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Old 09-06-2009, 05:23 AM   #1
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Default Have a hard time playing "funny" adventure games

I used to like playing the old type of adventure games that where all quite funny and relied heavely on humour (monkey island, discworld, sam & max, day of the tentacle and so on).

But after i started playing more adventuregames with more dark detective murder stories and the like (Still Life, Sherlock holmes, The experiment) i find it really hard to get interested in those more lightheaded humour games. I dont know if its the story i am mainly interested in, beacuse i have a hard time to find myself pushing forward in games that may be great but dont have that suspensive story and are more toward humour or something.

I am playing So Blond right now, and i found it funny and good and played 3/4 of the game, then i could not bare myself to find the interest to push forward so now i am just going through the last 1/4 of the game with the walkthrough. Anyone else feeling like me?
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Old 09-06-2009, 06:25 AM   #2
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I know what you mean.

For me, mood and atmosphere are crucial ingredients to a game. A game that can completely immerse me in its world is a piece of heaven to me.

The thing about humor is that while it works, it often takes you out of the game world or interrupts the mood. Of course, when used sparingly, humor is perfectly fine to break up tension. But those games that focus on being tongue-in-cheek and humorous, tend to overstay their welcome, and the humor eventually becomes more of a mood disruptor than anything else.

Take a game like Ceville, even though there is some well done, dark humor, there are many npc characters that go over the top with the light-hearted, silliness and that stuff becomes too distracting.

There is also another factor to this: Culture. The brand of humor in games like Monkey Island is of a very specific kind and the tongue-in-cheek jokes, pop-culture references, sarcasm etc. appeal best to people from a certain socio-economic American background.
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Old 09-06-2009, 07:53 AM   #3
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Originally Posted by poeticadventurer View Post
I know what you mean.

For me, mood and atmosphere are crucial ingredients to a game. A game that can completely immerse me in its world is a piece of heaven to me.

The thing about humor is that while it works, it often takes you out of the game world or interrupts the mood. Of course, when used sparingly, humor is perfectly fine to break up tension. But those games that focus on being tongue-in-cheek and humorous, tend to overstay their welcome, and the humor eventually becomes more of a mood disruptor than anything else.

Take a game like Ceville, even though there is some well done, dark humor, there are many npc characters that go over the top with the light-hearted, silliness and that stuff becomes too distracting.

There is also another factor to this: Culture. The brand of humor in games like Monkey Island is of a very specific kind and the tongue-in-cheek jokes, pop-culture references, sarcasm etc. appeal best to people from a certain socio-economic American background.
Yes i agree. I very much enjoy serious games like Gabriel Knights and Broken Sword even though they have a bit of humour in them.
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Old 09-06-2009, 08:45 AM   #4
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I have the same problem.
As a kid I couldn't get into games like Sam and Max because they wouldn't take themselves seriously. I loved Grim Fandango though because even with the unprobable setting, the characters were serious and it told a serious plot.
I want my game with a dosis of humour, yes, but the game shouldn't become silly.

Examples: Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, Grim Fandango, Broken Sword games, Gabriel Knight.

Sherlock Holmes games are also games I enjoy a lot. The game is serious yes, but you can't help but laugh of some of the quirkiness' and dryness of Sherlock Holmes.

Metal Gear Solid is also a prime example of a game that has a great storyline and some crazy sense of humour =).
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Old 09-06-2009, 09:27 AM   #5
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I have the same problem.
As a kid I couldn't get into games like Sam and Max because they wouldn't take themselves seriously. I loved Grim Fandango though because even with the unprobable setting, the characters were serious and it told a serious plot.
I want my game with a dosis of humour, yes, but the game shouldn't become silly.

Examples: Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, Grim Fandango, Broken Sword games, Gabriel Knight.

Sherlock Holmes games are also games I enjoy a lot. The game is serious yes, but you can't help but laugh of some of the quirkiness' and dryness of Sherlock Holmes.

Metal Gear Solid is also a prime example of a game that has a great storyline and some crazy sense of humour =).
Yes Grim Fandango is a great game even though its quite humorous. But yes its quite grim and dark also in some ways, and has a really really great story.
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Old 09-06-2009, 09:28 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by poeticadventurer View Post
Take a game like Ceville, even though there is some well done, dark humor, there are many npc characters that go over the top with the light-hearted, silliness and that stuff becomes too distracting.
I noticed this, and I only played the demo. I thought the dialogue was funny, but there was just TOO MUCH funny and not enough substance. As a result, I didn't enjoy it as much as I might have. I don't know if I would bother listening to all the dialogue if I were to play this game all the way through. This is also the reason I tend to shy away from "cartoon" adventures, for the most part.

For me, games like Broken Sword and The Longest Journey strike a nice compromise between funny and serious moments.
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Old 09-06-2009, 12:43 PM   #7
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I have the exact same problem.

I've been playing "serious", dark-themed games since I first started playing, like Myst, The Longest Journey, Dark Fall, etc. I find it painful to try and play comedic games, even like Grim Fandango. The most important thing for me is characters 9interaction, development, etc) and plot. But even if it's good, it's hard for me to get through comedy games. They just don't appeal to me. Give me a scary, dark-themed game any day.
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Old 09-06-2009, 03:47 PM   #8
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I've never had a problem finishing humorous games simply because they were funny/cartoonish. I do have a problem with those that change their gameplay style, introducing more and more dexterity-oriented "puzzles" towards the end. But it isn't the humor itself that makes me lose interest.

I certainly don't enjoy serious or "dark themed" games exclusively. In fact, lately I've been oversaturated with certain types of "serious" games to the point where I'd rather play an old comedy game or Myst type game than a brand new horror game or detective game.
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Old 09-07-2009, 03:44 AM   #9
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Depends on the type of humor in the game. But yes, generally darker games are better. Just as I enjoy some comedies but dramas will always outshine them.
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Old 09-07-2009, 04:13 AM   #10
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It's not an issue for me. I enjoy playing humorous and serious games. It all depends on what mood I'm in. But a serious/darker game is much preferred out of the two.
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Old 09-07-2009, 06:10 AM   #11
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I have the same exact thing really. Though I do still enjoy those humorous adventures that have the bigger plot in them. I'd consider all the Monkey Islands (except for the 4th one perhaps) to have a somewhat interesting plot even with the humorous take.

But then there are those games like Grim Fandango and Discworld Noir who are hilarious but the plot is really engaging and just I can't wait to find out what's going to happen. Also the first Broken Sword falls into this category even though the humour isn't as dark and as plenty (the later games somewhat too but except for the 2nd I don't find them very good anymore).

For a long time I basically just played WoW, some Final Fantasy type games and some strategies like Civilization or HoMM. Then after a while I got back to adventures (I started with them originally really) and fell in love with Still Life and The Longest Journey where you live the stories with the protagonist and really hope everything goes well with her (or him). After these great stories like Syberia, TLJ, Dreamfall and Culpa Innata I can't just go back to "hahaha-adventures". I yearn for a story, more larger-than-life it is the better.

Btw, if you hadn't played some of the games I mentioned to be good here, go play now!
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Old 09-07-2009, 07:58 AM   #12
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I don't think humor is done the way it used to be. I loved Zak McKracken, the Leisure Suit Larrys, the Space Quests, Freddy Pharkas, Touche: The Adventures of the Fifth Musketeer, and the obvious big favorites: Monkey Island 1, 2 and 3; Day of the Tentacle; Sam and Max; Discworld. Grim Fandango changed that, and I haven't enjoyed humorous games since. Don't really find the new Monkey Island that funny, either. I guess Grim Fandango changed it because (and I'm replaying it again now and taking notes) when Tim Schaefer (or whoever wrote the jokes) tells a joke, he doesn't act as if the game depends on it being hilarious. They get told when necessary, and they make me laugh out loud. The story and dialogue are the gems, and the jokes fall into place.

Every other game out there that tries to make players laugh seems to just take shot after shot, hoping the jokes will be funny. It seems like humorous writing is a lost art form in adventure games these days. But then again, it's a lost art form in so many other media these days, too. It's not that I don't like playing humorous games because I prefer serious ones -- it's that humorous games these days just aren't funny to me.

Or maybe since the dawn of voice in AVs, the art form of fitting the perfect voice to the perfect jokes/funny characters has yet to be mastered?
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