Support NeoGAF

[Fireye]

I know it's been said before but...

THE DIG. The dig the dig the dig. I LOVED THIS GAME!

 

[clashfan]

The Kyrandia series was fun too.

 

[MrPing1000]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbTTyacCO5c behold one of the funniest scenes in a game ever.

Spoiler

First time I got there when Guybrush starts dancing I was gone :lol

 

[methodman]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbTTyacCO5c behold one of the funniest scenes in a game ever. [/spoiler] First time I got there when Guybrush starts dancing I was gone :lol [/spoiler]

Oh man that part was freaking great. I also remember this fat dude on a bed where you had to take a book from his belly or something while he was asleep. that always made me laugh.

 

[Chris Remo]

has anyone else played Zak McKraken as well? it was Lucasarts's point in click game that came right after the 1st Maniac Mansion

it was pretty kick ass for back in the day

I've played it but to be honest it's probably my least favorite LucasArts adventure.

 

[Chris Remo]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbTTyacCO5c behold one of the funniest scenes in a game ever.

Spoiler

First time I got there when Guybrush starts dancing I was gone :lol

Oh man thank you so much for linking this. It's so much better when it's in full screen and you can really see Guybrush's eyes bulging.

This cutscene is such a great example of what the Monkey Island series lost when Ron Gilbert left LucasArts and Schafer and Grossman stopped working on the franchise. It's hilarious but also has this bizarre undercurrent suggesting something a lot more sinister. Even the intro has a slight bit of that: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lTz2nkPNXA&mode=related&search=

MI2 is easily my favorite game in the series, largely for that reason as well as its excellent structure and puzzles, and one of my favorite games of all time. That type of blending of humor and eeriness is so incredibly rare in games these days. (Stuff like Death Jr. really doesn't count.)

 

[Fady K]

Still Life rocks because the atmosphere of the game is pretty different then your average adventure game. The setting reminded me of a combination of the movie Seven and the game Parasite Eve. And the cooking puzzle blew by the way, there was also another one in one of those scenes from the past that I can't remember were I think you had to crack a safe or something.

Other great games I have that were not mentioned:
- Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist
- Lighthouse
- Gabriel Knight
- Willy Beamish
- Amber: The Journeys Beyond <-This game was messed up
- The Lost Files of Sherlock Holmes
And educational games that were actually fun:
- Island of Dr. Brain
- EcoQuest I & II
- Museum Madness

Who knows why Lucas Arts doesn't really make adventure games anymore. I thought their last games, Grim Fandango and Monkey Island 4, were pretty popular and I would assume sold well for an adventure game. Also these type of games can't be that expensive and take a large team to develop as other types of games do.

I miss Lucasarts stuff myself, badly. Ive yet to finish Escape from Monkey Island tho :0 How is it?

I hate the one near the end

Spoiler

with the robot and all those lasers

Yeah, that was a major pain. Took me a damn while till I got through it.

 

[VALIS]

The nostalgia is great and all, but again I want to remind people that this genre is far from dead. Adventure/PnC gamers are like the Freemasons of the gaming population - there are a hell of a lot of them, but you'd never know unless you went looking for them. Look at those links I posted back on pg. 1.

Currently I'm playing through The Black Mirror, which is a pretty nice game. Mysterious story slowly unfolding, gorgeous architecture outside and inside the buildings, decent voice acting, excellent music and ambient sounds, kind of that quaint, stuffy British feel you get in certain murder mystery TV shows.

And current adventure games don't require a powerhouse PC, either. I think the huge population of RPG/story-based gamers here would become big devotees of the modern adventure game if they gave it a chance.

 

[DDayton]

Day of the Tentacle had significantly better writing and characters, and wonderful art design. It doesn't have Maniac Mansion's remarkable nonlinear structure, but it does have some of the best overall puzzle design in the entire genre. MM was revolutionary in many ways (not just in its nonlinearity) but that design choice also led to the game being much less tight than something like DOTT; it's a lot easier to get stuck simply by happening to do the wrong thing, and the game isn't paced as well. That's not to detract from MM. To this day it does things no other adventure game does, and it set the standard for a lot of conventions of the genre that were previously nonexistent (plus it was the reason for the SCUMM system which lasted about a decade), but DOTT surpassed it in other ways.

Eh... DOTT does have some impressive bits, but the gameplay of MM just seems vastly superior. DOTT seems to get stuck in the "find trinket, watch/listen for a bit, find trinket" loop... yes, the scenes are entertaining, but it seems less of a game and more of a cartoon.

 

[Kabouter]

And current adventure games don't require a powerhouse PC, either. I think the huge population of RPG/story-based gamers here would become big devotees of the modern adventure game if they gave it a chance.

Most won't give it a chance though, because the larger part of the gaming media feels that the "adventure genre is dead save for DS" and that therefore all adventures not on DS deserve shitty grades regardless of how good the games are.

 

[VALIS]

Most won't give it a chance though, because the larger part of the gaming media feels that the "adventure genre is dead save for DS" and that therefore all adventures not on DS deserve shitty grades regardless of how good the games are.

Yep. And a lot of people won't play a story based game unless it's coated with generic anime poop.

 

[metroid23]

Ah yes, 11th Hour. I used to watch my neighbor play it all the time (actually, we went through a number of point & click adventures together). I distinctly remember the menu music:

"i can't take a breath
without seeing mr. death"

I had nightmares where I couldn't leave my room in the attic because I would wake up to that song. It was meant to be "funny" but it was absolutely terrifying as a kid. One of the stanza's went "I can't take a bath... Mr. Death is washing my back" or something like that, and I would get freaked out in the shower. I did enjoy revisiting my old 7th guest stomping grounds in it's dusty new look, though.

Spoiler

Oh, and wtf, the house raped the chick? What sort of half-cocked storyline is that?

 

[MMaRsu]

Amerzone

Pretty good if my memory serves me correct..

 

[jj984jj]

About 10 years ago I played this:

 

[Howard Alan Treesong]

Eh... DOTT does have some impressive bits, but the gameplay of MM just seems vastly superior. DOTT seems to get stuck in the "find trinket, watch/listen for a bit, find trinket" loop... yes, the scenes are entertaining, but it seems less of a game and more of a cartoon.

You asked, Chris answered. I (and many others) agree with him; you clearly don't. Accept that

Spoiler

you're wrong

and move on.

 

[madara]

All the great sierra classic series but Quest for Glory 4:Shadow of Darkness that realy sticks out in my mind. My step sister use watch me play that and we freak each other out exploring woods, sneaking in town at time, going through crypt. I remember one type one of main characters come out from behind tree at night in robe, so freaked us out. One of best game atmospheres ever.

 

[GitarooMan]

Aww no love for the Legend of Kyrandia triology? I never played the third, played the first, but adored the second - fantastic game.

This may have been mentioned but the third absolutely rocks, Malcolm's Revenge is great, great story, great music, great environments.

 

[DDayton]

You asked, Chris answered. I (and many others) agree with him; you clearly don't. Accept that

Spoiler

you're wrong

and move on.

Pfft. MM lets you feed waxed fruit and fruit drinks to a man-eating plant... DooT gives you time traveling porta-potties.

I'll just leave it to the viewers at home to decide the winner.

Spoiler

So how about we push for a new Maniac Mansion with the free-wheeling gameplay of the first and the plot/character development of the second? Then we all win!

 

[Fantasmo]

Just to keep this thread from dying (hey, I want more posts like this, so get to it!)

My first PC game, came with our IBM 30/286, circa 1988:

Back then I loved my NES, but I was immediately entranced by the storytelling and free-roaming aspect to this new-style of gameplay! KQ4 totally blew me away because there was no immediate threat (except for the timer, which I found out about later), and the gameplay lended itself to exploring, and using my brain to figure out what to do next. Since I always skipped the story part, it took me what seemed like forever to actually figure out that the game's little puzzles intertwined and there was actually an ending!

I loved how all the little elements were taken from children's literature and placed into a game environment; from the Seven Dwarves, to Pan, to being swallowed by a whale, the giant in the forest trying to eat you, cupid, the evil witch, it even blew me away how I could go from walking to swimming on the same screen and even go fishing!

Unfortunately it took purchasing a hintbook to finally get me through the game, but by then I'd picked up many other gems and finished them on my own, including... Space Quest 3, Space Quest 1, King's Quest 1, Leisure Suit Larry 3 (swiped this off a friend, my mother wouldn't let me get it haha), and Hero's Quest 1 (now known as Quest for Glory 1).

Luckily my IBM PC was one of the first to actually have VGA standard so, with a DOS bootdisk, I was able to run King's Quest V, Willy Beamish, Space Quest IV, and many more. Around this time I got a demo of Monkey Island in a PC Gaming mag and purchased it soon after. While I can't say Lucasfilm Games (LucasArts now) caught my attention back then, Monkey Island sure did, and I played through and was absolutely enraptured with Monkey Island 1 - 3.

 

[painey]

I love Point and Click adventure games, they are my all time favourite genre. I've played pretty much every one released in a long time! From the greats like Still-Life and Sam and Max to the awfuls like Martin Mystere. I got Runaway 2 and im going through it slowly but to me it lacks the appeal of the first. Ive got Sam and Max 2 to play through first.

 

[Chris Remo]

Pfft. MM lets you feed waxed fruit and fruit drinks to a man-eating plant... DooT gives you time traveling porta-potties.

I'll just leave it to the viewers at home to decide the winner.

Spoiler

So how about we push for a new Maniac Mansion with the free-wheeling gameplay of the first and the plot/character development of the second? Then we all win!

The problem is that it's extremely difficult to do that with such a nonlinear format, especially one where you choose a party. One of the reasons DOTT could be so much tighter in the characters/storytelling department is due to its comparative linearity.

 

[Chris Remo]

The nostalgia is great and all, but again I want to remind people that this genre is far from dead. Adventure/PnC gamers are like the Freemasons of the gaming population - there are a hell of a lot of them, but you'd never know unless you went looking for them. Look at those links I posted back on pg. 1.

Currently I'm playing through The Black Mirror, which is a pretty nice game. Mysterious story slowly unfolding, gorgeous architecture outside and inside the buildings, decent voice acting, excellent music and ambient sounds, kind of that quaint, stuffy British feel you get in certain murder mystery TV shows.

And current adventure games don't require a powerhouse PC, either. I think the huge population of RPG/story-based gamers here would become big devotees of the modern adventure game if they gave it a chance.

I used to write for Adventure Gamers so I'm very familiar with the current state of the genre, but honestly there's hardly anything there that even comes close to stacking up to the classics in my opinion. I've been burned so many times that unless I see something really astonishing I just pass most of them over. I've been happy with the Sam & Max episodes so far though.

 

[nubbe]

My favorite adventure game moment is in Simon the sorcerer 2 when you come across the geeks who play a role playing game. Just standing back and hearing their conversations is good stuff!

 

[Fantasmo]

Ever play 5 Days a Stranger, Chris?

 

[D-X]

Tex Murphy Under A Killing Moon:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFVHlrPHvzo&mode=related&search=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQeMu551IiY&mode=related&search=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rP7T-gfL8k&mode=related&search=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOGTAMntdfg&mode=related&search=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOGTAMntdfg&mode=related&search=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKw9dDuLuCg&mode=related&search=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOt_yHQbKnU&mode=related&search=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljupCN6vCDM&mode=related&search=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeNUmJgSDUg&mode=related&search=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTzj9xyM3nE&mode=related&search=

Loads of other Point and Click vids here:

http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=ADVRipper2

 

[Jenga]

How I wish Lucas Arts would make another awesome point and click game.

 

[painey]

I had under a killing moon for PC (it had about 5 CD's!) but i could never get it to run on my Windows 95 system so I never played it.

I just beat Sam and Max Ep 2 and it was very funny although I do get a little tired of the repeat until you select the right answer puzzles that have appeared in both episodes, it gets a little tiresome going through entire dream sequences, quiz shows, etc just to get the right answer or figure it out.

 

[Ryan_IGN]

Great thread. The only game I'd add that I haven't seen here is Beavis and Butt-head in Virtual Stupidity. Mike Judge did the voices (just verified that my memory was correct by checking the credits in the manual), and it was both LucasArts level of funny and a damn fine adventure game in its own right.

And it looks like copies can still be had. A quick search turned up this: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0006IA3XK/?tag=neogaf0e-20

 

[calder]

Awesome thread that should be required reading. All my favourite games have been mentioned, but I'd like to give them just a bit more respect:

Grim Fandago - one of my favourite games of all time.
Monkey Island - great series
Blade Runner - glad to see it get mentioned, thought it was brilliant
Indiana Jones
Gabriel Knight
Police Quest (especially 4)
Syberia (despite the flaws)
Broken Sword
etc etc


It's been mentioned already, but why hasn't Sony called up Lucas Arts and offered them a good deal on releasing all the classic adventure games on PSP as a series of budget rereleases? Perfect format, *great* games that would be exposed to some ppl who maybe didn't get a chance to play them the first time around, you'd think it would be easy to port (although the more time they spent getting text/audio/controls as good as possible on the PSP the better obviously). I bet Grim Fandago would sell wonderfully at a reasonable price, hell I'd buy a PSP just for that and Monkey Island even though I have them all on PC already.

 

[Fantasmo]

ScummVM already works on PSP and DS. Anyone care to comment on how well these play on portables?

 

[AlternativeUlster]

Has anyone heard any good reviews on Hotel Dusk yet?

 

[pollo]

Awesome thread that should be required reading. All my favourite games have been mentioned, but I'd like to give them just a bit more respect:

Grim Fandago - one of my favourite games of all time.
Monkey Island - great series
Blade Runner - glad to see it get mentioned, thought it was brilliant
Indiana Jones
Gabriel Knight
Police Quest (especially 4)
Syberia (despite the flaws)
Broken Sword
etc etc


It's been mentioned already, but why hasn't Sony called up Lucas Arts and offered them a good deal on releasing all the classic adventure games on PSP as a series of budget rereleases? Perfect format, *great* games that would be exposed to some ppl who maybe didn't get a chance to play them the first time around, you'd think it would be easy to port (although the more time they spent getting text/audio/controls as good as possible on the PSP the better obviously). I bet Grim Fandago would sell wonderfully at a reasonable price, hell I'd buy a PSP just for that and Monkey Island even though I have them all on PC already.

Welp if that happens youd be damned sure Ill be pickin up a PSP day 1 on a Lucas Arts comp release.

Hell if you price each game individually at 20 bucks a pop Id bite...Im such a Lucas Arts fanboy.

What the **** happened to you Lucas Arts??!?? *sobs*

 

[AlternativeUlster]

Welp if that happens youd be damned sure Ill be pickin up a PSP day 1 on a Lucas Arts comp release.

Hell if you price each game individually at 20 bucks a pop Id bite...Im such a Lucas Arts fanboy.

What the **** happened to you Lucas Arts??!?? *sobs*

Isn't it possible for these games to run on the DS? I would think with the whole touch screen thing, it would be better suited.

 

[wazoo]

I remember Last Express from Jordan Mechner

first (?) realtime cellshaded 3D adventure game

total sales failure

 

[McBacon]

Isn't it possible for these games to run on the DS? I would think with the whole touch screen thing, it would be better suited.

You can, but SCUMM puts the same screen up on the top, but zoomed in 2x, it's very annoying.

Don't think you can turn it off.

I personally prefer the big ol screen of the PSP, even if you'll have problems with the nub sometimes.

 

[lexi]

How did I miss this thread for so long?

It amazes me that so many of these games were so similar yet between them they all crafted a particular atmosphere with great writing and story-telling. I'd have a hard time splitting favorites over LucasArts or Sierra's adventure games.

The cream of the crop would have to be Monkey Island 1 and 2. Chris has already said all that needs to be said about these games. MI2 being my definitive pick between the two.

Getting the crew together, the puzzles involved on the ship, the mutiny, discovering and exploring the island and the final battle with LeChuck - This game is brilliant. It plays like a great swashbuckling adventure movie and I loved every minute of it.

Sierra had a few good ones themselves, and it might be nostalgia talking but I'd rate them as highly as any top-notch LucasArts game. Space Quest 1, 2 and 3, Kings Quest 2 and 6 and Quest for Glory 1 are my top picks.

Keep the recommendations coming, I could do with playing some more of these great games. Beneath a Steel Sky is a great one that I'd personally recommend.

 

[Rocksteady33]

Why is there so much love for Monkey Island 1 and 2 but almost no mention of 3 and 4? Sure they weren't by Tim, but they were still masterpieces in their own right!

 

[lexi]

Why is there so much love for Monkey Island 1 and 2 but almost no mention of 3 and 4? Sure they weren't by Tim, but they were still masterpieces in their own right!

3 Was pretty good, yeah, but 4 was a disaster.

 

[Illuminati]

Why is there so much love for Monkey Island 1 and 2 but almost no mention of 3 and 4? Sure they weren't by Tim, but they were still masterpieces in their own right!

http://www.mobygames.com/images/shots/original/1026416029-00.gif[img]
[img]http://www.hebrewquest.com/images/MI3.gif[img]

[img]http://www.sexbuzz.com/pics/7,0015c.jpg[img][/QUOTE]I posted this on the first page, but it was mixed in with my other crap:

By far one of the funniest moments in adventure gaming. I wish I could find a better clip of when they first encounter Skull Island:

[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-9my0tsutw]The Monkey Island 3 Pirate Song![/url]

 

[Kiriku]

Why is there so much love for Monkey Island 1 and 2 but almost no mention of 3 and 4? Sure they weren't by Tim, but they were still masterpieces in their own right!

I agree, MI3 was awesome! MI4 though, not so much.

 

[DDayton]

The problem is that it's extremely difficult to do that with such a nonlinear format, especially one where you choose a party. One of the reasons DOTT could be so much tighter in the characters/storytelling department is due to its comparative linearity.

Yeah, I know... that's the pain of it all. What we need is someone who can tie together the great gameplay of MM with the storytelling and character development of DooT -- how can you be liner and nonlinear at the same time being the obvious question. I'd go with the gameplay before the story myself, but that won't sell in Peoria.

What I am suddenly reminded of is classic text adventures, specifically with the odd way in which adventures when from more complex to MUCH more limited with the introduction of graphical/point & click games... then, once graphical games were about to approach the complexity of the old text adventures, they petered out.

I'd almost think that today's IM/text message kids might latch on to text adventures if someone presented them properly.

 

[Lain]

Why is there so much love for Monkey Island 1 and 2 but almost no mention of 3 and 4? Sure they weren't by Tim, but they were still masterpieces in their own right!

Because there was no other MI games after 2... yeah, those other two games weren't worthy of the name Monkey Island!

 

[Rocksteady33]

Because there was no other MI games after 2... yeah, those other two games weren't worthy of the name Monkey Island!

Blasphemy.

 

[eshwaaz]

Why is there so much love for Monkey Island 1 and 2 but almost no mention of 3 and 4? Sure they weren't by Tim, but they were still masterpieces in their own right!

As others have said, I found Monkey Island 3 really enjoyable, but 4 was a real disappointment. From the visuals to the controls, the move to real-time 3D did nothing but hurt the experience. Maneuvering Guybrush around was needlessly awkward and frustrating, and the character models were crude and ugly. Much of the time, playing it was a chore.

I'll always have a soft spot for point-and-click adventures - some of my fondest C-64 memories involve late nights with Maniac Mansion and Zak McKracken. The majority of PC adventures I played through with my (now) wife, and we still enjoy them to this day. I've been extremely discouraged by the quality and tone of most recent adventures (everything seems so dour and melancholy - why so damned serious?), but the new Sam and Max games give me hope.

 

[Tr4nce]

Great thread, but this one also deserves a worthy mention --> http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=55437&highlight=simon+sorcerer


Yes, I wish LucasArts would one day stop ****ing around and get back to making adventure games again. At least there is one ray of light in the darkness, it's called 'A Vampyre Story' and it's being made by ex-employees of LucasArts.

I absolutely love the Monkey Island series, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, DOTT, Full Throttle, Sam & Max Hit The Road, Simon The Sorcerer, and ofcourse Broken Sword.

Why has no one mentioned this one by the way? I used to have it back in the '90's, but I lost it and now I can find it anywhere, it's called 'Bud Tucker in Double Trouble' and it was avery nice adventure game:

*Sigh*

Back in the day.....

 

[Google]

Guys,

We're featuring Dave Grossman in our next issue, along with some fun retrospectives on the adventure game scene.

Also, I've been playing a little of Runaway: The Dream of the turtle from CDV.

Its a very pretty looking adventure game...I havent played enough to comment, but its nice to see 'high' quality point and clicks.

 

[Danj]

What would be the best adventure game to try for someone who sucks at adventure games? I really love the amount of story in adventure games, but I suck utterly at the (sometimes Byzantine-seeming) puzzles in them.

 

[plagiarize]

this thread has my seal of approval.

i love the lucasarts classics (heck i loved them back when they called themselves lucasfilm games). i haven't played them all, but i have finished all the monkey island games, loom, sam and max, day of the tentacle, and full throttle.

i've played all of the tell tale adventures so far too...

haven't been that taken by much else admittedly. the 'quest' games never did it for me even when they went point and click... just something about those sierra games that left me cold. eh... some of the police quest games were good though now that i think about it.

as for MI games, Secret is the best, then Curse (imho), then Revenge and then Escape, though escape is better than most people say. it's just let down by a few overly obtuse puzzles and that whole monkey combat nonsense.

it is very funny, and the voice acting as as wonderful as it was in curse.

i love that puzzle in the swamp of time where you meet yourself going the other way... it did have some really clever stuff in it.

 

[plagiarize]

What would be the best adventure game to try for someone who sucks at adventure games? I really love the amount of story in adventure games, but I suck utterly at the (sometimes Byzantine-seeming) puzzles in them.

the secret of monkey island doesn't have a byzantine puzzle in it's body. some require a bit of lateral thinking but the puzzles all make sense. they aren't overly easy, but they are logical.

it's a great place to start and it was my favourite game for over a decade until Resident Evil 4 usurped it.

 

[Coop]

What would be the best adventure game to try for someone who sucks at adventure games? I really love the amount of story in adventure games, but I suck utterly at the (sometimes Byzantine-seeming) puzzles in them.

For a more recent adventure game, I'd recommend the new Sam and Max games from Telltale Games. The puzzles for the most part are easy and logical and the story is very funny. As for overall, I'd go with Grim Fandango because Grim Fandango is the greatest game ever.