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Kentucky Route Zero - Act I released

raviolico

raviolico

Member
http://kentuckyroutezero.com




just played through it. it´s a wacky, stylish and unique poin`t & click. really liked it.

Act 1 is up for 7 bucks.


you may also check previous stuff from the same dev(s):

http://cardboardcomputer.com/games/ruins/

gumby_trucker said:
Maybe this should be added to the OP for people who want to experience some of Jake Elliot's previous work without spoiling themselves on this one.

The man is a masterful designer and his name alone sold me on this.

this game takes ten minutes to finish and another 20+ to have your mind blown!
Click to expand...
 
This looks really intriguing but the trailer shows pretty much nothing but exploration. It says is more story driven than puzzle driven...so how is the story? I really couldn't get a grasp of any story in the trailer.
 
I hadn't heard of this at all till today's IGF nominations. Seems like this title was in the running for almost every category, which definitely got me interested!
 
do the graphics ever reach the claymation look of the first trailer?

part of what appealed to me about the original trailer was the claymation/stop motion styling with the intense lighting effects to go along with the folksy, grounded story.

is any of that uniqueness still in there? or is it closer to a standard indie adventure game with a dime a dozen painterly art style.

still interested for the story, at least.
 
Alur said:
This looks really intriguing but the trailer shows pretty much nothing but exploration. It says is more story driven than puzzle driven...so how is the story? I really couldn't get a grasp of any story in the trailer.
Click to expand...

brief so far (hence Act 1) but....weird. in a good way. like something form the Coen Brothers. mixed with Lynch.
 
ibdZhmQFXz44gY.jpg


Just heard about this in the IGF nominations, looks intriguing. Might check it out tomorrow.
 
pargonta said:
do the graphics ever reach the claymation look of the first trailer?

part of what appealed to me about the original trailer was the claymation/stop motion styling with the intense lighting effects to go along with the folksy, grounded story.

is any of that uniqueness still in there? or is it closer to a standard indie adventure game with a dime a dozen painterly art style.

still interested for the story, at least.
Click to expand...

definitely unique. most definitely. but the`ve thrown the claymation style overboard.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCz9T5NgYJQ
 
Messofanego said:
ibdZhmQFXz44gY.jpg


Just heard about this in the IGF nominations, looks intriguing. Might check it out tomorrow.
Click to expand...

Bluegrass? That is kind of awesome. I can't think of a game that's used that genre before - could really be something special if they get it right.

Also agreed on the art style/vibe. Definintely getting an 'Another World' feeling from it, and that's a wonderful thing.

More and more intrigued by this. Might just have to pull the trigger - but then do I do the full season, or just the first part.... Hmmmm...
 
Atomski said:
So story wise does this have narrative or is it going to be more of just exploring and discovering?
Click to expand...

This is really all about the narrative. Having just played the first episode, although there is some exploring you can do, it's really about paying attention to the story. Spoilers for the "exploratory" aspects -
you can get in your truck and go driving, which you have to do to get to the "plot" points, but there are also several landmarks around the area you can visit. Although they don't get graphical representation like the key locations, you can go in and explore them - I broke in to a slightly eerie museum, stood outside a church listening to a choir, and tipped a guitar player, for instance.

I'm not quite sure how to describe the first episode. It's not particularly "gamey", but it's far from non-interactive. You can see the conversations routing to a particular part, but you always get given a number of responses which all seem believable but subtly different. The story the game tells is quite interesting - mostly because the dialogue's very well written - but it's a slight experience for a single instalment.

When raviolico describes it as "wacky" I don't think I agree at all. There's an odd moment early in the episode in the first location you come to that doesn't really match the tone of the rest of it, which feels more like... I dunno, a Neil Gaiman novel? Something like American Gods. A hint of something strange behind the empty banality of stereotypical "American life", perhaps. Wacky to me suggests Sam and Max, not the weirdness of this game.

Definitely not one for the gameplay uber alles crowd, but if you're interested in story-based games I think you'll enjoy it.
 
There is nothing approximating a game in this title at all. Whether that is OK with you is fine, but fair warning-if you aren't sure you might want to fork down for the first ep instead of all five at once.

The visuals, audio, and narrative presentation are all very unique and well done, but the game nearly revels in its rejection of interactive elements.
 
Fragamemnon said:
The visuals, audio, and narrative presentation are all very unique and well done, but the game nearly revels in its rejection of interactive elements.
Click to expand...

I dunno if I'd agree with that. Like, I presume, The Walking Dead (which I haven't played), while there is absolutely no skill required to play Kentucky Route Zero there is a lot of "interaction" through choices you make in dialogue (meaningful or otherwise) and where you go, what you do when you get there etc.
 
iuhQ0hPOBMqsB.gif


Good lord, is this spooky. The mine is amazing. Turn off the light and move around, FUCKING CREEPY. Strong start for 2013 adventure games. This is something very special. I suggest if you're in for a quiet, mysterious road adventure with the atmosphere of a ghost story, play this and don't spoil yourself.

ibfRKgNkcc3fUu.jpg

The lighting, audio design, and camera work, oh man.

j8hoegA8M6Qmk.jpg

When you're on the road and exploring, going to new places, it becomes a text adventure in a very cool way where all the focus is given to audio. When you visit the church and figure out where the choir singing is coming from, you'll know what I'm talking about.

How did you figure out the poem password on the computer?
My way was "Wheels slide down...nobody saw the accident...the lights whine."

The dialogue choices have a twist,
where you can speak for more than one character. I thought that was cool, where I was creating Conway and Shannon's personalities on the fly. Also, controlling Shannon was cool even for the few seconds you get. I kept the twenty-sided die for myself, wonder if that has any effect? I wonder what talking to your dog does? Maybe just for character building? What's all this talk of a basketball game?

I listened to the bluegrass band all the way through, the lyrics were more foreboding than I expected. Did the person who walks past as the camera is zooming into the Marquez Farmhouse freak anyone out? I'm guessing it was one of the bluegrass players.

Made a *SPOILER* GIF *SPOILER* of the mines moment.

Did you spin the mine cart all three times around and go back and forth? So there's some water on the left. Looks like the place was an underground recording studio for folk music archivists?

Episode 1 ends on the perfect moment
where the camera zooms in and then you're waiting for the zoom back. Because of all the disappearing people, you hope when it zooms back that at least Shannon is real.
 
The game is so cold that it's blissfully warm to find another soul out there in the night. I agree that the player's role changing is interesting. I'm finding myself dawdling a little on conversations because I know that I only get one chance to ask now. I am kind of approaching it how I would in a real conversation I think.

Does the episode end after the
removed
? It just quits to desktop there for me. Figured it might be a bug, didn't really want to read Messofanego's spoiler as it didn't make any sense. edit. Confirmed by twitter.

Diner scene was one of the most memorable moments for me. Felt so.. haphazard. Can't wait for a new episode, got a feeling it's going to be a long wait.
Messofanego said:
ibfRKgNkcc3fUu.jpg

The lighting, audio design, and camera work, oh man.
Click to expand...
Was this after passing the fireflies? I tried to find the source but failed... I'll have to go back and see if I can find it.
 
BluWacky said:
I dunno if I'd agree with that. Like, I presume, The Walking Dead (which I haven't played), while there is absolutely no skill required to play Kentucky Route Zero there is a lot of "interaction" through choices you make in dialogue (meaningful or otherwise) and where you go, what you do when you get there etc.
Click to expand...

I've learned to just ignore posters like him who dont consider something a video game unless Platinum Games developed it
 
Visualante2 said:
Does the episode end after the
removed
? It just quits to desktop there for me. Figured it might be a bug, didn't really want to read Messofanego's spoiler as it didn't make any sense. edit. Confirmed by twitter.
Click to expand...

Yeah, at first when it quit to desktop it was weird. But since there's no real main menu (lol) to go back to, maybe I'm ok with it?

Visualante2 said:
Was this after passing the fireflies? I tried to find the source but failed... I'll have to go back and see if I can find it.
Click to expand...

This is right after Joseph tells you there's a bunch of booze and bottles on the road. The first thing I checked out on the road.
 
Messofanego said:
Yeah, at first when it quit to desktop it was weird. But since there's no real main menu (lol) to go back to, maybe I'm ok with it?
Click to expand...
Oh I think it's fine, but it's like ending a film without credits. The audience can sit around not knowing what to do for a minute or two expecting something to happen. I didn't really care for it when Dear Esther did it either. A simple "to be continued" would have sufficed.
 
BluWacky said:
I dunno if I'd agree with that. Like, I presume, The Walking Dead (which I haven't played), while there is absolutely no skill required to play Kentucky Route Zero there is a lot of "interaction" through choices you make in dialogue (meaningful or otherwise) and where you go, what you do when you get there etc.
Click to expand...

The lack of any real logic puzzles-even simple- or skill testing is what's a real bummer for me. I thought there might have been some light elements of that early on, but it didn't pan out that way when playing the episode to completion. Again, there's no game going on here, not even by the most apologist of standards. That's not intended as a slight, just an observation.

"Interaction" is always going to have some kind of baseline definition , yes there are choice A, B, and C on dialogue and a map to "explore", but it felt no different than one of those museum areas where you can go to different displays and press different buttons to get information. My time spent playing the game was very much "read-only" in nature, and it felt very comfortable being that way-at no point did I get the impression that the game was going to engage me to do more than click on things to "turn a page."

I get that the game is trying to be a Visual Novel: David Lynch Edition, but the lack of properties we traditionally associate with games is going to be a turnoff for some and not be a big deal for others, which is what I was shooting for in my post.

I agree with Patrick about the audio design. I also can't think of many titles that use darkness in such a unique way.

I've learned to just ignore posters like him who dont consider something a video game unless Platinum Games developed it
Click to expand...

I'm actually a degree worse than those folks-old man PC strategy gamer (though a huge P4G fan!) . I do check out the IGF finalists though yearly just to keep a bead on what the indie scene is doing. I don't really have a problem or complaint with its nomination. It's just not the kind of "game" for me, and others with similar reservations might want to hold off on the $25 outlay and just get the first ep if unsure about the game.
 
Fragamemnon said:
I get that the game is trying to be a Visual Novel: David Lynch Edition, but the lack of properties we traditionally associate with games is going to be a turnoff for some and not be a big deal for others, which is what I was shooting for in my post.
Click to expand...

Good. I'm tired of the veiling whining and fearmongering of ludologists that every game like a Walking Dead or a KRZ is heralding the death of the medium. Much like our genre terms, video game leaves a lot to be desired as a medium description.
 
Fragamemnon said:
The lack of any real logic puzzles-even simple- or skill testing is what's a real bummer for me. I thought there might have been some light elements of that early on, but it didn't pan out that way when playing the episode to completion. Again, there's no game going on here, not even by the most apologist of standards. That's not intended as a slight, just an observation.
Click to expand...

I get you. I'm not sure why people are being so aggressive in responding to you to be honest, it's not like you're abusing it for lacking the interaction you'd prefer.

I get that the game is trying to be a Visual Novel: David Lynch Edition, but the lack of properties we traditionally associate with games is going to be a turnoff for some and not be a big deal for others, which is what I was shooting for in my post.
Click to expand...

Interestingly, I really don't like visual novels at all - I'm not even fond of the more game-y ones like Phoenix Wright and 999 - but I've always liked graphic adventures and I enjoyed Kentucky. Kentucky has several advantages over more traditional VNs for me:

i) Animation (and overall excellent graphic design) - as you can probably tell from my avatar I don't have a problem with the anime aesthetic, but the dull background art and static portraits in most VNs do nothing to me
ii) Third person - I personally can't engage very well with first person games, I actually find them distancing rather than immersive.
iii) Proper control - I like being able to move around relatively freely and, most importantly, to read the text as fast as I want to, not sit through slow text crawl upon slow text crawl.
 
Messofanego said:
2-3 hours. I loved exploring around on the road. Accident, diner, church, guitar player, museum.
Click to expand...
You miss the guys with the
plane
?

e. I have a look at the save file in C:\Users\USERNAME\Documents\KentuckyRouteZero\ and it's tracking all the options in the game. I only skim read them, but I think it's definitely going to be tracking your choices for future episodes.
 
Messofanego said:
Refresh me, which one was this? I might have missed it!
Click to expand...
Conway's driving around and
stumbles upon a couple of guys pushing a plane in the middle of the night. Nothing really comes of it, he notices that the plane's wheel is wearing thin and that they're not wearing shoes. I thought you might be able to return and help them out.
 
I'm wondering if the poem influences what you can see out on the road... music's beautiful. I can see this being an OST I listen to a lot throughout the year.
 
So I guess we're going to be getting a lot more episodic games now that The Walking Dead was a hit, eh? Not that I'm complaining.

This seems interesting but I already have a massive backlog so I'm gonna pass for now. Will keep an eye out for any sales though.
 
Voted on greenlight, having just finished The Dig and being on an adventure game kick (my only self purchases during the steam sale were adventure games) I am probably going to have to pick this up. That style!
 
I want to read what people have written in this thread, but at the same time, I don't want to spoil the game for me. I have not finished the first act yet.
 
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