Adventure Gamers - Forums

walas74 - 07 February 2018 05:26 PM

chrissie - 07 February 2018 01:56 PM

I finally got around to playing Dead Synchronicity: Tomorrow Comes Today & loved the story, the characters, the gameplay & the artwork which seemed appropriate for the mood of the game. I was completely engrossed in the world for the duration of the game but was perhaps a little disappointed with the concept of the story which concluded in a way I didn’t find overly convincing or satisfying despite a clever idea?

chrissie, it is supossed to have a second part, that’s why the ending is not… conclusive.

Thanks walas74 for that info I wasn’t convinced by the concept anyway & would disagree that the game was left on a cliff-hanger, despite ending abruptly, as there was enough explained to know that everything could & probably would be reversed but a sequel possibly could have brought me round to being more believing of the concept & I would love to see one. Unfortunately after 3 years there’s still no sign of that on the horizon! 

I forgot to mention on my recent marathon of game-playing that I also completed Four Last Things    A very nice point & click AG that cleverly sets the story into a background of a series of classical paintings (with a few tweaks here & there) & uses classical music portrayed by in-game characters playing it, the composers & title of the pieces wonderfully labelled as you come cross them.
I just felt a little frustrated on conclusion of the game that I couldn’t get an alternative ending!

I played Resonance and i didn’t like at all.
But i just finished Technobabylon and i really enjoyed it.

I guess you win some, and you lose some.

I’m curious to know why you didn’t like Resonance? But I appreciate that some games just don’t do it for everyone. But yes, Technobabylon is an interesting game! 

chrissie - 11 February 2018 05:27 PM

I’m curious to know why you didn’t like Resonance? But I appreciate that some games just don’t do it for everyone. But yes, Technobabylon is an interesting game! 

Well i find the story to be quite cliche and a bit of a mess.

That Antevorta conspiracy, besides being the obvious evil option it has so many lose threads. The DNA bank seems to be something big but unrelated to the plot; the traditional Japanese lady in the middle of a dirty alley is weird just for the sake of being weird and worst so the fact that she is a psychic! (?) It adds more noise to an already messy plot without good reason, completely unnecessary! Ed’s motives and connection to the conspiracy feels also obscure and forced. With the antagonists being so messy, the whole plot just crumbles.

Also the short/long term memory was a frustrating mechanic. While i appreciate innovation, i found myself many times backtracking somewhere because i forgot to “pick” some memory and just assumed it would appear on the dialog tree. At first i thought it was gonna be a nice idea, but it didn’t quite work for me in this game. 

Overall i felt that it had some potential, it has some good individual parts, but those parts aren’t working well together, they feel forced to keep the plot going somewhere.

100% agreed. Technobablyon was a far superior game to Resonance.

sordy-wordy - 12 February 2018 02:10 AM

chrissie - 11 February 2018 05:27 PM

I’m curious to know why you didn’t like Resonance? But I appreciate that some games just don’t do it for everyone. But yes, Technobabylon is an interesting game! 

Well i find the story to be quite cliche and a bit of a mess.

That Antevorta conspiracy, besides being the obvious evil option it has so many lose threads. The DNA bank seems to be something big but unrelated to the plot; the traditional Japanese lady in the middle of a dirty alley is weird just for the sake of being weird and worst so the fact that she is a psychic! (?) It adds more noise to an already messy plot without good reason, completely unnecessary! Ed’s motives and connection to the conspiracy feels also obscure and forced. With the antagonists being so messy, the whole plot just crumbles.

Also the short/long term memory was a frustrating mechanic. While i appreciate innovation, i found myself many times backtracking somewhere because i forgot to “pick” some memory and just assumed it would appear on the dialog tree. At first i thought it was gonna be a nice idea, but it didn’t quite work for me in this game. 

Overall i felt that it had some potential, it has some good individual parts, but those parts aren’t working well together, they feel forced to keep the plot going somewhere.

Thanks sordy-wordy for replying!  It’s always interesting to read an alternative impression of a game so highly rated which I also found excellent & the reasons why the game didn’t work for someone else. 

Just finished the Sexy Brutale and what a game. I truly loved everything about it. The characters, the story, the writing, the art, the music, but most importantly the gameplay. It is such an innovative and refreshing idea in solving puzzles that is so immersive and satisfying. It feels a little like Tacoma with some old school inventory adventuring mixed in. This is definitely a very strong contender for AG of the year.

I’ve just finished playing the demo of Inspector Waffles, and I can’t wait for the first episode to come out! A game that combines a detective story, a lighthearted mood, and cats - well, that sounds very much like my dreamgame . The interface is intuitive, the interrogation mechanics work well, and it’s brimming with cat puns and cute little details.

Sally Face, Episodes 1-3

Very pleasantly surprised. Each episode is better and more ambitious than the previous. I began the series thinking it’d be derivative of Fran Bow. But now I think it might be slightly better. It lacks the stylistic polish and gameplay depth of that game, but the characters and plot are less simplistic*. And something about its earthy melancholy sticks in my mind more than the angsty surrealism of Fran Bow.

Both games are great, but to anyone out there like me who dismissed Sally Face as some kind of imitation, do give it a shot. The first episode is far too brief, but the remaining episodes are pretty solid; and when all five episodes are released I imagine it’ll make for a very satisfying playthrough.

*to be fair, Fran Bow intentionally aims for a naive children’s storybook quality

Just finished thimbleweed park. It was very good. All in all its a strong game with lots of fun multi-tasking and interesting characters with a compelling plot. There were times in which so much was going on where multiple objectives werent really obtainable.. and the game struggled to communicate that. But it checks off many boxes for a fun solid adventure. Now.. I have to talk about the ending..
This is the third game in a short span of time I’ve played that ended with “the characters become self-aware they’re in a game, releasing the devs from the burden of making the plot details fit at the end.” Its a twist that can work.. and feel very clever. And i suppose ultimately this is a comedy game that doesnt take itself too seriously. But going this route is kind of like skipping the landing of the plot. Im still not really sure how i feel about it.. except i dont really want to see lots of games doing this. I dont think this is reliable solution for making a satisfying ending. I’d call it a gimmick-end. And i dont think i really disliked the ending here… it just forgoes trying to tie everything together in a cohesive way.

Peter254 - 18 February 2018 09:28 PM

Sally Face, Episodes 1-3
Very pleasantly surprised. Each episode is better and more ambitious than the previous. I began the series thinking it’d be derivative of Fran Bow. But now I think it might be slightly better. It lacks the stylistic polish and gameplay depth of that game, but the characters and plot are less simplistic*. And something about its earthy melancholy sticks in my mind more than the angsty surrealism of Fran Bow.

Both games are great, but to anyone out there like me who dismissed Sally Face as some kind of imitation, do give it a shot. The first episode is far too brief, but the remaining episodes are pretty solid; and when all five episodes are released I imagine it’ll make for a very satisfying playthrough.

*to be fair, Fran Bow intentionally aims for a naive children’s storybook quality

I tried the game out. The 1st episode was quite short & although I enjoyed it wouldn’t otherwise have grabbed me enough to buy more if it wasn’t for your post Peter254.

The 2nd episode started off well enough but I’m sorry, I did start to find it a little tedious & wasn’t crazy about the retro puzzle games which although in theory were a nice idea to unravel aspects of the story they just weren’t my scene & for me having to play through 8 doesn’t fit comfortably into my idea of an AG although one or two of those puzzles would have been okay integrated into the game in a different way.
I’ve got to episode 3 which I’m intending to play & did buy the season pass as the game does seem to have enough about it!
But personally I think Fran Bow is far better & would disagree that the characters & plot are less simplistic & as far as I’ve got more the reverse although I see no need to compare the games as the theme & approach in both cases are different!     

I still very much like Fran Bow and in a lot of ways I think it’s fair to conclude that it’s a better designed game than Sally Face. But what made me, personally, feel more attached to Sally Face is its slight nudge towards a ‘true crime’ element, starting in Episode 3. While I enjoyed Fran Bow, I had hoped that its plot would be less fantastical and metaphorical, with more of a realistic emphasis on the crime of her parents’ death.

The narrative of Sally Face sort of plays out like Fran Bow had it not taken such a sudden detour into fantasy. Neither approach is inherently better or worse; but for my own tastes, as a lover of conspiracies and true crime, Sally Face scratches a certain itch.

For sure the game builds more steam with Episode 3. The lone developer has stated that his mind was in an unhappy place when he made the first two, and that he’s doing a lot better now.