• Log In | Sign Up

  • News
  • Reviews
  • Top Games
  • Search
  • New Releases
  • Daily Deals
  • Forums

Adventure Gamers - Forums

Welcome to Adventure Gamers. Please Sign In or Join Now to post.

You are here: HomeForum Home → Gaming → Adventure → Thread

Post Marker Legend:

  • New Topic New posts
  • Old Topic No new posts

Currently online

Support us, by purchasing through these affiliate links

   

Casual Playthrough #6 – Drawn: The Painted Tower

Avatar

Total Posts: 3933

Joined 2011-03-14

PM

Sefir - 09 February 2015 09:42 AM

Sefir thinks that way because (being a leader), he needs to be one step ahead of you!
Wait until you solve your first painting in the next chapter! Tongue

Solved it, and I get what you mean, but that only really recaps what we had already learned from the letters. Perhaps it adds a tiny little bit more detail, and it is a nice puzzle and recap, but not quite what I had hoped for storywise.

In fact, so far in this part there hasn’t really been added much to the story, the game isn’t over yet, so there might still pop up something interesting, but I don’t really expect much anymore.

     

You have to play the game, to find out why you are playing the game! - eXistenZ

Avatar

Total Posts: 5553

Joined 2008-01-09

PM

Heh.  I liked the Friend/Foe puzzle, although I realize it can be confusing.  Sorry you had so much trouble with it, Izno.

     

Carpe chocolate.

Avatar

Total Posts: 5030

Joined 2004-07-12

PM

I re-installed BFG Game Manager and haven’t had another crash.

I made it through Hall of Giants although I did forget that putting the correct symbols in order wasn’t enough. So I spent the better part of 1/2 hour repositioning them. Argh!

I’m at Fire and Ice. I made it through the first pass of Dragon’s Lair without much difficulty. Can’t say the same about the Ice side. Although the one lion head is clearly labeled FOE, I still thought it had to be solved in order to proceed. Wasted a lot of time there.

     

For whom the games toll,
they toll for thee.

Avatar

Total Posts: 5030

Joined 2004-07-12

PM

Finished.

This is still the most beautiful casual game I’ve ever played. Even the bleakest scenes are exquisitely portrayed. The music is incredibly good. There is a thread right now that discusses music in AGs. I think Drawn is a rival to any pure orchestral AG selection. And while there is a choral motif running throughout, I consider that to be the equivalent of another instrument.

The credits give the names of three voice actors. The actor for Iris has only two lines. As do the actor that voices the henchmen at game’s end. Thus the only voice actor that matters is the one that voice Frederick, and he was magnificent. All the emotions - depression, melancholy, fear, urgency, etc. are conveyed expertly.

I can’t wait to get started on Drawn 2.

     

For whom the games toll,
they toll for thee.

Avatar

Total Posts: 192

Joined 2006-08-07

PM

I’d just like to chip in that I’ve started the game. I haven’t even reached the first checkpoint yet but I’m interested in continuing, especially since I’ve only played this first installment of the series. We are continuing with the remaining ones after this, correct?

I will probably be lagging behind for quite a while, I can’t believe how much more time I’m suddenly spending on things like, I don’t know, life or whatever. Tongue I’ll pick up my gaming pace sooner or later, I’m sure. Looking forward to my first casual playthroughs!

Edit: All right, I made it to the Hall of Giants. When I played this for the first time, about two years ago, I had really high expectations. I knew it was from the same studio that made the fantastic Mystery Case Files series. Of course I didn’t expect the series to be similar at all, but I was still a little disappointed by The Painted Tower. I basically agree with what everyone is saying: the art is really beautiful, the music is great and the puzzles are usually pretty clever. But something just didn’t click with me.

I think the game’s greatest potential lies in its serene atmosphere, it should be played as a relaxing experience. There are several games that rely on this that I really like, like Syberia and some of the games from Amanita Design. But for some reason, The Painted Tower just made me impatient. I hardly remember anything from the game except that I was anxious to get it over with.

I do appreciate it more this time around. But I still get really impatient whenever I get stuck. I don’t know what it is with this game. Maybe it’s due to the fact that there isn’t much of a story, as has already been discussed. I’m curious to see if that will improve later on.

By the way, BFG has a two for one sale this weekend. I’m grabbing the remaining two Drawn games for the following playthroughs.

     
Avatar

Total Posts: 1573

Joined 2003-09-10

PM

Hi harald—yes, we’re continuing on with the other two games in the Drawn series after this one. Glad you could join us!

I’m at Fire and Ice now. I liked the Cave of Sorrows symbol puzzle very much—I remember it was one of my favorites from my first playthrough as well. I’m particularly satisfied by puzzles that also tell some backstory. They don’t feel like random obstacles then.

I thought it was interesting to learn that word had somehow gotten out to the kingdom’s usurper that Iris was still alive. I wonder if the red scarf, blowing away from the tower, is the clue the usurper discovered. If so, it brings up the question—did Iris accidentally lose the red scarf? Or did she purposely lose the red scarf? Was it, in a sense, a gauntlet thrown down?

I feel for Franklin, turned to stone and having to watch Iris make her own way, including her own mistakes.

     
Avatar

Total Posts: 3933

Joined 2011-03-14

PM

Finished the game now, and I think it should be fairly safe to post this picture without spoiling anything for anyone:

As I suspected not much more happened storywise, instead we just get to the top of the tower, find Iris, a small cutscene and game over.

There is however one thing that confuses me regarding the story:
[spoiler]Iris is trapped at the top and Franklin is turned into stone, but the villains don’t actually arrive at the tower until we have reached iris, so who trapped her and tuned Franklin to stone?[/spoiler]

I guess you could argue that it was done from a distance, to make sure that Iris didn’t escape before his henchmen arrived to take her into custody, but that doesn’t sound very plausible. In fact all the obstacles we had to overcome to get to Iris, seems like something you would set up defensively to protect Iris and prevent anyone from getting to her. But if it was the tower, or her parents magic, that was protecting Iris, then why turn Frankelin to stone, and why also trap Iris instead of giving her some means to escape, which she clearly had and was capable of, if it wasn’t for the fact that she was trapped in the tower.

The more I think about it, the less sense it actually makes. I was also a bit disappointed that there weren’t any stand-off between us, Iris and the villain, I had hoped that when we got to the last part, then we would run into the villain trying to break down Iris’s and the towers last defences, and then we had to do something that would enable Iris to win the battle. I also think it would have made a bit more sense, instead of what actually did happen.

Becky - 14 February 2015 07:20 AM

I thought it was interesting to learn that word had somehow gotten out to the kingdom’s usurper that Iris was still alive. I wonder if the red scarf, blowing away from the tower, is the clue the usurper discovered. If so, it brings up the question—did Iris accidentally lose the red scarf? Or did she purposely lose the red scarf? Was it, in a sense, a gauntlet thrown down?

I don’t think so, look at this screenshot from the very beginning of the game (should be safe to post now)

It is the scarf that she lost, and it is very clearly a plead for help to whoever might find it, so the villain has very clearly found her before she looses the scarf. Though you are right, that it was not an accident that she lost it.

Anyway apart from the story that was a bit too thin for my taste, then I have enjoyed playing the game. The graphics and art are of high quality, and the puzzles were both more interesting, more difficult and generally better designed, with an exception or two *cough* friend or foe *cough*, than what we have seen in the other games in these casual playthroughs. The hint system could have been better, much better, in fact I would rather have had a hotspot-finder and no hint-system at all, as the troubles I did have can pretty much be boiled down to missing some hot-spots.

I did take a lot of screenshots this time, including the whole back-story as told in the Cave of Sorrows, and will post them later, when everybody has finished.

Thanks for leading this playthrough Sefir, and I’m looking forward to playing the next game in the series.

     

You have to play the game, to find out why you are playing the game! - eXistenZ

Avatar

Total Posts: 1573

Joined 2003-09-10

PM

Izno—you’re right. I should replay the beginning of these games before I start extreme speculations.  Naughty

Here’s the poster on the door of the tower that also adds a bit of info.

Apparently Franklin and Iris haven’t kept themselves hidden in the tower all these years—they’ve sometimes walked around the town. Apparently that’s how they were first spotted.

     
Avatar

Total Posts: 5553

Joined 2008-01-09

PM

It was my understanding that the evil king’s henchmen found and ransacked the tower and turned Franklin to stone but were unable to get their hands on Iris.  When they reported this to the king, he decided to come and fetch her himself.

     

Carpe chocolate.

Avatar

Total Posts: 5030

Joined 2004-07-12

PM

That was my understanding as well. But, if that’s the case, who was responsible for the traps? From what Franklin says at the beginning of the game, it was the King and the Chancellor who did it, but it must have been done from afar. Because, if they were physically there at the tower, there would have been no need to set the traps. So, if they set the traps from afar, it was for two purposes. One, to keep anyone else from getting to her, and two, to keep her at the top of the tower until they arrived. It just didn’t work out as they had planned.

     

For whom the games toll,
they toll for thee.

Avatar

Total Posts: 5804

Joined 2012-03-24

PM

I’ve just got stuck into The Painted Tower today & have got as far as trying to access the Hall of Giants.  So far I’ve found it a beautiful game & with such lovely music very relaxing to play after a tough morning at work!

It veered towards the ‘ Adventure lite’ side a little more than I expected with the story being very simplistic (so far) but with the game being well enough constructed & enough to engage within it to come across as a modern day fairy tale & like it that it didn’t try too hard to be anything more complicated (so far!)

I loved some of the ideas in the game like jumping into the paintings & using drawings as inventory items also changing from day to night & vice versa by drawing either the sun or the moon (I sure wish I had the touch screen facility to do that with although it was very forgiving!). I thought the window pane puzzle was quite clever leaving the arrow in the centre as I never connected it to the clue! Also the eyeball puzzle where clicking on one affects all adjacent to although not my favourite type of puzzle I managed to do!
There’s such a lot to like about this game so far & I’m hoping to finish it in the next couple of days.

NB Is there going to be a small break between finishing this game & starting the next? (I need some time to catch up with The whispered World!)

     
Avatar

Total Posts: 2978

Joined 2012-03-09

PM

rtrooney - 14 February 2015 01:37 PM

That was my understanding as well. But, if that’s the case, who was responsible for the traps? From what Franklin says at the beginning of the game, it was the King and the Chancellor who did it, but it must have been done from afar. Because, if they were physically there at the tower, there would have been no need to set the traps. So, if they set the traps from afar, it was for two purposes. One, to keep anyone else from getting to her, and two, to keep her at the top of the tower until they arrived. It just didn’t work out as they had planned.

I totally agree. I was also thinking of the possibility that the dragon in the painting may have turned against them and using his own power against his creator (Iris) or even being responsible for many of the traps and destruction within.

     
Avatar

Total Posts: 5030

Joined 2004-07-12

PM

Sefir - 14 February 2015 03:51 PM

I totally agree. I was also thinking of the possibility that the dragon in the painting may have turned against them and using his own power against his creator (Iris) or even being responsible for many of the traps and destruction within.

That’s the one part of the scenario that confuses me. There are several references to the dragon throughout the game. There were at least two letters that referenced the dragon. It was depicted in the clock tower painting/puzzle. It was again referenced in the Hall of Giants code puzzle. It obviously exists in the fire/ice painting. And the psychology of the dragon was referenced one last time when you placed the sketch in the tower book.

The only thing that makes sense to me is that a “real” dragon, under the command of the evil king and the chancellor, destroyed the baby Iris’ homeland. Iris was given to Frederick for safe-keeping. During their journey Frederick told Iris “dragon stories”. He apologized and expressed his regret for doing this in one of his letters to Iris. Iris, in turn, uses Franklin’s descriptions as source material for the two paintings in which the dragon appears.

Another thing that does make sense is what Lady K says about the henchmen. They trashed the tower, but weren’t smart enough to find/capture Iris. (Nor were they likely smart enough to set any traps.) So, when they returned to the evil king without Iris, all of the subsequent trap setting took place.

And that’s the story I’m sticking with until somebody comes up with a better one.  Smile

     

For whom the games toll,
they toll for thee.

Avatar

Total Posts: 2978

Joined 2012-03-09

PM

rtrooney - 14 February 2015 06:54 PM
Sefir - 14 February 2015 03:51 PM

I totally agree. I was also thinking of the possibility that the dragon in the painting may have turned against them and using his own power against his creator (Iris) or even being responsible for many of the traps and destruction within.

Another thing that does make sense is what Lady K says about the henchmen. They trashed the tower, but weren’t smart enough to find/capture Iris. (Nor were they likely smart enough to set any traps.) So, when they returned to the evil king without Iris, all of the subsequent trap setting took place.

They also destroyed all the paintings. Except of the Dragon one in “Fire”, which was the only one totally unharmed and complete. Not a coincidence of cource.

     
Avatar

Total Posts: 192

Joined 2006-08-07

PM

I’ve been experiencing some crashes as well. Frown The first one apparently corrupted my save game (I was told it needed to be “updated to the new version” and “unfortunately, some save game data will be lost”. After that, I found the game in a completely inconsistent state where I had no inventory items, no puzzles seemed to be solved but my progress was retained. As in, the dragon would melt the ice on the wall but the Iris statue was still in place (the one you have to rotate using the weights on ropes to make it disappear). I spent a few fun, trippy moments in the tower before the game crashed again. This time, my save game state was completely reset to the beginning. Angry

It seems possible to replay it fairly quickly if I skip all the puzzles and cut-scenes, so I still hope I’ll be able to finish today.

     

You are here: HomeForum Home → Gaming → Adventure → Thread

Welcome to the Adventure Gamers forums!

Back to the top