[indyjones2131]

So I'm looking for a sweeping adventure in the tradition of King's Quest. Lots of cool, dangerous creatures and characters, colorful fantasy setting, etc.

It can be 1st or 3rd person.
I'd prefer some nice visuals (art wise - not so much graphic power).
I actually like being able to die in adventure games (especially with cool death animations) so that's a plus.
I've played all of the Lucas and Sierra games.
I prefer inventory puzzles over tons of dialog and Myst style puzzles.
I really hate when games try to be funny, but aren't. I don't mind a light tone, but danger should be danger if that makes sense.

Recently I've played:

Whispered World (too weird for my taste Could not get into it
Vampyre Story (a little on the goofy side and the main characters voice was

Also, I gotta say that this site and this community is just amazing. So great to share a love for these games with a good group of folks.

[Gonchi]

Maybe not what you're looking for, sounds like you want something released recently, but if you don't mind playing older adventure games, Dragonsphere was very King's Quest-ish.

[indyjones2131]

I have actually played that one. Good game.

[needlefeast]

Maybe Toonstruck? It's very colourful. I can't recall if you can die. Back when I played it in the mid 90's my computer was too weak for it and when it cashed the screen was hit with this psychadelic splash of colour before closing.

[indyjones2131]

Hmmm. Never played that one. Good game? How are the puzzles?

[diego]

There's Ankh and Ceville, Simon the Sorcerer 4 and Simon 5, and wait for The Book of Unwritten Tales.

There's unofficial sequel to King's Quest too - The Silver Lining.

[indyjones2131]

I REALLY want Book of Unwritten Tales! This is basically to tide me over. Never liked Ankh or Ceville. Could never get into the Simon games either.

Man. I must sound REALLY picky.

Also, I checked out some youtube clips of Toonstruck and it just seems a bit too goofy for my (picky lol) tastes.

[zane]

hmmm you said you didnt like games that failed at being funny buuuut.... you still might want to try discworld (especially if you like monty python). Its a clever inventory driven game, very well done with a neat story, but it is in fact full of long joke rants.

This suggestion will sound weird since its not technically an adventure game...but.. have you played "out of this world"? Its a very neat platformer where youre stranded in a strange alien world and you have to think in order to accomplish things, and death is always lurking. In someways it really plays more like an adventure game than a platformer.

[indyjones2131]

Absolutely love Out of this World. The recent LIMBO on xbox reminded me very much of it.

I played part of Discworld 2. Loved the art and the puzzles were very clever - I just never really felt like I was on a grand adventure - more like I was just running errands. Never felt any sense of danger - of course I realize it was meant to be funny and all, but so was Monkey Island but that still had a sense of grand adventure to it. As I said, I only played the first 25% or so.

What are your thoughts on the Kyrandia series? From an adventure/puzzle perspective?

[Dea ex Machina]

Have you tried the freeware game A Tale of Two Kingdoms? It is very much in the same vein as the old-school King's Quest titles. I quite liked the world and the plot, and the fact that for a freeware title, it was HUGE. High difficulty, and you CAN die, so I recommend saving often, having a lot of patience, and keeping a walkthrough on hand, just in case. Download it and try it out.

Did you ever play The Longest Journey? That was an excellent one. One of my top five.

[indyjones2131]

It's funny. I keep hearing so much about Longest Journey! I've played SO MANY of the classic adventure games (KQ6, FOA, and COMI being my favorites) and never played much of TLJ. I played the first bit - LOTS of dialog, which I'm not a fan of, and seemingly very few inventory puzzles (I could be wrong about this...)

[needlefeast]

Originally Posted by indyjones2131

Also, I checked out some youtube clips of Toonstruck and it just seems a bit too goofy for my (picky lol) tastes.

lol you don't need to be picky to consider that game goofy, just human. I don't think there are heaps of puzzles more inventory based. I remember being challenged, but I also remember being about 10 yrs old.

I am playing Broken Sword on the wii at the moment. I like it so far but the chick doesn't stop gasbagging so probably not up your alley

Why don't you have a trawl through the reviews and if you like the title you can follow have a look at other titles the publisher has? By the end of this thread you could be the one that's making the recommendations to me! (I am just coming out of adventure gaming hibernation - It was a long winter)

[zane]

Originally Posted by indyjones2131

Absolutely love Out of this World. The recent LIMBO on xbox reminded me very much of it.

I played part of Discworld 2. Loved the art and the puzzles were very clever - I just never really felt like I was on a grand adventure - more like I was just running errands. Never felt any sense of danger - of course I realize it was meant to be funny and all, but so was Monkey Island but that still had a sense of grand adventure to it. As I said, I only played the first 25% or so.

What are your thoughts on the Kyrandia series? From an adventure/puzzle perspective?

iv only played through the first kryandia and i had mixed feelings. It was kindv neat but also kindv bland, and i still have nightmares about the fire berry caves (really annoying puzzle). No idea about the later games though, i heard once they get better.

Oh and i definitely reccomend discworld 1 instead of 2. 2 is kindv like one big long punchline about death and movies... its really weird, but the plot in the first game actually comes around and feels way more epic (and involves time travel) But then again, parts of the first game probably still feel like youre doing a bunch of errands hehe.

Presently im playing a new adventure called darkstar, its an FMV game featuring the cast of MST3k and its full of cheesey sci-fi goodness. Also there appears to be a large supply of ways to die and constant danger (i found one within the first 5 minutes ). Havnt formed a final opinion about that game, but its definitely neat.

[ozzie]

Originally Posted by indyjones2131

So I'm looking for a sweeping adventure in the tradition of King's Quest.

I'd recommend Death Gate.

Lots of cool, dangerous creatures and characters, colorful fantasy setting, etc.

There are some dangerous creatures, all of the appear later on in the game. It's certainly a varied fantasy setting. You explore a handful of worlds that all offer very different climates, terrains, civilizations,...

It can be 1st or 3rd person.

1st person, more in the vein of text adventures (with compass, undo function, turnbased gameplay) than Myst.

I'd prefer some nice visuals (art wise - not so much graphic power).

The graphics are beautiful, but static. Most actions aren't shown, but described per text.

I actually like being able to die in adventure games (especially with cool death animations) so that's a plus.

No cool death animations, but you can die a lot. Thankfully, all the deaths are fair.

I've played all of the Lucas and Sierra games.

It's from neither of the two, instead it's a game made by Legend Entertainment, basically a descendant of Infocom (hence the text adventure roots).

I prefer inventory puzzles over tons of dialog and Myst style puzzles.

Death Gate contains barely any "Myst style puzzles". There's quite a lot of dialog though, but all of it is well written, and I'd say it never feels too long (contrary to The Longest Journey). Also, you have to read a lot: on your journey you'll find a few books which you have to read to extract clues from them to solve puzzles.

I really hate when games try to be funny, but aren't. I don't mind a light tone, but danger should be danger if that makes sense.

Death Gate certainly isn't a comedy game, but like King's Quest, it has its lighter moments.

[Ascovel]

You can't go wrong with the fun and atmospheric The Winter Rose. That is, if you like a wintery scenery in your kings-quest-like adventure. The game does indeed feel a lot like a Sierra classic (inerface, humor and writing style) and it is even freeware!

Just remember - BEWARE of the gnome!

[zane]

oh oh oh, il second death gate. That is a fun and neat game.

[Fien]

Originally Posted by zane

iv only played through the first kryandia and i had mixed feelings. It was kindv neat but also kindv bland, and i still have nightmares about the fire berry caves (really annoying puzzle). No idea about the later games though, i heard once they get better.

Yeah, "bland" is right, tried them a couple of months ago, but boredom set in fairly quickly, didn't finish a single game. Unfunny, not in the league of the King's Quest games.

IMO, IMO, IMO.

I recommend another great adventure by Legend: Callahan's Crosstime Saloon.

[Origami]

Gabriel Knight 1.

But you probably already played it?

[Gonchi]

I second the recommendation of the Discworld games. Also, in case you might have missed out on some of Sierra's game, try Conquest of Camelot and Conquest of the Longbow.

Some more I've thought of;

Simon the Sorcerer. I've only played 1 and 2. Both are very enjoyable, although humor is more prevalent than in the King's Quest games. Also, they're more in LucasArts' style than Sierra's, from the lack of dying, right down to the verb interface. Don't know much about the newer ones.

Fable, no, not Molyneux's Action/Adventure masquerading as an RPG, the older Fable published by Sir-Tech. Before being mutilated by a horde of frying pans, I'll warn you that the game leans rather towards the poor side, although it implements King's Quest and Sierra's sudden death-from-everywhere staple to the letter. The visuals are probably the game's strongest (sole?) redeeming feature.

Lure of the Temptress also typically gets a panning when mentioned. But it's freeware now, don't look a gift horse in the mouth and all that. You can download it at Revolution's official website, ScummVM or GOG.

Finally, in an effort to name some games released within the last decade, try Keepsake and Salammbô.

[Ascovel]

Tale of a Hero is another great adventure in King's Quest style.

Here's my review of the game, but in short: it's fun, has a very well crafted fantasy world with some unusual fairy tale inspirations, and finally there are some quite touching themes hidden in its story.