If you're doing everything right, it's quite short. You can finish it in one evening. However, the gameplay in this game is very trial and error. Very often you have to be in a specific location at a specific time and if you miss an important event, you will have to rewind the time.
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Point n Click Adventure GAF 2014 No longer in our dreams, memories or just Germany.
- Thread starter Family Fry
- Start date
If you're doing everything right, it's quite short. You can finish it in one evening. However, the gameplay in this game is very trial and error. Very often you have to be in a specific location at a specific time and if you miss an important event, you will have to rewind the time.
I've finished Grey Matter yesterday and I have really mixed feelings about the game.
The Good:
- Story and themes it brings up are interesting: magic, researches on human mind, dealing with death of loved ones. Not quite as interesting as mixing historical events with super natural themes (Gabriel Knight), but good enough.
- Both Sam and David were fun and quite unique characters; although not without annoying flaws (Sam loved to jump to conclusion a lot, even without good basis to do so; and David was, to paraphrase Excella from RE5, "Laura, Laura, Laura... you're like a broken record, you know that?").
- Backgrounds, music and cut-scenes (those hand-drawn) all looked and sounded great;
- Those "magic" puzzle were fun to perform.
The Bad
- Some plot points were a little far-fetched and the twist was really easy to foresee (
).
- Puzzles were really easy. The only one that stumped me was the last last from the Daedalus' Club's second riddle (
). Also, since there weren't that many locations, and even less items/places that you could interact with, even if you didn't know how to solve a puzzle it was easy to bruteforce it.
- The ending was rather disappointing.
. Even puzzles in the last chapter weren't that hard (or deadly, given it's Jane Jensen' game). Although I must say that design wise, the locations at Daedalus' Club were beautiful.
The Ugly
- Maybe it's just me, but I think there was a lag between hovering over a hot spot and a label appearing. It was so annoying that in the end I played the game with labels constantly turned on. :/
- Characters' mugshots during dialogs were ugly. I complained about them before but I want to do so again. Even Helena, the pretty girl in the group, looked like an ordinary girl in that mugshot.
. Hand drawn portraits would be so much better. 
- Loading screen. You see it every time you change a room, which means A LOT in an adventure game. After a while it was really frustrating.
To sum it up, I am a little disappointed in the game, especially since I had huge expectations about it (it's Jane Jensen after all). Fun game, but not without flaws and rather easy (although quite lengthy - it took me about 12 hours). I hope Moebius turns out to be a better game.
The Good:
- Story and themes it brings up are interesting: magic, researches on human mind, dealing with death of loved ones. Not quite as interesting as mixing historical events with super natural themes (Gabriel Knight), but good enough.
- Both Sam and David were fun and quite unique characters; although not without annoying flaws (Sam loved to jump to conclusion a lot, even without good basis to do so; and David was, to paraphrase Excella from RE5, "Laura, Laura, Laura... you're like a broken record, you know that?").
- Backgrounds, music and cut-scenes (those hand-drawn) all looked and sounded great;
- Those "magic" puzzle were fun to perform.
The Bad
- Some plot points were a little far-fetched and the twist was really easy to foresee (
It was obvious to me who was responsible for the accidents and Laura's death once I entered Angela's room and connected the dots. I was only reassured in my predictions when I saw the results of the 3rd and 4th experiment. So having Samantha still suspecting Mephistopheles, and David accusing Sam for the wrongdoings at the university was quite painful to watch. It was like on of those moments, when you would love to shout at the character in a movie to turn around, because you know a killer is right behind him.
- Puzzles were really easy. The only one that stumped me was the last last from the Daedalus' Club's second riddle (
the one about mage's name
- The ending was rather disappointing.
No real twist, no dramatic battle or anything emotion-inducting; Angela's fate was sad, but I felt the whole ending was rushed. It didn't help that the moment I got my hands on that "magical" lantern and Angela's fairy cut-out, I knew I will have to use it on Angela at one point in the game.
The Ugly
- Maybe it's just me, but I think there was a lag between hovering over a hot spot and a label appearing. It was so annoying that in the end I played the game with labels constantly turned on. :/
- Characters' mugshots during dialogs were ugly. I complained about them before but I want to do so again. Even Helena, the pretty girl in the group, looked like an ordinary girl in that mugshot.
Smeared and unkempt Angela at the end of the game looked comical instead of tragic.
- Loading screen. You see it every time you change a room, which means A LOT in an adventure game. After a while it was really frustrating.
To sum it up, I am a little disappointed in the game, especially since I had huge expectations about it (it's Jane Jensen after all). Fun game, but not without flaws and rather easy (although quite lengthy - it took me about 12 hours). I hope Moebius turns out to be a better game.
6hrs according to my steam time but i had to rewind a couple times so i could of done it in 4.
mattiewheels
And then the LORD David Bowie saith to his Son, Jonny Depp: 'Go, and spread my image amongst the cosmos. For every living thing is in anguish and only the LIGHT shall give them reprieve.'
I wonder how well the first part did. I'm a fan of Josh Mandel, and I got the first part for free on my tablet. I haven't heard a thing from them since, though.
Fuck p&c adventure games where you can die. >:|
I'm playing Beneath a Steel Sky and, it appears, you can die in that game. I learned the lesson the hard way (
). And since it's an adventure game, I haven't saved in a while (meaning: at all). :/
I'm playing Beneath a Steel Sky and, it appears, you can die in that game. I learned the lesson the hard way (
who would have guessed that using a stolen card to go through doors protected by a body scanner will get you incinerate
I'm honestly surprised you didn't die
within the first 10 seconds by walking down the stairs lol.
Tizoc
Member
Having finished 'Murder in the Abbey', here are my quick thoughts on it:
Great voice acting overall
Decent story, really liked the mystery of the stuff happening there
There weren't many puzzles and to advance you just need to find the right items, combine then and use them in certain locations.
Worth a one time play at least, so wait for it to go on sale over at Dotemu and snag it.
Great voice acting overall
Decent story, really liked the mystery of the stuff happening there
There weren't many puzzles and to advance you just need to find the right items, combine then and use them in certain locations.
Worth a one time play at least, so wait for it to go on sale over at Dotemu and snag it.
Boy, I hate to be a hater, but aside from the occassional moment of levity, I really don't see the appeal or critical praise that Kentucky Route Zero is garnering.
I suspect that these all contribute to why people like it, but they do nothing for me:
- The "Another World"-esque, nostalgic artwork
- The mature, subtle writing
And I'm out. The pace is mind-numbingly slow, the dialog is often uninteresting, the game seems to give you the runaround just so that you *too* can feel the frustration of the character. It's just not an enjoyable experience at all for me.
I suspect that these all contribute to why people like it, but they do nothing for me:
- The "Another World"-esque, nostalgic artwork
- The mature, subtle writing
And I'm out. The pace is mind-numbingly slow, the dialog is often uninteresting, the game seems to give you the runaround just so that you *too* can feel the frustration of the character. It's just not an enjoyable experience at all for me.
mattiewheels
And then the LORD David Bowie saith to his Son, Jonny Depp: 'Go, and spread my image amongst the cosmos. For every living thing is in anguish and only the LIGHT shall give them reprieve.'
Ha, imagine playing an old Sierra game where they let you paint yourself into a corner by design...and then you realize you missed an item hours ago that you can't keep playing without.
Well,
using doors on the right instead of going down the stairs
In the case of
body scanner
I played Leisure Suit Larry 2 and, of course, I didn't buy that big soda at the beginning of the game (why would I?). I hated that game since without a walkthrough it was essentially a trial and error type of game where you could die even by going to the wrong place or at a wrong time (without even knowing that it's a wrong place or a wrong time). And then there was also that bag bug at the end of the game. :/
The game has your usual pnc gameplay, it doesn't have Myst-style puzzles but it's definitely more difficult than Broken Sword style games
(eg. obtaining all elements necessary for making the sedative isn't straightforward)
I played Still Life right after and even though that game is also murder mystery, chasing shadows is clearly not as interesting as pointing out the culprit among a limited population.
Oh, even though it's not a p'n'c game, everybody here - particularly those who liked The Last Express - should play Consortium.
mattiewheels
And then the LORD David Bowie saith to his Son, Jonny Depp: 'Go, and spread my image amongst the cosmos. For every living thing is in anguish and only the LIGHT shall give them reprieve.'
Yeah, it just happened to me in Laura Bow 2...if you don't pick up a boot, that's hard to spot apparently and only available for the blink of an eye, then when you're escaping in the next act you can't put the boot on your friend's bare foot before he stands up, steps on a nail and dies, leaving you trapped forever. Adventure games!
indigo-cyclops
Member
I thought it was a great game. Agree with your evaluation on it. I want to play it again now. I'm excited for the sequel.
Anyone remember Adam Syndrome? It was one of my most anticipated games for a few years. Looks like it's almost a dead project. A real shame.
Having not heard anything about it in so long, I'm thinking it's dead. Or at least on hold.
There's a sequel coming?
indigo-cyclops
Member
I believe it's called Mystery of the Wicked Village.
I googled it, it seems to have vaporware status. :/
It's more of a "mood piece", I feel, than anything else - I have yet to play the second episode, actually, having purchased the whole thing. It looks and sounds great and atmospheric - the actual experience of playing it is somewhat obtuse, however. I wasn't sure quite what I was supposed to take away from the first episode - which is why I haven't played the second one, I suspect!
I found the first episode intriguing and moody.
The second episode just felt tedious and frustrating. Partly by being more of the same
Jack Keane 2 good?
http://store.steampowered.com/app/236970/
On sale this week? At least today. Looks pretty good. Has a few awards.
http://store.steampowered.com/app/236970/
On sale this week? At least today. Looks pretty good. Has a few awards.
Al Emmo and the Lost Dutchman's Mine pay what you want.
http://groupees.com/retro2
50cents min. You get a Steam key once it gets approved on Greenlight. (free copy of Two Brothers at 1000 bundles sold)
http://groupees.com/retro2
50cents min. You get a Steam key once it gets approved on Greenlight. (free copy of Two Brothers at 1000 bundles sold)
There is an AmA on Reddit from Daedalic with a free GOG giveaway of The Dark Eye: Chains of Satinav. I haven't played the game myself though, but I'm keen to check it out.
People seemed to really like the first part, but reviews for parts 2 and 3 were not as high. Didn't play it myself so can't comment further, but $6.24 is the lowest price thus far.
Was coming here to ask the same thing. I've had it on my wishlist for ages. This is a low price. Pretty much impulse territory.
Sir_Crocodile
Member
Probably never if replay games own any of the rights...
After playing half of Broken Sword 5 and Broken Age and loving both (both broken into 2 parts, har har), I've wanted to get back into some of my adventure game backlog but both Sherlock Holmes: Nemesis (beat all the ones after) and Deponia are kind of painful logic wise. I like Deponia's charm but I remember getting so mad at some of the puzzles before.
I played Resonance not too long ago and found it to be a nice middleground for difficulty. Are there any recent adventure games that aren't as easy as broken age part 1, but not quite Deponia-level illogical?
I remember Primordia is one I kept getting stuck in as well. Perhaps I am just bad at adventure games, but its still tied for my favourite genre.
I played Resonance not too long ago and found it to be a nice middleground for difficulty. Are there any recent adventure games that aren't as easy as broken age part 1, but not quite Deponia-level illogical?
I remember Primordia is one I kept getting stuck in as well. Perhaps I am just bad at adventure games, but its still tied for my favourite genre.
Started Book but never got far, like much of my backlog.
Lost Horizon I was looking at before, but never played, will check them out, thanks.
Lost Horizon is amazing. The main character looks like a dweeb but they made him look like a bad ass in Lost Horizon 2 (coming out this year?) and its set 20 years later so that helps. If you want something that has that Indiana Jones feel Lost Horizon is defiantly recommended.
Tizoc
Member
Man Bone: Out from Boneville is...not impressing me sad to say.
I don't like the voices, the scenes lose all the charm from the comics, and some characters don't translate well into game form.
While kids MAY like it, I would advise against getting these games and settling for the books.
I don't like the voices, the scenes lose all the charm from the comics, and some characters don't translate well into game form.
While kids MAY like it, I would advise against getting these games and settling for the books.
Telltale has made much better games.. that's a given.
My wife and I finished what's released of The Silver Lining, and I was writing about it and realized it was coming out as "It's really bad, but play it anyway." So instead I will break it down this way.
The Good:
-It feels like a full-on, classic King's Quest game. If you had told me that Sierra had reformed and made it, I would not have doubted you at all.
-The music is (mostly) great. There are one or two songs that are annoying, but the rest are phenomenal.
-An actually compelling story, especially in the last chapter or two.
-Callbacks to literally every game in the series
The Bad:
-I feel like I spent a lot of time running back and forth between the same two locations.
-The graphics are kind of a mess. The opening of Chapter 1 looks like something from the PS1.
-Chapter 4 ends with an annoyingly hard mini-game, and then goes into an annoyingly hard "boss fight."
-Chapter 4 was released over a year ago, and there's no sign of when Chapter 5 will be released.
Over all, I absolutely recommend it, but it does have it's flaws.
The Good:
-It feels like a full-on, classic King's Quest game. If you had told me that Sierra had reformed and made it, I would not have doubted you at all.
-The music is (mostly) great. There are one or two songs that are annoying, but the rest are phenomenal.
-An actually compelling story, especially in the last chapter or two.
-Callbacks to literally every game in the series
The Bad:
-I feel like I spent a lot of time running back and forth between the same two locations.
-The graphics are kind of a mess. The opening of Chapter 1 looks like something from the PS1.
-Chapter 4 ends with an annoyingly hard mini-game, and then goes into an annoyingly hard "boss fight."
-Chapter 4 was released over a year ago, and there's no sign of when Chapter 5 will be released.
Over all, I absolutely recommend it, but it does have it's flaws.
Blink Bundle
Minimum ($1.99):
Gnomoria
Sideway New York
Archon Classic
Light of Altair
Bonus Game
($4.99):
Blockland
Eldritch
Lilly Looking Through
Mutant Mudds Deluxe
Influx
Hero of the Kingdom
Bonus Game
One PnC but thought you guys would appreciative the bonus's aswell. Apparently it only had 10 screens from memory?
Minimum ($1.99):
Gnomoria
Sideway New York
Archon Classic
Light of Altair
Bonus Game
($4.99):
Blockland
Eldritch
Lilly Looking Through
Mutant Mudds Deluxe
Influx
Hero of the Kingdom
Bonus Game
One PnC but thought you guys would appreciative the bonus's aswell. Apparently it only had 10 screens from memory?
Tizoc
Member
I am playing Broken Age atm and I like it despite it being easy, but I LOVE the graphics and characters. Not bothered at all by its episodic nature, but I find it depressing that Walking Dead could be a top 10 seller despite being episodic as well, but Broken Age barely broke into the top 10 =/
Non the less...here are other games I'm looking forward to or plan on playing soon:
Banshee's Last Call
Dangan Ronpa
Stiens; Gate
Granted these aren't PnC Adventure games BUT as is, this year may have 4 games in my GotY list be VNs and PnCs X3
Non the less...here are other games I'm looking forward to or plan on playing soon:
Banshee's Last Call
Dangan Ronpa
Stiens; Gate
Granted these aren't PnC Adventure games BUT as is, this year may have 4 games in my GotY list be VNs and PnCs X3
Zak McKracken - ScummVM with FM-Towns CDDA
Day of the Tentacle - ScummVM, PC Talkie version, MT-32 music emulated with the lastest version of Munt
Tizoc
Member
^Thanks.
Oh and the latest Gametrailers Pop Fiction episode is focused on Maniac Mansion:
http://www.gametrailers.com/full-episodes/6mn5yx/pop-fiction-maniac-mansion--microwaving-the-hamster
Oh and the latest Gametrailers Pop Fiction episode is focused on Maniac Mansion:
http://www.gametrailers.com/full-episodes/6mn5yx/pop-fiction-maniac-mansion--microwaving-the-hamster
Messofanego
Banned
The forest, eagle flying, road circle back and forth weirdness, bears, kept it far from same-y to me. Constantly cool visual illusions and imagery. I don't mind the relaxed pace, so I didn't find it tedious going up each floor of the office to understand what was going on.
The Illiterati
Member
Over the last month I've gorged myself on some of the adventure games in my backlog(still tons to go...) I felt like sharing my very brief thoughts.
The Lost City of Zerzuza - Quite good, I like these sorts of inventory /logic heavy adventure games. Nothing out of the realms of normal thought process. I also found it funny I carried a half an orange through the whole game even though it cleared everything else out regularly. Please grab this game off Amazon next time it's on sale!
The Raven - Mostly bad, serviceable. Good graphics and voice acting, over mostly empty rooms and bland puzzles. Felt I overpaid at the Steam sale.
TBOU Critter Chronicles - Okay. Not anywhere as good as the first game, but enjoyable enough. I liked the Mage's Tower stuff a lot. I did find some things funny, too.
Chaos on Deponia - Good. Way better than Deponia, thankfully. Had a good flow, though if I never hear that damned boat singing again it'll be too soon. Which brings me to...
Edna and Harvey: Harvey's New Eyes - Title theme song sung by the same guy....want to kill myself. Thankfully I found the game much better than the first one, which irritated the heck out of me. Same annoying elements are there(art style, voices), but refined slightly and not as grating. And in any case I actually really enjoyed the darkness of the humor and the "restrictions" mechanic in the second half. Worth playing.
Still Life - Terrible. Just terrible. And I actually solved the baking puzzle on my first try. But that lock puzzle? And if I forgot pixel hunting was ever a thing, its back with a vengeance(yes I know it's old). There were whole doorways that I couldn't see because the icon is so indistinct. Dear god I'm going to force myself through the sequel soon aren't I?
Primordia - Fantastic! Way better than reviews gave it credit for! just finished it up and loved every minute of it!
Well that's all so far. Still to come...every Telltale Sam and Max, Monkey Island, Syberia 2, the Blackwell games and eventually STILL LIFE 2! Can't forget Post Mortem as well!
The Lost City of Zerzuza - Quite good, I like these sorts of inventory /logic heavy adventure games. Nothing out of the realms of normal thought process. I also found it funny I carried a half an orange through the whole game even though it cleared everything else out regularly. Please grab this game off Amazon next time it's on sale!
The Raven - Mostly bad, serviceable. Good graphics and voice acting, over mostly empty rooms and bland puzzles. Felt I overpaid at the Steam sale.
TBOU Critter Chronicles - Okay. Not anywhere as good as the first game, but enjoyable enough. I liked the Mage's Tower stuff a lot. I did find some things funny, too.
Chaos on Deponia - Good. Way better than Deponia, thankfully. Had a good flow, though if I never hear that damned boat singing again it'll be too soon. Which brings me to...
Edna and Harvey: Harvey's New Eyes - Title theme song sung by the same guy....want to kill myself. Thankfully I found the game much better than the first one, which irritated the heck out of me. Same annoying elements are there(art style, voices), but refined slightly and not as grating. And in any case I actually really enjoyed the darkness of the humor and the "restrictions" mechanic in the second half. Worth playing.
Still Life - Terrible. Just terrible. And I actually solved the baking puzzle on my first try. But that lock puzzle? And if I forgot pixel hunting was ever a thing, its back with a vengeance(yes I know it's old). There were whole doorways that I couldn't see because the icon is so indistinct. Dear god I'm going to force myself through the sequel soon aren't I?
Primordia - Fantastic! Way better than reviews gave it credit for! just finished it up and loved every minute of it!
Well that's all so far. Still to come...every Telltale Sam and Max, Monkey Island, Syberia 2, the Blackwell games and eventually STILL LIFE 2! Can't forget Post Mortem as well!
I've just started Special Edition of Secret of the Monkey Island, and boy, the art-style in the remake is terrible. Really, really gross. Pity there's no option to switch to old one, Dominic's voices and enhanced music make the game worthwhile IMO, but the art... ugh.
I finished the first TBOU only yesterday, should I dive into Critter Chronicles straight away?
Interesting. I didn't bother with the baking puzzle, I looked it up straightaway, but overall the game was very simple for me once I got used to the very unorthodox inventory system. The story was decent but nothing special either. I heard the second one is much worse so I didn't bother even though I have it in my Steam library (those groupees bundles
).Agreed! It's almost Beneath a Steel Sky level for me!
For what it's worth, there's a patch to fix Guybrush's horrible hair and face in the SE: http://monkeyislandpatch.com.ar/
Here's a Facebook for the project (along with few screenshots of the new Guybrush)
https://www.facebook.com/monkeyislandhairpatch
It's still ugly, but with the patch, it's a little less ugly.
Family Fry
Member
On PC doesn't F10 change art style between old and new?