[Madame Fussybritches]

Why is everyone getting so upset about this? Everyone is entitled to their opinion. And personally, I LOOOOOOOOVED Gray Matter, and would be heartbroken if a sequel doesn't come around....or at least another game by the same team that made Gray Matter.

The story or plot was unique and interesting. After seeing game after game set in "misty English countryside" and a "mysterious/haunted asylum" and crammed with psuedo-science or otherwise badly-thought-out sci-fi plothole-fillers, it was amazing to play a game that, in my opinion, simply did it well. Yes, there were some unanswered questions, but I kind of like that; it made me actually think and try to fill in some of my own answers instead of spoon-feeding them to me like a 1-year-old.

The characters were expertly voiced and developed; the characters were obviously "characters" (e.g., Harvey, the sleazy wannabe-Hollywood type), but at the same time realistic enough to be relatable (honestly, tell me you didn't at least once think to yourself "I know someone JUST like that!").

The music fit and was well integrated into the game. The puzzles were a little on the easy side, but very fun. Hell, even the gameplay/controls were pleasantly unique. While this certainly isn't the first game to integrate alternating the controlable character (since you get to play as both Sam and Dr. Styles), I don't think many games do it as well as this one. Many times, when games integrate alternating-playable-characters, it becomes a tedious process of switching back and forth just to trade inventory items. That didn't happen in Gray Matter. Furthermore, you can really see the work they put into developing the two main characters through this switch; they both see very different things when they explore their environments...

Anyway, in my view, the Gray Matter group produced something that demonstrated a real understanding of the elements that go into making great games, so I would love to see ANY more games from the same team. However, I also loved this story, and would love to see it go even further...


Lastly, for those who didn't like it: Why? What things really irked you? Did you like any of it?

[rtrooney]

I am one of the commentors that didn't like Gray Matter. There are any number of reasons. Unrealized expectations would top the list.

Now I will admit that an alien dropping in on Earth, who never saw an Adventure Game before, and encountered a computer loaded with a copy of of Gray Matter might find it incredibly entertaining.

But for me, who has played a LOT of Adventure Games, and has a fair store of comparative references, it just wasn't good. The basic story was adequate. It might have made a good book, but not necessarily a good game. Voice acting was pretty good, and the music was excellent. Graphics and 3-D rendering of the characters was borderline amateurish.

Maybe, with a new publisher and a new develpment team Jane could produce a GM2 that was what GM1 should have been. Time will tell. But if she were to announce it tomorrow, and it took another five years to see the final product, and it wasn't an improvement on the original by a whole other order of magnitude, it will have been a waste of her time and our's. Just as the first one was.

[inm8#2]

Gray Matter was a great game with a few minor flaws, but at its core was a very sound, well-realized adventure game.

I hope Jane can make a sequel, but it seems like she's probably burned out from how much of a pain in the ass it was to make the first one.

[UPtimist]

I loved Gray Matter, found it to be the best AG in quite a while, but I always felt like this is the warm-up for what will be in the sequels. The story left a lot hanging, and the end was pretty predictable. But it had such great promise, that it would be a shame to let it go waste.

Also, the name of the topic, when I first saw it, was one of those along the lines of "GK4!" that always make your heart jump a little (though GK4 makes it jump quite a lot)... You should add a question mark to the end

Originally Posted by Ascovel

She also subtly hinted that she may be in talks on Gabriel Knight (Telltale?).

God, no! I mean, I have nothing against Telltale, I love their Sam&Maxes and the Monkey Island wasn't too bad either, but I haven't got much faith of them doing a serious game like GK, especially if they insist on using that same old engine...

[Guyra]

I'd love to see a GM2. Sure, it had a couple of gameplay and story flaws, and yet I can say that it's definitely within my top 10 list of adventure games. Personally, I would love to see this become a series like the GK games.

Originally Posted by UPtimist

God, no! I mean, I have nothing against Telltale, I love their Sam&Maxes and the Monkey Island wasn't too bad either, but I haven't got much faith of them doing a serious game like GK, especially if they insist on using that same old engine...

A serious game like... Jurassic Park, for example?

But I agree on the need to upgrade the engine they're using.

[AdrianWerner]

Would love to see GM2. The first one was the best adventure game I've played in last 10 years and I play pretty much all adventure releases worth a damn.

Oh well, there's still Cognition. Joined the kickstarter campaign and paid 20$ o it.

[UPtimist]

Originally Posted by Guyra

A serious game like... Jurassic Park, for example?

Indeed. I haven't heard much praise for that one.

I know it's not much, but in a Finnish gaming site Gray Matter was voted third most underrated game of 2011, right after Duke Nukem Forever and Dark Souls. Frankly, I'm surprised at how many people here got the game, so that it actually did so well on the voting (of course, the statistics on how many votes there were aren't visible). Always a little hope, I suppose...

[MoonBird]

Gray Matter wasn't a good game. The story was totally uninteresting and it really doesn't deserve a sequel.

[AndreaDraco83]

Originally Posted by MoonBird

Gray Matter wasn't a good game. The story was totally uninteresting and it really doesn't deserve a sequel.

The sheer arrogance of this statement is simply mind-blowing. Let's just say that you didn't like the game and that you won't play a sequel, even if it is produced.

[TimovieMan]

I agree that MoonBird's statement is very harsh.

I can admit that the game is flawed, and that a sequel would need several improvements. But there is something there, something with potential, potential that can be tapped.

Any game that has at least *something* going for it, deserves a sequel, as long as that sequel improves on the flaws of the previous games.

[aimless]

Originally Posted by TimovieMan

I agree that MoonBird's statement is very harsh.

So, it's okay for someone to state in another thread that BOUT is twaddle, but not for Moonbird to say Grey Matter isn't a good game? It may be harsh but I don't see it as arrogant. It's obviously his/her opinion. Does it have to have "IMO" after it?

Any game that has at least *something* going for it, deserves a sequel, as long as that sequel improves on the flaws of the previous games.

Talking about Vampyre Story?

[TimovieMan]

Originally Posted by aimless

So, it's okay for someone to state in another thread that BOUT is twaddle, but not for Moonbird to say Grey Matter isn't a good game? It may be harsh but I don't see it as arrogant. It's obviously his/her opinion. Does it have to have "IMO" after it?

It was the "it really doesn't deserve a sequel"-comment that was particularly harsh according to me.

I didn't call it arrogant. My "what he said" was mostly about

Let's just say that you didn't like the game and that you won't play a sequel, even if it is produced.

Apologies if that wasn't all that clear.

Originally Posted by aimless

Talking about Vampyre Story?

Lol, no. I just think every game that has some potential deserves a second chance...

[dekaneas297]

I don't desire a sequel for two reasons

1. It was just an OK game. Nothing superb.
2. It would be around 2020 by the time it'll be released.

[aimless]

Originally Posted by TimovieMan

Lol, no. I just think every game that has some potential deserves a second chance...

I know you didn't say it was arrogant. I was just lazy, harking back to the previous poster. All the same, I'm not sure I agree with you. When I think the only potential a game has is to spawn a sequel as annoying as it was, I'm not all that ready to give it a second chance. I guess puerile humor is not my thing, nor having to move everywhere at a snail's pace. But it's mostly what passes for humor. I'm a long way from 12. Is that better than saying baldly that Vampyre Story is not a good game and doesn't deserve a sequel?

As for Grey Matter, they'll have to improve the graphics considerably for me to even think of playing it, much less a second offering. I can't stand comic novel graphics in a computer game. They look like cheap, ugly shortcuts to me and really put me off the game as I watched the trailers. I keep thinking that Jane Jensen settles for what she can get not what she should hold out for, considering the esteem in which she's held. This is not 1990-something, she could insist on better. Of course, that might mean another ten years getting it published. It was ten, wasn't it?

Finding a nice, cozy rock to hide behind now.

[inm8#2]

It's a miracle Gray Matter came out at all, and it was a pretty good game. It had some technical flaws, but saying it's unplayable because of comic-style cutscenes or character models is absurd. Those are minor issues. Also, the background graphics and lighting were amazing.

To suggest Jane Jensen "settled for what she can get" is even more absurd. Nobody on here can possibly know what type of struggles she faced constantly facing budget issues and changing developer's hands. That's a slap in the face to not just her but virtually all AG designers who are essentially working for the fans and probably not getting enough remuneration for their tireless efforts.

The entitlement of some people never ceases to amaze me. People expected Gray Matter to be the best game ever and more because the wait was so long. I expected a very enjoyable game with great story and atmosphere, and that's what I got. Well worth the wait.

[aimless]

I knew that would bring out the devotees. I said that "I" can't stand the comic novel graphics, not that everyone else feels that way.

Jane Jensen has teamed up with some developers who have given her very nice graphics in casual games. AG developers can't do the same?

I had no expectations about Grey Matter at all. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

[inm8#2]

Haha what? So a devotee is someone who doesn't make absurd claims and points out the flaws in your whining? Got it.

And where did I suggest that you said "everyone else" doesn't like the comic book cutscenes? I was criticizing YOU, not everyone else. Then I made a link to the unreasonable complaints other people have mounted about Gray Matter. Perfect game? No. Pretty good game? Yes. Some flaws? Yes.

Let's double check some of the casual games on Jane Jensen's resume to verify the validity of your claim that "Jane Jensen has teamed up with some developers who have given her very nice graphics in casual games."

Women's Murder Club: Death in Scarlet


So you're saying the 3D, lush, animated background graphics of Gray Matter are technically inferior to those in some of these casual games? Casual games have good graphics but on a technical level they are not "better" than those such as those below.



Agatha Christie: Dead Man's Folly


Whoah! Comic-style cutscenes! And you're 0-for-too many to count.

You might want to stop posting now.

[Stuart]

I don't really understand hating on the graphics in Gray Matter, for me it was one of the most visually stunning AGs I've ever played and I've played too many to name. The animations were not that good but the graphics were beautiful - look at the screenshot above, the attention to detail, the foliage, and the lighting.

[AndreaDraco83]

Originally Posted by aimless

Does it have to have "IMO" after it?

No, of course not.

Still, if you don't see how biased - not to mention completely abrupt, without any kind of explanation - MoonBird's statement was, I doubt there is something I can say to convince you otherwise. It sounded like a diktat, not like a genuine opinion posted to enrich the ongoing discussion.

[UPtimist]

Originally Posted by aimless

As for Grey Matter, they'll have to improve the graphics considerably for me to even think of playing it

I take it you don't play too many adventure games?

Originally Posted by dekaneas297

I don't desire a sequel for two reasons

1. It was just an OK game. Nothing superb.

So, there's no potential then? You don't think it's possible to improve for the second installment? Everything has to be gold from the start or it's worthless? I mean, I get that someone doesn't like a game, but I don't see how that - considering how many people in comparison also loved the game - means that the game doesn't deserve the sequel.

In essence, aren't you now basically saying that it doesn't deserve a sequel because you don't desire said sequel (or in other words, because you didn't like the game)?

2. It would be around 2020 by the time it'll be released.

Because certainly it was intentional that the publishers and developers kept changing. Indeed, Gray Matter took so long because Jane Jensen stressed the fact that it must take long, and not because there were all sorts of situations that caused development to be delayed many times...

Maybe if the developers and publishers are the same throughout this time, they can make it in regular time?