Adventure Gamers - Forums

I keep a diary of all the adventure games I play, so here goes for 2012:

Some RPGs:

Lagrange Point
Rhapsody: A musical adventure
Dream Master
Radia Senki Reimeihen
Etrian Odyssey
Ys
Chrono Trigger

Adventures (full-fledged adventures in bold):

Ghost Trick
Alter Ego
Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box
Azada: In Libro
Monkey Island 2: Special Edition
Life of D.Duck II
Hotline
ZERO2
^_^
Quasar
The Fabulous Screech
Loondon
Draculator II: Byte of the Draculator
The Book of Unwritten Tales
Mystery Case Files: Ravenhearst
The Unfolding Spider
Airwave: I fought the law, and the law one
Submerged - LaSol
King’s Quest II: Romancing the Stones
The Old Tree
Unga needs Mumba
Memento
Exposed
.heartbeats
Egress
Hollywood Monsters
Mystery Case Files: Madame Fate
Juniper’s Knot
Rizzoli & Isles - The Boston butcher
Wentworth
The Several Journeys of Reemus - Prologue + Ep.1-4
Another Code: Two Memories
The 7th Guest
Torin’s Passage
Professor Layton and the Unwound Future
Tex Murphy: Martian Memorandum

whew

Full blown adventures:

Yesterday: Dark, Atmospheric with a good story full of twists and turns. Unfortunately also very short with very few locations too visit making you never fully engrossed in the game. Still I had a fun time playing it. 3/5
The Dark Eye - Chains of Satinav: A wonderful very chaming game. Dark and lighthearted at the same time. With a fascinating very thought through game world, a more than decent story, good and fair puzzles and a very good length. Characters are not it’s strongest point. Allthough some are very rich and imaginative others fall a bit flat. But it barely takes away the beauty of the game. Also the fourth act is a bit off but that’s my personal opinion. The only real weak point I can think off is the high system requirements which in my case made for a sometimes frustrating experience. Still this is easilly the best game I’ve played this year. 4/5
Ben Jordan Case 8: Relics of the Past: The epic conclusion to the series. Atmospheric and highly entertainig with good puzzles and characters. I do feel that the second storyline was a bit tagged on and felt kinda like filler even though it was decent enough. The ending I’m still not sure about what to think of but at least it was very unexpected. All in all the series went out on a high though it’s not the best game in the series imo. 3/5
Cognition episode 1: Hangman: Strong opening to the series. It’s a decent crime thriller with a well thought out plot. It’s also suitably dark allthough it does have to mature a bit with more flesh and blood characters and a less black and white storyline but perhaps we’ll see that in the episodes to come. Ep1 certainly got me intrigued. 3/5
Secret Files 3: I love SF1 to bits and like SF2 so when the news of this game was announced I was so psyched. But then when more and more info about the game sipped through I got more and more worried and after I read the review on this site my expectations were pretty low. And still it managed to dissapoint. Not because it was worse than what I imagined but actually because it was better. I could see all the potential the game had and what the design doc must have looked like before Neosfilm ruined everything. In my mind they are to blame for this catastrophe of a game. The puzzles, always the strong point of the Secret Files series, have been masacred to keep the pace higher but it goes at the cost of all the difficulty making it a completley unchallenging experience that you’ll rush through. The story is horrible as well. The core bit about Archimendes and Pi is interesting enough but all the stuff with dreams is just too weird. And worst of all it breaks with it’s own continuity. The ending seems to suggest this is the final Secret Files game. I truly hope this is not so and that they’ll make another game worthy of SF1 and 2. And if not I really hope they’ll make a director’s cut of this game made the way Animation Arts wanted to make it before Neos film bludgeoned everything to death. 2/5 (and that’s generous)
The Book of Unwritten Tales - The Critter Chronicles: BOUT is another one of my favorite games and one of the best I’ve played. The Critter Chronicles is not a worthy prequel but it never was intended to be. From the start it was kown that this game was more of a nice appetiser to the main game than a full fledged new adventure all on it’s own and as such it’s pretty damn great! The humour is still fantastic full of smart dialogues with lot’s of pop culture references. Character are still rich and endearing and the Critter is more wonderful than ever. And best of all you get to play as the little guy way more in this game than you did in BOUT. All in all this was an incredibly fun experience. And for a short appetiser the lenght’s actually pretty good. So not as good as BOUT but still a great ride. 3.5/5

More casual adventures:
Covert Front 1-4: Wonderful small fun series if you don’t mind a whole lot of highly unrealistic puzzles.
Rizzoli and Isles - The Masterpiece Murders: Not very original story, unrealistic gameplay and way to short for this kind of game.
Rizzoli and Isles - The Boston Butcher: Slightly better plot and puzzles but still not a a very great game.
Kingdom of Liars - Year One: Ashbane: Now this was a pretty decent indie. The story is pretty imaginative, the gameworld looks good and is well thought through. The puzzles were a bit simple but still fun. Will definitely play ep2.

Botanicula 8.5/10
Played it 3 times (still haven’t found all the bugs though) and enjoyed every moment of it. Not as great as Machinarium, but much better than Samorost 2.
TWD Series 8.5/10
While I am a comic book fan, I was very sceptical about playing it. I never liked Farenight, and playing a game with similar gameplay seemed like a bit of risk. How wrong I was! A real masterpiece, not of any special difficulty, but with great memorable characters (Very few games can present such complicate characters like Lee, Klem and Kenny) and a really nice story. The feeling that every decision of yours counts never felt better (The Pandora Directive and The Last Express excepted)
Resonance 9/10
IMO, its the game of the year. That simple. Excellent story, great characters (Bennet was my favourite), very nice riddles.
Chains of Satinav 7.5/10
I had really great hopes for this game. While it didn’t disapoint (the graphics were as always Daedelicly awsome and the story was well written), it failed to create any great emotions. A solid game nevertheless.
Deponia & Chaos on Deponia 6/10
What a dissapointment. Until this very moment, I still can’t motivate myself to buy the final game when it comes out. Why should I care for the fate of a character like the egomaniac, idiotic and selfish (or, in some cases, plain evil) Rufus? There were some funny moments (Frankenfish comes to my mind), but these are really very few. Also had some smart riddles.
The Testament of Sherlock Holmes 6.5/10
Not impressed. While it wasn’t a bad game overall, based on the money I gave to buy it I expected something much better.
Anna’s quest: Vol 1 7.5/10
A really nice surpise. A short, but trully memorable experience. It mixes perfectly humour and seriousness in the same scenes. Very good work on the voices, which helps to create really memorable characters like Anna, Ted and the wich herself.
Cognition: Ep 1 7/10
I had been waiting for a long time on this and it didn’t dissapoint. Reminded me a lot of the old Sierra games (especially GK1). Will surely buy the Ep 2.
Primordia 8/10
Another excellent game from Wadget Eye. Slightly worse than Resonance (The slow start is to blame), it is a nearly excellent game.
The Cat Lady 9/10
When I first saw the posted pictures, I knew I would like this game. And I really did. The story was great (not excellent though), the main character a really deep one, the graphics an eye-candy and I can still hear the music plays in my head. One of the year’s greatest.
The Critter Chronicles 7/10
While I generally consider TBoUT highly overrated, I admit that Critter was my favourite character. A solid game, in the same levels of its original processor.
The Dream Machine (Chapter 1) 6.5/10
I loved both The Dark Eye and The Neverhood, so I guessed this was really going to be to my liking. Aesthetically I was correct, but I found the story very slow and the riddles not very challenging or interesting. Perhaps these will change in the next chapters. 

From older ones:
Emerald City: Confidential 7/10
A nice story, it was fun to see what they did with Caroll’s characters and the world of Oz in general, but other than that nothing really special.
The Space Bar 8/10
I’m still playing it!! And it toally worths every second I spent on it!! Great difficulty and great humour combined. Had to face many technical problems though (bugs, fast panning, etc) and there are some voice problems (when people speak in the same time or the loud Bar music).
Tex Murphy FMV games trilogy 9/10
Really enjoyed them. Tex is really one of the greatest main characters in adventure games history
Stacking 7/10
I really liked its unique style, the dolls and the old-movie style music and presentation. However, I found the gameplay ideas problematic, or at least not to my taste. Perhaps if there was greater variation in dolls or their abilities…
Faust, Seven games of the Soul 7/10
Nice game, with an interesting story, characters and riddles. Not really memorable though.

I am sure there are many more, but I really can’t recall them right now…
In general, I really think that 2012 was one of the best in terms of adventure games publishing. Hope that 2013 will be even better. 

Last year was a record gaming year for me, having played more games than any other year since I started keeping track. I did, however, replay a couple dozen games and played a bunch of episodic and casual/short games, so this list is somewhat “padded” if you know what I mean. I played games on 10 different platforms and at least one game from every year from 1985 to the present.

I don’t play the “What is an adventure?” game, so you will have to decide for yourself from looking at the list what qualifies or not by your specific standards.

And no, I do not have a life…

2012 Playlist
01) Adventures of Down Under Dan (1995)
02) Agatha Christie: Death on the Nile (2007)
03) Alien Resurrection (2000) (PSX)
04) Anna (2012)
05) Another Code: Trace Memory (2005) (NDS)
06) Back to the Future 1x01: It’s About Time! (2010)
07) Back to the Future 1x02: Get Tannen! (2011)
08) Back to the Future 1x03: Citizen Brown (2011)
09) Back to the Future 1x04: Double Visions (2011)
10) Back to the Future 1x05: Outatime (2011)
11) Bestowers of Eternity (2003)
12) Black Dahlia (1998)
13) Black Sect (1993)
14) Blackwell Convergence (2009)
15) Blackwell Legacy (2006)
16) Blackwell Unbound (2007)
17) Blue Stinger (1999) (Dreamcast)
18) Botanicula (2012)
19) Bud Tucker in Double Trouble (1996)
20) Carrier (2000) (Dreamcast)
21) Case for TKKG 3: Mystery of the Mayan Treasure (1998)
22) Casebook Episode 0: The Missing Urn (2009)
23) Casebook Episode 1: Kidnapped (2008)
24) Casebook Episode 2: The Watcher (2009)
25) Casebook Episode 3: Snake in the Grass (2009)
26) Chaos Break (2000) (PSX)
27) Conquests of the Longbow (1991)
28) Constantine (2005)
29) Countdown Vampires (1999) (PSX)
30) D-2 (1999) (Dreamcast)
31) Dark Tales 3: Edgar Allan Poe’s The Premature Burial CE (2011)
32) Dear Esther (2012)
33) Deep Fear (1998) (Sega Saturn)
34) Digital Pinball: Necronomicon (1996) (Sega Saturn)
35) Dino Crisis (1999)
36) Discworld (1995)
37) Dylan Dog: Through the Looking Glass (1992)
38) Echo Night 3: Beyond (2004) (PS2)
39) Echoes of Sorrow (2011)
40) Emerald City Confidential (2009)
41) Escape from Bug Island (2007) (Wii)
42) Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem (2002) (Gamecube)
43) Fall Trilogy: Chapter 1 – Separation (2009)
44) Fall Trilogy: Chapter 2 – Reconstruction (2010)
45) Fall Trilogy: Chapter 3 – Revelation (2010)
46) Flight of the Amazon Queen (1995)
47) Fool’s Errand (1987)
48) Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist (1993)
49) Full Throttle (1995)
50) Gabriel Knight 1: Sins of the Fathers (1993)
51) Ghost Towns: The Cats of Ulthar (2012)
52) Gold Rush! (1988)
53) Gordak (1997)
54) Hardy Boys: The Hidden Theft (2008)
55) HellNight (Dark Messiah) (1998) (PSX)
56) Home (2012)
57) Illbleed (2001) (Dreamcast)
58) Journeyman Project 1 (1992)
59) Journeyman Project 2: Buried in Time (1995)
60) Journeyman Project 3: Legacy of Time (1998)
61) Koudelka (1999) (PSX)
62) Last Half of Darkness: Society of the Serpent Moon (2011)
63) Laura Bow 1: The Colonel’s Bequest (1989)
64) Leisure Suit Larry 5: Passionate Patti Does a Little Undercover Work (1991)
65) Maniac Mansion 2: Day of the Tentacle (1993)
66) Michigan: Report from Hell (2004) (PS2)
67) Miskatonic Part 1: The Inhuman Stain (2012)
68) Missing: Since January (In Memoriam) (2003)
69) Missing: The 13th Victim (2005)
70) Mystery Case Files 8: Escape from Ravenhearst (2011)
71) Mystery Case Files 9: Shadow Lake (2012)
72) Noctropolis (1994)
73) The Note (1997) (PSX)
74) Obsidian (1997)
75) OverBlood (1996) (PSX)
76) OverBlood 2 (1998) (PSX)
77) Parasite Eve (1998) (PSX)
78) Parasite Eve 2 (1999) (PSX)
79) Pepper’s Adventures in Time (1993)
80) Phantasmagoria (1995)
81) Phantasmagoria 2: A Puzzle of Flesh (1996)
82) Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (2005) (NDS)
83) Quest for Glory 2: Trial by Fire (1990)
84) Ring: Terror’s Realm (2000) (Dreamcast)
85) Ripley’s Believe It or Not!: The Riddle of Master Lu (1995)
86) Rita James 1: Escape from Thunder Island (2011)
87) Rita James 2: The Race to Shangri La (2012)
88) Robert D. Anderson and the Legacy of Cthulhu (2007)
89) Sam & Max 1x01: Culture Shock (2006)
90) Sam & Max 1x02: Situation: Comedy (2006)
91) Sam & Max 1x03: The Mole, the Mob, and the Meatball (2007)
92) Sam & Max 1x04: Abe Lincoln Must Die! (2007)
93) Sam & Max 1x05: Reality 2.0 (2007)
94) Sam & Max 1x06: Bright Side of the Moon (2007)
95) Sam & Max 2x01: Ice Station Santa (2007)
96) Sam & Max 2x02: Moai Better Blues (2008)
97) Sam & Max 2x03: Night of the Raving Dead (2008)
98) Sam & Max 2x04: Chariots of the Dogs (2008)
99) Sam & Max 2x05: What’s New, Beelzebub (2008)
100) Sam & Max 3x01: The Penal Zone (2010)
101) Sam & Max 3x02: The Tomb of Sammun-Mak (2010)
102) Sam & Max 3x03: They Stole Max’s Brain (2010)
103) Sam & Max 3x04: Beyond the Alley of the Dolls (2010)
104) Sam & Max 3x05: The City That Dares Not Sleep (2010)
105) The Scroll (1995)
106) The Scroll (1995)
107) Slender (2012)
108) Song of Saya (2003)
109) Soundless Mountain 2 (Silent Hill 2 Demake) (2008)
110) Spycraft: The Great Game (1996)
111) Stacking (2011)
112) Stacking: The Last Hobo King DLC (2011)
113) Sweet Home (1989) (NES)
114) Tales of Monkey Island 1x01: Launch of the Screaming Narwhal (2009)
115) Tales of Monkey Island 1x02 - The Siege of Spinner Cay (2009)
116) Tales of Monkey Island 1x03: Lair of the Leviathan (2009)
117) Tales of Monkey Island 1x04: The Trial and Execution of Guybrush Threepwood (2009)
118) Tales of Monkey Island 1x05: Rise of the Pirate God (2009)
119) Tex Murphy 1: Mean Streets (1989)
120) Tex Murphy 2: Martian Memorandum (1991)
121) Tex Murphy 3: Under a Killing Moon (1994)
122) Tex Murphy 4: Pandora Directive (1996)
123) Tex Murphy 5: Overseer (1998)
124) The Thing (2002)
125) Titanic: Adventure Out of Time (1996)
126) Trapped: The Abduction (2009)
127) Ultima 4 (1985)
128) Vampire Hunter D (1999) (PSX)
129) Voyeur (1993)
130) WhiteDay: A Labyrinth Named School (2001)
131) Yesterday (2012)
132) Zombi (1986) (Amiga)

Or he’s just better than the rest of us…

Siddhi - 30 December 2012 10:20 PM

Agreed. Grim Fandango had amazing graphics - both backgrounds & 3d models - which hold up excellently even today.

So true. This game would shine with a very minor update. LA wouldn’t even have to rework anything major like a lot of recent HD reworkings; just strap some newer textures on the models (or even just up the polygon count a bit) and update to HD resolution. Throw in better control options and the game could be a moderate success with a whole new set of gamers with very minimal effort on LA’s part. Honestly I could see this being done more easily than the Monkey Island Remakes.

TimovieMan - 30 December 2012 08:31 AM

Lupin The Third - 29 December 2012 12:50 PM

Last Express
... given it’s relatively short playtime.

Maybe if you beeline for the ending, but if you want to explore *every* option to get the full story, surely you’re going to have an incredibly lengthy game?
Or have I been deceived???

As for a single playthrough the game is very short. If you sat down on a Saturday afternoon and started playing you could easily be done by that evening. HOWEVER, the awesome thing about the game is that everything occurs in realtime and events change based on the encounters you have. There’s an amazing amount of stuff just going on aboard the train and you will miss most of it the first time you play. Also there are certain pivotal events that can branch off to end the game early. Another aspect of the realtime mechanic is that you can, at any point, rewind the game to previous points. This is crucial to the way the game works as you as the player just being curious and wandering about exploring might be in completely the wrong place to advance the game’s events. Thus the game has a tremendous amount of replayability to it. In my first complete playthrough I encountered several of the alternate endings (most of which end sooner than the true game ending); after “finishing the game” I rewound to a previous point and worked my way to a further point in the story. The game is meant to be played multiple ways and multiple times. I actually did play it over the course of several days, rewinding back to an early enough point to change the course of events whenever I reached an early ending; so i suppose it’s just a matter of how you play it. Off the top of my head the only game that comes to mind that is a bit similar in mechanics might be Shadow of Destiny.

For $10, and less when on sale at GOG and elsewhere, the game is worth every penny; just for its unique nature alone. I could however see someone having a problem with playing the original $50-60 that the game retailed for; a lot of folks would sit down finish the game in a few hours (especially if using a walkthrough) and, perhaps not appreciating its unique nature, be terse with how much they’d just spent for an afternoon’s worth of entertainment. However this is the kind of game that modern digital distribution is perfect for. I highly recommend it, the story is incredible the acting is superb and the setting is perfectly realized.

Botanicula: Very good, as expected although didn’t quite have the emotional weight of Machinarium for me.
Lost Chronicles of Zerzura: I liked this one a lot, although I suspect that’s more because of the lack of current swashbuckling-style adventures over the sheer quality of the game.
Amber’s Blood: It’s a Carol Reed game, what more to say? Another highly enjoyable mystery with stunning photos of rural Sweden.
Corrosion: Cold Winter Waiting: Not bad. Creates a spooky, Boakesian atmosphere but lacks his charm and intrigue. Some decent puzzles.
To the Moon: Blergh. Not my kind of ‘game’ at all.
Chaos on Deponia: Enjoyable, but lacked something that the first game had. I can’t quite put my finger on what.
Harvey’s New Eyes: I need to replay this one because I spent almost the whole game missing Edna and the humor of the first. At the very least and on its own merits I can say it’s a great game, and maybe even a brilliant one.
Secret Files 3: Dumb, silly and boring. I don’t know why I bought it, I didn’t even like the first two games much.
The Five Cores: Seemed like only half a game but the puzzles were pretty good and I’ll take any Myst clones I can get.
Testament of Sherlock Holmes: Disappointment of the year. Convoluted story, too many isolated logic puzzles and barely any Holmesian detective work. It sits behind almost all the Frogwares SH games except maybe Silver Earring.
Bientôt l’été: I can’t say much as I have never been able to connect to the server, which seems to be an essential part of the game.

Oldies:
Rhem 1-4: Wow. I can’t believe I missed out on Rhem for so long. Rhem is about puzzles and Knut Muller creates the most devious, head-scratching but incredibly satisfying to solve puzzles I’ve seen in a long time.
Stacking: Having missed it last year and seeing the high acclaim I decided to join the party. Unfortunately, not the best party I’ve been to. Maybe it just has too much of a casual feel, but I expected better from Double Fine.
Edna & Harvey: The Breakout: Another one I can’t believe I missed. This has got to be one of the best comedy adventures ever, which is only reinforced by being able to click on everything to give a unique response (and sometimes more than one). Undoubtedly Daedelic’s best.

ouch, Bastich, do you have a time controller or something anyway, here’s my humble list

Resonance (2012) - After playing Gemini Rue, i knew that i’m gonna love everything that Wadjet Eye publishes. Resonance showed me even a greater experience and I could easily say that for me this is the game No 1 for 2012. Maybe a little less atmospheric than Gemini Rue but far superior in a matter of gameplay. The short term memory, some really brilliant puzzles, great story and all that only with the restricted (but brilliant) AGS engine. 5/5

Primordia (2012) - Hmmm, maybe it’s just me, but i’m mad about rusty brownish post-apocalyptic dystopias. That’s why I felt this game so close. I absolutely loved the appearance of this game and I found the puzzles nice and the fact that there were several ways for completing them. The only thing that wasn’t ok for me was the depth. The game began with anticipation that you’re going to dig into something biiiig. and then everything ended kind of quick. - 4/5

Botanicula (2012) - I just love everything that comes out of this tiny czech studio. Shorter and easier than machinarium, Botanicula still made me a huge fan and gave a whole new meaning for the word exploration. all of their games were audio and visual masterpieces, kind of trippy, kind of childish, made with huge amount of imagination - 4.5/5

Dear Esther (2012) - Not an adventure for me. Not even a game for some. But for me this was a great visual and sensual experience. played it for two hours or so, but didn’t even want more. The fact that I experienced something I haven’t did so far was enough for me. And that cave level! - 3.5/5

The Journey Down HD (2012) - When I played the low-res version I was so excited about this project. It was a perfect balance between mood, story, characters, puzzles, art and dialogues just the way I wanted them. And it fell comfy as if I was playing Monkey Island/Grim Fandango/Full Throttle again. The HD versions made everything great. I have no complaints about the visuals, the voices and the few extra puzzles and places. But somehow I didn’t feel it the way I did with the res. Maybe cause it was more like a replay than a new game. However, i’m highly anticipating the next episodes and i’ll surely treat them as a new game.  - 3.5/5

Gorogoa Demo (2012) - Besides that this is just the beginning of the game, i’m just mind-blown by this game and can’t wait to play it’s final version. Played it several times and sent it to all my friends. This game surely prooves that this genre has a potential for evolution and there are still things in a matter of gameplay that can surprise. And every bit of uniqueness I see in a game is made in the indie scene. That’s the future of the genre for me. - can’t really judge a part of a game. But if I take it as an episode, definitely 5/5

Gemini Rue (2011) - I already mentioned my love for Wadjet Eye, and this game is the reason. It’s kind of short and the gameplay isn’t anything special, but boy, that game has Atmosphere. I don’t know if it’s the better sound quality or some simple clever animations, but those pixel art scenes touched me more than some of their best predecessors in the 90’s. The game is far from perfect but it’s the overall feeling that matters in the end. And all this thanks to the efforts of one man army. - 4.5/5

The Book Of Unwritten Tales (2011) - Compared to the games mentioned above this game is one step behind them for me. But I enjoyed it very much while playing. Along with the journey down it’s the closest recent game to the dead Lucas Arts. I enjoyed the story, the humor and the characters. 4/5

To The Moon (2011) - That game was really special. Again, here it’s not about gameplay. It’s about the perfect way a story is introduced and revealed to you. It’s about the little details. I’ve never played those anime RPGs that this game resembles but I just felt it so close. - 4.5/5

Blackwell Series (2006-2011) - And here’s something actually made from Wadjet Eye. First one was kind of bland, but the atmosphere grew bigger with each game. You just gotta love the sarcastic arrogant Joey Mallone. Great story and great writing. - 4/5

Still Life (2005) - This game was meh for me. Although it had nice story and atmosphere but I didn’t like the gameplay. It was a series of dumb easy puzzles mixed with hard, frustrating and irrelevant to the story ones. Yeah, like cooking some biscuits is so important for solving the case. I just hate it when a game doesn’t follow its own logic. - 3/5 (and that’s just cause I liked the paintings )

Gabriel Knight 1 (1993) - I feel so ashamed to play this masterpiece in 2012, but I wasn’t into sierra in my old days. Started Gabriel Knight 2 as well but I’m still finding it hard to dive into the FMV atmosphere. I’m so used to the Gabriel Knight 1 look and Tim Curry’s voice that I’m having hard times believing that actor in Beast Within. I’ll give it another try in 2013, I know that you love it so much. - 5/5

Replays:

Machinarium (2009) - Can’t say a single bad thing about that game. It just hit me straight in the heart. 5/5

Discworld Noir (1999) - One of my favorite games of all times. I can replay it all my life and those witty dialogues will still amuse me like I hear them for the first time. - 5/5

began:

Chains Of Satinav (2012) - I’ve almost finished it. So far my impression is on the good side but I have some complains. I don’t quite like the character (besides Edna I hate every Daedalic’s protagonist. Those people sure know how to make an annoying character). But the game is gorgeous.

Tex Murphy: The Pandora Directive (1996) - Tex is my other big miss. I’m playing it right now and it’s already found a way in my top 10. I just love it.

As I’m such a fussy old codger I haven’t played many adventure-related games this year, but here’s my top 3:

To The Moon - simply wonderful. What a fantastic feast for the emotions. Just superb. An easy 5/5 and it even managed to just knock Dear Esther from the top spot as my ‘favourite game that I’ve ever played’

Dear Esther - marvellous, what a fantastic experience. Another 5/5

Botanicula - loved it ...... mostly. However, on getting near the end it started to bore me. Not sure why. 4/5

TimovieMan - 02 January 2013 02:42 PM

Seriously!

Lucien21 - 02 January 2013 02:45 PM

I would need to give up work and play games all day to match that.

Dag - 03 January 2013 12:11 AM

It seems to me rather inhuman-like to complete all those games in one year.

I think some of you are too distracted by the sheer number of games and not realizing how short many of them are. About half the entries on that list are single evening games (5 hours or less). Almost all of those short games are ridiculously easy games as well.

In fact, I played the 4 Casebook games, Home, Soundless Mountain 2 and most of Blackwell Unbound on a Saturday a couple weeks ago. Almost 7 games in a single day! 3 of those games took an hour or less to complete.

Don’t forget that a lot of games were replays as well. It’s not difficult to quickly finish an adventure game that you remember almost all the answers to.

Dag - 03 January 2013 12:11 AM

Bastich, is it reasonable for me to suspect that you are quick to turn to walkthroughs? It seems to me rather inhuman-like to complete all those games in one year, unemployed or not, if the goal is to figure out all the puzzles on your own? (I’m just asking out of curiosity, not making accusations).

I used walkthroughs or cheats for the following games:

Adventures of Down Under Dan: This game kills you constantly and has lots of dead ends. There is a really cruel dead end at the beginning of this game where you can enter a mine before you have the items necessary to escape. I was trapped in that maze and mercilessly killed over and over again for over 2 hours before I caved and used the in-game hint system and had to restart the game from the very beginning.

This game is so deliberately cruel that the hints will even tell you to do things that will get you killed and the following hint will say something like, “Tricked you! Hope you remembered to save!”

I forced myself to play this game because I went through some effort to acquire it because it is somewhat rare. A bad decision, as in the end, I suffered far more trauma to my mind playing it than to my wallet by purchasing it.

Black Sect: This game is timed and has some serious pixel hunting in places. I wish I had known about the remake as I hear it removes the timed aspect of the game and the dead ends. In fact, if I had known the game was timed and had dead ends, I probably would never have attempted it. I have zero tolerance for that crap now.

Countdown Vampires: Oddly enough, I needed a walkthrough for two actual puzzles in this one. Even after seeing the answers I have no idea how they relate to the clues, nor could I find an explanation anywhere on the Internet. I was COMPLETELY stumped. By a survival horror game no less.

Fool’s Errand: Used a walkthrough for three puzzles. Kicked myself on one of them as it wasn’t very hard. I felt pressured to complete this game as I chose this game specifically because 1987 was the only year I was missing from 1985 to the present and I thought it would be cool to have played a game from all those consecutive years, which is something I had never done before. I probably would have stuck it out longer if I wasn’t so pressed for time but the end of the year was approaching and I needed 1987!

Missing: Since January & Expansion: I found the online research aspect of this game to be really tedious. I played most of the game without a walkthrough but got so sick of trying to find the right webpages that towards the end I started using a walkthrough to grab the website links. This just wasn’t for me. I only played it because it’s an online game and there is a chance that it may disappear forever at some point. I still have a copy of Majestic that I never got to play because the servers were pulled within a year of its release. I didn’t want the same to happen to me with this game too.

Alien Resurrection: This game is impossible. First, because it doesn’t work properly in emulators (I tried 3) resulting in doors that are supposed to open not opening, and second, because it is just brutally hard. It’s a console FPS with no aim assist. When I encountered the first door that wouldn’t open, I consulted the only walkthrough I could find (which was useless as the problem was technical) and even the person who wrote the walkthrough said they had to play on easy and use cheats to finish it.

I gave myself infinite ammo and had to use the level skip function to get past the door bugs. I was able to see the ending, but probably missed about 5% of the content due to the level skipping. Although, the entire game is basically the same hallways cut and pasted over and over again so, in reality, I probably missed nothing at all.

Parasite Eve: I played this legitimately all the way until the final boss but couldn’t beat it. Had to use a cheat code. I consulted a walkthrough afterward and I didn’t find a lot of the good items that would have helped and I didn’t know something that is utterly illogical but highly important to conserving ammo which totally screwed me during the game, making it much harder. This game was pretty good overall though.

All the rest were played without cheats or walkthroughs.