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Gray matter: retro review
@sylv If you look at TimovieMan’s post Game Recommendations and Important/Popular Threads you will find a list of casual games that were played as a community playthrough. Those games were probably considered to be “cream of the crop” games. Although there are others that could be added to that list.
For whom the games toll,
they toll for thee.
I’m going into the game pretty blind other than the fact that it’s a Jane Jensen game.
Be aware that not everybody thinks that every Jane Jensen game is a work of art.
Really? Sure, I do consider GK1-3 as such, but most of the games she’s involved with was not. KQ5 is mostly hated by everyone, Moebius is downright awful and I don’t see much love for her reboot of GK1 either.
As for Gray Matter.. it’s simply not a good game. It heavily relies on the magic tricks, and as jdawg445 says, it’s a somewhat clever mechanic but certainly not strong enough to carry a game on it’s own and is clumsily implemented to boot. The storyline itself struggles to even stay coherent, and is way too bland to keep the player invested. I honestly felt bored throughout. Still better than Moebius though.
Thanks to jdawg445. It’s interesting to read his impressions as he goes through the game and compare them to my own, especially as I agree with everything he said about it.
Message #43
.....As for Gray Matter.. it’s simply not a good game. It heavily relies on the magic tricks, and as jdawg445 says, it’s a somewhat clever mechanic but certainly not strong enough to carry a game on it’s own and is clumsily implemented to boot. The storyline itself struggles to even stay coherent, and is way too bland to keep the player invested. I honestly felt bored throughout. Still better than Moebius though…...
I have to strongly disagree on some aspects of your post. I thought the idea of the magic tricks was brilliant but the implementation of them okay if disappointing. But, the game does not rely on them! Otherwise I found the storyline very good, interesting & very coherent. It does seem like the game wasn’t for you…but that doesn’t make it boring or bad for anyone else!
The game was voted for a CPT a few years ago. Yep, the members here are so guilty of voting for incoherent bland games which bore the pants off players but here’s the thread:
.....As for Gray Matter.. it’s simply not a good game. It heavily relies on the magic tricks, and as jdawg445 says, it’s a somewhat clever mechanic but certainly not strong enough to carry a game on it’s own and is clumsily implemented to boot. The storyline itself struggles to even stay coherent, and is way too bland to keep the player invested. I honestly felt bored throughout. Still better than Moebius though…...
I have to strongly disagree on some aspects of your post. I thought the idea of the magic tricks was brilliant but the implementation of them okay if disappointing. But, the game does not rely on them! Otherwise I found the storyline very good, interesting & very coherent. It does seem like the game wasn’t for you…but that doesn’t make it boring or bad for anyone else!
The game was voted for a CPT a few years ago. Yep, the members here are so guilty of voting for incoherent bland games which bore the pants off players but here’s the thread:
What? The First two chapters heavily rely on the magic trick gimmick, it 90 percent of sam’s puzzle solving. Im on chapter 4 but wont be able to play this weekend most likely.
I’m going into the game pretty blind other than the fact that it’s a Jane Jensen game.
Be aware that not everybody thinks that every Jane Jensen game is a work of art.
Really? Sure, I do consider GK1-3 as such, but most of the games she’s involved with was not. KQ5 is mostly hated by everyone, Moebius is downright awful and I don’t see much love for her reboot of GK1 either.
As for Gray Matter.. it’s simply not a good game. It heavily relies on the magic tricks, and as jdawg445 says, it’s a somewhat clever mechanic but certainly not strong enough to carry a game on it’s own and is clumsily implemented to boot. The storyline itself struggles to even stay coherent, and is way too bland to keep the player invested. I honestly felt bored throughout. Still better than Moebius though.
Thanks to jdawg445. It’s interesting to read his impressions as he goes through the game and compare them to my own, especially as I agree with everything he said about it.
Im one of the few who like the GK1 reboot. Bc as southerner i found tim curry’s southern accent, downright terrible and a badly done parody in the original. The voice actor for the reboot was better to me. Plus i liked how they cleaned up the game a bit.
I dont hate gray matter, it is just painfully avg. to me.
...
What? The First two chapters heavily rely on the magic trick gimmick, it 90 percent of sam’s puzzle solving. Im on chapter 4 but wont be able to play this weekend most likely.
I really hadn’t noticed that magic tricks were the draw to start with & I truly don’t remember any of them being significant in the first two chapters or actually any time later as they were just puzzles.
As far as I can remember there were a few integrated magic tricks but they didn’t dominate.
The progression of the story in my mind has nothing to do with the magic tricks.
...
What? The First two chapters heavily rely on the magic trick gimmick, it 90 percent of sam’s puzzle solving. Im on chapter 4 but wont be able to play this weekend most likely.I really hadn’t noticed that magic tricks were the draw to start with & I truly don’t remember any of them being significant in the first two chapters or actually any time later as they were just puzzles.
As far as I can remember there were a few integrated magic tricks but they didn’t dominate.The progression of the story in my mind has nothing to do with the magic tricks.
In chapter 1, you recruit all 4 students using magic tricks on each. In chapter 2 there are 3 magic tricks used. Two of them are right back to back on the dean’s secretary. I hope they die down a bit as the chapters move forward.
@sylv If you look at TimovieMan’s post Game Recommendations and Important/Popular Threads you will find a list of casual games that were played as a community playthrough. Those games were probably considered to be “cream of the crop” games. Although there are others that could be added to that list.
Thank you, I’ll look into that post!
I’ve been replaying Gray Matter and yes, the magic tricks as is magic in general, are a very prominent aspect of not only Sam’s character but how the story progresses.
In a sense, the way the magic tricks are handled brings in something of a guided moonlogic puzzling, as you need random stuff to get the conclusion you want. This randomness is obviously done transparent by the fact that you are just following the trick guides from Sam’s magic trick book.
It’s a decent enough idea for how to insert puzzles in a game, I guess, and is to a degree pretty fun. The thing with Gray Matter is though, that the first half of it is something of a dull experience and it’s a kind of game I kind of feel I have to force myself to play.
I’ve been replaying Gray Matter and yes, the magic tricks as is magic in general, are a very prominent aspect of not only Sam’s character but how the story progresses.
In a sense, the way the magic tricks are handled brings in something of a guided moonlogic puzzling, as you need random stuff to get the conclusion you want. This randomness is obviously done transparent by the fact that you are just following the trick guides from Sam’s magic trick book.
It’s a decent enough idea for how to insert puzzles in a game, I guess, and is to a degree pretty fun. The thing with Gray Matter is though, that the first half of it is something of a dull experience and it’s a kind of game I kind of feel I have to force myself to play.
yeah like I said it’s a brilliant way to introduce puzzles as cons, but the implementation is downright terrible. Especially since there’s no payoff. For example in Chapter 2 you have to get Sam to pretend to cut her thumb on a letter opener which sounds kind of cool. But when you complete the trick there’s literally no animation showing what actually happens during the trick. Sam just kind of waves her arms a bit and the secretary gets up to go get her a Band-Aid. It seems pretty common sense to me that if you’re going to introduce magic tricks as puzzles, the audience aka the player would like to see them actually performed.
…….The First two chapters heavily rely on the magic trick gimmick, it 90 percent of sam’s puzzle solving…….
In chapter 1, you recruit all 4 students using magic tricks on each. In chapter 2 there are 3 magic tricks used. Two of them are right back to back on the dean’s secretary. I hope they die down a bit as the chapters move forward.
I’ve been replaying Gray Matter and yes, the magic tricks as is magic in general, are a very prominent aspect of not only Sam’s character but how the story progresses.
In a sense, the way the magic tricks are handled brings in something of a guided moonlogic puzzling, as you need random stuff to get the conclusion you want. This randomness is obviously done transparent by the fact that you are just following the trick guides from Sam’s magic trick book….
I realise that I’m wrong here in downplaying the significance of the magic tricks. The mention of ‘guided moonlogic puzzling’ kicked my memory into gear. The second time I played the game I used a walkthrough for each magic trick as I like puzzles to be logical (& they didn’t work for me) so they escaped my memory!
Im one of the few who like the GK1 reboot. Bc as southerner i found tim curry’s southern accent, downright terrible and a badly done parody in the original. The voice actor for the reboot was better to me. Plus i liked how they cleaned up the game a bit.
I’m another one that liked the GK1 reboot for the same reasons aside from Tim Curry’s accent - I can just about distinguish between a North American, New York accent & a much more southerly one so it worked for me, although even to my ears it seemed TC exaggerated, but I guess it worked less well for natives of the region. (Like Dick Van Dyke’s terrible cockney accent in Mary Poppins … & I’m not even a cockney!)
…….The First two chapters heavily rely on the magic trick gimmick, it 90 percent of sam’s puzzle solving…….
In chapter 1, you recruit all 4 students using magic tricks on each. In chapter 2 there are 3 magic tricks used. Two of them are right back to back on the dean’s secretary. I hope they die down a bit as the chapters move forward.
I’ve been replaying Gray Matter and yes, the magic tricks as is magic in general, are a very prominent aspect of not only Sam’s character but how the story progresses.
In a sense, the way the magic tricks are handled brings in something of a guided moonlogic puzzling, as you need random stuff to get the conclusion you want. This randomness is obviously done transparent by the fact that you are just following the trick guides from Sam’s magic trick book….
I realise that I’m wrong here in downplaying the significance of the magic tricks. The mention of ‘guided moonlogic puzzling’ kicked my memory into gear. The second time I played the game I used a walkthrough for each magic trick as I like puzzles to be logical (& they didn’t work for me) so they escaped my memory!
Im one of the few who like the GK1 reboot. Bc as southerner i found tim curry’s southern accent, downright terrible and a badly done parody in the original. The voice actor for the reboot was better to me. Plus i liked how they cleaned up the game a bit.I’m another one that liked the GK1 reboot for the same reasons aside from Tim Curry’s accent - I can just about distinguish between a North American, New York accent & a much more southerly one so it worked for me, although even to my ears it seemed TC exaggerated, but I guess it worked less well for natives of the region. (Like Dick Van Dyke’s terrible cockney accent in Mary Poppins … & I’m not even a cockney!)
Exactly gov’na lol
just beat chapter 4 and I’m at around 8 hours. I definitely like Sam’s chapters less and less, once again the magic puzzles return and they’re not all that great. Plus the side quest to find the magician’s Guild is not much better. I also don’t find any of the other students all that interesting yet. Plus near the end of the chapter it was bugged where I had to leave and return to a location three times to get a hotspot to appear. At this point I greatly enjoy the doctor’s chapters a lot more. 5.5/10 for chapter 4.
I beat chapter 5, it is by far the shortest chapter, and the easiest. There are very few puzzles in this chapter. Although I do prefer the way the story is told in Dr David’s chapters. But once again the story is let down bc of the poor dialogue and even poorer voice acting. This chapter has nice background art, especially in the park, but then you go and interact with a couple of the characters at the park and all of the voice acting ranges from bad to downright terrible aka the little girl. Which is a shame because the dream interactions between the doctor and his dead wife, Laura are actually acted and written pretty well. I did enjoy the hypnosis scene and found it kind of creepy with the static going on in the background. But once again this chapter also had bugs, each cutscene kept replaying over and over again until I finally would have to skip them. Not a huge issue but still ridiculous. overall I enjoyed this chapter better than the last and the story is fully kicking into gear… finally, but it’s still not great. 6.5/10 for chapter 5.
I got super busy with some work and Thanksgiving. I will try to get back to the game either today or tomorrow.
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