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technobabylon?

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I’m really enjoying Technobabylon.I loved the original freeware games and I was really looking forward to it being completed.  It’s a lot of fun going back to the same places as the original freeware games and seeing what has changed :-)

RockNFknRoll - 22 May 2015 02:52 PM

why haven’t you tried resonance? it’s often considered their best work.

Resonance is the one game from Wadjet Eye that I actively dislike. It started great but then I just can’t stand the twist in the middle. For me if I’m controlling a character in an adventure game, it doesn’t make sense for him to end up having a completely different agenda…

     

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You might want to spoiler-protect that.

I think it’s a fair device. Ed doesn’t really have “a completely different agenda”: he never actually lies to the player about his goals - he doesn’t reveal much about them at all, but if you pay attention there are a few clues that could have put you on the right track early on. He just lies to the other characters, and you assumed he was telling them the truth.

Resonance is great, IMO, and I would argue that the fact that it got such a strong reaction out of you is just proof of the effectiveness of the storytelling.

     
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after a brisk nap - 23 May 2015 10:55 AM

You might want to spoiler-protect that.

I added spoiler tags.

     
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after a brisk nap - 23 May 2015 10:55 AM

You might want to spoiler-protect that.

I think it’s a fair device. Ed doesn’t really have “a completely different agenda”: he never actually lies to the player about his goals - he doesn’t reveal much about them at all, but if you pay attention there are a few clues that could have put you on the right track early on. He just lies to the other characters, and you assumed he was telling them the truth.

Resonance is great, IMO, and I would argue that the fact that it got such a strong reaction out of you is just proof of the effectiveness of the storytelling.

Oh, I agree that there are quite a few clues but it’s still a very annoying feeling to be betrayed by ones own character… I guess for me it’s the Aeris Syndrome (from Final Fantasy 7). I hate games that kill off a character I care about. The storytelling might be effective but in the end instead of enjoying the game, I had a miserable time with it. I actually would have preferred knowing this would happen before playing it.

fov - 23 May 2015 11:30 AM

I added spoiler tags.

Thanks and sorry about that. I tried to keep it vague but should have thought to use the spoiler tag

     
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RockNFknRoll - 22 May 2015 02:52 PM

why haven’t you tried resonance? it’s often considered their best work.

I just started it. I bought it ages ago but the very first puzzle soured me (who has a spare battery for their mobile phone? And who locks it in a drawer inside their own home? Classic adventure game nonsense), but I’m ready to give it another go. To be honest, I thought the computer hacking puzzle in the following scene was bland too, but I dug the “nightmare” scene.

I definitely think Technobabylon will be more my thing, but will reserve judgement till I’ve played through it.

     

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giom - 23 May 2015 01:35 PM
after a brisk nap - 23 May 2015 10:55 AM

You might want to spoiler-protect that.

I think it’s a fair device. Ed doesn’t really have “a completely different agenda”: he never actually lies to the player about his goals - he doesn’t reveal much about them at all, but if you pay attention there are a few clues that could have put you on the right track early on. He just lies to the other characters, and you assumed he was telling them the truth.

Resonance is great, IMO, and I would argue that the fact that it got such a strong reaction out of you is just proof of the effectiveness of the storytelling.

Oh, I agree that there are quite a few clues but it’s still a very annoying feeling to be betrayed by ones own character… I guess for me it’s the Aeris Syndrome (from Final Fantasy 7). I hate games that kill off a character I care about. The storytelling might be effective but in the end instead of enjoying the game, I had a miserable time with it. I actually would have preferred knowing this would happen before playing it.

your POV makes zero sense to me

     
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You could have formulated that in a friendlier more constructive manner.

Now to try and explain my POV more clearly (keep in mind that english is not my native language). I do not like Resonance for two reasons:


A. While it’s true that there were hints, I do not like it when the character I’m controlling in an adventure game has a hidden radically different agenda from mine. Either I control him and I can decide to kill someone (by using the gun on that person in point and click parlance) or I don’t control him.
B. I do not like it when a character that I become attached to dies, especially in this case when she’s killed by another character I controlled. Similarly, I do not like that in movies or in books. In most cases though, I know and can expect this to happen by the type of book or movie I watch. In this game, I didn’t expect it.
C. Most of the time, I play games to relax after an exhausting week of work, this is why I prefer games/movies and books that are relatively positive and try to avoid tragedies. This was not the case when I was a student and I had all the time in the world.

Now, that’s my POV and of course it depends on my circumstances, you’re free to disagree…

And back to the topic of Technobabylon, I’m now at the last chapter and I love this game. It reminds me of Beneath A Steel Sky which is one of my favorite game.  There are a few slightly cringe worthy scene The story exposition dialogue between Max and Charlie during the first scene is a bit unnatural and feels more destined to us than an actual dialogue between them and it sometimes tend to tell a bit too much before showing but those are minor flaws… I like the characters and I really enjoy the story.

     
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giom - 26 May 2015 05:27 AM


A. While it’s true that there were hints, I do not like it when the character I’m controlling in an adventure game has a hidden radically different agenda from mine. Either I control him and I can decide to kill someone (by using the gun on that person in point and click parlance) or I don’t control him.
B. I do not like it when a character that I become attached to dies, especially in this case when she’s killed by another character I controlled. Similarly, I do not like that in movies or in books. In most cases though, I know and can expect this to happen by the type of book or movie I watch. In this game, I didn’t expect it.
C. Most of the time, I play games to relax after an exhausting week of work, this is why I prefer games/movies and books that are relatively positive and try to avoid tragedies. This was not the case when I was a student and I had all the time in the world.

A) I agree that this is the weak point, and normally I hate it when something like this happens. In this particular case I however think that it is okay, though not perfect, because of the way that the whole game works.

B) I also hate that - but at the same time I also love it, and I think that I love it more that I hate it.

In the end it of course all comes down to “taste differs”, but it is certainly the most controversial thing about the game.


And back to Technobabylon: I have only just started it, so it is a bit early to form an opinion, but so far I like it, and based on the trouble I had getting out of the first room, it also looks like it’s going to be a difficult game - which I love.

btw I love how she just walked into the door, blindly trusting that the technology would work and the door would automatically open.

     

You have to play the game, to find out why you are playing the game! - eXistenZ

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While not as well written as Blackwell Epiphany, this game is the best Wadjet Eye Games title I played in terms of puzzle design (although, I still haven’t tried Gemini Rue or Resonance).

Three different characters, real and VR world and lots of gadgets together make a very diverse and challenging game.

I especially liked the portrayal of Technobabylon world. At first, I thought it will be just another SF dystopia, but in reality, it’s “normal” SF world, with equal amount of positive and negative traits. It all depends on how we use them. Yes, we can go overboard like Latha with trance, but too much scepticism isn’t healthy either. That’s why we have Max, to represent sort of Golden mean of that world. Aside from that, it’s very much Regis’ story, with Latha put as a semi - plot device.

Oh, and just to clear any possible misunderstanding, when I wrote earlier that I though Technobabylon wasn’t as well written as Blackwell Epiphany, I didn’t mean it was badly written. There were some bits that seemed out of the place, like giom noticed. And, of course, that big gap at the end of the story, where Regis takes Latha under his shelter and completely disregards Galatea, who is also his daughter. Ok, he might have a guilty consciousness regarding what he did to her, but Galatea should be also worthy of his attention, despite what she had done. As well as Latha, she grew up in certain circumstances, that formed her identity and character and she’s not to blame for that. If Regis wanted to be real father, he should have embraced her too and try to change her for better.

     

Recently played: Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons 5/5, Bioshock 2 4/5, Tomb Raider (2013) 3/5 Looking forward to: Gibbous, Saint Kotar

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It’s up to WadjetEye’s usual high standard, which is a good thing, but whilst I’m only about half-way through, I’m getting the sneaking suspicion I’m going to be left feeling a tad bit cold about it when all is said and done. Which is something that happens to me with a lot of WadjetEye stuff. Entertaining, compelling enough adventures while I’m playing them, but they often just don’t blow me away and afterwards I tend to feel a bit ambivalent about them.

The exceptions being Resonance- which is an utter masterpiece that I’m a little in awe of still to this day- and the excellent final Blackwell game, both of which showed far more audaciousness than anything else in the WadjetEye catalogue.

That said, I’m enjoying Technobabylon quite a bit. At the moment. Wink Tongue

Curious to see if it can hold it together to the finale.

     
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Enjoying TB very much. Clever and funny puzzles, not too hard, fun to execute.

By the way, the car outside the trance den - laughed my pants of.

     
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I just finished this game - and I Love it.

It is very “I Robot” (more the movie than the book though) and cyperpunk inspired, which is right up my ally Grin In fact if someone had said that William Gibson was involved in this game, then I would have been inclined to believe them.

It is a serious story, but it still has a lot of humour, it is cyperpunk with trance addicts and whatnot, but not as bleak as cyperpunk can sometimes be. The setting allows for a lot of interesting and well designed puzzles, like hacking not only AI but also peoples brains and messing things around in there.

If I have any complains, then it is that the writing can at times fell a bit heavy-handed, and some of the characters are really more of a caricature than real people, Ran Shou-Man being the worst case. There is also a couple of cases where the mechanics of a puzzle interface could have been better communicated to the player.

But overall the positives far outweigh the negatives.

lucebend - 28 May 2015 09:07 AM

And, of course, that big gap at the end of the story, where Regis takes Latha under his shelter and completely disregards Galatea, who is also his daughter. Ok, he might have a guilty consciousness regarding what he did to her, but Galatea should be also worthy of his attention, despite what she had done. As well as Latha, she grew up in certain circumstances, that formed her identity and character and she’s not to blame for that. If Regis wanted to be real father, he should have embraced her too and try to change her for better.

I also thought that myself, but it can easily be explained by the fact that he simply doesn’t get the chance to be a father to Galatea. Moments after he learns that she is his daughter, she is first thrown in jail and then escapes and disappears. Besides she already has a father in the form of Dr. Vargas, whereas Latha as an orphan needs him more.

One thing that annoys me a bit more, is that in the chapter where we first play as Dr. Lao (is everybody in this game doctors?), we get the option to go to Fulcrum Tower and speak to Dr. Vargas and Galatea. But I wanted to solve the message puzzle first, believing I could do so after that, but I never got the option, so now I can’t help wondering what that scene would have been like.

     

You have to play the game, to find out why you are playing the game! - eXistenZ

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Iznogood - 04 June 2015 08:24 AM

[spoiler]I also thought that myself, but it can easily be explained by the fact that he simply doesn’t get the chance to be a father to Galatea. Moments after he learns that she is his daughter, she is first thrown in jail and then escapes and disappears. Besides she already has a father in the form of Dr. Vargas, whereas Latha as an orphan needs him more.

I understand. However, I do feel developers could have used at least one sentence at the very end to give us perspective about Regis’ feelings of Galatea. Even though she turned psychopath, I’d expected much more emotional reaction from a man that bombed an apartment under threat that someone would crush his unborn children.

     

Recently played: Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons 5/5, Bioshock 2 4/5, Tomb Raider (2013) 3/5 Looking forward to: Gibbous, Saint Kotar

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I’ve just finished the game and overall my feelings towards it are way above average. Most of which comes from the great atmosphere of the game and the themes and subjects used in it. This complex and controversial cyberpunk world is just the type of SF for my taste. I love that many of the key elements to the whole setting are gradually revealed to the player. Things like wetware, organic technology and gengineering are used as common and well-known terminology from the beginning of the game but our perception of them grows as we play. There are some really bold and unusual topics for a game implemented here (like same-sex relationships, transgender, cannibalism and such) that gave the world an extra layer of depth. You can read more on this subject here: http://cliqist.com/2015/06/22/lgbt-influences-technobabylon/

Something about the pace of the storytelling kind of put me off towards the end of the game. Till the middle everything was going smoothly in terms of dramatic effect but after that the characters felt somehow unbelievable to me. Gemini Rue for example had much more modest storytelling but every bit of it felt really dramatic. The story was revealed with a nice and well thought balance. In Technobabylon I didn’t really feel the moments that were supposed to be the peak of the player’s emotional connection with the story and the characters. (this might depend on my own pace of playing, of course). I expected a heavier and intense tone (I almost didn’t care when Kreisel smashed the embryos. Regis took it pretty easy as well). Latha’s whining and Lao’s easy going attitude wasn’t much help, either. Minor things like the puzzles with the soldiers also ruined the atmosphere a bit for me. Instead of the panic that I had to get through several heavily armed soldiers with stealth suits, thermovision and what-not I got the feeling that I was dealing with complete morons that couldn’t see me standing right next to them. 

I’m being a bit too harsh here. But that’s just because I was having a really good time playing this game. I just wanted it to end as brilliant as it began. And that has nothing to do with the story itself.

All things said, I still love it Smile

     
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