[Monolith]

Has anyone played this game yet? I've only just started and I can say this is one of the better casual HOG games. Great animation, great voice acting, cool story, beautiful visuals and the old venetian atmosphere. The assassins creed of HOG's.

Sure, the HOG segments are over told, with quite a few items that seem irrelevant or impossible in the scenes, but it's so easy to get over that fact with everything else the game offers. Decent puzzles (pretty easy, but I don't care since I only play these games for the visuals and story).





Big Fish Link: http://www.bigfishgames.com/download...ors/index.html

Add this to the list of casual games that tell stories that normal games just haven't done yet, or fail to capture the right atmosphere. These gems are the reasons I give casual games a chance.

[zobraks]

, Monolith! The first HOG I've played was Elixir of Immortality (also recommended by you) and it was great. I'm sure Grim Facade: Mystery of Venice will be fun to play too.

[Fien]

I've played it for the free hour. It's just like all the other adventure hoggies, as far as I'm concerned.

PS: The only ones I enjoyed enough to buy them were the 13 Skulls, Dire Grove and the Ravenhearst games.

[Hillseeker]

Never heard of this game but maybe I should give it a chance.

[Monolith]

Originally Posted by Fien

I've played it for the free hour. It's just like all the other adventure hoggies, as far as I'm concerned.

PS: The only ones I enjoyed enough to buy them were the 13 Skulls, Dire Grove and the Ravenhearst games.

So I take it you only like dark grungy mainly cookiecutter detective casual games?

Well of course its like all the other games. Just like how adventure games are all the same. What makes games different? The presentation, the story, the characters (and a bunch of features that fall under visuals). This game as I pointed out has excellent animation, gorgeous environments (I'm a venetian fanatic. ), excellent music and atmospheric sound effects, and interesting story.


@Zobraks: Thanks. Glad something came of me reviewing and recommending games. I wouldn't mind getting back to reviewing games.

[sierramindy]

Happy to read your review of this game as I was thinking of buying it, and now I know I will. You made up my mind for me, although the screenshots had me almost roped in! I'm really tired of dark and dreary night scenes, believe you me.

[Fien]

Originally Posted by Monolith

So I take it you only like dark grungy mainly cookiecutter detective casual games?

Wrong. I'll save myself the trouble of explaining why I liked those adventure hogs better because I get the impression that you're not interested.

Well of course its like all the other games. Just like how adventure games are all the same.

That is definitely untrue. Adventure games have many subgenres, whereas the differences between adventure hoggies are extremely limited, mostly theme-related.

This game as I pointed out has excellent animation, gorgeous environments (I'm a venetian fanatic. ), excellent music and atmospheric sound effects, and interesting story.

My experience of the game after one hour: good animation, graphics good but nothing outstanding, unpleasantly bad voiceacting, the same boring piece of music over and over again during all the HOG scenes, I didn't notice anything particular about the sound effects, and there was hardly any story (yet), just a man running away and a few pages in a library book.

[Axelfish]

Following the success of The Mystery Case Files games(which are really good),
so many indistinguishable clones have been released that it's difficult to stay excited for them. I like this kind of titles in general but the onslaught of copycats is so great that this whole "subgenre" is a blur.

What stood out to me the most in this niche aside from the MCF franchise is the Mortimer Beckett series. There have been several others that I really liked: Echoes of the Past, or some such.
Too bad really that there are so many interchangeable titles in this genre: it just makes discovering gems too tiring and time-consuming.

[Monolith]

Originally Posted by Fien

Wrong. I'll save myself the trouble of explaining why I liked those adventure hogs better because I get the impression that you're not interested.
That is definitely untrue. Adventure games have many subgenres, whereas the differences between adventure hoggies are extremely limited, mostly theme-related.
My experience of the game after one hour: good animation, graphics good but nothing outstanding, unpleasantly bad voiceacting, the same boring piece of music over and over again during all the HOG scenes, I didn't notice anything particular about the sound effects, and there was hardly any story (yet), just a man running away and a few pages in a library book.

Ah, so you didn't really get to experience the game. There is a nice backstory to the game which can be seen throughout the game, especially in a narrated book that talked about the plague. Yet I have to disagree with the music and voice acting. I like the voice acting, it fits. In addition to your story comment, I can say the same thing about so many other of your favorites games. You haven't played the game, why do you think there is no story behind chasing someone? Are you not asking questions like, "Who is this guy", "Why are the Redemption?", "What is his motive behind being seen around in broad daylight?", etc. I sense a bit of bias. I could be wrong.

In terms of Adventure Games having subgenres....of course. Its a broad genre. HOGs are a subgenres of adventure gaming itself. So I feel that we are definitley a bit wrong in our choice of words.

If you don't want to discuss the reasons why you think your selected games are special, then don't post at all. That's the point of the discussion. My choices of words were purposely chosen since you obviously haven't really played this game itself. You are making your decision based on a demo pretty much, which in itself is fine, but doesn't exactly make a definitive conclusion on the quality of the game. Not to mention, all you have chosen as favorites were dark moodies games. Not even Drawn was on the list.

Sorry to say, I know when there is a good HOG. I've played so many crap clones and it is rare when I get excited for a HOG. I think others may agree in my taste for certain HOGs.

[Monolith]

Oh btw Fien, did you see the new MCF game, the Malgrave Incident? Its only for the wii, but doesn't it look and sound great? Wish it could come out for the pc.

Come to think of it, the new game is exactly how I wanted to go about doing my HOG/Adventure game. Hmmmmmm. Especially since I want to use the UDK engine and make it available on both pc, mac, and mobile devices.

[Fien]

Monolith:

Ah, so you didn't really get to experience the game.

You haven't played the game, why do you think there is no story behind chasing someone?

I sense a bit of bias. I could be wrong.

My choices of words were purposely chosen since you obviously haven't really played this game itself. You are making your decision based on a demo pretty much, which in itself is fine, but doesn't exactly make a definitive conclusion on the quality of the game.

Let's get this straight. In your first post you told us how much you like the game, and you also said I have only just started it. And now you tell me I'm biased and I am not allowed to say I didn't care for the game after the free trial hour because I haven't really played it...? You know, that's called double standards.

[Monolith]

Originally Posted by Fien

Monolith:


Let's get this straight. In your first post you told us how much you like the game, and you also said I have only just started it. And now you tell me I'm biased and I am not allowed to say I didn't care for the game after the free trial hour because I haven't really played it...? You know, that's called double standards.

I just started, but I at least got to experience most of the game to make a decision that it has certain features. Its not a double standard. You can't really make a negative decision until you beat the game. You don't have to beat the game to decide if something exists.

I had beaten the game now, but I have to say, it was still a pretty good story. Sure such games aren't blessed with completely in depth stories, but It did build up on something that could be even bigger, especially since the game advertises a sequel. Even the additional game that comes with the collectors addition actually builds upon the story, unlike so many other HOG's. Which is a plus in my opinion. Especially since hte additional story doesn't bombard you with billions of HOG sequences just to extend the life of the game. Sure the addition was short, but I like it that way since I personally hate spending so much time afterwards once the main game is done. Its not the type of genre I feel the need to spend so many hours playing in. I pretty much only play these games for the story to be honest. There are tons of HOG's that i never complete because of the very fact that the story is either so slow or just not intriguing.

[Fien]

Originally Posted by Monolith

I just started, but I at least got to experience most of the game to make a decision that it has certain features.

You've lost me.

Its not a double standard. You can't really make a negative decision until you beat the game. You don't have to beat the game to decide if something exists.

Positive is good, negative is bad. A prime example of the biased double standard mode...

I can get a pretty good impression of the graphics, animation, hogs, voiceacting, music in one hour because those are features that don't change much. If I have to listen to the same music over and over again, that doesn't spell any good for the rest of the game.

You know what you like, I know what I like. Don't call me biased because we don't agree.

There are tons of HOG's that i never complete because of the very fact that the story is either so slow or just not intriguing.

Heh. I'm gonna sit on my hands.