Adventure Forums - View Single Post - The Longest Journey was the last straw *Spoiler Warning*.

andii · 09-25-2007, 07:10 PM

*Warning* This post talks about specific parts of The Longest Journey hence spoilers.

This issue has been brooding in me for some time and I really feel like I need to get it out there. And here it is...

I am completely sick of adventure games and The Longest Journey was the last straw. There I said it.

First thing first. I was delighted to find TLJ on steam, I had been hanging to play it for a few years and had been looking for a copy. Steam just made getting it so easy. TJL started off well. The prologue sequence was magnificent, the city was stunning, April looked like a fun character. But the game so quickly deteriorated and has almost completely destroyed my faith in the whole genre. Here is why. TLJ turned into try everything on everything, it just felt like doing a jigsaw puzzle face down. It may not be fair to single out TLJ it was just the most recent of a series of disappointments that included Sam and Max, Grim Fandango, Broken Sword, Syberia and Still Life. All these are generally considered the of the best of the genre. And if this is the best the genre can do, then I agree with the mainstream media saying adventure gaming is dead. I'm sorry about this post sounding like flame bait, I dont mean it to. As I said this is something that has been bugging me for a while.

The point in TLJ where I gave up on it was the ridiculous sequence of events required to get into the cinema. It was just absurd. When I play a game I want options and choices. Give me multiple ways to solve a problem. I don't want to try and figure out the absurd logic of the game designer to just get from a to b. Give me choice about how to get into that cinema. Perhaps the character could climb on the roof and break into an air vent, which could be a mini-game in its self, perhaps you could attempt to bribe the attendant, perhaps cause a diversion so the attendant leaves the cinema with enough time for you to sneak in, perhaps you could create a fake health inspector id and get in that way. The best they could come up with was a battery powered monkey and a shadow wearing a hat! That puzzle was just so frustrating and pointless, it was merely an artificial block just to slow the player down. On its own the shadow and the monkey puzzle would have been an annoyance, but you had to jump through several other assured puzzles just to get there, including poisoning a PI and building a 'fishing pole' out of a rubber ducky and a clamp. Argh multiple pointless roadblocks.

Yes I want choice or at least some paralleled puzzles so if I get stuck on one then I can at least try something else. In DOTT I could switch characters when I got stuck, Riven had multiple puzzle you could work on simultaneously. TLJ there was no choice you had to get into that cinema, there was nothing else you could do, mindless a to b to c, with mini face down jigsaws puzzles just to slow you down. What really frustrates me is that I know adventure game can be so much better, we have Monkey Island, DOTT, Riven and The Last Express to prove it.

So I'm giving up on the adventure gaming. I may revisit it in the future, Experinence112 looks interesting and Grey Matter might be worth a play, Jane Jenson's work on the whole is pretty good.

I had high hopes for TLJ and I was just so let down. If anyone has any suggestions that might restore my faith in the genre I'm all ears. Sorry about the rant and thanks for listening.

A frustrated gamer.

09-25-2007, 07:10 PM	#1
andii Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Melbourne Posts: 8	*The Longest Journey was the last straw Spoiler Warning.* Warning This post talks about specific parts of The Longest Journey hence spoilers. This issue has been brooding in me for some time and I really feel like I need to get it out there. And here it is... I am completely sick of adventure games and The Longest Journey was the last straw. There I said it. First thing first. I was delighted to find TLJ on steam, I had been hanging to play it for a few years and had been looking for a copy. Steam just made getting it so easy. TJL started off well. The prologue sequence was magnificent, the city was stunning, April looked like a fun character. But the game so quickly deteriorated and has almost completely destroyed my faith in the whole genre. Here is why. TLJ turned into try everything on everything, it just felt like doing a jigsaw puzzle face down. It may not be fair to single out TLJ it was just the most recent of a series of disappointments that included Sam and Max, Grim Fandango, Broken Sword, Syberia and Still Life. All these are generally considered the of the best of the genre. And if this is the best the genre can do, then I agree with the mainstream media saying adventure gaming is dead. I'm sorry about this post sounding like flame bait, I dont mean it to. As I said this is something that has been bugging me for a while. The point in TLJ where I gave up on it was the ridiculous sequence of events required to get into the cinema. It was just absurd. When I play a game I want options and choices. Give me multiple ways to solve a problem. I don't want to try and figure out the absurd logic of the game designer to just get from a to b. Give me choice about how to get into that cinema. Perhaps the character could climb on the roof and break into an air vent, which could be a mini-game in its self, perhaps you could attempt to bribe the attendant, perhaps cause a diversion so the attendant leaves the cinema with enough time for you to sneak in, perhaps you could create a fake health inspector id and get in that way. The best they could come up with was a battery powered monkey and a shadow wearing a hat! That puzzle was just so frustrating and pointless, it was merely an artificial block just to slow the player down. On its own the shadow and the monkey puzzle would have been an annoyance, but you had to jump through several other assured puzzles just to get there, including poisoning a PI and building a 'fishing pole' out of a rubber ducky and a clamp. Argh multiple pointless roadblocks. Yes I want choice or at least some paralleled puzzles so if I get stuck on one then I can at least try something else. In DOTT I could switch characters when I got stuck, Riven had multiple puzzle you could work on simultaneously. TLJ there was no choice you had to get into that cinema, there was nothing else you could do, mindless a to b to c, with mini face down jigsaws puzzles just to slow you down. What really frustrates me is that I know adventure game can be so much better, we have Monkey Island, DOTT, Riven and The Last Express to prove it. So I'm giving up on the adventure gaming. I may revisit it in the future, Experinence112 looks interesting and Grey Matter might be worth a play, Jane Jenson's work on the whole is pretty good. I had high hopes for TLJ and I was just so let down. If anyone has any suggestions that might restore my faith in the genre I'm all ears. Sorry about the rant and thanks for listening. A frustrated gamer.