|OT| Adventure Games Thread 2021 - The Future of Fine Leather Jackets

[Vampire On Titus]

So, I recently played

And

Quick review 'cause I'm lazy, feel free to ask for details.
The first one is a typical Monkey Meets Lovecraft. The animations, the music (the map music feels a lot like Melée map music), the details all are Monkey. It's a short game, so the SCUMM-like interface is basically never used as it should. It's a good little adventure, quite amateurish, but WAY overpriced for what it's worth.
The second one is bigger and more developed. Sadly, it loses the SCUMM interface, but it won't have been used as it should neither in this sequel. Gorgeous backgrounds but the characters aren't on par, their style remind me of Zak. Not bad, just... not awesome pixel art. Dialogue can sometimes feel juvenile and forced, but overall it's well written and the story is interesting and compelling. Also some good puzzles, but it's really an easy game, you're warned. All in all, I really liked it, especially the alchemy between the 3 main characters and the part in the camp. Reminded me a lot of my old Call of Cthulhu P&P games.

Now I just started

Inspector Waffles Purrluxe Edition

Murder. Nothin’ nice about it. In this old school detective adventure, step into the boot

www.gog.com

Feel kind of weird. Not completely sold on the pixel art, but it's a pure matter of taste. Hate the interface, but it fits the game. One thing to note: the character is not animated, when you exit a scene he doesn't walk to the exit, it just switch panel. But again, I just started it, take my words with a grain of salt. I have a good feeling about it, actually.

Might check out Mountains of Madness, I've been seeing some good impressions despite common drawbacks that have been cited as well. Glad you enjoyed it. But on the subject of the SCUMM style 9verb interface, a new game using it was just announced and it looks pretty good.

Seems like they intend to use those verbs, too.

• 9 verb interface: Using the classic nine verb interface is in line with our approach to puzzle design. We want the player to think their way through our game, and we find this type of interface really engages the player and allows for more creative puzzles.

The game basically looks like if Snatcher/Blade Runner/Total Recall was remade as a mid 90s SCUMM game. The main character is actually kind of a dead wringer for Snatcher's protagonist, Gillian Seed.

Probably because they're both trying to look like Harrison Ford from Blade Runner, though. In any case I like the look of the game and the sprites. Haven't combed over all the details in their campaign yet but I'd definitely say the game is on my radar now.

Also, that Inspector Waffles game just got a really fantastic score on Adventure Gamers. Not gonna lie, I'd seen it around but didn't look much into it due to the relatively primitive pixel art style. Curious to know if it's really that good.

 

[Fuz]

Might check out Mountains of Madness, I've been seeing some good impressions despite common drawbacks that have been cited as well. Glad you enjoyed it. But on the subject of the SCUMM style 9verb interface, a new game using it was just announced and it looks pretty good.

Seems like they intend to use those verbs, too.


The game basically looks like if Snatcher/Blade Runner/Total Recall was remade as a mid 90s SCUMM game. The main character is actually kind of a dead wringer for Snatcher's protagonist, Gillian Seed.

Probably because they're both trying to look like Harrison Ford from Blade Runner, though. In any case I like the look of the game and the sprites. Haven't combed over all the details in their campaign yet but I'd definitely say the game is on my radar now.

Also, that Inspector Waffles game just got a really fantastic score on Adventure Gamers. Not gonna lie, I'd seen it around but didn't look much into it due to the relatively primitive pixel art style. Curious to know if it's really that good.

 

[Vampire On Titus]

New story trailer from Harold Halibut. It's been quite some time since I've seen anything new from this game, wasn't even sure it was still being made. The art style and general atmosphere of the game are quite appealing. We've seen hand-crafted/stop motion style visuals in games before but it's still pretty unique and Slow Bros are seemingly doing it on a very high level.

It sucks that they seem to be taking the puzzle/problem solving-less route. I hope there's at least some form of interactivity besides walking around. I got around to finally playing Firewatch, recently. It was the one Walking Sim I always figured I might enjoy and I did but that game works for very specific reasons. For one there actually is thinking involved in terms of navigation, especially if you play on the mode without map assistance like I did. There's also this hot & cold radar thing at the end. So there actually are some light puzzle mechanics in the game that keep it from feeling completely sterile. But more importantly the game is constantly engaging you in conversation via the Walkie Talkie and it's only like 4 hours long so it doesn't really get a chance to overstay its welcome. You're actually constantly engaged in a form of gameplay even if it is casual. Other Walking Sims I've tried have too much "dead air" by comparison and that's kind of my concern for Harold Halibut. Hopefully I'm wrong, though, they still haven't shown too much of the game yet.

 

[TheCockatrice]

It sucks that they seem to be taking the puzzle/problem solving-less route.

My only gripe with it as well. Nice trailer tho.

 

[Fuz]

New story trailer from Harold Halibut. It's been quite some time since I've seen anything new from this game, wasn't even sure it was still being made. The art style and general atmosphere of the game are quite appealing. We've seen hand-crafted/stop motion style visuals in games before but it's still pretty unique and Slow Bros are seemingly doing it on a very high level.

It sucks that they seem to be taking the puzzle/problem solving-less route. I hope there's at least some form of interactivity besides walking around. I got around to finally playing Firewatch, recently. It was the one Walking Sim I always figured I might enjoy and I did but that game works for very specific reasons. For one there actually is thinking involved in terms of navigation, especially if you play on the mode without map assistance like I did. There's also this hot & cold radar thing at the end. So there actually are some light puzzle mechanics in the game that keep it from feeling completely sterile. But more importantly the game is constantly engaging you in conversation via the Walkie Talkie and it's only like 4 hours long so it doesn't really get a chance to overstay its welcome. You're actually constantly engaged in a form of gameplay even if it is casual. Other Walking Sims I've tried have too much "dead air" by comparison and that's kind of my concern for Harold Halibut. Hopefully I'm wrong, though, they still haven't shown too much of the game yet.

Looks fantastic but... thinking of Truberbrook

 

[Vampire On Titus]

Fuz Yeah, It's kinda hard not to draw parallels. But already within the few minutes of Harold's story trailer the writing seems much more competent than Truberbrook (which showed off worryingly little pre-release). So I'm fairly optimistic on that front. Gameplay is a concern, but at the very least I'd take a game that intends to be a challenge free experience over a game that apes the structure of traditional adventures, only to water it down so severely that nothing's left.

 

[Fuz]

So... Inspector Waffles.

I quite enjoyed it. There's some good writing and good characters. It's different from other anthropomorphic animal games, in the sense that usually they are basically just people with animal features, while those characters are pets, and we see a pretty huge number of references to cardboard boxes, litter, wool balls and other quirks house pets have. The pixel art is cute, but it's really basic and it may not be for everyone. The puzzles are mostly resolved through dialogues, which threw me off a bit in the beginning. Good storytelling, though.
It's an easy game and I never got stuck, but there's a REALLY STUPID "puzzle" at the end that got me stumped until I solved it, then I checked some walkthroughs to see if that really was the (only) solution and well, it was. I know this sounds strange, so full explanation in spoiler: the only way to pass the big cat guard at the door near the end is to use the games' hint system, which is something I avoided to do through the whole game. This is worse than counterintuitive. Pissed me off quite a lot. I can't understand how the fuck they thought that would have been a good idea. Incidentally, that scene also showcases the stupidest writing (with a deus ex as a cherry on top) in the whole game.
Summing up: enjoyable game, nice quirky detective story, but probably not for everyone.

Fun fact: my brain can't stop seeing Waffles' tail as a duck (it's white with an orange/brown tip).
"Oh, there's a duck there in the murder scene - no wait... oh it's just his tail."
"There's a duck in that corner... ah, no, right, the tail."
"Why is there a duck behind that windo... GODDAMMIT!"

 

[protonion]

I am very late to the party as it was just released on PSN and missed it on other platforms.

Darkside Detective is way more fun than you'd think it would be. I am having a blast with this!
Can't wait for the sequel.

 

[Vampire On Titus]

Wadjet Eye has announced Strangeland is slated for a May 25th release. New trailer looks fantastic, very excited for this one.