Adventure Gamers - Forums
You are here: Home → Forum Home → Gaming → Adventure → Thread
Post Marker Legend:
-
New posts -
No new posts
Currently online
Really? A 5 out of 5 on a Walking Dead?
That will sound rude but it’s basic math that 5/5 = 100% = perfection.
It is also wrong.
I see this argument a lot, and I can’t even begin to say how tired I am of it. Every site has its own way of scoring games, and what the different scores mean is unique to them (and you can bet they’ve had long and hard discussions about it). I don’t know of any sites where 5/5 or 10/10 means perfect, there are no perfect games and why on earth would sites have a score in their scale that would never be used?
As for what a 5/5 at Adventuregamers mean, you can click on the “scoring system”-link under the score. Or follow this link: http://www.adventuregamers.com/about/scoring
There you’ll see the following:
5 stars
An instant, hall of fame classic. Although not “perfect”, we award our top score only to those games that set the highest standard for quality.So. That’s what 5/5 means. Nothing else.
Even if we ignore all that and only take it as a mathematical claim, it is wrong. The AG rating scale has 10 different distinct grades, so if we want to convert it (linearly) to percentage scores, each has to cover a range of 10%. Therefore, 5/5 could be anything above 90%, and the predicted percentage grade (i.e. expected value) of a 5/5 title would be significantly lower than 100%, probably less than 95% depending on the grade distribution.
Even if we ignore all that and only take it as a mathematical claim, it is wrong. The AG rating scale has 10 different distinct grades, so if we want to convert it (linearly) to percentage scores, each has to cover a range of 10%. Therefore, 5/5 could be anything above 90%, and the predicted percentage grade (i.e. expected value) of a 5/5 title would be significantly lower than 100%, probably less than 95% depending on the grade distribution.
Ah, yes. That’s a _very_ good point. Basic maths indeed. :-)
Good point indeed. Can’t argue with that.
Duckman: Can you believe it? Five hundred bucks for a parking ticket?
Cornfed Pig: You parked in a handicapped zone.
Duckman: Who cares? Nobody parks there anyway, except for the people who are supposed to park there and, hell, I can outrun them anytime.
Spike VGA GOTY Winner, just finished. Kirkman was there to recieve.
Oh sweet jebus. I’m going to draw comparisons on three subjective reviews, written by different people, for three completely different games and draw some conclusions by looking at the end score.
All the same, there are good and bad reviews. You can’t ignore this by saying “it’s all subjective”. In my experience good reviewers usually understand that what they are writing carries more weight and significance than “I liked it”.
I was quite shocked when i learned that TWD had gotten a score of 5.
(In fact i was so shocked that i havent visited this site for several days)
I have problems with this game even being called a game. It’s a choose your own adventure type of software like an interactive storybook and i CRIIIINGE whenever I hear mainstream websites say that this game is in the same vein as classic Lucasarts adventure games.
First of all, TWD is not an adventure game at all, not even an easy AG or a hybrid between AG and something else.
Recently we had a discussion her on the forum of what an adventure game is, and the general consensus was that an AG: Is a story driven game where you progress through the use of logic and intelligence, and through exploration of the game world.
Of these 3 criteria TWD only fits one, it is story driven experience, but the main method of progress is Quick Time Events, not the use of logic or intelligence, and any exploration is also kept at a bare minimum.
A game like LA Noire migth be a hybrid, but it is still very much an AG, because it fist all the 3 criteria mentioned above, TWD is not.
That is in itself fair enough, a game doesn’t have to be an adventure game, to be a great game. (I know, this is heresy 
)
The problem is that like Thejobloshow and others have pointed out, it isn’t much of a game at all!
A game should provide the players with challenges, what kind of challenges and the difficulty can vary, but the QTE in TWD is only there to make the player fell like they are taking part in the story, and not just passively watching a movie, it doestn’t provide any challenge at all.
I guess you could describe TWD as an interactive movie or story, but even as such, i don’t think it is very good. As i have also described in the TWD treead, i became very disappointed when i learned that the decisions you make, only has a minor and temporary effect on the story. I believe that a successful interactive story, should be based around your choices, and branch into different directions depending on what you choose.
I do respect that others have different opinions on this game, and if the reviever truly belives this is a great game, then i guess a rating of 5 is fair. 
What however puzzles me is, that there are so many people that wants so little from a game.
You have to play the game, to find out why you are playing the game! - eXistenZ
I think the fact it’s a Telltale game made up 95% of the reason Jurassic Park and TWD were reviewed. We all think of Telltale as an adventure game company making only adventure games.
If Jurassic Park had been made by Ubisoft it wouldn’t even get a mention.
I think the fact it’s a Telltale game made up 95% of the reason Jurassic Park and TWD were reviewed. We all think of Telltale as an adventure game company making only adventure games.
If Jurassic Park had been made by Ubisoft it wouldn’t even get a mention.
I agree.
Up until recently i would buy a game from Telltale simply because it was from Telltale, and Telltale used to make great AG, now i am going to be much more sceptical regarding new released from Telltale.
You have to play the game, to find out why you are playing the game! - eXistenZ
Unlike Jurassic Park, TWD actually mattered to people. Who cares if it wasn’t your narrow definition of an adventure game. It still is an adventure and everything about it made it a VERY strong adventure. An adventure that one Telltale awards, and adventure that actually took the world by storm.
TWD had puzzles, it had major choices, it had exploration, it had choice based dialog, it even had object collection. What the hell is an adventure game then?
Stuart Bradley Newsom - Naughty Shinobi || Our Game: Shadow Over Isolation
Unlike Jurassic Park, TWD actually mattered to people.
And that is exactly what puzzles me!
As i also wrote, then i respect that others have different opinions of TWD, that i don’t like it is merely my personal opinion.
Who cares if it wasn’t your narrow definition of an adventure game. It still is an adventure and everything about it made it a VERY strong adventure. An adventure that one Telltale awards, and adventure that actually took the world by storm.
TWD had puzzles, it had major choices, it had exploration, it had choice based dialog, it even had object collection. What the hell is an adventure game then?
1) It isn’t my “narrow” definition of an adventure game, it is a definiton that was reached through consensus here on the forum. If you disagree with the definition, then you are welcome to reopen the thread.
2) I don’t think it is a narrow definition at all, most hybrids like LA Noire and many non-adventure games like The Secret World (to some degree) also fits the description, there is just also other elements to these games.
3) The “puzzles”, the object collection and the exploration, didn’t play a major part in the “experiance” (I refuse to call it a game), the main method of progress is through QTE.
4) That it had choises you have to make, doesn’t make it an adventure game. In fact these kind of decisions is rather unusual in adventure games and more common in other “things” like Choose Your Own Adventure books.
You have to play the game, to find out why you are playing the game! - eXistenZ
1) It isn’t my “narrow” definition of an adventure game, it is a definiton that was reached through consensus here on the forum. If you disagree with the definition, then you are welcome to reopen the thread.
2) I don’t think it is a narrow definition at all, most hybrids like LA Noire and many non-adventure games like The Secret World (to some degree) also fits the description, there is just also other elements to these games.
3) The “puzzles”, the object collection and the exploration, didn’t play a major part in the “experiance” (I refuse to call it a game), the main method of progress is through QTE.
4) That it had choises you have to make, doesn’t make it an adventure game. In fact these kind of decisions is rather unusual in adventure games and more common in other “things” like Choose Your Own Adventure books.
IMO TWD meets the definition of an Adventure game as dictacted by the site http://www.adventuregamers.com/articles/view/17547. It has the Narrative, it has the puzzles (Inventory, Dialogue and environmental…the ease of the puzzles is not an issue) and it has limited exploration of your general area. All in all if it walks like a duck and talks like a duck then it’s probably a duck.
While there are QTE’s in the game (and who said they are not allowed in adventure games) they are not the main method of progress. Mostly it is dialogue choices that further the story.
An adventure game is nothing more than a good story set with engaging puzzles that fit seamlessly in with the story and the characters, and looks and sounds beautiful.
Roberta Williams
I think the fact it’s a Telltale game made up 95% of the reason Jurassic Park and TWD were reviewed. We all think of Telltale as an adventure game company making only adventure games.
If Jurassic Park had been made by Ubisoft it wouldn’t even get a mention.
I don’t know about TWD, but Telltale’s previous game, Jurassic Park was an action game to me. It asked me to press buttons in a certain order very quickly to the point I had to try 6 or 7 times to pass a certain section. I’m slow with my reflexes which is why I play adventure games, so I want the challenge to be thinking-based and not reflex-based.
VGA Awards was on last night and it is one of the biggest game events of the year.
The Walking Dead won the Game of the Year award and Best Downloadable Game, Best Adapted Game. Telltale Games also won Studio of the Year.
It got me thinking about how insular and defensive we can be. I just love how the minute an Adventure game comes close to being popular in the mainstream we as a community fall over ourselves to declare it’s not one of ours. It’s too easy…It’s hardly a game…it’s not and adventure really…blah, blah, blah.
Instead of celebrating and shouting about how an Adventure game has become the most talked about game of the year we are bitching about whether it qualifies for our little niche club.
Instead of embracing the potential for new converts to Adventure games and pointing them in the direction of other games they may enjoy we are trying to hide in the corner and distance ourselves from it. We should be shouting..Hey did you like The Walking Dead then might we suggest you try something like Book of Unwritten Tales or something else to slowly introduce them to the genre.
Love it or hate it, but The Walking Dead has been the watercooler game of the year. Everyone has been talking about it as each episode has come out, Podcasts, Youtube etc has been overflowing with discussion and playthroughs.
Of course i’m not suggesting everyone should fall over and love the game (Everyone has their own opinion),but we have an opportunity to show off the genre to a wider audience and stop to show everyone that we are not a bunch of carmudgeons that hate change and despise anything that isn’t a replica of a 90’s game.
An adventure game is nothing more than a good story set with engaging puzzles that fit seamlessly in with the story and the characters, and looks and sounds beautiful.
Roberta Williams
VGA Awards was on last night and it is one of the biggest game events of the year.
The Walking Dead won the Game of the Year award and Best Downloadable Game, Best Adapted Game. Telltale Games also won Studio of the Year.
The actress that plays Clementine also won Best female perfomance or something like that. All very deserved awards. Really happy for Telltale.
If only TWD was more of an AG, then i would be the first to rejoice!
If only it was a hybrid like LA Noire that had won, then i would open the champagne.
The problem is that i dont think, that a lot of the many playeres that loves TWD, will also enjoy a game like BoUT, or for that matter any other AG. I think that they will find them too slow paced and too difficult. I also dont think we should expect that the big developers will suddenly see the light and start making AAA AG.
What might just happen is, that other developers will look at what made TWD a success, and try to replicate the success. But what made TWD a success is not the AG elements, but the story, the atmosphere and the decisions you have to make, and these can just as well be build into other kind of games, like action games or RPG.
Some interesting games might come from this, so it isn’t all bad, i just dont think it will help the adventure game scene much.
I might of course be wrong - it sometimes happens - though not often 
Ohh i almost forgot: Congratulations Telltale
You have to play the game, to find out why you are playing the game! - eXistenZ
You are here: Home → Forum Home → Gaming → Adventure → Thread
