Broken Age - Double Fine's Kickstarter Adventure Game

[Sordid MCA/Prosper Hybryd]

you have about ten screens, five additional ones in xxx, and in one of them in the xxx environment, 5x2 different world states. This is not gamedesign, this is needle in a haystack structuring.

OMFG! These retards should be incinerated for the sake of humanity's gene pool (and for the sake of having good things)

 

[paintinggrey]

well, I just finished the game and in my opinion is pretty meh.


** spoilers**

Spoiler

First act is brutally easy and second act is ok. Puzzles are ok, nothing special to be honest however it seems like they padded the playtime with loads of backtracking. Also not many new screens, most of screens are same as act 1 but with a few differences due to story progression.

Story in the act 2 is paper thin, completely rushed and ending completely sucks. They couldn't even be bothered to explain why did shay's parents pretend to be computers in the first place or why the aliens kidnap the girls every 14 years and why only girls. Since it obviously ends in a happy ending, the look a like aliens got taken out off screen somehow and every year they celebrate that on a bridge holding hands. Seriously did i miss something?

Cant believe this game is rated higher than Memoria in Metacritic.

 

[Bubbles]

The ending is setting up for Broken Age 2.

 

[paintinggrey]

The ending is setting up for Broken Age 2.

**spoilers**

Spoiler

not really, i am pretty sure it shows what happens after the game in credits in the form of drawings and in one of them shows alien leader and granny alien getting taken down

 

[felipepepe]

I honestly enjoyed Vella's part on Act 2. Had the whole game been like this I would have been quite satisfied. But Shay's bit are really lame puzzles, full of "click on all dialogs", completely useless characters and a lot of back-and-forth between the same locations...

Oh, and a giant FUCK YOU to whoever thought those wire puzzles were a good way to end the game. It was already a stupid puzzle once, but designing the end-game around it was just dementia.

 

[Bubbles]

Oh, and a giant FUCK YOU to whoever thought those wire puzzles were a good way to end the game. It was already a stupid puzzle once, but designing the end-game around it was just dementia.

Sad to see the decline claim another victim. Alas, alack.

not really, i am pretty sure it shows what happens after the game in credits in the form of drawings

Wow, I just skipped past that. A bit of an odd choice to shift what could easily be a full-fledged epilogue into a series of drawing shown during the credits. Presumably a monetary issue.

Speaking of which, it's odd that they changed both their recording venue and their localization studio for Act 2. Act 1 wasn't bad in those regards, so presumably they switched to cheaper providers.

 

[paintinggrey]

I honestly enjoyed Vella's part on Act 2. Had the whole game been like this I would have been quite satisfied. But Shay's bit are really lame puzzles, full of "click on all dialogs", completely useless characters and a lot of back-and-forth between the same locations...

Oh, and a giant FUCK YOU to whoever thought those wire puzzles were a good way to end the game. It was already a stupid puzzle once, but designing the end-game around it was just dementia.

took me fucking ages to figure out where to find the solution to the first wire puzzle simply because i was skipping shay same dialogue until one instance. Really pissed me off.

 

[Aeschylus]

Well, Act 2 was a lot better than Act 1, so I guess that averages out to an OK game.

The narrative I think was the weakest part, and what I think brought it down was the setting. Schaefer's (good) games have always been about characters doing otherwise mundane things (going to summer camp, being a travel agent) in bizarre settings, and this one was people doing bizarre things in an otherwise fairly mundane setting. Though the conclusion felt tonally similar to the 4th year of Grim Fandango, it didn't have that supporting base to make it seem anything more than kind of silly.

The puzzles though I thought were actually pretty good. Might not be the most popular opinion but I liked the wire puzzle (well, it was overused a bit, but at least it made you think and maybe take notes), and the fact that there was at least a little interrelation between the paths. The dialogue also felt a bit sharper this time.

Well, it won't be remembered as an all-time classic or anything, but I will give them some credit for improving on the 1st act quite a bit. This one at least felt like an adventure game.

 

[Lucky]

How does it compare to Schaefer's previous games? I've completely stayed away from Broken Age since the kickstarter and I'm wondering how it holds up. I've heard good things about the documentary, but nothing consistent about Act 1 and Act 2 of the actual game.

 

[Bubbles]

Might not be the most popular opinion but I liked the wire puzzle

I don't think anybody has given an actual reason for why the wire puzzles are supposed to be so bad (apart from "I kept skipping the dialogue that explained them to me", which I'm charitably ignoring). I suspect the haters simply cannot into puzzles.

By the way, there's a hint line up right now:

At 3pm PST (that’s basically now!) and for about an hour or so, we’ll open the Double Fine Adventure Hint line for all to call and get help with Broken Age, and we’ll be streaming it too.

So join us here: http://www.twitch.tv/doublefine and call us on +1 970 HEX-IPAL

 

[evdk]

So, guys, would any of you per chance have a beginning of Act 2 save available? Because as it turns out I do not.

Not replaying Act 1, no way, no how.

 

[Bubbles]

So, guys, would any of you per chance have a beginning of Act 2 save available? Because as it turns out I do not.

If you’ve finished Act 1 before and just need a way to jump to Act 2, download and install this save file.

Save locations for DRM-free:

- Windows: Documents > BrokenAge > saves
- OS X: Library > Application Support > BrokenAge > Saves
- Linux: XDG_DATA_HOME > BrokenAge > saves

Act 2 Save Download Link

 

[felipepepe]

I don't think anybody has given an actual reason for why the wire puzzles are supposed to be so bad (apart from "I kept skipping the dialogue that explained them to me", which I'm charitably ignoring). I suspect the haters simply cannot into puzzles.

The weird symbols resemble directions, so I tried to solve them by themselves. Only after like 20 blind tries Shay said that there were a hint to them on the spaceship, and took almost half an hour for me to find where the fuck that was hidden. Once you find that, it's pretty simple, just equate each symbol to a position, input the sequence and you're done. Meaning that revisiting the exact same puzzle 10 minutes later adds nothing.

The barren areas only make it worse. I didn't figure out Vella's endgame because I'm clever and had a wonderful insight about the little robot, but because there were only like 2 interactive spots and two items to use.

 

[Keldryn]

I know this game isn't particularly well-liked here, but I'm looking forward to playing Act 2 with my little girl. She absolutely loved Act 1, and she keeps playing through the first part of Shay's story over and over again. She insists that I play the scenes with Mog Chothra because they're too hard for her.

She just turned 5.

Hopefully, we'll get to play tonight.

 

[Aeschylus]

Act 2 will probably be a bit too hard for a 5 year old. Probably.

 

[aratuk]

Well I'm definitely not re-playing Act 1. I uninstalled the game so I've lost any saves.
I'll just conclude that the game sucks then. GJ Double Fine.

It's an adventure game, you could just borrow somebody's save

I could; I won't.

You say that, but…


Much easier for you to borrow someone's save file than for them to make "autogenerate half-completed save file" button for you.

 

[Keldryn]

Act 2 will probably be a bit too hard for a 5 year old. Probably.

That's why we play together. Also so I can help her read the dialogue responses. She can read pretty well, but she does need help with some words.

 

[Sensuki]

but a big part of me doesn't even want to send out review copies.

 

[Zed]

Well I'm definitely not re-playing Act 1. I uninstalled the game so I've lost any saves.
I'll just conclude that the game sucks then. GJ Double Fine.

It's an adventure game, you could just borrow somebody's save

I could; I won't.

You say that, but…


Much easier for you to borrow someone's save file than for them to make "autogenerate half-completed save file" button for you.

Do you think I give a shit about what's easy for them?
By the way, why write "you say that, but..."?

 

[J_C]

Well I'm definitely not re-playing Act 1. I uninstalled the game so I've lost any saves.
I'll just conclude that the game sucks then. GJ Double Fine.

It's an adventure game, you could just borrow somebody's save

I could; I won't.

You say that, but…


Much easier for you to borrow someone's save file than for them to make "autogenerate half-completed save file" button for you.

Do you think I give a shit about what's easy for them?
By the way, why write "you say that, but..."?

You implied that you don't care about the game at all and if you don't get a save, you won't play it. But in your tweet, you sound desperate to play Act 2.

 

[Lucky]

How does it compare to Schaefer's previous games? I've completely stayed away from Broken Age since the kickstarter and I'm wondering how it holds up. I've heard good things about the documentary, but nothing consistent about Act 1 and Act 2 of the actual game.

Just gonna quote myself, since it got buried while under moderation.

 

[Zed]

Well I'm definitely not re-playing Act 1. I uninstalled the game so I've lost any saves.
I'll just conclude that the game sucks then. GJ Double Fine.

It's an adventure game, you could just borrow somebody's save

I could; I won't.

You say that, but…


Much easier for you to borrow someone's save file than for them to make "autogenerate half-completed save file" button for you.

Do you think I give a shit about what's easy for them?
By the way, why write "you say that, but..."?

You implied that you don't care about the game at all and if you don't get a save, you won't play it. But in your tweet, you sound desperate to play Act 2.

"uh please" is if anything a pathetic attempt at courtesy.

 

[Bubbles]

Spoiler

They couldn't even be bothered to explain why did shay's parents pretend to be computers in the first place or why the aliens kidnap the girls every 14 years and why only girls.

I didn't want to quote this at first because of untagged spoilers, but it doesn't seem to bother anybody.

Spoiler

- Shay's parents never actually pretended to be computers, Shay just forgot that they were human. He says as much right at the start of his new chapter. Act 1 only showed those days where he didn't directly interact with them (perhaps commentary on technology and high-pressure jobs pulling parents and children apart or somesuch), but Act 2 shows that they took family photos with him and did all the normal parent stuff.
The whole thing is a load of balls, obviously, but I thought it was pretty funny.

- The "only girls" stuff is an adult thing that's not fully explained because the game was marketed for 5 year olds. Read between the lines and it's apparent that they're to be used as egg/organ donors and incubators to breed a better race.

 

[J_C]

It bothers me. Fucking SPOILERS TAG, HOW DO THEY WORK!!!!44

 

[Bubbles]

There you go buddy.