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With the lack of activity at the forums, there’s a surprising activity at the review section. And it seems like this year brought us more masterpieces than all the 1990s put together - around ten 4.5/5 star games in just 5 months, and the adventure year haven’t even started yet, we are to witness such anticipated games as Return to Monkey Island, Stasis 2, etc. I won’t claim I’ve played all the games reviewed, I haven’t, but even graphically some of them look amateurish, like that last one, Dexter Stardust. Or Perfect Tides. I wonder if it is that new direction the site was taking, causing Jack to quit, when every game the reviewer enjoyed is getting a perfect/almost perfect score? Certainly not a trend I’d want to witness. Just for comparison: Gabriel Knight 2 got 4.5 stars, Gabe 3 - only 4 stars.
PC means personal computer
I’ve been following the reviews as well. Along with the beginning-of-the-month review of the trailers of the “five best” games being released that month. As for the latter, it’s hard for me to begrudge the inclusion of console games just because I don’t play them. I don’t know what to say about the “portable” games. I have enough trouble playing on my 28” monitor. The thought of trying to play a game on my phone is a total turn off. But for the games that are non-console or non-portable, the trend to retro graphics is unmistakable. And, since I am not a fan of that trend, I tend to disagree with them being included with the best-of-the-month club. Whether that graphic style is an artistic or financial decision is meaningless to me.
As for the reviews, I take a similar stance. If the game is not visually appealing, it’s hard for me to think that a compelling story and/or character development will save it. To put that in perspective, when released I thought GK3 was one of the greatest games I ever played. Today, if I put GK3 and Syberia 4 side by side, I would be hard-pressed to give GK3 three stars. And, to your point, I see too many games being awarded stellar ratings that I don’t believe deserve them.
It’s probably one of the many reasons that AG stopped awarding star ratings to “classic” games.
As for the Jack Allin question: He was the editorial director. He was supremely good at what he did. But I don’t know if he had the power, or wanted the power to overrule ratings.
For whom the games toll,
they toll for thee.
Doom,
I was thinking just the same. Dexter Stardust is a just middle-of-the-road decent adventure, not bad but definitely not excellent. I can see some people enjoying it, and some feeling “meh”. What really surprised me though, is Crowalt: Traces of the Lost Colony got 4 stars. The free prologue is available on Steam, I urge you to go ahead and give it a try to see what you think. I found it absolutely uninspired (with a really stupid mini-game), not funny and not particularly good-looking, although the reviewer mentioned “beautiful graphics”. I was wondering if we were looking at the same game.
What’s interesting is that in “THE GOOD” part of the review it mentions things like: “easily understandable interface” or “unobtrusive background music”. Since when are these became the qualities to praise?? I’d say “NOT easily understandable interface” should be in “THE BAD” parts. I expect an understandable interface from any game, that’s bare minimum, no? Same goes for music - unobtrusive is good? No, it’s rather generic. Most of the games have unobtrusive, unmemorable tunes. That’s why you praise amazing soundtrack in “THE GOOD” section.
That’s just based on the game I actually tried to play (and didn’t finish). You can add Murder Mystery Machine here that got 4 stars, somehow.(Have “mixed” rating on Steam and lots of negative reviews which is quite rare for adventure game players - they usually err on a more generous side when it comes to grading, in my experience). I have played it and was posting my thoughts here and actually considered discussing the review as there were some things in it I objectively didn’t agree with. Like the ranking system -I seemed to have a completely different in-game experience than the reviewer, but I decided not to.
I’d like to mention that I’m fully aware that reviews are personal opinions and maybe reviewers really liked those games so much. I’m not here to state that my opinion is somehow more important, it isn’t. But I’m looking forward to some shade of general objectivity and marks that take in consideration history of adventure games (as recent as past several years, I’m not talking about Monkey Island) from AG and couldn’t help but notice the generous awarding of high marks to games that, to put it simply, don’t play even half as good as games from the last several years with the same marks.
Here is an example for high marks from the reviews from the past 2 months:
NORCO - 4.5 stars
Dexter Stardust - 4.5 stars
Half-past fate - 4.5 stars
The Shattering - 4 stars
The Plane Effect - 4 stars
Crowns and Pawns - 4 stars
Crowalt Traces of the Lost Colony 4 stars
For comparison:
STASIS - 4.5 stars
The Witness - 4.5 stars
Hypnospace Outlaw - 4.5 stars
Outer Wilds - 4 stars
Return of the Obra Dinn - 4 stars
Tecnobabylon - 4 stars
Whispers of a Machine - 4 stars
I have played all the demos/prologues and Crowalt (DNF) and Dexter (still on it, it’s going slow) and The Plane Effect as full games in the first category, and I have played every game but the Outer Wilds and The Witness in the second. Now, maybe there are people here who would tell me that I’m greatly missing on not continuing with these new highly-marked games, and you know - I’m all here for it. But I just don’t see a 4-star mark for Obra Dinn and 4-star mark for Crowalt. I don’t see 4.5 stars for STASIS and 4.5 stars for Dexter. I understand that not all games can be compared to each other but when crossing into “very good” or “excellent” category, there has to be a certain level to uphold, and positives like “unobtrusive background music” seem below it to me.
Again, I’m not here discussing personal opinions of individual reviewers, not at all. I’m just also noticing an uptick of high marks in the review section for games that don’t look like they are hitting that mark.
NORCO “might” deserve 4 stars. The rest in that column deserve no more that 3 at best.
For whom the games toll,
they toll for thee.
Perfect Tides deserves its 4.5 and I’d give NORCO a 4. I could see a 4.5 if the aggressive hand-holding didn’t bother a person. No way Dexter Stardust is a near perfect score, and I’m not knocking the game (I enjoyed it), but it’s got major issues like some terrible VA and a cliffhanger ending to be resolved in an entirely different genre.
I wouldn’t give Crowns & Pawns a 4 either because I think Milda’s character arc was too thin, the final 3rd was rushed, and there’s a lack of polish in terms of puzzle design. But at least with that game it’s possible that another person might not rub up against the same rough edges I did and come away with a better impression overall.
Agree with Perfect Tides, but it wasn’t in the list.
For whom the games toll,
they toll for thee.
mm, was regarding the whole conversation including Doom’s post on the previous page.
I wrote about graphics, graphically Perfect Tides is nowhere near a modern 4.5 star game, nor even a good Sierra game. Although same goes for the story and puzzles imho (or the lack of them). I saw people praising that game for some connection with the protagonist and nostalgic values, but the reviewer who gives a near-perfect score for “great storytelling” and “plenty of non-linear puzzles” has probably never played a real (adventure) game.
PC means personal computer
Hey. A Dexter Stardust review. Nice for Jeremy.
I like Dexter Stardust. Overall it’s a nice game (an adventure I enjoyed finishing) with good vibes and attention to detail. The dev’s commentary is interesting too. I rated it with a strong 7 (3.5★). The Witness is a 10 (5★) for me. Welcome to Elk got my lowest rating here so far, a 3 (1.5★).
For some games ratings change over time, so that a valid comparability suffers. You could update the rating when you revisit a game and it feels different after years. Then you offer the latest rating, plus, if there is any difference, the original rating from when the game was released.
as for the site being generous, this has had been going on for the past three years already, guys
I wrote about graphics, graphically Perfect Tides is nowhere near a modern 4.5 star game, nor even a good Sierra game. Although same goes for the story and puzzles imho (or the lack of them). I saw people praising that game for some connection with the protagonist and nostalgic values, but the reviewer who gives a near-perfect score for “great storytelling” and “plenty of non-linear puzzles” has probably never played a real (adventure) game.
When I was playing Perfect Tides I kept thinking of Leisure Suit Larry 3, probably because both have the player wandering around an island with fairly loose objectives, and both have a lot of sightseeing and descriptions as well as a romance themed plot. And that’s where the comparisons end - LSL3 was a wonderful game for its time but Perfect Tides is a product of our time. It fits in 2022 just as perfectly as LSL fitted in 1987.
My point is, if we got new adventure games like Sierra used to make instead of games like Perfect Tides, I doubt I’d be interested. Some rare exceptions aside, I’ve moved on from the fairy tales, the wanting to be a hero, the picking up babes and the cliched horror I used to love.
AKA Charo
When I was playing Perfect Tides I kept thinking of Leisure Suit Larry 3, probably because both have the player wandering around an island with fairly loose objectives, and both have a lot of sightseeing and descriptions as well as a romance themed plot. And that’s where the comparisons end - LSL3 was a wonderful game for its time but Perfect Tides is a product of our time. It fits in 2022 just as perfectly as LSL fitted in 1987.
shame on me for not playing PT, downloading it now!
When I was playing Perfect Tides I kept thinking of Leisure Suit Larry 3, probably because both have the player wandering around an island with fairly loose objectives, and both have a lot of sightseeing and descriptions as well as a romance themed plot. And that’s where the comparisons end - LSL3 was a wonderful game for its time but Perfect Tides is a product of our time. It fits in 2022 just as perfectly as LSL fitted in 1987.
My point is, if we got new adventure games like Sierra used to make instead of games like Perfect Tides, I doubt I’d be interested. Some rare exceptions aside, I’ve moved on from the fairy tales, the wanting to be a hero, the picking up babes and the cliched horror I used to love.
But Perfect Tides is even advertised as a nostalgia trip, not a modern-themed adventure, why I wanted to play it. It takes place in the early Internet era, there is no wi-fi, no mobiles, no YouTube, TikTok or Instagram where an unsociable teen from a remote island could express herself - how does it fit 2022? And she does little to nothing with those few resources she has. The whole game is about gaining nothing. People played (and still play btw) Larry games to gain a woman for the biggest loser on Earth and simply to have a laugh, but certainly not for the plot. PT is neither a comedy nor a story-driven game, it’s just an unexciting coming of age interactive novel dressed as an old school Sierra game. 4.5 stars for that?
You can always add your own rating, maybe even a review if you like. Doom did for Perfect Tides and it offers a different and well-formulated view on the game.
Thank you, VP!
PC means personal computer
Hi!
It seems that current reviews are more generous than in the past, and you can discuss them until the end of times, but I don’t think that explains the lack of posts, which is the topic here. In fact, that debate increases the number of posts! lol
I just say it’s something common everywhere. I follow several Spanish sites, most of them are dead, and the few alive, they say the same, people is not as active as before. So I don’t think it’s about modernizing the forum, it’s just the sign of times. Heck, young people don’t even watch soccer!
Currently translating Strangeland into Spanish. Wish me luck, or send me money to my Paypal haha
how would you rate it Doom, Perfect Tides, i mean, and sorry if i missed you saying anything about it before, but as always i am interested in your opinions
Yes, I’m sorry for starting a discussion about overly positive reviews, I completely forgot about Advie’s old thread, and I didn’t want to start a new one. But those 4.5 stars reviews just keep popping up (three in just ten days!). I had no desire to discuss every game “in person” - merely wanted to point out that there’s something very wrong about the current site’s evaluation system.
how would you rate it Doom, Perfect Tides, i mean, and sorry if i missed you saying anything about it before, but as always i am interested in your opinions
I wrote a review as soon as I finished it: https://adventuregamers.com/ratings/view/12426 I gave it 2 out of 5. I do realise I’m in a minority, but I really don’t get the whole praise for this game, and for the main character in particular. One of the most annoying protagonists in recent memory.
PC means personal computer
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