[BacardiJim]

Although it looks like Troy enjoyed the game a bit less than I did, his review sounded eerily familiar.

[Bard09]

I have a feeling those who play the game will settle in more or less the same place as far as their impressions. I read your review carefully after finishing my own and wasn't particularly surprised with the parallels, especially the mention of the room-arrangement puzzle we both liked.

I think most people who play it will WANT to like the game but will finish it feeling indifferent. The fact remains that you have to look at the price per entertainment ratio. I'd have chimed in on your thread which debated this, but I didn't want to pre-empt my review. It's a very valid criticism of the game. I just don't see spending $20 for a short game as hit and miss as The Arrangement.

[BacardiJim]

Troy: Both reviews had other similarities.

1) Almost identical comments about the good and bad of the voice acting.
2) Similar comments about the unevenness of the graphics (though you went into more detail).
3) We both liked the originality of the plot.
4) We both commented on the "puppet-like" speaking motion of the character models.
5) We both mentioned the difficulty presented by the occasional diagonal movement cursor.
6) We both enjoyed the music (again, you went into more detail than I did).

There were, however, some major differences. I didn't encounter a single bug or script error. (Good old Win98. ) I was more forgiving of the ever-growing gaps in game logic in light of the ending, which, while unsatisfactory, at least explained away all the illogic. (I had a real problem with the "fantastic" elements too, like the teleporting portals, etc. But that ending pretty much resolves them, eh?) And I seem to have had more outright fun with the game than you did... even if it was what I called "cheesy B-movie" fun.

Still, when I read your review I felt a harmonic chord ring up my spine.

[Bard09]

Whew! For a minute there, I thought you were insinuating that I'd somehow plagiarized from your review. I'm glad that is not the case

I noted the similarities you mentioned as well, but I figured they were more universal critiques than having the same favorite puzzle (weird!).

I was bothered significantly by the ending. There are some critics that argue that The 6th Sense isn't a good movie because the twist at the end isn't strong enough to make up for the deficiencies of the first hour and a half of the movie. Though I tend to disagree with them, their critique of the movie is to some degree comparable with the ending of The Arrangement.

The only difference is that each scene in The 6th Sense was filmed with the ending in mind. With The Arrangement, I felt like it was the case of, "Damn, I need an ending. How to make it work, how to make it work..." As much as it compensates for some of the illogical choices, it insults the intelligence of the player so the story can be quickly resolved.

What stung so much about reviewing the game for me was that I could tell that Michael Clark was really striving for something great. I think if he continues to produce with the Adventure Maker engine, we'll be seeing some great titles in the near future. If he releases some quality demos and prices the full versions at $10-$15, I could easily see them taking off.

Hopefully, the reviews of The Arrangement will help Clark to see what he needs to improve on in the future. I'll be waiting

Originally Posted by Bard09

I'd have chimed in on your thread which debated this, but I didn't want to pre-empt my review.

I could have sworn you did. How I hate it when people delete their posts!

[Igor]

Originally Posted by Bard09

There are some critics that argue that The 6th Sense isn't a good movie because the twist at the end isn't strong enough to make up for the deficiencies of the first hour and a half of the movie.

Sorry to go off topic here, but those who say The 6th Sense isn't good because of the ending, are, simply put, full of crap. I mean, the main strenght of this movie is that you can fully enjoy it even after you know the ending. The main story (unacceptence of boy, etc.) is so strong and dramatic on itself, that the ending is only "cream on the top".
I was just watching The 6th Sense again a few months back and noticed i liked it even more. While the first time i was more occupied with trying to figure out what the big ending is, i was really able to fall in drama with second watching. Tops.

[Bard09]

Originally Posted by Igor

Sorry to go off topic here, but those who say The 6th Sense isn't good because of the ending, are, simply put, full of crap. I mean, the main strenght of this movie is that you can fully enjoy it even after you know the ending. The main story (unacceptence of boy, etc.) is so strong and dramatic on itself, that the ending is only "cream on the top".
I was just watching The 6th Sense again a few months back and noticed i liked it even more. While the first time i was more occupied with trying to figure out what the big ending is, i was really able to fall in drama with second watching. Tops.

It was just an example, and probably not the best one. It's actually a far better criticism of the movie Unbreakable than The 6th Sense (which is an excellent movie).

Originally Posted by Fienepien

I could have sworn you did. How I hate it when people delete their posts!

Yeah, I somewhat corroborated the debate on length and didn't want to spoil the review. Talk about coincidence! I think that the post only lasted for about 2 minutes before I kicked it into the Great Internet Void.

[BacardiJim]

I finally got around to watching Mulholland Drive last night. Didn't know whether to be hurt, offended, angry or just mystified at Lynch's take on this convention.

[Marek]

Mulholland Drive is pure genius. Watch it again.

[BacardiJim]

Originally Posted by Marek

Mulholland Drive is pure genius. Watch it again.

If I watch it again, it will have to be by myself. My g/f was seriously pissed at the ending. Of course, she had the same reaction at the end of The Arrangement.

I'd call myself a Lynch fan, but I think he went a step too far this time, indulging in near self-parody and thumbing his nose at his audience while providing some of his most intriguing and gorgeous individual "set pieces" to date. But that's another whole thread. hehehe

[Bard09]

We're on a total tangent now, but I thoroughly enjoyed Memento whereas I detested Mulholland Drive. I frequently get in major huffs over the latter movie with one of my best friends, who happens to love it. I saw it a second time, trying to take my mind off of the un/overdeveloped symbolism, and just about lost it. I've see the direction as mostly "Lynch going too far in being Lynch."

But, again, this is the topic for another thread!

[Jake]

Mulholland Drive's ending was in my opinion realy great... It wasn't Lynch's best movie by any means but the ending did an excellent job of revealing what was really really going on throughout the rest of the film, of course, without beating you over the head with it like some films (see: the "ooh ooh hey its a twist!!! look at this ke-razy twist!!!" endings of all Shyamalan's movies).

Those of you who hate Mulholland Drive's ending... do you also hate Monkey Island 2's ending?

-------------

Anyway uh (yes that was a "the line," though it's only relevant to my post), I liked your review Troy You successfully dissuaded me from spending $20.

[BacardiJim]

Those of you who hate Mulholland Drive's ending... do you also hate Monkey Island 2's ending?

Yep. I've said so frequently.

[remixor]

Originally Posted by Jake

(see: the "ooh ooh hey its a twist!!! look at this ke-razy twist!!!" endings of all Shyamalan's movies)

Couldn't have said it better myself!

[D.C.]

I've said it once, and I'll say it again: Stop dissing Shyamalan.

[Fairygdmther]

To get back to original topic - The Arrangement reviews

Friday I played a copy of the pre-released game. My feeling is that both of you, Troy and BJ, were too generous with your reviews. The characters looked like painted wood that had been polished to a high gloss. And they looked grotesque. The point and click nodes were not at all intuitive, and frequently led me where I didn't want to go. Also, at the puzzle room address, why must we back our way out all the way? I found a dead end as well - if you don't obtain a certain object due to a failure at pixel hunting, then go to the place where it is to be used, you can get stuck, and unable to back out of the close up, and must quit the game. The story had a decent premise, but the ending was a complete cop-out. The music was good, as were the sounds. The subtitles, which came about 5 seconds after the spoken word, were quite useful for the half dozen times the sound kicked out on me. The voice acting, with the talented exception of the parts John Bell played, was awful, ranging from little to no inflection to overwrought, and too soft or varying too much in volume, especially the reading of the diary.

I played Harvest, MBC's first game, and though the graphics weren't as ambitious, the game played much better than this (except for that infernal maze), and overall gave a better feel to the game. I think MBC shows promise as a game designer - he has a good feel for story and puzzles, but if good graphics are beyond his reach, then he should stick to simpler graphics and put his efforts into gameplay.

FGM