[WRMW]

I'm a Canadian currently studying for the Summer in Germany. Though I'm far to busy with school for any games of any kind, I've still had time to peruse the game stores here.

I was absolutely flabbergasted when I found the Adventure game shelf. Like an entire LARGE shelf. As big as any other genre's shelf (in Saturn stores at least) I mean I knew adventures were bigger here, but I never really believed it.

Unfortunately I am a student and games here cost at least as much in Euro as they would in dollars at home, so I'm not going to be able to buy up the section. I am interested in picking up any ones that would better auf Deutsch, and then I can send them back to Canada for later enjoyment.

So any recommendations for me? Any games only available in German, or with considerably superior german versions?
I am at a good level of german comprehension but not quite fluent yet.

I am already eying up Edna Bricht Aus. How about any other German originals?


Thanks,
William

[gray pierce]

Secret Files (Geheimakte in german)

I'm not saying they're better in German but they are pretty cool. I got Tuguska in English and 2 in German. If you really wanna play Adventure games in German I'd recomend those games as they are deffinetly one of the best games ever made in whatever language you play them.

[JackVanian]

I didn´t play it myself but The Book of Unwritten Tales received rave reviews in Germany , isn´t available anywhere else so far, and a lot of people really seem to like it a lot. So that might be something for you.
I don´t know when exactly you´re heading back to Canada but The Whispered World is scheduled for an august 28.th release in Germany - might be a good choice too.

[tastebud]

im from germany and a huge adventure game fan, so i hope that gives some weight to my opinion hehehe. for me theres only really two options:

1. Edna bricht aus
2. Book of Unwritten Tales

It depends on what you want to do. Book of Unwritten Tales is the better game, which is not meant to take anything away from Edna because BoUT is without a doubt the best adventure i've played in MANY years (i started with monkey island 1). But i'm pretty sure that since its such a high profile game it'll receive a good English translation as well. Edna on the other hand will not be ported into English im assuming, it hasnt been for years. Its also a VERY good adventure game. What is unique about Edna is that unlike other adventure games the character says something original for EVERY INTERACTIOn with EVERY OBJECT in the game (and theres a lot). so she says something unique if you do "talk to faucet" "take faucet" "look at faucet" etc. That probably explains the limited budget they did on the graphics, because they put all into the dialogue, which is cool. Rather than just saying "i cant do that" as we are used to. You should try the demo for Edna however because its a very unique game and might not be to everyones taste. I was also pleasantly surprised that despite its cutesy appearance its a pretty dark, mature game if you read between the lines (towards the ending it almost gets disturbingly so, which is great) So if you can only choose one of them and are interested in a lot of German, I'd go with Edna because you wont get it anywhere else. However if you are only interested in the BEST game available, then I'd go with Book of Unwritten Tales. On a side note, BoUT is realtively easy, Edna is harder. Both are long games howevever (by todays standard) i believe i finsihed BoUT after 18 hours (the game keeps time) and Edna probably around the same. so you wont finish any of them in like 6 hours, which is almost rare these days.

but you also hinted at you may be able to buy more than one, if u can buy two, then get the two. unless you are from mars i can almost guarantee you'll enjoy both of them.

Ceville is really good too, but it has a very good English version as well.

Secret Files (i.e. Geheimakte Tunguska 1 and 2) is good, but to me its merely "good" and has a decent international release. the poster above me calls them one of the best adventure games ever, and he certainly may be right judging from all the awards they got and the big fan base. i myself however did not enjoy them that much because they are more a sort of crime thriller story adventure. i like the cartoony, comical adventures more, so that is what i base my opinion on. u have to know yourself which one you enjoy more. If you like more "realistic" thriller based games then these may be a better choice for you.

but the best person to decide is yourself, i believe theres a demo for ever single game mentioned above. try them yourself and let us know what you think hehehe

[Fien]

Yes, you should definitely get Edna. It's not flawless and it took me longer than the demo (beginning of game) to really get into it, but I had a wonderful time with the game.

1 1/2 Ritter was also developed by Daedalic. I haven't played it yet, only the demo. Which I liked. It received lower ratings than Edna (see critify.de) but it probably won't be published in English.

[WRMW]

Thanks for the recommendations.

I'll likely pick up Edna, and possibly Book of Unwritten Tales. I'll have to look into any upcoming international releases.

I'll keep my eyes open for 1 1/2 Ritter. I haven't seen it yet but I'll look out for it.

I have fear that my credit card will lead to too many purchases...

[Jehane]

Edna. Definitely. If you like whacky humour and 2D-comic-style graphics, this is the game for you. 1 1/2 Ritter wasn't too bad either though not as funny as Edna. I can also recommend the Ankh series even though part 3, Battle of the Gods, is not as good as its predecessors.

[WRMW]

I picked up a copy of Edna. I passed by the Book of Unwritten Tales, because I couldn't quite manage to shell out the 40 Euro at this time. Maybe I'll run across it a little cheaper later, or my willpower will break down.

I did however purchase the Mac Version of a Vampyre Story for a friend. To my amazement, after it was loaded up, it had the option to play in English as well as German. Is this normal of European games to have multiple languages in a single version? Is it just Mac games, or maybe just a Vampyre Story?

I am wondering this because I've seen some games here that (I don't think?) are available in North America (ie. So Blonde) that I am interested in playing, but am more interested in playing in English. If however, there were English and German versions on the same disk, it might be worth shelling out the extra money.

Thanks

[ozzie]

Well, if I remember correctly there was quite a big demand from the german adventure fans to have the original language included. The Soundtrack CD of the Special Edition was an extra that was also added because adventure fans showed interest in it.
Sam & Max: Season 1 features also the original language version.

I also recommend Edna bricht aus and The Book of Unwritten Tales wholeheartedly. Finished the first and am playing the latter now.
1 1/2 Ritter is okay, but not more. The humor is very hit and miss, the voice acting varies between passable and ear-bleeding (except for Erdal) and there isn't much of a story, the puzzles are the main focus. I didn't get far, got stuck pretty early on and I don't have much motivation to play further. Contrary to Edna there isn't a unique response to every action. So you have to bear daft responses to reasonable actions.
It's nice and worth a look for adventure fans, but it's far from a must-have.

[misslilo]

I seem to remember a newer game Treasure Island (NOT Return to Treasure Island), which has only been released in germany I believe.

Here's a trailer

[ozzie]

Treasure Island has certainly nice production values for an adventure game, but in the end it's pretty boring.
It's based on the familiar story, but told in a very non-exciting way. I don't remember much about it, so I don't know more to say about it. I only played into the second chapter, but according to reviews it doesn't get better.

But I remember that the German version of Black Mirror is said to be better than the English one. Not only is the localization up a notch, even the gameplay recieved some tweaks!

[Phod]

Ah, just checked out Edna.. so this isn't getting a US or at least an English release? Kinda cruel that some of their trailers are in English if the game isn't in English

[Fien]

Originally Posted by Phod

Ah, just checked out Edna.. so this isn't getting a US or at least an English release? Kinda cruel that some of their trailers are in English if the game isn't in English

Four months ago I asked Daedalic if there was going to be an English release. This is what Claas Paletta said in reply: "We are still in talks about an English version of the game, but there is nothing to announce yet. I can assure you that we would love nothing more than to let Edna and Harvey loose on the rest of the world!"

My own guess is that (thanks to its unique responses to every single hotspot and object combination) there's too much text to be translated and voiced to make it interesting for publishers. I sincerely hope I'm wrong, and I would immediately buy the English Edna as well.