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Adventure Games Thread 2020 - Get To The POINT Where It All CLICKS
- Thread starter Vampire On Titus
- Start date
Fuz
Banned
Anna2FOR2
Played some more Kapia. I find it adorable. Confirming what I said before, lovable characters, nice soothing music, decent puzzles so far... I like what I played. It's a great game for a rainy day with a hot cup of coffee.
But me being me, here's some con:
- Animations need a little work. They're kind funny though, they gesticulate more than italians.
- Camera switching is a bit wonky at times. Nothing major.
- Hotspots should be shown as long as the key is pressed.
- Small personal pet peeve*: The game would benefit from a save system that not's just autosaves.
- Right click to go back one page on terminals would be nice.
- Game crashed when I talked to Pam:
And we're back to savegame suggestion. At that point I solved a few simple, typical puzzles - if I could save whenever I wouldn't have to repeat the whole sequence up to that point and hoping it won't crash again making me repeat the whole sequence hoping it won't crash a third time and... you get the point.
Anyway, second try didn't crash and I picked up just before my last saved puzzle (repairing the remote). Then I wandered about a bit trying to get past that zone with no luck so far, then I went back to Pam talked to her and after I talked to her and looked at the barrels on the left I had another crash. That's where I stopped playing, how can I send those crash logs to you guys?
* actually a giant personal pet peeve.
Played some more Kapia. I find it adorable. Confirming what I said before, lovable characters, nice soothing music, decent puzzles so far... I like what I played. It's a great game for a rainy day with a hot cup of coffee.
But me being me, here's some con:
- Animations need a little work. They're kind funny though, they gesticulate more than italians.
- Camera switching is a bit wonky at times. Nothing major.
- Hotspots should be shown as long as the key is pressed.
- Small personal pet peeve*: The game would benefit from a save system that not's just autosaves.
- Right click to go back one page on terminals would be nice.
- Game crashed when I talked to Pam:
And we're back to savegame suggestion. At that point I solved a few simple, typical puzzles - if I could save whenever I wouldn't have to repeat the whole sequence up to that point and hoping it won't crash again making me repeat the whole sequence hoping it won't crash a third time and... you get the point.
Anyway, second try didn't crash and I picked up just before my last saved puzzle (repairing the remote). Then I wandered about a bit trying to get past that zone with no luck so far, then I went back to Pam talked to her and after I talked to her and looked at the barrels on the left I had another crash. That's where I stopped playing, how can I send those crash logs to you guys?
* actually a giant personal pet peeve.
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The Cockatrice
Gold Member
For me it was enough to scratch an itch
Understandable since it's a dying genre.
Fuz
Banned
It's dead since the '90s. Apparently.
The Cockatrice
Gold Member
Fuz
Banned
Honesly, I think we're pretty lucky. We're still getting some pearls here and there. If it ever went mainstream it would have been dumbed down and ruined like so many other genres.
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The Cockatrice
Gold Member
Vampire On Titus
Member
2020 is actually one of my favorite years for adventures ever. So far every game I was looking forward to has actually been good, which is super rare. There's been a really great variety, too.
Traditional adventures like VirtuaVerse, and Roki, a good modern adventure in Tell Me Why (very solid comeback after LiS 2 being such a disappointment for me) and other adventures experimenting with the formula like Beyond a Steel Sky and Beautiful Desolation. And there's still promising games I've yet to play like Lair of The Clockwork God or Girl of Glass.
After some time passes I think Roki and Beautiful Desolation could possibly be considered classics in the genre.
Yeah, I played it last year and enjoyed the game. Unfortunately I think the 3rd act resolved the mystery too quickly but the game has a lot of cool ideas & a distinct setting. I liked how it handled branching w/ the different aug abilities. Hope to see more from Clifftop Games. What I'd really like is Kathy Rain 2.
Traditional adventures like VirtuaVerse, and Roki, a good modern adventure in Tell Me Why (very solid comeback after LiS 2 being such a disappointment for me) and other adventures experimenting with the formula like Beyond a Steel Sky and Beautiful Desolation. And there's still promising games I've yet to play like Lair of The Clockwork God or Girl of Glass.
After some time passes I think Roki and Beautiful Desolation could possibly be considered classics in the genre.
Yeah, I played it last year and enjoyed the game. Unfortunately I think the 3rd act resolved the mystery too quickly but the game has a lot of cool ideas & a distinct setting. I liked how it handled branching w/ the different aug abilities. Hope to see more from Clifftop Games. What I'd really like is Kathy Rain 2.
The Cockatrice
Gold Member
Havent tried Roki but I did try BD and it did not click at all with me, and this is coming from someone who liked Stasis. I feel bad about the dev because it did not do as good as he/they may have hoped but I can srsly see why. Glad you had some good adventure games this year but I had none whatsoever. I've yet to play Tell me why but I'm scared its political bs nature will make me hate it. I enjoyed The Norwood Suite but that did not release this year, just got around to playing it now.
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Vampire On Titus
Member
Well Roki is definitely one to check out, I consider it must play for 2020. Provided a taste for that kind of fairy tale narrative. VirtuaVerse, is really good too, if you're looking for something traditional w/ legit 90s tier difficulty. I can see how someone could prefer the more traditional structure of STASIS, it moves at a brisker pace and has stronger puzzles too. For me, though, the amazing setting and thought provoking moral dilemmas of BD set it apart.
As far as Tell Me Why, it's DontNod so you can expect some degree of cringe. Mainly tied into a few scenes involving an optional romance sub plot. Easily the worst part of the game but outside of that (and a few dialogue choices where you can choose be an ass and lecture ppl) it's really not preachy or ideological. It's primarily a personal drama about finding out what happened to the twins' mother to push her over the edge and for 90% of the game they retain focus on that mystery.
I went into Tell Me Why expecting it to be a LiS 2 tier shit-show but it's not even close. There's occasional clunky moments where they dip their toe in those woke waters, but overall It's an enjoyable small stakes mystery story. Life is Strange is still my favorite DontNod adventure but TMW restored my faith in the company's ability to make a solid game.
Agreed. There's way too much great world building in BD for that setting to be a one and done.
The Cockatrice
Gold Member
VirtuaVerse looks nice but I'm looking at something budgety if that's even a word, with voice acting. Roki is on my list and Tell me Why as well but if you're saying it's better than LiS2 which u didn't like (I actually did despite the obvious political anti-trump/racism stuff) then I'll give it a go. October is a dry month anyway until the behemoth that will be November so I'll have time to get these two then.
Vampire On Titus
Member
There's no VA in Roki either, just as a heads up. Well, aside from the occasional murmur or grunt.
Also, yeah, if you managed to put up with Life is Strange 2's level of BS then TMW should be no problem for you.
Vampire On Titus
Member
Vampire On Titus
Member
Turnstyle
Member
Not sure if it's been mentioned here already, but I played the prologue (essentially a demo) of a game called Backbone the other night. It's an anthropomorphic animal detective game that's a mix of classic adventure and...stealth? At least, the prologue is. The art style is pixel art, and is gorgeous - the background of the main street in the prologue is stunning.
The premise is that you play a racoon who is a private detective. In the prologue someone hires you to investigate her husband, who she suspects is having an affair. I won't give much away but basically you end up having to get into a building, and you have to talk to various people to work out how to infiltrate it. The key thing is that there were, as far as I could tell, at least three different entry points, depending on who you spoke to and what you did, giving it an almost Deus Ex feel (which is probably no accident considering there's a Deus Ex easter egg in the game).
The prologue is free on Steam, and the game looks like its releasing 2021 on pretty much everything.
I'm probably massively LTTP on this, but I really enjoyed the short demo.
The premise is that you play a racoon who is a private detective. In the prologue someone hires you to investigate her husband, who she suspects is having an affair. I won't give much away but basically you end up having to get into a building, and you have to talk to various people to work out how to infiltrate it. The key thing is that there were, as far as I could tell, at least three different entry points, depending on who you spoke to and what you did, giving it an almost Deus Ex feel (which is probably no accident considering there's a Deus Ex easter egg in the game).
The prologue is free on Steam, and the game looks like its releasing 2021 on pretty much everything.
I'm probably massively LTTP on this, but I really enjoyed the short demo.
Vampire On Titus
Member
Turnstyle
Yeah, I played the Backbone demo as well and was thoroughly impressed by it. Great visuals that remind me of that unreleased game, The Last Night, and I thought the writing was pretty good too. It's really the combination of factors resulting in a distinct atmosphere that sold me on the game. I wasn't blown away by the puzzles or any one aspect in particular but I want to spend more time in that world. Absolutely looking forward to that one. Hopefully it actually comes out it 2021, it was initially slated for release this year but it feels like next year should actually "be the one."
Turnstyle
Member
Vampire On Titus
Yeah, the world looks really intriguing. I am tempted to play the demo again just to see what I missed the first time - definitely looking forward to the full release. Btw, if anyone was interested in Darkside Detective, it's currently free with Amazon/Twitch. It had been on my radar for a while so I snapped it up.
I'm about halfway through. My impression of the game is really positive - lots of fourth wall breaking and wry humor in a classic Lucasarts/Monkey Island vein. However, the puzzles are very basic, and the game is short. The main game is six missions, and they take around 20/30 minutes to complete each. There are 3 extra bonus missions too.
It's a fun little game, and for free, it's a damn bargain.
As much as I'm enjoying it, I really, really despise coming across a sliding puzzle in an adventure game...
Fuz
Banned
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TripleSun
Member
Btw, if anyone was interested in Darkside Detective, it's currently free with Amazon/Twitch. It had been on my radar for a while so I snapped it up.
I'm about halfway through. My impression of the game is really positive - lots of fourth wall breaking and wry humor in a classic Lucasarts/Monkey Island vein. However, the puzzles are very basic, and the game is short. The main game is six missions, and they take around 20/30 minutes to complete each. There are 3 extra bonus missions too.
It's a fun little game, and for free, it's a damn bargain.
As much as I'm enjoying it, I really, really despise coming across a sliding puzzle in an adventure game...
Thanks for the heads up! I keep forgetting to check the free Twitch prime games and I still hadn't purchased Darkside Detective
Vampire On Titus
Member
Zniw Adventure release date announced. This game has some really killer animation and I can't way to play it.
Vampire On Titus
Member
New trailer and playable prologue/demo for Syberia: The World Before. Haven't gotten a chance to play it yet but it seems out girl, Kate, has been through some rough times. She's also sharing the protagonist role with another woman, Dana Roze as the story plays out between two distinct time periods.
Vampire On Titus
Member
Yeah it's less buggy and doesn't run like total ass anymore. They added Point & Click controls back in as well, if that's you're preference (cant speak for how good they are, though). There's still the significant issues of a fairly clunky interface, movement control, lip sync, voice acting, etc. Syberia 3 has a lot of problems but, as I've said before, I had a great time with it. The settings are as unique and fascinating as ever, Kate is a really good protagonist in it, the puzzles are fun and it's a pretty damn good looking game too.
If you think you'll be able to look past the jank, there's a lot of what made Syberia 1 & 2 great that's still present in 3. It's a hard game to recommend but if it was ever worth giving a shot, it'd be now while it's on sale.
TripleSun
Member
Yeah I might as well since it gets fairly cheap and now I know another update is in the works. Thanks
TripleSun
Member
Seems INCANTAMENTUM by Cloak & Dagger got pushed back to Q1 2021 but there is a demo out if some people didn't know. It's really great. I love the atmosphere and the animations/graphics. Definitely a game to wishlist and watch out for
Another game that just got on my radar is Booklice: Prologue. It is planned to be the first of a trilogy of "approachable" point & click games combining exploration and narrative, so I would guess not so puzzle heavy. The dev has made some short adventure games in the past like Midnight Scenes 1 & 2, The Supper and The Librarian that are really nice bite-sized ways to spend your free time. They have them on Steam as well as Itch. Their itch model is Name Your Own Price. https://octavinavarro.itch.io/ They have a really cool pixel art style in their games that I like. They were also an artist on Thimbleweed Park so they deserve some attention here.
You can see their talented art here if you're interested: https://octavinavarro.com/projects
Another game that just got on my radar is Booklice: Prologue. It is planned to be the first of a trilogy of "approachable" point & click games combining exploration and narrative, so I would guess not so puzzle heavy. The dev has made some short adventure games in the past like Midnight Scenes 1 & 2, The Supper and The Librarian that are really nice bite-sized ways to spend your free time. They have them on Steam as well as Itch. Their itch model is Name Your Own Price. https://octavinavarro.itch.io/ They have a really cool pixel art style in their games that I like. They were also an artist on Thimbleweed Park so they deserve some attention here.
You can see their talented art here if you're interested: https://octavinavarro.com/projects
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Mr Underhill
Member
Hey guys, dropping in to 1) say thanks for all the love and support you've had for all adventure games (and for ours in particular!), and 2) to let you all know that Gibbous is coming to the Switch October 28th, just in time for Hall
ween. You can wishlist it now
www.nintendo.com
And so as not to hit and run, I'll add I've played and loved the demo of Incantamentum, I'm super super happy for Kapia having made their goal on Kickstarter (one of the most enthusiastic and energetic campaigns ever!), and what else... Oh yeah, Roki just released on Switch, and Luna the Shadow Dust is also coming to the Switch on the 22nd. A shitty year in general, but a good year for adventure games.
ween. You can wishlist it now
Gibbous - A Cthulhu Adventure for Nintendo Switch - Nintendo Official Site
Buy Gibbous - A Cthulhu Adventure and shop other great Nintendo products online at the official My Nintendo Store.
www.nintendo.com
And so as not to hit and run, I'll add I've played and loved the demo of Incantamentum, I'm super super happy for Kapia having made their goal on Kickstarter (one of the most enthusiastic and energetic campaigns ever!), and what else... Oh yeah, Roki just released on Switch, and Luna the Shadow Dust is also coming to the Switch on the 22nd. A shitty year in general, but a good year for adventure games.
Alter_Fridge
Member
Vampire On Titus
Member
Incantamentum looks right up my alley.
Too bad that
- Traditional point and click adventure game puzzles and interactions, with an easy modern interface.
It's basically just the Revolution Software/Wadjet Eye 2 click interface. Not my absolute favorite but at least it's not giving me puzzle solutions through a limited selection of inventory in a context menu like Truberbrook.
I did play the demo and the pixel art was very evocative of the unnerving and desolate English countryside setting they went for. There's a good sense of place that sold me on the game more than anything else. The writing is good too, with a protagonist that's quickly likable and the beginnings of a captivating mystery.
I had a good time with it. I know Cloak and Dagger games have made some other adventures that resonated with ppl like Sumatra: Fate of Yandi and Football Game. I might have to go back and check those out now.
I played through the prologue, and yeah, it's good. The visuals are fantastic, the interface has been massively improved over Syberia 3, so has the voice acting and I didn't run into any bugs. That said the lip-sync is less than stellar and there are performance issues. I'm comfortably past the minimum spec and even on medium settings the frame rate is quite lousy in spots. Not too much of a hindrance in an adventure game, but I hope they can clean that up before the final release.
The puzzles were very simple, but starting to ramp up right before the demo ends. I'm not sure if this is legitimately a prologue or just the first two hours of the full game but either way I wasn't expecting anything too brain bending during the set up. I'm hoping the difficulty eventually settles around the Syberia 3 range. I actually recently replayed Syberia 1, since I'm planning to go through the series again before TWB4, and that game was a lot easier than I remembered. S3's puzzles were actually more challenging and I hope TWB4 gets on that level.
It's a bit too early to say anything really definitive on the plot. Conceptually I like the idea of switching between time periods. It affords the narrative an opportunity to delve into both classic Syberia clockwork fantasy and this newer, darker, story for Kate. Which is probably the most immediately noticeable shift, the tone of Kate's story is a lot darker than in previous games. They actually flip the adventurous feeling of her free-spirited decision to go with Hans to Syberia on its head. There's potential here, but it all depends on what they make of it.
Seems like yet again Microids is swinging for the fences. I felt the major issues with Syberia 3 was the team clearly bit off more than they could chew. It feels like they're better positioned this time, but we'll see.
Fuz
Banned
Oh yeah, but I'm tired of simplicistic "just click" interfaces. Recently played other two adventures that used it (gonna talk about them soon). Give me back SCUMM.
Vampire On Titus
Member
Vampire On Titus
Member
First person mystery adventure game, The Signifier, was released yesterday. I'm gonna give this one a shot sometime soon, hopefully it's good.
Fuz
Banned
So, I've recently played 2 games:
www.gog.com
This is in dev, there are curretly 3 chapters. Great pixel art and good animations, although the design is a little repetitive. I've found Act 1 to be the hardest one, with 2 being the easiest (also the best of the 3) and the third being a little annoying due to certain puzzles solved musically (actually a really good idea for how it works with the insturment reacting to notes) where you have to remember or write down the notes yourself.
The game's tone is mellow and relaxing. All in all so far it's a decent adventure, not a masterpiece but enjoyable.
www.gog.com
This suffers from a small scope and, I presume, lack of funds. It's a short adventure with some decent puzzles that also falls into the "not a masterpiece but enjoyable" category.
I personally detest the main character and I've found the setting too be a little too unbelievable to keep my suspension of disbelief - who would call a town "bone town"? What curse? Why those shops in that setting? Also, too damn many references, feels like they're mandatory for P&C games, enough already! - quite a number of little things that bother me more than they should. Also, the ending is kind of rushed and a big cliché.
It's not a bad game at all, anyway, the art style is really nice and the backgrounds look great, although they'd have benefit from a bit more life and animation in them, and the puzzles are good enough. But it costs too much for how short it is.
FoxTail
FoxTail is a classic point-and-click quest. Drawing inspiration from the old pixel advent
This is in dev, there are curretly 3 chapters. Great pixel art and good animations, although the design is a little repetitive. I've found Act 1 to be the hardest one, with 2 being the easiest (also the best of the 3) and the third being a little annoying due to certain puzzles solved musically (actually a really good idea for how it works with the insturment reacting to notes) where you have to remember or write down the notes yourself.
The game's tone is mellow and relaxing. All in all so far it's a decent adventure, not a masterpiece but enjoyable.
Willy Morgan and the Curse of Bone Town
Demo version of Willy Morgan and the Curse of Bone Town is available here If you buy b
This suffers from a small scope and, I presume, lack of funds. It's a short adventure with some decent puzzles that also falls into the "not a masterpiece but enjoyable" category.
I personally detest the main character and I've found the setting too be a little too unbelievable to keep my suspension of disbelief - who would call a town "bone town"? What curse? Why those shops in that setting? Also, too damn many references, feels like they're mandatory for P&C games, enough already! - quite a number of little things that bother me more than they should. Also, the ending is kind of rushed and a big cliché.
It's not a bad game at all, anyway, the art style is really nice and the backgrounds look great, although they'd have benefit from a bit more life and animation in them, and the puzzles are good enough. But it costs too much for how short it is.
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Vampire On Titus
Member
Good breakdowns, Fuz. I'm really interested in playing FoxTail but I've been waiting for it to be completed first. Good to know it's shaping up well. The pixel art is fantastic in that game.
Willy Morgan strikes me as a Runaway-ish kinda of game that's clearly inspired by the LucasArts style but misses the mark on the comedy and sharp writing. I like the look of it but that demo turned me off. It doesn't look terrible, though, like you said.
Hard agree with this point. Especially in the retro comedy style games, they lean waaaay to heavily on the nostalgia bait references.
Willy Morgan strikes me as a Runaway-ish kinda of game that's clearly inspired by the LucasArts style but misses the mark on the comedy and sharp writing. I like the look of it but that demo turned me off. It doesn't look terrible, though, like you said.
Hard agree with this point. Especially in the retro comedy style games, they lean waaaay to heavily on the nostalgia bait references.
Fuz
Banned
Little bonus:
I also played
Which is something in between a P&C and a puzzle game.
And yes, there is a game despite what *all* the reviews out there are telling you in a show of great originality and humour. And it's brilliant.
I don't wanna say anything about it, go in blind. It's short, it's smart, it's funny, it's brilliant, it's definitely worth your time.
My only complaint is the voice that keeps you telling DON'T DO THIS, DON'T DO THAT basically telling you what to do all the time, and I found it very annoying.
Oh, worth a mention, it also has an excellent hint system.
I also played
Which is something in between a P&C and a puzzle game.
And yes, there is a game despite what *all* the reviews out there are telling you in a show of great originality and humour. And it's brilliant.
I don't wanna say anything about it, go in blind. It's short, it's smart, it's funny, it's brilliant, it's definitely worth your time.
My only complaint is the voice that keeps you telling DON'T DO THIS, DON'T DO THAT basically telling you what to do all the time, and I found it very annoying.
Oh, worth a mention, it also has an excellent hint system.
It's a huge immersion breaker for me. They pull you out of the game's world. P&C are plagued by this, there's no other genre that has this issue.
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Vampire On Titus
Member
I haven't played these myself but they're newer games in that vein and could be worth giving a look.
and of course there's Cyan's new game currently in development, Firmament. Whenever it actually comes out.
Thank you! I'll look into these.
I am aware of Firmament. That's currently my most anticipated next gen game, actually.
ShadowNate
Member
If you haven't tried it, The Witness has quite a few callbacks (and easter eggs) to the early Myst games and it's a great game overall. Just don't expect a myth-verse like Myst or any conventional idea of a plot.
Vampire On Titus
Member
There Is No Game kinda flew under my radar but after skimming the 5 star review on Adventure Gamers (to avoid spoilers as much as possible) and seeing some other impressions, like the one Fuz wrote up, I'm really intrigued. Seems to be a very funny and unique comedy adventure.
Surprised at the overwhelmingly positive response to this one, definitely gonna have to check it out soon.
Surprised at the overwhelmingly positive response to this one, definitely gonna have to check it out soon.
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TheContact
Member
i wish blizzard would revive the Warcraft Adventures game. I would play that in a heartbeat.
Fuz
Banned
I'm playing VirtuaVerse and feels like I wrote that. All those tirades about tech, music, old systems, privacy, nicknames... that's me. It's kinda scary.
Liking it a lot, by the way.
Then... go play it?
Liking it a lot, by the way.
Stop reading about it and play it. Spoilers are exceptionally bad in this case.
Then... go play it?
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I have heard of this one and was meaning to try it. Hope it's good!
Thanks for the recommendation.
TripleSun
Member
TripleSun
Member
Because of Fuz's recommendation I picked up There Is No Game tonight and wow.. I can't really say anything without spoiling the experience but it's amazing. I'm having lots of fun with it. It's hilarious and really smart. I recommend it as well. I'm only an hour and a half in so far but the money is well spent so far.
Vampire On Titus
Member
The new Larry game is out. It seems like the first one from these devs was reasonably well liked among Larry fans, hopefully this game continues that trend.
Debut trailer for Dungeon Experience. The new game from Paradigm creator, Jacob Janerka. He's been clear from the outset of this project that this is a walking simulator, which is not my preferred direction, but I do really enjoy Jacob's comedic style and that may be enough to carry the game.
I played through it somewhat recently. With a friend who's a big Warcraft fan, it was a fun experience. I don't actually know much about Warcraft lore so it was cool seeing his perspective on how they handled the lore. He enjoyed it and I thought it was a fun game as well.
If you do decide to play it I highly recommend installing the Warcraft Adventures Cutscene Remaster Project mod. It adds missing sfx, music and finishes up certain cutscenes. It makes for a more complete experience.
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