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My 2017, adventurewise :)

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Joined 2005-08-12

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I’ve played quite a few adventures this year. (I’ll spare you the handful of casual games, this post is already too long.)


New games (new for me, at least)

King’s Quest ep. 5: Finally finished this. Meh. I’d stopped caring about this game and characters at this point. 3/5

Armikrog: Not sure why I waited so long to play this. It’s good! (If a bit slight, maybe.) 3.5/5

Ceville: Yeah, super late, I know. Meh. Puzzles get dumb after a while. 3/5

Christminster (community playthrough): barf 2/5

Quern: Undying Thoughts: Probably my AG of the year. Perfect Myst-style game that really scratched an itch I had. I spent the rest of the year craving more, trying to (re)play similar games, and getting disappointed. 4/5

Thimbleweed Park: Gilbert’s still got it. Who knew? One day I’ll bore everyone to death with a long discussion of why TP’s puzzle structure is so clever. 4.5/5

The Sexy Brutale: Good, good, good. 4/5

Sherlock Holmes: The Devil’s Daughter: Really not sure why this wasn’t better received. I enjoyed it a lot. 4/5

Anna’s Quest: Didn’t click for me. 3/5

Fascination: Meh. A sex-positive mystery is a good idea, but the puzzles were kinda bad, and the story petered out pretty quickly. 2.5/5

Monument Valley II: Sweet. 3.5/5

The Eyes of Ara: It’s not Quern, but still pretty good. 3.5/5

Orwell: Fun concept. Looking forward to the sequel. 3.5/5

Atlantis I: barf 1.5/5

The Pillars of the Earth, book 1: Solid start. Let’s see where it goes. 3.5/5

Gorogoa: Delightful little game. 4/5

The Dream Machine: Last game of the year. Loved it! 4/5


Replays

Broken Sword 4: Started replaying the BS series in 2016, finished in 2017. I didn’t hate BS4 as much as I did the first time around. It still mostly sucks, though. 2.5/5

Broken Sword 5: Probably the best thing to come out of the Kickstarter craze of 2012. 4.5/5

Sanitarium: Still brilliant. 4.5/5

Experience 112: I’m probably the only person in the world to feel this way, but I love this game (even with the shitty last third). 4/5

Safecracker (Kheops): It’s still fine. 3.5/5

Nightlong: I wouldn’t replay it every year, but it’s a good game that deserves a replay once a decade or so. 3.5/5

Botanicula: Still adorable! 4/5

Conquests of the Longbow: Probably my 15th playthrough or something. I love everything about that game. 4.5/5

The King of Shreds and Patches: Shakespeare vs. Cthulhu!!! One of the few text adventures I’ve played, and I like it a lot. 3.5/5

Discworld Noir: Still funny, still clever, still great. (Rob Brydon’s performance is awful, though, and I love Rob Brydon.) 4/5

King’s Quest IV: Why??? 2/5

Antichamber: I probably remembered too much. Still so very clever. 4/5

Myst IV: So pretty. So great when it’s good; so tedious when it’s not. 3.5/5

Simon the Sorcerer: Loved it. 4/5

Shivers: Meh. 3/5

Tales of Monkey Island: I think it’s good. I wish Telltale still made adventure games. 3.5/5

Keepsake: Why??? 2.5/5

Lost in Time: Meh. Dodgy puzzle design is dodgy. Also, what’s the with the three completely different art styles??? 3/5

Lighthouse: I hated that game when I first played it two decades ago. It’s actually OK! 3/5

The Room Trilogy: Still really, really good. The first one remains the best. 4/5 (4.5/5 for the first one.)

So Blonde: Why??? 2/5

The Blackwell Pentalogy: Glad I replayed those. Starts meh, gets great.

Evil Under the Sun: Good adaptation. Sticks close to the book, which is a very good idea. 3.5/5

Sinking Island: I like it. The mystery is weak, but I like the setting, the characters (who are all horrible people) and the gameplay. 3.5/5

The Longest Journey: The more I replay this one, the less I like it. Maybe I should stop. 3/5

Return to Mysterious Island 2: Kheops deserved a better send-off than this mediocre mess. 3/5

Goblins 3: Starts very strong, but the puzzles get weird and tedious halfway through. 3/5

     
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zobraks - 26 December 2017 02:55 AM

Great list, Mr. Zobraks. Now all you have to do is rate them with my smiley system.  Naughty

 

     

See you around, wolf. Nerissa

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Total Posts: 4249

Joined 2005-04-14

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Too bad I don’t give smileys to adventure games. My love for them is unconditional and blind, so I’m not much of a person to rate them.

P.S. Thanks for the welcome, but I’m here INCOGNITO. Please don’t blow my cover.

     

Everybody wants to be Cary Grant.
Even Me.

-Cary Grant

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Joined 2015-05-24

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cwapitm - 24 December 2017 05:42 PM

I also (have been) dabbling a little in The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion again

Me too! I hadn’t really played much of Shivering Isles before, but this time I did, and I really like it! I miss them you know, when I haven’t played them for a while. By “them” I mean Morrowind and Oblivion. And so I really need to play them from time to time, just standing in a forest and listening to the music. (preferably with 100% chameleon so no one bothers you Tongue )

Profound Red was the best Carol Reed, I totally agree with that. I did write “was” though, because I have been testing the very soon upcoming game, and I think it’s better. If that’s possible. It might be because I’ve just played it, but I think you’ll like it.  Thumbs Up

     
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Total Posts: 285

Joined 2017-01-12

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During the year I caught up on a lot of non-2017 games.

SOMA - Brilliant. Minimal scares and a lot to think about. Incredible atmosphere
ABZU - Another winner. Might be best described as an underwater walking simulator, and could qualify for the most beautiful game I have played.
Bone (Telltale) - Nice effort from Telltale. I prefer this to their modern “choice simulators”
Randal’s Monday - Simply terrible. Not funny and puzzles had me banging my head on the wall.
The Silent Age - Really enjoyable.
Cognition - Could not even make it through the first ep. Nothing about it interested me.
The Black Watchmen - I did not expect to enjoy this so much, but I did. Will be looking at other titles from this developer.
Sunset - Very cool game from The Path developers. Can get repetitive but still a unique experience.

 

     
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Total Posts: 80

Joined 2013-02-01

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I find these lists very helpful when picking out what to play next. Here’s mine:

The Bunker - Good story, but this is an interactive movie and not a game. 3/5

The Little Acre - Cute, fun, too short. 3/5

Silence - I replayed The Whispered World in order to prepare for the Silence. The Whispered World was a great game, the Silence - not so much… It’s not bad, but nowhere near its predecessor. 3/5

Haven Moon - Had to use the walkthrough to understand what it is that I’m supposed to do with some of the puzzles. Didn’t understand them any better after seeing the solution. 2/5

Randal’s Monday - This could have been a good game if it wasn’t too repetitve, too long, and if characters weren’t so exhaustingly talkative. I watched the last third on youtube just to see the ending. 2/5

Shades of Black - I just love Carol Reed games. 5/5

Profound Red - See above. 5/5

The Dream Machine Chapter 6 -  Too abstract, depressing and tedious. I can’t remember how it ended. 2/5 just because the first five chapters were good.

Root of Evil: The Tailor - This one has a bit of a Scratches vibe, which is why I gave it a chance, but there hardly will ever be a game like Scratches. Still: eerie atmosphere, can’t remember the puzzles, a couple of jumpscares, too short. 3/5

The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker - I usually like FMV games and this one is not an exception. The idea of asking the right questions to progress is nice, but isn’t executed well. Eventually it comes down to typing random words. Still, the story and the characters kept me interested. 4/5

Virginia - Didn’t understand this game at all. Everything felt fuzzy, like in a bad dream where you have no idea what you’re doing, but have absolutely no control over your actions. It drags you along anyway, and you wake up relieved, although you can’t remember a thing. 2/5 for a unique dreaming awake experience.

Deponia Doomsday - OK, I guess… like all Deponia games. 3/5

Aviary Attorney - Similar to Phoenix Wright games, but I expected more. 3/5

Ahnayro: The Dream World - Pleasant surprise. Innovative gameplay that relies on google search and associations. 5/5

Four Last Things - This is a little gem of a game. I rarely find comedy games fun, but this one is so quirky and creative. 5/5

The Witness - Similar to Portal and Thalos Principle in a way that involves solving similar type of puzzles, which evolve in difficulty and variety as you progress through the game, but unlike the other two lacks a background story that would make it even better. 4/5

Barrow Hill: The Dark Path - Similar to the first Barrow Hill game, which I didn’t like that much either. 3/5

Shardlight - Expected more because almost all other Wadjet Eye games are great, but this one was just meh. 3/5

Life is Strange - This was surprisingly good. Really made me care about the characters and remember them long after I’ve finished the game. 5/5

Firewatch - The Long Dark in the summer without survival elements. Hence, not much to do but walk around and explore, but I liked it. Didn’t like the ending. 4/5

     
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I thought Life is Strange to be a lovely game also - a real bargain for the price.

  Heart

     

I enjoy playing adventure games on my Alienware M17 r4 and my Nintendo Switch OLED.

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Joined 2010-11-16

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Cheshire Cat - 29 December 2017 06:20 AM

Randal’s Monday - This could have been a good game if it wasn’t too repetitve, too long, and if characters weren’t so exhaustingly talkative. I watched the last third on youtube just to see the ending. 2/5

i suppose everyone has at least one game that is pretty roundly vilified by the general population but for them it is a special gem. For me that game is randal’s monday. The game represents a lot of the good and bad found in 90s adventures.. its challenging but absurdly with logic that isnt always fair. Its designed as an epic where devs had no ceiling label in mind for the length, ... it goes on.. and on. And if you cant stand the dialogue, then it would be torturous. But i liked it, and it represents what i would like to see more from point&clicks;: long complicated multi-tasking/exploration scenarios, involved plots that arc and make you feel like youve gone through a tv series by the time you finish them - A solid complete one piece production. But alas, the reception and sales proved thats not what people really want.

     
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Headycakesofdoom - 28 December 2017 10:58 PM

During the year I caught up on a lot of non-2017 games.

SOMA - Brilliant. Minimal scares and a lot to think about. Incredible atmosphere
ABZU - Another winner. Might be best described as an underwater walking simulator, and could qualify for the most beautiful game I have played.
Bone (Telltale) - Nice effort from Telltale. I prefer this to their modern “choice simulators”
Randal’s Monday - Simply terrible. Not funny and puzzles had me banging my head on the wall.
The Silent Age - Really enjoyable.
Cognition - Could not even make it through the first ep. Nothing about it interested me.
The Black Watchmen - I did not expect to enjoy this so much, but I did. Will be looking at other titles from this developer.
Sunset - Very cool game from The Path developers. Can get repetitive but still a unique experience.

 

I havent played The Black Watchmen or Bone, but seriously* i would said the same exactly about all other titles

ABZU, this i haven’t played too actually but i watched many hours of it, and it is absolutely magnificent.

 

     
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zane - 29 December 2017 10:51 AM

But i liked it, and it represents what i would like to see more from point&clicks;: long complicated multi-tasking/exploration scenarios, involved plots that arc and make you feel like youve gone through a tv series by the time you finish them - A solid complete one piece production. But alas, the reception and sales proved thats not what people really want.

I wouldn’t say that was the problem with Randal’s Monday. I personally want games with long involved plots, a lot of recently released games are way too short and simple, but Randal’s Monday in an attempt to differ is just overdoing everything to the point of becoming annoying. Can’t speak for other people, but for me the biggest dealbreaker was the fact that I couldn’t relate to the characters at all. Their way of thinking and communicating is completely foreign to me. Another thing that made me stop playing is that everything you do in the game leads to even more repetitions and complications, there is no sense of reward in any of the solved puzzles because you inevitably wake up and do it all over again (albeit differently), and it seems neverending. It’s like the whole game is about solving one single puzzle that has hundreds of solutions, but somehow none of them is the right one. If the game was a bit shorter it wouldn’t feel so exhausting, but in a game this long it turns into a labor of Sisyphus.

All that being said, I did play the game for the whole 8 hours, there definitely was something I liked that kept me coming back, so I can see how you could like the game, but in the end it just wasn’t my cup of tea.

     
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Games I played for the first time

Firewatch (3/5): Interesting characters and premise, but the way the story unfolded left me unconvinced at the end. The art is very gorgeous and stylized, but the subpar game performance and constant framerate hiccups kept me from getting fully immersed.

Al Emmo(CPT) 3.5/5: I was pleasantly surprised with this one. Hearkens back to the old Sierra games, but fixes their pitfalls (like those darn dead ends). Very funny, and make sure you look at/taste/touch every single item in the world. You’ll be rewarded with some very witty lines.

Deponia 2.5/5: Mechanically competent with some good puzzles and graphics, but the humor and characters are boring. Just not my type of humor and felt like a chore to go through.

Kelvin and the Infamous Machine 3.5/5: Reminds me a little of the old LucasArts games with its humor and colorful color palette. Its only drawback is its very short length.

The Interactive Adventures of Dog Mendonca and Pizza Boy2/5:Based on a comic I’ve never heard of, this game could not keep my interest with its boring dialogue and its uninspired characters. Pass.

Full Throttle Remastered 5/5: Still as good today as ever, a true classic and a great remaster made with love.

Duke Grabowski: Mighty Swashbuckler! 1/5: Not funny, short, boring, silly puzzles. They had kickstarter backers voice some characters, and they felt so monotone like someone reading an obituary. Feels like an introduction to a game rather than a full one. Pass.

The Darkside Detective 4.5/5: Ok, the graphics look like they are from the 1980’s, the puzzles won’t truly test the seasoned adventurer, and there aren’t even voiced dialogues. But you know what? I don’t care because it is super funny and very well written, and I couldn’t stop smiling while playing it.

Tacoma 4/5: If you like Gone Home, you will like this one. Plays very similarly (except for the part where you can re-enact different conversations throughout the game). I would rate Gone Home a little higher just because I found the premise a little more interesting.

Thimbleweed Park 4.5/5: Ron Gilbert still got it, but please for god’s sake, enough with self reference to adventure games and Lucas Arts. It got a little too much at the end.

Sinking Island(CPT) 3.5/5: Despite the bugs, the bad english translation and rigid animations, the game had enough of the Sokal charm to win me over. Not as good as the first 2 Syberias or Still Life, but it is interesting enough that you want to keep playing till the end to see whodunit.

What Remains of Edith Finch 4.5/5: Beautiful story about tragedy and loss. I really enjoyed how each of the family member’s tragic story was told through a different gameplay mechanic that seemed to fit the personality of that character.

Danganronpa 2 5/5: Finally got to finish Danganronpa 2. Takes the first Danganronpa, and ups the craziness to 500%.

Gorogoa 4.5/5: Some of the most inventive puzzles in an adventure game. The art is gorgeous, but I have no idea what the story was about.

Journey Down Chapters 1&2 4/5: Love the story and the very unique setting based on African folklore. Still need to finish up the trilogy.

     
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Played few adventure games this year, had other things to attend to and thus wasn’t very active on these forums. Nevertheless,

Thimbleweed Park - finally learned how to pronounce it. A good 4-star game, not great, not the epic return of Gilbert, felt unfinished and not as funny as it could’ve been, but still plenty of old-school point-and-clicking.
Goetia - again, good, but not great. Interesting concept, good puzzles, a bit on the boring side.
Paradigm - 2.5 stars from me. Didn’t get it at all.
Chronicle of Innsmouth - nice first half and the rest is forgettable. It should’ve continued as a Monkey Island clone, not as a Telltale ripoff.
Beneath a Steel Sky, Curse of Monkey Island, Goblins 3, Riven - games I replayed for nostalgic reason. Good, good, great, great, nothing really changed since the last time Smile

Also, in the process: The Inner World 2 - loving it so far!

     

PC means personal computer

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Joined 2012-03-30

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Kurufinwe - 26 December 2017 04:24 PM

Thimbleweed Park: Gilbert’s still got it. Who knew? One day I’ll bore everyone to death with a long discussion of why TP’s puzzle structure is so clever. 4.5/5

 

I’ll gladly observe that discussion. I’m aware of the downsides of the game which seem to get more focus and attention than the upsides because of high expectations. But man, months after finishing the game what got stuck in me was not the rushed ending, or the any-who jokes, or the fourth-wall-breaking. It was this marathon of really well thought puzzles and the amazing time I had while solving them. I’d forgotten this type of adventure gaming.

     
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My year was pretty busy with all kinds of tasks but I managed to play over 10 new adventure games:

Kathy Rain (2016) - 9/10 Really loved this game and all the Gabriel Knight vibes. Lovely retro graphics, nice story and puzzles. One of the best adventure games made in 2016.

Her Majesty`s Spiffing (2016) - 7,5/10 Great animation efforts, nice looking and good old english humor, but it was still missing something to be great..

Cayne - STASIS Game (2017) - 8,5/10 Short but it`s solid Brotherhood product and really nice add-on to STASIS universe.

Contradiction (2015) - 9/10 This is my new favorite FMV game, really well made and hopefully we see more games like this in the future!

Thimbleweed Park (2017) - 9/10 Ron Gilbert is a master! I salute you mr. Gilbert!

Late Shift (2017) - 6,5/10 Another FMV. It`s ok movie but pretty tedious game. Actors are decent or really good, scenes are well thought and made, it looks great, but there isn`t much to play. It`s fast paced movie, you click some dialogue choices and then it`s over after 1,5 hour. Didn`t have energy to try it again with different dialogue choices.

Batman - The Telltale Series (2016) - 8/10 This was surprisingly good. Great characters, decent story and nice twists, but all the regular Telltale critics are in the bag too: choices doesn`t really matter, gameplay is narrow etc, there is some simple puzzles but they are.. well.. simple..

The Dream Machine episodes 1 -6 (2010 - 2017) - 9/10 Like Kurufinwe mentioned in some other thread, I`m also glad that I played this game all at once. Chapters are nicely glued together, story is ingenious and puzzles are well made and challenging enough. Last chapter is great and it`s not without some great puzzles too. This is truly a great indie masterpiece.

Kholat (2015) - 6/10 Nice to look, boring to play..

Calm Waters (2017) - 5,5/10 Nice setting and promising start, but only 2 hours of gameplay and only few simple puzzles to solve. Storyline was rushed to the end.

What Remains of Edith Finch (2017) - 9/10 One of the best walking simulators I have played. Emotional, beautiful and puts you to think all kinds of things.

Four Last Things (2017) I haven`t finished this yet but I can already say that this game is little hidden gem. I love history and the humor this game has and it seems to have pretty good puzzles too. Highly recommend this and it`s many times worth that 4€ list prize it has now at Steam Christmas sales.


Hopefully I have enough time to play at least The Journey Down and Bertram Fiddle too before next aggies Smile

My year ended with pretty happy notes because yesterday I found Moebius Collector`s Edition Big Box with Jane Jensen and Robert Holmes signatures from our local game store. It was prized 14,99€, so I took it and laughed all the way back home Grin

Happy new year for all the regular faces, irregular faces, readers, game developers, administrators etc.. Thank you for keeping this great website alive! This year is going to end in less than 9 hours here in the deep dark forests of Finland.

 

     

Playing: 1) Broken Sword 5 2) Road 96

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Last day chance to sum up my 2017 in random order:

Life Is Strange

+ Believable main characters
+ Solid voice acting
+ cinematic art direction
+ good story flow till episode 4
+ actually had puzzles and exploration

- some bad writing occasionally
- cheesy bad guy
- weak final episode
- worst stealth element ever

3.5/5

Oxenfree

+ nice art style and overall atmosphere
+ soundtrack right up in my alley
+ some clever mindfuck moments
+ it opened me to talking sims (if you don’t count it as a walking sim)
+ it had several trickier optional puzzles which trigger a better ending

- some teen drama (but bearable)
- light gameplay
- can’t say something groundbreaking about it. it’s just nice

4/5

Thimbleweed Park

+ Ron Gilbert
+ Tough puzzles which doesn’t make you wanna kill yourself. Really good puzzle design flow
+ Some lol moments
+ Nostalgia
+ Nice backgrounds

- Ron Gilbert
- Meh story resolution. Plot mainly serves to give opportunity for gags
- Some forgettable characters
- Too much fourth wall breaking
- Characters don’t talk to each other
- The 9-verb interface was pretty much useless

4.5/5

Inside

+ Astonishing visual representation and atmosphere
+ Well told story for a game that doesn’t have any dialogue
+ It’s like Limbo but much better
+ Good animation
+ Perfect gameplay flow. There isn’t a second when the game feels too easy or too difficult. And all this without any handholding
+ Puzzles seem like a natural elements of the story the game’s telling
+ The craziest last 30 minutes I’ve seen in a game

- Dino Patti left Playdead

5/5

Firewatch

+ Gorgeous graphics that merge cartoon graphics and natural realism in the best way possible. Whenever I’m in the nature and observe a spectacular view I remember the Firewatch skies and how close they were to that spectacular view.
+ Believable characters that make you care about them
+ Unused thematic in gaming that managed to make an ordinary human life seeming more interesting than an extraordinary one.
+ Exploration puzzles made the game more intriguing than your ordinary walking sim

- Some unwalkable areas partly ruined the immersion
- Some backtracking

4/5

What remains of Edith Finch

+ Proved that walking sims can offer more entertainment
+ Well told story
+ Really unique gameplay experiences in some of the memories.

- It felt short
- Graphics weren’t astonishing. But I had to play it on an older machine and lower settings.

4/5

The Wolf Among Us

+ Nice setting and atmosphere
+ Some interesting characters
+ Good VO


- Lack of interactivity and exploration (life is strange managed that nicely and it didn’t ruin their sales)
- Promising start but plot kept going in a bland and predictable direction
- Repetitive gameplay
- The choices I made didn’t seem to matter that much besides playing the good guy or the tough guy

3/5

Gorogoa

+ Unique puzzle system
+ A story that seems to be a puzzle as well
+ Mindtripping progression and out-of-this-place moments
+ Nice hand-drawn art style and moody music

- Short

4.5/5

The Beginner’s Guide

+ Unique idea
+ Some really touching mini game sketches that have the potential of turning into a great experience on their own
+ Very meta. In the good way
+ Good writing

- Much linear than Stanley’s Parable
- The ending was a step down from the rest of the game
- Kind of short

4/5

I’m playing Observer right now so I can’t evaluate it properly. And I’m still waiting for the ending of KRZ.

     

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