Adventure Gamers - Forums

Ah, well, not easy but in the end not so difficult, either.

1) Grim Fandango. Masterpiece of game design. It’s not perfect in all aspects, but the setting, the art, the music (and voices) and all those aspects pretty much are. It’s just beautiful. Tied for my third most favorite game (after GK3 and then GK2).

2) Syberia I very much liked both games, but of the two, Syberia left a bigger impression on me. BS’s mix of comedy and adventure didn’t perfectly fit together for me, and resulted in the story being too… loose. Maybe part of the reason is also that I’m necessarily comparing it to Jane Jensen’s super-researched masterpieces - BS is just too shallow compared to that Syberia, on the other hand, always kept more “focused” - and built a world that felt slightly magical (Syberia 2, unfortunately, lost that magic). It was so empty, but in Syberia that fit.

M1: Discworld Noir
M2: Broken Sword

Sefir - 21 January 2015 03:48 AM

subbi - 21 January 2015 03:39 AM

It seems to me this can only be the case if you played the game only in recent years for the first time. (correct me if I’m wrong).

I played it around 2000-2003 (the first 2 to be precise. I didn’t bother with the rest of the series).

I found the main characters really uninspired (Really? After the Gabriel/Grace and Guybrash/Elaine another blond man/brunnette woman stereotype? Runnaway continued this proud tradition later on… But the key thing is that both George and Nico’s characters were too one-dimentional imo. Extremely poor character development, especially when they get compared to Syberia’s Kate Walker in that department) and the story kind of lamish. The graphics were ok, but not something really worth mentioning and I cannot remember any of the music to judge it. It does have some good voice acting, especially for George (Nico’s accent was a bit off, but forgiven) and some puzzles were really good (I liked the famous goat puzzle). In general. I don’t count them as good as other games I like (Riven, Grim Fandango, The Whispered World, Machinarium, Callahan’s, The Longest Journey, etc).
The bottom line? Each to his own tastes I guess.

Fair comments, I appreciate you taking the time to make them.

Regarding the stereotypes, yes that may be true, though I don’t mind this one as much as the “blonds wanna have fun or are dumb” ones. Also I strongly believe that Runaway took this stereotype much further, with a brunette that looked pretty much like a stripper. (Also I don’t see the link with gabriel/grace and guybrush/elaine, with Grace being oriental and the mirror opposite of Nico character-wise and Elaine is a red-head)

I could make the argument that at least George does undergo some character changes during the game, starting out as a somewhat bored lawman with very little passion for what he’s doing and being thrown into this global plot as the hero of the day. Yes, it’s not novel or original, but very cinematic and film-like….there is a certain charm to that imho.

The music is quite good actually, produced by Barrington Pheloung and is quite memorable and hummable. I still like the score today….but again, back in 1996 this game was quite something and left you with a lasting impression.

The voice acting. Nico’s accent in BS1 at least has a somewhat french zing to it and I liked how they approached it, even though it can’t be labeled as a real french person talking in english. What I really disliked was the actress from Broken Sword 2, that completely changed tone, much more british or american (I can’t remember which), but completely lost the charm of the orginal Broken Sword 1 performance.

But yes, to each their own indeed.

TimovieMan - 21 January 2015 06:57 AM

2. Syberia - Broken Sword is overrated. Syberia isn’t. In a match between “ok/good” and “great”, the choice isn’t difficult.

I found that choice so difficult I was thinking of abstaining! They are such completely different in style & also there is 6 years between them which might not seem a lot but with leaps & bounds in technology I doubt that a game with the qualities of Syberia could have been produced in 1996? Syberia is such a beautiful game & I didn’t want to vote in favour of nostalgia but I’ve replayed BS (the 1st AG I ever played) quite a few times & after some thought decided that it had the better, chunkier & more intricate story - not overrated in my book! 

chrissie - 21 January 2015 07:41 AM

TimovieMan - 21 January 2015 06:57 AM

2. Syberia - Broken Sword is overrated. Syberia isn’t. In a match between “ok/good” and “great”, the choice isn’t difficult.

I found that choice so difficult I was thinking of abstaining! They are such completely different in style & also there is 6 years between them which might not seem a lot but with leaps & bounds in technology I doubt that a game with the qualities of Syberia could have been produced in 1996? Syberia is such a beautiful game & I didn’t want to vote in favour of nostalgia but I’ve replayed BS (the 1st AG I ever played) quite a few times & after some thought decided that it had the better, chunkier & more intricate story - not overrated in my book! 

This!

I don’t think Syberia would have looked the same way in 1996. For one they couldn’t pull of 3D characters on top of 2D backgrounds yet. (as far as I know Grim is the first AG to do this….) but also the needed color depth would be beyond what was feasible and supported back then and that does impact how these backgrounds would look like, especially those in Syberia style.

2. Syberia - Broken Sword is overrated. Syberia isn’t. In a match between “ok/good” and “great”, the choice isn’t difficult.

Isn’t that just subjective?
Why would one game be considered overrated and the other not, other than your own personal bias? It’s not like Broken Sword got merely one good review…we’re talking critical acclaim here. If anything, the ratings indicate that both games are great.

Almost all of these games I played in a year of their release or at least very close and I’m very confident that the impression that is formed then, stays very deeply enrooted in mind and is decisive when measuring the quality of games.

I’m quite sure that I would rate Broken Sword significantly lower if I had played it after CMI or even LSL7. I still remember starting Frontier (sequel to Elite) for the first time on Amiga, no drug induced or even most sexual experiences come close to that

Grim Fandango
Syberia

-
Broken Sword

1 - nothing of interest
2 - Syberia