Adventure Forums - View Single Post

LGH · 06-23-2008, 01:55 AM

I've played through the German version of The Abbey now, and here is my opinion: I really loved this game in (almost) all aspects.

The only thing that I could perhaps criticize would be, on some occasions, the puzzle design. While most puzzles were generally well done and not too hard, the game left me wandering around sometimes, without giving me a clue where to go next or what to do next.

After reading some critics about The Moment of Silence in this very forum, I can also imagine that some people might not appreciate the fact that there are really lots of very long dialogues in this game. But I already loved that in The Moment of Silence, and I love it here as well. These long dialogues help to make you dive into the game world. You don't just learn what is absolutely necessary for the main plot, but you learn so much more about the people surrounding you, their past, their ambitions. Also, the fact that there are many changes of the camera angle during conversations, with a lot of close-ups and much use of body language, the dialogues also stay visually attractive.

The aspects that I really loved in this game:

- The excellent graphics. High quality painted backgrounds (that even changed during day or night time... those evening skies: wow!), tons of camera changes and close ups, nice lightning effects (e.g. torches in the dark).
- The epic music, recorded by a symphonic orchestra and a choir. This has been done in other genres, but as far as I'm aware of, this is a first for adventure games.
- The top notch voice acting (German version). The characters have been casted very thoroughly, and the intonation is always fitting.
- The good mix between a generally serious game and some little humorous moments here and there (but without turning the game into comedy).
- The good characterization of the persons. Although you are interacting all the time with monks, they all have very different personalities.
- The interesting story. It became never boring, you always discovered new things.
- The detailed ending. No open end here.

Conclusion: One of the adventure highlights of the last years. It's always a good sign that I feel like wanting to play the game (or at least some scenes) again during the next days.

Now, after having really hyped the game, I also hope that there will be an English version as soon as possible. On the official site, no English publisher is announced so far (http://www.theabbey-game.com/links.page.htm).Well, gamers gate announced their intentions to make a digital distribution some time ago (http://www.gamershell.com/companies/...te/402016.html), but I'm not sure if the English version will be produced JUST for gamersgate. The entry looks still very unsettled: http://www.gamersgate.com/index.php?...=DD-TA&cat=all

But the game is simply too good not to be published internationally.

06-23-2008, 01:55 AM	#11
LGH Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 67	I've played through the German version of The Abbey now, and here is my opinion: I really loved this game in (almost) all aspects. The only thing that I could perhaps criticize would be, on some occasions, the puzzle design. While most puzzles were generally well done and not too hard, the game left me wandering around sometimes, without giving me a clue where to go next or what to do next. After reading some critics about The Moment of Silence in this very forum, I can also imagine that some people might not appreciate the fact that there are really lots of very long dialogues in this game. But I already loved that in The Moment of Silence, and I love it here as well. These long dialogues help to make you dive into the game world. You don't just learn what is absolutely necessary for the main plot, but you learn so much more about the people surrounding you, their past, their ambitions. Also, the fact that there are many changes of the camera angle during conversations, with a lot of close-ups and much use of body language, the dialogues also stay visually attractive. The aspects that I really loved in this game: - The excellent graphics. High quality painted backgrounds (that even changed during day or night time... those evening skies: wow!), tons of camera changes and close ups, nice lightning effects (e.g. torches in the dark). - The epic music, recorded by a symphonic orchestra and a choir. This has been done in other genres, but as far as I'm aware of, this is a first for adventure games. - The top notch voice acting (German version). The characters have been casted very thoroughly, and the intonation is always fitting. - The good mix between a generally serious game and some little humorous moments here and there (but without turning the game into comedy). - The good characterization of the persons. Although you are interacting all the time with monks, they all have very different personalities. - The interesting story. It became never boring, you always discovered new things. - The detailed ending. No open end here. Conclusion: One of the adventure highlights of the last years. It's always a good sign that I feel like wanting to play the game (or at least some scenes) again during the next days. Now, after having really hyped the game, I also hope that there will be an English version as soon as possible. On the official site, no English publisher is announced so far (http://www.theabbey-game.com/links.page.htm).Well, gamers gate announced their intentions to make a digital distribution some time ago (http://www.gamershell.com/companies/...te/402016.html), but I'm not sure if the English version will be produced JUST for gamersgate. The entry looks still very unsettled: http://www.gamersgate.com/index.php?...=DD-TA&cat=all But the game is simply too good not to be published internationally.