Awakening: The Goblin Kingdom
Game Review

The Goblin Kingdom is the third game in the Awakening series, following The Dreamless Castle and Moonfell Wood. After waking up from a century-long magical slumber, Princess Sophia has been searching for signs of her missing fellow humans. She has managed to escape the castle and has sought an audience with the fairy queen, but she still has plenty of questions left unanswered. Her journey now takes her to the Goblin Kingdom, where the wise goblin king may be able to help her find her people.

The game begins with Princess Sophia flying to the Goblin Kingdom on the back of a gryphon. However, something dark has spooked the gryphon, and he refuses to go any further, dropping Sophia off at the edge of the kingdom. You must now help Sophia navigate the cold frozen mountains of the Goblin Kingdom. Your goal is to find a way to reach the capital and gain an audience with the king. However, tragic news await you and something dark is transpiring...

The game contains the same great story, artwork and gameplay that you'd expect from an Awakening game. The key differences come from the change in locale. In Moonfell Wood, you explored a lush magical forest ruled by the mysterious and enigmatic fairies. But in Goblin Kingdom, your journey has taken you to the snowy and icy mountaintops populated by mechanical geniuses. Gameplay-wise, you will be dealing with much more machinery and engineering. Art- and atmosphere-wise, the general feel is a bit more stark and bleak due to the frozen setting. There is also a tribal shamanistic vibe to the environment.

After the gryphon drops you off at the outskirts of the Goblin Kingdom, you will have to find your way through the treacherous terrain to reach the king. The fairy queen has sent help though; you have the sage advice from an owl and the fire-breathing ice-melting powers of a pet dragon. Together, you must negotiate with the goblins, helping them repair their machines and battle the elements, eventually earning their aid to bring you closer to your goal.

There are plenty of obstacles that will prevent you from progressing in the game until you manage to solve them. Half the time, this is done by finding crucial items scattered throughout the various locations. Gather the right items, and you can use them to interact with the obstacle, such as using appropriate tools to repair a machine. Sometimes, the obstacles are more complicated and will launch a puzzle or hidden object minigame when you interact with them.

The puzzles mostly feature mechanical and tribal themes, and range from fairly simple to satisfyingly challenging. A few of them involve remembering patterns or codes from elsewhere in the game and trying to replicate them in the puzzles. Plenty of other puzzle types are also represented. There are also a number of hidden object scenes. They feature the traditional list of items that need to be found, but there are also items that require prior manipulation or scene changes in order to reach them.

Awakening: The Goblin Kingdom is a great game in its own right, and a worthy sequel in this medieval fantasy game series. The story and gameplay are very interesting, with pretty smart twists when you least expect them. On the graphical side, this is one of the rare games that support the widescreen format, providing us with beautiful panoramic scenes. The game is definitely worth a try if you liked the previous Awakening games, or other medieval fantasy games such as the Love Chronicles or Princess Isabella series.

You can get the basic version of the PC game, or you can get the Collector's Edition which contains exclusive extras such as bonus gameplay, a strategy guide, wallpapers and more. Or get the basic version or Collector's Edition of the Mac game.

Check out the other games in this series!

Related PC Games at Big Fish Games:

Awakening: The Goblin Kingdom Collector's Edition

Awakening: Moonfell Wood

Princess Isabella: Return of the Curse

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