Adventure Gaming Catch-All

Warriorpoet897 wrote:

I'm sure I missed much of the conversation, but I'm about 2 hours into Gemini Rue and I'm really digging it a lot. I turned the voice over off after literally 5 words of the intro. Hope I'm not missing anything good. I actually think I prefer my adventure games without speech.

Citizen86 wrote:

I didn't think the voicework in Gemini Rue was bad. Sure the main characters voice was a little forced gravelly like Christian Bale, but other than that it was pretty good I thought.

Yeah, unless you really really dislike the Azriel, leave them on. Though there may be adventure and puzzling to be had, Gemini Rue is all about the story. For an indie game with only one principle dev, the VO is good, but yeah, not top-tier.

This might be old news (RPS linked to this today but the blog entry timestamp is from late August): Quest For Glory's Coles working with Brawsome (MacGuffin's Curse) on new series. Kickstarter I think is next month (October) although I can't find the source on that.... Here's the source

shoptroll wrote:

This might be old news (RPS linked to this today but the blog entry timestamp is from late August): Quest For Glory's Coles working with Brawsome (MacGuffin's Curse) on new series. Kickstarter I think is next month (October) although I can't find the source on that.... Here's the source

The Coles turned out to be objectivists just fyi. Not saying that should necessarily alter your opinion on whether to support their endeavours, but I won't be doing so.

stevenmack wrote:

Secret Files 3 out on the 14th on steam.

Probably going to give it a shot - I absolutely LOATHED the first game but the second one made improvements (even if the story was still nonsense) and I REALLY liked what the developer did with Lost Horizon, so fingers crossed it might be reasonably entertaining this time around.

Thanks for the warning about the first one.

Anyone know if the second or third one has any audio or rhythm matching puzzles? I don't want to get burned again by something like the dance puzzle in The Next Big Thing and I don't want to just read a walkthrough and have the whole thing spoiled.

Anyone been following this? It's some kind of adventure game/arg hybrid.

What is Alt-Minds ?

Alt-Minds is a paranormal thriller that blurs the lines between web series, gaming and real life.

Our story begins at Belgrade University where five scientists have mysteriously disappeared. An official police investigation fails to secure any leads, and so the foundation financing the missing researchers hires private detectives to help track them down.

Now you are going to help them.

By using your laptop, mobile phone or tablet PC; checking your e-mail, text messages and well-known social networks, you become completely immersed. The Alt-Minds fiction becomes your everyday life. In so doing you live through a new and incredible experience.

Apparently this is the same developers who did In Memoriam/Missing: Since January

I like the idea of games like this but never really get into them because there are too many people out there who are way better at it/have way more time to work on them than I do so I feel that I'm always playing catch-up. But I do like the whole community aspect of the gameplay.

I'll probably check it out, just to encourage more experimental ideas for gaming out there if nothing else.

Big sale. Mostly adventure stuff. You know you want it. Great time to pick up Quest for Glory if you don't have it in a modern format. And there's Gabriel Knight, for the two people that have yet to enjoy it.

ibdoomed wrote:
stevenmack wrote:

Secret Files 3 out on the 14th on steam.

Probably going to give it a shot - I absolutely LOATHED the first game but the second one made improvements (even if the story was still nonsense) and I REALLY liked what the developer did with Lost Horizon, so fingers crossed it might be reasonably entertaining this time around.

Thanks for the warning about the first one.

Anyone know if the second or third one has any audio or rhythm matching puzzles? I don't want to get burned again by something like the dance puzzle in The Next Big Thing and I don't want to just read a walkthrough and have the whole thing spoiled.

Haven't gotten around to the third one yet but I don't recall there being anything like that in number 2. Mostly just your traditional inventory management stuff. Nor in Lost Horizon, which I would recommend as the best of the bunch from the games they've made to date (pretty much as close to a classic Indiana Jones adventure as you can get short of actual copyright infringement ).

Minarchist wrote:

And there's Gabriel Knight, for the two people that have yet to enjoy it.

I SAID I WAS SORRY!

You know what, fine...I'll download the installer now. Way to guilt a person into playing a game. I hope you feel good about yourself.

Hmmm... might have to grab PQ and QfG to round out the Sierra part of my collection.

Grabbed Space Quest 4-6, as well as both Krondor games

I would be sorely tempted by the QfG pack if I didn't have the discs already sitting here on my desk.

Oh, and a reminder, there an excellent "unofficial" QfG2 remake. http://www.agdinteractive.com/games/...

Not sure if Gabriel Knight comment pertains only to the first game, so if in doubt, buy the second one as well. It is probably the only truly great FMV game ever made. I really enjoyed the third one as well (the story is basically The Da Vinci Code, except executed much better and more interestingly). The 3D controls there are pretty non-intuitive though and there is also that infamous cat hair 'stache (aka "the killer of adventure games") puzzle.

We were discussing GK II in IRC yesterday. It definitely draws some mixed opinions. FWIW, I really liked the game, but they definitely could have used someone different playing Gabriel; that guy was kind of a twit. Still, there were some fantastic performances for FMV -- I particularly liked the Baron's. And the story was still Jane Jensen top-notch.

Oh...kay. Started on Secret Files 3 today. Not sure if it's a different team than worked on Lost Horizon or not but....Not looking great so far.

Some very odd directions they've taken things with the way the story is unfolding that makes less than no sense. Also I'm 2 hours in and it's been ridiculously easy and jitters about from bland location to bland location like a Michael Bay film without all of the explosions and offensive stereotypes (although actually, so far it's had both of those things come to think of it).

Also, 2 hours in and I've not had one single conversation with any other character that wasn't part of a cutscene. Bit odd for an adventure game.

Oh...and here's my favorite stupid thing so far....

When you first boot up the game you get to pick from a series of personality questions in order to generate a custom menu screen. Here's mine...

IMAGE(http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i183/stevenmack/2012-10-07_00001.jpg)

Guess where the "options" and "load" menu's are located. Go on. Guess.

Spoiler:

If you guessed the pumpkins for "load", you're crazy...but also correct. And the options screen is that dark grey fuse box on the wall next to the exit sign. OBVIOUSLY. DUH!

And this is just the ONE layout. It differs depending on the options you pick in that first personality test.

Oh and if you get stuck pixel hunting for the various menu options you can always click on Nina who OBVIOUSLY acts as the "show hotspots" function. In game this is accomplished by pressing the space bar. That doesn't work on the menu though.

****

Ugh...ok, played more. It just gets worse. This game is just making me angry in the brain. I find it very hard to believe the same dev team that made Lost Horizon made THIS.

Things presently annoying the crap out of me about it:

- Terrible scene transitions. REALLY terrible. It jumps from scene to scene with barely any attempt to string them together into a cohesive narrative. Also at least one character completely vanished from the middle of a scene with no real explanation or resolution and has not been referenced again since.

- Very little character interaction. A key component of most good adventure games in my opinion - so far in three hours I've had ONE vaguely interactive conversation with a non-important NPC, and one which consisted of a binary either-or choice. Everything else has been a pre-determined cutscene.

- It's insultingly easy. Except for an incredibly annoying mini-game which has no real "puzzle" to it and is basically a battle of attrition to circumvent.

- Nina's "special ability" makes absolutely NO sense. For some reason not explained at all she can suddenly dream herself backwards in time to witness events in the past. During this she's invisible but still somehow physically present as she can interact with items, people and animals and influence events. Also - the main scene I've played like this consisted of going back "virtually" through time to Renaissance Italy to track down Leonardo Divinci and the secret behind an ancient conspiracy about precursor technology. Seems...oddly familiar somehow...

*sigh* Going to Persevere, out of morbid curiosity to see how the ridiculous plot turns out if nothing else.

stevenmack wrote:

Ugh...ok, played more. It just gets worse. This game is just making me angry in the brain. I find it very hard to believe the same dev team that made Lost Horizon made THIS.

This whole post makes me sad precisely because of this line. I loved Lost Horizon and gifted it to a bunch of people so that they could play it to.... hate to see the developer lay an egg after such a strong outing.

Just finished it - sadly it gets no better, in fact it gets stupid on levels I didn't think were still possible. Might be worth watching a playthrough on youtube for a laugh (it wont take long - it's a mercifully short game at just shy of 5 hours - and I left it paused for a while a few times). It also has no ending as far as I could tell. Apart from a "comedy" bit at the end where you get one of those "what happened to character x after the world was saved" things. It just might be the most wretchedly unfunny things I've seen in a game in a LONG time.

Secret Files 3 should be avoided like the plague.

It has a maze. A MAZE! Death's too good for the lot of them.

*deep breath* Ok...need to play some more Book of Unwritten Tales to remind myself that good (and funny) adventure games are still things that exist.

AndrewA wrote:

This whole post makes me sad precisely because of this line. I loved Lost Horizon and gifted it to a bunch of people so that they could play it to.... hate to see the developer lay an egg after such a strong outing.

I actually can't believe that the same team made this game - unless there is some sort of behind the scenes drama that meant they had to rush something out or they were contractually obligated to make it or something.

Hey, quick question about GK 1--I seem to remember Sierra loving their copy protection into be integrated in the game, like having your locker combination be the score to a football game that can be found in a newspaper included in the box for Police Quest 1. I was looking through the manual provided on the GoG.com version and they talk about a graphic novel that may have clues to help you out during the game. Only problem--it doesn't appear that they've included that on GOG. My question is there anything crucial (i.e. game ending) that I'm going to miss by not having this graphic novel?

I haven't run into anything yet (that I know of), but I figured I should just ask now in case I get to the end game and lose because I didn't pick up on something beforehand--another lovely Sierra adventure game trope.

While I may find Gabriel's voice irritating as hell (Seriously did Tim Curry drink throughout the whole recording?), I am actually enjoying the game. If not for XCOM and my need to beat Dark Souls, I'd be firing up all of the old Sierra adventure games for one massive marathon.

Actually, I might end up doing that anyway.

Nah, the only thing the Graphic Novel provides is some backstory (it's essentially the backstory of Gabriel's ancestor)

Ah...progress in The Book of Unwritten Tales is just the soothing balm I needed to make me forget about Secret Files 3

(Just got to the bit where you take control of "Critter" )

CptDomano wrote:

I haven't run into anything yet (that I know of), but I figured I should just ask now in case I get to the end game and lose because I didn't pick up on something beforehand--another lovely Sierra adventure game trope.

It's been AGES since I've played it but I'm reasonably certain there aren't any moments where you can get stuck for missing items. Anything essential needs to be collected/completed in order to progress to the next day if memory serves.

Tanglebones wrote:

Nah, the only thing the Graphic Novel provides is some backstory (it's essentially the backstory of Gabriel's ancestor)

Scans here if anyone is interested: http://www.sierragamers.com/aspx/Blo...

Three cheers for Chief Kennywauwau!

As part of their weekend sale, Steam has the Sherlock Holmes collection on sale. The entire collection ( Sherlock Holmes - Nemesis, Sherlock Holmes versus Jack the Ripper, Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened - Remastered Edition, Sherlock Holmes: The Mystery of the Mummy, Sherlock Holmes: The Mystery of the Persian Carpet, Sherlock Holmes: The Silver Earring) for $8.74 or $2.49 each (well, $4.99 for Jack the Ripper).

Definitely a mixed bag but some good ones in there.

Finished The Book of Unwritten Tales. Ending is REALLY abrupt but overall that was very enjoyable. They did a top notch job with this one I think (especially with the voice acting which was suprisingly good for a translated Euro adventure).

It's LONG though for an adventure game. I think I was somewhere in the 14 hour mark when I hit the ending. A LOT of...shall we say, "classic" adventure game logic but it was funny and entertaining throughout so that was entirely bearable.

Well worth a look, I say.

And now I'm REALLY looking forward to...

tanstaafl wrote:

As part of their weekend sale, Steam has the Sherlock Holmes collection on sale. The entire collection ( Sherlock Holmes - Nemesis, Sherlock Holmes versus Jack the Ripper, Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened - Remastered Edition, Sherlock Holmes: The Mystery of the Mummy, Sherlock Holmes: The Mystery of the Persian Carpet, Sherlock Holmes: The Silver Earring) for $8.74 or $2.49 each (well, $4.99 for Jack the Ripper).

Definitely a mixed bag but some good ones in there.

Which ones? I assume Awakened is since it's remastered, and I've heard vs Jack was good.

Has anyone played Yesterday from the people that made the Runaway series? I really enjoyed the runaway series but their other game, The Next Big Thing, tripped me up with an audio puzzle that I can't complete without sound (I don't game with sound on). Anyone know if Yesterday has any such puzzles?

shoptroll wrote:

This might be old news (RPS linked to this today but the blog entry timestamp is from late August): Quest For Glory's Coles working with Brawsome (MacGuffin's Curse) on new series. Kickstarter I think is next month (October) although I can't find the source on that.... Here's the source

Here we go: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...

Played 30min or so of Lucius. Promises to be interesting (although a bit rough around the edges).

I especially like the facts that The Devil seems to be doing a bad Vincent Price impression and when you turn the camera to look around, Lucius turns his head reaaaaaaaaaally slowly

Also he never blinks or moves his eyes. It's kind of creepy.

Very hand-holdy at the moment, I'm assuming that's just while I'm in the tutorial stuff though.

*****

and finished. Lucius is an...interesting game but ultimately disappointing.

There's some very cool ideas in there (and some awesomely twisted death scenes for members of the hapless household) but I can't help feel that it's a wasted opportunity for a really cool Hitman-style sandbox game. Instead it's VERY linear and stays fairly hand-holdy throughout, with only one correct course of action throughout the game.

It also throws in some poorly designed "action" and "stealth" sequences, the worst offender being the final chapter which is TERRIBLE. I could only beat it by exploiting a glitch which shut off your attacker's AI. It also has a completely anticlimactic non-ending that is probably the worst I've seen in ages.

There's probably enough here to make it worth a look in a steam sale for sure, but not at full price I think.

Sounds like Lucius was very short as well. Had it in my gog.com cart at 17.99, but have held off so far. Looks like it's getting the boot.

I've put a few hours into Deponia. So far, the art style and animation is pretty great. It has a high-def Lucasarts type look I suppose, although it seems to be something different altogether. Almost comic book style. The protagonist looks a little deranged, but I think that's the big white eyes and small black pupils he only seems to have.

The puzzles are a little obscure, but not too far off for an adventure game. You do have to stockpile a decent amount of items and combine them or use them in the world. Some of the puzzles can be "skipped" though. Like you have to aim a harpoon, and are presented with a 10 x 10 grid or viewport and you have options of how to move the reticle: 2 left 1 down, 2 down 1 left, 2 down 1 right, etc. But for some reason, 2 left 1 up and 2 up 1 left are not available, so you have to figure out how to get it into the top left corner correctly. But you can skip it.

Overall, I'm looking forward to getting some more time with it. Characters seem pretty interesting, not sure about the story yet, but the world that's being developed seems interesting enough - whole world has been trashed, garbage is so common it covers large parts of the world. At least that's what I've gathered from the first few hours. Oh, and they don't know what espresso is, which is kind of funny.

I'll post again with more impressions later.

AUs_TBirD wrote:

Sounds like Lucius was very short as well. Had it in my gog.com cart at 17.99, but have held off so far. Looks like it's getting the boot.

7 hours going by Steam's clock - although I'd left it paused for at least a couple of those hours.

Funnily enough there are achievements for playing 20 and 40(!) hours of Lucius. I have NO idea how that would work. It's not like there's much in the way of replay value unless you really wanted to go back and see some of the more grisly deaths.

Citizen86 wrote:

I've put a few hours into Deponia. So far, the art style and animation is pretty great. It has a high-def Lucasarts type look I suppose, although it seems to be something different altogether. Almost comic book style. The protagonist looks a little deranged, but I think that's the big white eyes and small black pupils he only seems to have.

The puzzles are a little obscure, but not too far off for an adventure game. You do have to stockpile a decent amount of items and combine them or use them in the world. Some of the puzzles can be "skipped" though. Like you have to aim a harpoon, and are presented with a 10 x 10 grid or viewport and you have options of how to move the reticle: 2 left 1 down, 2 down 1 left, 2 down 1 right, etc. But for some reason, 2 left 1 up and 2 up 1 left are not available, so you have to figure out how to get it into the top left corner correctly. But you can skip it.

Overall, I'm looking forward to getting some more time with it. Characters seem pretty interesting, not sure about the story yet, but the world that's being developed seems interesting enough - whole world has been trashed, garbage is so common it covers large parts of the world. At least that's what I've gathered from the first few hours. Oh, and they don't know what espresso is, which is kind of funny.

I'll post again with more impressions later.

Glad you're enjoying it. I couldn't pull the trigger on the sale the other day, but I think I will on the xmas sale.