[eriq]

Originally Posted by Kurufinwe

Roberta Williams did it three times: with Mystery House, with King's Quest and with The Colonel's Bequest.

Don't forget Phantasmagoria!!

[NcroManiac]

Originally Posted by eriq

Don't forget Phantasmagoria!!

Arguably, some would forget.

[Kurufinwe]

Originally Posted by eriq

Don't forget Phantasmagoria!!

Was Phantasmagoria really innovative? Sure, it had FMV, but the game didn't really do anything with it that couldn't have been done with, say, drawings. And the gameplay was pretty standard (I thought).

[JohnGreenArt]

On the "control freak" issue, look at George Lucas.

When making the original Star Wars films, after the first one he let other people write and direct Empire and Jedi (based on his story concepts, of course).

But with the prequels, he was much more controlling, directing all of them, and being surrounded by "yes men".

All of the Star Wars films could be considered visionary, and the prequels may be a truer realization of Lucas' vision that what the originals were, due to budget and effects limitations.

But is that the defining criteria to judge the films by? Are the prequels better films because Lucas is more of a control freak now than he was thrity years ago?

A control freak sometimes just needs to be told that what's best for him or her might not be best for the audience they're making their movie or game for.

[Jeysie]

I'd like to say that I have to agree a little with Lacrima about DOTT. I've never really understood why people are so gung-ho about it.

That's not to say I *hate* the game, mind you, because I don't. It is a very fun(ny) game, and the puzzle design is extremely clever. But it just doesn't draw me in the way other games do. The plot certainly isn't the strongest in the adventure game pantheon, and somehow the characters never quite charmed me the way, for instance, the characters in Monkey Island do (let alone games with more complex/deeper characters). I can't really quantify my feelings on the matter, but I couldn't muster a thought on the game upon finishing it outside of "Well, that was fun. Moving on..."

OK, except for Green Tentacle. I always did like him.

Anyhoo. I also disagree with the thought that humorous stories don't need arcs/character development/strong plots/etc.

It is true that humor has more leeway to be "shallower" and still be decent, but comedy benefits strongly from good storytelling the same way drama does.

However, I've never played Still Life, and I only played through part of Full Throttle a while ago, so I can't weigh in on that matter.

Peace & Luv, Liz

[rocketpop]

I guess I'm practically the only one, but I really didn't enjoy syberia. I quit playing at the train station. It wasn't in the least bit interesting. I felt like I was solving pointless puzzles to open up more pointless puzzles. It has to be a year ago, but I don't remember what the game was even about or what the point was--other than there were lots of fantasy-mechanical stuff.

TLJ was a bit better, but I quit playing it, too. I didn't care about the character at all, and the plot seemed dull and thin as cheap aluminum foil. I stopped playing when I got to some caves on some island or something or another.

[Captain Blondebeard]

Originally Posted by Kingzjester

It blows my mind that there are people here that can honestly prefer any of the me-too, reactionary adventures from the Post-Death-o'-the-Genre Era to anything and everything Tim Schafer has made. Still Life as opposed to Full Throttle?! TLJ the greatest adventure game ever!?!

I think that since I allow myself to be freaked out by this phenomenon, I have a much higher opinion of you people than you really deserve.

Tim Schafer is Lord God of the adventure. He can do no wrong. Death to infidels.

Out of sight out of mind. All of these new games are garbage in my opinion. TLJ are average at best compared to the old stuff. Syberia is just a pass time game. There hasnt been a good game since Grim Fandango.

[Spiwak]

Originally Posted by JohnGreenArt

On the "control freak" issue, look at George Lucas.

When making the original Star Wars films, after the first one he let other people write and direct Empire and Jedi (based on his story concepts, of course).

But with the prequels, he was much more controlling, directing all of them, and being surrounded by "yes men".

All of the Star Wars films could be considered visionary, and the prequels may be a truer realization of Lucas' vision that what the originals were, due to budget and effects limitations.

But is that the defining criteria to judge the films by? Are the prequels better films because Lucas is more of a control freak now than he was thrity years ago?

A control freak sometimes just needs to be told that what's best for him or her might not be best for the audience they're making their movie or game for.

We could sit here and list good examples of control freaks and bad examples all day, because there is no real defining quality of cotnrol freask that inherantly makes it a good or bad quality to have. I'll be damned if one example of how a control freak failed or succeeded will make all control freaks follow the same course, because it just doesn't happen. It really depends on the person you're talking about, and it seems to work very well for Tim.

That said, While Lucas' prequels may not have been successful in some ways, at least it was his vision. I like to see control freaks because I feel like I'm watching their vision and that's far more interesting an experience than knowing it's a studio movie.

[Lazukko]

Roberta Williams certainly did a lot for adventure games.. but I never found her games to be all that enjoyable, apart from Colonel's Bequest and Kings Quest VI.

None of her games are anywhere near as good as DoTT, Full Throttle or Grim Fandango when it comes to writing and puzzle design.

That said, As much as I love Schafer, Ron Gilbert is still my personal adventure game god.

[Legolas813]

Some random thoughts that may not go with the flow of this thread:

TLJ is a modern classic (to quote IGN: one of the last great adventure games).
DOTT is my favorite game of all time (but nostalgia plays a big part).
Full Throttle: I played it for the first time recently. The part where you have to drive the bike through the canyons and fight the bikers just ruined the entire game for me. It was horrible.
Sam and Max: Bought recently, but can't play since my sound card died.
Grim Fandango: I would have liked it better as point and click.
Still Life: Man I loved the atmosphere. The game was just so slick.
Syberia: Stands out mostly for the setting and graphics.
TMOS: One of my favorites from this generation.