Royal Detective: The Princess Returns Collector's Edition > iPad, iPhone, Android, Mac & PC Game

Overall rating

5 / 5

57 of 65 found this review helpful

I really love this full game and I'm picky

PostedFebruary 25, 2018

HonoreDeBalzac

fromWashington, DC

Fun Factor

5 / 5

Visual/Sound Quality

4 / 5

Level of Challenge

5 / 5

Storyline

4 / 5

I bought this one and am almost done. The scenery is beautiful. There aren't a ton of horrible noises that grate on your nerves. It's nearly constant game play - TONS to do and not a lot of story.
The mini games are unique and I only skipped one or two the whole game because I couldn't get what they were asking me to do. I like when you use an item but it's not the full fix so you have to find more. It's not too challenging and not too easy, items seem like they can work in a few places.
I like the little helper dog, he is used sparingly and is adorable.
The ONLY thing I could find wrong is that I hate being forced to listen to the story by it being included in the mini game. Otherwise, I am not sure why this has a 3 star review., it deserves a 4 in my opinion at least. Show less

I recommend this game!

+49points

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Overall rating

5 / 5

35 of 43 found this review helpful

A Continuing story of The Princess

PostedFebruary 25, 2018

MaryCricket

fromHaverford, PA

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Skill Level:Intermediate

Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Card & Board, Hidden Object, Puzzle, Strategy

Fun Factor

5 / 5

Visual/Sound Quality

5 / 5

Level of Challenge

4 / 5

Storyline

5 / 5

This is the continuing story of Princess. We first saw her in the "Lord of statues", at the end of that game, she found her mother, only to lose her. In the second game "Queen of Shadows", she had to call on help of the Royal Detective to find her mother, and be reunited with her and found out who her lost father is. Within in those years she was happy.

Moving forward about 20 years later, she ...Show more

Moving forward about 20 years later, she calls on the Royal Detective again, for help, to stop a mysterious figure, who is attaching her statues and why. I enjoyed the story line and everything else in the game, morphing objects, collectibles, (the Strategy guide does show you where they are if you can't find them) I did notice if you did not get all the morphing or collectibles, you would have to play the game again. which I intend to do. I do like helpers in the game, but found this helper a bit annoying and distracting, he'll run around an a circle, then sits down.
If he would only sit still and be quite, lol.
All in all, great game Show less

I recommend this game!

+27points

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Overall rating

5 / 5

38 of 53 found this review helpful

WINNER WINNER BIG FISH DINNER

PostedFebruary 25, 2018

bmn5772

fromLas Vegas, Nv

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Skill Level:Expert

Favorite Genre(s):Hidden Object

Current Favorite:

Big City Adventure: Shanghai

(34)

Fun Factor

5 / 5

Visual/Sound Quality

5 / 5

Level of Challenge

5 / 5

Storyline

5 / 5

I love everything about this game. The graphics are wonderful and the hidden object scenes are fun. Enjoy!

I recommend this game!

+23points

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Overall rating

4 / 5

53 of 62 found this review helpful

PRINCESS IS BACK AND SHE NEEDS YOUR HELP!

PostedFebruary 24, 2018

biscuitsmama

fromI sure wish my helper was a bit more cuddly

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Skill Level:Expert

Fun Factor

5 / 5

Visual/Sound Quality

4 / 5

Level of Challenge

4 / 5

Storyline

4 / 5

The Princess Returns is the fifth game in Royal Detective series and of course you play the game as the “Royal Detective”. You are surprised when you answer your door to find a small stone dog carrying a letter to you from your old friend Princess who asks for your help. Princess is now in the abandoned quarter of a town called Stone Peaks and she tells you that her little dog Sheriff will take you to her. Of course you immediately head off to Stone Peaks to meet Princess but when you arrive you find she is missing. Will you be able to find Princess and save her from a kidnapper whose desire is to steal her magical powers?

The graphics are excellent and even though sometimes they appear a bit cartoonish they are for the most part quite good. The voiceovers are very good even though the accents are not correct for the game setting. We do have Sheriff tag along with us throughout the game to fetch and perform other tasks as needed and I didn’t find him too objectionable but that being said, I would have preferred him to be a bit softer. I did happen to find some of his antics to be cute and because he is fairly silent I didn’t notice them right away.

When I tried the demo of The Princess Returns I wasn’t sure that I wanted to add this game to my collection but as I continued to play I became wrapped up in the game and couldn’t resist that “buy” button. The storyline is really nothing new but I loved the puzzles in the game. One of the first puzzles is a challenge and I think I must have spent a good twenty minutes solving it. That puzzle was one of the reasons I purchased the game. Some of the puzzles are nothing new but I haven’t seen them in quite some time so it was fun to refresh my solving skills. There is not too much to say about the HOPS except that I did find them well-designed and fairly creative with some variety in style. I enjoyed the list type HOPS since they are my favorite and I was happy to see that there are quite a few of those.

Since I have been playing the game off and on most of the day I can say that I have truly enjoyed it. The game isn’t the best one I’ve played recently but it is still very good. As I noted above, the puzzles have been the best part of the game for me. I think this will be a game that will have mixed reviews as we don’t all have the same taste in games. However, I do recommend that you try the demo and give the game a fair chance because it might surprise you. Happy Gaming! Show less

I recommend this game!

+44points

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Overall rating

4 / 5

32 of 38 found this review helpful

Good Game with lots of Puzzles

PostedFebruary 25, 2018

spikescajunmom

fromLouisiana

Skill Level:Expert

Favorite Genre(s):Brain Teaser, Family, Hidden Object, Match 3

Fun Factor

4 / 5

Visual/Sound Quality

4 / 5

Level of Challenge

4 / 5

Storyline

3 / 5

I won't go into a description of game because my fellow reviewers all did a great job and there's no reason to rehash again.

I enjoyed this game and I have enjoyed most of this series. If you like puzzles, then it's for you because there are lots of them, at least in the demo. I usually don't find mini-games/puzzles that difficult in games, but this one is different. I found several of them to ...Show more

I won't go into a description of game because my fellow reviewers all did a great job and there's no reason to rehash again.

The visuals and music are very good. The story line has been done before, but is solid enough to follow.

If you don't like helpers, you might stay away. However, in the demo at least, the dog wasn't in it very much so it wasn't annoying to me.

Overall, it's a good game and better than most in the past few months. It's a rainy Sunday here so this is the perfect way to pass the day. Show less

I recommend this game!

+26points

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Overall rating

4 / 5

11 of 15 found this review helpful

Trial: Mini Games Galore! Great Graphics! Attention to Detail!

PostedMarch 3, 2018

Yurnmesis

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Skill Level:Intermediate

Fun Factor

3 / 5

Visual/Sound Quality

4 / 5

Level of Challenge

3 / 5

Storyline

3 / 5

Overall: Beautifully crafted game, attractive characters, multiple Mini Games, several Hidden Object Games, both well designed. Bad royal guy wants good princess’s magical abilities. Princess can turn statues into animated objects and they seem to work. If this wasn’t a Mini Game focused game I would buy it. The story is probably predictable; princess loves prince but keeps their relationship secret, bad guy who wants her abilities gets between them. The game moves forward with many tasks and a full inventory and requires a lot of back and forth but the hint transports and it doesn’t becomes annoying. I looked forward to the next scene since they were so well done and the story did pull me into it somewhat. A note for developers, when you have someone/something in a cage, dumped in the water, don’t make the players go on a wild goose chase to collect things to save it, poor little rock guy gurgling away hanging on with his little stone fingers.

Graphics: Excellent. Gamma provided to lighten or darken colorization.
Sounds: Appropriate to event/location
Hints: Good and transports!
Characters: Excellent design and well-constructed
Voice Overs: Well done

Hidden Objects Games: Small screen pop up, full screen, wall with objections hidden throughout

Mini Games: Well there were numerous compared to Hidden Object Games 11 to 4 and I might have missed counting one or two. Turn tiles match colors, move each token to picture associated with it (just shuffle them until fits) create a bridle for a hawk to fly you to castle, put brick runes in sequence shown, didn’t even see the light ups was busy reading instructions, but pretty simple, seen these before and dislike the ones that just wastes time shuffling around until everything fits. Since it appears this will be more a Mini Game than a Hidden Object Game, I won’t invest in it myself, but do recommend it for all its other qualities. Show less

I recommend this game!

+7points

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Overall rating

3 / 5

41 of 62 found this review helpful

Happy End with many obstacles – magic, love and many puzzles…..

PostedFebruary 24, 2018

rainworm

fromHaven't we enough soaps on TV?

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Skill Level:Expert

Fun Factor

4 / 5

Visual/Sound Quality

4 / 5

Level of Challenge

4 / 5

Storyline

1 / 5

The Royal Detective started out with Princess as a protagonist in the first game of the series, then abandoned her after the second, where she found a new and happy life. Now we meet her again, as she wrote us a letter. She needs our help in Stone Peaks, where she came to see her secret lover Prince. Nobody knows about him and she fears for him and herself. Together with the letter we receive out assisstant, Sheriff, Princess’ dog.
Somebody with no good intentions, is after the statues, Princess’ old friends and allies. After various games without her, we are re-introduced to Princess story, and how she became involved with them. It is quite clear, that the statues are harmed in order to get closer to Princess and lay hands on her and her magical abilities. In the introduction we saw already a man, who intends to make use of these to gain the power, he wishes for.
We play as the Royal Detective and in the course of the game, rescue one statue after the other and gather clues about who the villain could be. Of course magic plays a role and Princess and Prince should be united in the end.
For me a bit weird storyline but the game is extremely well made. HOS as well as puzzles are variable, challenging and entertaining. Sheriff is a helper, but a discrete one. All in all, a strange story packed in great features, as the puzzles alone are worth playing the game. Show less

I recommend this game!

+20points

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Overall rating

3 / 5

15 of 23 found this review helpful

Not the greatest graphics on the characters

PostedFebruary 24, 2018

dlcoyte

fromNC

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Skill Level:Intermediate

Favorite Genre(s):Hidden Object

Fun Factor

4 / 5

Visual/Sound Quality

3 / 5

Level of Challenge

4 / 5

Storyline

4 / 5

Graphics were not bad for the scenery, but not wonderful at all on the characters.... Will buy when its a reg. Def not worth buying as a CE.... I did keep interest till the end of the demo though at least!!!

I recommend this game!

+7points

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Overall rating

3 / 5

88 of 163 found this review helpful

A DOGGONE GAME IN WHICH I WISHED THE DOG WAS JUST THAT – GONE!

PostedFebruary 24, 2018

sunnyglow

fromThis game is barking up the wrong tree for me! It also reminds me why I don’t own a dog.

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Skill Level:Expert

Fun Factor

3 / 5

Visual/Sound Quality

5 / 5

Level of Challenge

3 / 5

Storyline

3 / 5

5 Chapters Plus a Bonus Chapter:

OVERVIEW: Detective - Can you save pretty Princess with a penchant for pensive Prince from a petty pilferer? You will need to mind your P’s and Q’s as well with Princess and her boyfriend, Prince. As a product of a dysfunctional family, Princess has contacted you to save her from an evildoer (all decked out in his hooded evildoer attire) who is out to steal her ...Show more

5 Chapters Plus a Bonus Chapter:

This is a great game for those who love easy breezy games, incurable romantics, dog lovers, or those ‘tweens’ out there looking for Prince or Princess Charming. It will be a pass for me. I don’t play games with animal helpers. The dog drove me crazy throughout the demo. I have no desire to continue this game either listening to his barking and panting or watching his noisome antics. I would probably have purchased it sans the pooch. Except for the helper, the game is decent but nothing out of the ordinary. This would also be a great game as well for children if there were some guidance.

MECHANICS AND EXTRAS: As usual for Elephant Games, the graphics are beautiful. The story interweaves the sugary sweet aspects of teen romance contrasted with that of redemption or defeat of an evildoer. You need not worry! I am positive that once again teen love will conquer all! The game has a good pace with plenty of activities to keep the player engaged. You collect fourteen (14) dogs and thirty (30) morphing objects. However, the dogs are morphing objects as well. There are twenty (20) achievements. Replay 13 mini-games and 13 HOP scenes. The other extras include eight (8) wallpapers and eight (8) concept art pieces, and three (3) screensavers. Elephant is one the few developers to still offer screensavers within their games.

CALL OUT THE POSSE TO PICK UP THIS SHERIFF! Doggone it! Elephant is providing animal helpers within their games AGAIN! The helper is a cocker spaniel named Sheriff, with glowing green eyes. He barks throughout the game and that barking is annoying, at least for me. Sheriff scratches his fleas, barks, runs around in circles on your inventory bar, and is used four times in the demo. I must admit I am not a dog person preferring the independence of cats; however, I would not like a helper cat meowing and prancing around within this game either.

HOP SCENES: The scenes are standard fare seen in other games. They are somewhat interactive, but basically nondescript. There are several mini-HOP scenes in which you locate a small number of items. Most are lists of items, silhouette scenes, and storybook scenes in which you locate items while learning more about the story behind the game. There is one creative HOP scene I truly enjoyed within the demo. It involves searching for silhouette items which are engraved onto a stone slab.

PUZZLES: They are all easy. I did not find one puzzle which was even mildly difficult. There is quite a variety of puzzles. They are again those we have seen in other games only changed somewhat to fit the game’s theme. Some of those puzzles are also involve items within the inventory. There are some extremely easy switch puzzles and sequence puzzles. There is a mathematical puzzle which requires some logical thinking to calculate moves to move four keys into the middle of a grid. However, I believe you can figure this out without any difficulty.

FAVORITE PUZZLE: My favorite puzzle is a unique and creative assembly puzzle. Elephant has offered this puzzle before and I wish more developers would adopt it. You move and position four lighted shadow images to match a skeletal image on a wall. Use arrows to move and sliders to increase and decrease the size of the image. You must also rotate the images to fit the given skeletal image on the stone.

HERE ARE THE DETAILS (SPOILERS) FOR THOSE WANT MORE INFORMATION ON THE HOP SCENES AND PUZZLES IN SEQUENCE FROM THE DEMO:

HOP SCENES:

(A) Storybook. Locate items listed in highlighted letters. (B) Mini-HOP scene. List of items. (C) List of items (D) Mini-HOP scene. List of items (E) Silhouette. (Incredibly beautiful. Silhouettes are etched on a wall. (F) List of items

PUZZLES: (1) Easy 2) Moderate difficulty (3) Difficult
A. Switch puzzle. Switch tokens so they are next to the same image on a shield. Rating: 1
B. Switch puzzle. (Inventory puzzle) Switch the halves of a series of crowns so that the two halves match up. Use a set of clock hands to switch out the crown halves. Rating: 2
C. Lock puzzle. Open a lock by moving the dial on the lock clockwise and counterclockwise according to a given combination. Rating: 1
D. Assembly puzzle. Switch tokens on a box so that each pair of symbols located next to each, when combined, create the symbol below the two tokens. Rating: 1
E. Mathematical puzzle. Move four keys to the center of ta grid. Click on the numbers at the top, bottom and sides of the grid to move the keys that number of spaces. Rating: 2
F. Alignment puzzle. Pull chains attached to items on a board so that each item is next to its picture located on the left side of the board. Pulling on chain affects the other chains. Rating: 2
G. Switch puzzle. Switch the leaves on five flowers on 5 colored tiles, so that the color of the petals on the flowers matches up with that of the tile. Rating: 2
H. Moving tiles. Swap tokens on a placard by moving them along paths so that each token matches the picture next to it. Rating: 2
I. Jigsaw puzzle. (Inventory puzzle) Move each part of a bridle to the appropriate location to create the bridle. Rating: 1
J. Sequence puzzle. Press stones in the proper sequence. Rating: 1
K. Assembly puzzle. Unique and creative puzzle in which you move and position four lighted shadow images to match a skeletal image on a wall. Use arrows to move and sliders to increase and decrease the size of the image. You must also rotate the images. Rating: 2 Show less

I recommend this game!

+13points

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Overall rating

2 / 5

107 of 133 found this review helpful

LET ME TELL YOU A STORY ABOUT A GIRL NAMED PRINCESS AND A BOY NAMED PRINCE?????

PostedFebruary 24, 2018

pennmom36

fromDid you know that the first statue in the world is the Lowenmensch figurine located in the Swabian Alps in Germany, approximately 30,000-40,000 years old?

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Skill Level:Expert

Current Favorite:

Phantasmat Collector's Edition

(100)

Fun Factor

2 / 5

Visual/Sound Quality

2 / 5

Level of Challenge

2 / 5

Storyline

2 / 5

Once upon a time, there was a girl named Princess, which in itself isn't all that bad, but Princess meets a boy named Prince, what are the odds of that? Princess has a unique gift, a magical gift, a gift that allows her to turn any statue to life! Stone statues that can walk, talk, think, reason, and yes, they can even fly! These statues are so grateful (implying that they knew about their existence and their circumstance before being brought to life) that they become loyal servants to Princess, who isn't a Princess! One day Princess receives a letter from her secret lover Prince, who isn't a Prince, asking her to meet him in an abandoned part of town called Stone Peaks which we can only assume isn't a Stone Peak. Princess begins to suspect foul play because she has had dreams about Stone Peaks, which gives her an uneasy feeling of doom and gloom. So Princess writes a letter to her good friend Detective, who does indeed appear to be a Detective, asking for help, just in case this rendezvous has dire consequences. Princess doesn't expect you to fly solo, so she has sent along Sheriff, which isn't a Sheriff, the stone dog (shouldn't Sheriff be called Dog?) Together the Detective and the Sheriff begin sniffing out stone clues and chasing stone breadcrumbs, to find the person responsible for the nefarious no good plans, otherwise known as Villain!

I'm usually a huge Elephant Games fan, because in my opinion they have some of the most amazing graphics, and they almost always have Morphing Objects which is my favorite feature in a HOPA game. The Lord of Statues was an amazing game, Queen of Shadows wasn't a bad follow-up, but the last 3 games have really flatlined! I know a lot of people hate helpers, and I will admit that Sheriff becomes annoying and distracting when he starts twirling around in place. However, if he didn't twirl, I think it wouldn't be a bad addition, because he is rather adorable, and I would much rather have Sheriff as a helper, than to have to make potions in a Healer's kit, like the last game offered! This Collector's Edition version has 14 Collectible Dog Statues to find as well as a Morphing Object in each scene (the only reason I gave this game 2 stars instead of 1)

The Hidden Object Scenes are decent, although a couple of them had objects that stuck out like a sore thumb. There are Interactive List finds, Keywords in Sentence finds, and Silhouetted Shape finds. There are also several smaller Zoom Zone HOP's, but no alternate game is offered.

The Mini Games are okay, nothing new, and there are a lot of them, so if you don't like games that are heavy Puzzle games, you're definitely not going to enjoy this game. Below are brief descriptions of some of the games you'll encounter during the demo:

1) Swap tiles correctly based on their images.

2) Select the central clock hand arrows to swap two crown sections to match.

3) Rotate the triangular arrow in the right direction to the correct number according to the clue.

4) Arrange the runes to complete the symbols shown in the center.

5) Move all 4 keys to the slots in the middle of the board, by selecting the buttons on the edge with numbers showing how far it reaches.

6) Drag chains to their matching squares, dragging one chain may affect others.

7) Press the center arrow buttons to rotate triangles to their matching colored slots.

8) Move tokens to its associated picture, selecting one token may affect others.

9) Place bridle sections onto the correct highlighted slots.

10) Repeat the sequence by selecting stones in the correct order shown.

11) Select circle buttons to rotate and change the size of the images and drag the diamond shaped buttons to match the symbols.

This Collector's Edition version has 3 Screensavers, 14 Wallpapers, 14 Concept Art pictures, 5 Music Soundtracks (does anyone ever download this music?) 13 re-playable Hidden Object Scenes, 13 re-playable Mini Games, 18 Achievements, 14 Collectible Dog Statues, 30 Morphing Objects, a built in Strategy Guide and a Bonus Chapter.

Royal Detective Games Available
Title***Collector's Edition Release Date***Average Rating

1-The Lord of Statues (June 14-2012) 4.7
2-Queen of Shadows (May 1-2014) 3.8
3-Legend of The Golem (February 4-2016) 4.2
4-Borrowed Life (February 11-2017) 3.7
5-The Princess Returns (February 24-2018) n/a

by: Elephant Games

Elephant Games Available:
Royal Detective*Grim Tales*Christmas Stories*Surface*Chimeras*Halloween Stories*Haunted Hotel*Midnight Calling*MCF (Dire Grove, Sacred Grove & Fate's Carnival)*Riddles of Fate*Hallowed Legends*Death Pages*Unfinished Tales*Detective Quest*Found*Urban Legends*Lost In The City*Super Granny Run*Quark Attack*Up Balloon Up*Ball Craft*Wise Gal*Love Is*Real Stories*Bloom*RIP Trilogy*Road Rush*Jungle Heart*Avalon*Just Bones*Sir Match A-Lot*Ship of Bones*Masquerade Mysteries* Show less

I don't recommend this game.

+81points

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	, share your thoughts about this game! Royal Detective: The Princess Returns Collector's Edition Save Princess and her statues! Heres what your review will look like once it’s posted. Click Submit if you’re happy. Your review should appear soon. To make changes, use the Edit or Cancel buttons. Thanks for sharing your thoughts about this game! You’ve already shared your thoughts about this game. Thanks for submitting the review below.