Broken Age - Double Fine's Kickstarter Adventure Game

[Zed]

Can you pick up in Act 2 without having an end-game save from Act 1?

 

[Bubbles]

No.

Oh god, more:

Right at the start of Shay’s adventure, there’s the green mayor dude choking on a pipe. The spoon in your inventory comments that he needs to be squeezed to be helped with his struggle. But there’s no option to just help him. Shay won’t even try. He’ll just talk to him, stand there watching him choking. The ‘correct’ solution of course being utterly ridiculous.

It is ridiculous, but I still knew immediately what to do there. People wanted an old school adventure, and that's what they got (a weak but serviceable copy of).

At the start of Vella’s portion, she’s floating in zero gravity, unable to move, but next to a grabby hand about which she observes, “Wow, it seems really interested in boots.” There are boots in Vella’s inventory! This must be a solution. Use them. “It doesn’t seem interested.” (My emphasis.)

The things in her inventory are cloud shoes which look like sandals. There's a space boot floating right next to Vella. Vella says "boots". Which to choose, which to choose?

Logic is so often absent, too. You’re on the ship, you discover people in direct danger of starvation, and it doesn’t occur to anyone that Vella might discuss this with an adult authority figure with whom she has direct contact.

By the point you find those people, you're all already in imminent danger of death-by-spoiler. It's like being on an exploding submarine and saying "hey some of these guys are really hungry!" Also, they're not in "direct danger of starvation", they just got captured two hours ago!

one of very few characters to actually do jokes in an extremely sombre game

The climactic puzzle, which I obviously won’t spoil, was by far the worst example – having to negotiate multiple stages of distraction/repair/location/action in the “right” order, with two characters, where switching between them arbitrarily resets the progress of the other.

THAT'S THE BEST FUCKING PUZZLE IN THE GAME YOU MONSTROUS IMBECILE

 

[Infinitron]

RPS/John Walker didn't much like Act 1 either. They just treated it a bit with kiddie gloves because it was unfinished.

 

[J_C]

Poor poor Tim. He listened to the gamers and improved the puzzle difficulty a bit, and now the casual garme journalist will bash the game because of it. And the retarded part of the gamer community will bash the game because they listen to shit like RPS. Tim was really in a lose-lose situation here.

 

[Bubbles]

I didn't think I'd end up defending Broken Age of all games, but if reviewers think that this is too hard and convoluted, then mainstream adventure gaming is well and truly dead.

 

[Jarpie]

 

[J_C]

 

[Trash]

RPS/John Walker didn't much like Act 1 either. They just treated it a bit with kiddie gloves because it was unfinished.

Ah, John Walker. There's a faggot if I ever seen one. One of those assholes who 'balk' at the difficulty of older adventure games and love to call them 'outdated' while furiously masturbating at any notion of pseudo-intellectualism in whatever 'artsy' hipster crap catches his fancy.The kind of type that can't write about a GTA without having to mention how difficult it was for them to portray such an amoral type. The type that can write out an entire gaming article about the percieved artistic merit or gender portrayal in a title and somehow forget to tell us anything about gameplay. Fuck those assholes.

Yes, I am bothered by him and his ilk. What pissed me off at them is when I see a youtube of them playing it usually shows them being utterly incompetent imbeciles who seem incapable of applying even the tiniest modicum of thought or effort. How the fuck can you tell me about games when you suck at them this bad?

 

[Infinitron]

I didn't think I'd end up defending Broken Age of all games, but if reviewers think that this is too hard and convoluted, then mainstream adventure gaming is well and truly dead.

At least there are people in the comments praising Primordia!

 

[Bubbles]

A much harder and more convoluted (sorry, MRY) game than BA ever could be.

 

[Jarpie]

Poor poor Tim. He listened to the gamers and improved the puzzle difficulty a bit, and now the casual garme journalist will bash the game because of it. And the retarded part of the gamer community will bash the game because they listen to shit like RPS. Tim was really in a lose-lose situation here.

Devs should learn that you possibly can't please everyone, either please the utterly fucking retarded hipster "neo-gamers" who probably can't even eat with the fork and knife, or you make a game to those who loves the old-fashioned adventure games with puzzles.

 

[J_C]

Jesus Christ you guys are retarded. Who the fuck cares what pH means in in adventure game? It is not for educational purposes, it just gaves a frame to a puzzle. I understand that you want to hate on the game, but come up with something which is legitimately bad.

Or should I complain about the sword fight in Monkey Island where you had to outtalk the enemy to win? Because real sword fighting is not like that you know!

JC, I've agreed with you for ages even though a lot of Codexers rag on you for being Matt and having strange opinions.

But dude, you're wrong here. In response to how child-like Act 1's puzzles were, DF has tried to simulate complexity of their puzzles by added the terms 'pH' to them, while being nothing more than primary school math problems. It's hilarious.

You just think too much into this. Tim didn't want to simulate complexity by adding pH. It could have been Volt or Ohm, or Pounds or anything, it just added a term to the puzzle.

 

[Infinitron]

Eurogamer (no score): http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2015-04-27-broken-age-review

The second half of Double Fine's adventure offers more puzzles, lots of repetition and a muddled conclusion.

[...] As much as there is to enjoy on a moment by moment basis, there's a sense that this is a game that's been torn in more ways than one. Torn between being a PC adventure in the classic style for the devoted hardcore, and a casual adventure that can also work for newcomers. Torn between two storylines that teasingly reflect each other, but never quite overlap in a meaningful way. Torn between repeating gameplay elements from its first half while improving on the mechanics for the second. It's always a very likeable game, but one that never fully reconciles itself, never seizes its potential in the way Vella and Shay strive to.

In the end, it's the surface details - the dry and gentle wit, the winsome voice acting, and the gorgeous design - that lash it all together. The deeper elements, the bones that might give it structural strength, feel thin. Broken Age doesn't quite suffer the fate implied by its title, but there are clearly fractures that time has failed to heal.

The reviewer mostly approves of the puzzle difficulty.

 

[Bubbles]

"Devoted hardcore". People who read that stuff and expect Gabriel Knight 3 "create a map based on historical hints"-style puzzles are going to be quite disappointed.

I do agree though that the people who wanted a deep and meaningful exploration of (their own) adolescence are completely let down by the sequel. The writing is quite funny, but not dramatic or insightful.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

You just think too much into this. Tim didn't want to simulate complexity by adding pH. It could have been Volt or Ohm, or Pounds or anything, it just added a term to the puzzle.

Lolwut negative Ohms and negative pounds now?

 

[Pyke]

I haven't played it yet, but it seems that most of the criticism is pointed towards reusing the same environments. I think that if they didn't split it, this point wouldn't be a point of contention at all. Design wise, with the characters swapping places the reuse of environments was pretty much expected. Day Of The Tentacle is almost entirely backtracking for the majority of the game.

I wonder what a reviewer going in cold and playing the entire game 'as it was meant to be played' would think?

 

[Bubbles]

The environments on Vella's side (the ship) are heavily changed and used in different ways; it's just Shay's part that's an almost exact re-make. Since Vella also has better puzzles, I suspect that this was the part that Tim Schafer re-worked after hearing the critcisms of Act 1.

 

[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.

 

[Infinitron]

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

 

[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.

 

[kazgar]

Was gonna muck around with the beta code, but assume the main thing will update tomorrow anyhow as its only a 1 day exclusive for backers.

 

[Sordid MCA/Prosper Hybryd]

Puzzles from Act 2 aren't much harder, but more original and imaginative. There is some INCLINE, I guess.

Game still is no-brainer, though.

The plot gets completely retarded. Agree with RPS on that. Act 1 had some potential. There was foreshadowing of something interesting to come. But they managed to spoil everything,

Spoiler

I've felt that this revelation, that Shay's parents are real living people, doesn't have any purpose. It's done just for the sake of twist. It doesn't make sense, moreover, it even breaks some plot elements and imposes new questions. E.g. why did Shay's parents hide their identity from him? Why did they use computer interface to interact with him? Why did his mother try to tell Shay the story about being "sacrifice-girl"?

In act 1 there was some interesting implication that this "ship" was some weird kind of generation ship, and its computer initially was a living person who was sacrificed to create AI. I thought that Vella was going to be new component for AI a la Beneath a Steel Sky, and that's why Mom referenced to herself as "sacrifice-girl" too. Yep, it's not very original, but such plot at least has drama and real conflict. Instead, we have those ugly baddies who also are bigots and fans of eugenics. Their take on Plan 9 is incredibly stupid. And it doesn't feel like it is humorously stupid. Nah, it's just plain idiotism, absolutely unconvincing bullshit.

It's a beautiful game. No shit. It is very cute. But, plot-wise and puzzle-wise it's fucking horrible. I can't believe that its author was formerly able to create such masterpiece as Grim Fandango.

Well, it's obvious that guy completely lost his mojo. FUCK THAT LOSER!

 

[Bubbles]

Spoiler

I've felt that this revelation, that Shay's parents are real living people, doesn't have any purpose. It's done just for the sake of twist. It doesn't make sense, moreover, it even breaks some plot elements and imposes new questions. E.g. why did Shay's parents hide their identity from him?

That didn't happen, he just forgot. He says as much when he finds out. I thought it was pretty funny how contrived and ludicrous that twist was. From the sounds of it you were a lot more invested in the plot of Act 1 than I was; I really didn't care to see any of those "themes" (using the term loosely) continued in the second part, and thus didn't give a toss when they weren't.

Spoiler

It's a beautiful game. No shit. It is very cute. But, plot-wise and puzzle-wise it's fucking horrible. I can't believe that its author was formerly able to create such masterpiece as Grim Fandango.

The plot is worthless, no doubt, but I liked the puzzles more than in Act 1 or in any of the Telltale games.

 

[Redlands]

You just think too much into this. Tim didn't want to simulate complexity by adding pH. It could have been Volt or Ohm, or Pounds or anything, it just added a term to the puzzle.

Yeah, guys! Nobody wants to associate adventure games with thinking!

 

[J_C]

You just think too much into this. Tim didn't want to simulate complexity by adding pH. It could have been Volt or Ohm, or Pounds or anything, it just added a term to the puzzle.

Yeah, guys! Nobody wants to associate adventure games with thinking!

Fuck off, idiot!