Adventure Gaming Catch-All

Spoiler:

I know, I was just posting it for people that may have this thread in their favorites but don't hit the new threads often.

Spoiler:

Bastard.

Spoiler:

Just messin' ;)

Minarchist wrote:
Spoiler:

I know, I was just posting it for people that may have this thread in their favorites but don't hit the new threads often.

That's me

So today's Steam special is Dead Mountaineer's Hotel for $2.49 -- has anyone played it?

edosan wrote:

So today's Steam special is Dead Mountaineer's Hotel for $2.49 -- has anyone played it?

adventuregamers says it is horrible, but no I haven't actually played it.

edosan wrote:

So today's Steam special is Dead Mountaineer's Hotel for $2.49 -- has anyone played it?

It's a terrible game that looks nice. Skip it. You should have picked up Ceville when it was a daily deal a couple weeks back, though. Surprisingly fun little game.

That's too bad for a game based on an Arkady and Boris Strugatsky novel.

For those of you who don't recognize them, they wrote Roadside Picnic, which you probably know as S.T.A.L.K.E.R..

The Last Express will be out on iOS later this year. This is one of the few times I'm really kicking myself for going Android.

Squeeeeee. Only yesterday I was talking to a friend about game design and iOS and ended up talking about Last Express in length. I'm still playing it in small chunks on my PC.

So I noticed they just added Myst V on Steam. Would it be an entertaining puzzle game for someone like me to play out, or is it better suited for people who played all the previous games in the series and I'll find the story stuff confusing?

Because Fedoras are cool.

kuddles wrote:

So I noticed they just added Myst V on Steam. Would it be an entertaining puzzle game for someone like me to play out, or is it better suited for people who played all the previous games in the series and I'll find the story stuff confusing?

I don't remember playing much of it (I got stuck somewhere in IV and never finished it) but if memory serves it would be better going into it if you know some of the backstory, even if that just means looking up a FAQ...

kuddles wrote:

So I noticed they just added Myst V on Steam. Would it be an entertaining puzzle game for someone like me to play out, or is it better suited for people who played all the previous games in the series and I'll find the story stuff confusing?

It definitely helps to play the others first. At the very least, IV, because V picks up directly where that story leaves off. (IV was also one of my favorites in the series, so y'know).

stevenmack wrote:

Because Fedoras are cool.

Tex Murphy is awesome! Stoked for that one.

OUCH! stubbed my toe on another kickstarter...these things are sprouting up everywhere these days!

So...
Jane Jensen's trying to start up a new adventure game studio.

The accompanying video is amusing.

Can anyone comment on The Lost Crown? I stumbled across it while reading about another game, and it sounds pretty good.

It's avail. for $8.99 with the soundtrack at http://www.thelostcrown.co.uk/

I really want to play Yesterday, but not until it gets a price drop.

I liked it. It's by Jonathan Boakes, the same guy who did the Darkfall games.

There's supposed to be a sequel coming out "real soon now" called The Last Crown.

tanstaafl wrote:

I liked it. It's by Jonathan Boakes, the same guy who did the Darkfall games.

There's supposed to be a sequel coming out "real soon now" called The Last Crown.

I don't know anything about the game, but that title choice..."Last" anything is already problematic in the Final Fantasy sense of "what if you want to do another one?" but "The Lost Crown 2: The Last Crown" just sounds silly.

There goes all hope for Lost Crown II: The Lostening

What the hell, I`ll plug Resonance, coming out in May. Dave Gilbert is publishing it, xiigames developing. We got rockpapershotgunned recently. I was contracted to do all the backgrounds art so.. yah, shameless plug.

El-Producto wrote:

Can anyone comment on The Lost Crown? I stumbled across it while reading about another game, and it sounds pretty good.

It's good. Very different from his other games (which are all myst style, this one's more traditional 3rd person). It's almost entirely in black and white with the odd splash of colour which gives it a very unique look.

Most wrote:

What the hell, I`ll plug Resonance, coming out in May. Dave Gilbert is publishing it, xiigames developing. We got rockpapershotgunned recently. I was contracted to do all the backgrounds art so.. yah, shameless plug.

That does look pretty good - nice job on the backgrounds

The astute observer may have noticed that there has been an addition to the "All-time Greats" list, in fact even as the first (alphabetical) entry. Yes, I have made an executive decision and am adding it by OP-creator fiat. Allow me to pontificate as to why it is there, and why if you have a DS or 3DS, you need to play it, and why if you don't have one of those devices, you need to borrow or rent them and play it. Only $19.99 at Amazon!

9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors (hereinafter referred to as 999) is a horror/thriller visual novel in the style of the old Choose Your Own Adventure books. It trends toward the adventure game side of VNs due to the addition of many puzzles and branching paths based on your decisions (of course with the requisite multiple endings). The basic premise is that you are stuck on a sinking ocean liner with eight other people, playing a very-much deadly game called The Nonary Game. You have nine hours to make it through puzzles to find the door numbered 9 before the ship sinks into the ocean. You must survive narrative twists and turns as well as the schemes and machinations of your eight fellow passengers.

A few mechanical notes before we get to why the story is so great. The puzzles are easy and are designed more to fit into the narrative than to be interesting puzzles in their own right, so it's extremely rare that even a novice adventurer will get hung up on them. Despite the tight time limit, time basically freezes while you solve them, so you don't have to worry about flying through the clues (which is good, because there is some very long exposition interspersed with the puzzles). You will spend far more time hitting a or tapping the stylus against the screen to advance text than you will solving puzzles, at least your first time through; this is, after all, a visual novel. Luckily, the writing is very strong and the localization masterful considering the truly massive wall of text that Aksys had to translate.

There are six endings, five of which are "bad" and at least one of which is absolutely required to view before you can see the "true" ending. On subsequent playthroughs you have the ability to fast-forward through any text you've seen before, and it will automatically stop at decision points or new text, so you don't have to worry about missing anything. Unfortunately you will still have to again solve any puzzles that you've previously solved, but since there are multiple paths through the game and you can very quickly solve them once you know how, this isn't a huge deal. It also seems necessary since there are several decision points and the aforementioned interstitial dialogue that can be rather important in the puzzle sequences.

My only real qualm with the game is that there's no text speed option. For those who are fast readers (like myself), the ponderous speed at which dialogue advances is initially very off-putting. Over the course of my time playing, though, I kind of melted into the system and it no longer bothered me. I can't say the same thing will happen to everyone, but it did to me. And that's honestly the worst thing I can say about this game.

Okay, with all that out of the way, let's talk about why it's so great. First of all, the story and writing are very strong, as they must be in a game that's mostly text. Each of the nine characters is fully realized and nuanced, and will take on different roles and emotions throughout the course of the game (and can change drastically depending on the exact path you take through the game). A couple are left slightly less-developed, but are still more developed than any protagonist in pretty much any action game ever made. There's a lot of genuine suspense in the game, and times when your palms might be sweaty just advancing the text because you're nervous about what you're going to find next (the music does a good job of enhancing this, so don't play with the sound off!). This is peppered by some rather funny moments to give the tension a good flow (the elevator conversation and the funyarinpa come to mind). People will die in your playing of the game, and depending on how you play it could be a lot of people. These moments include some delightfully haunting graphics that (if you play in total darkness at midnight like I did) will stick with you for some time to come.

Now, about the endings and replay: it's a common visual novel trope to include multiple endings, most of which are very undesirable, so no news there. However, in this particular case there is a very strong narrative purpose for including (and, in some cases, requiring) those multiple endings, which I can't get into without spoiling things. One of the beautiful things about it is that over the course of several runs the story is gradually revealed to you, giving you just enough carrot to load it up and start from the top again. There's no "best" order to get the endings in, so it's really just a matter of playing through and trying different things, playing through different rooms, etc. As mentioned earlier, one of the bad endings is required to get the true ending, and as you play through the game (and see the ending) it will become very obvious as to why this is the case. Truthfully, I wish that even this bad ending was gated like the true ending was, because I think it would be a better arc to play through the game at least once before seeing what this particular ending reveals. However, it is relatively unlikely that you would get this ending on your first run.

The narrative is told in a fiction-as-fact style, and the strong undercurrent of a particular psychological idea ties the entire game together. It's the reason for multiple endings, it's the reason for many of the characters' behaviors as you play, and it's the motivation behind the entire plot. It is quite cohesive. Additionally, it's written in such a way that you're likely to figure things out just before the game's characters do, so you're never either sitting around forever wondering why they're so dumb, nor are you blindsided by some crazy revelation that comes out of left field.

But what really makes this game special is the true ending, and how it changes your perspective on everything that you've seen and done so far. The author who wrote the game has admitted that he came up with the twist first and wrote the story from there, and it shows. Once you get there, you'll discover that this game has [color=red]the single best use of the two screens of the DS in history[/color]. I doubt anyone will ever top it, to be honest. It's worth playing through one more time after the true end just to see how masterfully it is woven throughout the game, and how you've totally missed it up to now (because you have, I promise). It's simply marvelous. My hat is off to the team that created this game.

Now, go play it! There's a lot of speculating to be done at the end, and I need someone to talk to about it.

garion333 wrote:

The Last Express will be out on iOS later this year. This is one of the few times I'm really kicking myself for going Android.

FYI, works under DOSBOX on Android (GoG.com version).

There's a 999 topic around here somewhere. I remember posting in it when it was a daily deal on Amazon.

DrunkenSleipnir wrote:
garion333 wrote:

The Last Express will be out on iOS later this year. This is one of the few times I'm really kicking myself for going Android.

FYI, works under DOSBOX on Android (GoG.com version).

Ooh, is there a DOSBOX version on Android you recommend?

NSMike wrote:
DrunkenSleipnir wrote:
garion333 wrote:

The Last Express will be out on iOS later this year. This is one of the few times I'm really kicking myself for going Android.

FYI, works under DOSBOX on Android (GoG.com version).

Ooh, is there a DOSBOX version on Android you recommend?

I'm using this: http://code.google.com/p/adosbox/

I've only tried a few games on my Kindle Fire - it's a pain to launch games (through the console) without a physical keyboard, but if the game itself is mouse driven they seem to work OK. It probably won't be as nice as something optimized for a touch screen, but it works once you get used to it. There is also a SCUMMVM port to android which I tried with DotT and Monkey Island, both of which worked pretty well. This was also on my Fire.

DrunkenSleipnir wrote:

There is also a SCUMMVM port to android which I tried with DotT and Monkey Island, both of which worked pretty well. This was also on my Fire.

Did they finally release the SCUMMVM post to Google Play?

MonoCheli wrote:
DrunkenSleipnir wrote:

There is also a SCUMMVM port to android which I tried with DotT and Monkey Island, both of which worked pretty well. This was also on my Fire.

Did they finally release the SCUMMVM post to Google Play?

I got it from the official SCUMMVM page, so I'm not sure.

Most wrote:

What the hell, I`ll plug Resonance, coming out in May. Dave Gilbert is publishing it, xiigames developing. We got rockpapershotgunned recently. I was contracted to do all the backgrounds art so.. yah, shameless plug.

Cool! Looking forward to that one.

DrunkenSleipnir wrote:
NSMike wrote:
DrunkenSleipnir wrote:
garion333 wrote:

The Last Express will be out on iOS later this year. This is one of the few times I'm really kicking myself for going Android.

FYI, works under DOSBOX on Android (GoG.com version).

Ooh, is there a DOSBOX version on Android you recommend?

I'm using this: http://code.google.com/p/adosbox/

I've only tried a few games on my Kindle Fire - it's a pain to launch games (through the console) without a physical keyboard, but if the game itself is mouse driven they seem to work OK. It probably won't be as nice as something optimized for a touch screen, but it works once you get used to it. There is also a SCUMMVM port to android which I tried with DotT and Monkey Island, both of which worked pretty well. This was also on my Fire.

I'd like to try to get this running on my wife's Kindle Fire, but I'm a noob with it. Are there easy instructions on exactly what to do? My google fu is weak today.