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The Random Adventure Game News Thread

Maxie

Guest
look dude an interview is like taking a piss sometimes your dick acts funny and you have to wrestle it for a while sometimes the flow isn't that steady but it's not like you can quit mid-piss it's fuckin impossible you gotta keep at it man you owe it to your penis same with interviews really alas
 

LESS T_T

Arcane
Joined
Oct 5, 2012
Messages
13,582
Codex 2014
Hitchcock's Vertigo gets a cartoon adaptation! Oh wait, it's an adventure game, by the developer and the publisher of Blacksad: Under the Skin:





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Rean

Head Codexian Weeb
Patron
Joined
Nov 14, 2020
Messages
1,926
Strap Yourselves In
Hitchcock's Vertigo gets a cartoon adaptation! Oh wait, it's an adventure game, by the developer and the publisher of Blacksad: Under the Skin:

Blacksad was plagued by technical issues that they never bothered fixing. This one better be good.
 

LESS T_T

Arcane
Joined
Oct 5, 2012
Messages
13,582
Codex 2014
Nightmare Frames, from developer of Urban Witch Story:





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Alan Goldberg's luck is about to change. He's a frustrated slasher films scriptwriter in the Hollywood of 1985, and Helen Westmore, an eccentric millionaire, will grant him any wish if he can find out about the whereabouts of the last, unpublished work of genius horror director Edward Keller, considered to be the scariest film of all time.

Alan will find his way amongst B-films production companies, VFX workshops, religious cults, and a small haunted town called Serena, the dark reputation of which began when Keller was last seen there.

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  • Point & click adventure game solely based on inventory puzzles.

  • An investigative thriller that gets darker as you progress into the story. From ambient horror to more intense one.

  • More than 60 playable locations, and half a hundred characters to interact with.

  • Original soundtrack by synthwave musician Heclysma.

  • In Joe's Diner you'll be able to listen to SYNTHWAVE FM, where DJ Karen Johnson broadcasts licensed tracks by Heclysma, Decade Defector, Vincenzo Salvia and Self Delusion.

  • By the author of award-winning Urban Witch Story and Billy Masters Was Right.
 

Boleskine

Arcane
Joined
Sep 12, 2013
Messages
4,045
This looks pretty cool.

https://powerhoof.itch.io/the-telwynium?ac=qfCyYFQF-yt

The Telwynium: Book One
- Winter's Dawn -

The Telwynium is an early 90s style adventure game, with Sierra SCI0 style graphics, but with a fancy new-fangled point 'n click interface.

Your home, the village of Willows Dene, burns at the hands of the shadowfell. Only the power of the Autumn-Aldor Dwinn stopped it from being overrun completely. Now, led by the Aldor, you flee to the west, for the White City, Aldarris. With you are your childhood friends Tani and Witt, the irritable Uplander Otarr Stronghorn, and a colossal golen of mud and stone, summoned by the Aldor as the shadowfell attacked.

It is your first night away from Willows Dene, and you have first watch.

Made with PowerQuest!
Dave's 2d adventure game toolkit for Unity.

Try it out yourself!

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Dexter

Arcane
Joined
Mar 31, 2011
Messages
15,655
Played through most of the above, some impressions:

Brok the InvestiGator
: https://rpgcodex.net/forums/threads...nt-and-click-x-beatem-up.136188/#post-7364728

The Season of the Warlock: https://rpgcodex.net/forums/threads/the-season-of-the-warlock.139076/#post-7367016

Warp Frontier: Pretty trash from the looks of it. Meh voice acting and sound levels off with some characters and lines louder than the protagonist, awkward animations, static backgrounds that look like from a VN, lots of hotspots that aren't directly interactable with no dialogue, just an explanatory text Popup at the top. Stupid and non-obvious puzzles because of this, you'd think you could take something from the garbage, crates lying around the ship to patch the hole, but the game wants you to remove a specific tool panel with a knife to be able to do it. You have to use items on yourself for further interaction etc. Your Helper AI tells you you're being "Offensive". Ends relatively quickly.
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The Night Is Grey: Good looking art style, simplistic gameplay with a mouse pointer in the form of a simple white circle and just being able to click a few obvious hot spots for dialogue. No voice acting. The Mouse cursor turns into arrows in places where you can traverse to another screen. Inventory bar appears at the top. It feels like it was designed for tablets or mobile. There was a Quicktime Event to start something. Somewhat intriguing characters and premise about a guy named Graham that got lost in the woods and is being trailed by wolves, meets a little girl that is in need of help. Low-key creepy atmosphere. Not much more to say.

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WallaceChambers

Learned
Joined
Jul 29, 2019
Messages
311


EDEN.schemata(); is a multi-ending sci-fi mystery adventure game, featuring headless corpses, a sealed laboratory, a limbless android suspect/heroine, and an amnesiac protagonist. The game design and gradually UI change in reflection of your actions.
The steampunk-style artwork and the character animations were all handled by a single animator.

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Story
“Nice to meet you... again?”
An android named “Eve” speaks to “you”, before a headless corpse apparently known as “The Professor”.

Completely devoid of any sort of memory, “you”, together with “Eve” – an android, and the Professor’s apparent killer – must uncover the truth of what really happened here.
 
Use your powers of deduction to unravel the mystery of this sealed laboratory, one revelation after another.
 
We hope you enjoy this all-new type of mystery – the kind that’s only possible with video games.
Characters depicted in beautiful hand-drawn animation
The main character.
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Has no idea who they are due to total amnesia. Somewhat unreliable.

Eve
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An android. As the main character regains consciousness, Eve is standing before the corpse of “the Professor”. The heroine, and also the prime suspect.

The Professor
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Eve’s creator. Found as a headless corpse upon the main character’s awakening.

Kel
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An integrated discipline interface. Something like an AI that punishes people for their crimes, but which for some reason speaks like a little girl and can be quite agitating.
UI and game design that change along with game progress
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The UI and game design in general change in accordance with your game progress.
The story and UI come together, and the general game design gradually transforms, providing an all-new, almost magic trick-like game experience.
Main Staff/Comments
Scenario: Van Madoy
Revoir series
Murder at Kogetsukan (Fate/GrandOrder)

At the beginning of the project, I thought, "Is there even anything left for me to do in the world of mystery games that my predecessors haven’t already done themselves?” However, as development progressed, I reconsidered and thought, "Maybe I can realize the ideal mystery via the medium of video games.” The concept of this game is "a mystery that can be solved over and over again”. I hope you enjoy the experience of solving the kind of mystery that is only possible with video games – one that’s sort of different from other “multi-ending” games.

Direction/Development:EIKI`
Gensou Skydrift
Living in the Ending World

I consider the “ADV” genre to actually be a no-rules, cross-species battle. We bring you an all-new breakthrough ADV worthy of its striking visuals and writing.

Character Design/Animation: Yutaro
[Touhou Tegaki] Animation Made with Sakkyun Light:https://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm7905073
[FRENZ 2015] Touhou Youyoumu ~the maximum moving about~ Short PV-style:https://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm27209687

What's the point of using hand-drawn animation to express characters in games, especially in ADV-style stand-up fashion? Well, I’d like to give any answer other than “This is the only way I can!”, so let’s say it’s that I'm striving to depict my art in a way that shows the pleasure and rawness of animation in an ADV layout.

Sound: RD-Sounds (凋叶棕)Sacrament (Vatican Miracle Examiner ED)
Absolute One-way Street ~Unreachable Message (Touhou Project arrangement track)

A story is, after all, a combination of pictures, sounds, and stories.
Game scenes, controls, background music, SFX, story, visuals... I want to find out just what I can do using sound to fuse all of these elements together in order to tell a "story" in a game.

Need some new weeb mystery schlock to look forward to since Uchikoshi and Kodaka started making platformers and baseball games. Apparently the writer for this has done some enjoyable mystery novels and I kinda like the rough hand-drawn style of animation.
 

Zombra

An iron rock in the river of blood and evil
Patron
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Messages
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Location
Black Goat Woods !@#*%&^
Make the Codex Great Again! RPG Wokedex Strap Yourselves In Codex Year of the Donut Codex+ Now Streaming! Serpent in the Staglands Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 BattleTech Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
I can't figure out why anyone would think "amnesiac protagonist" is a selling point. It always makes me think an author said, "I want to write something!", sharpened a pencil, sat down, and immediately ran out of ideas.
 

WallaceChambers

Learned
Joined
Jul 29, 2019
Messages
311


Sequel to the fantastic AI: The Somnium Files has been announced. Looks like I was wrong about those baseball games and platformers after all.
 

WallaceChambers

Learned
Joined
Jul 29, 2019
Messages
311
GRUNND kickstarter campaign is underway. Not sure what I think of this one, but I guess it looks kinda cool.

GRUNND is a 100% handcrafted, fully voiced adventure game about travelling to a seemingly ordinary place right next to you that slowly introduces itself as surreal and twisted world and has it's own invisible gods, agendas, and order. You - tired after a dull day at your 9to5 job - fall asleep at the train on the way home. Next thing you do is jump out of that train into unknown station, and now need to plan your way back home. Surely enough, it's not so easy?
People you meet are slightly weird, and in the air there's an ethereal, omnipotent power floating just beyond your senses...

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A bit of a different take on the point-and-click genre, with platformer-style built locations, fast travel, and multiple choice events introduced early on. This is not a puzzle heavy adventure and all puzzles are made without any nonsense or moon-logic. There is a rich story background for you to unravel; that is not only about you and the world - the people around you have their own thing and they are not here to help you.


The world is inspired by the works of Franz Kafka and David Lynch, and the setting has those taste droplets of Southern Gothic. This is not only the Protagonist's journey - it's yours as well.

Please enjoy the Demo, and let us know about your experience!

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There's a demo available on Steam and Itch.

 

WallaceChambers

Learned
Joined
Jul 29, 2019
Messages
311
3rd entry in the Opus series of space themed adventure games was recently announced.

Echo of Starsong is a narrative-driven mix between puzzle adventure and space exploration. Asteroids containing a substance known as "Lumen" has become the center of conflict for the immense power they hold. Determined to find lumen of his own, a boy ventures out with a girl who can sing the song of asteroids, lending her voice to unravel an ancient myth hidden in the heart of space.

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"I will find the lumen, and bring honor to the clan."
Exiled by his people, Lee ventures out in search of lumen to atone for his mistakes. But progress is slow, until he saves Eda, a witch who can sense the presence of lumen. However, what appears to be a blessed encounter, will end up becoming a lifelong burden...

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The female protagonist - Eda, can sense the thunderous echos of lumen in space, and navigate their spaceship towards the asteroid it came from.

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The male protagonist - Lee, can explore asteroids to locate their echo's source, which reside in magnificent temples deep within the asteroids, hiding their ancient secrets.

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Throughout their journey, the crew will encounter people of all sorts. From lumen intel brokers, to lumen excavation enforcement officers. Some may act as an obstacle, while others will prove themselves to be allies.

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Most people of Thousand Peaks have a personal story to tell when it comes to the conflicts that have ravaged their homeland. Uncover the troubled history of this solar system as you get to know each character.

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The story's main setting, Thousand Peaks, has been in a state of chaos ever since the Lumen War. Help the crew travel through the territories of different factions, as they gather intel on the fabled lumen.

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Echo of Starsong is a narrative-driven game. Although puzzles and resource management are involved throughout the story, gameplay is kept simple to provide an accessible experience.

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Baron Dupek

Arcane
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Jul 23, 2013
Messages
1,870,826
Last edited by a moderator:

jfrisby

Cipher
Patron
Joined
Mar 21, 2013
Messages
491
Grab the Codex by the pussy Strap Yourselves In Codex Year of the Donut Shadorwun: Hong Kong
Maybe old news, but just noticed - Crystal Shard (Heroine's Quest, Tale of Two Kingdoms)

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So You Want To Be A Knight
After an unfortunately not-so-inspiring 2020, Crystal Shard is working to return to the adventure gaming scene. And after Celtic mythology in ATOTK, and Nordic mythology in HQ:THOR, this time the setting is the Matter of Britain: Arthurian Myth.

I'm sure many of you know the most famous story: there's King Arthur who's looking for the Grail, and a love triangle between himself, his wife Guinevere, and his first knight Launcelot... and that's NOT what the game is about. Did you know these stories have a cast of well over a hundred knights, with their own rivalries, monsters, and quests? Would this be a great space to explore in an adventure game? Omens point to YES.

Meet Sir Launcelot the Brave. Sir Sagramore the Just. And Sir Bob the... well... I'm sure he has a great personality! Against a supporting cast of peasants, fairies, and Roman invaders, Bob really wants to become a Knight; and the other knights think he's far too wimpy. And to prove them wrong, Bob just might have to save the kingdom first...

A work in progress; stay tuned for more news.
= Radiant =





Fizzii
 
Self-Ejected

supervoid

Self-Ejected
Joined
Oct 9, 2014
Messages
1,076
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I guess it's mainly for people who like Skutnik's art. Looks like a Samorost type of game, without inventory puzzles.
 

WallaceChambers

Learned
Joined
Jul 29, 2019
Messages
311

ezg-book-jump.gif


  • Every quest will lead you to a unique world with its own story and rules.
  • Visit mysterious castle dungeons, a drifting spaceship, a desert city among deadly sandstorms. You never know what the next world will be like.
  • Jump between the real world and the world of a book to solve the mysteries set before you. Some solutions might only come to you while you are in the waking world.

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Dive into vastly different worlds

As a bookwalker, you possess the unique ability to dive into worlds of books as if they were dreams. However, they are not as immaterial as mere fantasies. Bookwalkers can also bring valuable items from a book into the real world, and that is precisely what your job is

Hunt for powerful artifacts

Travel between worlds of books in search of legendary items of great power. Even though they are not as powerful in your world, you can still find buyers on the black market.

Meet dozens of characters and learn their stories

Visit mysterious castle dungeons, a drifting spaceship, a desert city among deadly sandstorms, and much more. Meet the inhabitants of those places and use them to reach your goal. After all, they are not really alive...or are they?

Find solutions to a plethora of puzzles, some quite… unorthodox

Some problems will make you think outside the box, and some will require you to travel outside of this world. If you are stuck, just wake up at your apartment. You may find something handy there that you can take with you on your journey. In a book, a crowbar may be just as effective against a lock as a key might be...
 

CryptRat

Arcane
Developer
Joined
Sep 10, 2014
Messages
3,561

Infinitron

I post news
Staff Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2011
Messages
97,437
Codex Year of the Donut Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
The Digital Antiquarian doesn't like The Dig: https://www.filfre.net/2021/07/the-dig/

But today, we can presumably look past such concerns to the fundamentals of the game that lives underneath its surface technology. Unfortunately, The Dig proves far from a satisfying experience even on these terms.

An adventure game needs to be, if nothing else, reasonably good company, but The Dig fails this test. In an effort to create “dramatic” characters, it falls into the trap of merely making its leads unlikable. All of them are walking, talking clichés: the unflappable Chuck Yeager-type who’s in charge, the female overachiever with a chip on her shoulder who bickers with his every order, the arrogant German scientist who transforms into the villain of the piece. Orson Scott Card’s dialog is shockingly clunky, full of tired retreads of action-movie one-liners; one would never imagine that it comes from the pen of an award-winning novelist if it didn’t say so in the credits. And, even more unusually for LucasArts, the voice acting is little more inspired. All of which is to say that it comes as something of a relief when everyone else just goes away and leaves Boston Low alone to solve puzzles, although even then you still have to tolerate Robert Patrick’s portrayal of the stoic mission commander; he approaches an unknown alien civilization on the other side of the galaxy with all the enthusiasm of a gourmand with a full belly reading aloud from a McDonald’s menu.

Alas, one soon discovers that the puzzle design isn’t any better than the writing or acting. While the puzzles may have some of the flavor of Myst, they evince none of that game’s rigorous commitment to internal logic and environmental coherence. In contrast to the free exploration offered by Myst, The Dig turns out to be a quite rigidly linear game, with only a single path through its puzzles. Most of these require you just to poke at things rather than to truly enter into the logic of the world, meaning you frequently find yourself “solving” them without knowing how or why.

But this will definitely not happen in at least two grievous cases. At one point, you’re expected to piece together an alien skeleton from stray bones when you have no idea what said alien is even supposed to look like. And another puzzle, involving a cryptic alien control panel, is even more impossible to figure out absent hours of mind-numbing trial and error. “I had no clue that was such a hard puzzle,” says Bill Tiller. “We all thought it was simple. Boy, were we wrong.” And so we learn the ugly truth: despite the six years it spent in development, nobody ever tried to play The Dig cold before it was sent out the door. It was the second LucasArts game in a row of which this was true, indicative of a worrisome decline in quality control from a studio that had made a name for themselves by emphasizing good design.

At the end of The Dig, the resolution of the alien mystery is as banal as it is nonsensical, a 2001: A Space Odyssey with a lobotomy. It most definitely isn’t “an in-depth story in which the exploration of human emotion plays as important a role as the exploration of a game world,” as LucasArts breathlessly promised.

So, The Dig still manages to come across today as simultaneously overstuffed and threadbare. It broaches a lot of Big Ideas (a legacy of Falstein and Moriarty’s expansive visions), but few of them really go anywhere (a legacy of Grossman and Clark’s pragmatic trimming). It winds up just another extended exercise in object manipulation, but it doesn’t do even this particularly well. Although its audiovisuals can create an evocative atmosphere at times, even they come across too often as disjointed, being a hodgepodge of too many different technologies and aesthetics. Long experience has taught many of us to beware of creative expressions of any stripe that take too long to make and pass through too many hands in the process. The Dig only proves this rule: it’s no better than its tortured creation story makes you think it will be. Its neutered final version is put together competently, but not always well, and never with inspiration. And so it winds up being the one thing a game should never be: it’s just kind of… well, boring.

As regular readers of this site are doubtless well aware, I’m a big fan of LucasArts’s earlier adventures of the 1990s. The one complaint I’ve tended to ding them with is a certain failure of ambition — specifically, a failure to leave their designers’ wheelhouse of cartoon comedy. And yet The Dig, LucasArts’s one concerted attempt to break that mold, ironically winds up conveying the opposite message: that sometimes it’s best just to continue to do what you do best. The last of their charmingly pixelated “classic-look” adventure games, The Dig is sadly among the least satisfying of the lot, with a development history far more interesting than either its gameplay or its fiction. A number of people looked at it with stars in their eyes over the six years it remained on LucasArts’s list of ongoing projects, but it proved a stubbornly ill-starred proposition for all of them in the end.
 

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