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aBoyinPERIL · 02-01-2007, 03:36 AM

Hi guys,

This is something I have thought a lot about over the past couple of years and finally have found the words to express what I have been thinking all along. Let me know what you think.

For a long time recently I have actually shunned the Adventure Genre, I locked my old games away, petered off playing Strategy games which I even eventually stopped after a while too. My PC became my office again and was wholly used for administrating my Drama Company

.

Why did this happen? Well in truth I felt challenged by the shift from quality stories and in-depth and immersive game play to 3D graphics and complicated control systems. In my opinion the curse of modernisation was killing the adventure game. I was also caught in a time where games such as Broken Sword, TLJ, Monkey Island 1,2,3 kept close to my heart and were a constant reminder as to why I fell in love with the adventure game in the first place. Even this website became frustrating

(sorry guys) but it seemed to become like an old gents club with every new topic brought up being directed to someone who had already had posted a thread similar 3-4 months ago! No room for new and fresh opinions. (I see this happening with this thread, ha ha). Anyway, I suppose I felt increasingly intimidated by those who have played every Adventure game out there and now were becoming slightly bitter and I joined the bandwagon. Controversial eh, lol? But hey that was my problem - not anyone else's.

All this combined with my increasing disappointment of games being released and I guess just trying too hard to break new ground and failing to live up to their hype made me come to the conclusion that yes the Adventure Game was dying. And it made me really sad so I walked away.

Then three things hit home that took all of that negativity and gave it a right royal boot up the backside.

1) Underground adventure games began to emerge - but emerge with glorious attention to detail and with a love for what graphic/story/sound level that ticks all the right boxes. These are made with love and a specific tuning in to the genre that can sometime be missed by the major corporations where ideas and focus can be watered down. Paradise is an example of this - I truly believe Benoit Sokal is a genius storyteller but you are only as good as your team huh?

2) Someone made a post on the forum recently about the adventure game genre dying and a single post among the hysteria that followed pointed out one simple fact - look at the games planned for the future... Now we all know that hype has hurt a few highly anticipated games in the past year - mention no names...ahem. But there are still developers out there with a love of the genre that are creating more adventure games.

3) And last, but more importantly. We have legacies. Some of the finest and best loved adventure games each and every one of us hold dear have been in some sort of series. And where this can be the ruin of, say a film, it is nearly always to the betterment of an adventure game. Adventure games actually suit sequels and prequels! And where these exist and we still have time to develop games on this planet - then the Adventure Game will not die.

I look with real affection at those who long so much for a sequel to games such as Still Life and Syberia that they hunt the web for a glimmer of hope, and when that glimmer is found - my dismay is at those who quash that glimmer with their own petulant frustration. Okay so Benoit may have proclaimed there will be no more sequels, production companies have collapsed and folded, and okay maybe Website Under Construction doesn't necessarily mean that a sequel is being worked on. But the game will always prevail so long as their is a love and passion for it. Broken Sword is a classic example - fans longed for a sequel, we got two - like them or loathe them. Fan games emerge, licences get picked up, new companies are formed with staff who worked on previous games - nothing is for certain.

What started as a negative journey I have now been encouraged to one of hope. Yeah, okay we are in changing times, but I now truly feel that some of the best games are yet to come and now look forward to the future of Adventure Games.

02-01-2007, 03:36 AM	#1
aBoyinPERIL By Jove I've got it! Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Glasgow, Scotland Posts: 80	Why the Adventure Game will not die... Hi guys, This is something I have thought a lot about over the past couple of years and finally have found the words to express what I have been thinking all along. Let me know what you think. For a long time recently I have actually shunned the Adventure Genre, I locked my old games away, petered off playing Strategy games which I even eventually stopped after a while too. My PC became my office again and was wholly used for administrating my Drama Company . Why did this happen? Well in truth I felt challenged by the shift from quality stories and in-depth and immersive game play to 3D graphics and complicated control systems. In my opinion the curse of modernisation was killing the adventure game. I was also caught in a time where games such as Broken Sword, TLJ, Monkey Island 1,2,3 kept close to my heart and were a constant reminder as to why I fell in love with the adventure game in the first place. Even this website became frustrating (sorry guys) but it seemed to become like an old gents club with every new topic brought up being directed to someone who had already had posted a thread similar 3-4 months ago! No room for new and fresh opinions. (I see this happening with this thread, ha ha). Anyway, I suppose I felt increasingly intimidated by those who have played every Adventure game out there and now were becoming slightly bitter and I joined the bandwagon. Controversial eh, lol? But hey that was my problem - not anyone else's. All this combined with my increasing disappointment of games being released and I guess just trying too hard to break new ground and failing to live up to their hype made me come to the conclusion that yes the Adventure Game was dying. And it made me really sad so I walked away. Then three things hit home that took all of that negativity and gave it a right royal boot up the backside. 1) Underground adventure games began to emerge - but emerge with glorious attention to detail and with a love for what graphic/story/sound level that ticks all the right boxes. These are made with love and a specific tuning in to the genre that can sometime be missed by the major corporations where ideas and focus can be watered down. Paradise is an example of this - I truly believe Benoit Sokal is a genius storyteller but you are only as good as your team huh? 2) Someone made a post on the forum recently about the adventure game genre dying and a single post among the hysteria that followed pointed out one simple fact - look at the games planned for the future... Now we all know that hype has hurt a few highly anticipated games in the past year - mention no names...ahem. But there are still developers out there with a love of the genre that are creating more adventure games. 3) And last, but more importantly. We have legacies. Some of the finest and best loved adventure games each and every one of us hold dear have been in some sort of series. And where this can be the ruin of, say a film, it is nearly always to the betterment of an adventure game. Adventure games actually suit sequels and prequels! And where these exist and we still have time to develop games on this planet - then the Adventure Game will not die. I look with real affection at those who long so much for a sequel to games such as Still Life and Syberia that they hunt the web for a glimmer of hope, and when that glimmer is found - my dismay is at those who quash that glimmer with their own petulant frustration. Okay so Benoit may have proclaimed there will be no more sequels, production companies have collapsed and folded, and okay maybe Website Under Construction doesn't necessarily mean that a sequel is being worked on. But the game will always prevail so long as their is a love and passion for it. Broken Sword is a classic example - fans longed for a sequel, we got two - like them or loathe them. Fan games emerge, licences get picked up, new companies are formed with staff who worked on previous games - nothing is for certain. What started as a negative journey I have now been encouraged to one of hope. Yeah, okay we are in changing times, but I now truly feel that some of the best games are yet to come and now look forward to the future of Adventure Games. __________________ I have an online art gallery if anyone is interested, go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/del76/. You can also find me on Bebo: http://synissweet.bebo.com Happy gaming! Last edited by aBoyinPERIL; 02-01-2007 at 05:24 AM.