[funkylovejunkie]

The early 90's are sometimes referred to as the 'golden age' of adventure gaming. Did you have to be there to appreciate the many brilliant games to come out of the genre at the time?
In 1990 I was 9 years old, and in my early teens when I discovered adventure games. So I guess you could say I was the ideal age (awkward and spotty teenager venturing into a rosier and more colourful virtual world) to experience the genre. My favourite titles happened to be Lucas Arts games. And I still enjoy a quick replay on Monkey Island nowadays.
Now at the age of 30 I recently played Gray Matter and enjoyed it immensely. So I decided to buy the title that Jane Jensen was famous for, Gabriel Knight. And I can't get into it.
The graphics seem to be inferior to that of other games at the time, the interface seem over-complicated and why is some old granny vocalising his inner thoughts? Now before you all jump on me and start calling me names, this is merely an observation and I would like thoughts on the following questions :-
Am I enjoying Monkey Island merely out of nostalgia now?
And not enjoying GN because I have no memories attached to playing the game?
Have you ever tried to plug an adventure game from back in the day to someone, and they've been like "WTF is this?!"
Have you tried playing a game from your childhood and thought "WTF is this?"

Additional. This is just a discussion, not a slamming match.

[georgiegirl]

this was one of my favourite series.the fabulous story lines and dark brooding atmosphere was just brilliant i loved every minute of them.tim curry was a bit of a let down.but apart from that they were great games.

[Ascovel]

Originally Posted by funkylovejunkie

Did you have to be there to appreciate the many brilliant games to come out of the genre at the time?

Not really. Newcomers tend to enjoy these games a lot too, just like it's very common to enjoy movies from decades ago and books from centuries ago (even if you weren't there).

The old school graphics is probably the most controversial aspect as it represents what was cutting edge 20 years ago, but completely changed over a relatively short time. Nevertheless, while the low res may be off-putting to some, for many others it makes the old games feel all the more stylish.

[TimovieMan]

Originally Posted by funkylovejunkie

The early 90's are sometimes referred to as the 'golden age' of adventure gaming.

Only in so far that adventure games were the most popular games allround, and had the biggest budgets to work with.
I think that, now that adventure games have become more of a niche, that the so-called "golden age" hasn't really ended. Good and great adventure games are being released at an even bigger rate than before. The only thing missing is exposure (and thus budgets for cutting edge graphics - but is that last bit really that important?)...

Did you have to be there to appreciate the many brilliant games to come out of the genre at the time?

I don't think so. All those old games are still being discovered by young people all the time. This forum is living proof since most '90s games are beloved by everyone, yet not everyone is 25+ in age...

In 1990 I was 9 years old, and in my early teens when I discovered adventure games. So I guess you could say I was the ideal age (awkward and spotty teenager venturing into a rosier and more colourful virtual world) to experience the genre. My favourite titles happened to be Lucas Arts games. And I still enjoy a quick replay on Monkey Island nowadays.
Now at the age of 30 I recently played Gray Matter and enjoyed it immensely. So I decided to buy the title that Jane Jensen was famous for, Gabriel Knight. And I can't get into it.

I'm in your exact situation - same age, same preference in games. And I'm also looking to get into the Gabriel Knight games for the first time (well, at least after I've completed my LucasArts replays).

The graphics seem to be inferior to that of other games at the time, the interface seem over-complicated and why is some old granny vocalising his inner thoughts? Now before you all jump on me and start calling me names, this is merely an observation and I would like thoughts on the following questions :-

Imo, the graphics are in the same league as the Indiana Jones-games and the first Monkey Island and Simon the Sorcerer game. If you don't mind an occasional replay of Monkey Island, then you can probably get over the graphics. Interface is the same as in all the old Sierra games (have you played many of them?), while the cursor is more or less the same as in Sam & Max Hit the Road.
Well, based on my first impressions, that is...

Am I enjoying Monkey Island merely out of nostalgia now?

No you're not. The nostalgia is adding an extra layer of enjoyment, but good games are good games no matter how old they are.

And not enjoying GN because I have no memories attached to playing the game?

I've recently played Zak McKracken and Maniac Mansion for the very first time, and I liked both of them a lot. And their graphics are a lot simpler than that of the first GK game.
I've not yet played more than 10 minutes of GK, though, so I'll take a rain check on the GK-specific answer to this question. Give me a month or so...

Have you ever tried to plug an adventure game from back in the day to someone, and they've been like "WTF is this?!"

The only thing I can say to this is: "Know thine audience!". You can only really pitch games like this to people that are already adventure game enthousiasts. And then chances are they already know the game...

Have you tried playing a game from your childhood and thought "WTF is this?"

I'm currently replaying a bunch of games from back then, and I've loved every minute of it. But I must admit that it took me a little while to readjust to the old graphics (my computer screen is 10 inches larger than it was those days and that makes a big pixelated difference). But the recent game Gemini Rue kinda softened me to it a bit...


Sorry about the tl;dr post.

[TiAgUh]

I wasn't "around" back then to play them. I was all about rpgs and Earthworm Jim and Carmaggedon and ..

I've started playing adventure games around 2003-2004, my first being the 1st Monkey Island. The graphics weren't a nuisance like PS1-era games. It made me laugh and that was enough -- great writing is timeless, right?
About GK: when I played it a few years ago I didn't actually mind Curry or the interface, I just got bored of it fast. Maybe it was the overused Vudu theme which back than was proly something original.

(No, I lie! My 1st was Grim Fandango around '99! But I didn't even thought of it as an adventure game or whatever, for me it was just a fun LSD-ridden game.)

[Collector]

As far as the graphics in GK1, if you play the DOS version, be sure to use the VESA driver, not the VGA. In VESA the backgrounds and sprites are only scaled up from 320x200 to 640x480, but the rest of the graphics are of VESA resolutions, such as the dialog portraits, logos and interface. It is very much on par with other games of the era, which mostly were only VGA. If you can put up with the older graphics, the rest is timeless; great story, game play, puzzles, etc. If you cannot abide the graphics of the era, I am not sure what to tell you, but you will be missing out on some great games.

The interface was more complicated than the usual Sierra interface. Jane Jensen was experimenting with ways to bring back some of the flexibility of the old text parser, i.e. different cursors for "open", "pickup", "push" and "operate" as opposed to a single "hand" icon that did all three actions and splitting talk into "talk" and "ask". The added cursors made it quicker to go to the toolbar to change functions than to cycle through by right clicking. I think that any added flexibility this gives is more of an illusion than anything tangible and it does make it a little more cumbersome, but it is only minor irritation for me and less of a flaw as the single cursor for all uses, Ă* la KQ7.

By "vocalising his inner thoughts" I take it that you are referring to the narrator. This is something that I have noticed has bothered non-Americans more. Many expect a generic Southern accent, but there is really is no such thing. It depends on where in the South you are. For New Orleans there are several accents or dialects that you can hear, including Creole, which is what the narrator speaks. This is especially fitting, given the Voodoo theme.

[funkylovejunkie]

Thankyou for your in-depth reply. Lots of good points

[funkylovejunkie]

Additional, I will persevere with Gabriel Knight. I trust the opinions of the Adventure game community

[Intense Degree]

I think there can also be something of a Lucasarts/Sierra divide.

Personally I grew up on Kings Quest etc. and Gabriel Knight was right up my street, becoming my favourite AG of all time pretty much immediately. However, I have had a hard time getting into Lucasarts games, even the Monkey Island series.

This isn't because I have any bad feeling about Lucasarts - I don't, I just think that, being more or less the same age as you, Sierra calibrated my expectations for AG's a certain way in the late 80's/early 90's, as perhaps Lucasarts did with yours. For some reason, perhaps just for some people, it seems to make it more difficult to enjoy the other side.

In a way I feel quite bad about it, seeing the love for Monkey Island etc. from so many others but not really feeling it myself, I feel like i've missed out somehow on some great games, despite owning them!

Gray Matter has much less in common with the early Sierra games than it does with more "modern" adventure games and so I am not surprised that it can be easily enjoyed by a Lucasartsian!

[Schneckchen ^.^]

Originally Posted by georgiegirl

tim curry was a bit of a let down.but apart from that they were great games.

I didn't really read this entire thread but this sentence caught my eye and I was outraged lol. Tim Curry was what made Gabriel Knight so great!

Ok that was my input lol.

[Origami]

I would wish for anyone to NOT be there. I was very young during early 90's and I am glad I was. Means I still have a lot of great titles to explore.
Imagine someone not having explored it at all...owh how I envy the person that has yet to play Grim Fandango, Gabriel Knight 1 and other great titles.

[aimless]

Tim Curry was great in the first one but he was way over the top as far as I'm concerned in GK3. So...only moderately outraged.

Oh, man, Grim Fandango! That's still the best game I've ever played.

[Ascovel]

Originally Posted by Origami

Imagine someone not having explored it at all...owh how I envy the person that has yet to play Grim Fandango, Gabriel Knight 1 and other great titles.

You envy how much trouble they will have to run (at least some of) these games on modern computers?

[aimless]

Grim Fandango was impossible to run on Windows 7, 64 bit until I found an installer here.
I really wish GOG would get it. It's a damned shame that Lucas Arts seems determined to consign it to oblivion.

[thejobloshow]

I don't mind the graphics, I think that gives older games their appeal. I love seeing those jagged edges in SVGA. I find it crazy when younger gamers use filters in emulators to smooth the edges. To me, anti-alias looks really cheap on old school sprites. Hell, I couldn't even enjoy the ugly graphical update of Monkey Island in the Special Edition and had to switch back to the old school graphics. If only there was an option to keep the voice actor's dialogue though.

If anything has aged badly about the Sierra adventures, it's the actual "game" part. The dead ends is what killed them for me. So, most likely than not you're probably enjoying Monkey Island because it's a superior game. I'd like to see how you'd respond to playing Maniac Mansion.

Luckily, I'd say I don't have your situation. I've gone back and played adventure games that I didn't grow up with like Snatcher, Beneath a Steel Sky and I Have No Mouth and they've appealed to me more than some of the adventure titles I did grow up with like Simon the Sorcerer because of a striking art design and story that outshines the limitations of the graphic fidelity. I certainly think those games are superior to modern adventure games like Heavy Rain.

The only WTF moment I had going back to an old game is the ridiculously comical art direction in Leisure Suit Larry 6. It's SO 90s kitsch. However, I have a feeling it was always intended to be kitsch.

[funkylovejunkie]

Grim Fandango - that was another that i came back to after not being able to play it when i was younger. bloody loved it....until i reached the point where you have to use the fork-lift truck in the lift and it just wouldn't work. i've looked at walkthroughs and this is indeed what you are supposed to do, but there must have been a bug so ive never finished it double

[TimovieMan]

Originally Posted by funkylovejunkie

....until i reached the point where you have to use the fork-lift truck in the lift and it just wouldn't work. i've looked at walkthroughs and this is indeed what you are supposed to do, but there must have been a bug so ive never finished it double

That was a known bug that was addressed in a patch.

You can download a Grim Fandango Launcher that works on XP/Vista/7's 32- and 64-bit versions. It allows you to play the game entirely from your hard disk AND it automatically updates with the patch that fixes the forklift problem...