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Alright - I know it's niche, but hear me out if you like adventure games.
First, a bit of preamble. So ever more I find myself interested in these modern gaming offerings that have the appeal of a retro title. As it stands, I play a lot of retro games actively, though I don't dismiss modern games entirely, there's fun to be had. Growing up on adventure games like King's Quest and the Quest for Glory series, they have a very dear spot in my heart. Memories of discovering these games for the first time on a friend's PC while he was playing Shadows of the Empire on Nintendo 64 are very fond in my mind and I frequently return to these titles over the years, beating the whole QFG series (I through V) just a year or so ago again. And while I'm sure there are various games out there mimicking the style, this is the most recent and excellent one that I've had the chance to come across.
Notably, when I played Quest for Glory for the first time, the first game had already seen an updated release in VGA, whereas the original launched in EGA. So my first exposure was playing QfG I with the VGA remake. However, I immediately acquired the Quest for Glory Collection (which was I-IV with a demo of the yet to be released at that time V). After beating the first game, of course I went on to Quest for Glory II: Trial by Fire. This was a shock to me because it was my first exposure to the text parser interface. When I was younger, this was off putting, but I pushed through, figured it out, beat the game, and moved on to III and IV. At that time, I considered QfG II to be the lesser entry in the series and that is why. As I grew older and revisited the game series, I began to realize that it was, in fact, one of the best in the series despite having some issues with linearity and time limits. That said, from that point I was interested in text parsers and played them without reservation, in some cases preferring text parser. Regardless, I love both sorts but my point here is that I came to love the text parser and understand its purpose. If you want to see a visual comparison of the EGA vs VGA visuals, click the spoiler. These are both the entry area of the same town from the same game, but one is from the VGA remake. The EGA game featured text parser, but the VGA removed this in favor of the point and click, mouse based interface that had become all the rage in the years preceding that.
While the VGA looks great in its way, there is something to appreciate for me about the EGA visuals as well. I have come to love both presentation styles and find myself really enjoying something developed shortly thereafter - Adventure Game Studio, an open source engine developed by Chris Jones with the goal of allowing people to easily create games in the style of the old LucasArts and Sierra adventure titles, but especially Sierra. Through the past 20+ years, I have played a variety of truly excellent games developed in AGS, including fan-remakes of Quest for Glory II (with parser/mouse combo) in VGA, as well as VGA remakes of the first 3 King's Quest games, and original titles developed in the engine like Heroine's Quest (a literal love letter to the Quest for Glory series and which is also free on Steam btw -IMO, if you enjoyed QFG back in the day, do yourself a favor and try it!). My point being that AGS has empowered groups as small as a singular individual (in the case of The Crimson Diamond) to create Sierra scale games, which is incredible since the majority of the mainstream industry left the corpse of adventure gaming genre to die in the ditch, at least in terms of the classical style of these games (obviously there have been "adventure" games released over the years, but the genre has changed over time as all do).
All that said - we can finally talk about The Crimson Diamond. Now something I'll say to start - this game has an excellent little storyline going on and nearly every topic or side information you come across manages to be relevant to the story in one way or another and honestly the execution is just fantastic. I would say that this game has an "investigative slant" to it - the main character is sent to this location to learn the truth of a certain matter, but there is far more going on there than just that and as the game continues, these things become apparent and players get an idea of how interconnected aspects of it become (in terms of characters, motives, etc). Further, the game features a focus on mineralogy and geology (which is a personal interest, so this was even more engaging for me). Aspects of these fields are integrated into the gameplay and aren't just set dressing for the title.
While playing, many conversations are optional or missable if you aren't willing to explore all the areas at all opportunities, so thorough players will be rewarded as the ending also is altered based on how successful you were or were not in your investigation. I found the characters to be pretty well written and their interactions seemed fairly genuine, everyone present is important in one way or another, there are no "extras" to be found. As you can imagine, based on the previous text in this thread, the game is both EGA and text parser by choice of the developer and I believe both of these decisions paid off. While there is some use of the mouse (you can move, inventory is managed with the mouse, etc), all conversations, actions, and so forth will be done with commands in the parser. You shall raid many a cupboard. EGA allows a beautiful contrast and I love the art of this style, so I was very easily drawn in. As the game carried on beyond the initial opening, I just couldn't stop playing and ended up playing through it in very short order (not that adventure games of this style are typically long or anything, but I was hooked). I think I ended up playing a total of 8-10 hours on my first playthrough. As soon as I beat the game, I wanted to dive back in immediately and alter the outcome somewhat as well as find conversations I most definitely realized I missed by the end of the game, even though I thought I was playing and investigating very thoroughly! That's a good feeling, at least to me.
Granted, I have no interest in spoiling the plot or anything beyond the opening sequence for you - it's a fun ride and it feels tightly woven. If you're an adventure game fan, particularly of the EGA and text parser sort, this is your sign to give it a look. I also was able to secure a short interview with the developer of the game, Julia Minamata, which I included in the video I made for Youtube. You are also very welcome to check it out, it has a run time of 19 minutes and I go over these aspects and more, plus you get a better look at the game in action. It is chapterized in the event you just want to listen to the interview as well. Again, there are no spoilers beyond the opening because I feel it's a lot of the fun of this game to enjoy the plot as things unravel and you learn more through your investigation!
There is a demo around and available, but it won't give you the full vision because it's only the opening sequence which is primarily set up, but at the very least it's an option for those looking to investigate the game a little further. Otherwise, you can find it on GOG, Steam, and so forth quite easily.
TLDR: The game is good fun and if you enjoy text parser adventure games, give it a look. Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.
While the VGA looks great in its way, there is something to appreciate for me about the EGA visuals as well. I have come to love both presentation styles and find myself really enjoying something developed shortly thereafter - Adventure Game Studio, an open source engine developed by Chris Jones with the goal of allowing people to easily create games in the style of the old LucasArts and Sierra adventure titles, but especially Sierra. Through the past 20+ years, I have played a variety of truly excellent games developed in AGS, including fan-remakes of Quest for Glory II (with parser/mouse combo) in VGA, as well as VGA remakes of the first 3 King's Quest games, and original titles developed in the engine like Heroine's Quest (a literal love letter to the Quest for Glory series and which is also free on Steam btw -IMO, if you enjoyed QFG back in the day, do yourself a favor and try it!). My point being that AGS has empowered groups as small as a singular individual (in the case of The Crimson Diamond) to create Sierra scale games, which is incredible since the majority of the mainstream industry left the corpse of adventure gaming genre to die in the ditch, at least in terms of the classical style of these games (obviously there have been "adventure" games released over the years, but the genre has changed over time as all do).
All that said - we can finally talk about The Crimson Diamond. Now something I'll say to start - this game has an excellent little storyline going on and nearly every topic or side information you come across manages to be relevant to the story in one way or another and honestly the execution is just fantastic. I would say that this game has an "investigative slant" to it - the main character is sent to this location to learn the truth of a certain matter, but there is far more going on there than just that and as the game continues, these things become apparent and players get an idea of how interconnected aspects of it become (in terms of characters, motives, etc). Further, the game features a focus on mineralogy and geology (which is a personal interest, so this was even more engaging for me). Aspects of these fields are integrated into the gameplay and aren't just set dressing for the title.
While playing, many conversations are optional or missable if you aren't willing to explore all the areas at all opportunities, so thorough players will be rewarded as the ending also is altered based on how successful you were or were not in your investigation. I found the characters to be pretty well written and their interactions seemed fairly genuine, everyone present is important in one way or another, there are no "extras" to be found. As you can imagine, based on the previous text in this thread, the game is both EGA and text parser by choice of the developer and I believe both of these decisions paid off. While there is some use of the mouse (you can move, inventory is managed with the mouse, etc), all conversations, actions, and so forth will be done with commands in the parser. You shall raid many a cupboard. EGA allows a beautiful contrast and I love the art of this style, so I was very easily drawn in. As the game carried on beyond the initial opening, I just couldn't stop playing and ended up playing through it in very short order (not that adventure games of this style are typically long or anything, but I was hooked). I think I ended up playing a total of 8-10 hours on my first playthrough. As soon as I beat the game, I wanted to dive back in immediately and alter the outcome somewhat as well as find conversations I most definitely realized I missed by the end of the game, even though I thought I was playing and investigating very thoroughly! That's a good feeling, at least to me.
There is a demo around and available, but it won't give you the full vision because it's only the opening sequence which is primarily set up, but at the very least it's an option for those looking to investigate the game a little further. Otherwise, you can find it on GOG, Steam, and so forth quite easily.
