, more like a descent to hell than a Christmas celebration, but still unbeatable at what it is." - Jorge22 (18-Dec-2010)
"Wow! What a level! First the negative: in poor levels I like them to be linear as I can get through them faster, in good levels I like them to be non-linear as I think this improves the gameplay and gives more time to enjoy the builders work. This is about as non-linear as you can get in a marvellous level. If anything I think it goes a little too far that way and at times I definitely felt a touch of frustration creeping in which is why I didn't score it a perfect 10. Now the positive - everything else! Wonderful textures, imaginative puzzles, fabulous settings (I'm running out of superlatives, off to the dictionary). The lighting ranges from moody to magical and back again. Quirky touches bring a smile to the player, especially the singing skellie. It shows a builder who is so confident in their ability that they can joke around with the gameplay. This confidence is well placed and can be seen in the sheer quality of the level. More please!" - Diz (17-Dec-2010)
"The level is one of very few levels that doesn't start with an fly-by to sum up the first area. But I didn't really missed this, because what you get afterwards is a top 10 - worth level with tons of brilliant, new, innovative, stunning (I don't find much more English words for them) puzzles that were so logic and tricky they are for sure up to now, with over 200 levels reviewed by me, the best ones - with heavy distance. There were so many things which had to be lit with the torch - in all levels - so exploration difficulty grew up to the maximum. The lightning is perfect: It was never too dark but the atmosphere was breathtaking. Levels that are of such a high gameplay standard have good camera hints - this one is no exception. Nearly all levers that were more than few steps off the door had a camera hint with. The textures looked very real and in the village and the caves they were so good I can't praise them higher. The only thing I have to jump on are the objects. Not that I don't find them well made, but there simply were too many of them, exspecially in the Mountain level, so that the speed of the game was reduced quite much. Also, there was too much collision with them; more than once it took me very long to get further. I don't want to tell to much; play this masterpiece that surely finds its way up in the Hall of Fame and you will see why there were so high ratings. With having finished this, I had three highly entertaining hours. Congratulations to Luke for such a masterpiece!" - manarch2 (16-Dec-2010)
"Not the usual Advent level.
If there was a hint of Christmas, I missed it. There is snow, though, a lot of it.
And with that snow comes snowballs - large rolling ones and mystical, weird spirits (ghosts in black ?)and some enemies who are invisible. Much to discover and then re-discover. Areas after areas - all engrossing, set to the limits of the engine which makes movement too slow at times but doesn't interfere much in gameplay. Massive environments, above and below - some of which are spooky and visually stunning. This is a work that took a great deal of thought, time and expertise for the builder to complete and there is something about it that just doesn't let the player go as one is too involved and totally hooked. A few obscure puzzles that I am sure make perfect sense seen from the builder's POV but leave some of us in need of forum help and I'm not one to moan about shooting animals in any TR game but shooting the cross took me aback. Speaking of the forum, thanks for all the help you provided, Luke. It was graciously done and a pleasure to see you onboard.
As I said at the beginning, this is not an Advent Christmas level that we usually find but it IS an enormous gift of an adventure for the Season. Not to be missed - just make sure there's time enough to enjoy all of it.
Thanks, Luke - excellent," - Bene (16-Dec-2010)
"I guess if I could sum this release from Luke up in 2 words it would be 'Visually Stunning'. The environments are about as sumptuous and massive as they get. The first thing that really hits you is the scale of the adventure. The first forest/mountain section is probably the biggest outdoor space I've ever seen with the editor, with even more action to be had underground. Music fits perfectly, and I love the ambient sounds and the whistling winds. There's nothing outside the reasonable bounds of what the Tomb Raider 4 control system will allow either meaning that gameplay is pretty much frustration free. You may find some of the puzzles a little more cerebral to work out however and I (like a few others) did find myself dipping onto the forums when getting stuck on the odd occasion. That's a small price to pay for such an expansive and un-linear experience however. The odd scream may have you leaping out of your chair from time to time too (not a level for young children!). In total, I got 6 hours of solid, innovative lush and superb gameplay. Definitely one for your Christmas play list. Well done Luke, and I look forward to playing more levels from you in the future. Stiggy" - TheStig (15-Dec-2010)
"It's a stunning and extraordinary work, an adventure as never played before. So why not ten in a row? The player finds himself in an enormous large starting-area connected to other sections of some complexity. It's quite a frustrating search to find any access to this complex variety of tasks. Some guidance would have been not only helpful but absolutly necessary here. Once on his way the player finds more and more structured fluent gameplay, a lot of new ideas, several challenging timed runs, not the simple to and fro between lever and it's effect we can see that often. It is a real adventure elaborate as rarely seen before. So many stunning visual effects! So many areas with extraordinary atmosphere created by perfectly elaboretd environment combinded with absolutely well placed sound-effects. Even in the last section where two soul-stones have to be found gameplay, music and environment come together to something magic. One of the best adventures I've ever played." - Christian (12-Dec-2010)
"Mystica is probably the perfect example for what is technically and visually possible with the level editor and features an amazing amount of never before seen custom objects and effects. This level draws the player into a mystical, wonderful and sometimes spooky world that will keep one glued to the computer forever. Gameplay and puzzles: That is the only category where I just cannot give a perfect rating, simply because the game play is so complex and non linear, that a player can spent a lot of time trying to solve a puzzle or visit an area and complete tasks and nothing will happen because it was out of sequence or one is missing an important item. So all that's left is to either reload to a previous save game in order to log a shorter net game time or just run back and forth trying to work your way through the level. Other than that the game play is amazing as there are so many different tasks one has to complete and also interact with characters like ghost and spirits that will help the player in return for favors. Some of the puzzles are a bit complicated and some didn't make sense at first but thanks to a massive stuck thread in the forum and help from the builder, it all made sense and came together in the end. Enemies, Objects and Secrets: Despite being an Advent level there are plenty of enemies of different variety like ghosts, little Ice demons, cool flying skeletons and plenty of zombies/mummies which caused a lot of health loss by trying to dodge them until one finally figures out that they can actually be killed. As said earlier the used objects are stunning, especially those semi transparent blue items in the caves. Some secrets were a bit hard to see and my final count said eight, which means I missed two of them. Atmosphere, Sound and Cameras: Just beautiful. The level had a mystical atmosphere with great and sometimes scary and surprising sound effects, good ambient tracks and well-done camera work. Textures and lighting: Nothing to criticize here either as this is a real masterpiece in graphics and light effects. There are some dark areas where flares are needed, especially if the player has to look for a pickup or a crawlspace, but there were plenty of them and lack of light was never a problem. The texturing and I guess most of it was high-resolution in combination with objects, torches and snowfall were hard on the graphics card and in some areas (mainly the forest) I experienced some dramatic slowdown of the frame rates. Conclusion: This is a piece of visual art, combined with great special effects and an amazing atmosphere that will capture you for a long time and every minutes spent will be worth it. Don't miss it!" - Blue43 (12-Dec-2010)
"I'm a little shaky about the perfect score, but there are a number of special features about these three levels, which actually play more like they were six levels. First off there's the wonderful appearance, a real sense of a mystical snowy landscape, something original. And then there's the almost compulsive game play, where you know you should have taken a break an hour or two ago, but just keep playing: have to get the laser sight, and then might as well visit the lake, and so on. Then there are the fanciful puzzles and riddles, the sort that are good or maddening, or both at the same time. This is a bit like reading a good Stephen King novel; when it's good it's very good, and you keep going past your bedtime, but you grumble in places. The village area totally bogged down my computer, so that it was hard for Lara to move smoothly in making the timed run. There were trees plastered all over the place: attractive, yes, but several would have sufficed. There is a prison area where Lara helps a wolf, who returns the favor, so that the wolves won't hurt her, and she has a brief encounter with the grateful wolf later. We get a singing skeleton, and are glad that Lara promises to make a donation so that he will stop. Some places are unnecessarily dark, as in the prison, or the mana cave. It was nice that many fires won't ignite Lara while she is lighting a torch, so that task is easier. On start up it may seem impossible to get going, confronted by the huge expanse, but actually most of the early tasks involve the initial area, such as entering the mine to get pistols, then using them to gain access to another nearby area. Maybe all this will be better with a walk-through, but then some of the mystery will go out of these levels. Most people have no trouble playing the levels on their computer, but with my XP machine, which doesn't have problems with other levels, I had a long load time either starting, or when loading a save game. This was more than a minute, which is a long time sitting idle before a screen. This got so bad I did almost anything to avoid have to reload. This is one reason I intended to mark down from a perfect score, but in looking at the categories, with such things as play, objects, atmosphere, all of these things had superb examples in the levels. So hopefully players will not encounter the load problem that I had. A not-to-be-missed major expedition into a unique landscape, and a must play." - dmdibl (11-Dec-2010)
"It's very hard to know how to rate this level, as it is a strange mixture of extremely beautiful but very dark locations, along with innovative and enjoyable and yet utterly frustrating gameplay.
First the good stuff: Right from the beginning, you know that this level is going to be magical in every sense of the word, and it just gets better the further you go. Snow covered hills, dark forests, an abandoned mine, a frozen lake, mystical caves ... there's a huge variety of locations, and they're all beautiful (at least when they're not painfully dark). The level (which is 3 interconnected levels, really) is stuffed with objects, including some I've never before, like gorgeous translucent blue trees, pillars and even bats, especially in the Mana Caves level. There are a lot of wow moments, like when deer statues come to life and run through a forest. Lara encounters some helpful creatures along the way, including a hilarious singing skeleton. The overall atmosphere is just amazing.
There are a lot of interesting gameplay bits, like some really great traps and puzzles, as well as a couple of tough timed runs. But sometimes, they seem to get a little too clever - for example, in the first level there is a set of three switch puzzles, with innovative clues. But the third one does not seem to work as intended, as the clues simply don't match up, and finally I solved the puzzle just by trial and error. The same problem occurs with another switch puzzle in the third level. But the most confusing aspect of the gameplay is due to the open world nature of the level - at the beginning, you are in a huge area with multiple routes open to you, and there is no way to tell which way you have to go, or what you're supposed to do first. And the fact that the framerate drops considerably in the larger areas doesn't help matters any. Even once you start making progress, the gameplay has a way of grinding to a halt every now and then, as the builder throws in one of those 'the players have to be mind-readers' type of things, like walk-through walls - or rather, fall-through ground. Or there are the illogical puzzle receptacles - for example, why would one think of placing frozen flowers in what looks like an inner tube? At one point, I simply went around pressing action near every object in sight, hoping that it would turn out to be the necessary receptacle. The main area of the first level is the most confusing, while the offshoot areas, as well as the other two (much shorter) levels are far more enjoyable. The end feels rather abrupt, but that's just a minor quibble.
Overall: The looks, atmosphere and unique objects in this level are really not to be missed. But I recommend waiting for the walkthrough before attempting it, in order to avoid being frustrated at the gameplay." - Mytly (09-Dec-2010)
"Once again one of our builders proves there is more to TRLE than just a Lara endlessly pulling switches and busting enemies . Fine work here as both to gameplay and puzzles , not too obvious to figure out at first sight which step to take next but all our ways in life are just windows in time to look at and to decide and learn how to proceed on our way towards wisdom and enlightenment until we finally reach our goal. The player has to explore a huge area located in the norwegian forests ,accompanied by well chosen custom background music to enhance the spooky athmosphere of a real magical adventure. These days such a treasure is hard to find . I remember the old days when a player took his good own time to wander round searching for all the mysteries in a good Tomb Raider game by himself but looking into the various forums and helplines it is plain to see that even TR people have become restless and would rather abandon a task if there is no solution in sight within the next 20 minutes . TR life 2010 is in a fast lane ! This game , however , is a real pearl in the deep TRLE ocean and has everything a true raider could wish for. The globe pushing puzzle I found ingenious and I really had a moment of flashback with " Dies ist das Haus vom Nikolaus " ! (The second switch puzzle behind the green web) . I found it an almost perfectly worked out TRLE adventure designed by Lukas ! Oh , before I forget : another 10 for Regina and her voiceovers which are definetely second to none in all the TRLE world . Alright : Curtains Up - Stage free ! Dive into the magical world of Mystica !" - Ruben (09-Dec-2010)
"Wow, this is simply stunning. A vast, snow covered, forested area at dusk, full of fascinating nooks and crannies and intriguing objects and buildings, not to mention eerie noises - talk about atmospheric! Subsequent areas - mines caves etc., are equally impressive and each has its own particular (extremely effective and well chosen) sound file. In fact, the level is superb in every way. Enemies (yes, I know it's an Advent level, but it's one for the grownups) are provided in just the right amount and variety and blend in extremely well with the overall feel. The gameplay is exceptionally well devised, with everything meshing together beautifully, there are some challenging timed runs and brilliant puzzles to achieve and splendid use is made of transporters. Also, this is a kind builder who only expects you to undergo agility tests once - not have to do them on the way back also. I really appreciate that. There are some wonderful custom objects to use too, which makes it more exciting, rather than immediately knowing what you're looking for. I think I'm running out of superlatives so I'll just conclude by saying - magical, don't miss it. Oh and PS. I forgot to mention the humour - there's plenty of laughs along the way as well." - Jay (07-Dec-2010)