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

mgeorge · 08-06-2009, 09:41 AM

Seems like most folks around here long for the way games were made back in the "old days".

I don't really know what those games were like because I didn't play many AG's until fairly recently, however I hear TLJ mentioned all the time as being the pinnacle of adventure gaming. And if it is, I personally don't see it. Perhaps I didn't give it a proper chance, but I bought the game, (paid a good price for it to), and frankly found it boring. Not because of a lack of action or anything, but I found the puzzles quite ridiculous for the most part, and the story pretty convoluted.

My first AG was actually the first real computer game I ever played back in 99 or so, and that was Amber Journeys Beyond. That game enthralled me for a couple of months (I didn't realize there was something called a walkthrough back then haha). I loved that game, but found something called Half Life shortly after Amber, and got consumed by the FPS genre for years.

And I still like the occasional FPS although my preference is an FPS/RPG, Deus Ex, System Shock 2, but sadly there's very few of them made, so I turned to AG's for something with a little more meat on its bones a couple of years ago. After all, you can only save the world by your lonesome so many times before it starts to become stale.

I guess my point is that I figured games like TLJ and Still Life would be as good as Amber, and in my humble opinion, neither is. I've played some very good AG's, (Indigo, Lost Crown, Culpa, Post Mortem), but none captured my attention like Amber did. Nostalgia? Maybe. However now, looking back, I think it's not so much that Amber was that great, but that the genre hasn't really evolved very much since then, and has even gone backwards in some respects.

Some people here say the FPS or RPG genres haven't evolved either, but while there haven't been radical changes, they've definitely improved the gameplay with smarter AI, squad based tactics, physics, and better dialog options.

I just don't see that with the typical AG. And it seems like every time a dev does take a chance, people don't like it, so they keep pumping out the same thing Amber did over 10 years ago. I mean why not? There're cheaper to make and people buy them.

So I guess I'm in the minority around here, however I have to believe that there's "others of my kind" haha, that want a bit more innovation.

08-06-2009, 09:41 AM	#161
mgeorge Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 197	Seems like most folks around here long for the way games were made back in the "old days". I don't really know what those games were like because I didn't play many AG's until fairly recently, however I hear TLJ mentioned all the time as being the pinnacle of adventure gaming. And if it is, I personally don't see it. Perhaps I didn't give it a proper chance, but I bought the game, (paid a good price for it to), and frankly found it boring. Not because of a lack of action or anything, but I found the puzzles quite ridiculous for the most part, and the story pretty convoluted. My first AG was actually the first real computer game I ever played back in 99 or so, and that was Amber Journeys Beyond. That game enthralled me for a couple of months (I didn't realize there was something called a walkthrough back then haha). I loved that game, but found something called Half Life shortly after Amber, and got consumed by the FPS genre for years. And I still like the occasional FPS although my preference is an FPS/RPG, Deus Ex, System Shock 2, but sadly there's very few of them made, so I turned to AG's for something with a little more meat on its bones a couple of years ago. After all, you can only save the world by your lonesome so many times before it starts to become stale. I guess my point is that I figured games like TLJ and Still Life would be as good as Amber, and in my humble opinion, neither is. I've played some very good AG's, (Indigo, Lost Crown, Culpa, Post Mortem), but none captured my attention like Amber did. Nostalgia? Maybe. However now, looking back, I think it's not so much that Amber was that great, but that the genre hasn't really evolved very much since then, and has even gone backwards in some respects. Some people here say the FPS or RPG genres haven't evolved either, but while there haven't been radical changes, they've definitely improved the gameplay with smarter AI, squad based tactics, physics, and better dialog options. I just don't see that with the typical AG. And it seems like every time a dev does take a chance, people don't like it, so they keep pumping out the same thing Amber did over 10 years ago. I mean why not? There're cheaper to make and people buy them. So I guess I'm in the minority around here, however I have to believe that there's "others of my kind" haha, that want a bit more innovation.