Adventure Gamers - Forums

rtrooney - 16 July 2013 08:47 PM

Spoilers??? Who else is playing that would take advantage of a spoiler?

Any regulars or lurkers that want to play this game could read this thread.
I’m currently reading both Gabriel Knight 1 community playthrough threads in tandem with playing the game, and I’ll be reading the Unofficial Bad Mojo Crawlthrough once I start playing Bad Mojo. I’m sure I’m not the only one who does this. These CP threads are fun, even in hindsight.

Did he specifically ask for a WT that would get him past this point. No. Did it soumd as if he was asking for help to get through to the end? Absolutely.

Then why did you give him a walkthrough for that particular puzzle instead of just a gentle nudge in the right direction???

Sefir - 17 July 2013 02:48 AM

(For example, if you don’t use spoiler tags in the aforementioned post I’ll be forced to ask an admin to do this for you).

Don’t bother, I put spoiler tags around the puzzle walkthrough because I too found it very spoilerific…

Sefir - 17 July 2013 02:48 AM

Congratulations for the review TimovieMan. It seems we all agree that both your comments and you final rating was spot on.

chrissie - 17 July 2013 07:59 AM

Thanks TimovieMan for your impressions of the game - I think I agree with what you had to say & also the final score in view that I’ve recently played Ghost Pirates of Vooju Island which IMO is much better & deserves a 4.5 - 5.0 rating!

Thanks!

The rating is really on the high end of the 3.5 spectrum (really close to a 4). In comparison, I recently gave KQ7 a 3.5 too, but I’d rate AVS higher.
Still, doesn’t really warrant a full 4, though…

Thanks!

Sefir - 17 July 2013 02:48 AM

You do realize that the best way to end this conversation (and forget it once and for all) is just to put spoiler tags, do you?

There is an expletive that precedes “you” Does that work for you?

I’m near the end - at the wagon scene, after I managed to get out of the cabin. I’m kinda sorry that I’m finished with the city section, because it really managed to surprise me with its free-roaming and even hard puzzles where I needed hints in several occasions.

As for now, here’s a little bit of music I’ve covered on a guitar - I said that I liked the dress shop scene (apart from the puzzle with the husband which stumped me as I totally forgot about the chimney by that time ), but it’s also the music which fell nice with it, and gave it a unique atmosphere, almost Victorian.

http://kiwi6.com/file/m96ea3olo2

You make nice sounds, Diego.

Thanx!

Aaaand - I’m done, finally! By now, let me just say that I’m more disappointed by the fact that I expected some more gameplay or even some devious puzzles before the ending after the city section, than I’m put off by the cliffhanger ending. The fact that the ending didn’t bother me as much is probably due to the fact that I was already prepared to it, and it’s obvious they were shooting for a sequel, and we all know how that story went so far.

Before I put my thoughts together, let me quote Froderick: They’re partying like it’s 1899.

Yay, Diego!!!

By the way, I forgot to mention I like your excellent review, Tim.

Even though I was kinda disappointed with the fact that there’s not much of a gameplay after the city section (and I’ve already been through the cemetery scene in the demo), I wouldn’t say it spoiled much of the overall experience.

IMO the best thing about the game, even though it’s a bit on the short side, is that it maintains the same level of quality from the beginning to end, with a two distinctly different parts. One being inside the castle, which is less “open”, but still nicely designed and oozing with Gothic/romantic atmosphere, and the second one in the city with some calm outdoor scenes, where you have more freedom and which is reminiscent of Monkey Island series and such.

And there’s no question the highlight of the game is the duo of protagonists - Mona/Froderick, and I think that’s exactly the reason why the game succeeds in keeping with the nice pace throughout - I agree the writing doesn’t hit the jackpot each time, but the constant banter/remarks is exactly what’s keeping you on the edge of your seat. Even when it’s not funny, it’s still in keeping with the spirit of the game, relaxed… with some interesting pop-references, and makes you focused on the gameworld. That’s why the fact that even though A Vampyre Story might not be as “funny” as some other titles, or even some previous playthroughs (looking at you CCS), it doesn’t hurt the game at all - because it has style, which is evident from the first screen, and which is maintained over the entire course of the game.

Froderick is IMO one of the best sidekicks I’ve seen - it’s interesting that in the last 5 years we’ve got two very strong contenders in that department with Froderick and Spot from The Whispered World, and they’re totally different - Spot is sweet and doesn’t talk, while Froderick is the direct opposite - he’s chatty, sleazy, perverted , but in a likeable sort of way. The genre has a long history of strong sidekicks, and I think AVS really places itself high in continuing with that tradition, and that’s also one of the reason why this franchise shouldn’t be left unfinished. Not to mention that the actor who did Froderick could have easily got the role in any Pixar/Disney film. I agree with someone who said he resembles Woody Allen, or a typical New Yorker, and like already mentioned in the thread, he’s reminiscent of some other sidekicks, like Arhtur from Journeyman Project, Dalboz from The Grand Inquisitor and Flux from Toonstruck, even though he still posses a style of its own.
I guess, the best thing about it, even though he might be considered the “wisecracking” sidekick, I couldn’t imagine exploring every new scene, every new object, or a character, without Froderick having to say something about it, no matter if that would make me laugh out loud, or not. That’s quite similar to my experience with narrator in Al Emmo, for example, with designers really nailing the reach interaction with the gameworld.

Mona is not without her merits either - and I wasn’t bothered by the high-pitched voice at all. Also, I suspect there was a women (Bill’s wife?) heavily involved in bringing the character to life, because one can sense feminine sensibility

The story and puzzles are sort of a mixed bag, but still on the “good” side. I’ve found the story actually to be better conveyed in the first part, because the second part is one big “trial” for “ingredients” and stretches a bit. That’s not to say the story is bad, or that it completely loses the pace, but it hangs a bit, and then suddenly rushes to the cliffhanger. As for puzzles, they’re pretty solid throughout, and gradually increase in difficulty in the second part (like getting the cloth). The “fly” option is also cleverly used. I needed hint on several occasions in the second part, but realized that not a single puzzle is unfair once I learned the solution.

Final verdict:

I agree the game falls somewhere in the 3.5-4 stars range, with the well-known ending “problem”, or rather - lack of some more gameplay in the finale, along with the fact that there could be perhaps some more puzzle variety and more side characters, but I’d still give it a straight 4, especially because of a distinct atmosphere and interaction not seen that often. 

Iznogood - 21 June 2013 05:44 PM

Edit: Oh, there is also a Psycho reference, though it is easy to miss.

One of the best jokes in the second part - “Not the best place in Vlad’s Landing to take a shower”. I think there was another pop-reference when looking at that other window, as well.

chrissie - 28 June 2013 07:26 PM

Keeping on the subject of the Dress Shop by the time I’d got to the point where I could get Mona what she wanted I couldn’t remember any reference in the game earlier to know that I needed those bolts of cloth

That makes two of us - when I needed to resort to UHS help file, I saw the hints are categorized as - Horse, Cart, Coffin, Cloth, Grave Dirt. I knew everything else came from the conversation with Madame Strigoi, but couldn’t remember the cloth part - because I’ve read Vampire for Dummies at the beginning of the chapter, and later forgot about it.

millenia - 01 July 2013 07:20 PM

Oh, and there is a short scene after credits, not related to the story really but still nice

Froderick hitting the screen?

chrissie - 02 July 2013 03:10 PM

try Bill Tiller’s following game Ghost Pirates of Vooju Island that has similar style graphics, humour & good voice acting - I’m loving it so far!

I’m definitely checking it up as “the next best thing”, until (hopefully) we see something more AVS related.

TimovieMan - 10 July 2013 12:18 PM

Concealed alley indeed…

That’s where the “party” quote comes from :

Some other fav quotes from the second part:

The one where I laughed hard when put into the context, and following what Madame Strigoi said

The “Paris” reference. The well scene gave me troubles more than it should, not only because of melting the ice, but because of using the fly option to get into the well at the first place. Somehow, I disregarded the idea of Mona going down the well, after trying the regular “use the well” and using Froderick on the well.

This was nice little pun :

I was sure I need to do something with that leg of the horse in order to get him, and that sidetracked me

BTW, there are two nice easter eggs I’ve found - featuring an unseen characters (or is it the same one? ). If you haven’t found it, it’s while talking to a window in the stable:

The second one is in the well, after talking to a crevice:

Oh, and in case someone missed it, here’s that Slapontools site