[Romer]

Originally Posted by Ascovel

So what are you doing with that cartoony avatar under your nickname?

lol, I knew someone would say that. My avatar is not meant to be funny, pretending to be a sophisticated game, up for sale, or exaggeratedly hyped. It's just an illustration of Don Quixote chasing his windmills, as we all do.

[nspofford]

I just finished the castle portion of the game today and so far I am loving it! I had been looking forward to So Blonde for quite awhile and this game was completely off my radar. Ironically, I heavily disliked So Blonde and really like this game. To be honest, when I read the So Blonde review I felt like I must have played completely different game than the reviewer and I get the same feeling after reading all the complaints in this thread.

Obviously the art style is amazing, but I also think almost all of the voice acting is top notch (a relief, since I decidedly DID NOT have that opinion from the demo), the puzzles are clever without being overwhelming, and the story is cute if not original or exciting. Everything seems super polished, I LOVE that you can instantly skip to the next screen or hit space to skip the moving animation.

Overall, a really solid game. Probably one of my favorite modern adventure games since Runaway.

[cristane]

Originally Posted by Jackal

Welcome to AG, cristane.

No other download or retail sites are carrying the game at this point. The Adventure Shop hopes/plans to carry it, but not until this period of exclusivity for GamersGate ends at the earliest. (No guarantee even then, but that's the goal and the chances are good.)

Just found the downloadable game over at GamesPlanet, how come? No more exclusivity for GamersGate? It's 20 pounds, I think I'll get it

[Sik]

Originally Posted by Ascovel

You wish. You're at the very end already.

Ok, I was closer to the end than I had hoped. I wouldn't say it's a short game, but "A Vampyre Story - Chapter 1" would have been a better name for it. That said, I loved the first part, and would rather see it split into two or three games, than have a rushed ending to finish it up. Has there been any word on when release of the sequel is planned?

[Ascovel]

Originally Posted by Sik

Ok, I was closer to the end than I had hoped. I wouldn't say it's a short game, but "A Vampyre Story - Chapter 1" would have been a better name for it. That said, I loved the first part, and would rather see it split into two or three games, than have a rushed ending to finish it up. Has there been any word on when release of the sequel is planned?

An optimistic estimate from Bill is that he will be able to release it a year from now.

[CrimsonBlue]

I haven't played A Vampyre Story, but there should be a law that tells you if a game ends with a cliffhanger ending, not really finishing off anything, the sequel should be out within a couple of months or so. I hate waiting for years (in some cases) just to see how a game ends.

This is the best things about Monkey Island series, or Broken Sword. It'll end, but there's still some kind of continuation. A game shouldn't be written with a sequel in mind - an open ending is fine, but don't force us to play the sequel to see something we should've seen in the first game (which is what we pay for afterall). If they're not going to start a story that doesn't end with the first game, they better well be releasing the game sooner rather than later. Even one year is way too long to wait, imo.

[chapter11studios]

Originally Posted by Ascovel

An optimistic estimate from Bill is that he will be able to release it a year from now.

Nice. That seems to indicate that some of the work on it has already been completed? Do you know if AVS was originally planned as a single story and then broken up into two parts for technical or monetary reasons?

[chapter11studios]

Originally Posted by CrimsonBlue

I haven't played A Vampyre Story, but there should be a law that tells you if a game ends with a cliffhanger ending, not really finishing off anything, the sequel should be out within a couple of months or so. I hate waiting for years (in some cases) just to see how a game ends.

I generally agree with your point that labeling would help. Something like AVS: Episode One or something. Syberia basically did the same thing where Syberia 1 ends and it's essentially half a game. I think it's partly a product of adventure games costing a lot to make and there being a point at which it becomes unprofitable to put more and more into a single game versus spreading out your costs and revenue into more than one.

On the other hand, as a publisher I can understand why sticking a "part one" on the package would be a problem. I suppose I don't mind as much as long as part two is certain to come out.

Originally Posted by CrimsonBlue

This is the best things about Monkey Island series, or Broken Sword. It'll end, but there's still some kind of continuation. A game shouldn't be written with a sequel in mind - an open ending is fine, but don't force us to play the sequel to see something we should've seen in the first game (which is what we pay for afterall). If they're not going to start a story that doesn't end with the first game, they better well be releasing the game sooner rather than later. Even one year is way too long to wait, imo.

The ending of MI2 is a cliffhanger, and we'll probably never know how it was originally going to be resolved, but IMO that doesn't detract from my enjoyment of the game.

[Jackal]

Originally Posted by cristane

Just found the downloadable game over at GamesPlanet, how come? No more exclusivity for GamersGate? It's 20 pounds, I think I'll get it

Seems so! Exclusives have a pretty short shelf life.

[Ascovel]

Originally Posted by chapter11studios

Nice. That seems to indicate that some of the work on it has already been completed? Do you know if AVS was originally planned as a single story and then broken up into two parts for technical or monetary reasons?

From http://www.adventure-treff.de/artike...id=32&lang=eng

A-T: "We were also told that A Vampyre Story is just the beginning of a larger story. What is the current state of part two? Can you already tell us something about the sequel?"

Bill: "We designed AVS1 and 2 at the same time, so a lot of the art and preproduction art was already done for it. So it is under production now and I hope will be out this time next year since we don't have to make a new engine. But I have reportedly been wrong about release dates sometimes in the past, so don’t consider this a release date announcement or anything like that."

[dmeps]

May I again inquire, please, if the AVS makers are going to patch the lack of subtitles in the cutscenes? I still find it hard to understand everything that's being said, and I like to do so in an AG. It's not Doom or Quake after all...

[Sik]

A bit early to start discussing AVS2 maybe, but I can't help wondering if there will be an option to merge the installation of the two games. It would make sense because (small spoiler about how the game cuts to credits):

Spoiler:

After what turns out to be the ending scene of the game, a book appears open at "Chapter 2". The book fades out as if the second chapter is about to start, and then *snip*... straight to credits. It would make sense to just remove the credits for the first game, and start on the sequel for those that have both installed.

[Iv4n]

I hope they'll fix the wide screen issues as well as some other interface bugs. Actually, the only thing that annoys me is the white lines over the edges of the screen. But I bet they're still working on those old 4:3 monitors and no one on 16 or 16:10 wide ones.

[noknowncure]

Just completed this today.

I really enjoyed it, and thought it caught the spirit of classic adventure games perfectly.

Beautiful music and sound effects, gorgeous backgrounds and great character design. (I don't even think that the characters are especially Disney-ey, as the designs are slightly more exaggerated and stylised.)

Inky the lake Monster was rubbish though.

I do agree that the writing wasn't entirely top notch. The first few puns really grated and I feared the worst, but they settled into a satisfying rhythm fairly quickly. There were still lots of jokes that fell flat, which I find frustrating, because with just a little more quality control the writing could've been great. Someone cutting the occasional painful pun or rewriting a meandering gag would've really helped.

The puzzles were sound. I didn't struggle at all, but the game never felt overly simple - although there were quite a few occasions where I'd completed several steps of a puzzle before appreciating what it was I was doing.

I warmed to Mona and Froderick and I didn't find any of the voices especially annoying, although I do think they shot themselves in the foot by having Tim 'Mole Man' Talbot voice every male character you met in the castle, especially when they had several other actors later on. He does a great job, but it would've been wiser to mix things up a bit, just for variety.

The ending is frustrating, particularly as it feels like the game is building up for the next stage, before suddenly dropping the credits onto you. The game is longer than my pessimistic predictions had estimated though.

I'm sure they could've created a more satisfying conclusion while simultaneously setting up the potential for future adventures. As it stands, we get shown the next area, but aren't allowed to play it, which is a rotten trick.

Overall though, I really like this game. While it doesn't break any new ground, it's charming, entertaining and fun to play.

[Jazhara7]

The game arrived with me...yesterday I think. I am currently installing it. The first impression upon opening the plastic wrapper around the DVD case was "By the gods! That's the stinkiest DVD case I've ever encountered!", as a cloud of chemical odour wafted my way...


Impressions on the actual game later.


-

[Maquisard]

I find I have little patience for this game, regardless of the beautiful graphics and interesting premise. The bat sidekick annoys the shit out of me, and the over reliance on puns (all of which the voice actors took pains to make painfully obvious) as the primary vehicle for humor is just cringe inducing.

[Sik]

Originally Posted by Maquisard

I find I have little patience for this game, regardless of the beautiful graphics and interesting premise. The bat sidekick annoys the shit out of me, and the over reliance on puns (all of which the voice actors took pains to make painfully obvious) as the primary vehicle for humor is just cringe inducing.

That was part of the charm for me. The game often breaks "the fourth wall" and there's a sense of self awareness with the "here's a bad joke/bad pun" coming up style of writing. Maybe it's lazy compared to writing jokes that have good punchlines, but I liked it.

[QuestVR]

I've been playing little bits here and there as I've heard it was short and want the experience to last. I'm enjoying it immensely, thanks AME, can't wait for more.

[Thello]

Originally Posted by Sik

That was part of the charm for me. The game often breaks "the fourth wall" and there's a sense of self awareness with the "here's a bad joke/bad pun" coming up style of writing. Maybe it's lazy compared to writing jokes that have good punchlines, but I liked it.

I'm on the same page as Maquisard. It's one thing to borrow your interface from games of yore, but it's another thing entirely to reuse old jokes. I think this game is Jack Keane levels of awful in the writing department. If it had the same graphics as well, it'd probably be regarded the same.

[CrimsonBlue]

Reusing jokes is something that you can't get away from. If you don't want to hear jokes you've heard over and over again, you probably can't watch anything that's supposed be funny today. Comedians - they use the same jokes over and over again. Sit-coms, same thing. Movies, we laugh at the same things over and over again, just different situations. There are absolutely no jokes that haven't been told before.

And personally, I haven't played many games with characters that tells you bad jokes on purpose, and more importantly specifically emphasise that - but A Vampyre Story does. And if you don't see that, then you completely miss the point. If you don't find it funny, okay. But don't expect anything or anyone to bring anything new to the table when it comes to humour.