[Gabe]

What agaming have become, really evolved or ceasing to exist?



Finding the Adventure in Journey :
<iframe width="640" height="390" src="http://www.gamespot.com/videoembed/6368059&vidSize=640"

Gameplay Trailer :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=5NlVttFRPpU

[Adventurere No.1]

So what is your own opinion Gabe ?!
for me evolved Adventure is just an exception ,as Staking but Adventure Gaming Should always stay at that Classical theme we all Love.

[Gabe]

I have no chance playing ps3 exclusives immediately,but this one awakes curiosity with setting and ui potential for an ag,who experienced already hope can enlighten us more.

What said at video Schaefer and Gilbert thinks latest evolved examples like La Noire shouldnt be considered as an ag and not mention about Heavyrain at all.I think action must be context-sensitive in ag and platforming doesnt mean better adventure element than combat or driving elements but depends how well they implemented in narrative.

[Adventurere No.1]

not every game out there that has exploration and some thinking would be considered an adventure, and any game with (action) scene as you said Gabe should be treated wisely and also it should be tagged with something like that (explicit words) for music CD's ,something like watchout this game has, timed scene,Shooting,Fighting,driving ..and so on

i sure double Tim just fine but he himself shoudnt bother about a definition for AG when he had given a game like staking already, he knows better. and he is one the developers out there that AGers depend and trust about evolving the Genre !

[MaFratelli]

I'm not sure that I would call Journey an adventure game, but it is definitely a unique experience very different from your usual platforming. I literally sat with a goofy smile on my face and little tears in my eyes when I finished the last portion of this short (very short!) gem, because it was JUST THAT ATMOSPHERIC.

Warmly recommended.

[thejobloshow]

No. Journey fits quite comfortably in the realms of cinematic platformer with games like Ico, Out of this World and Limbo.

The game itself is really engaging. A little on the short side though.

[ozzie]

I would neither consider Journey a traditional or non-traditional adventure game.

The gameplay mechanics seem closer to the jump & run genre and the pretty essential ingredient called "puzzles" is wholly missing here. But I'm sure that lots of adventure gamers might enjoy Journey. Exploration plays a huge part in this game and I don't know how much it tests your reflexes, but as far as I can see it's rather relaxing to play.

[Gabe]

Looks like another so called adventure then,this kind of half adventure games need clear sub genre definition like an ambient adventure,trippy adventure,wayfarer adv or naviventure..so how would you call?

[Periglo]

Originally Posted by Gabe

... sub genre definition like an ambient adventure,trippy adventure,wayfarer adv or naviventure..so how would you call?

I actually liked "cinematic platformer", as used above by thejobloshow. We should get used to the fact that many games are called adventures, so a finer division is indeed needed. BTW, the game is supposed to be similar to Flower, familiar from the endless "are games art" debate.

[ozzie]

I also agree with the cinematic platformer label. These kind of games were always more interested in storytelling, atmosphere and depicting a believable game world than your usual platformer. The Oddworld games fit also into this category.

But I haven't played Journey. I'm just judging by the looks of it. Maybe it feels more like an adventure game than I presume. The labels we use to describe games are often too limited and vague anyway. I find it more helpful to describe what a game has to offer and doesn't have to offer. People consider Dreamfall to be an adventure game, but fans of the genre were disappointed when they found out how much action elements it contained and that they couldn't progress past those fighting and stealth sequences. For many it wasn't adventure enough and required too much reflexes.
Genre labels can say astoundingly little about a game. I think they only help for traditional games which stick to conventions established in the past.
On the other hand, he we are, discussing in a forum of a site called AdventureGamers. So I guess it's kind of important to know what can and can't be an adventure game. I just think that the appliance of a label isn't especially useful to figure out if such a kind of game might be for you.

Edit: Just watched the Gamespot video and her argument basically is that Journey, like adventure games, offers a thoughtful narrative and something something unconventionally (I couldn't quite make out what she was saying there). Well, thoughtful narratives can be a part of pretty much any genre now. Platformers can have thoughtful narratives (Psychonauts, Another World,...), so can action-adventures (Outcast) and RPGs (Planescape: Torment). Hrm.
And whatever she was talking about regarding "unconventional", her examples of adventure games (King's Quest V, Broken Sword, Curse of Monkey Island,...) are very conventional ones of the genre.
So I'm not convinced.

[Burns11]

Originally Posted by ozzie

I would neither consider Journey a traditional or non-traditional adventure game.

The gameplay mechanics seem closer to the jump & run genre and the pretty essential ingredient called "puzzles" is wholly missing here. But I'm sure that lots of adventure gamers might enjoy Journey. Exploration plays a huge part in this game and I don't know how much it tests your reflexes, but as far as I can see it's rather relaxing to play.

Not true, there are plenty of puzzles.

As far as "is this an adventure game" goes, that's just going to be an incessant debate on any game that's not unadulterated point and click.

I'm not sure the game would fit better as a platformer than an adventure either, it's missing nearly every platforming standard.

It is in a similar vein as ICO/SotC, with the cinematic presentation and the minimalistic storytelling, but a central aspect of those games was combat and there is zero combat in Journey.

Journey also has some gameplay parts that could be defined as stealth.

I think Journey takes so many small elements of so many genres that it defies distilling it down to a single or even compound genre.

[ozzie]

Not true, there are plenty of puzzles.

Good to know, thanks. So it's more of a genre bender than I initially thought! Which is good. It seems to take all these different elements from different genres and form them into something unique of its own. Basically, what you said.
I really wish I had a PS3 now...

[thejobloshow]

Originally Posted by ozzie

Good to know, thanks. So it's more of a genre bender than I initially thought! Which is good. It seems to take all these different elements from different genres and form them into something unique of its own. Basically, what you said.
I really wish I had a PS3 now...

I don't really recall many puzzles in Journey that go any deeper than scavenger hunts for bits of ribbon or secret items.

But puzzles are in anyway. Even Duke Nukem Forever had teeter totter puzzles and it certainly isn't any where close to being an adventure game.

[Burns11]

Originally Posted by thejobloshow

I don't really recall many puzzles in Journey that go any deeper than scavenger hunts for bits of ribbon or secret items.

Well, you had to solve

Spoiler:

how to build the bridge, how to get up the building (you had to free carpets, or whatever), how to get past the various windy spots, how to climb the interior tower with the rising water, etc, etc.

They are very well integrated and not impossible to figure out, but puzzles nonetheless.

[lewuz]

I dont care what genre it is. Does it matter? Does it make a it more or less enjoyable if it one or another? (Rhetorical questons, dont answer) It looks interesting and I'd like to try it. But as long as there is no PC version, i'm out.