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My 2017, adventurewise :)
My two favourite adventures I played in 2017, were, by a landslide, two games that are on the verge of not being adventures at all: Firewatch and The Witness. One has no real puzzles, the other has no real story ...and I didn’t mind! Both knew exactly what kind of games they were trying to be and delivered. Both nail the thrill of exploration aspect of my beloved genre. Both were polished, immersive, beautiful in looks and in design. I can’t recommend them highly enough!
That was back in January. Later in year I believe I completed only five other AGs. None were bad, but perhaps inevitably, by comparison they were all relative misses. In order of fondness I remember them with, they were:
Her Story. Intriguing concept, and a cool mystery ...that, to me, didn’t fit one another at all. This plot would work much better with less player control on how it unfolds. If you stumble upon The Twist too early, like I did, all that remains is to tediously connect the dots, hoping there is at least one more “rug-pull” moment hidden somewhere. And there isn’t. Great experiment, though, and I am certainly going to pay for Sam Barlow’s next project.
Destination: Treasure Island. Shorter and more lightweight than I expected, but recognizably Kheops. Most fun when it was Return to Mysterious Island clone, most forgettable when it tried to be character-driven.
Thimbleweed Park. I was seriously disappointed in it back when I played it. But strangely, when I think back on it, I am reminded mainly of the good bits — for example, most aspects related to Delores and Franklin. A game that is less than the sum of its parts, then? Well, that, too, which figures in a game that has so many ideas (and as I said in the dedicated thread, having too many rather than too few is praiseworthy and refreshing in itself), but also a lot of good will it amasses throughout is undone by the ending, which is of the worst sort: unearned and yet telegraphed.
Back to the Future, aka the beginning of the end of Telltale we once knew. Strangely unexciting for a game full of chases and erasing people from the timeline. Chistopher Lloyd underused.
Full Throttle (original, not the remaster). Delightful acting, nicely sketched Mad Maxy world I wouldn’t mind revisiting in the future, disappointingly slight game. And it’s one thing to minimize of forfeit puzzles completely (see Firewatch, above), but to, out of some ill-understood loyalty to the concept, design three of the most frustrating puzzle sequences I’ve ever played (and in such a short game, too)? Ugh. I feel like such a contrarian, because it seems with LucasArts classics for me there is very little middle ground: I either love them, or I fail to see why anybody would. But I honestly can’t imagine many people remembering FT after all these years if it weren’t by Schafer / LucasArts.
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But I honestly can’t imagine many people remembering FT after all these years if it weren’t by Schafer / LucasArts.
Amen to that!
But I honestly can’t imagine many people remembering FT after all these years if it weren’t by Schafer / LucasArts.
Amen to that!
NAYmen to that!
I’d agree FT is a little overrated but it was massively influential in the evolution of the more linear, story-based/cinematic style of adventure and it contains one of my favourite puzzles ever.
I’d agree FT is a little overrated but it was massively influential in the evolution of the more linear, story-based/cinematic style of adventure and it contains one of my favourite puzzles ever.
Amen to that. Yes, FT is short and the bunnies and the car derby was ridiculous. But whenever I think of a cinematic game in that age I think of Full Throttle. And trouble.
Put me on the FT wagon.
I have very fond memories of this game from before I even knew who Schafer was. Though admittedly I have not replayed it in a couple decades.
I’d agree FT is a little overrated but it was massively influential in the evolution of the more linear, story-based/cinematic style of adventure
I’m not sure it was. What about all the other games around the time which were doing proto-linear,story-based/cinematic adventure styles?
and it contains one of my favourite puzzles ever.
So that makes it a great game? Only if the whole world consisted of your head.
I’d agree FT is a little overrated but it was massively influential in the evolution of the more linear, story-based/cinematic style of adventure
I’m not sure it was. What about all the other games around the time which were doing proto-linear,story-based/cinematic adventure styles?
Did you have a particular example in mind? Broken Sword seems the most obvious, but that came out more than a year later.
and it contains one of my favourite puzzles ever.
So that makes it a great game? Only if the whole world consisted of your head.
Actually I said I didn’t think it was quite as great as people often suggest - but yes, I do consider the game fairly great. It’s a personal opinion, like everything else being said here. Full Throttle contains a puzzle I still remember 20 years after playing the game - one of my go-to examples of how good a certain kind of puzzle can be. Frustratingly, that means I can never fully enjoy that puzzle again because I’ll always remember the solution. For that if nothing else, I consider it memorable on its own merits - not just because Tim made it.
I’d agree FT is a little overrated but it was massively influential in the evolution of the more linear, story-based/cinematic style of adventure
I’m not sure it was. What about all the other games around the time which were doing proto-linear,story-based/cinematic adventure styles?
Did you have a particular example in mind? Broken Sword seems the most obvious, but that came out more than a year later.
The Dig. But FT is still a step ahead in my book (having in mind that we’re talking about cinematic presentation, and not about story, puzzles, gameplay etc.).
Gabriel Knight 2 and Phantasmagoria were fairly cinematic, and the general trend started a bit earlier with Another World, Alone in the Dark, Ecstatica as well as Doom, System Shock and the FPS genre. Full Throttle was more of a breakthrough in style, the Tarantino sort of “coolness”. And it wasn’t matched by anything that came out later as far as I recall.
PC means personal computer
Gabriel Knight 2 and Phantasmagoria were fairly cinematic
In terms of acting and directing I regard them as cinematic as b-movies and soap operas can get.
Hello Everyone,
Thanks to the very late discovery of Steam and Gog sales, I’ve been able to play quite a lot of AGs since mid-2016.
My favorite games of 2017 (by far)
Life is Strange -> I’m not in the age target either, nor do I like Telltale games apparently (as I found out playing Tales from the Borderlands), but this one somehow clicked with my inner teenager.
Talos Principle : Road to Gehenna -> I think the main game is my favorite game of 2016, so no surprise there. Love that kind of game (also really liked the Witness in 2016)
Danganronpa : Trigger Happy Havoc -> Tried it because I found the reviews intriguing, and yeah, I’m having a lot of fun playing it.
The Cat Lady -> Haunted my thoughts after each playing session. Great writing.
Other games I’ve enjoyed
Obduction, Leisure Suit Larry 1, 5 and 6 (yes, I know I’m late to the party 
), Fran Bow, Machinarium, Thimbleweed Park, Quern, The Vanishing of Ethan Parker
Didn’t much care for
Tormentum : Dark Sorrow, Deponia Doomsday, Shadowgate, Tales from the Borderlands (this one I also wanted to like, but really I spend all the time playing it wishing I was playing the FPS instead)
Replayed
Syberia -> far too much backtracking, but somehow still enchanting to me ; wish they had stopped there and not made sequels
Loom -> still love it
Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis -> still love it, but more, my all time favorite, played 10+ times
Day of the Tentacle Remastered -> Very good, although I never had as much fun replaying this one as I have the other Lucas Arts.
Edit : Writing this takes me back to the 15-year-old debate : are adventure games dead ?
Apparently not so much 
Hello Everyone,
Total Posts: 1
Joined: 2003
Weird. There are still lots of regulars who will remember you.
Edit : Writing this takes me back to the 15-year-old debate : are adventure games dead ? Apparently not so much
It struck me that you played mostly older games in 2017. But they’re certainly not dead, their appearance has changed and some people don’t like the new looks.
Next in line for me is Death Gate (GOG ) which I think is one of your favorites, or was it your favorite Legend game.
Butter my buns and call me a biscuit! - Agent A
Total Posts: 1
Joined: 2003
Weird.
Yes, but:
The man just didn’t want to join the parade when AGF turned into what it is since May 2012.
Welcome back Ninth, we still remember you.
Who can forget someone who had 10 correct guesses in The Legendary Topic.
He had even gotten his first point in AGSUG before the legendary Fien. 
Everybody wants to be Cary Grant.
Even Me.
-Cary Grant
It struck me that you played mostly older games in 2017. But they’re certainly not dead, their appearance has changed and some people don’t like the new looks.
Next in line for me is Death Gate (GOG
I don’t know, I feel like in the end AGs resisted change and ended up going back to their original formula. In any case that’s very true for the Wadget Eye games, or the Deponia series, Obduction, Quern, and even Cat Lady or Fran Bow.
Experiments like Broken Sword 3, which was at the time the herald for a new age, are now quite forgotten, and they even reverted to 2D for the last opus. Likewise, Grim Fandango has mouse control in the remastered edition.
It’s like instead of trying to change the formula to attract a different crowd most adventure game designers are now trying to improve it or tweak it in innovative ways. For which I’m very grateful.
Of course there’s also the new trend of “interactive movies”. I’m not a fan of those, but the good thing is they add to the overall offer in the genre, instead of taking all the space.
Yes, Death Gate is on my top 10 list. I may not be objective about it, because back then I tried to get my hands on it for almost 10 years, so not loving it would have been anticlimatic. :\
So I’m looking forward to your opinion on it.
And by the way, thanks for mentioning the Gateway remakein another post ; I had no idea such a project existed, and I really enjoyed the original !
The man just didn’t want to join the parade when AGF turned into what it is since May 2012.
Welcome back Ninth, we still remember you.
Who can forget someone who had 10 correct guesses in The Legendary Topic.He had even gotten his first point in AGSUG before the legendary Fien.
Thanks 
Not that I didn’t purposefully stopped posting, it just kind of happened…
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