[krrris]

First person games also make me nauseous. I avoid them like the plague. I wasn't a fan of Myst or Shivers. I hate having to deal with a limited perspective and cameras. In response to the GK3 discussion - GK3 was the only one I didn't finish. I am a HUGE fan of the first one. The second one was okay. The third one, the perspective got on my nerves.

I, too, grew up playing Sierra and LucasArts games. When 1st player games first became popular, I had an open mind. I played Myst until the end of the game, but it took me years to finish - not because it was difficult, just because I had little interest. I bought, but never finished, Shivers.

I think those of you that hypothesized third person views allow you to become more attached to the characters are dead on. I like playing an interactive movie; I don't necessarily want to be in the movie. I'm also a female, so I don't want to "be" a male character, but I'm comfortable watching a male character interact with the world.

That being said, I'm willing to keep an open mind. Is there a first person game that you would recommend to someone who loves point and click adventure games? Story is important. I actually LIKE dialogue (as long as it's not too long), but I also love games with little to no dialogue (I adored Machinarium).

[jhetfield21]

i don't mind that much about the styles themselves but i'd have to say that it depends on the game.in a game that i have cartoony graphics and bright colours like Runaway the third person suits it better.but with games like scratches dark fall and the like first person looks really good and goes with the spooky theme....like not knowing even what your character looks like.
although 3rd person might also suit games like that if properly made.


for first person i'd suggest the first part of the Dark Fall series.it's a little boring at the beginning until you can get a clear picture of what you're doing where you are and the like but it's really good overall.

[Oscar]

I can't decide. I love both. I have found myself enjoying the first person more in recent years and getting annoyed at the third person abuse (too much talking, overcharacterisation, watching characters slowly walk across the screen). I do wonder if the first person view is getting better due to graphical improvements on modern computers, the potential for immersion is much higher than the third person. Playing as "me" now actually really feels like me because I see and hear things like they are in real life.

I don't see why adventure games can't use both perspectives. The Lost Crown did that absolutely perfectly.

[Adventurequests]

Third Person! Third Person!
I hate quests from first person view, many of them are so boring like Myst.
In my opinion, a quest need to be from third person view like Gray Matter

[Interplay]

I prefer 3rd person games. I dislike the slideshow-style 1st person games; I feel like every time I move forward, I must laboriously turn and look in each 4 directions to make sure I am not missing any items or paths, etc. (even though there is often little of visual interest in most of the directions). I also find these types of games can be spatially disorienting. This is much less of an issue with FPS-style 1st person games like Amnesia for example.

1st persons games almost always seem to strive for photorealism in most respects. In a 3rd person game, they often employ a wide variety of different art styles that can be very beautiful (think The Whispered World or Machinarium).

Having said that, I do play both types. I recently played Dark Fall 1 for the first time and enjoyed it a great deal.

[Ivynwater]

I think that it depends on what genres of games are we considering really. For instance, stealth and shooting games for me are better played in 1st xson because the perspective of the surrounding is essential to act according to situations. Adventure and point & click games are more focused on getting all possible details of the environment in one glance or so because the player's got puzzle and object combination to deal with therefore 3rd xson is more suitable. If I really have to chose one view above all? I'd say 1st forever; when I play I want to play directly and not having the constant impression to do it trough someone else.

[Weare6]

I always like to see the combination of both.... rare I know but
games like the Sherlock Holmes are starting to do this.
Everyones personal preference on how a games environment
should be navigated is always going to differ...... and having a choice
to switch between 1st and 3rd person views just makes sense.

[Giles Habibula]

Agree with Oscar and Weare6. Giving the player a choice would be optimal in the games that could support it.

However, there are quite a few games that are just not designed for it from the get-go. I mean, switching from a behind-the-character view to a first-person view should be easy with most games like that, and vice-versa. But games designed with isometric perspective would require a complete re-design I would think.

[Oscar]

Then again, I felt it was detrimental for Uru to feature both 1st and 3rd person views. Yeah, I know I didn't have to change views but to even have the option of some geeky-looking avatar represent "me" instead of just viewing the world through my eyes and ears sort of compromised the sense of isolation and loneliness of the Myst worlds.

[Ivynwater]

Originally Posted by Weare6

I always like to see the combination of both.... rare I know but
games like the Sherlock Holmes are starting to do this.
Everyones personal preference on how a games environment
should be navigated is always going to differ...... and having a choice
to switch between 1st and 3rd person views just makes sense.

I disagree with the fact that giving players all the possible choices is a best strategy to follow when developing a game. 1st and 3rd view is not something that effects the modality of playing, it also influence the choices related to all the other games aspects which risk to be incredibly limited in order to accomodate both view. No, I'd rather have one choice well tought trough considering globally the game and its performances.

[Weare6]

Originally Posted by Ivynwater

I disagree with the fact that giving players all the possible choices is a best strategy to follow when developing a game. 1st and 3rd view is not something that effects the modality of playing, it also influence the choices related to all the other games aspects which risk to be incredibly limited in order to accomodate both view. No, I'd rather have one choice well tought trough considering globally the game and its performances.

You make a very valid point. There are Ag's that are souly designed
with this in mind. I was probably more focused on Fist person exploration games that will benifit from an aspect change.....
rather than your standard pont n Clicks which understandably can cause
conflicting gameplay etc

[Foinikas]

I don't mind games that are like Amnesia the Dark Descent when it comes to first person gameplay,however I did find games like Scratches and Darkness Within nice and atmospheric but a bit boring due to the first person view.Well not boring but...kind of...different in a way that doesn't appeal to me that much compared to third person view games.

[TheCthulhu]

Third person for me all the way. I dislike first person with a passion and will only play them if I'm REALLY excited about the subject matter. I prefer 3rd person shooters over first person as well.......and even more so in adventures.

First person in games, after all, isn't like the first person view you experience in real life. You have limited or no view whatsoever of your appendages, you can't move your head to look around, and you have no peripheral vision. You also can't tell where sounds are coming from. It takes me out of the game and makes the game world feel unrealistic, restricted, and claustrophobic for me.......especially if there is action involved.

I suppose a lot of my hatred for these games stems from the original first person adventure games that came out like Myst. I hated that all I was treated to was a series of static images and that there wasn't a true three dimensional world to enjoy and move around in. I found it unacceptable then, and annoying now - even with improved gameplay and more freedom of movement and view.......

Can't stand them.......

[Siddhi]

I like third person as well as smooth first person (where you can move and look around with mouse & keyboard like an FPS). I don't like slideshow style first person so much - I just find it jerky.

[Oscar]

Originally Posted by TheCthulhu

First person in games, after all, isn't like the first person view you experience in real life. You have limited or no view whatsoever of your appendages, you can't move your head to look around, and you have no peripheral vision. You also can't tell where sounds are coming from. It takes me out of the game and makes the game world feel unrealistic, restricted, and claustrophobic for me.......especially if there is action involved.

That's not true. All you need are stereo speakers or headphones to hear directional sound, and in many games you can move your head around. In Myst I might not have free movement but can click to see sideways. And why would I want to see my appendages anyway?

Who exactly am I in a 3rd person game? I'm not the protagonist, and yet I am. I can see what the protagonist doesn't see, being outside of his body, but I control him/her. Most 3rd person games don't define the role clearly enough for me, which bores me. Most of the time I feel like just I'm some advisor to the main character, a voice in his/her head.

The other thing I like better about 1st person games is the minimal talking. 3rd person is just too much yap-yap-yap a lot of the time, though there are exceptions.

[Siddhi]

Having said that, I liked Myst a lot...

[Collector]

Originally Posted by TheCthulhu

you have no peripheral vision.

This does not stop some developers from trying to add it. The end result is a very unrealistic "fish eye" lens effect. Taking what is about 160 degrees or so and squeezing it down to well under 90 degrees results in a nauseating view from the distortion.

[MoonBird]

I prefer 3rd person games, and especially 2D or 2.5D adventuregames. I don't directly hate 1st person games, there have been a few which I really loved. For example: Scratches and Lost In Time. Maybe it's more of a thing with classic inventory-elements and dialoques that are quite rare in 1st person games.

[tsampikos]

The best games ever are the 3rd person ones. Exceptions are only 1) The Myst series and 2) the "mega, ultimate adventure game of all time"...Portal 2! Of course there are many good first person games, I enjoy them very much my self. But the Adventure games history is in general written from the 3rd person point of view.

[Fien]

Originally Posted by tsampikos

But the Adventure games history is in general written from the 3rd person point of view.

I disagree. Preferences aside, 1st-person adventures were around before Myst, thanks to text adventures which evolved from 2nd-person to 1st-person. For instance, all adventures made by Legend Entertainment are 1st-person and they are classics!

Some of my favorite non-Mystian 1st-person adventures are:
Last Express - Space Bar - Zork GI - Starship Titanic - Spycraft - Callahan's Crosstime Saloon - Tex Murphy (last 3) - Journeyman Project - Black Dahlia