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[Santerestil]

Though to be honest, I don't think Zack & Wiki deserves to be on this list either. I hated that game.

*Boo_This_Man.jpg*

Dude, I love Zack and Wiki, but Heavy Rain and LA Noire, regardless of your feelings about overall quality, are far more of adventure games then Z&W. Z&W is essentially a series of isolated (awesome) puzzles with barely any thread connecting them.

I agree with this point, but...

Sure, but that's the inherent genre problem. The way I see it, something like Grim Fandango has heavy overlap with something like Riven, and something like Riven has heavy overlap with Portal.

And the problem is how much overlapping we can make before we don't have anymore an adventure game. Because, imho, Z&W can overlap with Machinarium e Samorost, and if we can list the latters, why not the first?

tl;dr: I think the list shouldn't have been "mixed" titles like Portal.

 

[gabbo]

I guess The Experiment/Experience 112 has only been played by, at best, a handful of gamers.
It's main gameplay mechanic was quite interesting, if maybe not everyone's cup of tea - that is, controlling the protagonist through the use of security cameras and lights.
The list itself is fine by me. All the other games I'd think of are in there in relatively the places I would put them.

 

[milkyjay20]

That said, I simply do not understand the love for The Longest Journey.

ME NEITHER

everybody suffers from diarrhea of the mouth, which would be okay if the dialog wasn't so god awful and trendy.

still tho, that's a way better list than what i would have come up with. basically lucasarts mixed with phoenix wright

 

[speedpop]

No Snatcher?

A title that should have easily made the list, but no skin off my back since I already know how great it is.

 

[Moor-Angol]

i don't know if i have to be more disappointed because Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders is not into the chart or because just one gaffer was disapppointed as i am...

 

[protonion]

Best genre ever!

I agree with the first two. I would put MI2 higher. And Overseer should be there instead of Pandora. Yes, multiple paths and all but Overseer is overall better imo.

For some reason I haven't played Still Life yet.

 

[vaelic]

Gabriel Knight II over Gabriel Knight I???
Whut.

And any version of Broken Sword and Myst over Monkey Island 1/2/3 is a joke.

Where the heck is Leisure Suit Larry 1???

Gk 2 was awesome

 

[Stumpokapow]

What I say about every list:
Instead of pissing and moaning about "x > y fuck u" or "where's z U MAD DOGGIE", it'd probably be better if people used the list to reflect on which games they played, which games they hadn't, whether or not the list reflects the dominance of any one style of adventure, whether there are some relatively unnoticed games on the list that might be ripe for discovery, etc.

This thread started out with quite a bit of the former but seems to have recovered nicely into a bit of discussion.

And, yeah, Heavy Rain isn't really a traditional graphic adventure. It has some adventure-like qualities presentationally, but it isn't really a neat mechanical fit.

It's nice to see that Myst and Riven were highly regarded. I always liked the presentation and the mystery of the games. I think HG101 does a really good job of emphasizing exactly what were excellent about them. Keeping within the same subgenre, though, I find it odd that Zork: Grand Inquisitor, which is a bit of a misfire, would have made it over Zork: Nemesis. Nemesis had many of the same qualities of Myst/Riven, a wonderful atmosphere of melancholy, a dark tone, and surprisingly good character performances. I know it's not well liked as a Zork game because Zork means funny but I think it really succeeds at what it tries to do, and it's never really being acknowledged for that.

 

[Of All Trades]

It's all about the atmosphere of Ankh-Morpork with its dark foreboding streets, every character almost universally hates being there,Lewton with his self-deprecation towards his job and the people around him,Always wise cracking in every situation .along with the many film noir winks and nods.The music was also really nice and fit with the tone of the game very well, The Vampire pianist comes to mind.
The humor was a really strong part of the game too but I guess its hit or miss.And if your American it may be something you just don't connect with. I think being a film noir fan in the first place may help too.
At the time the notepad way of accumulating information and being able to pull up anything of interest with a simple click seemed really far ahead of the other games in the genre.

If I remember right though some of the dialog can drag a bit.And the actual "detective" part of the game I agree could be seen as mediocre, I guess if the whole package does not gel for you then the whole thing falls apart.

I haven't really gone through it in a good 5 years though so I could be blinded by nostalgia.

I've read all the books and have watched more than enough movies to be familiar with the style being aped, I just thought that the humor was off and it dragged. I even asked Pratchett about it in person and he seemed disappointed with it.

GR is great, this is top 100; if you get a chance to play something from it, do so.

What I was getting at is that I consider a good portion of the list to be kinda eh. The top 20 is more or less fine but things take a pretty hard downturn after that.

 

[Stumpokapow]

What I was getting at is that I consider a good portion of the list to be kinda eh. The top 20 is more or less fine but things take a pretty hard downturn after that.

Is there a particular game or games you feel are not represented, or do you think it's just a function of the fact that any top 100 genre list is going to have some stuff that non-genre fans find marginal?

 

[indigo-cyclops]

OMG, that looks so awesome! One of my favorite movies ever comes with an awesome game and I didn't even know, for shame. Oh well, buying right now!



Thanks man, can't wait!

It's an amazing game honestly. Though somewhat short if I'm remebering correctly. I recently dusted it off and played it a few months ago. Still one of my favorite adventure games.

 

[Bebpo]

The Longest Journey is the most overrated adventure game of all time.

It's good. But just good. Not omg best game ever or anything. Not really sure how it got elevated to that status in the first place.

 

[Bebpo]

Also, all my ctrl+f searches are not coming up

Where is 5 days a stranger/7 days a skeptic/Trilby's Notes/6 days a sacrifice series? Best damn indie adventure games there are.

No Gray Matter makes me sad Best commercial adventure game in a decade and it doesn't even make the top100.

 

[Of All Trades]

And, yeah, Heavy Rain isn't really a traditional graphic adventure. It has some adventure-like qualities presentationally, but it isn't really a neat mechanical fit.

Neither is Bad Mojo. Really a lot of the list doesn't fit the strict Sierra/LA/Myst mold, and I'd certainly say Heavy Rain was more of a traditional adventure game than something like Amnesia, 7th Guest, or Layton, and probably on the same level of "qualifying" as Stacking. The closest evidence I could provide would be Psychic Detective, which was considered in the same genre as other adventure games and had roughly the same flow in that (as memory serves) you couldn't stop the progress of the story, just the outcome (in some ways an extremely-proto-Last Express).

Zork: Grand Nemesis.

I want to play your version. It sounds so much... grander than vanilla Nemesis.

Is there a particular game or games you feel are not represented, or do you think it's just a function of the fact that any top 100 genre list is going to have some stuff that non-genre fans find marginal?

The lack of any Kyrandia games is pretty notable; as memory serves they were quite well received at the same time other similar titles were. As for the latter, it's more a combination of ordering and marginal games, particularly when games I consider outright bad (like Toonstruck or Journeyman 2) are next to games I consider at least decent (The Dig), and I think there's a strong case that the list is damaged by the inescapable problem of nostalgia ordering that rears its head when a genre is long beyond its glory days.

I have to again point to Bad Mojo: a neat idea at the time but not a good game, and I don't think it had much of a lasting impact that would qualify it for lists in the way a film like Birth of a Nation often does (not to say that the controversy regarding the latter in any way applies to Bad Mojo). I don't have much of an issue with the ordering (because, like you rightly point out, it's hard to avoid any controversy and that shouldn't be the point), but there are at least a few titles that I consider land mines in that list based on inclusion and order.

 

[Stumpokapow]

I want to play your version. It sounds so much... grander than vanilla Nemesis.

I think it was some sort of freudian slip after I typed Grand Inquisitor, ahhaha

 

[mattiewheels]

I always thought that Longest Journey was considered such a classic because it came out right AFTER adventure games were considered dead and over, and it didn't have to be that great to impress everyone. People were just thrilled about a competent new adventure game and nostalgia takes hold after a bit. I feel this is way more true for stuff like Syberia and Amerzone though, kind of the dark ages for adv. games in a way.

 

[The Technomancer]

And the problem is how much overlapping we can make before we don't have anymore an adventure game. Because, imho, Z&W can overlap with Machinarium e Samorost, and if we can list the latters, why not the first?

tl;dr: I think the list shouldn't have been "mixed" titles like Portal.

See, I would disagree that Z&W overlaps with Machinarium. One of the defining characteristics of an adventure game to me is a feeling of natural progression and exploration, either through an environment or through a story (or both). Its what Myst, Machinarium, and Portal all share, and its what Zack and Wiki lacks. To be fair, Portal's first half does as well, but that's part of the subversive aspect that I could (and have) write an essay on.

Zack and Wiki shares some micro-mechanical aspects with games like Monkey Island (get item, use item on another thing), but its structure is entirely that of a pure puzzle game.

 

[DOBERMAN INC]

I've read all the books and have watched more than enough movies to be familiar with the style being aped, I just thought that the humor was off and it dragged. I even asked Pratchett about it in person and he seemed disappointed with it.

Well I can't argue with that, I'll defer to you and Pratchett over the quality, but I still enjoyed it in any case.

 

[Randomizer]

If L.A Noire, Heavy Rain and Portal count surely Shenmue does as well. Am I the only one who thinks Shenmue is a basically a 3d version of a Japanese visual novel?

Edit: OK list but very skewed towards western PC point and clicks. No Snatcher or 999 is kind of inexcusable especially with some of the bland/terrible games I've played from that list.

 

[Santerestil]

Zack and Wiki shares some micro-mechanical aspects with games like Monkey Island (get item, use item on another thing), but its structure is entirely that of a pure puzzle game.

Well, yes. I don't think that Z&W could be in that list: it is a puzzle game, I don't deny this. It's a japanese take on titles like Gobliiins or Lost Vikings... but, honestly, I think I can say the same on Samorost: if Z&W is a puzzle game, either Amanita games are.

One of the defining characteristics of an adventure game to me is a feeling of natural progression and exploration, either through an environment or through a story (or both).

Not to be polemic, but you have here definited 90% of the videogames on the market: Z&W has a feeling of natural progression and exploration, with the unlocking of new parts of enviroment (levels) that also advance the story.
And only because Z&W permits you to replay levels for shit 'n giggles, and Machinarium not, one is a puzzle game and the other not?


Or like had said Randomizer, why Heavy Rain yes but Shenmue not? Because of the combact?
If this list was "best 100 point 'n clicks" I had said nothing. But includes games where gneresboundaries are blurred, so I think that I can point some anomalies.

 

[BluWacky]

The lack of any Kyrandia games is pretty notable; as memory serves they were quite well received at the same time other similar titles were.

Personally I think time has not been kind to the Kyrandia series. Only Hand of Fate really stands up - the original has its irritating sudden death scenarios, and the third has its irritating... well, protagonist, plus a lot of ropey CG.

As for the latter, it's more a combination of ordering and marginal games, particularly when games I consider outright bad (like Toonstruck or Journeyman 2) are next to games I consider at least decent (The Dig), and I think there's a strong case that the list is damaged by the inescapable problem of nostalgia ordering that rears its head when a genre is long beyond its glory days.

Toonstruck occupies a weird nostalgia space for hardcore adventure gamers, as does Buried in Time - Toonstruck possibly because of its "incomplete" status and Buried In Time... I just don't know (I have a very low tolerance for 1st person adventures, though, outside of Zork Nemesis and Grand Inquisitor). The Dig being more mainstream and seen as something of a "disappointment" in comparison with the other LEC adventures probably has something to do with its relatively low ranking - that's the basic reason they've given in the write-up for the list, anyway.

I always thought that Longest Journey was considered such a classic because it came out right AFTER adventure games were considered dead and over, and it didn't have to be that great to impress everyone. People were just thrilled about a competent new adventure game and nostalgia takes hold after a bit. I feel this is way more true for stuff like Syberia and Amerzone though, kind of the dark ages for adv. games in a way.

I remember when Longest Journey came out PC Gamer UK gave it a score in the 70s that was seen as something of an outcry!

Syberia is a game that can only be highly regarded by genre fans. It has some wonderful ideas and the clockwork themes are well implemented, but it's a very tedious game for the most part. I don't ever remember Amerzone being well liked but there does seem to be a little bit of a cult around Benoit Sokal's games no matter how rubbish they are.

 

[nny]

Damn, I only finished close to a third of that list, so many adventure games I still have to play.

 

[Lissar]

Also, all my ctrl+f searches are not coming up

Where is 5 days a stranger/7 days a skeptic/Trilby's Notes/6 days a sacrifice series? Best damn indie adventure games there are.

No Gray Matter makes me sad Best commercial adventure game in a decade and it doesn't even make the top100.

I have to agree with both of these! Trilby's Notes especially, within that series. And everyone seems to dislike Gray Matter, I don't know why. Expectations I suppose.

GK2 being at that number makes me itchy. I don't know, I tried to like it... I think I might have if they had gone with the same visual style as the original. But I can't get over the way it looked. I just can't. Even though the original Gabriel was a jerk, I couldn't help but like him. But I couldn't stand the new Gabriel. I was glad there was a lot of Grace in the game though, so there is that. Also admittedly I avoided the game until LAST YEAR when I finally decided to play it. Not wanting to play it all this time probably hasn't helped my opinion.

 

[Atolm]

I'll copy this list to a txt, so many adventure games I need to play...

 

[tmarques]

No Heart of China? Je pense que non.

 

[taps]

I have always enjoyed Willy Beamish.

 

[Len1978]

Shouldn't 999 be on that list?

that's what i was thinking

 

[KuwabaraTheMan]

Shouldn't 999 be on that list?

Absolutely. The fact that they made a list with 100 games, but couldn't include one of the very best really jumps out at me. That's one game that very much belongs on the list.

 

[Beautifully Shaped Monsters]

No Heart of China? Je pense que non.

I'd like to agree with you, but I actually feel that even though the setting were awesome (Asia in the 1930s, a gamification of the Adventure movie genre, so on) it wasn't actually a terribly good game.

A bit of a problem in general with Dynamix' adventure output, the usual had really good settings, but the execution was a bit meh, or maybe forgettable is a better word, since it seems they were all pretty much forgotten

Toonstruck occupies a weird nostalgia space for hardcore adventure gamers, as does Buried in Time - Toonstruck possibly because of its "incomplete" status and Buried In Time... I just don't know (I have a very low tolerance for 1st person adventures, though, outside of Zork Nemesis and Grand Inquisitor). The Dig being more mainstream and seen as something of a "disappointment" in comparison with the other LEC adventures probably has something to do with its relatively low ranking - that's the basic reason they've given in the write-up for the list, anyway.

I don't think it's purely nostalgia. I recently replayed Toonstruck, and actually really enjoyed it, it's still awesomely wacky in my opinion, but I do think it's the kind of game that you either like thoroughly or hate.
The Dig was a disappointment compared to LEC's normal high standard. It was a kinda bland mix between Indiana Jones and Lost in Space that was technically good, but lacked memorable moments and characters, if it had not been made by LEC, it would not even be on that list. Beautiful music though.

I remember when Longest Journey came out PC Gamer UK gave it a score in the 70s that was seen as something of an outcry!

Another game I recently replayed. I loved this when it first came out, this time around I was bored to tears...

I'm glad to see The Last Express being so high on the list. It seems to have been given something of a revival in recent years, not least thanks to GOG. It's such a shame that it never got the success it deserved when it came out. Another game that is deservedly getting a lot of love is Blade Runner. One of the best Movie -> Game adaptations ever.

 

[mattiewheels]

Just started playing Gemini Rue, and this game's the real deal, it's so well done so far...the visual design and the writing is fantastic. There's shooting too apparently?

 

[jgminto]

I'm no expert on adventure games but I'm disappointed there's no sign of the Blackwell games on there. They should at least have Unbound up there. Such a great game.

 

[Utako]

I am just playing Secret of Monkey Island for the first time (about 40% through).

The notion that it is better than Phoenix Wright is preposterous.

However, beyond the rankings, this is a terrific "Best Of" list.

 

[reptilescorpio]

top 100 graphic adventures

033. L.A. Noire

┻━┻ ︵╰(°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻

Spoiler

Not to mention that Stacking is rated higher than Curse of Monkey Island as a graphic adventure.

This list is silly and I don't understand how a website called Adventure Gamers comes to these conclusions. Unless they change the name of the list to top 100 games that have some adventurous spirit to them, even so they then have a shitty list missing a lot of games.

That said if more people are going to be exposed to the great games on this list then cool.

 

[Kinyou]

I'm missing some Telltale love. Sure their games are not such masterpieces as most of the listed games, but right know they are basically everything that keeps point & click alive.

 

[Sober]

If Lucasarts ever winds up on GOG (I have a feeling this is their next big publisher deal), Grim Fandango would be a perfect showpiece game. I hope they take the time to clean it up for modern machines since it's kind of tricky to get running in Windows 7 64. For me, it refuses to work in fullscreen or with 3D acceleration.

Doesn't it work if you use the launcher and installer someone made? You just need the discs and such? Haven't tried it on Win7x64 yet though, my last playthrough a few months ago was on XP.

 

[reptilescorpio]

I'm no expert on adventure games but I'm disappointed there's no sign of the Blackwell games on there. They should at least have Unbound up there. Such a great game.

I even thought The Shivah was pretty damn good. Deserve a spot on there more so than Stacking.

I'm missing some Telltale love. Sure their games are not such masterpieces as most of the listed games, but right know they are basically everything that keeps point & click alive.

I'm not a fan of most of their games but seasons 2&3 of Sam & Max were fantastic. The only stuff by them that I have enjoyed but it went beyond that, I would even recommend them to people who loved the original game.

Doesn't it work if you use the launcher and installer someone made? You just need the discs and such? Haven't tried it on Win7x64 yet though, my last playthrough a few months ago was on XP.

Does indeed work through ScummVM. The post offices here in Australia started selling all the classic LucasArts games about 4 years ago and I picked up copies of all them and ripped them into a ScummVM games folder. So good to just boot them up from time to time for a quick session.

 

[Echoplx]

None of the Blackwell games on there? What a joke

 

[epmode]

Doesn't it work if you use the launcher and installer someone made? You just need the discs and such? Haven't tried it on Win7x64 yet though, my last playthrough a few months ago was on XP.

Yeah, it's possible to install and run with 3rd party software but it's still shaky, what with the broken fullscreen and 3D acceleration (which looks a lot better than software mode, if I remember correctly).

None of the Blackwell games on there? What a joke

You are a good person. I can only imagine that the list writers just never played em.

Does indeed work through ScummVM.

Wait, wat? Grim Fandango doesn't work in SCUMMVM. Or does it? It didn't before! But crazy stuff has been happening since they started including non-SCUMM games!

edit: Nope, not in SCUMMVM. But this looks promising: http://residual.sourceforge.net/

 

[reptilescorpio]

Wait, wat? Grim Fandango doesn't work in SCUMMVM. Or does it? It didn't before! But crazy stuff has been happening since they started including non-SCUMM games!

Whoops, completely misread that my mind was filled with CMI. Grim didn't run through that engine so ScummVM can't run it indeed. The disc version works perfectly fine in Win7 though with a little tweaking.
EDIT: Hmmpf. Since I stepped up to 64bit on my new PC 2 months ago I hadn't run it and now the installer is telling me it can only run in 32bit.

 

[Hours Left]

Ah, lists...

Some of the placements are a bit wacky, and no 999, Another Code R and Zack & Wiki is straight-up crazy. Plus only one Ace Attorney and Prof. Layton? But whatevs. It's just an opinion.




...........Portal? ?_?

 

[epmode]

EDIT: Hmmpf. Since I stepped up to 64bit on my new PC 2 months ago I hadn't run it and now the installer is telling me it can only run in 32bit.

http://quick.mixnmojo.com/software/grim-fandango-setup

This is also useful once you get it installed: http://quick.mixnmojo.com/software/grim-fandango-launcher

 

[Dog Problems]

I played through Grim Fandango using Residual on Windows 7 (64) with no problems at all. It was in a window, but I'm just glad it worked.

 

[LiK]

Lack of 999 isn't a surprise. They only gave it 3 stars.

http://www.adventuregamers.com/article/id,1306

 

[reptilescorpio]

http://quick.mixnmojo.com/software/grim-fandango-setup

This is also useful once you get it installed: http://quick.mixnmojo.com/software/grim-fandango-launcher

Thanks for that, was just on the ScummVM forum looking for the links as I never ended up bookmarking them. PC communities really are the best, at least I can be content knowing my son will be able to play all the old adventure games when he grows up.
EDIT: Running fine now with the new launcher in Win7, installed to HDD.

 

[zoku88]

Did a search on Steam, the bolded are available there and many of them with discounts because of the current holiday sale. Many of them have already seen time as daily deals, sadly, but nevertheless are a good pick if you are into the genre.

Kind of surprised that you missed Sam and Max, given how that's a more recent game.

Indigo Prophecy is also on Steam, I believe.

 

[Boerseun]

I am a HUGE fan of adventure games. I've been playing them since the mid 80s. And I can tell you this list is shit. It simply reeks of people being herded along familiar lines to pick games they havn't played but have been told to be great by a vocal few. There are so many shitty games on this list, it justs boggles the mind! Heck, there's only about thirty genuine greats on it! Smh!

 

[Doomshine]

Is Discworld Noir available digitally somewhere? I remember seeing images of it back in the day, but I never got around to playing it.

 

[megalowho]

I don't know why they bothered to spread all the LucasArts classics around the list, could have just thrown them all up in the 10 really. No need to play nice.

That being said, I've played a whole lot on here. There is a lot of shit. A bunch of these games were directly responsible for the decline of the genre and my personal souring on a formula I loved. I'm looking at you, Runaway.

A few of the second tier titles that stand out to me as worth playing:

007. The Last Express - You've all played this one, right?
023. Quest For Glory IV: Shadows Of Darkness - All the QFG's, really
025. Tex Murphy: Under A Killing Moon - I have an unshakable fondness for the Tex Murphy series
030. Bad Mojo - It's a relic, but an interesting one
035. The Neverhood - Claymation with a cool soundtrack.
050. Infocom's text adventures - Hitchhikers, specifically
065. Hotel Dusk: Room 215 - Pacing/control issues aside, this was a nice surprise when it dropped. Great ending.
069. I Have No Mouth, And I Must Scream - A different kind of adventure, dark and depressing. Not always successful, but admirable they went there.
077. Silent Hill: Shattered Memories - Stretching it maybe, definitely a memorable experience.
093. Toonstruck - Christopher goddamn Lloyd.

And a special shout out to Leisure Suit Larry 6: Shape Up or Slip Out! which isn't on the list, but it's my favorite LSL game by far. Great look, puzzles, humor, and length. And girth.

 

[DownLikeBCPowder]

Came for the Quest for Glory.

But a "top 100 graphical adventure list" is instabookmark for me. Will invest time in later to those I missed, hurrah!

 

[Vampire On Titus]

I think they're adventure games, all told, just not like the older ones. I think they have every right to be on the list from a genre list, but from a "are they a good game" right to be on this list, then no, they don't.

Spoiler

Though to be honest, I don't think Zack & Wiki deserves to be on this list either. I hated that game.

Yeah, Heavy Rain is clearly an adventure game, It's just "direct and gesture" instead of "point and click". I mean there's a point in the game where you "Use Flower" on "Old Lady", some great puzzles in it too. Like the one where the game has you run around touching all sorts of stuff for 10 minutes then you have to remember everything you touched to wipe your finger prints. Some real creative puzzles in HR.

This list is fairly trash though, Portal 2 is in the top 10 adventure games (not an adventure game), but Sam & Max: Hit The Road isn't? Props to Gemini Rue being on the list, one of the best games of the year (last year I guess) as well. But only one Phoenix Wright game? Also I would have gone for "The Next Big Thing" over "Runaway: Twist of Fate" for a Pendulo pick, but not a big deal.