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Point & Click Adventure Thread 2017 - Pixels Walk With Me
- Thread starter sir_crocodile
- Start date
Anyone ever play Sanitarium from the 90s? I played it a long time ago and it's stuck in my head ever since.
I think it's probably There is no game: wrong dimension in terms of a standalone title with universal appeal.
In the name of the german economy, I thank you for your service! 🫡
There is also an artbook and the soundtrack available as DLC now.
The question is a bit vague. Any hints on what you prefer?
The Inner World
Röki
Jenny LeClue
Book of Unwritten Tales
Lair of the Clockwork God
The Blind Prophet
Kathy Rain
I could go on spouting names and surely others could add a bunch.
I did! More than once even. The gameplay has some weak spots, and that music puzzle can go fuck itself for all eternity. But I love the different layers, the story has, and how things are references to the real world, he lives in.
I liked the Cat lady trilogy, the Wadjet Eye games and mostly I choose the ones with a good story/setting but I tend to like the one with strong logical puzzles too (for example The Witness or Riven). My all time favorite is The Longest Journey.
I loved it aside from the ending. I was hoping for something
supernatural to be the cause.
Loved the opening to the sequel, Dreamfall. "This is the story of how I died." But yea TLJ is fantastic aside from what has become the most iconic worst point and click puzzle to exist (the inflatable duck one).
Burnhouse Lane is the newest game from the Cat Lady dev. Since you mentioned Wadjet Eye, I suspect you know about Primordia and Strangeland; still wanted to name them, to be sure. For the Myst itch I would suggest Quern: Undying Thoughts and Call of the Sea.
As a puzzle game more than a PnC there would be Return of the Obra Dinn, as well as Case of the Golden Idol, what has a very similar style.
Wow, thanks, I had no idea about the new project from the Cat Lady dev, might check that one out! (although I thought the last game of the trilogy was fairly weak compared to Cat Lady and OG Downfall)
Made my way through some demos lately.
Foolish Mortals is about Murphy McCallan, who wants to find the treasure of Bellmore Manor, a house haunted by ghosts.
Voodoo plays a huge role in this, and since I played Voodoo Detective not too long ago, of course I was reminded of it and recognized some words. Some Monkey Island vibe is there as well.
The game looks quite nice, with handdrawn backgrounds and characters in cartoon look with smooth animations. And quite detailed animations on top at times.
The puzzles are quite simple. Especially an advanced player suspects the solution quickly. I'd hope this is mostly due to the demo showing the beginning of the game, so basically the tutorial, and things get a little more interesting in the long run.
Truth be told, there was nothing really to impress me. But I like the look and the story did pick my interest. There was also nothing to push me away from the game. So it stays on my wishlist for further examination in the future.
(The demo is only on Steam, but the full game will be on GOG too.)
Scott Whiskers and the Search for Mr. Fumbleclaw comes from a very small german dev, mostly doing mobile games.
Scott helps out at an animal shelter, what brings his attention to a missing cat, he then wants to find.
To start with the good things: I can appreciate the many options, the game offers. You have the usual sound mixing, can turn the hot spot highlighting help on/off and can tun subs on/off. Additionally you can change the size of the subs and most noteworthy, can change the language for everything separately: UI, voice, subs.
You can pet the cat, and it emits a wonderful soothing purring. The cats' sounds are great overall.
Aside from that, the game fall flat on me big time. What's pretty heartbreaking, since I really wanted to like it, with it revolving around cats, and the dev a cat nerd himself.
Usually I love handdrawn artstyle, but sadly this one looks very rough. Rough in the sense of "first scetch to get the thing going and polish it later". The 3D characters look quite barebones as well.
In the options you can activate a filter to make everything look more pixelated, what, I think, is mostly meant as a fun little easter egg (and honestly might be a cheap standard filter) and not the intended way. But funnily enough, it adds some more contrast to the scene while also hiding some rough drawings a bit, making it look better in a way and not so plain and boring.
The other big turn off for me was the humour. It felt so try hard, wanting to be meta and nerdy and funny, with most of the jokes being just eye roll inducing. The dialogues feel like a drag in the process.
It doesn't get better with the german voice acting sounding rather amateurish. While Mary just sounds boring, I even disliked Scott's voice in parts. (The demo doesn't feature more characters.) Like they had hired friends and family, although the credits say otherwise.
The english voices have a pretty nice british accent, and while Mary remains kinda boring, I found Scott better at least, compared the his german counterpart.
At the beginning and end of the demo, the dialogue jokes about how poor the dev is in some ways. And apparently, he's so poor, there wasn't enough money for commas - it bugged the hell out of me, how the german subs - from a german dev - were lacking some commas every sentence. (At least the spelling was perfectly fine.)
Gameplaywise there is absolutely nothing to write home about. Very simple and shallow. Maybe, just like Foolish Mortals, this is more due to it being the start / tutorial of the game.
For using hotspots you have to switch through interaction icons with the right click. A bit oldschool and inconvenient, and I'd prefer the two click method (right click for "look", left click for "action") or the left click bringing up all possible interaction icons at once. But surely not the worst thing about the game.
So again, it breaks my heart, since I really wanted to like it, and hopefully others out there don't mind the look and have a different sense of humour, than I do. But that's one game I scratched off my list. :/
Murder on Space Station 52 follows Edward Locke trying to catch a murderer on a space station full of people from different species.
This was easily the best demo of the three I played, where I was really sad, when it ended. Ironically it was also the shortest of them.
Again handdrawn artstyle with some roughness to it, but this time in a good way and still full of details. It mixes nicely with the somewhat dark and dangerous atmosphere, with some black humour sprinkeled in. The voice acting sounds pretty good on top.
The inventory has an outstanding design as background, and is open/closed by the mouse wheel - something I think, I have only encounternd in Daedalic's games and always liked a lot.
Despite it being the beginning and thus the tutorial of the game similar to the other demos and also rather short, the puzzles were already much more interesting and have me very hopefull for the full game.
Only one aspect, I'm not so sure about yet: Some hotspots are marked with a little symbol, so interacting with it gives you some sort of points. Those can be used later to fill an aparmtent and aquarium with stuff. Sounds kinda nice yet unnecessary at the same time.
And maybe it wouldn't hurt, if the protag could run.
Last but not least, the demo featured barely any sort of options, but hopefully the full game will have at least some sound adjusting available.
Still this sneak peak got me pretty hyped - this get's def bought sooner or later!
Foolish Mortals is about Murphy McCallan, who wants to find the treasure of Bellmore Manor, a house haunted by ghosts.
Voodoo plays a huge role in this, and since I played Voodoo Detective not too long ago, of course I was reminded of it and recognized some words. Some Monkey Island vibe is there as well.
The game looks quite nice, with handdrawn backgrounds and characters in cartoon look with smooth animations. And quite detailed animations on top at times.
The puzzles are quite simple. Especially an advanced player suspects the solution quickly. I'd hope this is mostly due to the demo showing the beginning of the game, so basically the tutorial, and things get a little more interesting in the long run.
Truth be told, there was nothing really to impress me. But I like the look and the story did pick my interest. There was also nothing to push me away from the game. So it stays on my wishlist for further examination in the future.
(The demo is only on Steam, but the full game will be on GOG too.)
Scott Whiskers and the Search for Mr. Fumbleclaw comes from a very small german dev, mostly doing mobile games.
Scott helps out at an animal shelter, what brings his attention to a missing cat, he then wants to find.
To start with the good things: I can appreciate the many options, the game offers. You have the usual sound mixing, can turn the hot spot highlighting help on/off and can tun subs on/off. Additionally you can change the size of the subs and most noteworthy, can change the language for everything separately: UI, voice, subs.
You can pet the cat, and it emits a wonderful soothing purring. The cats' sounds are great overall.
Aside from that, the game fall flat on me big time. What's pretty heartbreaking, since I really wanted to like it, with it revolving around cats, and the dev a cat nerd himself.
Usually I love handdrawn artstyle, but sadly this one looks very rough. Rough in the sense of "first scetch to get the thing going and polish it later". The 3D characters look quite barebones as well.
In the options you can activate a filter to make everything look more pixelated, what, I think, is mostly meant as a fun little easter egg (and honestly might be a cheap standard filter) and not the intended way. But funnily enough, it adds some more contrast to the scene while also hiding some rough drawings a bit, making it look better in a way and not so plain and boring.
The other big turn off for me was the humour. It felt so try hard, wanting to be meta and nerdy and funny, with most of the jokes being just eye roll inducing. The dialogues feel like a drag in the process.
It doesn't get better with the german voice acting sounding rather amateurish. While Mary just sounds boring, I even disliked Scott's voice in parts. (The demo doesn't feature more characters.) Like they had hired friends and family, although the credits say otherwise.
The english voices have a pretty nice british accent, and while Mary remains kinda boring, I found Scott better at least, compared the his german counterpart.
At the beginning and end of the demo, the dialogue jokes about how poor the dev is in some ways. And apparently, he's so poor, there wasn't enough money for commas - it bugged the hell out of me, how the german subs - from a german dev - were lacking some commas every sentence. (At least the spelling was perfectly fine.)
Gameplaywise there is absolutely nothing to write home about. Very simple and shallow. Maybe, just like Foolish Mortals, this is more due to it being the start / tutorial of the game.
For using hotspots you have to switch through interaction icons with the right click. A bit oldschool and inconvenient, and I'd prefer the two click method (right click for "look", left click for "action") or the left click bringing up all possible interaction icons at once. But surely not the worst thing about the game.
So again, it breaks my heart, since I really wanted to like it, and hopefully others out there don't mind the look and have a different sense of humour, than I do. But that's one game I scratched off my list. :/
Murder on Space Station 52 follows Edward Locke trying to catch a murderer on a space station full of people from different species.
This was easily the best demo of the three I played, where I was really sad, when it ended. Ironically it was also the shortest of them.
Again handdrawn artstyle with some roughness to it, but this time in a good way and still full of details. It mixes nicely with the somewhat dark and dangerous atmosphere, with some black humour sprinkeled in. The voice acting sounds pretty good on top.
The inventory has an outstanding design as background, and is open/closed by the mouse wheel - something I think, I have only encounternd in Daedalic's games and always liked a lot.
Despite it being the beginning and thus the tutorial of the game similar to the other demos and also rather short, the puzzles were already much more interesting and have me very hopefull for the full game.
Only one aspect, I'm not so sure about yet: Some hotspots are marked with a little symbol, so interacting with it gives you some sort of points. Those can be used later to fill an aparmtent and aquarium with stuff. Sounds kinda nice yet unnecessary at the same time.
And maybe it wouldn't hurt, if the protag could run.
Last but not least, the demo featured barely any sort of options, but hopefully the full game will have at least some sound adjusting available.
Still this sneak peak got me pretty hyped - this get's def bought sooner or later!
Got Murder On Space Station 52 demo downloaded, gonna give it a go. I liked The Foolish Mortals demo from the previous next fest, but it didn't wow me.
The Mystery of Woolley Mountain is now on GOG. The devs are pretty proud of Ron Gilbert backing their Kickstarter back in the day.
www.gog.com
Ngl, the screenshots don't look too hot, and although it's out since 2019, there is little feedback even on Steam. But there's a demo available, so maybe I'll try it nevertheless.
The Mystery Of Woolley Mountain
Funded on Kickstarter with backers including legend of the genre Ron Gilbert, The Mystery
I guess this will be my prefered way to play adventure games now:
I'm partial to the 4:3 screen of the iPad Pro running ScummVM
Ugh that looks good.
I'm partial to the 4:3 screen of the iPad Pro running ScummVM
Have you (or the scummvm team) managed to get the pencil to work as a pointer device?
I'm partial to the 4:3 screen of the iPad Pro running ScummVM
I have not. It's also worth mentioning that this is from the pre-release build, I just quickly did some searches in Discord to find the screenshot of me messing around setting it up back in early October. I know they're pretty open to feedback if you join the discord. I've reported some issues that have gotten resolved next patch. It is *much* smoother now than it was when this pic was taken
I played Sumatra: Fate of Yandi, a short PnC in retro pixelstyle.
Maincharacter Yandi works as a lumberjack. A landslide during a job has him drift down a river for miles. Lost in the jungle he tries to find his way back home to his wife, stumbeling upon certain revelations in the process.
The pixellook is rather barebones, and especially the rare close ups of Yandi's face or hands look somewhat janky. The animals look quite awesome, though. I also found the subtitels a bit too big, and over everythings lies a light noise filter.
The gameplay works with the standard right and left click concept, and the cursor is a good old crosshair.
Puzzles are all on the simple side, and especially as an advanced player, you guess some things rather quick. There is also strong signal boosting, especially when talking with NPCs. Additionally, areas and possible actions are often limited and only enlarged through certain scripted moments. In the first area, there is a NPC, that works as a hint system in a way - asking him about stuff often contains strong hints on what to do. (I often had already done it anyway, since it was obvious.) But for certain things you have to ask him for advice to trigger new events.
I wasn't exactly bored and the puzzles were still fun, but they could have been a lot more interesting.
During dialogues you can sometimes choose between different answers, but it didn't seem to me, that those decisions have any sort of influence. Just changes the dialogue a tiny bit.
The main focus lies on the story, and sadly it didn't click with me that much. The conflict Yandi has with his wife is just boring and old as time. And everything else he discovers throughout his journey overlaps with a fantastic element, I thought to be a bit unnecessary. Also the interview at the end was cringe to me.
I don't really want to go into details, since that would feel like spoiling the whole game. But I want to say, that I had some thoughts at first, how everything could be some sort of metaphor or something. It's not though, and everything you see, is exactly what you get.
And what you get is sadly just not that interesting to me.
Options only become available when starting a new game. There is no voice acting and I missed some music. For most of the time, the game is dead silent. I played in German, and the translation and grammar is absolutely fine.
It took me 3 hours to play through it. While I missed some more challenging puzzles, the gameplay is solid. Sadly the story didn't work for me and had me often skip through the dialogue somewhat bored. (And it is a rather talkative game in parts.)
Maincharacter Yandi works as a lumberjack. A landslide during a job has him drift down a river for miles. Lost in the jungle he tries to find his way back home to his wife, stumbeling upon certain revelations in the process.
The pixellook is rather barebones, and especially the rare close ups of Yandi's face or hands look somewhat janky. The animals look quite awesome, though. I also found the subtitels a bit too big, and over everythings lies a light noise filter.
The gameplay works with the standard right and left click concept, and the cursor is a good old crosshair.
Puzzles are all on the simple side, and especially as an advanced player, you guess some things rather quick. There is also strong signal boosting, especially when talking with NPCs. Additionally, areas and possible actions are often limited and only enlarged through certain scripted moments. In the first area, there is a NPC, that works as a hint system in a way - asking him about stuff often contains strong hints on what to do. (I often had already done it anyway, since it was obvious.) But for certain things you have to ask him for advice to trigger new events.
I wasn't exactly bored and the puzzles were still fun, but they could have been a lot more interesting.
During dialogues you can sometimes choose between different answers, but it didn't seem to me, that those decisions have any sort of influence. Just changes the dialogue a tiny bit.
The main focus lies on the story, and sadly it didn't click with me that much. The conflict Yandi has with his wife is just boring and old as time. And everything else he discovers throughout his journey overlaps with a fantastic element, I thought to be a bit unnecessary. Also the interview at the end was cringe to me.
I don't really want to go into details, since that would feel like spoiling the whole game. But I want to say, that I had some thoughts at first, how everything could be some sort of metaphor or something. It's not though, and everything you see, is exactly what you get.
And what you get is sadly just not that interesting to me.
Options only become available when starting a new game. There is no voice acting and I missed some music. For most of the time, the game is dead silent. I played in German, and the translation and grammar is absolutely fine.
It took me 3 hours to play through it. While I missed some more challenging puzzles, the gameplay is solid. Sadly the story didn't work for me and had me often skip through the dialogue somewhat bored. (And it is a rather talkative game in parts.)
Finished Vodoo Detective today.
A fairly short game, about 5 hours, that features the eponymous Voodoo Detective. I take it the devs were trying to be respectful of real culture around Voodoo, though given how you keep casting spells like a magician, it's not like it's trying to be faithful about stuff either. The actual implementation of it in the game comes in the form of specific items you need to find and combine to cast those spells. This makes for a pretty effective use of the PnC mechanics, so kudos for that.
My only real criticism of the game is that it's lacking some niceties of modern games, like being able to make all important spots easily visible on command. A couple of times I needed to get hints how to proceed, just because there was something you could interact with that I missed. I really don't understand why devs of modern games with high def graphics can't understand that it's completely non-trivial to spot what things you can interact with. This wasn't an issue for a 320x240 game back in '92. But playing at 1440p, and high fidelity backgrounds, how should I guess which cupboard is important and what is just background?
A less important thing, that still bugged me, was how characters were often kinda dull. There's barely any facial animation and so all characters have the same expression throughout the game. Given the deadpan voice the main character speaks with, this effect is just made worse. I feel the money could have been spent on animating faces, and instead reducing the overall fidelity and go for a simpler look. But it's up for the devs to decide how to best spend their money and time.
Overall a decent, if forgettable game.
A fairly short game, about 5 hours, that features the eponymous Voodoo Detective. I take it the devs were trying to be respectful of real culture around Voodoo, though given how you keep casting spells like a magician, it's not like it's trying to be faithful about stuff either. The actual implementation of it in the game comes in the form of specific items you need to find and combine to cast those spells. This makes for a pretty effective use of the PnC mechanics, so kudos for that.
My only real criticism of the game is that it's lacking some niceties of modern games, like being able to make all important spots easily visible on command. A couple of times I needed to get hints how to proceed, just because there was something you could interact with that I missed. I really don't understand why devs of modern games with high def graphics can't understand that it's completely non-trivial to spot what things you can interact with. This wasn't an issue for a 320x240 game back in '92. But playing at 1440p, and high fidelity backgrounds, how should I guess which cupboard is important and what is just background?
A less important thing, that still bugged me, was how characters were often kinda dull. There's barely any facial animation and so all characters have the same expression throughout the game. Given the deadpan voice the main character speaks with, this effect is just made worse. I feel the money could have been spent on animating faces, and instead reducing the overall fidelity and go for a simpler look. But it's up for the devs to decide how to best spend their money and time.
Overall a decent, if forgettable game.
just played it last week as well.
agree with the hotspots highlight thing. its a big oversight at this point in time.
fortunately game was pretty easy for it to become a big problem. other than that i enjoyed it pretty much.
its not a modern clsasic in any way, but was clever and funny and just around the right length.
i think i read its the first adv from the studio, thats pretty impressive too.
In "Where does the time go?!" news I played the Anniversary Edition of Edna & Harvey: The Breakout.
The original was the first game of Daedalic and I played it upon release - in fucking 2008! While the gameplay was rough around the edges, their genius showed already and the dark story left me unsatisfyed and yet hooked.
They redrew the whole game for the AE. Very faithful to the original still, but much cleaner and with more detail. Also 16:9 instead of 4:3. Controls were redone too, and of course nowadays nothing can do without achievements. But everything else was left untouched.
You can switch between old and new graphics in the options (while controls and UI remain "new"). Sadly there is no hotkey to do so on the fly. And I'm also a little disappointed you don't get the original as a bonus when buying the AE.
Anyway, for those who managed to miss this gem all those years: 18 year old Edna finds herself in an asylum, with no idea, how she got there - her memory is completely wiped. But one's certain: She doesn't belong here, since she's not crazy. Her best friend Harvey, a blue toy rabbit, says so too! So they start to plan their breakout, with lots of destructive fun ahead.
Everything is handdrawn in a colorful cartoon look. I really like the new clean look and I have to say, I forgot in parts how wonky the original really looked. And yet, the old one has its own charm because of said wonkyness, mainly regarding Edna and especially Harvey. He does look super cute in the AE, but at the same time I miss his derpy old look.
It is a bit like watching old Simpsons or South Park episodes and then switching to modern seasons. It's still basically the same and yet different.
As mentioned they stayed very true to the original. This is also true for the animations, and sometimes movements and cutscenes seem rather abrupt. Here a tiny bit more work wouldn't have hurt.
One thing I really dislike about the new graphics is the font of the subtitels, that look a bit weird at times, and also the box during dialogues for your different answers to choose from. I mainly dislike the bar between the different answers.
Controls in the original worked with barebones verbs at the bottom of the screen. Of course this doesn't work in modern times, the game must be played with gamepad too! So instead there is a ring menu, when clicking on hotspots, then move the mouse to get the verb icon of your choice to be active. (The cursor diappears, when the ring menu opens.)
To use an item from your inventory, you need to make it active by scrolling through your stuff. The active item then appears in the ring menu and can be used.
To be frank: I hate this. It feels cumbersome and makes interacting with everything a tad more inconvenient. I mostly miss the good old "drag'n'drop" or item "sticking" to the cursor.
The quality of the puzzles is somewhat hit or miss. There are some more basic ones, while others are harder and more cryptic. Sometimes there is good signal boosting, another time there isn't at all. There is one puzzle, what I'd really call bullshit and to this day have trouble believing anyone gets it on its own. How to get the guard to rush to the toilet
My much bigger gripe is traversal. The asylum is separated into two sections, and traveling between them is a bit time consuming and cumbersome. Since you do have to go back and forth regularely, this becomes tiresome quickly. It takes quite some time until you can move around more freely. And even then there is a guard you have to distract a few times to sneak past, what is a bit annoying as well.
The true genius of the game shows in something completely different.
You know how in other PnCs, trying something gives you a generic "I can't do that" and the likes? Not with Edna and Harvey. Nearly everything you try, and I really mean everything, gives you a unique dialogue, fitting for the item and hotspot. It can be a short oneliner or even a longer joke unfolding between Edna and Harvey. You can also use Harvey on everything to ask him for his opinion, providing some stupid comments as well.
I alreay noticed this as outstanding when I first played it. And this time I went all in on it and tried to really use everything with everything. I could spent minutes in a new room, just trying around all my items with one another and all the hotspots.
The amount is insane! Absolutely amazing.
It must have been a nightmare to translate this into other languages. Not just because of the high amount, but also because of the many, many jokes relying on play of words. (And apparently the original release was criticized for barebones translation. Since I only ever played it in German, I can't comment on that at all, and if the AE does it better.)
While we are at it: the German voice acting is great throughout. Again especially Edna and Harvey.
But there is still more. Often you can "destroy" your surroundings. Write on stuff with your pen. Cut a pattern into the plant with your scissors. Splash ketchup around. Carve something into the desk. Why? Just because it's fun!
Again: This love for details is insane.
Despite all this joyful nonsense, the story goes some places, and it has a noticeably tonal shift towards the end. This transports a lot through Edna. While at first she's joking around with Harvey all the time, she grows sad and starts to turn his ideas down.
Nothing is black and white on top. Yes, Alfred was an asshole. But Edna wasn't a saint either. Quite the difference.
There is also the light unease, an asylum brings with it as a setting. Now this is not a cruel place as often depicted in horror games, but more on the harmless fun side with "quirky" patients. And yet one might ask themself, if it is really a good idea to help them escape.
At the very end there is a decision to be had for two different endings. A decision, you really don't want to make, with both options not feeling "right". This is totally intentional, and yet as a player, I am left with an ending that doesn't really feel satisfying either way. It took me quite a while to come to terms with the dev's way of story telling. (This might also be a reason, I never had a problem with the ending of Deponia 3, since their very first game prepared me for it already. :P)
The only thing, that stood out to me storywise, is how little sense it makes in some ways.
I recommend watching both endings. You will be shown what happened to some of the characters, you met along the way, with both endings featuring differnt ones. And even with a nice connection between them.
My thorough playthrough took me up to 11 hours. A normal one should be around 8-9 hours.
Edna's Breakout is rough around the edges, no doubt. And you really need a thing for this kind of humour. The game is more of a fan favourite. But one thing is certain: it offers a rather unique experience.
Also the ending song during the credits is an absolute catchy tune!
The original was the first game of Daedalic and I played it upon release - in fucking 2008! While the gameplay was rough around the edges, their genius showed already and the dark story left me unsatisfyed and yet hooked.
They redrew the whole game for the AE. Very faithful to the original still, but much cleaner and with more detail. Also 16:9 instead of 4:3. Controls were redone too, and of course nowadays nothing can do without achievements. But everything else was left untouched.
You can switch between old and new graphics in the options (while controls and UI remain "new"). Sadly there is no hotkey to do so on the fly. And I'm also a little disappointed you don't get the original as a bonus when buying the AE.
Anyway, for those who managed to miss this gem all those years: 18 year old Edna finds herself in an asylum, with no idea, how she got there - her memory is completely wiped. But one's certain: She doesn't belong here, since she's not crazy. Her best friend Harvey, a blue toy rabbit, says so too! So they start to plan their breakout, with lots of destructive fun ahead.
Everything is handdrawn in a colorful cartoon look. I really like the new clean look and I have to say, I forgot in parts how wonky the original really looked. And yet, the old one has its own charm because of said wonkyness, mainly regarding Edna and especially Harvey. He does look super cute in the AE, but at the same time I miss his derpy old look.
It is a bit like watching old Simpsons or South Park episodes and then switching to modern seasons. It's still basically the same and yet different.
As mentioned they stayed very true to the original. This is also true for the animations, and sometimes movements and cutscenes seem rather abrupt. Here a tiny bit more work wouldn't have hurt.
One thing I really dislike about the new graphics is the font of the subtitels, that look a bit weird at times, and also the box during dialogues for your different answers to choose from. I mainly dislike the bar between the different answers.
Controls in the original worked with barebones verbs at the bottom of the screen. Of course this doesn't work in modern times, the game must be played with gamepad too! So instead there is a ring menu, when clicking on hotspots, then move the mouse to get the verb icon of your choice to be active. (The cursor diappears, when the ring menu opens.)
To use an item from your inventory, you need to make it active by scrolling through your stuff. The active item then appears in the ring menu and can be used.
To be frank: I hate this. It feels cumbersome and makes interacting with everything a tad more inconvenient. I mostly miss the good old "drag'n'drop" or item "sticking" to the cursor.
The quality of the puzzles is somewhat hit or miss. There are some more basic ones, while others are harder and more cryptic. Sometimes there is good signal boosting, another time there isn't at all. There is one puzzle, what I'd really call bullshit and to this day have trouble believing anyone gets it on its own. How to get the guard to rush to the toilet
My much bigger gripe is traversal. The asylum is separated into two sections, and traveling between them is a bit time consuming and cumbersome. Since you do have to go back and forth regularely, this becomes tiresome quickly. It takes quite some time until you can move around more freely. And even then there is a guard you have to distract a few times to sneak past, what is a bit annoying as well.
The true genius of the game shows in something completely different.
You know how in other PnCs, trying something gives you a generic "I can't do that" and the likes? Not with Edna and Harvey. Nearly everything you try, and I really mean everything, gives you a unique dialogue, fitting for the item and hotspot. It can be a short oneliner or even a longer joke unfolding between Edna and Harvey. You can also use Harvey on everything to ask him for his opinion, providing some stupid comments as well.
I alreay noticed this as outstanding when I first played it. And this time I went all in on it and tried to really use everything with everything. I could spent minutes in a new room, just trying around all my items with one another and all the hotspots.
The amount is insane! Absolutely amazing.
It must have been a nightmare to translate this into other languages. Not just because of the high amount, but also because of the many, many jokes relying on play of words. (And apparently the original release was criticized for barebones translation. Since I only ever played it in German, I can't comment on that at all, and if the AE does it better.)
While we are at it: the German voice acting is great throughout. Again especially Edna and Harvey.
But there is still more. Often you can "destroy" your surroundings. Write on stuff with your pen. Cut a pattern into the plant with your scissors. Splash ketchup around. Carve something into the desk. Why? Just because it's fun!
Again: This love for details is insane.
Despite all this joyful nonsense, the story goes some places, and it has a noticeably tonal shift towards the end. This transports a lot through Edna. While at first she's joking around with Harvey all the time, she grows sad and starts to turn his ideas down.
Nothing is black and white on top. Yes, Alfred was an asshole. But Edna wasn't a saint either. Quite the difference.
There is also the light unease, an asylum brings with it as a setting. Now this is not a cruel place as often depicted in horror games, but more on the harmless fun side with "quirky" patients. And yet one might ask themself, if it is really a good idea to help them escape.
At the very end there is a decision to be had for two different endings. A decision, you really don't want to make, with both options not feeling "right". This is totally intentional, and yet as a player, I am left with an ending that doesn't really feel satisfying either way. It took me quite a while to come to terms with the dev's way of story telling. (This might also be a reason, I never had a problem with the ending of Deponia 3, since their very first game prepared me for it already. :P)
The only thing, that stood out to me storywise, is how little sense it makes in some ways.
It's never stated, where the game is meant to take place, but where would you get the death penality? Not in Germany, that's for sure.
And Edna was only 8 years old - non-accountable. On top of it being some sort of accident. In the real world, her father wouldn't have to take any blame to protect her. They might have put her into the asylum, and her father was cool with Marcel's experiments anyway. So win-win, I guess?
Also her father shipping her with Alfred is just pure bullshit.
And Edna was only 8 years old - non-accountable. On top of it being some sort of accident. In the real world, her father wouldn't have to take any blame to protect her. They might have put her into the asylum, and her father was cool with Marcel's experiments anyway. So win-win, I guess?
Also her father shipping her with Alfred is just pure bullshit.
My thorough playthrough took me up to 11 hours. A normal one should be around 8-9 hours.
Edna's Breakout is rough around the edges, no doubt. And you really need a thing for this kind of humour. The game is more of a fan favourite. But one thing is certain: it offers a rather unique experience.
Also the ending song during the credits is an absolute catchy tune!
That's why i was so disappointed with a sequel (albeit story sucks too imho)
I have always seen this as a trade off. This "optional silliness", that surely ate up a lot of ressources and is something very rare for a reason, went away, while the gameplay and puzzles got better.
The story is kinda weak, yeah. It's been some time, but I remember not liking the endings, with only one of them being okay. And this time it's not intentional bad. Just simply not good.
I also remember the moment Lily realizes the truth behind her actions, having a pretty strong effect on her - and then it was just glossed over instantly. Felt like a weird nothingburger like that.
Now that I have replayed Breakout, I'd like to revisit New Eyes too. Only played it once upon release as well. But it's so hard to go back to old stuff, when there's so much new stuff on the plate, waiting to be played. D:
Amerzone is getting a remake.
www.gog.com
Be honest, who had that on their Bingo card? I sure as hell hadn't.
Coming soon: Amerzone - The Explorer's Legacy
Coming soon: Amerzone - The Explorer's Legacy
I made a list of all the adventure games I have on Steam and GOG that I haven't played yet, and I'm now going through them in random order or just playing whatever strikes my fancy. Here's some quick impressions of the first three:
The Book of Unwritten Tales: Some of Germany's finest, just a solid adventure game with a likable cast of characters and a fun world. A gnome, a wood elf and a human get entangled in a never-ending war as they have to prevent a mysterious artefact from falling into wrong hands. Very much on the easy side, as I do not remember getting stuck for more than a minute or two at any point. Many of the hotspots disappear once you have interacted with them, which of course means that there are not that many left should you have to resort to trial and error. In terms of puzzles there really wasn't anything particularly memorable and I wouldn't have minded a bit more challenge, but the game rolls by nicely as it is and it's all just a fun time.
I also want to give props for including a mechanic I first remember seeing in the Longest Journey and which should be an adventure game staple: the cursor reacting when an item interaction is available. No need to listen to "I can't do that" endlessly when you can just hover an item over a hotspot or another item and see if something works.
Visually the game is also rather pleasing, though it might be because I am now so old that the somewhat clunky 3D adventure game look has some nostalgic appeal to me. The design of the wood elf, Ivo, is of course blatant fan service, but I personally do not mind. Certainly not a practical outfit, though.
I do feel like the ending was rather abrupt, and made me think they ran out of time or money. In a way they set up a grand finale, but then there was no puzzle sequence to go along with it. The last action of the game is just clicking on a random guard. Still, will probably check out the sequel at some point.
Teenagent: Polish adventure game from the 90s, short but brutally hard. The government has gotten a fortune teller to randomly select someone to solve the case of some missing gold, and the lot has fallen on a teenager, one Mark Hopper. I admit I had to resort to using a guide quite a bit, because these puzzles do not make any sense whatsoever. If the Book of Unwritten Tales was a breezy time, this one is pretty much the exact opposite. Nevertheless, the game is not without its charms, with some fun gags along the way.
I also have some nostalgia for the game, as I remember playing either the demo or the beginning of the full game back in the day. Always nice to come back to some unfinished business from one's youth. The game is also available for free on GOG so that's always nice.
Encodya: Mixed feelings about this one. You play as a ten-year old orphan girl Tina and her robot Sam in a cyberpunk city riddled with virtual reality junkies, and you must uncover the secrets of your past and perhaps even save the city from itself. Story and characters are well done enough, though the ending is utopian to the point of being absurd, but it is the UI that is the big problem. It is almost like it has been designed to bring the game down. The only real challenge in the game comes from pixel hunting, as for some inexplicable reason the developers decided not to include a button to reveal all the hotspots. Enjoy scanning every HD screen for tiny rocks or notes. Using items is also a pain, as every time you try using an item unsuccessfully it gets de-selected, and you have to choose it again. This combined with the game using the action wheel means you have to click twice just to select an item.
The action wheel really is the worst thing to have happened to adventure games in a long time. If the right mouse button does not automatically "look," you are doing adventure games wrong.
The game also includes an obvious Trump parody as a villain, but doesn't really do anything with him. In fact it's probably wrong to say it's "obvious," since if it wasn't for the name (Rumpf) I'm not sure I would have made the connection as he's really just a typical corrupt politician. I feel like they should have gone harder at him. As it is, it feels rather pointless and even more of a distraction.
Overall it's a decent adventure game with some nice locations, but could have been much more enjoyable with some improvements in gameplay. But of course since at times the game feels more like a hidden object game than a point and click adventure game, being able to see all the hotspots would remove most of the challenge that the game offers. That challenge is not of a particularly enjoyable kind, though, so not much would be lost there.
The Book of Unwritten Tales: Some of Germany's finest, just a solid adventure game with a likable cast of characters and a fun world. A gnome, a wood elf and a human get entangled in a never-ending war as they have to prevent a mysterious artefact from falling into wrong hands. Very much on the easy side, as I do not remember getting stuck for more than a minute or two at any point. Many of the hotspots disappear once you have interacted with them, which of course means that there are not that many left should you have to resort to trial and error. In terms of puzzles there really wasn't anything particularly memorable and I wouldn't have minded a bit more challenge, but the game rolls by nicely as it is and it's all just a fun time.
I also want to give props for including a mechanic I first remember seeing in the Longest Journey and which should be an adventure game staple: the cursor reacting when an item interaction is available. No need to listen to "I can't do that" endlessly when you can just hover an item over a hotspot or another item and see if something works.
Visually the game is also rather pleasing, though it might be because I am now so old that the somewhat clunky 3D adventure game look has some nostalgic appeal to me. The design of the wood elf, Ivo, is of course blatant fan service, but I personally do not mind. Certainly not a practical outfit, though.
I do feel like the ending was rather abrupt, and made me think they ran out of time or money. In a way they set up a grand finale, but then there was no puzzle sequence to go along with it. The last action of the game is just clicking on a random guard. Still, will probably check out the sequel at some point.
Teenagent: Polish adventure game from the 90s, short but brutally hard. The government has gotten a fortune teller to randomly select someone to solve the case of some missing gold, and the lot has fallen on a teenager, one Mark Hopper. I admit I had to resort to using a guide quite a bit, because these puzzles do not make any sense whatsoever. If the Book of Unwritten Tales was a breezy time, this one is pretty much the exact opposite. Nevertheless, the game is not without its charms, with some fun gags along the way.
I also have some nostalgia for the game, as I remember playing either the demo or the beginning of the full game back in the day. Always nice to come back to some unfinished business from one's youth. The game is also available for free on GOG so that's always nice.
Encodya: Mixed feelings about this one. You play as a ten-year old orphan girl Tina and her robot Sam in a cyberpunk city riddled with virtual reality junkies, and you must uncover the secrets of your past and perhaps even save the city from itself. Story and characters are well done enough, though the ending is utopian to the point of being absurd, but it is the UI that is the big problem. It is almost like it has been designed to bring the game down. The only real challenge in the game comes from pixel hunting, as for some inexplicable reason the developers decided not to include a button to reveal all the hotspots. Enjoy scanning every HD screen for tiny rocks or notes. Using items is also a pain, as every time you try using an item unsuccessfully it gets de-selected, and you have to choose it again. This combined with the game using the action wheel means you have to click twice just to select an item.
The action wheel really is the worst thing to have happened to adventure games in a long time. If the right mouse button does not automatically "look," you are doing adventure games wrong.
The game also includes an obvious Trump parody as a villain, but doesn't really do anything with him. In fact it's probably wrong to say it's "obvious," since if it wasn't for the name (Rumpf) I'm not sure I would have made the connection as he's really just a typical corrupt politician. I feel like they should have gone harder at him. As it is, it feels rather pointless and even more of a distraction.
Overall it's a decent adventure game with some nice locations, but could have been much more enjoyable with some improvements in gameplay. But of course since at times the game feels more like a hidden object game than a point and click adventure game, being able to see all the hotspots would remove most of the challenge that the game offers. That challenge is not of a particularly enjoyable kind, though, so not much would be lost there.
This popped up on GOG today and I'm always down for something cute and handdrawn! 🤗
www.gog.com
It does rely too heavily on collecting items from a list, but also has different puzzle segments keeping things varied. For example stuff like mixing the potion. I also like the co-op parts, where you have to combine their different abilities.
The prequel Critter Chronicles was a huge letdown in comparison. Mainly the puzzle quality took a nosedive, with many things lacking logic and stuff, you wouldn't be able to foresee.
BoUT 2 was great again though. Although I'll forever be mad they never put out a patch for the physical versions. (Or at least not that I could find one). So it contains bugs and is missing puzzles they patched into the digital storefronts at a later date.
Teenagent is such a product of its time. I found the MC unlikeable and the puzzles stupid. (2019, damn how time flies. @.@)
Encodya fell flat on me as well. Looks janky and plays janky. :/ The Rumpf stuff was also stupid, and the devs were quick to deny any similarity to Trump and how there game is not political blah, blah. 🙄
But you can highlight hotspots actually. You need to choose the easy difficulty though, otherwise it is blocked. And then again their help features suck ass anyway. So... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I wrote a longer review about it here.
FLAKE The Legend of Snowblind
FLAKE COLDEST POINT AND CLICK ADVENTURE EVER Embark on this MYSTICAL journey in th
Book of Unwritten Tales is one of those games I'd always recommend! I like the humour, the colorful world looks beautiful and the (german) voice acting is great too. And of course the gameplay is great.
It does rely too heavily on collecting items from a list, but also has different puzzle segments keeping things varied. For example stuff like mixing the potion. I also like the co-op parts, where you have to combine their different abilities.
The prequel Critter Chronicles was a huge letdown in comparison. Mainly the puzzle quality took a nosedive, with many things lacking logic and stuff, you wouldn't be able to foresee.
BoUT 2 was great again though. Although I'll forever be mad they never put out a patch for the physical versions. (Or at least not that I could find one). So it contains bugs and is missing puzzles they patched into the digital storefronts at a later date.
Teenagent is such a product of its time. I found the MC unlikeable and the puzzles stupid. (2019, damn how time flies. @.@)
Encodya fell flat on me as well. Looks janky and plays janky. :/ The Rumpf stuff was also stupid, and the devs were quick to deny any similarity to Trump and how there game is not political blah, blah. 🙄
But you can highlight hotspots actually. You need to choose the easy difficulty though, otherwise it is blocked. And then again their help features suck ass anyway. So... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I wrote a longer review about it here.
My nostalgia probably made me more favourable to Teenagent than it deserves. I definitely would not recommend it to a fan of more modern adventure games.
The Book of Unwritten Tales really was an all-around enjoyable adventure. Been a while since I've played a game that was just such a merry time.
Continuing through my backlog, here's some quick thoughts on two more games.
The Shivah: The first Wadjet Eye game, and the strengths and weaknesses of their stuff are already pretty evident here. Rabbi Russell Stone has money troubles when a former member of his congregation is murdered, leaving Stone some dough in his will. It is up to Stone to unravel the mystery and come to terms with his own past.
It's a short game (under two hours even after loading an earlier save to see an alternative ending) and pretty straightforward. Like later Wadjet Eye games I've played, it feels closer to a visual novel than a game, with only a few real puzzles and some choose-your-own-adventure elements. Personally I prefer heavier emphasis on puzzles, so Wadjet games are seldom homeruns for me, but if going along for the story is your thing the Shivah is a fine experience, albeit a bit wordy. Dave Gilbert does have a real voice, as in you can really tell when you're playing his games. That's always something.
Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist: A Sierra game by Al Lowe (of Leisure Suit Larry fame) and Josh Mandel, and one I played a lot as a kid but never beat until now. Former gunslinger Freddy Pharkas is now the pharmacist of the town Coarsegold, but his new career and budding romance with the lovely Penelope are threatened by a series of strange disasters, and it soon becomes clear that a conspiracy is afoot. It is up to Freddy to get to the bottom of it all, perhaps even having to bring his old pistols back from retirement.
As might be expected from an Al Lowe game, Freddy Pharkas has some great humour, and the atmosphere in Coarsegold is fantastic. Mixing potions for your customers is just good fun, and having to look up the recipes in the manual (form of copy protection) is a nice touch, though it made me wish I had the physical manual on me. Puzzles range from pretty clear to extremely convoluted, and it soon became clear why I never finished the game as a youngin.
I might have soldiered on without a walkthrough if it had just been the difficulty, but in a typical Sierra fashion there are constant deaths as well as timed puzzles, and I no longer have the patience for reloading saves constantly, especially when I'm not entirely sure whether or not there are dead-ends to top it all off. I'm still traumatised by some Space Quest hijinks.
But the story, characters and just the general vibe of the game are still fantastic, with some great voice acting. I absolutely recommend the game for fans of the genre, and just use a walkthrough if you do not have the stomach for Sierra brutality. I certainly don't anymore. Also, the ballad of Freddy Pharkas is a banger.
The Shivah: The first Wadjet Eye game, and the strengths and weaknesses of their stuff are already pretty evident here. Rabbi Russell Stone has money troubles when a former member of his congregation is murdered, leaving Stone some dough in his will. It is up to Stone to unravel the mystery and come to terms with his own past.
It's a short game (under two hours even after loading an earlier save to see an alternative ending) and pretty straightforward. Like later Wadjet Eye games I've played, it feels closer to a visual novel than a game, with only a few real puzzles and some choose-your-own-adventure elements. Personally I prefer heavier emphasis on puzzles, so Wadjet games are seldom homeruns for me, but if going along for the story is your thing the Shivah is a fine experience, albeit a bit wordy. Dave Gilbert does have a real voice, as in you can really tell when you're playing his games. That's always something.
Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist: A Sierra game by Al Lowe (of Leisure Suit Larry fame) and Josh Mandel, and one I played a lot as a kid but never beat until now. Former gunslinger Freddy Pharkas is now the pharmacist of the town Coarsegold, but his new career and budding romance with the lovely Penelope are threatened by a series of strange disasters, and it soon becomes clear that a conspiracy is afoot. It is up to Freddy to get to the bottom of it all, perhaps even having to bring his old pistols back from retirement.
As might be expected from an Al Lowe game, Freddy Pharkas has some great humour, and the atmosphere in Coarsegold is fantastic. Mixing potions for your customers is just good fun, and having to look up the recipes in the manual (form of copy protection) is a nice touch, though it made me wish I had the physical manual on me. Puzzles range from pretty clear to extremely convoluted, and it soon became clear why I never finished the game as a youngin.
I might have soldiered on without a walkthrough if it had just been the difficulty, but in a typical Sierra fashion there are constant deaths as well as timed puzzles, and I no longer have the patience for reloading saves constantly, especially when I'm not entirely sure whether or not there are dead-ends to top it all off. I'm still traumatised by some Space Quest hijinks.
But the story, characters and just the general vibe of the game are still fantastic, with some great voice acting. I absolutely recommend the game for fans of the genre, and just use a walkthrough if you do not have the stomach for Sierra brutality. I certainly don't anymore. Also, the ballad of Freddy Pharkas is a banger.
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Some more random musings:
The Interactive Adventures of Dog Mendonca & Pizzaboy: Visually impressive but rather straightforward, dare I say visual novelish, adventure. A Spanish game based on a Spanish comic book I've never heard of, tells the story of a werewolf private investigator Dog Mendonca who employs a demon trapped in a girl's body, a gargoyle head and a pizza boy, this Pizzaboy being the main character who does all the work while Dog gets all the credit.
The game has a great look, but the writing misses the mark for me. The story is good enough, but most of the attempts at humour didn't land with me, and there are no puzzles to speak of. Despite great looking locations, there are basically no hotspots anywhere, and only a couple items that can be picked up. I feel like there was only one puzzle in the game that was somewhat memorable, the rest of the time it being obvious what you need to do even before knowing why you would want to do it.
It's pretty light fare, maybe worth checking out if you are into supernatural adventures and you like the look of the game. At least it flows easily enough since there are not many places you can get stuck.
Lure of the Temptress: First game from Revolution Software, later known for Beneath a Steel Sky and the Broken Sword series, and available for free on GOG.com. There's a lot to like here for someone with nostalgia for adventure games of simpler times, but some cumbersome gameplay and rather barebones story and characters make it more a fascinating relic than a truly enjoyable experience.
The king has been slain and peasant Diermot has been taken prisoner by the terrible Skorl, currently in service of the titular enchantress Selena. Diermot must escape from his dungeon and with the aid of the townsfolk outwit the Skorl and defeat the wily sorceress. There are some unique aspects in this noble quest, most notably NPCs roaming around the town rather than being forever stuck in one place as is their usual lot in adventure games. Of course one soon wishes they would stop moving, as it is pure agony trying to do anything, even leaving the screen, when four or more NPCs and your idiot sidekick are buzzing around. Some puzzles require giving instructions to your companion, and even managing to talk to them can become absurd thanks to some dreadful pathfinding.
Puzzles for the most part are rather straightforward, and despite there being deaths I don't think you can get stuck despite the game having a bit of a Sierra vibe to it, probably because of some King's Quest influence. One moment in particular really felt like I had done something early on that I shouldn't have, but it turned out to be nothing. But what the game really lacks is some meat on its bones: there are some nice adventure game moments in taverns with barbarians and in caves with dragons, but everything is left feeling a bit shallow, especially the main villainess. This is actually a game I think would benefit from a modern remake that cuts out all the jank and fleshes out the rest.
There are already hints of greatness here, but to actually enjoy that greatness you are likely better served by later Revolution Software games.
Yesterday: Somewhat lackluster but at times interesting game from Pendulo Studios, probably best known for their Runaway series. After an early plot twist, you play as John Yesterday, an amnesiac who has to regain his memory in a globetrotting adventure involving cults and satanism. It can be a pretty intriguing yarn, but the presentation feels a bit rushed.
One notable thing is that only the dialogue is voice acted, rest is just text, perhaps for budget reasons. There is also a rather curious movement system, where the character basically teleports from one hotspot to another rather than walking there. It certainly saves time when you don't have to stare at the walking animation, but it takes some getting used to, as does the way hotspots appear in their own mini-windows when clicked on.
I have previously only played the first two Runaway games from Pendulo, but there is something about their puzzle design that just doesn't compute with me. Despite relatively few items and hotspots, the right answer always seems to elude me and I just end up trying everything with everything. I can't even really say it's just because the puzzles don't make sense, but they just feel off.
The story goes to some dark places, which creates a pretty strange effect with the rather unique look that Pendulo games tend to have, particularly the characters. If occult horror is your thing you might get a kick out of this one.
The Interactive Adventures of Dog Mendonca & Pizzaboy: Visually impressive but rather straightforward, dare I say visual novelish, adventure. A Spanish game based on a Spanish comic book I've never heard of, tells the story of a werewolf private investigator Dog Mendonca who employs a demon trapped in a girl's body, a gargoyle head and a pizza boy, this Pizzaboy being the main character who does all the work while Dog gets all the credit.
The game has a great look, but the writing misses the mark for me. The story is good enough, but most of the attempts at humour didn't land with me, and there are no puzzles to speak of. Despite great looking locations, there are basically no hotspots anywhere, and only a couple items that can be picked up. I feel like there was only one puzzle in the game that was somewhat memorable, the rest of the time it being obvious what you need to do even before knowing why you would want to do it.
It's pretty light fare, maybe worth checking out if you are into supernatural adventures and you like the look of the game. At least it flows easily enough since there are not many places you can get stuck.
Lure of the Temptress: First game from Revolution Software, later known for Beneath a Steel Sky and the Broken Sword series, and available for free on GOG.com. There's a lot to like here for someone with nostalgia for adventure games of simpler times, but some cumbersome gameplay and rather barebones story and characters make it more a fascinating relic than a truly enjoyable experience.
The king has been slain and peasant Diermot has been taken prisoner by the terrible Skorl, currently in service of the titular enchantress Selena. Diermot must escape from his dungeon and with the aid of the townsfolk outwit the Skorl and defeat the wily sorceress. There are some unique aspects in this noble quest, most notably NPCs roaming around the town rather than being forever stuck in one place as is their usual lot in adventure games. Of course one soon wishes they would stop moving, as it is pure agony trying to do anything, even leaving the screen, when four or more NPCs and your idiot sidekick are buzzing around. Some puzzles require giving instructions to your companion, and even managing to talk to them can become absurd thanks to some dreadful pathfinding.
Puzzles for the most part are rather straightforward, and despite there being deaths I don't think you can get stuck despite the game having a bit of a Sierra vibe to it, probably because of some King's Quest influence. One moment in particular really felt like I had done something early on that I shouldn't have, but it turned out to be nothing. But what the game really lacks is some meat on its bones: there are some nice adventure game moments in taverns with barbarians and in caves with dragons, but everything is left feeling a bit shallow, especially the main villainess. This is actually a game I think would benefit from a modern remake that cuts out all the jank and fleshes out the rest.
There are already hints of greatness here, but to actually enjoy that greatness you are likely better served by later Revolution Software games.
Yesterday: Somewhat lackluster but at times interesting game from Pendulo Studios, probably best known for their Runaway series. After an early plot twist, you play as John Yesterday, an amnesiac who has to regain his memory in a globetrotting adventure involving cults and satanism. It can be a pretty intriguing yarn, but the presentation feels a bit rushed.
One notable thing is that only the dialogue is voice acted, rest is just text, perhaps for budget reasons. There is also a rather curious movement system, where the character basically teleports from one hotspot to another rather than walking there. It certainly saves time when you don't have to stare at the walking animation, but it takes some getting used to, as does the way hotspots appear in their own mini-windows when clicked on.
I have previously only played the first two Runaway games from Pendulo, but there is something about their puzzle design that just doesn't compute with me. Despite relatively few items and hotspots, the right answer always seems to elude me and I just end up trying everything with everything. I can't even really say it's just because the puzzles don't make sense, but they just feel off.
The story goes to some dark places, which creates a pretty strange effect with the rather unique look that Pendulo games tend to have, particularly the characters. If occult horror is your thing you might get a kick out of this one.
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I had Dog & Pizzaboy on my wishlist at some time, but reviews made me hesitant and I started to watch a walkthrough, to check it out. Ended up scratching it off my list and just watch the walkthrough instead.
Similar to you, the humour didn't vibe with me and gameplay seemed rather uninteresting. If I'm not completely of now, theire should also be fist fights in them, that seemed like a nuissance to play on top.
Yesterday is a complicated one for me, since I have a hate boner for Pendulo. ^^ I played Runaway, and their puzzles have so many design flaws, I wouldn't even know where to start. On top I disliked the characters and the genereal (love)story. The theme songs are absolute 10/10 bangers though, I adore to no end.
Never played the sequels, and even people I know, who liked the first Runaway, didn't like those.
I also disliked Next Big Thing, so after that, I swore to not touch Pendulo games again. But a gaming site I was reading at that time, put out a shining review for Yesterday, and so I ended up playing it against my better judgement.
And yeah, hated it. ^^ The story didn't do much for me and is full of chlices. The gameplay has again several flaws. For example the interaction with hotspots. You are also often limited to small areas with very few possible interactions. And the help function to highlight hotspots is utter trash.
When they put out the prequel, I got this itch in my fingers to play it, but to this day, I can proudly say, I haven't given in. :D
Similar to you, the humour didn't vibe with me and gameplay seemed rather uninteresting. If I'm not completely of now, theire should also be fist fights in them, that seemed like a nuissance to play on top.
Yesterday is a complicated one for me, since I have a hate boner for Pendulo. ^^ I played Runaway, and their puzzles have so many design flaws, I wouldn't even know where to start. On top I disliked the characters and the genereal (love)story. The theme songs are absolute 10/10 bangers though, I adore to no end.
Never played the sequels, and even people I know, who liked the first Runaway, didn't like those.
I also disliked Next Big Thing, so after that, I swore to not touch Pendulo games again. But a gaming site I was reading at that time, put out a shining review for Yesterday, and so I ended up playing it against my better judgement.
And yeah, hated it. ^^ The story didn't do much for me and is full of chlices. The gameplay has again several flaws. For example the interaction with hotspots. You are also often limited to small areas with very few possible interactions. And the help function to highlight hotspots is utter trash.
When they put out the prequel, I got this itch in my fingers to play it, but to this day, I can proudly say, I haven't given in. :D
PnC meets visual novel in a Lord of the Flies setting. In a village full of children they have to peform pagan rituals.
The first chapter is free to play as a demo.
www.gog.com
Post apocalyptic world set in Finland. The look, especially the iso perspective, reminds me a lot of the games from Brotherhood. (Stasis, Beautiful Desolation.) Quite intriguing.
www.gog.com
The first chapter is free to play as a demo.
The Mildew Children
The Mildew Children: Chapter 1 is available here Featuring a blend of 2D adventur
Post apocalyptic world set in Finland. The look, especially the iso perspective, reminds me a lot of the games from Brotherhood. (Stasis, Beautiful Desolation.) Quite intriguing.
Rauniot
GAME Rauniot is an isometric post-apocalyptic point and click adventure game full of
These came out yesterday, I'll check them out and hope to leave some impressions!PnC meets visual novel in a Lord of the Flies setting. In a village full of children they have to peform pagan rituals.
The first chapter is free to play as a demo.
The Mildew Children
The Mildew Children: Chapter 1 is available here Featuring a blend of 2D adventur
Post apocalyptic world set in Finland. The look, especially the iso perspective, reminds me a lot of the games from Brotherhood. (Stasis, Beautiful Desolation.) Quite intriguing.
Rauniot
GAME Rauniot is an isometric post-apocalyptic point and click adventure game full of
Time for a Daedelic triple feature. I've only played the Whispered World and the Deponia trilogy (not Doomsday) before, but I've had most of their games on GOG or Steam for ages. I think I enjoyed the Deponia games more than some and the Whispered World was lovely to look at, but something about their games never totally clicked with me. Still, it is a shame how things turned out for them, and we all would be better off if they had been making new adventure games these past few years instead of headlining that whole Gollum debacle.
Edna and Harvey: The Breakout (Anniversary Edition): Here's a game that goes to some dark places. Edna has been locked up in a mental institution with her toy rabbit Harvey after her father was executed for murdering a neighbour boy. As the subtitle implies, she has to break out of the facility by gathering together a ragtag team of inmates and perhaps prove her father innocent.
The game does a good job at creating a creepy atmosphere, and as you play on one patient in particular makes you think it's probably not a good idea to let the residents of an asylum loose. There were some puzzles I probably would never have solved without checking a walkthrough, like the monitor puzzle and some church organ shenanigans, but otherwise they were mostly fine, though not particularly remarkable. Travelling around the hospital could at times also be quite the hassle when certain sections were locked off and you had to take detours.
The game lets you play with the original graphics or with an updated look. The original has its charm, but I preferred the reworked version, maybe because both the look and the main setting being a single building reminded me of Day of the Tentacle. The animations do feel a bit choppy in the Anniversary update, and probably go better with the original.
The story and atmosphere alone make this worth playing, and even though the rather questionable mental acuity of most of the characters becomes apparent as the game goes on, they generally remain likable throughout. The bits where Edna gets "tempomorphed" into the past to learn new skills in particular make you ask the classic question: are we the baddies?
A New Beginning (Director's Cut): Team of time travellers suck environmentalist Bent Svensson and his pornstache into their scheme to prevent climate change. I found it to be a somewhat engaging story though it did feel like the game dragged on despite not being overly long, maybe five or six hours. Bit too dialogue heavy for my liking, particularly since most of the dialogue is not that interesting. I don't know what changes were made to the Director's Cut, but I hope the comic book cutscenes were not added in because they did not do much to enhance the experience. My adventure game pet peeve, the action wheel, is once again present in this game. Is it really so difficult to just let a single click of the right mouse button be "look"? You can put all the other junk on your wheel, but let me have my look button.
The game has two playable characters, aforementioned Svensson and Fay, one of the time travellers. The game seems to play pretty fast and loose on what Fay knows and some of the story beats didn't make much sense to me, but maybe I just wasn't paying enough attention. Puzzles are mainly straightforward, but for example I still don't know how a certain cube puzzle was supposed to be solved besides just guessing.
Decent adventure overall, but I wouldn't say any aspect of it rises above passable. Bonus points for its ambition and for surely pissing off some chud somewhere for being woke climate propaganda.
The Dark Eye: Chains of Satinav: Apparently an adaptation of some fantasy series or game I've never heard of. Geron, an apprentice hunter, must save the town or kingdom (not entirely clear) of Andergast from an undead seer and his army of ravens. In the process he romances a fairy called Nuri and gets everybody around him killed.
Solid is the word that comes to mind. The story rolls on nicely and the characters are likable enough that you don't mind spending time with them. So many fantasy adventure games go heavy on the humour that I suppose it's nice to play one that plays it relatively straight. Puzzles are mainly on the easy side, as there are not that many locations or items in any chapter to give you much trouble even if you have to start guessing.
The game has a pretty flat look, though at times it can look nice. Daedelic games tend to look good in still images but can look off in motion. Despite that it was pleasant enough experience with a bit of a cliffhanger ending, so I might play the sequel down the line. Geron is such a gaslighter though, sucks to be Nuri.
Edna and Harvey: The Breakout (Anniversary Edition): Here's a game that goes to some dark places. Edna has been locked up in a mental institution with her toy rabbit Harvey after her father was executed for murdering a neighbour boy. As the subtitle implies, she has to break out of the facility by gathering together a ragtag team of inmates and perhaps prove her father innocent.
The game does a good job at creating a creepy atmosphere, and as you play on one patient in particular makes you think it's probably not a good idea to let the residents of an asylum loose. There were some puzzles I probably would never have solved without checking a walkthrough, like the monitor puzzle and some church organ shenanigans, but otherwise they were mostly fine, though not particularly remarkable. Travelling around the hospital could at times also be quite the hassle when certain sections were locked off and you had to take detours.
The game lets you play with the original graphics or with an updated look. The original has its charm, but I preferred the reworked version, maybe because both the look and the main setting being a single building reminded me of Day of the Tentacle. The animations do feel a bit choppy in the Anniversary update, and probably go better with the original.
The story and atmosphere alone make this worth playing, and even though the rather questionable mental acuity of most of the characters becomes apparent as the game goes on, they generally remain likable throughout. The bits where Edna gets "tempomorphed" into the past to learn new skills in particular make you ask the classic question: are we the baddies?
A New Beginning (Director's Cut): Team of time travellers suck environmentalist Bent Svensson and his pornstache into their scheme to prevent climate change. I found it to be a somewhat engaging story though it did feel like the game dragged on despite not being overly long, maybe five or six hours. Bit too dialogue heavy for my liking, particularly since most of the dialogue is not that interesting. I don't know what changes were made to the Director's Cut, but I hope the comic book cutscenes were not added in because they did not do much to enhance the experience. My adventure game pet peeve, the action wheel, is once again present in this game. Is it really so difficult to just let a single click of the right mouse button be "look"? You can put all the other junk on your wheel, but let me have my look button.
The game has two playable characters, aforementioned Svensson and Fay, one of the time travellers. The game seems to play pretty fast and loose on what Fay knows and some of the story beats didn't make much sense to me, but maybe I just wasn't paying enough attention. Puzzles are mainly straightforward, but for example I still don't know how a certain cube puzzle was supposed to be solved besides just guessing.
Decent adventure overall, but I wouldn't say any aspect of it rises above passable. Bonus points for its ambition and for surely pissing off some chud somewhere for being woke climate propaganda.
The Dark Eye: Chains of Satinav: Apparently an adaptation of some fantasy series or game I've never heard of. Geron, an apprentice hunter, must save the town or kingdom (not entirely clear) of Andergast from an undead seer and his army of ravens. In the process he romances a fairy called Nuri and gets everybody around him killed.
Solid is the word that comes to mind. The story rolls on nicely and the characters are likable enough that you don't mind spending time with them. So many fantasy adventure games go heavy on the humour that I suppose it's nice to play one that plays it relatively straight. Puzzles are mainly on the easy side, as there are not that many locations or items in any chapter to give you much trouble even if you have to start guessing.
The game has a pretty flat look, though at times it can look nice. Daedelic games tend to look good in still images but can look off in motion. Despite that it was pleasant enough experience with a bit of a cliffhanger ending, so I might play the sequel down the line. Geron is such a gaslighter though, sucks to be Nuri.