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Originally Posted by Jackal
Now, this is NOT to say that the criticisms here are nothing but the product of hindsight. They definitely aren't. But it's hard to say how things like the character clichés would have fared BEFORE they became so dreadfully overused, or how the clunky dialogue system would have seemed BEFORE more streamlined approaches became the norm. These are just random examples to make a general point, of course.
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It's funny that you see things like that.
My perception was that the characters didn't appear wrong at the time precisely because clichés were the only thing we got. Characterisation is something that was only starting to enter graphic adventures (esp. with
Conquests of the Longbow) and would only become a full component of game design the following year with
Gabriel Knight.
Of course, when writing a review
now, you're writing for people who've been spoiled playing GK, TLJ, TLE, etc. But blaming LB2 for bad characters is certainly a bit anachronistic (except that it really contributes in bringing the plot down, and already did at the time).
And the dialogue interface is not something you can excuse, 14-year-old game or not.
Bad UI design is bad UI design, and if people at Access, Lankhor, Delphine had been able to come up with something better before, there's no reason the people at Sierra couldn't. Their awful system really is something that has to experienced to be believed.
