Neuromancer
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Jane Jensen's Gray Matter |OT| Thread of pointing and clicking & sleight of hand
- Thread starter Ceebs
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Versipellis
Member
I see what she did here...
So, kind of a heads up for people ordering from that german DD site who live in the USA: I bought the game yesterday from them and of course my CC called me to see if it was an authorized transaction since it was from germany. I told them it was authorized and they said thanks.
Then I woke up today and got an e-mail saying the store had done a full refund back to my card due to fraud.
Now the problem is, I don't speak German so that makes this very difficult to write to the site and try to correct this. I also don't know if something like this will affect my credit score, which would be bad. Overall it's just kind of unwanted trouble.
So yeah, just a heads up that this might happen to you if you try to use a CC from the US to purchase
And if anyone speaks fluent German and can help me write an e-mail, that'd be great too
Then I woke up today and got an e-mail saying the store had done a full refund back to my card due to fraud.
Now the problem is, I don't speak German so that makes this very difficult to write to the site and try to correct this. I also don't know if something like this will affect my credit score, which would be bad. Overall it's just kind of unwanted trouble.
So yeah, just a heads up that this might happen to you if you try to use a CC from the US to purchase
And if anyone speaks fluent German and can help me write an e-mail, that'd be great too
Cosmonaut X
Member
Versipellis said:
I see what she did here...
Grace Nakimura, Roberta Williams, Jane Jensen, Boris Karlov, Tim Curry etc. etc.
Very clever
Dundar
Member
about halfway chap 5
game is awesome. It's such a callback to GK in every sense of the word, even the "getting stuck 1-click-before the end of chapter" style of gameplay
first of all, Dr. Styles' chapter are really awesome. The "scientific" approach to puzzles is really awesome, instead of the usual item-based approach. The guy is walking charisma, from previews I never had any interest in the character but now it's awesome following his quest. Such a sad yet emotive man.
Sam too is really a great character. She's quite witty, and that's evident especially in her frequent improvisation during dialogues. The magic trick interface is nifty but ultimately a bit lacking, given how easy tricks are.
the storyline is good, gets the player's attention well and leaves him guessing all the time. Even cardboard cut-outs of characters like the Lambs' club members are satisfying and rich from a narrative pov, like the hotel residents in GK3.
the whole "science vs faith/magic" angle is starting to be well played, Sam & David are 2 2 splendid protagonists and the writing on the game is so much above the competition it's not even funny.
user interface could be a lil less clunky, puzzles could be harder, so there's room for improvement. GKs too weren't perfect games, but god damn me if i don't love them to death.
game is awesome. It's such a callback to GK in every sense of the word, even the "getting stuck 1-click-before the end of chapter" style of gameplay
first of all, Dr. Styles' chapter are really awesome. The "scientific" approach to puzzles is really awesome, instead of the usual item-based approach. The guy is walking charisma, from previews I never had any interest in the character but now it's awesome following his quest. Such a sad yet emotive man.
Sam too is really a great character. She's quite witty, and that's evident especially in her frequent improvisation during dialogues. The magic trick interface is nifty but ultimately a bit lacking, given how easy tricks are.
the storyline is good, gets the player's attention well and leaves him guessing all the time. Even cardboard cut-outs of characters like the Lambs' club members are satisfying and rich from a narrative pov, like the hotel residents in GK3.
the whole "science vs faith/magic" angle is starting to be well played, Sam & David are 2 2 splendid protagonists and the writing on the game is so much above the competition it's not even funny.
user interface could be a lil less clunky, puzzles could be harder, so there's room for improvement. GKs too weren't perfect games, but god damn me if i don't love them to death.
Versipellis
Member
Just beat it. Took my time as I can't really play games in marathon mode anymore, so I just play an hour a night or so. Took me about 11 hours total.
Game was brilliant. For 90% of it, it's the best adventure game I've played since the 90s. If this had come out during the golden era of adventure games it'd be remembered as a classic; another Gabriel Knight.
The story and characters are REALLY good. The game mixes several concurrent subplots with some great twists and interesting character who have depth to them. The art is A++++ all the way. The backgrounds are beautiful, the character designs are fantastic and the motion comics used to portray important scenes make the experience so much better and film-like. Playing at night with the lights off, there were a few parts that really felt like watching a classic film. It helps that the art in the motion comics is excellent and the music is stunning.
The music is my favorite soundtrack of the year. It's very much a quality over quantity soundtrack. There's probably about 10 songs total and a few are repeated throughout the whole game. But I didn't mind because every song is perfect. Really powerful music that creates an emotional atmosphere for the whole thing.
The voice acting is great as well, especially Styles.
Puzzles are well done. The world, like that of Gabriel Knight, is awesome to explore. Love the use of a real world map/locations and modern day awareness. The puzzles generally were logical and I'd put the difficulty around moderate for an adventure game. Some of the puzzle areas were just totally fantastic. But there is some pixel hunting. I got stuck a few times in the game and had to faq and everytime it was because I missed a tiny few pixels that were an object somewhere.
But the reason I said for 90% of the game, is because the production problems really show imo in that last 10% of the game. The end portion is very rushed and underdeveloped which is a shame because of how developed everything else is up until that point. It literally just feels like they ran out of time/budget and shoved several chapters worth of game into the last chapter. Despite this, it's a solid ending and we're not talking about an FFXII style conclusion disaster. I also thought towards the end the mystery became a bit too obvious so you figured out the plot before the main character does. I prefer being surprised by the revelations; but it's just a personal thing.
Even if it's not a masterpiece Gray Matter is an extremely good adventure game in a genre that is practically dead in terms of real-world adult full-length adventure games. It was so nice to play something of this quality. I really really loved the game; it was worth the wait. It's another Jane Jensen classic and I only hope that Gray Matter will find enough success to allow her to create another mystery adventure again, just in a normal timeframe of a few years and not almost a decade.
Overall rating: A
Also the less you know about the game going in, the more enjoyable the story will be imo. It has some real interesting twists.
Game was brilliant. For 90% of it, it's the best adventure game I've played since the 90s. If this had come out during the golden era of adventure games it'd be remembered as a classic; another Gabriel Knight.
The story and characters are REALLY good. The game mixes several concurrent subplots with some great twists and interesting character who have depth to them. The art is A++++ all the way. The backgrounds are beautiful, the character designs are fantastic and the motion comics used to portray important scenes make the experience so much better and film-like. Playing at night with the lights off, there were a few parts that really felt like watching a classic film. It helps that the art in the motion comics is excellent and the music is stunning.
The music is my favorite soundtrack of the year. It's very much a quality over quantity soundtrack. There's probably about 10 songs total and a few are repeated throughout the whole game. But I didn't mind because every song is perfect. Really powerful music that creates an emotional atmosphere for the whole thing.
The voice acting is great as well, especially Styles.
Puzzles are well done. The world, like that of Gabriel Knight, is awesome to explore. Love the use of a real world map/locations and modern day awareness. The puzzles generally were logical and I'd put the difficulty around moderate for an adventure game. Some of the puzzle areas were just totally fantastic. But there is some pixel hunting. I got stuck a few times in the game and had to faq and everytime it was because I missed a tiny few pixels that were an object somewhere.
But the reason I said for 90% of the game, is because the production problems really show imo in that last 10% of the game. The end portion is very rushed and underdeveloped which is a shame because of how developed everything else is up until that point. It literally just feels like they ran out of time/budget and shoved several chapters worth of game into the last chapter. Despite this, it's a solid ending and we're not talking about an FFXII style conclusion disaster. I also thought towards the end the mystery became a bit too obvious so you figured out the plot before the main character does. I prefer being surprised by the revelations; but it's just a personal thing.
Even if it's not a masterpiece Gray Matter is an extremely good adventure game in a genre that is practically dead in terms of real-world adult full-length adventure games. It was so nice to play something of this quality. I really really loved the game; it was worth the wait. It's another Jane Jensen classic and I only hope that Gray Matter will find enough success to allow her to create another mystery adventure again, just in a normal timeframe of a few years and not almost a decade.
Overall rating: A
Also the less you know about the game going in, the more enjoyable the story will be imo. It has some real interesting twists.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
Who do we have to bother to get them to dump this onto Steam or Impulse or an American distributor. I'll buy it off fucking GFWL at this point. :lol (Vamypre Story is on there!)
I do think this has the potential to be a franchise like GK. The main characters are really good and I could see them further develop and use their individual skills to solve mysteries for several games kind of like the girl with the dragon tattoo trilogy.
I'm just really hoping the development troubles weren't so frustrating that Jane Jenson never makes another adventure game again. That would be tragic as Gray Matter shows she is just as talented or possibly even more so today than she was 10 years ago.
I'm just really hoping the development troubles weren't so frustrating that Jane Jenson never makes another adventure game again. That would be tragic as Gray Matter shows she is just as talented or possibly even more so today than she was 10 years ago.
firehawk12 said:
Maybe once the proper English language release is out in February there'll be more digital distro options available.
Seems silly to leave the release date for so long; given that the audience for adventure games is essentially a hardcore niche nowadays everyone's going to have bought the German version...
dream said:
I really felt like it was a problem of content, but rather it needed to be spread out over at least another chapter. Little things like how David should have seen the RNG wheel at the end and the transitions to the church. But also stuff like kind of developing things more like the face in the photo. I mean you can put everything together in your head, but it would have been nice for the game to breathe a little and actually explain various things. It's always fun in movies/games/novels to see the characters figure out things and their reactions.
As for the final shot. Dunno. I would hope not. I'd like to think after all that David has been able to let go. And as said in my last post, I'd like to see the David/Sam relationship grow over another game or two. They make a nice couple
As for the final shot. Dunno. I would hope not. I'd like to think after all that David has been able to let go. And as said in my last post, I'd like to see the David/Sam relationship grow over another game or two. They make a nice couple
dream
Member
Bebpo said:As for the final shot. Dunno. I would hope not. I'd like to think after all that David has been able to let go. And as said in my last post, I'd like to see the David/Sam relationship grow over another game or two. They make a nice couple
The thing is, the poor bastard got almost no closure at all. Okay, so he wasn't seeing his wife's ghost in the house but her presence is still there with the message he got on the RNG thing.
Castor Krieg
Banned
Cosmonaut X said:Grace Nakimura, Roberta Williams, Jane Jensen, Boris Karlov, Tim Curry etc. etc.
Very clever
Missed the best one - Botting Anna (Boten Anna, Youtube it).:lol
Chiaroscuro
Member
epmode said:
February is the UK release. There is nothing set up to now about a US release. It may never happen, it may happen later on.
Bebpo said:
So you solved your problem about the CC purchase ?
Otherwise feel free to PM me.
And about the franchise idea....uh well they released it on one of the worst release date sectors.Adventures had a quite good run lately in Germany especially the own Studios.
But there were just so many releases beside Gray Matter that will have a influence on that factor, I guess.
Real shame what is going on with the NA retail release. But there are some places you can get it directly online now and everything in the game is English anyway. From what i have seen of it the game seems to really nail some of the things important to adventure games, like great visuals, great music, interesting story and atmospheric.
The soundtrack is on amazon if anybody is interested.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0047WQZ3I//ref=nosim/adventuregame-20
----
As for the game, it was probably the best adventure game in 10 years. I do have some complaints (easy, rush ending, low production values), but I was engrossed from beginning to end.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0047WQZ3I//ref=nosim/adventuregame-20
----
As for the game, it was probably the best adventure game in 10 years. I do have some complaints (easy, rush ending, low production values), but I was engrossed from beginning to end.
Pennywise said:
Yeah, just ended up putting money into paypal and using that and things worked fine.
Shame about them releasing it in a rough period, but I'd like to think Jane Jensen's name carries a lot of weight with adventure gamers and that + good word of mouth will make it a good seller in a niche market. Plus there's still the rest of Euro release & US release.
~Kinggi~ said:
I have to think that the game will eventually find it's way to the US. I mean this is JJ's game and she lives in the US. If it doesn't get released in her own country, she'll probably be even more frustrated than the gamers.
Hopefully they'll get a US release early next year and if they want it to sell they'll get it on steam at a reasonable price so with good word of mouth it'll do alright.
The ost reminds me of how the end part
other random thoughts:
-Style's in-game model/portrait & voice make him seem like he's in his mid-to-late 40s, yet his motion comic version looks like a hot sexy 35 year old stud (which is the age he is). Kind of odd.
-There are several objects that you never do anything with, which makes me wonder if they were cut at some point.
in the daedalus club was amazing. The daedalus music track playing combined with the crazy awesome looking underground dungeon with lots of cool objects and neat puzzles. That really was a sastifying endgame. It was like everything the game built up: spooky and mysterious, magic and illusion, danger and hope; everything rolled into one in that dungeon. Was a very satisfying final area, although the stuff after the club was much less spectacular.
The paintings of the 4 magicians were great.
The paintings of the 4 magicians were great.
other random thoughts:
-Style's in-game model/portrait & voice make him seem like he's in his mid-to-late 40s, yet his motion comic version looks like a hot sexy 35 year old stud (which is the age he is). Kind of odd.
-There are several objects that you never do anything with, which makes me wonder if they were cut at some point.
One being the underground passage on the ground of the wine cellar that Sam can "interact" with. The other being the door to the college across from Alice shop.
Bebpo said:
Really hard to tell if it will be sucessful , simply because there were better adventures in terms of story or gameplay that did horrible on the market.
For example The Moment of Silence and Overclocked , both were such awesome games and still the studio had to close
On the other hand you have games like The whispered World or Edna & Harvey the Breakout,both did quite fine and helped to expand.
The adventure market is quite harsh but a 360 release would only pay off if they released it in NA.
That could be a huge improvement in selling the game and making it possible for Jane to bring us another adventure.
Dundar
Member
Dante's Equation was a disappointment, start off very good then it develops into..... "another"....thing. Prose was good, the main characters too (sexual innuendo between the girl Professor and her boy helper was great), but the fundamental storyline was lacking imho. That was quite a surprise given how Jane was dedicated to it (lots of research and all), she always has great insights into mysteries and history, but in D'sE everything was so dull.
Never read Millennium Rising.
Never read Millennium Rising.
Pennywise said:Really hard to tell if it will be sucessful , simply because there were better adventures in terms of story or gameplay that did horrible on the market.
For example The Moment of Silence and Overclocked , both were such awesome games and still the studio had to close
On the other hand you have games like The whispered World or Edna & Harvey the Breakout,both did quite fine and helped to expand.
The adventure market is quite harsh but a 360 release would only pay off if they released it in NA.
That could be a huge improvement in selling the game and making it possible for Jane to bring us another adventure.
I really need to give Overclocked another shot. I bought it a while back and played a little but I wasn't feeling it for some reason and didn't play it. It might've been that you couldn't skip text, can't remember. That's my biggest pet peeve and what keeps me from playing a lot of post 2000-era adventure games. There's still way too many adventure games that do everything right and then force you to listen to the entire line every time you click on an object and I can't play them because of it. I read waaaay faster than actors talk and if it's just some generic throwaway line of "I can't use that" or something I better be able to click and skip the text. It literally is like scratching a chalkboard OCD frustration if I can't skip the text and so I can't play adventure games that don't let me :X
Grimmy said:
k, will go in expecting less than her game quality storytelling.
Just played the demo, which apparently is the entire Chapter 3 with Dr. Styles. My reactions:
+ very nice, creepy atmosphere, especially with the RNG motor and the photo
+ background graphics are nicely painted.
+ good voiceover by Dr. Styles
+ puzzles are not difficult at all but they make sense.
- animation is very stiff
- transition between locations is at times slow and boring
- what's with the Phantom of the Opera look-a-like? Very cheesy
- the whole "sensory" part has produced some rather cliched cutscenes
- the quasi-animated cutscenes don't work so well, partly because the art is rather ugly
Judging from this is tough, since as usual the story and the exploration is key in a Jane Jensen game. Hopefully you get to travel to different locations and learn about its history. That's what I loved most about GK1 and GK2. So far it seems interesting, even though the Phantom of the Opera cheesiness is a bit off-putting.
+ very nice, creepy atmosphere, especially with the RNG motor and the photo
+ background graphics are nicely painted.
+ good voiceover by Dr. Styles
+ puzzles are not difficult at all but they make sense.
- animation is very stiff
- transition between locations is at times slow and boring
- what's with the Phantom of the Opera look-a-like? Very cheesy
- the whole "sensory" part has produced some rather cliched cutscenes
- the quasi-animated cutscenes don't work so well, partly because the art is rather ugly
Judging from this is tough, since as usual the story and the exploration is key in a Jane Jensen game. Hopefully you get to travel to different locations and learn about its history. That's what I loved most about GK1 and GK2. So far it seems interesting, even though the Phantom of the Opera cheesiness is a bit off-putting.
I *really* liked Overclocked until the very end. It's absolutely worth playing until that point though!Bebpo said:
BTW, unskippable dialogue bugs me too but I don't remember it in Overclocked. Maybe I've just forgotten or maybe you need to use some strange button to skip the text. You know, like how you have to press period in those Lucasarts games.
Grimmy said:
fwiw, the demo seems to be a bad representation of the game. Whenever they do demos that plop you into the middle of a story-based game (adventure games, rpgs) they usually end up being poor demos :\
Plus the demo spoils one of the more interesting twists in the game (as do the trailers I guess; I never watched the more recent ones; I was surprised), the fact that
you play as Styles. The way the narrative is written it's intended to be a big twist like playing as the antagonist's body in Chrono Cross at the midpoint. It's really a shame they kept pushing the point that you play as him in the PR and this demo. I guess they needed to tell male gamers there was a playable male character or else they might not have bought it or something :\
And yeah, you do get to travel around real world locations and learn a lot of cool trivia.
GhaleonQ said:
Like a lot of good rpg soundtracks, it works better in the game. A lot of the tracks really push the atmosphere of an area and then when you listen to the ost later on it brings that area back in your mind.
Bebpo said:
Yes and no. It was actually the demo that made me want to buy the game in first place, as I had no previous experience of Jane Jensen games and had no idea what to expect.
The demo really sold me with the supernatural parts and the intriguing story, I just had to find out what happens next. To my disappointment though, the first couple of chapters were quite slow (especially after playing the demo and already knowing certain things). But luckily it got better the more I played and matched up well enough to what I was expecting from the game.
I made this post in a different Gray Matter thread, forgot about the official thread, so I moved it here:
Just finished it myself. I've never played a Jane Jensen game before, but the demo got me so hooked I had to buy the game!
The game is definitely lacking in certain areas: the "cut-scenes" could've used more work (even though I understand they have a certain "retro" feel to them, they could have at least made them more animated) the pre-rendered backgrounds are kind of flat and sterile, the 3d characters look dated and the sound design is mediocre at best.
But at the same time, the story was so fascinating that I wasn't really bothered much by the bad parts. Also, the music is great (if a bit repetitive), I liked most of the voices as well. I thought the puzzles were nice as well, not too hard, could usually be solved without having to run back and forth between areas, and using the magic book was quite the creative twist (although some parts felt reeally forced).
I have some questions after finishing the game though:
And I absolutely think Jane Jensen deserves to make a game with high production values (assuming this game wasn't a case of her constantly missing deadlines). It's been a while since I've played a game with such a gripping story that actually makes you think.
Just finished it myself. I've never played a Jane Jensen game before, but the demo got me so hooked I had to buy the game!
The game is definitely lacking in certain areas: the "cut-scenes" could've used more work (even though I understand they have a certain "retro" feel to them, they could have at least made them more animated) the pre-rendered backgrounds are kind of flat and sterile, the 3d characters look dated and the sound design is mediocre at best.
But at the same time, the story was so fascinating that I wasn't really bothered much by the bad parts. Also, the music is great (if a bit repetitive), I liked most of the voices as well. I thought the puzzles were nice as well, not too hard, could usually be solved without having to run back and forth between areas, and using the magic book was quite the creative twist (although some parts felt reeally forced
). I have some questions after finishing the game though:
So Frankenstein's bride is referring to Laura? I thought it was about Sam since she started working closely with David, but I guess Laura could make more sense.
And the black shadow in the background of that photo in the beginning, was that supposed to be Angela?
Also, Angela was the one who set the car on fire and killed Laura, right?
And did I just imagine things or was it David Styles who appeared at the gym in one of the cutscenes after the third test was done?
And the black shadow in the background of that photo in the beginning, was that supposed to be Angela?
Also, Angela was the one who set the car on fire and killed Laura, right?
And did I just imagine things or was it David Styles who appeared at the gym in one of the cutscenes after the third test was done?
And I absolutely think Jane Jensen deserves to make a game with high production values (assuming this game wasn't a case of her constantly missing deadlines). It's been a while since I've played a game with such a gripping story that actually makes you think.
Bebpo said:
Actually I don't think it was a bad demo at all. My biggest gripes are not with the chapter or gameplay, but with the Phantom of the Opera nonsense which is there regardless of which chapter, as well as the overall quality of the animation and art. And yeah, I already knew that I would be playing Dr. Styles - I mean, this *is* a Jane Jensen game - she's always liked to switch characters up a la GK2.