Blackwell Convergence (2009)
Our little adventure group returns to the Blackwell games! In this third game, we once again team up with Rosa with Joey to investigate mysterious disturbances around well-known New York landmarks. And possibly learn more about this Blackwell family curse...
You can find the wikipedia page here, usual spoiler warning apply. How Long to Beat estimates about 3 hours to completion, so quite short.
Available on Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux, iOS, Android.
You can find the main thread over this way. We'll be playing Blackwell Convergence in September 2019, with an extra month if needed.
Cool! Looking forward to continuing the saga.
It’ll be interesting to see what the graphics are like.
And past that, but still part of the same universe, Unavowed:
Very interesting. The last three games (not counting unavowed) seem to have much more characterful portraits. The environments are more elaborate as well.
Unavowed has good portraits too, I just didn't grab one in the screenshot
Oh yes. That’s nice. It’s a more ‘realistic’ style.
I like what we have to look forward to!
Loved this game a few years ago. You guys will have a great time!
A truly fascinating realization I made during the credits was (kinda-sorta minor spoiler):
Some characters and plot threads are too bizarre as to be based on real people and events.........one would think.
Just got it for the iPad.....will try to play it in full!
I’m new to the forums, and I love adventure games.
How does this work? I have all the Blackwell’s on Gog. But I’ve never played any of them. Do I need to go play the first one first? And what pace do people play?
I’m new to the forums, and I love adventure games.
How does this work? I have all the Blackwell’s on Gog. But I’ve never played any of them. Do I need to go play the first one first? And what pace do people play?
It's more of a suggestion - I jumped ahead of the club when the first game was chosen, and ended up playing all five in a few weeks, but if you want to follow along with the Zeitgeist, the best thing to do is start by following the thread for the first game as you play along with it:
https://www.gamerswithjobs.com/node/...
Edit to add: most of the Blackwell games range from 3-6 hours long each, so it's not a *huge* burden to catch up, if you want to, based on how much free time you can commit.
Did you all play Unbound or skip to Convergence?
I did them in order - there are callbacks and plot elements from Unbound that carry forward into Convergence
Apparently Unbound was originally intended to be a flashback within Convergence, but it got too big and became its own game.
Cool. I've played through and enjoyed Legacy. Have the next two installments on Android, may well play Unbound and hopefully catch up to Convergence Club pick.
I must get on it soon.
I already had The whole Blackwell bundle on Gog. However, I couldn’t get it to start on my old Mac, and my new windows computer just shows a black screen with the music playing at startup. Any ideas, or do I need to pay again to get it on my iPhone?
I started it but haven’t gotten very far. I like Rose’s new portrait. The intro was fun.
Unless I missed something, the only way to proceed is to get the guy to “jump” and realize he’s already dead? I liked the slight counterintuitive aspect of that.
Oh, that’s interesting! I’ll have to look into how that intro can play out differently. Cool.
Played a bunch more in one session. Think I’m over halfway. I’m liking this a lot and enjoying the connections to Unbound.
Turns out convergence is rather a good name for the game. I like the plot of this entry and the way lots of things were tied in from the previous games. Very nicely done. I also liked:
That the solution for getting the word out about their services was the new place where folks will accept everything: The Internet
Under the wire! Turns out it's a bit of a challenge for me to dedicate myself to a game on a tablet when I'm not on my trainer (also when I've fallen hard for FFXIV), but now that it's cold and I've brought in my bike, I was able to finish.
I ultimately enjoyed it. The story and its intrigues and they small but significant layers of both that keep revealing themselves are really compelling to me. I love the spritework and most of the whole retro presentation. The retro part I'm less than enamored with is the fumbling around with only a vague sense of what I'm looking for and poor indication of when I've found it. In particular there was a section that sent you to a place to learn one thing, then home to Oogle it, then to another place to learn one thing, then back, etc. The idea of investigating is great, but Rosa could really use a smartphone. Obviously the fact that I'm pedaling while doing all this doesn't help. But, you know, I appreciate that these games kept the genre going in dark times.
And the 3rd Blackwell is in the books.
Hooray for the return of the portrait art. I liked the quick side project feel of Unbound, but the lack of portraits were certainly felt.
I'm glad the clue combining mechanic was removed. It was a neat idea, but only a couple of times did it ever feel like it was working the way it was envisioned. Often it felt like the notes didn't necessarily make the connections I made, and it was more like hunting for the "right" way to express to the game what you understand. Other times the connections were so bluntly obvious that it was just hoop jumping for the sake of it.
That said, the biggest mechanics change being a deletion was something I felt. Unbound added the character switching, which freshened it up from feeling just like Legacy. This one just took away a mechanic (flawed as it may be) without much in new mechanics to replace it.
I hope the next game mixes up the formula. I've enjoyed these three, but there's definitely a need for some new wrinkles. Narratively it feels like it's setting up for that, but we'll see.
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