Adventure Gamers - Forums

Iznogood - 04 September 2014 09:04 AM

I would also like to thank Tim for leading this playthrough, I know that it is not a small task and that it takes some work, especially when it is the first time you are leading a playthrough.

Thanks, Iz.

There are four people that were critical to making this playthrough a success. First is Becky. The concept of the playthrough was hers. She just stuck me with all the grunt work. Then there were Iz and Chrissie. Anybody who saw the first post of this playthrough saw how unprepared I was regarding screenshots. They walked me through the process. And thanks to their help I think I got pretty good at it. And, of course, there is the “other Tim” who, behind the scenes offered invaluable advice on how to make this whole thing work, even though he had never played a casual game himself.

Finally, a sincere thank you to all who participated, and continue to participate with our dissection of the game’s intricacies. Without you there would have been no fun.

I look forward to doing this again.

Thanks for the playthrough, Tim.  I enjoyed it.

In case anyone missed them, here are the last 3 screenshots from the bonus section:

Oh, and regarding Angelica’s appearance, she does flicker in a ghostly manner at the end.

millenia - 02 September 2014 06:09 AM

I know it was supposed to be creepy, and it kinda was, but I think I really just snickered finding my name on the mirror and later on the bonus chapter too. It just stood out like a sore thumb, being a Finnish nickname among all those Brittish/Irish last names.

Those things never cease to give me a short “Oh crap!” feeling. I love it when games do this.

I especially loved it in James Noir’s Hollywood Crimes (which I played recently on the 3DS) as that uses your picture as well. Heck, that game even managed to make YOU a believable suspect, even to yourself!

colpet - 02 September 2014 06:50 PM

All in all it was fun to play this concurrently with other members, and would do it again if there was another opportunity.

^ This.

rtrooney - 03 September 2014 07:00 PM

I think if there is one thing that can generally be said about casual games it is that the endings are very often abrupt.

I have more problems with the plot being all over the place near the end, than with the abruptness of its ending…

Regardless, I hope you enjoyed your time playing THE FIRST CASUAL GAME PLAYTHROUGH EVER! with everyone.

I did!

And, more importantly, I know you were turned off on the casual concept when you played the games your wife bought for your as a (loving/thoughtful) gift.  Hopefully this shows that there are better options.

Well, to be honest, I’m not so fond of most of the HOG scenes because it doesn’t make sense to look for 20 items when only two or so are important. Matching those shoes to find the one that doesn’t have a counterpart at least makes sense in-game. Unless it’s a Layton-esque game, then I like my puzzles with context and if they would provide some, it would improve things greatly, imo.
HOGs were but a small part of this game (as opposed to the only parts of those games my wife got me), so yeah, “better options” indeed!

rtrooney - 04 September 2014 07:06 PM

I think the thing that troubles me most is physicality of events.

I’m inclined to go with “game-logic” and being supposed to suspend your disbelief. To paraphrase the MST3K Mantra: “It’s just a game, I should really just relax.”

I’m with Iz regarding the ten generations of killers thing. That’s 300 years of the same family murdering twenty or so people with the same last name. It didn’t add to the story, and, on the surface, it seems preposterous that it could happen.

It also doesn’t fit with the numbering of the victims in the last section. That suggests that London should have been the second spree and this the third, not that there have been several other killing sprees…

rtrooney - 04 September 2014 11:19 PM

And, of course, there is the “other Tim” who, behind the scenes offered invaluable advice on how to make this whole thing work, even though he had never played a casual game himself.

No, thank YOU for organising and running this playthrough!

There are certainly a few theories. Some quite divergent. I’m certainly interested in your take of who did what to whom and when. Let us know your thoughts when you’ve finished the replay and bonus chapter.

I’m not sure we will ever reach a consensus. Both Iz and Tim have called some of the inconsistencies “Game Logic.” I can live with that, but I really didn’t wish I had to.

So, give us your thoughts.

It appears that most players enjoyed this experiment, and have said they would participate again. I agree. I thought this was wonderful fun. This game may have been a rarity in that the story, in and of itself, generated so much conversation, over and above the gameplay. I’m not sure how many other casual games would measure up.

But, I think we should give it another try.

This certainly was a thought provoking game and one that’s good for replays.

And a good community playthrough. If I have the game I’d definitely participate in the next one too, not sure if I’m willing to go and buy new games just for it though.

rtrooney - 08 September 2014 10:40 PM

This game may have been a rarity in that the story, in and of itself, generated so much conversation, over and above the gameplay. I’m not sure how many other casual games would measure up.

That’s what happens when you have an ambiguous plot point (is it a vision? is it time travel? is it something else?) and a lot of differing opinions.

But, I think we should give it another try.

Definitely!

Becky - 09 September 2014 03:55 PM

Those who are new to Hidden Object games—I’m curious as to what you thought of the gameplay. Did you enjoy the Hidden Object screens, or would you have skipped them if the game had given that as an option?

Like I said in an earlier post: I would prefer it if the HOGs had some more context. I fail to see why we’re looking for a list of 16 or so items, when only 2 of them are of any importance to the plot.
In comparison, I liked the one with the pairs of shoes, as that one had an actual purpose: finding the ‘lone’ shoe. I also liked the Mahjongg-like car keys (except that it didn’t make any sense to only pick “free” keys apart from adding a little more difficulty to the puzzle).
The regular HOGs are far too similar to each other to be any good (they get tedious fast), so it’s good that they weren’t that abundant in this game.

As for skipping them, that’s against my nature. I’m a completionist player, and I don’t dislike HOGs nearly enough to skip them. At worst, I’ll click all over the place to get them done faster (especially if there’s no penalty for misclicks), but skipping? No.

And what did you think of the relatively rapid puzzling pace—where the next puzzle shows up much more quickly than in many adventure games, with less wandering-around-exploration than in many adventure games?

I’m more or less used to that pace as I often play puzzle games as well (the Layton games for instance), and I like puzzles, so yeah, bring them on.

Becky - 09 September 2014 03:55 PM

Those who are new to Hidden Object games—I’m curious as to what you thought of the gameplay. Did you enjoy the Hidden Object screens, or would you have skipped them if the game had given that as an option?

As I believe I said in an earlier post “I will never be a fan of HO”, but skipping them altogether? The problem is that they are (hopefully) an integrated part of the game, so it would destroy the pace of the game or similar.

I guess it depends on many things:
If they are as easy as in this game, with no penalty for wrong clicks and only a part of the puzzles in the game, then I wouldn’t skip them.
If the majority of the game consists of HO, then I would most likely skip the whole game
If they are insanely hard, like morphed into the background, and only constitute a relative small part of the puzzle, then yes I would probably skip them if it was an option.

Becky - 09 September 2014 03:55 PM

And what did you think of the relatively rapid puzzling pace—where the next puzzle shows up much more quickly than in many adventure games, with less wandering-around-exploration than in many adventure games?

I didn’t find that pace that fast and there were also some exploration, like in the train wagons, and there are also slow and fast paced AG. Besides I like variety and also play other kind of games than AG, so that really wasn’t that new to me. What did perhaps felt a bit weird to me was the pace with which the story progressed with some leaps in the narrative, where I’m more used to slower progressing stories.

rtrooney - 08 September 2014 10:40 PM

But, I think we should give it another try.

I really liked this, so count me in.

TimovieMan - 09 September 2014 06:56 AM

rtrooney - 08 September 2014 10:40 PM

]But, I think we should give it another try.

Definitely!

There are a few games I have in mind that would match this experience. Only one was nominated in the last voting. But if it’s a little grit and a little noir you’re looking for, I have some options.

Iznogood - 09 September 2014 06:45 PM

What did perhaps felt a bit weird to me was the pace with which the story progressed with some leaps in the narrative, where I’m more used to slower progressing stories.

^ This.

Especially towards the end, the plot suddenly jumped all over the place (and imo skipped a few steps) to ultimately end up with a culprit that wasn’t even a suspect before.
I don’t mind an occasional leap of logic to advance the plot, but this happened too often for comfort here…

rtrooney - 09 September 2014 08:40 PM

There are a few games I have in mind that would match this experience. Only one was nominated in the last voting. But if it’s a little grit and a little noir you’re looking for, I have some options.

They wouldn’t necessarily need to match this experience. I’m open to all suggestions in terms of style, story, puzzles, etc.

I’m more than willing to let these Casual Playthroughs be my window into the world of casual games.

It certainly beats having “the casuals my wife gets me” be that window…

Just a bit of information:

As of Friday the thread Casual Playthrough - Angelica Weaver will no longer be pinned to the top of the front page. You will still be able to post to it. And I and others will try to respond as best we can.