Adventure Gamers - Forums

Hi, all -

This is my first post here, but adventure games are definitely my favorite videogame sub-genre, so I do feel at home.

I’ve always had to rely on hints to some degree in completing AGs, but would like to try my hand at completing a game without any help at all. Do you have thoughts on which excellent games are also potentially completable without hints/walkthroughs/etc.? Obviously this relies a lot on my own puzzle-solving skill - I’m not bad at this but not a whiz by any stretch - but I think some games have puzzles that are either just really, really hard, or (worse) where the logic is questionable at best.

I’m playing through The Longest Journey again after many years away from it, but this might not be the best candidate for this little experiment, given its length and I just don’t want being stuck to block me from moving the excellent story forward, especially since I’ll be following it up with the rest of the trilogy.

So, what do you think? Which really good games have you gotten through (or think a person could get through) without help through problem-solving and determination? Interested to hear your thoughts!

Thanks!
~Doug

<< Fixed topic title, sorry about that! >>

I would recommend the Blackwell Series, and probably all the other of Wadjet Eye’s games, too, like Gemini Rue and Technobabylon. I’m playing the third of the Blackwell games now and I didn’t have problems with the first two (well, probably I did seek a hint just once), and they’re not extremely easy either.

I feel like everyone’s mileage may vary for a type of question like this. It might be helpful to know a couple of AGs you’ve completed and how you would rate their difficulty as a gauge.

Barring that kind of information I can list some games that I personally completed without a guide.

Secret Of Monkey Island & Curse Of Monkey Island - High Medium Difficulty.
Paradigm - Easy Difficulty (On hardest setting)
The Book Of Unwritten Tales 1 & 2 - Medium Difficulty
Blackwell Series - Medium Difficulty
Technobabylon - High Medium Difficulty
Resonance - High Medium Difficulty
The Red Strings Club - Easy
The Wolf Among Us - Easy

Personally the only games I manage to beat without a walkthrough are usually those with some built-in help system like Journeyman Project 3.  Or those with an easy mode that removes some of the harder puzzles like Monkey Island 3.

Which kind of games do you like best ?

Game which have fewer interactive elements will mechanically be easier, but perhaps that’s not your cup of tea. Otherwise you could try Syberia, for example.

In the realms of “myst-clones”, which are typically pretty difficult, Zork Nemesis strikes me as the most accessible.

If you like independant retro games, I can second the Blackwell series advice. Or perhaps Kathy Rain.

As far as older games go, the Sierra games aren’t too difficult. I completed Larry 5 and 6, and am currently playing King’s Quest 6, without too much trouble.

The Longuest Journey is probably not the best choice, as it’s quite difficult.

Thanks for these first suggestions!

Ones that I’ve enjoyed a lot (that I can think of off the top of my head) include The Longest Journey trilogy, Grim Fandango, Syberia, Broken Age, Machinarium, The Journey Down, and Walking Dead Season One. So I love a good narrative and also appreciate humorous writing/voice acting. I never got that far along in Myst - it struck me as pretty difficult.

Now that I’ve put that list down it seems my memory is either poor, or I haven’t played all that many adventure games after all! And I don’t have a great sense of which ones felt easier or harder to me. This list spans a pretty large time frame.

If you want to try your hand at a Myst game again, try Myst III: Exile. It is one the easiest (Much easier than 1 and 2), has a standalone story and is a very good game.

Thanks, Advie. I’m aware of the Universal Hints System, and it’s a great resource.

I’m someone that doesn’t really hesitate to turn to a walkthrough if I’m stuck and have no idea what to do next.

But one game that I did consider reasonably tough that I never resorted to a walkthrough on was Resonance.  It’s a very good game with a good narrative, as well.

cyfoyjvx - 30 May 2018 06:02 AM

If you want to try your hand at a Myst game again, try Myst III: Exile. It is one the easiest (Much easier than 1 and 2), has a standalone story and is a very good game.

If you are looking to get into more accessible 1st person adventures, two recent examples which are not Myst-level difficulty and are in my opinion both very good games are SOMA and XING: The Land Beyond. Also Portal but you I’m sure you are aware of that one.

The Legend Entertainment games are also good options. Start with Death Gate and Callahan’s Crosstime Saloon - both classics.

If you haven’t played Full Throttle, that’s the easiest of the Lucasarts games so should suit you pretty well!

Oscar - 30 May 2018 11:45 PM

The Legend Entertainment games are also good options. Start with Death Gate and Callahan’s Crosstime Saloon - both classics.

Both are great games, but I wouldn’t call them easy. I actually find Callahan quite hard (especially if you aren’t fluent in english, but still pretty hard if you are). Even on my second playthrough I’ve been stuck more than a few times.

Ninth - 31 May 2018 07:55 AM

Oscar - 30 May 2018 11:45 PM

The Legend Entertainment games are also good options. Start with Death Gate and Callahan’s Crosstime Saloon - both classics.

Both are great games, but I wouldn’t call them easy. I actually find Callahan quite hard (especially if you aren’t fluent in english, but still pretty hard if you are). Even on my second playthrough I’ve been stuck more than a few times.

Fair enough, but MogChothra didn’t ask for “easy”. I’m no puzzle genius and Callahan was a game I got through without a walkthrough and some problem-solving and determination, so I still think it fits. And I happen to think being stuck occasionally is a big part of what makes a great game.