Adventure Gamers - Forums

“The National Nightly News is live and you’re the brains behind the scenes. Beep the swears, keep the cameras on the celebs and keep the audience hooked in this darkly comedic game of televised chaos.”
Anyone played this?

I’ve got it and have played the first broadcast. I wouldn’t classify it as an adventure game, at least not so far—seems to be more about spinning plates interspersed with some choices.

The FMV is pretty camp, but kind of fun. I have to say though, all in all, I’m not champing at the bit to play more, though I’m sure I will at some point.

The game has gotten some great reviews and I enjoy FMV games so I’m going to add this to my must buy game list.

portmantoga - 09 February 2022 08:30 AM

I’ve got it and have played the first broadcast. I wouldn’t classify it as an adventure game, at least not so far—seems to be more about spinning plates interspersed with some choices.

The FMV is pretty camp, but kind of fun. I have to say though, all in all, I’m not champing at the bit to play more, though I’m sure I will at some point.

You’re not wrong about the plate spinning.

It’s lucky I happen to love camp and think the quality of the FMV sequences is good enough that I’d probably have bought this even if it were a movie with gameplay at all.

Charophycean - 23 February 2022 06:03 AM

portmantoga - 09 February 2022 08:30 AM

I’ve got it and have played the first broadcast. I wouldn’t classify it as an adventure game, at least not so far—seems to be more about spinning plates interspersed with some choices.

The FMV is pretty camp, but kind of fun. I have to say though, all in all, I’m not champing at the bit to play more, though I’m sure I will at some point.

You’re not wrong about the plate spinning.

It’s lucky I happen to love camp and think the quality of the FMV sequences is good enough that I’d probably have bought this even if it were a movie with gameplay at all.

I too love campy FMV, I’ve heard enough good about this game to put this game on my must buy list.

I felt it was better to continue this discussion here, if Karlok is interested. Rather than clogging up the Community Playthrough thread.

Karlok - 21 March 2022 06:48 AM

Charophycean - 21 March 2022 12:13 AM

Just for argument’s sake, how would you classify Papers, Please? The reviewer on this site has pinned it as a “simulation-adventure”, a label I wouldn’t disagree with.

As a SIM. It’s a good game, but it’s not an adventure game.

Papers Please is without doubt more of a sim than Not For Broadcast. From what I recall there’s no predetermined storyline aside from having a beginning and ending - although that was still not enough to keep it from being reviewed here.

I’m curious if you’ve played NFB. With the challenges being the same every time you play, and the choices being mostly binary aside from selecting cameras - and even then there are set guidelines as to what you have to do, so it’s hardly free reign like pretty much all sims are. So i’d be curious to know what exactly you think holds it back from being called an adventure game.

No pressure, if you don’t feel like replying.

Charophycean - 24 March 2022 02:39 AM

Papers Please is without doubt more of a sim than Not For Broadcast. From what I recall there’s no predetermined storyline aside from having a beginning and ending - although that was still not enough to keep it from being reviewed here.

See here for my opinion of Papers Please.
https://adventuregamers.com/forums/viewthread/4462

I’m curious if you’ve played NFB.

No, I watched someone else play it. At first I liked it but after a while I lost interest.

With the challenges being the same every time you play, and the choices being mostly binary aside from selecting cameras - and even then there are set guidelines as to what you have to do, so it’s hardly free reign like pretty much all sims are. So i’d be curious to know what exactly you think holds it back from being called an adventure game.

Two of the three pillars of the adventure game (exploration, puzzles, story) are missing.  I’ll take your word for it that the game has a good story, but you’re stuck in one place following instructions, just like Papers Please. No exploration, no puzzles.

Of course there’s a big grey area and some of my favorite adventure games have only two pillars and in some cases just one.

Karlok - 24 March 2022 06:49 AM

Charophycean - 24 March 2022 02:39 AM

Papers Please is without doubt more of a sim than Not For Broadcast. From what I recall there’s no predetermined storyline aside from having a beginning and ending - although that was still not enough to keep it from being reviewed here.

See here for my opinion of Papers Please.
https://adventuregamers.com/forums/viewthread/4462

I’m curious if you’ve played NFB.

No, I watched someone else play it. At first I liked it but after a while I lost interest.

With the challenges being the same every time you play, and the choices being mostly binary aside from selecting cameras - and even then there are set guidelines as to what you have to do, so it’s hardly free reign like pretty much all sims are. So i’d be curious to know what exactly you think holds it back from being called an adventure game.

Two of the three pillars of the adventure game (exploration, puzzles, story) are missing.  I’ll take your word for it that the game has a good story, but you’re stuck in one place following instructions, just like Papers Please. No exploration, no puzzles.

Of course there’s a big grey area and some of my favorite adventure games have only two pillars and in some cases just one.

That makes sense. The exploration is missing, I can’t ignore that. There are challenges though, which are missing from Telltale games.

I do think it becomes less entertaining towards the later parts of the game (still haven’t finished it yet) but I can forgive it because it’s so politically relevant.

Charophycean - 24 March 2022 09:11 PM

That makes sense. The exploration is missing, I can’t ignore that. There are challenges though, which are missing from Telltale games.

Yes, Telltale games have simple QTEs but no puzzles. Challenges are not the same thing as puzzles IMO. Fighting can be challenging. 

I do think it becomes less entertaining towards the later parts of the game (still haven’t finished it yet) but I can forgive it because it’s so politically relevant.

I’d be interested to know your final verdict when you’ve finished the game.

Well I’ve finished it, and my opinion is that it’s both absolutely brilliant… and somewhat tedious.

Whatever genre it is, it’s got a lot to say. About politics, about news, about society and the role people and the news can have in changing it. I really can’t think of a more politically/socially relevant game, at least that I’ve played. That’s some achievement.

It’s also incredibly comprehensive (some might say bloated) - there are something like 14 endings, 8 epilogues and hours and hours of FMV footage.

The FMV is funny, often hilarious, with great acting and a huge cast.

The only thing is you need a LOT of patience to see it all, which I don’t really have. I looked up the other endings on YouTube and I can’t imagine anyone who’d want to sit through a game of this length to see the variations (though no doubt such people are out there).

The other downside is sometimes I found myself too busy with the controls that I couldn’t pay full attention to the videos - and often there are several playing at once.

Whatever your opinion of the game, there’s no doubt it’s a massive achievement. If I had a “must play games” list, it would be hard to think of many games more deserving.

4.5 stars

Charophycean - 30 March 2022 02:40 AM

The other downside is sometimes I found myself too busy with the controls that I couldn’t pay full attention to the videos

I had the same problem with Papers Please. It’s one reason I’m not keen on sims.

Whatever your opinion of the game, there’s no doubt it’s a massive achievement. If I had a “must play games” list, it would be hard to think of many games more deserving.

4.5 stars

Interesting review. I might watch some more on youtube or twitch.

You came to the right place!