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Point n Click Adventure GAF 2014 No longer in our dreams, memories or just Germany.

I remember people talking about The Raven last year...did that turn out to be must-play?

In retrospect, I would say no. It has an extremely strong and promising start in the first episode but as the season progressed the episodes got shorter, locations were heavily reused and the story got a bit too convoluted. That said, it's reaching the point where it will probably be 66-75% off in the next major sale. That isn't a bad price for a 10-12 hour adventure game with an amazing first half.
 

Card Boy

Banned
Still bothers me Disney bought LucasArts only to shut them down and never re-release any of their old PnC games. Not even GoG has them outside the stuff on Steam (MI, MI2, The Dig, Loom, Indy Last Crusade and Indy FoA).

Would love to play Maniac Mansion and Day of the Tentacle again.

I know Ron Gilbert and Tim Shaffer have expressed interest in doing more games or buying the IP but Disney won't budge.
 
You can switch to the old graphics and new ones on the fly. I thought the MI2 remaster was perfect.

Not even close. 1UP's review said it best:

"the entirety of the original opening cinematic and credits is completely absent from Special Edition. This doesn't affect gameplay at all, but it does mean that there is no way to see some unique frames of animation (featuring dancing monkeys), gorgeous hand-drawn title cards, or a unique musical cue -- the only time the original Monkey Island theme song appears in the sequel, in fact."

"The worst offense is the complete elimination of iMUSE, the interactive music system that made its debut in the original Monkey Island 2. The concept of iMUSE is difficult to describe in text, but essentially, it allowed a game's background music to change dynamically based on what was happening in the game."

"The Special Edition version of the game completely replaces iMUSE with recordings of each theme song played individually, with no effort to replicate the transitional effects from the original. Instead of smoothly coasting from one to another, the game rapidly hurls each theme song at you as you move around and, at times, inserts a loud thaDUMP drum sound to make up for the transitional effects. This would be forgiven if it was limited to the new HD version of the game, but it's absent from Classic Mode as well, meaning those looking to play the game as it was originally released will miss out on a huge part of what made the original game, well, special."

"The cuts don't end there either. In the original game, the ending credits concluded with what might have been the funniest segment: a list of 50 constructive things you could do now that you had finally finished the adventure (such as washing your car, running for president, or having "a yelling contest with your neighbor's dog"). This section -- as with the original opening -- has been eliminated entirely."

"In addition to content being cut, some of what is here is just plain sloppy. The music in classic mode, for example, sounds really bad. This isn't a case of the original MIDI just being outdated, I mean that it is actually broken and wrong. Whatever sound card or emulator or interpreter they used to record the classic mode music does not output the sound as it was originally intended and released, meaning the instruments often sound flat and tired, and the volume levels for individual tracks are all over the place."


It goes on but I'm not going to quote the whole review.
 
I still have Walking Dead and The Wolf Among Us on my to play list.

And maybe that Kentucky Zero something game. Is that a point n click?

In some ways yes, but it's an extremely linear thing. It's mostly you moving your character along a very set path then choosing answers in dialogues where the consequences aren't clear to you. I feel that it's much more an interactive novel then a traditional point&click adventure.
 

Setre

Member
Decided to go for Gemini Rue, thanks guys/gals!

Day of the Tentacle isn't on Steam and neither is The Curse of Monkey Island. :(

Are the special editions of Monkey Island 1 & 2 (plus Tales from Monkey Island) any good or is Curse the best?
 

daviyoung

Banned
Decided to go for Gemini Rue, thanks guys/gals!

Day of the Tentacle isn't on Steam and neither is The Curse of Monkey Island. :(

Are the special editions of Monkey Island 1 & 2 (plus Tales from Monkey Island) any good or is Curse the best?

Monkey Island 1 and 2 are great, but the puzzles can be really fiendish compared to Curse which is why I recommended that one first. If you're going with Gemini Rue you'll be fine with MI 1 and 2 though, so definitely go for them! Don't bother with Tales for now.
 
Decided to go for Gemini Rue, thanks guys/gals!

Day of the Tentacle isn't on Steam and neither is The Curse of Monkey Island. :(

Are the special editions of Monkey Island 1 & 2 (plus Tales from Monkey Island) any good or is Curse the best?

The artstyle is a bit weird in the special editions, but they're still fantastic games. The puzzles can be tricky but are much much better and more entertaining then in Curse of Monkey Island.

Tales is pretty good, but should be played after 1, 2 and Curse.
 

epmode

Member
Not even close. 1UP's review said it best:

Even if the intro made it into the special edition, I'd still much prefer the original release because of iMUSE. It's sad that so few developers place such an emphasis on interactive music but oh god I love it when it's done right.
 

tmarques

Member
Monkey Island 1 and 2 are great, but the puzzles can be really fiendish compared to Curse which is why I recommended that one first.

No one should play the MI games out of order, for story reasons, even if it means consulting a walkthrough every now and then.
 

Mr_Zombie

Member
No one should play the MI games out of order, for story reasons, even if it means consulting a walkthrough every now and then.

I disagree. I played CoMI right after MI1 (at that time I couldn't find MI2 for a reasonable price) and had no problems with understanding the story. Sure, maybe I missed a joke or two, but stories in Monkey Island series are pretty straightforward and self-contaminated : here's Guybrush - a mighty pirate; here's Elaine - a governor and Guybrush's love (later, wife); here's LeChuck - a ghost/zombie/demon pirate that's in love with Elaine. That's it.

Of course it helps to play Secret of the Monkey Island first, no matter what, because it defines a lot of characters that are going to reoccur in later games. But after that, feel free to play in whatever order you please.
 
I remember people talking about The Raven last year...did that turn out to be must-play?

Now that all three parts are out, definitely.
Stasis looks quite intriguing. Whats the general consensus on it?

Play the "demo". It's going to be amazing.
In some ways yes, but it's an extremely linear thing. It's mostly you moving your character along a very set path then choosing answers in dialogues where the consequences aren't clear to you. I feel that it's much more an interactive novel then a traditional point&click adventure.

I actually disagree. It's not very linear at all. There's a lot of stuff you can miss, as well as see. It's very much like a classic PNC in how you progress through the areas; I would liken it to something like Gabriel Knight in that there are different areas available to access. It's a great mashup of text adventure, point and click, and visual novel. A brilliant modern adventure imo.
 

Mr_Zombie

Member
Stasis looks quite intriguing. Whats the general consensus on it?

The demo has an amazing atmosphere. Technically wise it's a little bit wonky (especially when it comes to pathfinding), but I'm sure it will be sorted out in the full version. If I'm not mistaken, the author of the game is a GAF member? I think I saw him in the Kickstarter thread.
 
The demo has an amazing atmosphere. Technically wise it's a little bit wonky (especially when it comes to pathfinding), but I'm sure it will be sorted out in the full version. If I'm not mistaken, the author of the game is a GAF member? I think I saw him in the Kickstarter thread.

Yes, "Chris_Bischoff" is his name. Great guy. I've been following his progress since the beginning and he's really got a good thing going.
 

garath

Member
Started gray matter a couple days ago. Not too far in yet but I'm warming up to it. Should I be expecting Gabriel knight level story telling? So far it seems a little thin.
 

inm8num2

Member
Started gray matter a couple days ago. Not too far in yet but I'm warming up to it. Should I be expecting Gabriel knight level story telling? So far it seems a little thin.

The story starts slowly but builds up to a great mystery..

Difficult to compare to GK without spoiling anything, though.
 
I think Day of the Tentacle is the best P&C adventure game of all time, if you can find it. Pretty accessible in terms of gameplay, too.

Yeah, I've always went back and forth between it and Hit the Road as my personal all-time favorite. It's such an excellent game and I would have loved to see how that remake would have turned out.
 

inm8num2

Member
I bought that based on recommendations and didn't realize it was in first person until it was too late. :/ I don't really like first person/myst like games

Being first person is all it really has in common with Myst - the types of puzzles couldn't be more different. The game plays out in a sort of real-time fashion, too.
 

Particle Physicist

between a quark and a baryon
Being first person is all it really has in common with Myst - the types of puzzles couldn't be more different. The game plays out in a sort of real-time fashion, too.

I know, I just meant the first person view. I don't like those games. I like the traditional point and click games. Just my preference really :/
 

Card Boy

Banned
any good pncs on ipad? (not monkey island)

  • Simon the Sorcerer 1
  • Simon the Sorcerer 2
  • The Last Express
  • Gemini Rue
  • The Shivah
  • Flight of the Amazon Queen
  • Sam and Max
  • Back to the Future: The Game
  • Tales of Monkey Island
  • Hector
  • Sam & Max: The Penal Zone
  • Wallace & Gromit in The Last Resort
  • The Walking Dead
  • The Next BIG Thing
  • Cognition: An Erica Reed Thriller
  • Machinarium
  • Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective
  • Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP
  • Broken Sword: Director’s Cut
  • Broken Sword - The Smoking Mirror: Remastered
  • Beneath a Steel Sky: Remastered
  • Syberia
  • Runaway: A Road Adventure
  • Runaway: A Twist of Fate
  • Runaway: The Dream Of The Turtle
  • Yesterday
  • Samorost 2
  • Fester Mudd: Curse of the Gold
  • Leisure Suit Larry: Reloaded
  • Kaptain Brawe: A Brawe New World

Not including Phoenix Wright since its a more of a Adventure novel.
 

discoalucard

i am a butthurt babby that can only drool in wonder at shiney objects
Not even close. 1UP's review said it best:

It goes on but I'm not going to quote the whole review.

There was a patch that restored some of this stuff, I think.

Also the 1up review was based off the Xbox 360 version, which had crossfading music tracks. The PC version has much more natural sounding transitions. Since the arranged music is streamed rather sequenced it's impossible to completely replicate iMUSE, but it does a decent enough job that it's barely noticeable.

The original music in the remake is played with really really poor samples though, they never fixed that. The arranged music is great.
 

Mr_Zombie

Member
Started gray matter a couple days ago. Not too far in yet but I'm warming up to it. Should I be expecting Gabriel knight level story telling? So far it seems a little thin.

I've also started GM the other day. Right now I'm on Chapter 4 and the story progression is really slow but it is starting to get interesting. It's not Gabriel Knight quality yet, though.

I'm disappointed by the puzzles because they are very easy. Even the first Daedalus Club's puzzle was easy and obvious. I hope it gets better later in the game. I don't expect anything near Le Serpent Rouge (or infamous cat mustache) but something that would really require using ones' brain. :/

Graphically, the game is looking nice with beautiful backgrounds and OK models. Although I really don't understand why did they put characters' 3D mugshots next to subtitles. 3D models in this game works in-game, but those en face portraits mixed with poor facial animations are really ugly. Would it kill them to create characters' portraits drawn in the style of cut-scenes? I was surprised when I saw the students participating in Style's experiment in the cut-scene at the end of chapter 2, because their character portraits made them all look ugly as hell (especially Harvey - in the mugshot he looks as if someone had beaten him with a stick).
 
I actually disagree. It's not very linear at all. There's a lot of stuff you can miss, as well as see. It's very much like a classic PNC in how you progress through the areas; I would liken it to something like Gabriel Knight in that there are different areas available to access. It's a great mashup of text adventure, point and click, and visual novel. A brilliant modern adventure imo.

I never got that feeling. I have only played through the episodes once, but for it felt like everything was "go here, click there, go left, go left, go left, click through dialogue choices which consequences aren't clear to you, and go left..."

I might be underestimating the game, but I haven't gotten back to them yet, because I just didn't have fun playing them. I have not passed a final judgment on it though, and plan to get back to them all when Act 3 is released. :) And I got to say that the art in the game is absolutely fantastic.

I'm disappointed by the puzzles because they are very easy. Even the first Daedalus Club's puzzle was easy and obvious. I hope it gets better later in the game. I don't expect anything near Le Serpent Rouge (or infamous cat mustache) but something that would really require using ones' brain. :/

They are easier then in GK1. There will be a bunch of them that's more challenging then the ones in the beginning, but they will not reach the level of the trickiest ones in GK1. Which I was pretty glad for, because I felt that GK1 was to difficult. :)

I played through GK1 for the first time last spring, and I felt that it by todays standards actually is a bit overrated. Both in terms of story and puzzles. Not bad though! But the characters and the events in Gray Matter has stuck with me much more then the ones i GK1, which actually felt a bit cheezy at times.

Simon the Sorcerer 4 is on Gamersgate, how is it?

I tried to play the demo, but the dialogues were so awful then ran screaming from there and never have gotten back to the game. The art style is pretty awful also.
 

Yanksfan

Member
I'm also not a fan of first person adventures but The Last Express is just too good for me to care about that.

Good to hear that from a few of you in here. Honestly, it had put me off from buying it in the past. Next time I see it on sale, I will probably snag it then.
 

Morfeo

The Chuck Norris of Peace
I wanted to finally play Kings Quest 7, does anybody have any advice on which version is the better one? I understand 1.4 is more "complete" but also more broken, while 2.0 is shorter? Anyone?
 
I disagree. Curse is pretty much standalone. 1 and 2 should be played in order though.

Definitely Curse first as you're not a PnC addict yet. Curse is beautiful in anyones eyes; the game is hilarious and flows well - there shouldn't be too many places that you'll get frustrated.

Enjoy :)
 

Yanksfan

Member
Alright, got quite an adventure backlog to start on. Can I get some recommendations on which to start?

- Blackwell Legacy
- Broken Sword: Shadows of the Templar
- Deponia
- The Dig
- Dreamfall: The Longest Journey
- Gemini Rue
- Hector: Episode 1
- Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
- Lume
- Puzzle Agent
- Runaway: A Road Adventure
- Samorost 2
- Scratches: Director's Cut
- Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened
- Syberia
- Wallace and Gromit: Episode 1
- The Whispered World

Well, beat Blackwell Legacy. My, that was short, even for someone that usually prefers games leaving me wanting more rather than overstaying their welcome. Overall, I would give it a 6 or 7. Cool premise and enjoyable overall, but the VA was a little off and the puzzles were a little too simplistic. I still plan on continuing the series though and have heard they continue to improve.
 

epmode

Member
I'd recommend that people play Legacy with the voice acting turned off, actually. It gets a lot better in later games, along with art, puzzles and everything else.

I wouldn't say that any of the Blackwell games are difficult, though. Especially compared to old Sierra or Lucasarts games.
 

szaromir

Banned
Even as someone who spends irresponsible amounts of time playing game, the existence of 2-3 hours long titles such as the Blackwell games is more than welcome. During a busy period when you can play a game on one evening but are occupied the rest of the week, knowing that you can start a game at 8pm and finish it before going to bed is great.

I know, I just meant the first person view. I don't like those games. I like the traditional point and click games. Just my preference really :/
Cutscenes in The Last Express are in the third person perspective. Navigating is very confusing in TLE initially, but once you get a handle of it it won't bother you. I'd recommend to stick with it, the game is fascinating.

I'm about halfway through Lost Horizon, this game is more enjoyable than it really should be, I don't even know why. I played a previous game from the same developer, The Secret Files: Tunguska and dropped it like a rock after 3 hours or so, but this one is much better. Being a German game, it has the usual problems with writing and voice acting, although I like the deliveries of the main character when interacting with the environment. And for a studio with the name of "Animation Arts", the cutscenes are underwhelming. I know Lost Horizon 2 is on the way, hopefully it has higher production values as it's the type of game that would really benefit from them.
 

Tizoc

Member
Silent Age Ep. 2 Seems to be in the works based on the creator's site:
They need $8000 to reach their target. Any chance a kickstarter might help? Stretch goals could be for Vita/3DS ports or something...
 

Card Boy

Banned
Speaking of Kings Quest for those that don't know you may want to check out The Silver Lining.

2_8c97b99d-81aa-47ed-b619-127592d4b2cc_1024x1024.jpg

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9_f37ae961-adeb-4e26-9159-9236c5c8195a_1024x1024.jpg

It's free and an unofficial sequel to the Kings Quest series made by the Cognition: Erica Reed devs. Most of you may probably already know but this post is intended for those getting into PnC games and are unaware of it's existence.
 
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