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Adventure Game Scene of the Day - Friday12 February

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Casual Friday

Here we are with the third chapter in the list of game series that have outlived their welcome. I’ve purposely omitted some series which others might think qualify. Dark Tales is one. Even though all the games have much in common, specifically that they are based on Edgar Allan Poe stories, they are all individual, stand-alone games. There is no way you would try to connect the dots between Black Cat and Marie Roget. Similarly, the Surface games share a common title, but they are individual stories.

Not so with the Grim Tales series from Elephant Games. Interestingly Elephant Games also produces the Surface games noted above, and has recently taken over production of the Mystery Case Files games previously developed by Big Fish Studios. But I digress.

The current number of games in the Grim Tales series is nine. The first in the series was Grim Tales - The Bride. It is here that you are introduced to the major characters who will inhabit most of the games. You, the player, are the protagonist. The main action on most of the games involves saving your sister, Louisa, one or more of her children, and/or Louisa’s husband from some unknown hazzard. Often involving sorcery, witchery of some other supernatural phenomenon. So far, so good.

The individual games are not bad. Although I have to admit that I haven’t played all nine of them. There were three games that, after playing the demo, I decided just weren’t worth the effort. The problem with the games is the pace at which they are developed, which averages two-to-three games per year. And the fact that there is apparently no length to which the developers will not go to develop preposterous scenarios in order to continue the series.

Example: In game one you are introduced to Louisa and her husband to be. In game two, The Legacy, Louisa is married and is having a son. In game three, The Wishes, (The above screenshot comes from this game,) the son, Brandon, is now seven or eight years old, and is having supernatural problems that affect both is mother and father. In game four, The Stone Queen, Brandon is in his late teens, has fallen in love with a woman called, not surprisingly,  the Stone Queen, and lies paralyzed in a town, until you arrive to save the day. In game six, The Vengeance, Brandon is now in his late twenties, and is accused of murdering his sister in order to inherit the estate. Again, you are called on to set things straight.

Game five was titled Bloody Mary. I may have to go back and play that game because, as much as I disliked the demo, it obviously set the stage for the birth of a sister as well as the death of both parents. The seventh game, Color of Fright, is another that I didn’t play. It was apparently a transition game that bridged saving Brandon from the gallows and you finding yourself accused of murder in game eight, The Final Suspect. The most recent game, Threads of Destiny, is the other game I have not played.

Despite the continuity problems, the games are technically excellent. Per the above screenshot, the graphics are gorgeous. As are the music, sound effects and voice acting.

Aside from the three demos I didn’t like, the other games were not bad games…if taken individually. It’s the fact that there is a continuing set of characters who develop over an absurd timeline is what I find annoying. We have one character who goes from a spark in his father’s eye to a young adult accused of fratricide in the space of five games and 2 1/2 years. All the while your character ages not a whit. A little credibility is in order here!

 

     

For whom the games toll,
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Grim Tales: The Legacy is one of the most beautiful casual games I’ve played. I’ve started The Wishes twice and then got distracted by something else. I’ve played demos for the rest of the series over the years, but in a continuing storyline like this one, I like to finish one game before I start another. Maybe I should get back to The Wishes.

Any chance the character we play is immortal? Maybe she’s a vampire and doesn’t quite realize it?  Naughty

     
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I’ve played at least 4 titles in the Grim Tales series so I must have liked them but don’t remember too much as I haven’t played any of them in the immediate past!  Smile

     
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Becky - 12 February 2016 01:10 AM

Any chance the character we play is immortal? Maybe she’s a vampire and doesn’t quite realize it?  Naughty

I don’t doubt that somewhere/sometime that design concept was discussed as a possibility. While not explicitly stated, there were werewolf undertones in the first game regarding Louisa’s husband-to-be and his family. Wink

     

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chrissie - 12 February 2016 08:21 AM

I’ve played at least 4 titles in the Grim Tales series so I must have liked them but don’t remember too much as I haven’t played any of them in the immediate past!  Smile

I didn’t say I didn’t like them. In fact, I liked all the ones I played. But I liked them as individual games. Not as part of a series. While I agree that the designers must be allowed some “poetic license,” I think there are limits to that license if any semblance of credibility is to be maintained.

     

For whom the games toll,
they toll for thee.

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