[giants84]

Hows it going, have not played adventure games in a while. Wondering if you guys can recommend me some of the good releases in the past year or so. Thanks, appreciate it.

[Manhunter71]

Thats a hard question to answer you know. There are soo many adventure games with different themes and gameplay style.
Do you prefer 1st or 3rd person? Sci-fi, horror, mystery? Humorous or serious?

Do you want your games to be pure fiction, or based on some historical or scientific fact?

When you say you haven't played in a while - how long is a while?

I'l start off by recommending some of my all-time favourite games :

The Longest Journey - an incredibly detailed story-driven adventure. Its graphically outdated by today's standards but not so much that you cant appreciate it. I played it again recently after maybe a 5 year gap, and it was just as enjoyable as the first time. Very immersive sci-fi/fantasy storyline set in the not too distant future.

Dark Fall series - if you are prepared to be spooked, then you must try any of these games. First person horror/mystery adventure, should only be played when you are home alone, and of course - TURN THE LIGHTS OFF

Gabriel Knight series - mystery adventures with a religious/horror theme and based on historical fact. Written by Jane jensen - a huge amount of research has gone into these games, and she3 has managed to tie historical people/events to more fantastical themes.

These games maybe a bit dated for you, or you may have already played them.
So, for more recent games - I would suggest:

The Book of Unwritten Tales - fantasy, 3rd person, point and click
A New Beginning - scifi/eco-thriller, 3rd person, point&click
Black Mirror series - mystery/horror, 3rd person, point&click
15 Days - a group of modern day robin hood political activists who steal from the rich and give back to the poor, 3rd person, point&click

I'm just realising that there are so many games that have been released,m I can't possibly describe them all, but these, in my opinion, are some of the more interesting. Anyone else, please feel free to comment on my choices or add your own

I hope this helps somewhat, and, welcome back to adventure gaming!!

[giants84]

Thanks a lot for taking your time to post all of that =), I played most of those games. Just basically looking for games that had good reviews, is 15 days any good the reviews seem poor? Thanks again, appreciate it.

[Manhunter71]

It all depends on your point of view.
I enjoyed playing 15 days, even if it was a little buggy.
I guess I'm not the best person to comment as I love adventure games, and can find something positive even in the worst games.
I would say, don't pay attention to reviews so much, as they are all very subjective. I've played many games that have received bad reviews on sites like Gamespot, but I still enjoyed them.

I guess, what I'm saying is, check out the game - do you think the story looks interresting? If so, then go for it. Thats what I do, and it hasn't failed me yet
Actually, I'm wrong - I just played Dead Mountaineers Hotel, and was totally let down by it. Started out fine, with a good premise, but let down by terrible voice acting and a shallow script.
The same goes for Dark Secrets - another game produced by an indie developer, that had promise. Unfortunately, this is a buggy game that has no diary/journal option, so you are forced to wander the empty streets until you accidenatlly trigger something. Stay away from this game. Unfortunately i can't because I've been playing it for the past few weeks and refuse to give up.

[lewuz]

15 Days is as bad as the review says. Really.

I enjoyed Hector: Badge of Carnage trilogy a lot. But i guess not everyone appreciates such humor.

[Manhunter71]

Originally Posted by lewuz

15 Days is as bad as the review says. Really.

I enjoyed Hector: Badge of Carnage trilogy a lot. But i guess not everyone appreciates such humor.

yeah, I agree.

I didnt think 15 days was that bad, but Hector didnt do a lot for me really
I really prefer more serious adventure games, although Monkey Island games are some of my all-time favourites

[Guyra]

I'm not really one that follows the newest releases when it comes to games in general, whether it is adventure games or other. So I'll just go ahead and recommend a game.

The Moment of Silence - I played through this encountering some bugs and a lot of bad programming, especially regarding clickable areas for moving between screens/scenes. Despite this, however, this one definitely goes on my top ten list, mostly due to the impressive and well told story. So very much worth it!

I'll just assume you've played the first Still Life, The Longest Journey, Secret Files: Tunguska, as well as both Syberia games...

[Manhunter71]

Originally Posted by Guyra

I'm not really one that follows the newest releases when it comes to games in general, whether it is adventure games or other. So I'll just go ahead and recommend a game.

The Moment of Silence - I played through this encountering some bugs and a lot of bad programming, especially regarding clickable areas for moving between screens/scenes. Despite this, however, this one definitely goes on my top ten list, mostly due to the impressive and well told story. So very much worth it!

Ahaa, Moment of Silence - i loved that game, and yes, it did receive very bad reviews and it was very buggy in parts.
But, a very well told, suspenseful story

[Guyra]

Originally Posted by Manhunter71

Ahaa, Moment of Silence - i loved that game, and yes, it did receive very bad reviews and it was very buggy in parts.
But, a very well told, suspenseful story

Indeed! Only goes to show you can find good titles despite them getting bad reviews.

Also, I forgot, Gray Matter! Loved the game, though it had a couple of flaws.

[Manhunter71]

Originally Posted by Guyra

Also, I forgot, Gray Matter! Loved the game, though it had a couple of flaws.

Hmm, still not sure about Gray Matter.
Although i played it and quite enjoyed it, and yes, the magic tricks aspect was something interesting - it just didn't feel like a Jane Jensen game.

With Jane Jensen, we are used to the following things - incredibly detailed plot due to extensive research on the subject ( and while there seemed to be a lot of research gone into the magic tricks, they didnt hold my attention like the background story in GK2, or the Voodoo theme in GK1)

I did like the setting, although I think more could have been done with it. I'm not sure how, but she could have implemented more historical data into the plot.

All in all, a good game, but just not up to Jane Jensen standards (IMHO)

[Guyra]

You are definitely right on those points, Manhunter. However, I felt that the story was still above a lot of other adventure games I've played, and the dynamic relationships between the various characters was really engaging.

The magic system was useless, they could just as well have just shown the main character doing the trick after just using the items, or something. :/ From what I understand, this whole part was supposed to be so much more, but they had to cut it down a lot due to lack of funds, or something. I wonder how it would've been if it was done the way they had originally planned...

Now, I'm looking forward to Jane Jensen's next project, Cognition.

[Manhunter71]

Originally Posted by Guyra

Now, I'm looking forward to Jane Jensen's next project, Cognition.

Oh really? I haven't seen anything abou that - do you have any more info about it?

I look forward to anything by Jane Jensen, in the hope that she will create another classic on par with GK

[Sköll]

Originally Posted by giants84

Hows it going, have not played adventure games in a while. Wondering if you guys can recommend me some of the good releases in the past year or so. Thanks, appreciate it.

I might have been able to suggest L.A. Noire, but I encountered a bunch of bugs before ever getting to commence the career.

Gave up on getting it to work, as I had kind of been there and done that with the Police Quest series.

Does sound really good, though.

[TimovieMan]

Originally Posted by Manhunter71

Oh really? I haven't seen anything abou that - do you have any more info about it?

I look forward to anything by Jane Jensen, in the hope that she will create another classic on par with GK

See this thread.

She's just collaborating with the developers, though. She's helping the devs, but it's not "a Jane Jensen game".

[Manhunter71]

We are very happy with the direction we are taking it, and hopefully, it'll be somehow reminiscent of the incredible masterpiece that is Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers, in its graphic style as well as paranormal and thrilling story

Well, even if its not a Jane Jensen game per se, the fact that she's involved in the storyline aspect excites me greatly.
Storytelling is Jane Jensen's forte - its what makes me know that I can buy her games without being disappointed.
And if this game is in any way reminiscent of GK then I will be pleasantly surprised.
If not, then at least we can hopefully expect another interesting adventure game

Let's just hope its not too far away....

[Guyra]

Yeah, Jane Jensen isn't the game designer on the project, she's only on the story bit. But that's also where she excels. Though in my opinion, that makes it a "Jane Jensen game".

The game is set for a summer release this year, by the way. ^^