Adventure Forums - View Single Post - Adventure Games are Dead?

Find Therma · 05-03-2009, 09:56 AM

@nomadsoul

It still depends on what you want from a game. And it's down to balance - interactivity (in the sense you refer to it) vs thought/mental stimulation. How much does someone wants to tip that balance. If a player wants to see how quick they can press buttons in the right order, then play a beat-em-up which has high interactivity but little to no thought involved. If another player wants complete mental stimulation from a game, then don't play a beat-em-up, play a pure puzzle game.

@imissunwell

I must admit that certain commercial adventures I have played lately have left me feeling dissapointed and at least partly support some of the points you make. Secret Files Tunguska and The Black Mirror spring to mind. Games that got almost unanimously good reviews from adventure games site, but which I thought were merely ok (if that) and flawed in many ways. Poor writing, uninspired narrative, poor puzle design which often didn't fit appropriately into the physical space of the character.

In this respect I can see your point about rpgs, many of the actions you undertake seemingly have more relevence than in certain adventure games such as the ones I've mentioned.

I don't think the genre needs to reinvent itself though. Rather I think it needs to make sure it keeps doing the things it can do so well. What's wrong with a game that has an intriguing story, believable atmosphere, gameplay that comes about from logical situations that the character may find themself in? These are things that the great adventure games have managed to implement without some of the more rpg like suggestions you've made.

The notepad system in Discworld Noir for example is a gameplay element that worked brilliantly imho, yet few (if any) titles since then have used this. The atmosphere and immersion in Black Dahlia and Gabriel Knight 3 were incredible, so new titles should use these as an example of what can be done. There is room for improvement in all/many/some modern titles depending on who you're asking, but I don't think drastic reinvention of the genre is needed, just more care taken by the developers as to what makes an adventure game worth playing in the first place.

05-03-2009, 09:56 AM	#41
Find Therma Junior Member Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 25	@nomadsoul It still depends on what you want from a game. And it's down to balance - interactivity (in the sense you refer to it) vs thought/mental stimulation. How much does someone wants to tip that balance. If a player wants to see how quick they can press buttons in the right order, then play a beat-em-up which has high interactivity but little to no thought involved. If another player wants complete mental stimulation from a game, then don't play a beat-em-up, play a pure puzzle game. @imissunwell I must admit that certain commercial adventures I have played lately have left me feeling dissapointed and at least partly support some of the points you make. Secret Files Tunguska and The Black Mirror spring to mind. Games that got almost unanimously good reviews from adventure games site, but which I thought were merely ok (if that) and flawed in many ways. Poor writing, uninspired narrative, poor puzle design which often didn't fit appropriately into the physical space of the character. In this respect I can see your point about rpgs, many of the actions you undertake seemingly have more relevence than in certain adventure games such as the ones I've mentioned. I don't think the genre needs to reinvent itself though. Rather I think it needs to make sure it keeps doing the things it can do so well. What's wrong with a game that has an intriguing story, believable atmosphere, gameplay that comes about from logical situations that the character may find themself in? These are things that the great adventure games have managed to implement without some of the more rpg like suggestions you've made. The notepad system in Discworld Noir for example is a gameplay element that worked brilliantly imho, yet few (if any) titles since then have used this. The atmosphere and immersion in Black Dahlia and Gabriel Knight 3 were incredible, so new titles should use these as an example of what can be done. There is room for improvement in all/many/some modern titles depending on who you're asking, but I don't think drastic reinvention of the genre is needed, just more care taken by the developers as to what makes an adventure game worth playing in the first place.