Hey gamers! Home sweet home again! I just got home, fired up my computer, and saw the e-mail announcing the release of Princess Isabella: Return of the Curse and I got really excited! I loved the first game, Princess Isabella: The Witches Curse. I had to purchase the collector’s edition, but the guide will still work when the non-collector’s edition releases in the near future.

Now, about the game. First of all, you play Princess Isabella, same as last time, only this time you are married and have a baby girl named Bella. Only Bella is stolen by that wicked witch. Thought you vanquished her in the last game? Seems she came back… but how? All the villagers are asleep or frozen and it’s your job to wake them up and rid your Kingdom of evil. All while searching for baby Bella and of course, your handsome Prince (or in my opinion, not so handsome prince, but as they say, beauty is in the eye of beholder!).

The game plays much like the first. You have your basic hidden object areas, all of which are easy to moderately hard. You have areas you must rid of evil in varying ways. Sometimes you must find all the evil objects, other times you might need to awake someone under a spell. The puzzles are pretty darn easy, which was a disappointment. I felt no real challenge. The only puzzles that I either had trouble with or even had to skip was when it came time to free the frozen people. As in the last game, you have your handy Fairy companion, with the annoyingly squeaky voice, to help you in different ways. She has abilities she picks up along the way that are very handy. In addition, you eventually gain a baby dragon, who is oh so adorable! His voice is less annoying and actually borders on cute. He also picks up abilities along the way to help you out. I thought the dragon was a definite plus to the game. In fact, watching him hatch was my favorite part of the game! I think I giggled with delight and clapped my hands, but if anyone asks, it never happened.

Now, the basics. Graphics, are as stunning as the first. Plot, very interesting although I will warn you… major cliffhanger folks! And a very abrupt end. I warned you! Game play in terms of where to go next and what you use from your inventory were usually logical, but not always. Then again, that’s why you have this guide! The voices were spot on. I loved listening to the different characters speak.

I also enjoyed the fact that the writers threw in some fun things that caught you off guard, like when the Princess would comment or respond. Especially the part where she got quite excited when she realized the Prince was missing and he had left his clothes behind! That was really a laugh out loud moment for me.

Speaking of clothes. I have to do the laundry. I have neglected my chores since I was engrossed in this game and I’m running out of things to wear. I can hardly muck out the stalls in my purple cat pajamas, the pajamas are purple, not the cats, and bunny slippers. So, I must bid you farewell until next time and the next great game. Until then, happy gaming and I almost forgot… buy this game! If you haven’t played the first one, buy it too, you need to play them in order. Ciao!