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Old 07-30-2010, 02:56 AM   #7
Lee in Limbo
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Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
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I don't mind logic puzzles if they're well integrated into the environment and the story doesn't suffer for having to stop and do one of these little darlings. Some of my favourite early AGs were loaded with such mini-games. That said, if a game with good storytelling doesn't have enough of these sorts of manipulation puzzles in them, I don't mind. I've always seen them as arbitrary desperation devices put in place to simulate the struggle involved in resolving the plot dilemma in a more realistic fashion (which the game can't simulate accurately, so we get puzzles instead).

The closest I've ever seen to a 'slider-type' puzzle that really behaved like a real life problem solution was the infamous lock picking segment in Still Life. Man, did that puzzle ever get me worked up. It was every bit as hard as you might expect, and it was exactly the sort of obstacle I think such games need, but in the end, I'm not sure that it was a fair take on the idea. I guess they felt the need to make it extra difficult because the finesse of picking a lock was impossible to recreate with a mouse and keys.
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