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Adventure Game Scene of the Day - Friday 29 January

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Total Posts: 5034

Joined 2004-07-12

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Casual Friday

On occasion I’ve said that I thought some game series have out-stayed their welcome. I’m going to devote the next three weeks giving some examples.

The above screenshot is from the game Haunted Legends - The Queen of Spades. It was the first game in the Haunted Legend series which was developed by the well-known ERS (Beat them till they’re dead) Games.

It was a pretty good game. All random list HO scenes. No variety, except for the occasional need to interact, such as open a box to find a pearl type of thing. And what I really didn’t care for all that much was the fact that you have to visit each HO scene at least twice.

Another thing I didn’t care for was the music. It isn’t bad, but it is terribly repetitive. And that’s about it as far as the things I didn’t like. Now for the things I did like.

The graphics are very good. ERS has always been known for incredibly good graphic quality in all its games. The puzzles range from relatively easy, to quite difficult. There was one that required moving gears on two sides of a gearbox in order to get both sides moving in unison. And when they did, a scalpel appeared. That was difficult enough. But when you tried to retrieve the scalpel, the game said it was too hot to handle with your bare hands. So it was off to find a pair of insulated gloves. I like that kind of puzzle. In ways it is similar to the type of convoluted puzzle I might see in a standard adventure.

Another thing I liked about the game is that the Hint/Skip button can only be used during hidden object scenes and puzzles respectively. So, unlike what you find in many games where clicking the hint button will tell you what to do or where to go next, that option is simply not available. Nor is there an interactive map, which makes the game a truly investigative exercise. There is no hand-holding here.

The basic plot of the game is that there is a gremlin/dwarf of sorts that has taken over the estate of a Countess. I’m not giving away any secrets here, because there are more than enough clues along the way to tell you exactly what is happening. The Countess is being kept alive by our gremlin with the use of body parts and fluids supplied by now-dead visitors to the estate.

It is your job to put an end to this barbarism. It is the gremlin’s job to keep that from happening.

There is also a side game at play. Throughout the game you are required to find all 52 cards from a deck of cards that is scattered by the wind in the game’s opening cut scene. These cards are hidden in plain sight in just about every one of the game’s locations. It’s important to find them because the endgame requires you to beat the gremlin in a game of cards. If you don’t have all the cards, the game can’t end. (There is a walkthrough available, as well as a full list of the cards you have collected. You may need to resort to the walkthrough. If you didn’t see the cards when you first should have, It’s unlikely you will spot one on a second pass.)

So what makes this a “Jump the Shark” kind of game? Well, aside from the problems noted earlier, this is a great game. There even was a bit of tension present as you tried to beat the gremlin at his card game. But this was the First game!

There are now, I believe, seven games in the Haunted Legend series, and each game was a bit worse than the one that preceded it. (Although, to be honest, I can’t speak for the last two. I gave up after game number five. And I should have given up after game number two.)

Of all the game developers, ERS is the most guilty of beating franchise games into the ground. But they are not alone. Stay tuned.

     

For whom the games toll,
they toll for thee.

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Total Posts: 1573

Joined 2003-09-10

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I’ve always assumed that game series go on and on because they keep selling well. People seem more interested in the familiar than in what’s new and different. They trust that the experience will be similar to the previous game in the series and feel that they are less likely to be disappointed than they would be by trying something new.

On the other hand, I’ll wager that the developers are more interested in creating something new, rather than producing yet another series clone. If we as casual gamers all sprang for the new, daring, cutting-edge original games, maybe they would make more of them?

     
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Total Posts: 5034

Joined 2004-07-12

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It is hard for me to know what game developers have in mind other than making more money so they can continue making more games, so they can make more money. Ad infinitum.

I think most of us have recognized that the reviews on BFG are heavily skewed to “more of the same.” Even if a truly innovative game gets the rare good review, the review is often accompanied by the phrase “I hope they do a sequel!” And the developers, who are privy to the BFG marketing data, say “I think we had better get a sequel into the development stream post haste!”

And they do. But in doing so, some corners might be cut. But not so much as to turn off the admirers. But just enough that the drop in quality is noticeable to those that look for those things. (Which I think represents a majority, if not all of the people who participate here.) And if that game is a success, history repeats.

Puppetshow, which was featured in an earlier AGSotD, is now in it’s 9th game. The daughter, who was supposedly burned to death in the first game, has now been resurrected at least six times. Really? I believe in character continuity in a game series. But Really? ERS is obviously following the money. And I have no problem with that. They have shareholders I presume.

The people I have a problem with are the enablers.

I agree with the concept that things might change if people only purchased new and innovative games. But how are we going to find them? BFG isn’t going to tell us. The only way we will find out about these games is here! Which means that the collective “we” need to up our game. Pun intended. I used to play at least ten demo games a month. I am probably doing two now. The only way to find the new innovative games is to play the new releases when they become available. And report the results.

     

For whom the games toll,
they toll for thee.

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Total Posts: 1573

Joined 2003-09-10

PM

I have no problem with sequels per se. I’m eagerly awaiting the next game in the Enigmatis series and the Nightmare Adventures series and the Otherworld series, for instance—partly because they contain an overall story arc that I’d like to see completed.

But I like your idea of trying to play and talk about the casual games here that are more original and innovative.

     
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Total Posts: 5034

Joined 2004-07-12

PM

I don’t think I said all sequels are bad. Or that all series are bad. (Just most!  Smile )

I would love to see another Enigmatis game myself. But Artifex Mundi isn’t churning out a new one every six months or less. (Thank heavens!)

And I’m sure there are game series out there with a cohesive story arc. That fact that I’ve not played one yet doesn’t mean they aren’t there.

     

For whom the games toll,
they toll for thee.

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