[DustyShinigami]

Any chance of a 'Top 100 Worst Adventure Games' list?

[TimovieMan]

Originally Posted by Gazzoid

Any chance of a 'Top 100 Worst Adventure Games' list?

Why? So Myst could be on both lists???

[Zorkman]

Originally Posted by Gazzoid

Any chance of a 'Top 100 Worst Adventure Games' list?

I expect many of the ones on the best list would figure on it. Someone's love is another's poison.

[small dickie]

Tales Of Monkey Island should have been in this top100.

[diego]

Originally Posted by Toefur

I am outraged at the conclusion of this list.

Never visiting this site again.

I'm disappointed on many levels too, but it's just a list of games - and they did a tremendously hard work.


Kuru, i'll take statistics was one of your majors But i really expected more - where's the graph showing the occurrence of Top 100 games in Adventure game sound thread?

Originally Posted by Kurufinwe

You can clearly distinguish several periods...

And the prehistory I can understand the pioneers from early 80s-87 didn't get more attention (i would do the same thing), and just like the text adventures they would probably need the separate article, since the impact and significance of those games can not be measured.

Originally Posted by Kurufinwe

1994 was a slow year...

I take it's just a combination of coincidences with 1994. not having really a "blockbuster", and the fact that article simply chose some other games instead of - King's Quest 7, Dragonsphere, Malcolm's Revenge, Superhero League of Hoboken and Death Gate. And probably not taking into consideration games like Ecstatica and Little Big Adventure. But i also think early 90s have been slightly neglected in favor of more recent titles, which is not a bad thing as it underlines the undeniable genre resurgence.


As for the lack of 2.5D, again it's just a matter of coincidence and preference - even though they're the synonym of AGs in last decade, the list ultimately chooses quality over quantity and it comes to personal opinion, even though we can easily debate whether games like Secret Files, Ceville, Ankh, Perry Rhodan... could also make the list.

[zane]

a fine list
of course im not satisfied with its conclusions, but many of my all-time favorites are on this list somewhere. And i think thats the best you can hope for.

[Kurufinwe]

Originally Posted by Fien

I'm pressed for time, so for now I'll confine myself to the women. I count one more than you. Cell (2x), Kate (2x), Pepper, Nancy, Laura, Victoria, April, Zoe, Mina.

EDIT: Oh wait... Victoria must be in the "both" section. Stupid Fien.
EDIT2: But April must be counted twice then. Two female protagonists in Dreamfall.

Wait, Pepper's a girl??? I guess that's the kind of confusion that happens when you name someone after a condiment instead of giving them a person's name. (And when I just glance at a couple of screenshots instead of reading the review...) So that's one more for female-only. However, I made the same mistake as you did and counted Still Life in that category when it should have gone to "both", so we're back at 10. (Dreamfall is "both", because of Kian.) So we have: Kate (x2), Chell (x2), Nancy, Pepper, Laura, Mina, Ashley (Another Code) and April.

Originally Posted by subbi

Super graphs, very interesting.
The tech/graphics overview is interesting, but especially for this one I would also make one that includes the weight factor of the ranking.
It should become even more interesting given the fact that both nr 1 and 2 are in fact 3D model with preredendered background games.
In fact, quite a few if those are ranked high, eg Syberia etc...

I actually did that one, but it looks exactly the same. High-res pre-rendered are relatively a bit lower, the other three a bit higher, but it doesn't change the general looks of the graph.

Originally Posted by diego

Kuru, i'll take statistics was one of your majors But i really expected more - where's the graph showing the occurrence of Top 100 games in Adventure game sound thread?

You've posted in that thread as much as I have, so I'll let you take care of that.

[Bastich]

I'm disappointed in myself that there are 3 games in the top 25 that I haven't played.

Every time I try to play Riven I stop playing after about 15 minutes. There is something about that game that just instantly annoys me. I loved Myst and quite a few clones though, so it isn't a matter of not liking that sub-genre. The environment is just completely unappealing to me and the navigation tedious. I'll have to force myself one day as I know if I could just get past my initial reaction, there is probably a great game there.

The other two are Zork: Grand Inquisitor, which I have no idea why I haven't played, and QFG 4. Every time I try to buy the latter on ebay, some douchebag snipes it away from me. I wish Gog.com would get it...

[DustyShinigami]

Originally Posted by Zorkman

I expect many of the ones on the best list would figure on it. Someone's love is another's poison.

I don't think so... If those 100 Top Adventures are the AG staff's favorites, why would they put them on their 'Worst' list?

It'll be the games that the AG staff don't like and have rated/reviewed poorly. Games such as: Lure of the Temptress, Jack Orlando, Ankh: Curse of the Scarab King, Lula 3D etc. Hey, maybe the first Runaway will be re-evaluated and given its rightful spot.

[Zorkman]

Originally Posted by Gazzoid

I don't think so... If those 100 Top Adventures are the AG staff's favorites, why would they put them on their 'Worst' list?

It'll be the games that the AG staff don't like and have rated/reviewed poorly. Games such as: Lure of the Temptress, Jack Orlando, Ankh: Curse of the Scarab King, Lula 3D etc. Hey, maybe the first Runaway will be re-evaluated and given its rightful spot.

Sorry, hadn't realised that. I was thinking if you had a public poll of the best or worst games, many would be on both lists. By the way what do they have against Lure of the Temptress. This was hardly a bad adventure when it was released.

[Jackal]

Originally Posted by Agustin

Agreed, the influences of AITD resulted in a very different genre. But, as I see it, the game came out during the so-called golden age of adventures, and in a sense you could say that it was a classical adventure that introduced combat elements; by the same logic, most of us agree that Quest For Glory is an adventure with lighthearted RPG elements.

Ironically, AITD is probably the victim (in this case) of too much influence. If it hadn't essentially spun off a whole new genre, it would undoubtedly still be one of those genre-benders that we'd consider an adventure (by our standards). Now it's simpler to just categorize it as a survival horror, which we don't generally include.

Originally Posted by Kurufinwe

Best designer of all time

I've actually given up trying to do this rigorously, since the results are going to depend on how you count people having co-designed games. So, based just on the number of games on the list, the top-10, and the #1 game, I'm going to say that the King of Adventures is

Tim Schaffer

That is a truly disturbing image. So disturbing, I felt the need to inflict it on everyone again.

Originally Posted by diego

The early 90s might have been named the "golden age", but how do we call the second half of the decade then? 7 out of Top 9 games are 95-99 titles.

Its more a reference the genre's industry dominance. I don't think it's a coincidence that the late '90s produced some gems, as experienced developers were really refining/perfecting their craft by then. Unfortunately, not enough people cared about them by then.

Originally Posted by Iznogood

More importantly - It seem like TellTale has been grossly overlooked in this list. Is there really no one in the AG Staff that likes TellTale as much as i do?

Making the top 50 is overlooked?

Originally Posted by Gazzoid

Any chance of a 'Top 100 Worst Adventure Games' list?

This would be a lot harder than you think, since most of us don't bother to play the games we know are turds.

Originally Posted by Kurufinwe

The true Golden Age of adventures

When looking at the years at which the games were released, it's useful to have both the raw number of games (top) and the results weighted by rank (bottom):

I think those graphs are absolutely amazing: they give a perfect picture of the history of graphic adventures. We may have our gripes about some games on the list, but I think these graphs confirm that the top-100 is a very fair and accurate representation of the genre.

First of all, outstanding work on the graphs, Dr. Kurufinwe.

This was the one I was most intrigued/pleased by. We certainly made a conscious choice to try to represent the genre's complete history, but there was no intentional quota for old vs. new, and I really hadn't even considered how it all played out until now.

[Monolith]

Originally Posted by Bastich

I'm disappointed in myself that there are 3 games in the top 25 that I haven't played.

Every time I try to play Riven I stop playing after about 15 minutes. There is something about that game that just instantly annoys me. I loved Myst and quite a few clones though, so it isn't a matter of not liking that sub-genre. The environment is just completely unappealing to me and the navigation tedious. I'll have to force myself one day as I know if I could just get past my initial reaction, there is probably a great game there.

The other two are Zork: Grand Inquisitor, which I have no idea why I haven't played, and QFG 4. Every time I try to buy the latter on ebay, some douchebag snipes it away from me. I wish Gog.com would get it...

Its because you want your hand held more so than the other games. Myst had a small island with easy to follow follow, yet still no one held your hand. RIVEN is huge and just like the first game, you are the explorer not sheep following an invisible path.

[Oscar]

There is one game which seems to be forgotten, and not surprising since it's not reviewed on AG: Gobliiins.

It wasn't the most polished game, but the multi-character interaction came before DOTT and probably influenced it, the puzzles were clever and devious and most of all: it was unique. The game would have made my top 20, at least.

[Arial Type]

Grim Fandango is a great choice for No1! Jane Jensen is still the best adventure designer though and the ultimate queen of adventure genre

[thejobloshow]

Originally Posted by Gazzoid

Any chance of a 'Top 100 Worst Adventure Games' list?

No, that wouldn't be nice to Roberta Williams.

SOWWY!

[Iznogood]

Originally Posted by Jackal

Making the top 50 is overlooked?

Well Underrated then.
Imo TellTale has made some of the best games in the recent years, and i was disapointed that only one of their games made the list, and only at 49 place. I actually didn't play AG for many years, and it wastn't until I stumpled upon the Sam&Max serie by TellTale that i rediscovered my love for the genre.

Originally Posted by Arial Type

Grim Fandango is a great choice for No1! Jane Jensen is still the best adventure designer though and the ultimate queen of adventure genre

Originally Posted by thejobloshow

No, that wouldn't be nice to Roberta Williams.

I disagree with both of you.
Imo Roberta Williams is behind more good games than Jane Jensen, and has done much more good for the whole genre.

[After a brisk nap]

Originally Posted by Oscar

There is one game which seems to be forgotten, and not surprising since it's not reviewed on AG: Gobliiins.

It wasn't the most polished game, but the multi-character interaction came before DOTT and probably influenced it, the puzzles were clever and devious and most of all: it was unique. The game would have made my top 20, at least.

Remember that DOTT was the sequel to Maniac Mansion, which also had multi-character interaction. That was probably the main inspiration, though it's of course possible that Gobliiins also had some secondary influence.

[Monolith]

@Iznogood: Well to be honest you are completely right. Devils Playhouse was one of the better if not best Telltale game season. It worked in quite a bit of class not to mention another great lovecraftian style game.

[rtrooney]

Taste is taste. Longest Journey probably ranks as the least favorite game ever played. But here it is among the top ten.

[Fien]

Originally Posted by Kurufinwe

Wait, Pepper's a girl??? I guess that's the kind of confusion that happens when you name someone after a condiment instead of giving them a person's name. (And when I just glance at a couple of screenshots instead of reading the review...) So that's one more for female-only. However, I made the same mistake as you did and counted Still Life in that category when it should have gone to "both", so we're back at 10. (Dreamfall is "both", because of Kian.) So we have: Kate (x2), Chell (x2), Nancy, Pepper, Laura, Mina, Ashley (Another Code) and April.

Hehe... no, we're not back at 10, because both of us forgot Obsidian's Lilah. She has a face, a name, a voice, so she doesn't belong to the AFGNCAAPS. And it makes me sad to see Zoe demoted to the Both category because of that Kian guy. He plays a part in the story, yes, but I'd already forgotten that he's also a minor playing character. I'd say that both friends and enemies of Dreamfall will agree that the game is about Zoe, with April tagging along.

Here's my list of playable women in AG's Top Hundred. Nine in Female-Only. Twelve in Both. What am I missing? Sophia and Nico are questionable.

Nancy (99) - Gina (Runaway 3, 97) - Bernice (Dark Eye, 85) - Laura (84) - Wendy (Maniac Mansion, 72) Razor (Maniac Mansion, 72) - Ellen (IHNMAIMS, 69) - Pepper (67) - Lilah (62) - Ashley (60) - Kate (55, 15) - Mina (53) - Zoe (Dreamfall, 52) - April (52, 2) - Grace (GK, 32, 3) - Cell (31, 10) - Madison (Heavy Rain, 26) - Victoria (Still Life, 20) - Sophia (Fate of Atlantis, 11) - Laverne (DoTT, 6) - Nico (BS1, 4 but only in the Director's Cut) -

And about the AFGNCAAPs... I see eleven. With Lilah moved, there should be thirteen, right?

Spycraft - Dark Fall - Drawn - Amber - Myst 1234 - In Memoriam - Zork GI - Zork Nemesis

EDIT: Thanks, Anne. I have played 7th Guest but that was ages ago and I hardly remember the story. Never finished Maniac Mansion and certainly didn't play as Razor.