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Nelson Tethers: Puzzle Agent |OT| of "click here if you like Professor Layton"
- Thread starter Wizpig
- Start date
rainking187
Member
Kind of wary about getting the second one given how the first one ended.
Moobabe said:
A lot of people were super pissed at the ending, which bummed me out personally, because I liked that it ended like an X-files episode or something, where while you did the one thing your boss asked you to do (open the eraser factory), your boss is happy that that's achieved and closes it all down, even even though in the process you discovered that things were insane.
I can see people being dissatisfied with that, though. The game deliberately only wrapped up the most surface-level part of the story. Fortunately, narratively Nelson is also dissatisfied with the way the ending went down. We'd always had more Scoggins story written down for what would happen after PA1 -- the story was always going to include Nelson getting dissatisfied that the case was never closed properly in his eyes, causing him to go back to Scoggins and figure it out on his own -- and we got most all of that stuff out in PA2, so hopefully (goddamn fingers crossed here) it appeals both to people who liked and disliked the ending.
(Disclosure (?): I work at Telltale and was one of the guys who helped make up the story for PA 1 and 2 and beat it into submission. Didn't write the script or anything cool like that, though.)
The ending was one of the best parts? What's wrong with you.rainking187 said:
Exactly my take on it. Not everything needs to be wrapped up for the ending to be quality. I thought it was completely in character for Nelson to just get the hell out of the town, especially after all the messed up shit he saw.Jake said:
sixghost said:
I was not disappointed with the ending until I went on the Internet afterward to learn that the game was a "pilot" and there might never be any continuation, leaving some of the larger plot threads (like the astronaut) feeling uncomfortably unresolved.
Had I known that we would get a sequel, I would have been satisfied.
Jake said:
Loved pretty much everything about PA1, and what you are saying excites me greatly. The ending came very abruptly, but I got what you guys were going for; the X-Files comparison is very apt. Can't wait to play the sequel, thanks for making a great piece of entertainment
Prophet Steve
Member
Still need to finish the first one. Loved everything about it except the puzzles (lol), but haven't taken the time for it. But they probably have listened to the feedback and improved the puzzles. Will buy with positive impressions.
Sigh, it's always awkward when somebody who developed the game you're about to criticize shows up.
I... got pretty sick of the puzzles by the end. I realize the puzzle selection was going for something different than Layton, but the puzzles were often repetitive and overly easy. I guess for a lot of them (fit these things together, find the worms, etc.), calling them puzzles was a bit of a stretch.
The story and characters were the reason I played it to completion quicker than any PC game in... a long time. I thought the ending was great. I just kind of felt sorry that it wasn't a full point-and-click adventure game.
I became a big fan of Graham Annable because of the game, though!
Oh, and since I missed this before:
I... got pretty sick of the puzzles by the end. I realize the puzzle selection was going for something different than Layton, but the puzzles were often repetitive and overly easy. I guess for a lot of them (fit these things together, find the worms, etc.), calling them puzzles was a bit of a stretch.
The story and characters were the reason I played it to completion quicker than any PC game in... a long time. I thought the ending was great. I just kind of felt sorry that it wasn't a full point-and-click adventure game.
I became a big fan of Graham Annable because of the game, though!
Oh, and since I missed this before:
No, this is the stuff of nightmares. Puzzle Agent is the kinder, gentler grickle.Drakken said:
Tizoc said:
It's a pretty short game. I beat in like 4 hours though I skipped a couple of the puzzles. If you like good writing in gaming I'd say go for it but if you're in it just for the puzzles you might be better off waiting for a sale.
Or get it on the Steam UK store where it's only 3.99 pounds. Plays on PC or Mac so there's basically no excuse not to
The Technomancer
card-carrying scientician
Yeah, day 1 purchase. Easily one of the most enjoyable surprises of 2010 for me, I went into it with no expectations.SalsaShark said:
I do kind of wish that they had left the first story alone with its bizarre ending and going with a whole new mystery.
speculawyer
Member
I enjoyed this game very much. I look forward to the second one.
D
Deleted member 30609
Unconfirmed Member
I hope the iPad version is up to snuff.
The Big Rig
Member
Can't wait. I've played this game twice now, loved it both times.
Its great. There is no real difference in the iOS version, except some lower res art.Celine said:
SalsaShark said:You know i kinda thought that as well at first, but i really doubt we'll get any sort of explanation anyway
Yeah, they should just pile on more questions and random weirdness. The open-ended story of the first game was clearly part of the David Lynch-esque charm.
Buttonbasher
Member
It's up on Steam. I really enjoyed it. They let you see much more of Scoggins this time.
Sheriff Bahg is still great.
Sheriff Bahg is still great.
QuantumBro
Banned
Buttonbasher said:
How long is it?
Buttonbasher
Member
I started at midnight, finished the last puzzle shortly after 4am. Around the same length as the first, though they cover more ground in that time.QuantumBro said:
QuantumBro
Banned
Thanks for answering. I completely forgot this was coming out, I'm buying a lot of Telltale stuff todayButtonbasher said:
Played it this weekend. Finished it in around 2½ hours. Severely disappointed. Worst Telltale game I've played by far.
Some puzzles are underdefined and ambiguous. Like the garden gnome puzzle at the beginning, where there is no restraint suggesting that the negative is also spatially mirrored. It's also not a proper negative. The film inverse of red is not green, it's cyan. But whatever, that's at least something you can figure out on your own.
Another one is the Escher chair puzzle where you can construct the correct target image rotated 180°. It's a weird thing with multiple mouths on a face, so there is really no clear indication that this is in fact upside down, but the solution will be rejected.
Other puzzles are just plain broken. All the non-overlap arrangements can be solved by randomly dropping items over the place until they permanently snap to something else. Puzzle difficulty just seems to be all over the place.
The console interface is horrible, and the instructions do not help.
When I arrived in Scoggins, it took me two minutes to figure out how to even talk to the first person (which the game instructs you to do, but it doesn't explain how). Having to hold down a button, waiting for two seconds until items appear is completely pointless. You can't move your character. The only interaction you can have is with the items you highlight. There is no reason to ever not be in this mode. It should be the default. It should not need activating.
And highlighting doesn't work properly either. When the interaction points appear, they all look the same. Highlighting only starts to work when you switch to a different interaction point (active item is enlarged). And even that is botched, because the old not-hightlighted item briefly flicks into highlight mode, and then shrinks, which is visually ambiguous with the upcoming proper highlighted item when you want to do anything quickly.
In the little post-puzzle menu, one item is highlighted through enlargement, and the other by increasing transparency. Puzzles use all different kinds of highlighting. In some cases the highlighted item is actually highlighted by shrinking it. Sometimes there are arrows. Sometimes there are little colored borders. Puzzle control concepts change all the time as well and are seldom fully explained. It's needlessly inconsistent and annoying.
I also don't get why the animations are so choppy in places. Take Nelson's first approach to the city on the snowmobile. He just pops 3 meters ahead a few times per second. Without adding even a single extra frame of character animation, why couldn't his sprite move smoothly across the scene, new position every frame? It's not adding to the charm either. They did this right in some other cutscenes later, and those aren't any less cutscene-y because of it. On the contrary I'd say. All these inconsistencies just scream "lack of polish".
Would not recommend. The music is kind of awesome, and the drama is cute and funny. But the interaction is just not up to snuff and the puzzle design is not strong enough. It's far, far away from touching the Layton games.
Some puzzles are underdefined and ambiguous. Like the garden gnome puzzle at the beginning, where there is no restraint suggesting that the negative is also spatially mirrored. It's also not a proper negative. The film inverse of red is not green, it's cyan. But whatever, that's at least something you can figure out on your own.
Another one is the Escher chair puzzle where you can construct the correct target image rotated 180°. It's a weird thing with multiple mouths on a face, so there is really no clear indication that this is in fact upside down, but the solution will be rejected.
Other puzzles are just plain broken. All the non-overlap arrangements can be solved by randomly dropping items over the place until they permanently snap to something else. Puzzle difficulty just seems to be all over the place.
The console interface is horrible, and the instructions do not help.
When I arrived in Scoggins, it took me two minutes to figure out how to even talk to the first person (which the game instructs you to do, but it doesn't explain how). Having to hold down a button, waiting for two seconds until items appear is completely pointless. You can't move your character. The only interaction you can have is with the items you highlight. There is no reason to ever not be in this mode. It should be the default. It should not need activating.
And highlighting doesn't work properly either. When the interaction points appear, they all look the same. Highlighting only starts to work when you switch to a different interaction point (active item is enlarged). And even that is botched, because the old not-hightlighted item briefly flicks into highlight mode, and then shrinks, which is visually ambiguous with the upcoming proper highlighted item when you want to do anything quickly.
In the little post-puzzle menu, one item is highlighted through enlargement, and the other by increasing transparency. Puzzles use all different kinds of highlighting. In some cases the highlighted item is actually highlighted by shrinking it. Sometimes there are arrows. Sometimes there are little colored borders. Puzzle control concepts change all the time as well and are seldom fully explained. It's needlessly inconsistent and annoying.
I also don't get why the animations are so choppy in places. Take Nelson's first approach to the city on the snowmobile. He just pops 3 meters ahead a few times per second. Without adding even a single extra frame of character animation, why couldn't his sprite move smoothly across the scene, new position every frame? It's not adding to the charm either. They did this right in some other cutscenes later, and those aren't any less cutscene-y because of it. On the contrary I'd say. All these inconsistencies just scream "lack of polish".
Would not recommend. The music is kind of awesome, and the drama is cute and funny. But the interaction is just not up to snuff and the puzzle design is not strong enough. It's far, far away from touching the Layton games.
D
Deleted member 30609
Unconfirmed Member
For the love of all things sacred, DO NOT play Puzzle Agent 2 if that was your response to PA1.
For me everything outside the puzzles surpassed Layton (I can't comment on the story yet though), mostly the pacing and the hint coins gums (I want to see both in Layton).
The puzzles on the other hand needed a lot of work:
I absolutely hated that ending
.
Them
. Still they were the best thing about the game.
The puzzles on the other hand needed a lot of work:
- The instructions aren't clear enough.
- The instructions should be visible when solving the puzzle (not in another menu).
- Taking notes during puzzles is a must.
- The item arranging puzzles lock mechanic is terrible.
- Needs more variety in puzzles.
I absolutely hated that ending
cliff hanger, although it's the main reason I'll be getting 2
Them
gnomes, ughhh freaked me out and had to lower the volume when I expected them
XANDER CAGE
Member
Rolf NB said:
That's part of grickle's "style" which is one of my gripes with Puzzle Agent as well.