I really miss the heyday of point-and-click adventure games. The format supports the development of solid, compelling storylines while engaging the player with a variety of interactive puzzles. There is something soothing about staring at a static visual image, searching for clues as your mind races with possibilities. Or maybe I’m just a nerd. In any case, The Legend of Crystal Valley adheres to the standard point-and-click format without pulling any punches.

After receiving a strange and mysterious note from her father, the main character, Eve, visits his home to investigate and finds him missing. As she searches for him, she happens on a portal to another world, Crystal Valley. Her mother having died years earlier, Eve is determined not to lose her only living parent. She goes through the portal and searches for him, talking to strange creatures and solving puzzles to try and learn where he has gone and why he was associated with such a strange, foreign universe. Personally, if I happened on a portal to another world, I’d turn right around. Sorry, Dad, I value my physical well-being a little too much to follow you into a place with speaking lizard creatures. They might harbor salmonella or something. Anyway ...

As you have probably guessed, the controls are easy. Point and click. Unfortunately, the system the game’s creators used for navigating the Crystal Valley world is a bit cumbersome. To move right or left, backward or forward, you let your mouse hover near the edges of the screen and then click. Ideally, the player wouldn’t have to put a lot of thought into where the mouse needs to be; however, I found myself searching a little too hard and a little too long to get from screen to screen. This negated the effect of “willing suspension of disbelief” and took me out of the game more than once.

You can interact with items to complete small quests and errands or to solve puzzles. Some of these items may be added to your inventory to be used later. I encountered a few glitches with trying to hand over items to another character. Luckily, I was able to go back to a saved game and managed to give him the items without encountering the issue again.

Besides the navigation troubles, I also found the story to be uneven. The overarching narrative was compelling, but the execution was awkward at best. I got the impression it was either written by a non-native English speaker or handled by someone not accustomed to story writing. A funny line or two popped out at me as amusing, but the presence and timing of the humor was jarring in the context of a seemingly serious, sci-fi mystery theme. Sometimes I had trouble discerning how some of the quests fit in with my overall purpose, and I found myself wanting more information about several of the characters. I became engrossed in the stories and characters several times over, but things would happen to detach me from them just as often. The plot had enormous potential, but I couldn’t stay consistently interested in what was to happen next.

Most of the puzzles are relatively easy, though I still had to turn to the great Google god for walkthrough assistance now and again. I would have very much appreciated a “hint” button to give me a rough idea of what I needed to be looking for.

The backgrounds were pretty, but the animation was rough. Much love to whomever designed the still images — they were rich and nuanced, and I truly enjoyed the lighting effects. As for the characters, Eve is someone I would hand over to one of those crazy makeover reality shows. (She really was not doing herself any favors with those mom jeans. Seriously.)

The narration was well-executed. I am guessing that telling you it was my favorite part of the whole experience speaks volumes. (My apologies for the pun.)

I would not recommend spending money on The Legend of Crystal Valley. The awkward navigation combined with the less-than-fabulous writing makes for a “meh” experience. The graphics are nice enough but certainly not mind-blowing. The ending has an exciting twist, but it’s not worth the time and effort required to get there. Feel free to pass it by in favor of something a little more polished.