[nostalgic]

So, if you can only name ONE...

Then what is the greatest adventure game you have played?

[MoonBird]

I know many will disagree, but for me, It's "Flight of the amazon queen". It was the headbanger, the very first adventure I played. It has the humour, the looks, wonderful scene and atmosphere, exellent dialogue and brilliant voice-acting concerning the fact, that it was truly a low budget game

PS. Doesn't my signature just fit nicely to this topic *laughs*

That is such a tough question. I'm not sure I can name one game that is truly THE most outstanding because I can't think of an adventure game I played that I didn't enjoy a lot. And I can't think of one that was leaps and bounds better than any other. They're all so varied and all offer something unique. However, if I had to plump for one, I'd say Syberia. You really fall in love with Kate Walker and Oscar, great graphics, really nice puzzles, great story and a decent sized game.


I suspect there will be a lot of people in this thread voting for GK3, which I never really got far into.

[Lee in Limbo]

The Longest Journey.

[tastebud]

Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis

Just to add, I predict that along with GK3,.. longest journey ( as already mentioned ) dreamfall, monkey island, full throttle, sam and max, day of the tentacle, grim fandango, and anything from the kings quest series will be mentioned a lot in this thread. Im not being cynical, just saying. I mean, they're all classics

[gatherer3]

Gabriel Knight 2, the Beast Within. I enjoyed the FMV and even bought a prop from the set.

[[Punkass]Fender]

Grim Fandango

[Panthera]

the longest journey. The first adventure game I played, and it blew me away. I love the story and the backdrops.

[Squinky]

Richard Longhurst and the Box That Ate Time Grim Fandango

[Puzzler]

Hard to say. My first love would have to be Willy Beamish on Sega CD. First loves are always the best in retrospective but many would probably disagree if I said it was the best AG ever, and I'm almost certain it isn't. Still, I was madly in love with that game as a kid and there hasn't been a stronger love since.

[rtrooney]

Think you would have to divide it by era. 1980s 90s etc

It could be by platform...starting with 8088

It could be by delivery method...starting with 5.25 floppies

There is, in my mind one great game that came out of every era/processor/delivery era.

Once everything was delivered on CD/DVD and was intended for a system that was designed for playing games, the decision is harder.

Other than the above, I think I can name a game in every category. Most have been named before.

But if you nail my hands to the wall, it will be the first Shivers. But I will try to tear my hands from the wall to make other era selections if you let me.

[After a brisk nap]

The Secret of Monkey Island

I think it's outstanding in terms of richness and balance of gameplay, effective storytelling, integration of story and gameplay, pacing, puzzles, and extremely clever writing. As a swashbuckling tale, it really delivers the goods. Designed according to Ron Gilbert's at the time radical principles (now the template for essentially all adventures), it included innovations like no dead ends, no punishing the player, and a majorly improved SCUMM UI. And to top it all off with a twist of genius, there is Insult Swordfighting. The ending is a little bit anticlimactic (although the solution to the final puzzle is nicely ironic) and not as elegant as the LeChuck voodoo doll puzzle in MI2, but overall it's a triumph of game design that no other adventure game has come close to challenging.

[D.C.]

Gabriel Knight 3! Stunningly awesome game. Atmosphere that's just as incredible as the story. A 3D interface that's still innovative to this day for adventure games... What's not to love?

[rtrooney]

Originally Posted by D.C.

Gabriel Knight 3! Stunningly awesome game. Atmosphere that's just as incredible as the story. A 3D interface that's still innovative to this day for adventure games... What's not to love?

But what's not to love about KQ1 on 5.25s that many gamers cut their teeth on?

And there are those that think TLJ is the best game, both because of system reqirements and technological advancements.

There were games that were the best ever for the time they were created. If I went back and had to choose the best 286 game ever, it would certainly be FPFP.

My favorite of the recent era is Still Life.

And Im guessing that GK3 will fit somewhere in between.

I simply can't do a favorite game of all time.

[colpet]

Riven.
Even today, nothing compares to the magic that Riven brought to me. The Islands, the animals, the rail ride - it remains the best adventure experience I've ever had.

[Daventry]

King's Quest 6.

The jewel of the King's Quest series. Crafted to evoke a true sense of emotion from the player. The story unfolded beautifully helping to make you believe you really were lost on some curious and mysterious islands at the edge of the world. The denizens of the realm played along according to their own rules and all were consistent with one another to assist the suspension of disbelief. The art design was simply beautiful, jumping from whimsical to morbid to elegant and grand depending on where you happened to traverse. Superb attention to detail... especially in the character portraits and backgrounds. Voice acting was spot on in the CD version. The music was beautiful. Along with Conquest of the Longbow, KQ6 probably boasted my favorite adventure game soundtrack. The puzzles wre thoughtful and creative. Some were a stretch but never quite out of reach. In all though I'd have to say, even with all this goodness, KQ6 was greater than the sum of it's parts. Sierra was going for an epic feel in the game and right from the opening cinematic it seemed exponentially more ambitious than any of their previous projects. The best gift the game gave me however was something much more intangible. A memory. A feeling. I fell in love with this game. Though it was not my first, it quickened my infatuation with adventure games. From there I never looked back. The genre has remained easily my favorite to this day. Though every once in a while I pine for the days when adventure games were designed as exquisitely.

Daventry

"The spirit of adventure will never die!"

P.S. For those of you citing The Longest Journey as your favorite, that game did a pretty good job of bringing back the magic if you ask me... and made me believe there was still hope for the genre.

[Kazmajik]

Hmmmm. Well, for me it would have to be one of the Gabriel Knight games, no question. But which one? Well, I'd have to go with the first one, Sins of the Fathers.
It's an origin story, which I love. It was an incredible accomplishment in terms of really pushing the genre of interactive fiction forward. The graphic style, the voice acting, the music, the top-notch writing, the variety of well-integrated puzzles, the sophisticated approach to mature themes, the structure, the pace, all of these things and more are what put this game at the very top of my all-time favorites list.

[tsa]

GK 3. The way the story unfolds, and the fact that you get to see parts of then story depending on when you are where makes it stand out as the pinnacle of adventure game story telling.

[Lucien21]

Day of the Tentacle.

Hilariously funny and some of the best puzzles ever invented.