[garethbp]

Hey all,

So I say old timer, I only joined this forum today but anyway hear my plight!

I grew up in a world of Sierra On-Line and Lucas Arts; what I like to consider the golden era. The permananent stamp that will forever be ingrained in my soul consists of games like Quest for Glory, Kings Quest, Police Quest, Gabriel Knight, Leisuire Suit Larry, Monkey Island, Indiana Jones, Day of the Tentacle...need I go on?

I find myself yearning, especially in the moments I reminisce. In the last week I have played QfG1-4, LSL1 and GK1 all again but I lust for something new!

Where have all the great adventure game series gone? I want a character I can grow to love over 4 - 8 games. I want a story as immense and captivating as the Gabriel Knight series.

Basically I need suggestions, I want to get lost once more in that world of adventure. Where do I begin? I just purchased and am currently downloading Gray Matter as I write this (much love to Jane Jensen) but other than that what else should I be looking for?

Please throw any and all recommendations at me. I want to know what games over that last 5-10 years have rocked this world. It somewhat worries me that we still list games like Monkey Island as the best of all time...well not really!...but surely there must be something new!

[mbday630]

when you say "I want a character I can grow to love over 4 - 8 games" I don't know if there are any series like that. Probably Runaway series comes the closest. I love the games that you mentioned that you love too. My favorites lately have been Lost Horizon and Jack Keane.

[garethbp]

Yeah I've kind of realized that expecting a series to last to even 4 games nowadays seems somewhat unlikely. I just feel (from my initial research) that all the adventure games now seem to have this notion of play once, throw away, dont expect a sequel.

Interestingly enough, one I am kind of hoping will play out is the Vampyre Story series, sure the game lacks a bit of depth but I like the fact the story is considered to be ongoing.

I will definately check out your suggestions though, thanks

[diego]

You can try the Ankh series, it's a comedy/mystery in ancient Egypt reminiscent of LucasArts and Sierra with "Shrek"-esque humor.

[Ag1]

Not sure if you played them yet, but I would recommend Broken Sword 1 (The Shadow of the Templars) and then 2. Then you can try 3 and 4 but they change direction a bit as they go 3d and well its just not the same imo but still worth playing 3 and maybe 4. I like the characters, puzzles and story especially in the first game

The Lost Crown is quite long I would say and has a decent story and characters. It has a sequel coming this year apparently too. But it can be hit or miss. Love or hate kind of game. It might take a fair amount of time to get into

If you like a decent story then maybe try Dreamfall. Its very slim on the puzzles tho, more like an interactive story

Others that I played semi recently that I liked are Overclocked and The Whispered World

Gemini Rue is a new game in the style of old school adventures. Gritty sci-fi / detective game with early 90's style adventure graphics

[Ascovel]

In terms of the story, game world and scope Gemini Rue is the most classic adventure like of the current releases.

The best series of the last decade are by far the Blackwells (Blackwell Legacy, Blackwell Unbound, Blackwell Convergence). Blackwell Deception tbr later this year.

Carol Reed has a long running series (about 7 games already I think), but I'm not too familiar with it. It's based on photographs.

[garethbp]

Broken Sword 1-3 I played and enjoyed, haven't played the fourth since the reviews seemed somewhat mixed and it seems to be a bit of a departure fromt he previous three (no nicole )

I was looking earlier at Gemini Rue given the comments on here I think I will definately be checking that out again.

[stepurhan]

The Ben Jordan games could be worth a try. The eighth game in the series is due out this year and it is a series that has got better and better from game to game. Plus, it's also freeware.

Ben Jordan website.

[Dan_Dan_91_07]

Man, I've spoke about this game so much lately, but, have you played the Broken Sword series?

Also, how about The Longest Journey/Dreamfall?

Do know about Telltale's Monkey Island and Sam and Max games?

[Fien]

I've just finished the enhanced remake by fans of King's Quest III. Essentially the same story but with lots of improvements, better graphics, new puzzles. Very good. And free. http://www.agdinteractive.com/

If you're a fan of the old LA adventures you should check out all the games by TellTale, in particular Sam&Max Season 1-3 and Tales of Monkey Island.

I didn't care for the Runaway series at all. There's Black Mirror 1-3, they're okay I guess if you like dark games. I strongly recommend the newly released Gemini Rue. See the AG review. Not part of a series though.

[zobraks]

I have no suggestions, but I have a question for you:
How is it possible that you had played "golden era" adventures and then left the genre (for more than 15 years) completely out of your sight?
Got married and got a bunch of kids? Went to a war? Hibernated?

[garethbp]

Tales of Monkey Island I played, along with the remakes of MI1 and MI2. Oh those all brought a tear to my eye!

Haven't tried the Sam'n'Max ones yet. I kind of felt that after Sam'n'Max Hit the Road game it would be hard to beat.

[garethbp]

The first two mainly, got married had kids

[aimless]

If you liked King's Quest, I'll second Fien's suggestion of King's Quest Redux from AGDI. Then go over to Phoenix Online and play the original fan-made game, The Silver Lining. It's quite good and they aren't done yet. There are two more episodes to be released.

[SweetDalilah]

I will also suggest Runaway Series, which I loved the most. You should also definitely try all three seasons of Sam & Max.
Now as everybody said there aren't much sequels around. Games get mostly only two sequels. But you should definetly check out Agatha Christie games and all the other Adventure Company games. Also look into Sherlock Holmes game series (there are 6 games)
You might also want to check out Post Mortem, Still Life and Still Life 2 which are all connected. Also definitely check out Syberia and Syberia 2. All these games are done by Microids

[HitBattousai]

For series:
The Blackwell Series
Ben Jordan Series
Delaware St John Series
Syberia I and II
The Longest Journey, Dreamfall
Tales of Monkey Island(Episodic Series)
Sam and Max(Episodic Series)
Back to the Future(Episodic Series)
The Black Mirror
Dark Fall Series
King's Quest: The Silver Lining Series
Frogware Sherlock Holmes Games
Discworld Series
Penumbra Series
Runaway Series
Still Life Series

Nintendo DS
Hotel Dusk: Room 215, The Last Window
Phoenix Wright Series
Professor Layton Series

Individual Games:
The Last Express
Grim Fandango
The Moment of Silence
Culpa Innata
Overclocked: History of Violence
Diamonds in the Rough
Gray Matter
Gemini Rue
Heavy Rain(for Playstation 3 only)
Indigo Prophecy or Fahrenheit in the UK
Immortals of Terra
Kaptain Brawe
The Lost Crown
Machinarium
Time Hollow(Nintendo DS)
A Vampyre Story
The Whispered World
Yoomurjak's Ring

Naturally, I'd recommend looking at the reviews on this site to get more information besides the forum.

[zane]

if you have a ds definitely seek out hotel dusk and last window (AKA the kyle hyde mysteries). Its the only experience iv had recently where i went from one game to another watching a main character grow and a story unfold. Unfortunately there will probably never be a third game in the series.

Other than that, i support alot of the other suggestions like whispered world and gemini rue. I'd also add if you havnt played the tex murphy games you really need to investigate those

[kate me]

Have you played Legend of Kyrandia series, Discworld or Simon the sorcerer series? They're games for the whole family!

[orient]

Definitely play Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars if you haven't already. One of the best adventures ever made. If you like it then you have another 3 Broken Sword games to play afterward (4 if you include the fan-made Broken Sword 2.5).

[Stuart]

A lot of the modern day series seem based around conspiracies with a historical influence.

As mentioned, the Broken Sword series is fairly mainstream by modern standards (those being the adventure genre in an endless recession). But BS3 and BS4 move away from the classic interface and can be awkward to control - especially BS4 (even with the return of point 'n' click). Broken Sword 1 is one of the best AGs ever and the Director's Cut with updated graphics and a few changes is awesome too.

Two series' I rate highly are Secret Files and Chronicles of Mystery. Both have that whole conspiracy theme and a female lead character (Secret Files also has a male lead). Voice acting isn't great in them but the games are enjoyable and have a nice feel while playing. I find the CoM series (Scorpio Ritual and Tree of Life, ignore the other hidden object style title out there as it is poor) to be very underrated and don't understand some of the criticisms aimed at it.