[dangling participle]

lest we forget dragon's lair? (not so much an adventure, though the announcer deems it that in the intro video)

i've bought that game in so many incarnations now it's ridiculous. $700 for a panasonic 3DO, $60 for a game that has no replay value? sure that sounds like a good deal . i think an HD version just came out too. the coolest version imo is the nintendo ds port
http://www.ds-video.com/dslair/ though you need a backup solution to run it.

[Gabe]

Case of rose tattoo just like Gk2 maybe much harder.

[Jadefalcon]

I wouldn't really call Rose Tattoo FULL FMV though, but that's maybe just me.

Tis a good game though.

[Jake]

The only good FMV adventure game is a...


nevermind

[ATMachine]

Originally Posted by Jadefalcon

I wouldn't really call Rose Tattoo FULL FMV though, but that's maybe just me.

Tis a good game though.

By "full FMV" do you mean "cutting to a video for every single action you take in the game, including something as mundane as picking up a pencil from a desk?"

I quite liked Rose Tattoo. It may not be "standard" FMV but it's very good. Perhaps that's because they had professional (and British) actors read the dialogue instead of using the (American) physical people who were filmed in costume on-set...

[Meche]

For me, it was Phantasmagoria 1 (and the sequel, part 2). I loved the dialog - those days are gone....replaced by 2.5 and 3 D characters....

[Fien]

Originally Posted by Jake

The only good FMV adventure game is a...


nevermind

You were saying...?

http://www.yoomurjak.com/

[Fien]

Originally Posted by ATMachine

By "full FMV" do you mean "cutting to a video for every single action you take in the game, including something as mundane as picking up a pencil from a desk?"

Isn't that exactly what an otherwise non-FMV game like the Rose Tattoo (or Toonstruck) does on its tiny FMV-avatar level? I guess you don't play 1st-person games.

There are very few "full FMV" adventures, maybe a dozen. Like GK2, Phantasmagoria (3rd-person), Temujin, Blue Heat, the X Files (1st-person).

[Bobske]

IMHO, the Tex Murphy series, GK2, Phantasmagoria I & II, Ripper and The Black Dahlia are few of the worthy FMV adventure games worth playing.

I know you're looking for other FMV adventure games, but still, you might want to check out Wing Commander 3, 4 and 5. These games are real FMV gems with good acting and a great story!

[Gabe]

Samestyle Ripley's believe it or not was more fun then Rose tattoo (until finale)or Vikings as 1st-personJourneyman project 3 worth playing others.

[Jadefalcon]

I would consider games like GK2 or Phantasmagoria, Under a Killing Moon, etc to be 'proper' FMV. Rose Tattoo has some elements of it.

That's not to run either type of game down as there are good and bad in both types though.

[JemyM]

I was not a big fan of Phantasmagoria 1, but Phantasmagoria 2 was ok and Gabriel Knight 2 was great.

[Erwin_Br]

I enjoyed Phantasmagoria 2 as well, while many of my friends didn't like it at all.

--Erwin

[QFG]

Phantasmagoria was terrifying for me when I first played it, at about age 13 or so. I loved it, even with the cheesy, cheap subplot elements that I recognized even then (Cyrus, anyone?).

BTW, did anyone here know that the actor who played Cyrus in Phantasmagoria later went on to star in My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance? Or that he appears in Gray's Anatomy?

[Nelza]

Would you call 'Noctropolis' an FMV?

So far Gabriel Knight 2 is my favourite FMV.

[Jadefalcon]

Originally Posted by Nelza

Would you call 'Noctropolis' an FMV?

So far Gabriel Knight 2 is my favourite FMV.

Now I remember once owning that game, but I don't remember very much about it.

[Terramax]

I know it isn't FMV throughout, I'm surprised no-one mentioned the Myst games. Love the FMV sequences on Exile and Revelations.

As stated in a link posted earlier, I really like Night Trap too. What I find funny to this day is when people moan that the game has bad acting. The joke is on those people as they made the game with cheesy acting on purpose to ridicule those old horror movies.

I'm surprised people moan about bad acting in FMV games in general, especially considering most of the US daytime television shows and dramas have acting twice as terrible (and they really are trying).

[Shoal]

I'm surprised people moan about bad acting in FMV games in general, especially considering most of the US daytime television shows and dramas have acting twice as terrible (and they really are trying).

People who moan about poor acting in FMV games probably also moan about the same thing in daytime TV, if they watch it at all.

In my earlier post to this thread I moaned about the acting and story in Gabriel Knight 2, but I've come to believe that it was likely a problem less with the actors and writer and more with the director and cinematography.

John Cleese of Monty Python once said that comedy was very hard to do in games because it relies so much on good timing, and in games the timing is entirely up to the player. I think a similar thing applies to FMV games in their attempt to create a truly interactive movie: it's all about pacing.

For two years I majored in film and video production in college, and it remains a hobby. One of the first things they teach you when you get to the shooting courses is that pacing is the holy grail of good filmmaking. For this reason, the editor of your film can make or break the whole project -- even if the script and actors were great!

In a video game, the pacing -- and maybe even the editing (after a fashion) -- is left in the hands of the player. Hence, even something shot with Anthony Hopkins as the lead with a supporting cast of other Grade-A acting legends could end up looking (and feeling) like crap.

In an FMV game, you really, really have to go the extra distance. Not only do you have to be a good filmmaker, but you also have to have a very good idea about video game design. If you lack either one, the pacing goes totally off and you end up with something which seems... well... it's like watching a ten year-old try and drive: go, stop, go, stop, go, stop, go, etc.

[Terramax]

Yeah I learnt all that at college film study courses too but that's not what I was getting at. I'm on about how people actually enjoy 2nd rate, even camp style acting and directing in film, television and computer games (hence my love for Night Trap).

Not everything needs 1st rate acting and top props etc in order to be enjoyable.

I know a number of friends that love the Stargate television series, taking into account that it really is quite camp and silly at times but they enjoy if for what it is - entertainment. Ask any Will & Grace fan why they like the show and I doubt you're going to get someone answering "award winning acting".

Sure there are some badly acted games but surely it boils down to context? If we're aware that a game isn't out to be a Gone With the Wind 2 then we should be able to step back and take the game for what it is - whether it's trying to be a memorable piece or simply a mediocre game (which isn't always a bad thing).

[Shoal]

In my opinion, nothing should settle for being mediocre if it can be otherwise. I can forgive a movie or game when it's meant to be cheesy and/or campy, but otherwise? No. If a movie or game is cheesy or campy when it isn't trying to be (or is trying too hard to be cheesy or campy), I just can't stand that; it hurts; it's like a punch in the gut -- constantly. The same goes for encounters with poor quality in general. Call me a perfectionist, but I just can't take it.

Of course, it's because of people like me that minor and independent producers of movies and games can never get off the ground: Hollywood and major video game publishers have set the bar so high for me that I have a very hard time looking down!

I guess people like me gave to distinquish between "poor quality" and "this is the best we could possibly do given our budget and available resources."