Some of you probably have no clue what a PSP Mini is. Not surprising, since these smaller, cheaper games aren't exactly Sony's main priority and as such, haven't been publicized as much as their triple A titles. That said, they're an important facet of Sony's business, representing the company's belated acknowledgment of the ever-growing casual game market.
Casual game publisher G5 Entertainment has long known the value of the casual gamer and has served him or her well, releasing hits like Supermarket Mania for iPhone. Now the company is expanding their handheld market by releasing popular PC hidden object game Mystery of the Crystal Portal as a PSP Mini on Playstation Network. Mystery of the Crystal Portal tests gamer's observational and puzzle-solving skills as it puts gamers in the globe-trotting shoes of young journalist Nicole Rankwist.
Nicole's trying to find her recently-vanished father, an archeologist dedicated to finding the legendary Crystal Portal--a magical doorway that allows its user to travel through time. Following her dad's notes, Nicole plays detective, following the clues left in her father's journal to such varied locations as Japan, South America, Russia and the Swiss Alps.
Mystery of the Crystal Portal's take on hidden object gameplay differs from other titles in the genre in that rather than being given a verbal list of objects to find, you're expected to move the cursor over each scene, seeking hot spots that when clicked on, open up an array of objects that need to be collected. Each scene, whether it be a shaman's hut or a quaint tavern, has a different number of hot spots as well as a set number of special artifacts (like scrolls or tiles) that must be found in order to complete it. Some items can only be found once certain hot spots have been completed, and sometimes completing a scene requires finishing a number of hot spots in a different scene.
It's an interesting approach to a tried-and-true mechanic, and does a good job of moving the story along. While the story itself isn't particularly inventive, it checks all the boxes in regard to things seemingly necessary to please a hidden object audience: mystery, magic, an appealing female character, and fairly polished art work. The only real problems the game stem from its transference to the handheld and/or console.
Traditionally, hidden object games are played on PC, and there's a good reason for that. The nature of the gameplay requires extremely complex scenes, chock-full of random objects. Players need to be able to scrutinize each scene very carefully, which becomes problematic when the scene is suddenly only a few inches in size or is across the room on a TV screen. Mystery of the Crystal Portal does allow you to zoom in on scenes, but since you have to do it so often, it actually becomes a bit tiresome the longer you play. Another platform-specific issue is the sluggish way the cursor moves across the screen--something that's not a problem when using a mouse.
Finally, the last thing players might take issue with which may or may not have anything to do with the console port, is the UI, which by taking up space at the edges and bottom of the screen, often blocks the very objects you're trying to find. Thankfully, there's an endless, rechargeable Hint button that can help you when this occurs.
Despite a few flaws, Mystery of the Crystal Portal is a solid hidden object adventure and one of the better titles in the PSP Minis library. The game offers around 3-4 hours of entertaining gameplay and is well worth it's $4.99 price tag. Look for it in the Playstation Store.
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