Gemini Rue

[Zarniwoop]

I don't get all this dicksucking about Primordia to be honest. It's p. good story and theme-wise, and the multiple endings are nice, but it's let down by being EXTREMELY short and limited. Could have been so much better. At least Gemini Rue takes more than 3 hours to complete.

 

[Aeschylus]

I don't get all this dicksucking about Primordia to be honest. It's p. good story and theme-wise, and the multiple endings are nice, but it's let down by being EXTREMELY short and limited. Could have been so much better. At least Gemini Rue takes more than 3 hours to complete.

Primordia and Gemini Rue took me about the same amount of time to complete. Neither was particularly difficult. Primordia had better writing, and slightly inferior puzzle design overall. I'd say Primordia was more interesting, but tastes vary.

 

[SCO]

Gemini Rue was heavy handed on it's theme in and near the ending (large soliloquies), but had more bearable puzzles i thought (i still don't know what the fuck was it with the kiosk puzzle in primordia). Primordia does have 7 endings variations, while Gemini Rue only has 1, but i think Gemini Rue is more polished on sprites and backgrounds. Oh, except for that fucking combination puzzle near the middle. Obligatory popamole was bad too.

 

[bertram_tung]

I enjoyed the setting and atmosphere of Gemini Rue a lot more than Primordia. Primordia bored me before I could finish it, whereas Gemini Rue left me wanting more.

 

[suejak]

I tend to agree that Isaac Asimov-style twists are all-too-common in Wadjet games. Only thing worse is the people who claim they "figured it out at the beginning." Who gives a shit? Welcome to Gifted&Talented Class. Seriously, if your enjoyment of the story relies on your surprise at the big twist, then I don't even want your opinion.

I don't get all this dicksucking about Primordia to be honest. It's p. good story and theme-wise, and the multiple endings are nice, but it's let down by being EXTREMELY short and limited. Could have been so much better. At least Gemini Rue takes more than 3 hours to complete.

I agree that Primordia isn't all that great. But I'm probably biased, because the developer makes some long, obnoxious posts on this forum.

Primordia>Resonance>Blackwell=Gemini Rue>Shivah

Says a lot that Shivah is at the bottom of that. I wish we had more real-world-based games. The Blackwell series is like a tacky teen novel (for GIRLS, no less), while Resonance and Primordia have typical nerd-face settings.

Jewish murder mystery. That's good shit.

 

[bertram_tung]

I enjoyed the setting and atmosphere of Gemini Rue a lot more than Primordia. Primordia bored me before I could finish it, whereas Gemini Rue left me wanting more.

Ah, but Gemini Rue's introductory hook (D6's memory erasing scene), which is presumably what captured your attention from the beginning

No, if you read my post, I was talking about the atmosphere and setting. That has nothing to do with the plot. While I enjoyed the plot to a moderate degree, it was the atmosphere and setting that really kept me going.

 

[StaticSpine]

Bought the game on the sale. Completed it today.

I must say it's pretty good. The atmosphere, the voice acting, the music. The story is well written though it can seem predictable to people who likes other sci fi games/movies/books.

The only thing I didn't get is the battle system. I mean why add a battle system to the adventure game? The previous Adventure I played was Sanitarium and it had some awful battles too.

P.S. Still I liked Primordia more.

 

[bledcarrot]

Finished this a month or so ago. Started off great, setting worked, dialogue was good, story was unfolding very well and I was genuinely engaged. Got a bit lame in the second half and in the ending I thought. Wasn't really impressed with the pseudo-philosophical plot and dialogue. It had all the subtlety of a 13 year old who just saw Bladerunner for the first time. Having said that I finished it and enjoyed it. Combat was of course horrendous, but lucky there isn't much of it.

 

[Jools]

I just finished it, and it was good. Very Beneath a Steel Sky-esque, with a hint of Full Throttle (I'm not even sure why, but some parts of GR reminded me of some parts of FT). I really liked Gemini Rue.

It is not exempt from a few shortcomings: the controls and interface kinda suck, combat is God awful (not even sure why they felt the need to include combat at all: it really feels out of place), everyone relevant lives in the same one condo, there are not that many locations in the game.

But the good stuff vastly surpasses those. The atmosphere is just great, the visual design is excellent (hand-drawn, visible sketch lines, watercolour-y backdrops, big pixels for character sprints), the story flows well and the dialogue is quite well-written. I concur with bledcarrot , the pseudo-philosophical, pseudo-inception content that comes across towards the end is a bit meh (or maybe I'm just too grown-up to be affected by it), but it really doesn't work that poorly, mostly because it doesn't "try too hard", which is a common mistake that many plots do. The plot "twist" is introduced/hinted decently, and the "converging stories" device is also used fairly well. The music and voice acting also are top notch.

Overall, Gemini Rue feels old school as fuck, in every respect: it is a greatly atmospheric and utterly enjoyable game that would have worked perfectly in 1994 as it does now.

PS - anyone can recommend similar games, present or past?

 

[MRY]

Jools: Rise of the Dragon, an old Dynamix game, has similar side-scrolling shooting and a cyberpunk detective plot. That said, it's a different kind of point-and-click -- it's first person, using photos and some FMV, which is much less to my taste. It also has a fair number of walking-dead scenarios and some lame puzzles, as I recall. But atmsopherically, it's pretty close. Resonance and Primordia are both AGS games (like Gemini Rue) with future dystopias, but they feel very different and don't have the same shooting sequences. (Resonance does have a few action sequences.) I can't remember if you've played Primordia, but in any event, if what you liked about Gemini Rue was the old school-ness, I think you'd like Primordia and Resonance, too.

 

[Wizfall]

PS - anyone can recommend similar games, present or past?

You may like Nightlong: Union City Conspiracy, cyberpunk adventure game from 1998.
Not excellent but quite enjoyable.
Great graphics for his time and very atmospheric, i was blown away at the beginning.
Story is just ok and as far as i remember and not so good in the second half (but not bad either).

 

[Ivan]

Just finished it with 0 expectations. It was solid, nothing I would go out of my way to recommend. Looks nice, but the content/story was lacking.

On to Resonance

 

[Falksi]

Just finished it with 0 expectations. It was solid, nothing I would go out of my way to recommend. Looks nice, but the content/story was lacking.

On to Resonance

Same rating from me, although I can't be bothered to finish it.

Honestly don't get what the fuss is about, it's a really flat game with some really odd design choices. Not only is combat is awful, but the inconsistent puzzle setups are flat out annoying, with stuff like having to tell your character to climb over a rail to go somewhere as opposed to just clicking on the destination making no sense at all.

Also, one key thing which games such as the Monkey Island series do so well and which IMO is essential to good P&C adventure gaming - but which is lacking here - is giving the player a real initial feeling of freedom, and a whole host of puzzles to solve from the off, rather than restricting them to a primary one. When you land on Melee Island you can wander around, take in the sights, chat to many people, and go about attacking the three trials how you see fit. It immerses you in the game and gives you options. Here you are very railroaded to specific objectives for some time, and it just feels far duller for it.

I guess it doesn't help that I'm playing this off the back of far superior P&CA games such as The Monkey Island ones and Blade Runner, but compared to them it's lame.

 

[JarlFrank]

Also, one key thing which games such as the Monkey Island series do so well and which IMO is essential to good P&C adventure gaming - but which is lacking here - is giving the player a real initial feeling of freedom, and a whole host of puzzles to solve from the off, rather than restricting them to a primary one.

Most Wadjet Eye games do that, even the ones not designed only published by them. Seems to be a trend in modern adventure game design, where you give the player just one or two puzzles at a time to prevent overwhelming him. But that leads to puzzles being easy to solve even if you don't understand them, just bruteforce by using every item on every environment object.

 

[Falksi]

Also, one key thing which games such as the Monkey Island series do so well and which IMO is essential to good P&C adventure gaming - but which is lacking here - is giving the player a real initial feeling of freedom, and a whole host of puzzles to solve from the off, rather than restricting them to a primary one.

Most Wadjet Eye games do that, even the ones not designed only published by them. Seems to be a trend in modern adventure game design, where you give the player just one or two puzzles at a time to prevent overwhelming him. But that leads to puzzles being easy to solve even if you don't understand them, just bruteforce by using every item on every environment object.

Yup. I'm really not impressed by Wadjet Eye at all tbh. I've only just started diving into their catalogue, having played Unavowed, Shardlight and now Gemini Rue...and all of them fail at least one key front. Technobabylon did hit the spot for me though, but it's feeling more of an exception than a rule.

Doesn't help that their stuff seems to get woker as time goes on either.

On the flipside, I've now jumped straight into Gabriel Knight, having never touched it before, and it feels a thousand times better. Only 40 odd minutes into it, but I've instantly got a fairly full world to explore and no-one holding my hand with it either.

 

[Darkozric]

Yup. I'm really not impressed by Wadjet Eye at all tbh

No shit, when I first said that their games are boring and a harbinger of decline, many codexers starting calling me an edgelord.

 

[Darkozric]

Falksi Have you tried VirtuaVerse, Lucy Dreaming or The castle?

 

[Falksi]

Falksi Have you tried VirtuaVerse, Lucy Dreaming or The castle?

Not yet, what's your thoughts on them?

I do really like the look of VirtuaVerse.

 

[Darkozric]

Falksi Have you tried VirtuaVerse, Lucy Dreaming or The castle?

Not yet, what's your thoughts on them?

I do really like the look of VirtuaVerse.

The Castle is a Maniac Mansion clone, had some fun with it.

Lucy Dreaming it's easier than Thimbleweed Park but not insultingly easy. Unlike TP you control the main character and 2 toy dream companions (you can have 1 each time in dream worlds).
The challenge is that you need to interact with reality and manipulate the elements of dream worlds. It is well executed. The only negative is that a few puzzles were hinted too much.

VirtuaVerse was a nice surprise since it was made by 3 guys without any previous experience, a respectful throw back to the 90's.
The story does not claim laurels for originality, it supports the gameplay and this is the reason why the journey feels memorable with many areas to explore. It's rewarding when you progress through the puzzles.
Puzzles are not spoon-fed, you'll need patience and observations in many occasions, and I'm pretty sure you're gonna love the OST.

 

[Maxie]

Falksi Have you tried VirtuaVerse, Lucy Dreaming or The castle?

Not yet, what's your thoughts on them?

I do really like the look of VirtuaVerse.

VirtuaVerse was a nice surprise since it was made by 3 guys without any previous experience, a respectful throw back to the 90's.
The story does not claim laurels for originality, it supports the gameplay and this is the reason why the journey feels memorable with many areas to explore. It's rewarding when you progress through the puzzles.
Puzzles are not spoon-fed, you'll need patience and observations in many occasions, and I'm pretty sure you're gonna love the OST.

You're probably the only poster around to praise virtuaverse, personally i've found it to be an overwritten clunky exercise in testing the player's patience

 

[Darkozric]

You're probably the only poster around to praise virtuaverse, personally i've found it to be an overwritten clunky exercise in testing the player's patience

And what should I praise? The pretentious twatter woke fiestas or the faggly hipster shit that our resident coprophile modron is endlessly farting?
That's why I play adventures, to test my patience. Falksi asked for some modern suggestions, I gave him 3 with 0 wokeness or brain-dead situations.

Obviously the better choice is to play older shit that you haven't played yet. That's what I usually do.

 

[Maxie]

You're probably the only poster around to praise virtuaverse, personally i've found it to be an overwritten clunky exercise in testing the player's patience

And what should I praise? The pretentious twatter woke fiestas or the faggly hipster shit that our resident coprophile modron is endlessly farting?
That's why I play adventures, to test my patience. Falksi asked for some modern suggestions, I gave him 3 with 0 wokeness or brain-dead situations.

Obviously the better choice is to play older shit that you haven't played yet. That's what I usually do.

should a game really be testing your patience rather than your wits

 

[Darkozric]

should a game really be testing your patience rather than your wits

Why not both. Besides you cannot have wits without patience.

 

[Maxie]

should a game really be testing your patience rather than your wits

Why not both. Besides you cannot have wits without patience.

were that true, timed sequences wouldn't exist

 

[Darkozric]

were that true, timed sequences wouldn't exist

Then choose to play the right adventures. You need both wits and patience to solve properly challenging adventures.