This was my first Princess Isabella game, and I wasn’t sure if I would be missing something joining in at the tail end of the series. Lucky for me, however, enough of a back story was given that I could follow along just fine, but it wasn’t ad nauseam to where a more experienced player would be bored.
Brief dramatic cut scenes start Princess Isabella: The Rise of an Heir off, as we're given a glimpse of Princess Isabella, turned to stone by the evil witch, and left at her terrible mercy.
Of course, being the evil witch that she is, she's not satisfied with just draining the essence of Princess Isabella - the witch has now set her sights on Isabella's daughter, Princess Bella.
As we watch the terrible scene unfold, Princess Bella's fairy godmothers are kidnapped by the witch's underlings, three smoky apparitions of some kind of hell hound. Without her guardians, Bella knows she has little chance of defeating the witch, and so she sets off on an adventure to rescue them.
The graphics are well done – very crisp and clear and not too dark. The tone is appropriate for a fairytale gone wrong and the background music suggests the same.
The voiceovers contribute to the theme, but I admit, the fairy’s voice got on my nerves, and I had to skip most of her dialog. She sounded like a high pitched chipmunk strung out on caffeine!
Mythical creatures abound as you work with a hint fairy and a dragon that can help move things. You will also be able to build a magic wand that will reveal hidden objects and help you on your journey.
In casual mode, the gameplay is quick and simple, following on-screen prompts to find your next steps and identify areas for interaction.
Princess Isabella: The Rise of an Heir includes a strategy guide but I never had to crack it open. I normally like to follow them to the T to make sure I don’t miss anything, but I had too much fun bandying about in my play world uncovering objects by breaking them open with my magic wand and finding all the hidden object scenes.
The hidden object scenes were very typical – somewhat cluttered with obscured objects blended into the backgrounds. Even still, I only used a hint once when I got very impatient to get on with the game play. I didn’t come across any objects that required interaction to uncover, so they go pretty quickly (even with severely sleep-deprived mommy eyes!).
The HOS seemed to be more means to an end than the focus of the game to me. So, if you are fanatical about endless scene after scene with challenges, this probably isn’t the game for you. Princess Isabella: The Rise of an Heir is more focused on the storyline and the HOS blend into the tale.
The mini-games were predictable, but I still had fun completing them without using my skip fairy. Part of me was a little wary that she would start talking again, and, in deference to my ears, I didn’t dare click on her just in case.
They were very typical of lining up colors, turn all the lights on, stack the items from largest to smallest – nothing too challenging, similar to the HOS. Again I felt the mini-games were used as a contributor to the storyline and not the main focus.
I really enjoyed my time playing Princess Isabella: The Rise of an Heir and look forward to completing the game. I may go back and play the earlier editions, the storyline is compelling to me, and I would love to know how Princess Bella arrived at her journey.
I definitely recommend checking it out whether you’re an experienced Princess Isabella fan or a first-time player like me.