[AndreaDraco83]

This isn't the right forum to ask for help, but if you post your progress bars I may be able to help.

[Roper Klacks]

Originally Posted by kuze

German magazine GameStar gives it a 77/100, criticizing the graphics, the puzzles and the very beginning of the game in particular. I myself would have to add that at least the first chapter made me despise the protagonist. On top of bad voice-acting (German version in particular) she delivers lines that would rather suit a teenage goth girl than a woman. And I'd have to agree with Phod that the game lacks overall polish.

What about the positive points? Why people always focus so much on the negative side of things...

[Hannes]

Originally Posted by Stuart

Any idea if it will be released on Steam? I'm buying many of my games there nowadays and wish more adventures were distributed there. I refuse to pirate it so will wait either way.

You can download it via Amazon right now, and it's in English.

[rayvio]

Originally Posted by kuze

German magazine GameStar gives it a 77/100, criticizing the graphics, the puzzles and the very beginning of the game in particular. I myself would have to add that at least the first chapter made me despise the protagonist. On top of bad voice-acting (German version in particular) she delivers lines that would rather suit a teenage goth girl than a woman. And I'd have to agree with Phod that the game lacks overall polish.

well she IS an ex-goth college-age woman so that's not really unexpected. I actually liked how both she and Styles showed their flaws from the start and became more likeable as we get to know them, all too often games feature characters that are either too squeaky clean or too far the opposite with no middle ground or character development. this being a Jane Jensen game though, character development should not come as a surprise. just look at how much of a jerk Gabriel Knight was in the early parts of the first game

on an unconnected note I'd just like to add how much I enjoyed some of the subtle (and some not so subtle) in-jokes. looked at the towel in Sam's bag? keeping that in mind what time did the second event take place?

Spoiler:

look at the clock in the pool

[Melanie68]

I moved the few hint/help requests to a new thread in the Hint forum.

[inm8#2]

Can people post their system specs along with how the game runs on their computers?

My Pentium 4 w/ 64 MB GeForce Ti4200 probably won't cut it...

[kuze]

Originally Posted by Roper Klacks

What about the positive points? Why people always focus so much on the negative side of things...

Positive points included the "professional speakers" (I can't stand the German protagonist voice), great story that takes its time to develop and solid atmosphere. I have to agree that after a while I began feeling drawn into the story and the game overall, even though I still wouldn't say this is the best adventure in decades.

Originally Posted by inm8#2

Can people post their system specs along with how the game runs on their computers?

My Pentium 4 w/ 64 MB GeForce Ti4200 probably won't cut it...

Tried playing it on my Macbook Pro (2,4GHz, 8600M GT), it doesn't handle the highest settings very well (which is ridiculous), my tower with a 2,4GHz and a 9800GTX+ runs it very well except for the two-seconds-loading screens between each scene (which could have been avoided using simple precaching, I imagine).

[Roper Klacks]

Originally Posted by kuze

Positive points included the "professional speakers" (I can't stand the German protagonist voice), great story that takes its time to develop and solid atmosphere. I have to agree that after a while I began feeling drawn into the story and the game overall, even though I still wouldn't say this is the best adventure in decades.

Thanks

I guess 77/100 is not bad. How is that magazine with AG?

[jamiehavok]

Originally Posted by Hannes

You can download it via Amazon right now, and it's in English.

can someone please provide a link to this amazon download - i cant find it anywhere, only an order of the boxed copy.

[Borgar]

@jamiehavok

Hannes is just talking bull. The game can't be downloaded yet.

[jamiehavok]

Originally Posted by Borgar

@jamiehavok

Hannes is just talking bull. The game can't be downloaded yet.

ok as i suspected, thanks.

[Borgar]

Seems to me Gray Matter has seen some of the most mindbogglingly incompetent marketing practices in the history of computer games. Actually makes me a little bit angry considering the anticipation and possible sales. It's depressing. Glad the game seems to live up to expectations though.

[kuze]

Originally Posted by Roper Klacks

Thanks

I guess 77/100 is not bad. How is that magazine with AG?

Longest Journey 79, Amnesia 80, Lost Horizon 87; I'd say they don't disfavor adventures, and Gray Matter is above average yet not quite there.

[gray pierce]

Originally Posted by kuze

Longest Journey 79, Amnesia 80, Lost Horizon 87; I'd say they don't disfavor adventures, and Gray Matter is above average yet not quite there.

I'd also say their reviews might be a bit byassed. I haven't played Lost Horizon yet but I very much doubt it's better than TLJ.

[Roper Klacks]

Originally Posted by gray pierce

I'd also say their reviews might be a bit byassed. I haven't played Lost Horizon yet but I very much doubt it's better than TLJ.

Well they are 10 years apart, thats a lot. The review team might not even be the same.

[xxax]

Honestly it's a great game. I just finished it. The graphics are fine (honestly i don't understand what's to bitch about, it's an adventure game, not Crysis), I haven't noticed any bugs, or crashes to desktop so in that aspect it's quite polished.

The game starts off a bit slow (althou i was immediately hooked and that's not an easy thing to do) but once the story starts kicking in it's great.

To be honest the puzzles are easy, maybe even a bit too easy. I don't mind since i'm more story oriented, and nothing pisses me off more than being stuck for a long time. I'm not much of a puzzle gamer, so if i get stuck i use a walkthrough, but here i had no problems. I just asked on a forum for help twice and even then it was more pixel hunting then anything else (can be avoided with the use of the space key). There's also a lot of help in the game itself. Locations are lit up if you still need to do something with them and pressing the "P" key brings up the progress bar. So yeah, maybe a tad to easy.

I know some people were really hyped about this game. I wasn't paying much attention so i had no expectations about the game whatsoever and i enjoyed it a lot. I have some pacing issues with the game but that's for some other discussion.

I'd give the game 8/10 looking at it as a story-driven adventure game.

EDIT: It could have been 2 chapters longer i just thought... for story sake... Took me 9 hours to finish and i'm not the most able person in adventure games...

[millenia]

Originally Posted by rayvio

well she IS an ex-goth college-age woman so that's not really unexpected. I actually liked how both she and Styles showed their flaws from the start and became more likeable as we get to know them, all too often games feature characters that are either too squeaky clean or too far the opposite with no middle ground or character development. this being a Jane Jensen game though, character development should not come as a surprise. just look at how much of a jerk Gabriel Knight was in the early parts of the first game

on an unconnected note I'd just like to add how much I enjoyed some of the subtle (and some not so subtle) in-jokes.

I am very much agreeing with rayvio about everything in this thread really, I even like gnomes .

The characters were a definite upside. But nowadays I have noticed that I often like characters that other people seem to dislike. I hate the goody-two-shoes they feed to us and I always try to remind people about Gabriel Knight and his behaviour. And Gabriel Knight is a fantastic character. Sam and Styles are both very well fleshed characters that feel real and their chemistry is great. They work so well that I chuckled several times just to one word or a tone of voice when they said something.

In-jokes and jokes in general were just super. And it didn't cheapen the overall plot or mystery at all. The game wasn't a comedy.

---

And seriously, Lost Horizon 87pts? The game was very average in every aspect. Only thing better than average was the overall smoothness, which is nice but hardly gamebreaking. Gray Matter or TLJ are imo 90+ games no matter how you look at them. I consider Gray Matter better than Dreamfall, Still Life or Culpa Innata which are the only adventures I've given 4,5/5 or 9/10 after 2000. (Noir and TLJ are 5/5 and 10/10 and from 1999)

[Fien]

Gray Matter can be legally downloaded at
http://gamerunlimited.gamesplanet.co...r-2194-14.html

Price: 39.95 euros.

My first impression of the game is not altogether positive, I'm sorry to say. That contrived intro in the cheap graphic style of the now so popular casuals! And those non-descript descriptions come straight out of the adverage cookie-cutter adventure: "someone must read a lot" and "the fireplace hasn't been used in ages". The Gabriel Knight games grabbed me from the start, this one doesn't. But it's a Jane Jensen game, so I'm waiting for the story to kick in.

[Clouseau]

Originally Posted by Fien

Gray Matter can be legally downloaded at
http://gamerunlimited.gamesplanet.co...r-2194-14.html

Price: 39.95 euros.

Thanks! I've been looking for a digital distro site to purchase this legitimately since yesterday. Downloading now!

[Luther10]

Ok, here my impressions of chapter 1 and most of chapter 2:

+ love the art style of the movie sequences
+ amazing soundtrack, and I love both vocal songs I heard so far
+ nice background graphics
+ good voice acting
+ interesting story
+ original magic system/puzzles

- chapter 1 is very slow, lots of people will get turned off because of this chapter
- lots of static backgrounds, need more animations to make them alive
- average character animations, and Sam's walk is un-natural
- subtitle box takes too much room, sometimes even blocking the characters performing important actions
- delay in hotspot descriptions
- Sam only runs for a few steps and then return to normal walking
- magic system is a bit out there, I'm still getting used to it