Nikopol: Secrets of the Ancients (revisted)

So the game which got me on a roll to upgrade my Windows 7 machine has got a few hours of play.  Nikopol: Secrets of the Ancients is a 3D rendered point and click adventure based on the European graphic novel series, Nikopol.  The game play is essentially a throw back to the Myst series where players navigate the playable character from scene to scene picking up and using items where appropriate to progress the story.  The game controls are pretty simple and can be manipulated from the 2 buttons on the mouse.  Left mouse click actions a clicked item and right cycles through your inventory. 

Though I am a fan of these games I get easily frustrated when the essential item you need to click on is placed in an odd place with respect to the scene and the only way to find this item is to hover and click at random places on the screen and then point and click each area you find with an item in your inventory.  I understand that not all puzzles can be well though out but the game's challenge should not digress to screen wack-a-mole.  This game has a few places where I had no idea what to do next because the item or area I needed to click on was either too small or illogically placed.
As for the graphics the game is beautifully rendered though shameful that such an eye pleasing environment was not interactable.  This is also annoying to me since if you are going to spend the time to code a 3D environment then why make it so static.  Your character (like in Myst) is set on a solid path through each scene and robs from this game the life which it deceivingly appears to have.

Negatives aside the story so far seems to be somewhat interesting drawing from Blade Runner for ambiance and some Egyptian mythology for plot and character story.  The story so far focuses on Nikopol - the playable character.  I am not quite sure what he is but he paints and sculpts stone for high paying celebrities and lives in a dump of an apartment.  His late father was involved with a religious group and he himself has taken up some involvement recently as a form of soul searching.  He lives in an oppressive state which appears to hold false democratic processes to placate a powerless unrest over their people. 

Upon finishing a request to bring with him a portrait of his late father to a meeting he has with his holy man at his new church he is accosted by a strange alien animal that wants him under arrest.  Nikopol escapes with the help of the player and heads for his church's hangout. At this point on the whole story is bent around finding out what has the government after him and how does his involvement with this new church have anything to do with it.

I have so far played my self out of the first area and cut scene and encountered a dreaded timed event where you are forced quickly to figure out your next life saving action.  Luckily, the game allows you to begin the sequence again if you should fail and consequently die.  The game is beautiful and stylish.  It has some disappointments but anyone who likes a good point and click should try this title.  You can find Nikopol: Secrets of the Ancients on Steam for $9 USD.