[millenia]

I never found Nina's voice to be bad at all (played English version). It was a bit nasal I guess but nothing really wrong with it. I like some personality in characters and often find myself liking ones that some others seems to hate. Too many protagonists are so polite, general and dull.

I find the new Lost Horizon to be pretty overrated game. It is mostly very average, not horrible (though the incredibly tedious middle chapters almost are) but by no means excellent. Some people love it and I can dig that but all the fuzz about instant classic etc. is just too much.

My alltime favourite Discworld Noir is of course underrated. Even though it is pretty widely respected it is not recognized as (one of) the best and thus it is horribly and unjustly underrated .

Curse of Monkey Island is also somewhat underrated. Lots of people rate it a lot lower than the first two when it is an excellent sequel and in my opinion doesn't fall behind the earlier games. The fourth one is pretty horrible though. I never even finished it since it crashed right after the horrible monkey dance episode and I just couldn't bear to do it again.

These are the only ones I can think of just now and none of them is a horrible crime against humanity. I believe there would be more if I had a nice list of all adventures I've played.

[Idrisguitar]

hey millenia, did you ever manage to get discworld noir working on newer windows? i really want to play it at some point.

[millenia]

Originally Posted by Idrisguitar

hey millenia, did you ever manage to get discworld noir working on newer windows? i really want to play it at some point.

Last time I played it the nocd fix was sufficient (I guess I has 2000/xp). I tried it now since I was planning on replaying it again soon and the fix itself didn't do it. Compatibility modes didn't seem to work either.

This thread had some hints how it could work and I will post there more details of my current tries.

[Gonchi]

Originally Posted by Hoipolloi

Overrated:
* All the old pre-1995 games
You just idolize this stuff out of nostalia, folks!

Originally Posted by Hoipolloi

Second, I'm hoping for more underrated games that are less than 10 years old - c'mon, there must be some.

Nope, none, trust me, I've played them all. Care for some underrated pre-1995 games though?

Ok, douchiness aside, I very much enjoyed Daemonica, which I think went under most people's radars. I also liked Undercover: Operation Wintersun, but I wouldn't necessarily say the game was underrated (I'm a bit of a World War junkie, so that played a part)...

A game I do think was considerably underrated was Culpa Innata. I saw a lot of mixed feelings over it from both critics and gamers before I decided to bite and try it myself, and despite the flaws, I thought it had some very good ideas. They weren't exactly groundbreaking innovations, we've seen them before well over a decade ago, but I give the developers props for not resorting to mini-games. So, while the game was by no means a classic, I do think it deserved a bit more love than it got. I was actually surprised to see Greyfuss thought Culpa Innata was overrated (then again, he also listed The Last Express and The Dark Eye as overrated, so I think it's possible he started celebrating New Year's a bit early).

As for overrated... I don't really want to say their games are overrated, but I'm really having a hard time getting on the Telltale bandwagon.

[UPtimist]

Originally Posted by zoecastillo

It's also over 10 years old and considering that the graphics are just fine.

Well, just don't judge the graphics by the prologue. It's unbelievably bad in graphics, I couldn't make out almost anything in it. After that it's tolerable enough not to let it bother you (or at least me).

I still feel that Escape from Monkey Island is underrated. I understand that it's not on par with the rest before it, but that makes most people unable to judge the game objectively. I'm not saying that there's nothing wrong with it and I understand that a game in a series has different types of standards than a standalone game, but I still think that it's a very enjoyable game etc.

I find Dreamfall a tad overrated. I loved The Longest Journey, but I don't know if it's the fact that I played Dreamfall so many years after its release or what, but I felt like it was supposed to deliver something that in the end it didn't. Don't get me wrong, I liked it, but it's just that I don't see the game as anything too special and definitely not comparable with TLJ. The graphics I felt were very mediocre, the gameplay lacked much gameplay (it was just an interactive movie, really), and the story was a tad... obscure or something (I don't mean not understandable, but just sort of stuff just happening).

[ozzie]

Well, I think there's a distinction to be made between underrated and underknown.

I'm not sure, for example, if the Tex Murphy games, are underrated. I think everyone who plays them knows how great they are. But they just aren't as universally well known as Monkey Island or The Longest Journey.

I do have to propose a candidate for the category "overrated adventure": King's Quest V.
Sure, this game wears some incredibly pretty clothes. The graphics have lost some of its shine with the years, but none of its aesthetic qualities, but apart from that, it's terrible.
The gameplay consists of solving lots of unrelated puzzles, doing things you have no idea of how they are necessary for the overarching quest, collecting senselessly every item that is not nailed down because it might be necessary for later on to not get irrecoverably stuck, a terribly told and simplistic story with awkward pacing (GRAHAM! YOUR CASTLE WAS STOLEN, ALONG WITH YOUR FAMILY!! Well, okay, I better just placidly stroll around the countryside and buy me a pie...), the most annoying sidekick ever,...
I haven't played it for a long time, because the stench of its laziness in regards to storytelling and design and the sadism towards its players drove me away. At least its grandiose sequel makes up for the bad memories I have of it!

[ukpetd]

By and large the popular ratings are reasonable to go by. There are few games that have been neglected.

Underrated - Shadow of Destiny. Nightlong:Union City Conspiracy, Anacapri the Dream.

[mgeorge]

I have to put my two cents in here.

Overrated;
TLJ
Still Life

I'm honestly surprised that TLJ is getting slammed in this thread, but I agree. It has some of the most obscure puzzles I've ever seen, and moves at a snails pace. I found Dreamfall almost as bad in a different kind of way.

Still Life is another game that doesn't deserve the praise it's gotten IMO. I got to the cookie puzzle and threw in the towel. Although I have to admit I've never finished either. When I'm not enjoying a game, I'm not going to finish it no matter how good it may get "later".

Underrated;
Post Mortem
Fahrenheit

Post Mortem got mediocre reviews and I never understood it. It had a fantastic "noir" feel to it and actually had non-linear gameplay. Amazing for an AG! Throw in a great story and you've got a winner in my humble opinion. Much better than Still Life which went back to the usual boring traditional AG gameplay.

Fahrenheit actually got pretty good reviews and deservedly so IMO. But many here didn't like it so I consider it underrated. Yes the game had many flaws but it took chances very few AG's have in the gameplay dept. Not all worked but at least Cage gave the genre a kick in the rear end it needed. And although the story did go downhill by the end, it did have me more engaged than any other AG I've ever played.

[Ascovel]

Originally Posted by mgeorge

Overrated;
TLJ
Still Life

Underrated;
Post Mortem
Fahrenheit

Hmm...

Overrated:
TLJ
Still Life
Fahrenheit

Broken Sword 3
I'm tempted to put GK3 in here too, even though I like it a lot.

Underrated:
Mata Hari
Darkseed 2
Alone in The Dark 2 & 3
Downfall

[jhetfield21]

Sometimes I too am not really fond of Nina's voice acting...but then again the dialogues help it too(to suck at points).I can understand the try for a more personality-driven character but in the end some parts just make her bad.I mean she goes against serious situations and she sometimes looks like a stupid little girl....i get that they wanted to make her a little funny but they don't accomplish it that good.I'm replaying it now so I'm being as impartial as i can since i like the game.I also believe it is underrated since it has a very nice story,good graphics and interface..max and nina weren't great as characters but i found everybody else very well made.

Another underrated one is Art of Murder FBI Confidential.It had a really good and engaging story.Gray Matter too.

Syberia 2 is also a bit overrated.....Even though i like it as a game it's not on par with the first.I replayed both last week so the comparison between them is fresh.I didn't like some of the locations on Syberia 2 like the youkol village or the monastery and romansburg.It always felt like something's missing.Maybe it was the automatons that made all locations in Syberia 1 really cool and original.I don't know but it became a lot overrated since it's a pack with the first installment.

For Grim Fandango all I can say is i really liked the story and the characters but the controls being what they are leave a minus behind.

[Jadefalcon]

I don't know if it's underrated as much, but the Perry Rhodan game never seemed to get noticed very much. Doesn't help that it's known by different names in Europe and the US as well.

[Red_Lizard2]

Originally Posted by mgeorge

I have to put my two cents in here.
Post Mortem got mediocre reviews and I never understood it. It had a fantastic "noir" feel to it and actually had non-linear gameplay. Amazing for an AG! Throw in a great story and you've got a winner in my humble opinion. Much better than Still Life which went back to the usual boring traditional AG gameplay

I agree Post Mortem was a great game, loved it 90% of the time (except the last puzzle ugh!). From what I've played of Still Life, have to agree Post Mortem was better. I still need to finish Still Life though to say for sure.

[Oscar]

Overrated:
Moment of Silence
It's not that it is bad, just that it appears on many people's top 10 list. I liked the 1984-ish story but the main character had zero personality, the game was fussy when I had to do a single thing to make it proceed and the navigation was the worst I've ever played with hidden exits, clicking on a pixel on the edge of the screen to go somewhere and badly designed and cluttered areas.

Also incredibly overrated is Tales of MI

[Intense Degree]

Originally Posted by Ascovel

Underrated:
Mata Hari

I may be a little late to the party in responding to your post i'm afraid, but I simply can't agree with this!

I will admit that I didn't finish Mata Hari, but I played through most of it and found it to be massively over-simplified and repetative, a series of loosely connected scenes with a bland and vanilla protagonist with no discernable personality.

The "collecting ideas" thing was a little bit interesting but no more. The train journeys around Europe were repetative and frankly silly and the "dance" sequences and collecting new moves part was breathtaking in its ridiculousness!

All this is personal opinion of course, but I wonder why you think it is underrated?

[Stuart]

Underrated for me definitely has to be the "Chronicles of Mystery" series (at least the two proper adventure games, not the cash-in hidden object games). Sure the first is very short (second isn't though) but for lovers of the conspiracy/history type game they are some of the best AGs out there IMO, along with the Secret Files series. But everywhere I look, they get a generally indifferent response (moreso the second) so maybe its just me. CoM: The Scorpio Ritual was given ***1/2 at AG and it is a good game, just very short. Then they made the sequel, CoM: The Tree of Life, and it is much longer and equally well made but only got **1/2 at AG for some reason, which I find to be hugely underrated.

Overrated, I'm not sure... I tend to enjoy most AGs but am not a fan of Myst type games if that counts. Beautiful setting but no character interaction etc. leaves me feeling unsatisfied.

[kate me]

Underrated: The dig (Am I the only one who actually liked it? I wish we had a tram sistem over the entire world)

I agree also with chronicles of mystery, I liked the Tree of life and the Scorpio Ritual, but didn't played the third . But I heard it's out . Is that true?

[rayvio]

The Dig is one of my favourite adventures, I haven't heard a lot of criticism for it though (apart from a few Lucas fans who were disappointed that it wasn't a comedy) so I never really considered it underrated

Dreamfall I think is underrated. there's a few irritating actiony parts, but only a few and most are fairly easy or avoidable. I give them credit for trying new things even if not all of it worked. the story was great although of course in need of a sequel to tie up the loose ends
the early Leisure Suit Larry's are rather underrated as well, most gamers unfamiliar with them dismiss them as 'porn games' when they are in fact comedies with very little in the way of actual sexual content

as for overrated, I'd have to say, and I know this won't be a popular choice, Curse of Monkey Island. a lot of people heap a lot of praise on it, but personally I felt it was much weaker than the first two (though nowhere near as bad as the fourth). it was a good game, but not a classic like the first two

[Stuart]

Originally Posted by kate me

I agree also with chronicles of mystery, I liked the Tree of life and the Scorpio Ritual, but didn't played the third . But I heard it's out . Is that true?

There's two other CoM games along with the above two:

- The Legend of the Sacred Treasure
- Secret of the Lost Kingdom

Don't let the cool names fool you, both are god awful "hidden object" games that barely resemble the other two and are best avoided. As of yet there's no third real adventure game and I'm not sure what's planned for the franchise.

[aaroncarney]

I can't believe someone thinks that SIMON THE SORCERER 3D is UNDERRATED ?!?!? Are you kidding me. That Game is awful, plain and simple. I couldn't even get past the first 15 minutes because of how much it offended my eyes.

And for everyone saying The Longest Journey is over rated... shush. I think Broken Sword is over rated. How do you like THAT!?

Anyway.

Overrated: Myst. I mean how boring and difficult does a game want to be? You literally have to go through the whole game with a walkthrough. And NEVER got past the airship/music puzzle thing because it was too fiddly (Loved Myst 3 and 4 though, and Uru)

Gabriel Knight 2. I have always believed Blood of the Damned to be SO much better. More adventure and investigation than two, and 3 makes the Grace chapters a lot more fun. The whole research and le serpent rouge (or whatever it was called) part was amazing.


Underated: Blade Runner I don't hear much about Blade Runner and its always been a favourite of mine. For how old the game is, the graphics are brilliant. I love how its a different story to the film. I really want to play this game again on a laptop that agrees with it!

[inm8#2]

Overrated - I honestly can't think of any, since adventure games tend to be overlooked anyways. But within the AG community, I haven't experienced the same excitement for Telltale as others. They make good games but seem to go more for nostalgia, and gameplay/puzzles really haven't grasped me. I've only played BTTF: Episode 1 and Tales of MI: Episode 1, so my opinion is probably not very warranted but those games didn't grab a hold of me.

Underrated - Shivers series, Black Dahlia (it gets loony near the end but most of the game is quite enjoyable despite very tough mechanical puzzles), Police Quest 3, and Penumbra series (although the great Amnesia brought more attention to these).