The Random Adventure Game News Thread

[WallaceChambers]

Higher Quality YT version:

 

[WallaceChambers]

I've been interested in the My Summer Vacation series by the same devs as this Shin-Chan game. It's basically a spinoff of that series with the license, so it's cool to see the reception for it has been positive.

 

[Boleskine]

Heads up, this panel at PAX West happens in a little more than one hour.

https://west.paxsite.com/en-us/sche...me=ADVENTURE-GAMES-HEROES-AND-LEGENDS-13-and-

Stream will be here: https://www.twitch.tv/pax3

Sat, Sep 3, 2022​

2:30 PM - 4:00 PM​

Horse Theatre (Grand Hyatt, Level 1)​

For adventure, point-and-click, and story-driven game fans all over, have we got an amazing panel for you! Join us in celebrating the heroes and legends of the adventure game genre featuring guests Roberta and Ken Williams, former founders of Sierra On-Line currently working on a new game titled Colossal Cave Reimagined by Roberta Williams under their company Cygnus Entertainment, Ron Gilbert, founder of Terrible Toybox behind games such as Thimbleweed Park and creator of several LucasArts games currently working on Return to Monkey Island, Al Lowe, former creator with Sierra On-Line and the Leisure Suit Larry series, Jane Jensen founder of Pinkerton Road Studio responsible for games such as Gray Matter as well as former creator with Sierra On-Line and the Gabriel Knight series, Dave Gilbert founder of Wadjet Eye Games responsible for titles such as Unavowed and the Blackwell Series currently working on Old Skies. Listen to our legendary panelists discuss their adventures in game development and ask your favorite game heroes questions following the panel. See you there adventurers!

Roberta Williams [CEO, Cygnus Entertainment, Former Founder Sierra On-Line], Ken Williams [CEO, Cygnus Entertainment, Former Founder Sierra On-Line], Ron Gilbert [CEO, Terrible Toybox, Former Creator LucasArts], Al Lowe [Former Creator/Programmer/Composer Sierra On-Line], Jane Jensen [CEO, Pinkerton Road Studio, Former Creator/Writer Sierra On-Line], Dave Gilbert [CEO, Wadjet Eye Games], Frank Cifaldi [Founder & Co-Director, Video Game History Foundation]

 

[Unkillable Cat]

They had to wear masks during the panel, but not before it. :facepalm:

 

[Darkozric]

They had to wear masks during the panel. :facepalm:

Are they aware of the existence of tests? If I were Ken, I would never put my foot in panel like this, with a coffee filter on my mouth.

 

[jfrisby]

Maybe I watch/read too many interviews, but this is almost entirely stories that these guys have told several times.
The highlight is probably Roberta steamrolling over everyone else with PR talking points... really on message. Ron tried to start discussions a few times. Somebody in the audience asked Jane Jensen whether Malachi and David from Moebius are gonna do it. Poor Dave got mostly ignored as Roberta kept repeating she was going to bring the genre back.

 

[Darkozric]

Poor Dave got mostly ignored as Roberta kept repeating she was going to bring the genre back.

Yeah poor Dave, they didn't give him time to talk to us about his decline and his contribution to story driven abominations. I feel very sad, a tear rolled on my cheek.

 

[Hobknobling]

Higher Quality YT version:

This game looks visually very good, but I am so tired of this lovecraftian/victorian mystery motif in games. The theatrical British trailer narration doesn't make it better.

 

[WallaceChambers]

They had to wear masks during the panel, but not before it. :facepalm:

You can also watch the twitch VOD @ 3:29:07, it's better quality. Not that it matters much for a PAX panel but here it is anyway:


Watching this I actually felt a little bad for the Williams'. They don't seem very familiar with the current landscape of VR games. During the Q&A when someone mentioned other VR adventure games, and that some were successful, Roberta seemed totally blindsided. Plus they kept mentioning their hope that Colossal Cave 3D and RtMI would "bring back" adventures. And since by "bring back" they mean "reach a level of mainstream prominence equal to current top tier genres," that clearly won't happen.

There were fun moments here, I'm glad Al Lowe got a lot of laugh lines in, but it seems like Ken and Roberta have set their expectations sky high.

 

[Boleskine]

 

[Viata]

My Summer Vacation series

Great series, lovely games. My favorite comfy games out there. Would recommend 100%.

 

[Darkozric]

Masterpiece

 

[Modron]

Nine Noir Lives came out, has a demo you can check out


So did that Mozart game Less T_T mentioned a while ago

 

[WallaceChambers]

Calymation horror adventure game, demo on Itch.io

Follow for development updates: https://twitter.com/gammagirlLabs

After a deep slumber, a trip to the vending machine spirals into an unintentional journey underground.

Play as Gob to solve the puzzles of your messy home and trudge through the unseen corners of a cavernous tunnel network. Mash things together, break them apart, and observe the environment to get yourself back home.

Features:

• Unique hand-painted artwork
• Point and click mechanics, without the pointing and clicking
• Wordless design.

 

[Modron]

Got a couple releases today



This surreal game came out with an updated demo today as well

 

[Boleskine]

 

[WallaceChambers]

Kodaka's first full 3D Detective Adventure, has been in development for quite some time. First gameplay details showed off at Nintendo's most recent direct.

Yuma, an amnesiac detective-in-training and Shinigami, the spirit hunting him, tackle unsolved mysteries in a strange city caged by unending rain.​

Master Detectives vs. Megacorporation​

A city of rain is gripped by innumerable unsolved mysteries, under the complete control of a megacorporation. Master Detectives from around the world, each possessing unique powers, must rise to the challenge of uncovering the truth. With Shinigami by his side, Yuma joins the investigation as a trainee of the detective agency. Travel freely within the fully 3D environment of the city to gather evidence and testimonies.

Enter the Mystery Labyrinth, a unique and offbeat puzzle-solving experience!​

As the investigation progresses, a realm known as the Mystery Labyrinth will appear, creating a path toward the truth. Once inside however, the mysteries shrouding the case materialize as gimmicks and traps, lying in wait to consume Yuma. The rules of reality don't apply here: delve into the ever-changing Mystery Labyrinth and get to heart of the case.

●A new project from the team of Danganronpa – Experience the latest lucid-noir adventure written by Kazutaka Kodaka!
●3D Detective Adventure – Explore the neon-drenched city of rain and its stygian counterpart in a full 3D environment to the fantastic phantasmal music of Masafumi Takada.
●Eccentric Cast – Meet the unique characters of the detective agency as they face an oppressive corporate-controlled security force designed by Rui Komatsuzaki.
●Puzzles and Paradoxes – Adventure through the paths of challenging dungeons and use deductions to fight Mystery Phantoms trying to bury the truth.
●Includes Japanese and English voice and Japanese, English, French, Italian, German, Spanish text

More on the Master Detective Archives: Raincode website.

 

[Modron]

Enclosure 3D is out

 

[WallaceChambers]

"Whateverland is a hand-painted point-n-click adventure game with a branching dialogue system, non-linear gameplay, various endings and unique in-game turn-based board game.

Find your way out of a magical prison called Whateverland with a charming ghost Nick by your side, get to meet the charismatic locals, steal and deceive or be a good boy and help others to discover all the different endings to this bizarre adventure.

Each level can be completed in at least two different ways: you either steal from people or help them. The rich branching dialogues will tell you more about the world and its inhabitants, as well as influence your relationship with Whateverlanders and your sidekick Nick.

There is no particular order of chapters in this game. More than that, if you ever feel stuck, you can drop your current chapter at any point in the story, and move to another one. And then another one. And another... You get the point.

Whateverland features 19 mini-games in total, although you won’t be able to complete all of them in a single playthrough. Along with challenges like giving a tattoo to a merman and making top-notch ramen (you know, the usual), on the path of a thief you will encounter a variety of locks simply begging to be cracked.

Vincent is a skilled thief who decides to steal a precious necklace from a mansion of a lonely old woman named Beatrice. His plan would have gone perfectly well, but when she catches him red-handed, she turns out to be an ancient, powerful witch.

As a punishment, Beatrice sends him to the parallel world she has created, where the witch traps those she considers her enemies. The first inhabitants of this bizarre world called it Whateverland, and since then it kind of stuck.

Vincent teams up with a charming, yet a little annoying ghost named Nick, and together they have to find their way out.

Are they going to make it? That's for you to decide!

• A not so classic point-n-click.
• You can steal stuff. Or not – it’s your call.
• Your actions define the ending and what people think of you.
• The most annoying sidekick in the universe. (We still love you, Nick)
• You can talk to people. Not sure they’re gonna talk to you though.
• Turn-based strategy sport simulator included in the game. With magic.
• Loads of mini-games. At least 2.
• Music recorded with a real sextet. How sexy is that?
• Beautiful hand-drawn art style.

"

 

[Boleskine]

Interview with Dave starts around the halfway mark.

 

[LarryTyphoid]

Adventure games have been dead for 25 years? It seems like there's an endless supply of them already. Most of them are probably better than these upcoming abominations from the Williams', too.

 

[Modron]

Even at its deadest more point and click adventure games were coming out than crpgs were at their healthiest periods. The whole adventure games are dead meme was just the death of them as a triple A genre.

 

[Darkozric]

Adventure games have been dead for 25 years? It seems like there's an endless supply of them already.

Correction: Quality and clever adventures are mostly dead, but if we consider adventures the abominations that WallaceChambers is posting, then yes there's an endless supply of them.

 

[Jermu]

Played Whateverland for a while. Noticed that you cannot use your inventory items (click item + click target) but you get automatically correct item when talking to npc or interacting with an object.

Uninstalled after I saw that happen first 3 times.

 

[Morpheus Kitami]

Even at its deadest more point and click adventure games were coming out than crpgs were at their healthiest periods. The whole adventure games are dead meme was just the death of them as a triple A genre.

Yeah, I remember when I first heard someone talking about how adventure games are/were dead I was wondering when they were talking about. Even just counting the commercial sphere they seemed fine with companies like Cryo, Dreamcatcher and The Adventure Company publishing them through the "dead" years. The closest they got to being dead was a period at the end of the '00s and the beginning of the '10s before digital distribution took over and the store shelves were dominated by hidden object games.