Adventure Gamers - Forums

Jackal - 23 January 2018 03:29 PM

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Perhaps “unjustiably ignored” would suit your subject better. You mean people tend to write off the entire decade as a dead period for the genre, when really there were a surprising number of decent games released.

That is exactly the subject is about. where were you when i was thinking, but writing the story of my life Jack!

Genre was dead in North AMerica, however, quite alive in Europe. Most games in the 1999 - 2005 timeframe I purchased were developed in Europe and published by TAC.

In 1995, the DS went BANG and I was playing all these Japanese adventure games - many of which sold very, very well.

Today, I mainly play ios adventure games, many of which are developed in the US. It is good to see today’s variety in adventure games, most developers say it is digital publishing that saved it.

I know apple pays out 2/3 of what you spend to the developer - which is wonderful for both me and them.

The cost today is much lower, no more $69.99 games - on iOS, a $24.99 dollar game is a high priced one.

I still like physical games, a collectors edition of After the Storm is in my near future for purchase.

If we’re being honest - we were spoiled in the ‘90s. Today it’s rare to find a handful of timeless games of the same genre year-per-year even if it’s a popular one like RPG or FPS.

This was not the case for adventure games in the ‘90s. A handful of classics every damn year. Maybe people just got burned out making it easier to be swept away by the new hotness of 3D action-adventure games.

The 2000s was the correction we needed to have. In fact, the 2000s was the best decade for adventure games because it taught us humility! Thank you 2000s. #advieWasRight

wilco - 23 January 2018 05:34 PM

My main take is that the genre was not just lacking a significant number of releases (a lot of those years there’s only 1 game standing out)  but also very stale, innovation just kicked in at the last part of the decade.

Yes, a stale, dry period. I don’t see how anyone can dispute that. Just look at the years 2000 and 2001 in the Pagoda database. When you ignore the many children’s games, freeware, and pure puzzle games you’re left with a sad list of mediocre and subpar adventures with only one or two good ones which have already been mentioned.

http://www.pagodagamedatabase.com/year.php?year=2000
http://www.pagodagamedatabase.com/year.php?year=2001

EDIT: Having said that, I have fond memories of the flawed game Stupid Invaders and Shadow of Destiny was a breath of fresh air.

But that list is just an indication of this forum’s taste, right? A group of old fans yearning for the glory days. It doesn’t truly paint a comprehensive picture of what was happening during the decade. The absence of Ace Attorney (and the inclusion of yucky Telltale titles) makes this noticeable.

wilco - 23 January 2018 05:34 PM

My main take is that the genre was not just lacking a significant number of releases (a lot of those years there’s only 1 game standing out)  but also very stale, innovation just kicked in at the last part of the decade.

I agree, there were decent games, but most felt unoriginal and low-budget. There were innovations too, like Uru that bankrupted Cyan, In Memorian that started well, but by the time eXperience112 came out people lost interest in the developer. Games by Kheops such as Return to Mysterious Island refreshened the formula by focusing on non-linearity and combining things. Pathologic tried something completely different. Culpa Innata promised a lot, but ended as a traditional adventure. Charles Cecil also called out for innovations and ended with The Sleeping Dragon. Penumbra series was praised for its physics-based puzzles, and Fahrenheit was considered a grand innovation at the time. But I think even that one didn’t sell well despite shining reviews and numerous awards. AGs didn’t make money.

Yeah - but Portal is on that list. Portal, if you contend is an adventure game, is one of the greatest games of all time and many would certainly rank it above any 10 games we vote as the greatest adventure titles of the 1990s.

I think Advie has a point. We’re making this assessment on a particular formula that we grew accustomed to and can’t see the forest from the trees. Look at some of these titles from the 2 Pagoda links that were posted: The Longest Journey, Fear Effect, D2, Shenmue, Ico… These are really good titles…

thejobloshow - 23 January 2018 07:54 PM

We’re making this assessment on a particular formula that we grew accustomed to and can’t see the forest from the trees. Look at some of these titles from the 2 Pagoda links that were posted: The Longest Journey, Fear Effect, D2, Shenmue, Ico… These are really good titles…

All of those titles, with the exception of The Longest Journey, are action games. They may be excellent, but they are not adventures. Killing, shooting, running, ducking, climbing, jumping, whatever.

Thinking about this some more, Advie may be right that the ‘00s are underrated. You guys are missing one half of the equation - the number of bad games. There may have not been a huge number of great games in that era, but there also were not many poor games in comparison with today. Now I find in the last few years I have to sift through loads of crapware, walking sims with no story, adventures made in RPGmaker which look like a RPG from 1992, ugly retro graphics and homemade Unity titles anyone’s mom could have made. You didn’t have to do that 10-20 years ago.

Donuts McGee - 23 January 2018 09:05 PM

Now I find in the last few years I have to sift through loads of crapware, walking sims with no story, adventures made in RPGmaker which look like a RPG from 1992, ugly retro graphics and homemade Unity titles anyone’s mom could have made. You didn’t have to do that 10-20 years ago.

Examples…?

Karlok - 23 January 2018 09:24 PM

Donuts McGee - 23 January 2018 09:05 PM

Now I find in the last few years I have to sift through loads of crapware, walking sims with no story, adventures made in RPGmaker which look like a RPG from 1992, ugly retro graphics and homemade Unity titles anyone’s mom could have made. You didn’t have to do that 10-20 years ago.

Examples…?

Plenty. I will have to confine myself to those I’ve played, but here are some from the last few years:

Stranded
The Revenge of Johnny Bonasera
The Hunting God
Murder in Tehran’s Alleys
Franz Kafka Videogame
Monumental
Lost Horizon 2
Black Island
Bayou Island
Sandra and Woo in the Cursed Adventure
Preston Sterling and the Legend of Excalibur
Detective Hayseed: Hollywood