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No new postsWhy New Adventure Games are Terrible…
Interesting OP and I agree with much of what is being said. But I’d rather say most adventure games these days are mediocre rather than terrible. Which is almost as bad though, since playing a mediocre game is pretty much the same waste of time and money as playing a terrible one.
The mediocrity certainly often has a lot to do with the budget/possible final asking price.
I for one have decided to stop buying more games than I will ever be able to play and enjoy just because they are adventure games. I would never have done so in the first place if the games had not been pretty cheap to begin with. I realize that my behavior only sends false signals to the wrong people. This “I’ll buy it because it’s cheap” behavior probably only leads into a downward spiral for the genre. And Kickstarter has only made this worse, with every adventure game developer wannabe without talent on earth suddenly seeing the opportunity.
A more selective approach and willingness to pay more for games that really count and work will only do the genre good imo.
I can’t remember a better time to be an adventure gamer, to be honest. Especially if you’re open to nontraditional adventures.
The likes of Stick it to the Man, Stacking, Contrast, Valiant Hearts as well as big-budget likes of Murdered Soul Suspect, Beyond Two Souls, upcoming games like Life is Strange and Until Dawn; there’s Sherlock Holmes, Daedelic and Wadjet Eye. Dreamfall, Grim, DotT…
I actually find it rather thrilling, and as a result have probably spent more than is reasonable on certain kickstarters and games. Once I got a tablet and a PS3 I even bought additional copies of games I own. As a consumer I’m thrilled.
I don’t know where developers are at but as long as the likes of Daedelic/Double fine/Wadjet Eye et al are around I’ll keep buying.
I can’t remember a better time to be an adventure gamer, to be honest. Especially if you’re open to nontraditional adventures.
This is a key statement. The indie scene is doing wonders for the genre.
Sadly, we too often get bogged down in “it’s not an adventure game” discussions, as if the genre definition has anything to do with the quality of the game…
The truth can’t hurt you, it’s just like the dark: it scares you witless but in time you see things clear and stark. - Elvis Costello
Maybe this time I can be strong, but since I know who I am, I’m probably wrong. Maybe this time I can go far, but thinking about where I’ve been ain’t helping me start. - Michael Kiwanuka
I can’t remember a better time to be an adventure gamer, to be honest.
^This. It’s as if we forgot how it was two years ago, before Tim Schafers KS.
Now, there’s amazing news almost every week. The Sierra Brand resurrected, new Kings Quest, new Simon The Sorcerer, New LucasArts style Ron Gilbert game, new installation of the Longest Journey franchise, new Syberia, new Broken Sword, a spiritual successor to The Neverhood, Grim fandango and DotT remakes, LucasArts games on GoG, and the good news just keeps coming.
These new games may not turn out exactly how we would’ve envisioned them ourselves, but really, a couple years ago every mention in my previous sentence would’ve sounded unlikely to surface any time soon. It is a good time to be an adventure gamer indeed.
Duckman: Can you believe it? Five hundred bucks for a parking ticket?
Cornfed Pig: You parked in a handicapped zone.
Duckman: Who cares? Nobody parks there anyway, except for the people who are supposed to park there and, hell, I can outrun them anytime.
Things happening now are really good, but overall they are not upto the level of AAA gaming out there in other genres, nor at the level of old AG era.
I think thats what TC implied.
Most of the stuff we are getting is hinging upon successes/memories of the old times and
yet we need to see the exact same quality or surpassing it.
Untill that happens along with titles worthy of 60$, AG is virtually dead.
Broken Age more than lives up to old Lucas Arts games, sooo…
Broken Age more than lives up to old Lucas Arts games, sooo…
Arguably worst Schafer AG.
Broken Age more than lives up to old Lucas Arts games, sooo…
Arguably worst Schafer AG.
I can only partially agree with you. Either way, that “worst” really seems harsh when you’re talking Tim/DF games, since their worst is what most other developers only hope to shoot for.
My only gripe with the game is the age of the characters. I like my protagonists old enough for some good ol’ self-deprecation and being the butt of all jokes, etc, etc, be they doofuses like Guybrush or the Grim Reaper himself. BA was heavily influenced by Miyazaki and it shows; however, a good chunk of that juicy sarcasm and witticism you expected from Lucas-type adventures just isn’t there, and that hurts the project a little bit when you compare it to the classic. HOWEVER, I give them points for exactly that: not going back to a Guybrush kind of protagonist, even though if anyone could pull it off, it was Tim - other devs mostly try to do Guybrush and fail embarassingly (I’m looking at you, Deponia). To sum up, imho kids/preteens =/= good idea for adventure game protagonists, since that way a lot of humor opportunities go right out the window. But overall the game is still a gem, and it looks absolutely stunning and unique.
Broken Age more than lives up to old Lucas Arts games, sooo…
I can’t take that statement seriously until Broken Age actually becomes more than the first half of a game. 
*quietly curses episodic gaming under breath*
Isn’t this whole “we need more money!” argument destroyed by the fact that the small indie games are often better than the big budget “AAA” adventures? Why, for example, is Curses! - a text adventure made by a dude after work, a million times better than Broken Age, a multi-million dollar production made by a team of so-called “professionals”?
It should be obvious by now that pumping more money into production and revenue isn’t going to give us better games.
That statement is pretty subjective.
You obviously like text adventures and they’re cheap to make. But to appeal to a bigger market, you need also a certain level of production value and visual style and that is expensive. (at least more so than a text driven game, right?)
So I’m not saying Broken Age is a better game just because of it, but it will appeal to a bigger audience.
Broken Age more than lives up to old Lucas Arts games, sooo…
Arguably worst Schafer AG.
No, I heavily disagree.
I loved Broken Age, even if it was just the first part and I have played all the Schafer games.
(And Stacking is much worse than BA in terms of fun and gameplay. I won’t even mention Psychonauts)
Why, for example, is Curses! - a text adventure made by a dude after work, a million times better than Broken Age
That is purely your own taste, not an universal thruth. It’s the same thing when I can fully dig cheaply made b-movie over multimillion block buster.
Personally I find the first half of BA to be one of the better adventure games released this decade.
That statement is pretty subjective.
You obviously like text adventures and they’re cheap to make.
No, the production quality, originality and writing of Curses just blows Broken Age out of the water. Nothing subjective about it.
But to appeal to a bigger market, you need also a certain level of production value and visual style and that is expensive. (at least more so than a text driven game, right?)
Why are we talking about appealing to a bigger market? I thought this was about games being terrible rather than good.
That statement is pretty subjective.
No, the production quality, originality and writing of Curses just blows Broken Age out of the water. Nothing subjective about it.
No, the quality, originality and writing of a game is something entirely subjective to judgement. As all aspects of a game are. That’s the reason you can see different ratings in different sites for the same game.
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