Broken Age - Double Fine's Kickstarter Adventure Game

[HanoverF]

Story was very nice IMO, the twist was surprising at the end. (And if you say that you saw it coming from a mile away, you are a filthy lier. Nothing hinted this at all.)

Wat

Spoiler

Did you do the Shay's story first? If you did Vella first it's pretty obvious each mission for Marick you're abducting girls from the Maidens Feasts. Not that it really matters, I'm still interested in the why of the twist.

Puzzles were geared towards people who need help turning on their iPad.

Story was entertaining I enjoyed the dialog and laughed a fair amount.

Art/Animation/Sound were all top notch, even if I can't say I'm a fan of the bagel guy it grew on me.

Shay's side of the story seemed to have very few puzzles all bunched together in a few locations spread out by several empty hallways, it seems with their money/time problems that would have been a good place to pare down, perhaps they have more usefulness in the next part. Although I hope the next part doesn't have them reusing all the old areas.

 

[Dexter]

Story was very nice IMO, the twist was surprising at the end. (And if you say that you saw it coming from a mile away, you are a filthy lier. Nothing hinted this at all.) Puzzles were easy, there is no way around this, but they were decent. Got used to the artstyle, started liking it after a while.

Spoiler

Well, I saw it coming. There were a lot of hints, for one it was rather clear that Shay was not actually in space or he would have suffocated at the end. For another there were various subtler hints - some of which you only notice in hindsight - from the "Sacrifice girl" story the mother computer tells to the fact that it is obvious the wolf is lying to you and you are actually playing a video game to even the shape and content that appears on the screens looking like Mog windows and the "creatures" looking like inverted "Sacrifice girls":

Spoiler

I didn't guess the twist - I actually thought the Dead God guy and his ship was supposed to be an older Shay (turns out that's his father?). But to say there weren't many clues pointing to it is ridiculous.

I thought that was

Spoiler

the CEO of Harmonix

 

[PlanHex]

I liked the game. Nothing to complain about in the visual and auditory department. Wish it was longer and had more/harder puzzles, but perhaps act 2 will satisfy this to some extent. I'm hoping the puzzles get a bit harder or at least that we get some puzzle interaction between the two.
As for the spoilery bit:

Spoiler

I was thrown off track constantly.
Thought computer mom might be an older Vella from that Sacrifice Girl hint and later that Dead Eye God might be older Shay or Shay might be a clone of him or something. Figured the things Marek had you "save" were actually monsters like Mog Chothra. Or maybe intergalactic wolf-snacks. Perhaps both.
Looking forward to see how the story continues. As you can probably tell, I suck at guessing games.
Might be worth noting that I played Vella up to crashing the ladder into the lumberjack's house, switched to Shay and then played his part to the end before finishing Vella's part.

 

[Sòren]

(And if you say that you saw it coming from a mile away, you are a filthy lier. Nothing hinted this at all.)

i dunno but it isn't it actually a good thing that events and twists are foreshadowed in the storyline? from a storydesign viewpoint and stuff?
you make it sound like this would be a bad thing.

havent played the game but the story sounds sorta interesting.

 

[Crooked Bee]

Played the girl's story to the end first, then the boy's. That turned out to be fortunate since

Spoiler

it allowed me to guess the upcoming twist - the rescue mini-game was when I realized what it was that I was actually doing - however I haven't been able to piece the entire backstory together; I wasn't quite sure my guess was correct until the end, too, because of the Weaver/intergalactic travel stuff that I still don't know what to think of. Turns out the spaceship was just traveling from one village to the next underwater the entire time? And why did the Weaver perceive the final destination as dangerous - how could the computer have known about Vella wanting to fight the "monster" using the death ray? And since the Maiden Feast is a regular event, who were the previous Mog Chothras? Etc.

I'd probably need to replay Vella's story once Act 2 is out to see the more subtle clues/references that I missed.

Overall, I thought the story and dialogue were pretty clever and well-done, and I'm looking forward to seeing how they're going to develop it further in act 2. However, I was really disappointed by the (absence of) proper adventure game gameplay - namely by linear one-click design, no complexity, no interconnected puzzles, just self-enclosed set pieces. Gameplay proper grew kinda tedious towards the end - I was just routinely moving from one screen to the next clicking on stuff, and was only interested in the story. I'd be okay with that, I guess, if I hadn't backed the KS in the hope of getting a full-fledged "old school" adventure game... Day of the Tentacle's quest design would be a good point of reference for what I initially expected. A shame, really - this game does have the potential of having been much better. But oh well, at least it's enjoyable enough to look at and listen to.

 

[RPGMaster]

Someone has already spedrun the game in 27 minutes on the DF forums.

 

[evdk]

Someone has already spedrun the game in 27 minutes on the DF forums.

Well, speedrunning adventure games when you know all the solutions and skip all the dialogue is pretty stupid. This is no FO2 or Morrowind where you show how you can creatively break the game, it's simply fast clicking without any skill.

 

[Bubbles]

Well, speedrunning adventure games when you know all the solutions and skip all the dialogue is pretty stupid. This is no FO2 or Morrowind where you show how you can creatively break the game, it's simply fast clicking without any skill.

The sole purpose of any game is to be beaten. Winning is the primary and single most important goal. Therefore the logical course is to minimize the amount of time needed to achieve that goal.

 

[suejak]

For a shitty story, it's nice to see it generating such discussion amongst the diehard anti-fans of the Codex.

 

[felipepepe]

If you do not understand the game I strongly suggest you play it again. For, in a sense, Broken Age is a game for those who appreciate fine art and good video games. The entire spectrum of each and every possible human emotion takes ground within Tim Schafer's Tour de force. It is a vast testament to the very nature of humanity. Every heart beat, every pulse, eye wink, instance of love, and raw anger.

Growing up, isolation, independency, and a yearning for more -- through Schafer these emotions are bottled and aged until they acquire a new taste, a new flavor. For long these primitive feelings have been but caged songbirds, long held captive by the vessel of the human spirit. Many have tried to set these creatures free and many have failed. ButSchafer, great, generous, bombastic, salacious Schafer, he opens each lock, so gracefully, so prodigiously, that the very act of turning the tumblers is an act of supreme divinity unto itself, and within his text these birds of human expression are given flight. They soar upwards with great wings, higher and higher towards that vast empyrean of which we call meaning.

In short, Broken Age is a game for those who are tired of video games. Tired of the trite, the mundane, the excruciatingly familiar. But, paradoxically, it is also for those who are hungry for the very thing they loathe. For Schafer puts them in spotlight with such precision, such subtlety and beauty, that they appear anew -- as if one were experiencing them for the first time. We become the children of Schafer and we are born again, into a world with colors yet to be perceived, and great beauty yet to cherish and behold. A whole new world so graciously crafted by the storyteller grandmaster himself.

WHERE THESE PEOPLE COME FROM?

 

[Bubbles]

From under the bridge. I hope.

 

[Sceptic]

In short, Broken Age is a game for those who are tired of video games.

This may in fact be truer than the author realises.

 

[Keshik]

If you do not understand the game I strongly suggest you play it again. For, in a sense, Broken Age is a game for those who appreciate fine art and good video games. The entire spectrum of each and every possible human emotion takes ground within Tim Schafer's Tour de force. It is a vast testament to the very nature of humanity. Every heart beat, every pulse, eye wink, instance of love, and raw anger.

Growing up, isolation, independency, and a yearning for more -- through Schafer these emotions are bottled and aged until they acquire a new taste, a new flavor. For long these primitive feelings have been but caged songbirds, long held captive by the vessel of the human spirit. Many have tried to set these creatures free and many have failed. ButSchafer, great, generous, bombastic, salacious Schafer, he opens each lock, so gracefully, so prodigiously, that the very act of turning the tumblers is an act of supreme divinity unto itself, and within his text these birds of human expression are given flight. They soar upwards with great wings, higher and higher towards that vast empyrean of which we call meaning.

In short, Broken Age is a game for those who are tired of video games. Tired of the trite, the mundane, the excruciatingly familiar. But, paradoxically, it is also for those who are hungry for the very thing they loathe. For Schafer puts them in spotlight with such precision, such subtlety and beauty, that they appear anew -- as if one were experiencing them for the first time. We become the children of Schafer and we are born again, into a world with colors yet to be perceived, and great beauty yet to cherish and behold. A whole new world so graciously crafted by the storyteller grandmaster himself.

WHERE THESE PEOPLE COME FROM?

People that took a few Eng Lit courses maybe ? I dunno.

 

[Tigranes]

I don't think even Eng Lit would take that shit.

 

[Pyke]

The sole purpose of any game is to be beaten. Winning is the primary and single most important goal. Therefore the logical course is to minimize the amount of time needed to achieve that goal.

 

[Tigranes]

The sole purpose of any life is to die, since that is the conclusion of life. Therefore, please go kill yourself, in order to minimise the amount of time needed to achieve this goal.

 

[Stabwound]

Broken Age skirts that fate with really well-balanced and smart puzzles that are never so obtuse as to require a hint system — which is good, since there isn't one to speak of — but challenging enough that I took my fair share of breaks to stare at the ceiling and pray for more intelligence than genetics and public schools provided me.

Praying won't help in your case.

Double Fine? More like Double Tale.

Lol, holy shit, I seriously laughed out loud at that quote. Needs to be on this page again. This guy must have trouble figuring out how to log onto the internet to post his review.

 

[J_C]

For a shitty story, it's nice to see it generating such discussion amongst the diehard anti-fans of the Codex.

It is not a shitty story.

If you do not understand the game I strongly suggest you play it again. For, in a sense, Broken Age is a game for those who appreciate fine art and good video games. The entire spectrum of each and every possible human emotion takes ground within Tim Schafer's Tour de force. It is a vast testament to the very nature of humanity. Every heart beat, every pulse, eye wink, instance of love, and raw anger.

Growing up, isolation, independency, and a yearning for more -- through Schafer these emotions are bottled and aged until they acquire a new taste, a new flavor. For long these primitive feelings have been but caged songbirds, long held captive by the vessel of the human spirit. Many have tried to set these creatures free and many have failed. ButSchafer, great, generous, bombastic, salacious Schafer, he opens each lock, so gracefully, so prodigiously, that the very act of turning the tumblers is an act of supreme divinity unto itself, and within his text these birds of human expression are given flight. They soar upwards with great wings, higher and higher towards that vast empyrean of which we call meaning.

In short, Broken Age is a game for those who are tired of video games. Tired of the trite, the mundane, the excruciatingly familiar. But, paradoxically, it is also for those who are hungry for the very thing they loathe. For Schafer puts them in spotlight with such precision, such subtlety and beauty, that they appear anew -- as if one were experiencing them for the first time. We become the children of Schafer and we are born again, into a world with colors yet to be perceived, and great beauty yet to cherish and behold. A whole new world so graciously crafted by the storyteller grandmaster himself.

WHERE THESE PEOPLE COME FROM?

Jesus Fucking Crhist. I like and defend the game, but I'm not going to defend it as the holy grail of video game, which pulled out something amazing. Do not understand the game? What is there you cannot understand? The story is not that deep. god, how can you overanalyse a simple thing this much? That writer is a pretentous idiot!

Broken Age skirts that fate with really well-balanced and smart puzzles that are never so obtuse as to require a hint system — which is good, since there isn't one to speak of — but challenging enough that I took my fair share of breaks to stare at the ceiling and pray for more intelligence than genetics and public schools provided me.

Praying won't help in your case.

Double Fine? More like Double Tale.

Lol, holy shit, I seriously laughed out loud at that quote. Needs to be on this page again. This guy must have trouble figuring out how to log onto the internet to post his review.

This is why the game is easy. It is made for the average joe, who backed the game and think themselves as a hardcore adventure game player. But even if they were back in the days, now their intelligence degenerated so much, that they are constantly stuck in the game. That or they didn't even played it from start to finish, just makeing shit up. When designing a game, Tim and Co took the average intelligence of the backers, and tailored the puzzles for them.

 

[Dexter]

I'm getting a severe case of Poe's Law from that "review" on Steam. Similar to how I am pretty sure that everything Bubbles has been posting for the last 2+ pages is sarcasm. But it is really hard to know nowadays.

Edit: http://steamcommunity.com/app/232790/discussions/0/648816743390414708/#c648817377461245212
He doesn't even own the game, I'm assuming it's just some /v/-tard having fun.

 

[Metro]

I'd give it a 7/10.

That's basically a 3/10 normalized.

 

[asper]

So, with a budget of a couple of millions, it is nowadays only possible to make a 4 hour game?

How do the puzzles compare to those in the Deponia series?

 

[felipepepe]

Inventory puzzles were just another way of artificially extending gameplay

Puzzles in a adventure games are just artificially extending gameplay... I can't take the Steam forums anymore.

 

[Darth Roxor]

I can't take the Steam forums anymore.

Your own damn fault for reading them in the first place.

 

[Stabwound]

So, with a budget of a couple of millions, it is nowadays only possible to make a 4 hour game?

Jack Black doesn't work for free you know.

 

[Sòren]

If you do not understand the game I strongly suggest you play it again. For, in a sense, Broken Age is a game for those who appreciate fine art and good video games. The entire spectrum of each and every possible human emotion takes ground within Tim Schafer's Tour de force. It is a vast testament to the very nature of humanity. Every heart beat, every pulse, eye wink, instance of love, and raw anger.

Growing up, isolation, independency, and a yearning for more -- through Schafer these emotions are bottled and aged until they acquire a new taste, a new flavor. For long these primitive feelings have been but caged songbirds, long held captive by the vessel of the human spirit. Many have tried to set these creatures free and many have failed. ButSchafer, great, generous, bombastic, salacious Schafer, he opens each lock, so gracefully, so prodigiously, that the very act of turning the tumblers is an act of supreme divinity unto itself, and within his text these birds of human expression are given flight. They soar upwards with great wings, higher and higher towards that vast empyrean of which we call meaning.

In short, Broken Age is a game for those who are tired of video games. Tired of the trite, the mundane, the excruciatingly familiar. But, paradoxically, it is also for those who are hungry for the very thing they loathe. For Schafer puts them in spotlight with such precision, such subtlety and beauty, that they appear anew -- as if one were experiencing them for the first time. We become the children of Schafer and we are born again, into a world with colors yet to be perceived, and great beauty yet to cherish and behold. A whole new world so graciously crafted by the storyteller grandmaster himself.