The Random Adventure Game News Thread

[hoverdog]

We have announced our collaboration with Jane Jensen, Cognition: An Erica Reed Mystery.

We are very happy with the direction we are taking it, and hopefully, it'll be somehow reminiscent of the incredible masterpiece that is Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers, in its graphic style as well as paranormal and thrilling story.

 

[Jaesun]

No shit hoverdog.

I really really hope this project gets made.

 

[MapMan]

Why do they insist on shitty female characters?

 

[Jaesun]

So you are gay now MapMan?

 

[ghostdog]

They insist on female characters because most of the adventure gamers today are female. And it's not just the gender, it's the way they're written that makes it obvious they're targeting females.

Take Jane Jensen for instance. When the gaming market was dominated by males, she wrote GK, with a badass womanizer protagonist and a female sidekick that is sometimes even more kickass and manly than the protagonist. Gray matter on the other hand has a Goth-Girl protagonist and an emo male phantom of the opera sudekick. Sign of the times.

Yeah I know I'm a bit harsh, but right now I feel somewhat disillusioned with adventure games.

 

[Sceptic]

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/postudios/cognition-an-erica-reed-thriller

I was worried that Gray Matter would kill Jane's interest/finances when it comes to gaming. Glad that's not the case. I just hope this new publisher doesn't do the same idiocy of postponing release date MONTHS after the game leaks, and that they actually sell the game everywhere... I'm still waiting to be able to purchase Gray Matter without having to pay outrageous taxes and customs. And damned international shipping.

It would be nice if the game is an improvement on GM, but if it maintains the same level of atmosphere and puzzle level without dumbing that down then that's good enough for me.

 

[kaizoku]

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/postudios/cognition-an-erica-reed-thriller

So you are gay now MapMan?

They insist on female characters because most of the adventure gamers today are female. And it's not just the gender, it's the way they're written that makes it obvious they're targeting females.

....

Yeah I know I'm a bit harsh, but right now I feel somewhat disillusioned with adventure games.

As interesting as that fact is, that's still not helping me get laid.
Oh wait, I meant: As worrisome as that fact is, it's not just adventure games that are facing the decline.
But I guess a good game still show ups every now and then.

Unity engine licenses

I guess they're going to make it tablet/phone ready, which is a smart move.
These new gadgets are perfect for adventure games.

 

[Redlands]

Note that she's just a "story consultant".

Phoenix Online Studios is in charge; they made The Silver Lining. You think Gray Matter was emo? You've clearly not seen The Silver Lining.

I get they're not professional. I get that they were working part time. I get that they got Cease and Desisted twice. But after ten fucking years, their first episode was: talk to a bunch of characters, and solve something like two puzzles.

That's not even getting started on the snarky narrator. And that disgusting, vile, repugnant, circle-jerk Easter egg on the Isle of Wonder.

After that, I seriously questioned whether they deliberately made it completely unbearable in order to make Telltale's POS series look good by comparison.

 

[Jaesun]

Note that she's just a "story consultant".

Phoenix Online Studios is in charge; they made The Silver Lining. You think Gray Matter was emo? You've clearly not seen The Silver Lining.

I get they're not professional. I get that they were working part time. I get that they got Cease and Desisted twice. But after ten fucking years, their first episode was: talk to a bunch of characters, and solve something like two puzzles.

That's not even getting started on the snarky narrator. And that disgusting, vile, repugnant, circle-jerk Easter egg on the Isle of Wonder.

After that, I seriously questioned whether they deliberately made it completely unbearable in order to make Telltale's POS series look good by comparison.

Thanks for the incredibly detailed and in depth review there, based off of examples and fact. Would not read again.

0/5

 

[Ringhausen]

Note that she's just a "story consultant".

I think she was basically a story consultant for Gray Matter as well. She wrote the script, some Czechs developed it without her being involved really, then some French team took over and we got.. a pretty decent game. So I wouldn't be so pessimistic.

 

[Banny]

Nope, she was lead designer on Gray Matter and was also a producer of sorts, participating on pretty much every aspect of the game's production. She was even there when the actors were recording the voice acting.
Initially I was very excited by this announcement, now I am highly cynical of it... Jensen's name seem to be only a marketing ploy and I don't think she will make much of a difference participating in a "story writing committee". I am not saying the game won't be good, I am just saying this isn't a Jensen game in the making.

This actually might be very bad news. Didn't she plan to develop a sequel to Gray Matter? Maybe this means the game flopped... maybe this also means she can't get the funding for another big adventure game. I don't know, I just can't see the good when her next project is announced as having her as "story consultant". This is just lame.

 

[kaizoku]

This game is now out for the PC master race!
http://pc.mobygames.com/game/la-noire


Curse Heavy Rain's exclusivity!

 

[Sceptic]

Is it any good? I saw Rockstar on the box and ran away. Is it a real advanture game even?

 

[Redlands]

Thanks for the incredibly detailed and in depth review there, based off of examples and fact. Would not read again.

0/5

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=367TFzKMI6g

About 1-2 minutes in.

I'm sorry, if you can stand this kind of thing, you're a more tolerant person than I am.

I played the first episode, and there were very few puzzles and it just seemed more of a nostalgia trip, and so I lost interest. Then I watched a Let's Play with some other King's Quest fans, because I thought maybe it got better later on.

It didn't really. There was a lot of conversations that just went on far too long. Note to game developers: if you want to write a fanfic, make one of those instead. If you want to make a game, remember to add interactivity. Adventure games are hugely at risk of being swamped by the story. I understand the need for large amounts of dialogue at some points, but make them near the beginning or the end of chapters or whatnot, so players don't have to revisit them during the game in case there's a crash or a bug. (This happened during the LP; a large conversation with the genie had to be redone because the game crashed.)

The story didn't really make much sense: why is Rosella marrying in the Land of the Green Isles, when surely Daventry or Etheria would be the more natural choices. Setting the game in Etheria would have let them have more freedom with character locations than they got by starring the game in a well-known locale like the Land of the Green Isles. Especially since (arguably) the best King's Quest game is set there, or at least one of the most popular, which is going to raise the bar rather high on your effort in comparison.

Some of the design decisions - like the added town locations - seemed a bit weird, but I guess there really wasn't much to work with. Then there were some weird things, like having Alexander and Rosella (while unconscious) sharing a bed and holding hands. Then there was all the stuff with Alexander being physically and emotionally scarred because of his time with Mannanan: even if you exclude the fact the King's Quest characters not really supposed to resemble real people (let's face it, they're unsophisticated fairy tale characters), there was nothing like this in the games previously: we spent two entire games with him, and he never seemed to get too upset about it. Alexander was very pro-active. Him suffering from PTSD seems really, really out of place in a King's Quest game. And that's not even getting into Valanice having an emotional break-down; I get that she's super-weepy from King's Quest 7, but there she did everything to save her daughter. Here, she just goes crazy.

I don't see how a FAN game can get the characterization of the main characters of the series they enjoy so, so wrong.

Then we came across this Easter egg.

I'm sorry, but no no no. First, the water stuff goes on way too long to be humorous. Then the snarkiness kicks in; especially unpleasant coming from a narrator, and doubly so for Graham, because let's face it, he barely got angry at Cedric being a useless twat for the whole of King's Quest 5 so it's not only unpleasant but out of character. The self-promotion and backslapping on top of that just pushes it over the line for me.

And the dig and mock apology regarding Roberta happening later: Roberta's not as good at game design as quite a lot of the other people who were working at Sierra back then, and I can appreciate some good-natured poking-fun-of, but it probably would come off better if it was in a game she was making. Instead, it seems weird: "Hey, we want to work on a fan-game of your creation because we love it, but then we'll make fun of your ability to design games." The "madness of King Graham" Easter egg handled this kind of thing much better: make fun of a bad design decision in a style that suits the games, in a short scene that involves nothing about how under-appreciated or great the game developers/designers/talent are.

Also poking fun of stupid game design choices in a locale close to the Rotten Easter Egg is probably not the smartest thing to do.

Someone who helped do QA for the game was in the chat while we were watching the stream, and he was embarrassed to be included in the credits. Nobody liked it. In fact, a few weeks ago there was the suggestion to give it another Let's Play (with the same group). Most people said, resoundingly, "No!"

Excuse me for being a bitter old cunt, Jaesun. I didn't sign and email to petition for a King's Quest game to get a not-King's Quest. At least the moodiness of the characters in Gray Matter made sense: they're based in the real(ish) world and had traumatic histories that can tend to get at people.

Phoenix may do a better job with their own IP, since they really didn't do a good job handling other's IP. I'll probably find out as I've donated enough money to the project to find out how it'll work. At worst it'll give me a good lesson of what *not* to do in game development.

Also Sceptic: It's about as much as an adventure game as you'll get out of a Rockstar-alike. Not really many puzzles, aside from the interrogation minigame (which is kind of an inventory "puzzle" I suppose), but it's really too ridiculous.

 

[Ringhausen]

Nope, she was lead designer on Gray Matter and was also a producer of sorts, participating on pretty much every aspect of the game's production. She was even there when the actors were recording the voice acting.

Did she? I recall an interview where she said that the biggest difference between GK and Gray Matter was that she wasn't there overseeing the development and let other people deal with it.

Anyway the game looks good based on the screens and the fact that they do have some real talent on board bodes well. What I don't like is the title. "Cognition: An Erica Reed Thriller" Who the fuck is Erica Reed? Are they launching a franchise already?

"Sins of the Fathers: A Gabriel Knight Thriller" .. ugh!

 

[kaizoku]

Is it any good? I saw Rockstar on the box and ran away. Is it a real advanture game even?

The game wasn't developed by Rockstar, it was Team Bondi who did it.
I haven't played it yet, but it's definitely on my plans. I've only heard good things.

http://www.adventuregamers.com/article/id,1322 (please ignore the pros and cons header table as they focus on the superficial)

L.A. Noire is at heart a game about hunting down clues, chasing leads, and extracting the truth from witnesses and suspects in tense interrogations.

The game has 21 cases in all, divided up among the different desks and undertaken in a linear order. While each case is an individual investigation, it's not long before details from earlier crimes start to inform and influence later cases.

The over-arching storyline is smartly-written and engrossing throughout, tying together the seemingly separate subplots in a satisfying and suitably twisting fashion. The plot hits all the expected notes of great hard-boiled noir—murder, betrayal, secrets, femme fatales, crooked cops, smooth-talking gangsters—but does so in interesting and refreshing ways.

Not only are the cases often based on true crime, they also demonstrate the commitment to realism on the part of Team Bondi. Whether you're deducing a certain weave of rope used as a murder weapon based on the burn markings on a victim's neck or reconstructing the chain of events leading up to a water heater explosion, the cases feel genuine and the outcomes plausible.

While the game is a linear narrative at its core, there is a lot of wiggle room within the plot. Many cases have multiple possible outcomes and in a particular stroke of brilliance, you cannot “fail” interrogations in the traditional gaming sense. Even if you get every question wrong, your punishment is to have to carry on the investigation without whatever clues or facts you might have gleaned from that person. In fact, many cases are so open-ended that you can, through malice or ignorance, charge the wrong person.

Also Sceptic: It's about as much as an adventure game as you'll get out of a Rockstar-alike. Not really many puzzles, aside from the interrogation minigame (which is kind of an inventory "puzzle" I suppose), but it's really too ridiculous.

Have you played the game?!

 

[Sceptic]

Thanks for the link kaizoku, this seems definitely more interesting than I had thought. I got the impression initially that it was just another 3D action game or interactive (3D) movie maskerading as an adventure. I've gone from "whatever" to "need to check for a demo" now. The review complete lack of any mention of puzzles is noted... it's hard to tell how interactive or interesting/challenging the deduction process is. Still, if the plot, atmosphere and writing are up to spec then it may still be worth a look.

Redlands - interesting about Silver Lining. I skipped it completely as I pretty much lost interest in the many, MANY years it's taken. The picture you paint is almost bad enough to make me want to check it out, just to see for myself. You seem pretty familiar with KQ lore too.

 

[Redlands]

Also Sceptic: It's about as much as an adventure game as you'll get out of a Rockstar-alike. Not really many puzzles, aside from the interrogation minigame (which is kind of an inventory "puzzle" I suppose), but it's really too ridiculous.

Have you played the game?!

Haha not this argument again.

lol I don't have a console. So no, but I've seen a Let's Play of the game in its entirety, as one of the LPers that I follow closely has done it. I've seen enough of it to be able to make judgments. I'm not passing judgment on graphics or control stuff; but I can pass on what I can see from gameplay and storyline.

The interrogation minigame is... well, it certainly has good intentions, but it's rather notorious for its weirdnesses, and as far as I can see it two things ruin it. It's often impossibly easy early in the game to tell who is lying and who isn't through facial expressions, and while I understand that it's about "getting people to learn how to play the game" it still kind of detracts from the "get clues to prove they're lying" part that people (let's face it, there's a lot of idiots out there who can't connect the dots) probably need a lot of help with, so it's not entirely successful on that. The second is that the main character (though you play as at least one other during the game, just to be as informative as possible) seems to treat "doubt" and "lie" like "you fucking killed my dog and fucked my wife", and the dialogue will just have him losing his shit. This is what I meant by "too ridiculous"; and it's kind of sad because it could have been so easily improved with better writing and (maybe) better voice actor directing.

I think it bothers me a lot because it's actually a pretty decent concept, but even as a person who doesn't make games professionally, there's easily a bunch of tweaks that wouldn't make it more unacceptable to the people who're going to get the game and improve it immediately.

If you're a fan of adventure games and Rockstar games then you'll probably like it; but it's not an adventure game in the classical sense. There's a lot of shooting and action quick-timeyish stuff that make it more of an action adventure. It's also a lot more linear than the usual Rockstar game is, at least from my understanding of "sandbox".

 

[Jaesun]

Per Pyke (the guy making THE FUCKING AWESOME STASIS Adventure Game):

Yeah guys-Im still alive and kicking! Development is really going to ramp up in December (hopefully ending in a fully playable BETA....).

 

[Excidium]

Nice! That game looks great.

 

[Koplin]

Per Pyke (the guy making THE FUCKING AWESOME STASIS Adventure Game):

Yeah guys-Im still alive and kicking! Development is really going to ramp up in December (hopefully ending in a fully playable BETA....).

You see those screens he put on the Blog?

And this:

Im playing around with having the suit get dirtier and grimier as you go along in the game. Subtle changes-but I think it will make a difference to the immersion of the player!

Fucking LOVE the detail he is putting into it. Its actually unbelievable that its being done by one dude!

 

[kaizoku]

I'm also looking forward to Statis. I believe it will bring the much needed incline to the genre!



Since Telltale, supposedly our last hope, is dangerously declining... Their latest work is proof of that:
Jurassic Park: The Game
Jurassic Park: The Interactive Movie
Jurassic Park: The Movie (check out the "gameplay")

The game could have been great, but instead they fucked it up completely! No puzzles!
What the hell is wrong with you Telltale?


wikipedia still calls it an "adventure game" but it was funny to find this:

Controversy

It was reported by 1UP.com that the development staff wrote favourable user reviews for the game on Metacritic without disclosing their affiliation to the game.[8] Ratings on Metacritic reflected the development staff's view with a score of 10/10. Once users got a hold of this the ratings plummeted down to 3.1/10 as of the 19th of November.

EDIT: I just noticed adventuregamers posted a review for the game... and the retarded complained about the graphics! WTF is wrong in this world!!! At least he mentioned the lack of puzzle solving... albeit it seemed it was the least important aspect of the game for him *sigh*

 

[Jaesun]

The game could have been great, but instead they fucked it up completely! No puzzles!
What the hell is wrong with you Telltale?

I'm thinking more that the Publisher of the game wanted more of an Action Game (wider audience) than a proper Adventure Game. Why they would approach Telltale to do this is stupid.

 

[kaizoku]

I'm thinking more that the Publisher of the game wanted more of an Action Game (wider audience) than a proper Adventure Game. Why they would approach Telltale to do this is stupid.

mmm... you may be true about that (although technically I think they are the publisher)

The game, which is the latest of several Universal/Telltale deals, was originally announced in June 2010 before being revealed in the February issue of Game Informer.

In any case, TellTaleGames has a youtube channel http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIUnvSguF0Q
So it's a good way to leave some constructive criticism there and demand some incline.

 

[Renegen]

Haha, I had no idea that Telltale released such a crappy Jurassic Park game, sucks for them. Somehow I dont see as this being bad for the adventure genre, they just failed miserably and made some bad judgements. I heard that the game is basically a sort of interactive movie? The funniest part I guess was they thought it would be good.