Adventure Gaming Catch-All

How are the Sam & Max games?

ClockworkHouse wrote:

How are the Sam & Max games?

They seem pretty good, although the first season is a bit hit and miss. A lot of people really like them - personally I'm still struggling to get through the first season (on chapter 5 at the moment I think) but that's more down to me not really being quite so fond of the 'wacky' comedy type games I think.

I hear it improves in 'season 2' and then 'season 3' is much, MUCH improved, but I don't think that one is on the Wii.

ClockworkHouse wrote:

I'm looking for some good adventure games on the Wii. I know about Zak and Wiki, the Strongbad games, and the Tales of Monkey Island games. Anyone have any ideas?

There are a couple of Agatha Christie games, although I can't speak to their awesome-itude. The ones for PC aren't bad, but won't ignite your toes, either. Alone in the Dark: Inferno is pretty good (a bit of action, but still mainly adventure), but again, haven't played the Wii port.

Cursed Mountain is supposed to be really good; again, haven't gotten my hands on it, but probably the game I'm most excited to try on the system. I've also really wanted to try out Fragile Dreams, a Japanese adventure game with action and some light RPG elements (but with a JRPG feel).

Art of Murder is one that I'm watching for, if they ever set a damn release date. Same with Secret Files: Tunguska, although you can play that on PC (or import it from Europe, maybe). The latter is classic P&C adventure gaming, but is not really the best example of the genre.

There are quite a few CSI, Grey's Anatomy, Sherlock Holmes, etc. games on the Wii. They're usually a mixed bag. Some are alright, some aren't so great. To be honest I've only ever played these on PC.

There are more that escape my memory right now, but maybe I'll have time to revisit this post later.

I'll definitely have to try that Lost Horizon demo when I get home.

Minarchist wrote:

Art of Murder is one that I'm watching for, if they ever set a damn release date.

Avoid it as if it t'were the black death itself. It's terrible, unless they've done some serious work on it since the PC version.

Update on the Lost Horizon demo...

I take back what I said earlier, this is good. REALLY good.

quick bullet point summary...

- Voice acting is (predictably) a mixed bag, but the main character is actually really good and doesn't make me want to tear my own ears off, unlike the last few adventure games I've played. Also, accents. A BIG step up from Tunguska

- Aside from the slightly ropy character models the graphics are flippin' superb. It's also got a really neat, subtle little 'zoom' effect they use in certain scenes. Tricky to explain but it's something new I haven't seen in any other games and it works really well.

- it has an 'examine scene' button as with most recent adventure games. VERY glad this is becoming something of an industry standard Also you run by default. Awesome.

- typical adventure gamey puzzles but nothing super-illogical. Managed to make my way through the (actually pretty generous) demo in an hour or so without getting stuck (though to be fair, it is only the first part of chapter one).

- It's VERY talky, as mentioned in the RPS review, but it's a really good translation (I assume it was translated at least) and is really rather witty in places (the sardonic English accent of the lead character helps). It also got a geniune laugh out loud moment from me (the code for the wall safe in his office).

- The story and setup / back story of the lead character has me completely hooked.

- Nazis. I hate these guys.

These guys have CLEARLY learned a LOT from their earlier games and I'll be buying this just as soon as possible. Highly recommend trying the demo to see what you think.

Good news for classic adventuring fans. The twitter feed for Kalypso claims they are publishing a PC version to the director's cut for Broken Sword later this week. They usually release all their games on all the major digital distribution sites so stay tuned.

http://twitter.com/KMDIGITALLTD/stat...

kaptainbarbosa wrote:

Good news for classic adventuring fans. The twitter feed for Kalypso claims they are publishing a PC version to the director's cut for Broken Sword later this week. They usually release all their games on all the major digital distribution sites so stay tuned.

http://twitter.com/KMDIGITALLTD/stat...

http://store.steampowered.com/app/57...

It's out on Steam. I'm going to buy this to encourage more remakes of classics.

ClockworkHouse wrote:

I've recently been playing through the LucasArts adventure pack on Steam (Loom, The Dig, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, and Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis). So far, I've really loved The Dig but haven't been fond of Loom and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade for a lot of the same reasons Dyplastic mentioned. I'll admit that my enthusiasm for Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, not really that strong to begin with, has taken a bit of a dive.

Despite my earlier enthusiasm, I've been trying and failing to finish The Dig for a few months now. I really enjoyed it until I hit that wall I seem to hit with most adventure games: in order to complete this puzzle or set of puzzles, you need to have an easily-missed item in your inventory. Now, because this is a later LucasArts game, you won't find yourself getting killed and having to start over, but you'll still have to wander from area to area looking for some little item that you might have missed. However, because I'm not getting killed as I fail to solve a problem, and because I'm not getting any hints when I fail, there's no clear indication of what the problem is. After running into this problem a few times, I lost interest in the game and just couldn't get back into it.

What I've come to realize is that aside from a nostalgic fondness for the King's Quest series and some other games, I don't much like the inventory-based puzzles that are the bread and butter of most adventure games. When I'm working to solve a puzzle, I want to feel like I have all of the pieces I need right in front of me. My frustration with The Dig came when I realized that I'd been spending hours trying to come up with a solution to a puzzle only to discover that I could never have come up with the solution because I didn't have all the necessary parts. I think this is why I prefer adventure games like The 11th Hour, Shivers, and Myst where the puzzles are largely self-contained. Unfortunately, that style of adventure game seems to have fallen out of favor with the adventure gaming community, which is small enough as it is.

ClockworkHouse wrote:
ClockworkHouse wrote:

I've recently been playing through the LucasArts adventure pack on Steam (Loom, The Dig, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, and Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis). So far, I've really loved The Dig but haven't been fond of Loom and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade for a lot of the same reasons Dyplastic mentioned. I'll admit that my enthusiasm for Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, not really that strong to begin with, has taken a bit of a dive.

Despite my earlier enthusiasm, I've been trying and failing to finish The Dig for a few months now. I really enjoyed it until I hit that wall I seem to hit with most adventure games: in order to complete this puzzle or set of puzzles, you need to have an easily-missed item in your inventory. Now, because this is a later LucasArts game, you won't find yourself getting killed and having to start over, but you'll still have to wander from area to area looking for some little item that you might have missed. However, because I'm not getting killed as I fail to solve a problem, and because I'm not getting any hints when I fail, there's no clear indication of what the problem is. After running into this problem a few times, I lost interest in the game and just couldn't get back into it.

What I've come to realize is that aside from a nostalgic fondness for the King's Quest series and some other games, I don't much like the inventory-based puzzles that are the bread and butter of most adventure games. When I'm working to solve a puzzle, I want to feel like I have all of the pieces I need right in front of me. My frustration with The Dig came when I realized that I'd been spending hours trying to come up with a solution to a puzzle only to discover that I could never have come up with the solution because I didn't have all the necessary parts. I think this is why I prefer adventure games like The 11th Hour, Shivers, and Myst where the puzzles are largely self-contained. Unfortunately, that style of adventure game seems to have fallen out of favor with the adventure gaming community, which is small enough as it is.

You've forgotten the cardinal rules:

1. Pick up anything that isn't nailed down.
2. If it is nailed down, find a crowbar.

Seriously, inventory can suck sometimes if you're not really in that mindset. The older games are worse because graphics simply weren't as good, so it could become more of a pixel hunt if designers weren't careful to make obtainable objects really stand out.

While self-contained puzzles aren't all that common, as you've said, what's nice is that most modern games flow in small contained chapters, so you only ever have maybe eight screens you're dealing with at a time. Truthfully I think even the Myst series worked this way. Although you didn't have an "inventory" per se, you did have an inventory of knowledge and clues that work in contained areas — an age, an island in Riven's case, etc. In some cases like (IIRC) Runaway and the Broken Sword games, you'll actually have stuff appear in your inventory if you forgot to pick it up or missed it in the previous chapter. Even if chapters aren't explicitly called out, the game is still broken into manageable chunks. Like Syberia: There are no "chapters", but each stop on the train tracks serves as its own little self-contained unit. Also the aforementioned examples from the Myst series.

Understand that the old LucasArts and Sierra games were the worst about persistent inventory. Although those of us who played them in our youths are nostalgic for them because they were great time-wasters when we were kids, there are far better examples of the genre nowadays. For good examples of chunk-based play, check out The Longest Journey (seriously, if you haven't played this yet, I'm going to buy you a copy myself), the Broken Sword series, Syberia I and II, the Runaway series (although some of these are a little illogical, at least they're funny), and the later Myst games.

El-Producto wrote:
kaptainbarbosa wrote:

Good news for classic adventuring fans. The twitter feed for Kalypso claims they are publishing a PC version to the director's cut for Broken Sword later this week. They usually release all their games on all the major digital distribution sites so stay tuned.

http://twitter.com/KMDIGITALLTD/stat...

http://store.steampowered.com/app/57...

It's out on Steam. I'm going to buy this to encourage more remakes of classics.

Okay, I'm a huge fan of the original, and admittedly a little partial to its art (I'm not really impressed by what I'm seeing on Steam) — but the additional 2-hour story arc has me interested. For anyone who played it on the DS already: did they bring back original voices for the additional arc? If Rolf Saxon isn't voicing George, I won't even bother.

ClockworkHouse wrote:

What I've come to realize is that aside from a nostalgic fondness for the King's Quest series and some other games, I don't much like the inventory-based puzzles that are the bread and butter of most adventure games. When I'm working to solve a puzzle, I want to feel like I have all of the pieces I need right in front of me. My frustration with The Dig came when I realized that I'd been spending hours trying to come up with a solution to a puzzle only to discover that I could never have come up with the solution because I didn't have all the necessary parts. I think this is why I prefer adventure games like The 11th Hour, Shivers, and Myst where the puzzles are largely self-contained. Unfortunately, that style of adventure game seems to have fallen out of favor with the adventure gaming community, which is small enough as it is.

Look at Puzzle Agent from TellTale it reminded me of 7th guest in play style (not plot so much) and have been enjoying it alot.

El-Producto wrote:
kaptainbarbosa wrote:

Good news for classic adventuring fans. The twitter feed for Kalypso claims they are publishing a PC version to the director's cut for Broken Sword later this week. They usually release all their games on all the major digital distribution sites so stay tuned.

http://twitter.com/KMDIGITALLTD/stat...

http://store.steampowered.com/app/57...

It's out on Steam. I'm going to buy this to encourage more remakes of classics.

Good deal. I think that's the one they initially remade for the Wii and DS from a while ago.

Has anyone seen this yet? is this something worth getting?

http://www.telltalegames.com/adventu...

Minarchist wrote:

Okay, I'm a huge fan of the original, and admittedly a little partial to its art (I'm not really impressed by what I'm seeing on Steam) — but the additional 2-hour story arc has me interested. For anyone who played it on the DS already: did they bring back original voices for the additional arc? If Rolf Saxon isn't voicing George, I won't even bother.

The additional content involves Nico and a variety of new characters, but they bring back the same voice actress.

I don't know, I like the additional animations, although it is weird that they went with an art style that is different from the original game.

The only big minus is that it takes the same form as it did on the Wii and DS where the screen is zoomed in closer to the characters, which was fine for those versions but has the result of the original art (outside of cutscenes) not looking as crisp as they would even playing the original on PC. Also, some people don't really care for the new story arc, since it technically eliminates the mystery around the original opening sequence as to why the cafe was bombed. But for $10, I had to get it.

Amnesia: The Dark Descent is still on preorder for $16 on Steam (unlocks in 12 hours or so). John Walker's Wot I Think sold me on the game, but the reviews in general have been positive enough. I like the fact that it's horror comes first and the rest comes after, including gameplay. Admittedly, I think they made a number of good trailers showcasing the game, but it's the sound design that just blew me away. Some creepy stuff going on.

Minarchist wrote:

Cursed Mountain is supposed to be really good; again, haven't gotten my hands on it, but probably the game I'm most excited to try on the system. I've also really wanted to try out Fragile Dreams, a Japanese adventure game with action and some light RPG elements (but with a JRPG feel).

I'm sure Clockwork will see the post, but Cursed Mountain can be had for $7. Actually a little cheaper if you are okay with just the disc.

garion333 wrote:

Amnesia: The Dark Descent is still on preorder for $16 on Steam (unlocks in 12 hours or so). John Walker's Wot I Think sold me on the game, but the reviews in general have been positive enough. I like the fact that it's horror comes first and the rest comes after, including gameplay. Admittedly, I think they made a number of good trailers showcasing the game, but it's the sound design that just blew me away. Some creepy stuff going on.

What do you think so far? Have you had a chance to dive in? I just read the Wot I Think review and Adventure Gamers’ review, and they both loved it. Sounds like it might be a little too creepy for my tastes, though; I can be a bit of a pansy in that sense. Maybe with all the lights on...

...anyway, sounds like a great game regardless.

Minarchist wrote:
garion333 wrote:

Amnesia: The Dark Descent is still on preorder for $16 on Steam (unlocks in 12 hours or so). John Walker's Wot I Think sold me on the game, but the reviews in general have been positive enough. I like the fact that it's horror comes first and the rest comes after, including gameplay. Admittedly, I think they made a number of good trailers showcasing the game, but it's the sound design that just blew me away. Some creepy stuff going on.

What do you think so far? Have you had a chance to dive in? I just read the Wot I Think review and Adventure Gamers’ review, and they both loved it. Sounds like it might be a little too creepy for my tastes, though; I can be a bit of a pansy in that sense. Maybe with all the lights on...

...anyway, sounds like a great game regardless.

I'm playing it 15min chunks...it's about all I can take ...and I haven't even encountered any actual threats yet :O

So far so good though. They're completely right about the sound design, it's frickin' creepy as hell.

Worth noting that the demo actually seems to be one of those "several random bits of levels strung together" type affairs, other than the first couple of rooms the opening area is completely different.

...also, doesn't help when a couple of (real) cats start shrieking at each other outside my window while creeping slowly along a dark tunnel in the game

Amnesia isn't scaring me anywhere near as much as I had hoped and/but I played about an hour last night. I'm not feeling immersed as much as I expected as it keeps shouting video game at me when things happen.

I definitely want to play some more before passing judgment, but so far I've enjoyed wandering around and not killing things. The atmosphere is really good. I like the visual and audio effects of when you start to lose your sanity, but so far the scary stuff feels too forced to me.

Is this deserving of a "squee"? I think it may be.

SQUEEEE!

(Not that they'll necessarily collaborate on adventure games, but I remain ever-optimistic)

I also grew up on adventure games!!! Loving this thread. Grim Fandango for me takes the top tier position of bestest game of the worldly world in all the galaxies combined.

Having said that, I was introduced first by Sierra, but then moved on to LucasArts. You're missing two games that come to mind:

The Colonel's Bequest
Laura Bow's The Dagger of Amon Rah(sp?)

Colonel's Bequest was amazing. A type of CLUE adventure game if you will, where as one previous poster said, dealt more with finding out how the relationships between the enormous cast was with each other, and finding their secret and ulterior motives. Really great, text based (which is harder IMO) puzzling. If some of you ever come across it (DOSBox works for me) go to the bathroom and type: shower, hilarity ensues.

Don't you miss dying in games?

Dagger was it's sequel, with Laura Bow reprising her role as an investigatory journalist. Didn't leave a mark on me as hard as CB did, but very, very good also.

Also, a question: I haven't played KQ2 in a lifetime, so I never played the remake. On the remake, does the batmobile also make an appearance in one of the caves? I always thought that was hilarious. Gotta love adventure games.

Added some updated sales info in the OP.

Also note that The Longest Journey and Syberia are both $4.99 right now at GoG. It's especially worth it for TLJ, I think, as it can be a bit tough to get that game to work with newer machines. I already own the old 4-disc version and I bought it just for the installer. It may also be the best story ever told in a video game. Or at least second to Planescape: Torment.

Minarchist wrote:

Is this deserving of a "squee"? I think it may be.

SQUEEEE!

(Not that they'll necessarily collaborate on adventure games, but I remain ever-optimistic)

I'm late, but yeah -- that's a totally justified "squee" in my book.

Like many of the old classic adventure games, TLJ starts a bit slow but the characters really draw you in. Maybe I'm dumber than I was a decade ago -or less patient- but I've been reaching for faqs pretty regularly with these. I guess if I'd paid full price at release, as I did with Sanitarium, I'd take more time with the dilemmas.

Sanitarium was worth the $45 easily.

Running Man wrote:

Like many of the old classic adventure games, TLJ starts a bit slow but the characters really draw you in. Maybe I'm dumber than I was a decade ago -or less patient- but I've been reaching for faqs pretty regularly with these. I guess if I'd paid full price at release, as I did with Sanitarium, I'd take more time with the dilemmas.

Sanitarium was worth the $45 easily.

I got Sanitarium for $5 in a discount bin - one of the best cost/fun purchases I've made short of Steam sales.

holy crap - the guy doing the voice of Marty in the Telltale Back to the Future games is scarily spot-on :O

I just saw that on Telltale's website a few days ago. Should be exciting, definitely not the next game I was expecting from them

stevenmack wrote:

holy crap - the guy doing the voice of Marty in the Telltale Back to the Future games is scarily spot-on :O

Whoa.
And what a nice job he got himself. Like they say, you've got to find your niche

Has anyone played Necronomicon - The Dawning of Darkness? Looks a little cheesy but I'm a sucker for almost anything H.P. Lovecraft.

Impulse has it on sale for $4.99

I've got it. The first half or so is pretty good but the second half is pretty much finding your way through a series of underground mazes followed by a ridiculous timed sequence. It might be worth $5 for the first half though.