Some feedback to TMI: Ep 1 ;)
Perfection = Failure.
We strive for perfection in everything we do, yet the very achievement of perfection means failure because nothing can ever achieve perfection. By saying something is perfect means that you've given up, and thus failed. Everything can always be improved. We gamers are a very dedicated bunch, we always want THE BEST, we want PERFECTION - always gobbling about everything we didn't like.
I finished Tales of Monkey Island: Episode 1 after about 3hours of playtime, and while I have a few pickles, I'll also point out what I loved about the game.
This is my little review/feedback.
Now lets start off with the Good, as negative news supposedly sink in better when served last.
G1) Dominic Armato! I simply cannot say how thrilled I was to hear his voice again. He IS, for all intents and purposes; Guybrush Threepwood. It's the reason I fell in love with Monkey Island in the first place. I could listen to mr. Armato all day and never get tired.
G2) The story! For all intents and purposes, the game FEELS like the sequel to my beloved Monkey Island. It gives off a wonderful vibe of Guybrush being slightly older, yet still retains his quirkiness. I especially liked the Episode ending, while being a bit weird, it certainly did it's job at hooking me on with more anticipation for Episode 2.
G3) Michael Land! The second the music hit in, I knew I was playing Monkey Island. I love music, and for the most part don't even consider purchasing games without good music. Music is the soul of any game, and Monkey Island certainly has it. I only wish there was a bit more "music sound" in the Opening Title, as it felt a little bit bland compared to the scope of emotions the frist three games brought.
G4) Art Design! Whoever did the art for Tales of Monkey Island did a SPLENDID job of capturing the look and feel of Monkey Island, I wouldn't have wanted any other way. Keep it up!
And now to complete the good with the Bad that needs improvement. Take special note of B1, cause that REALLY needs to be fixed.
B1) SecuROM! Now before I explain why I totally hate useless DRM, lemme point out that exactly 37min after Episode 1 came out (could be earlier, didn't check earlier), a working crack was available for download, completely bypassing the SecuROM DRM. Clearly that thing isn't working AT ALL. I've been burned badly by SecuROM in the past, having to reformat my PC twice in the past from installing The Sims. Now at this point I don't really care anymore if SecuROM has reverted from it's intrusive ways. ANYTHING that installs additional and useless software that isn't FULLY REMOVED when I uninstall the game shouldn't even be there in the first place. Not only does it serve no purpose whatsoever, but it annoys US, the paying customers with crapware we don't want. If you want pointless DRM, stick with a normal Serial Number activation and @email registration encrypted into the .exe like Stardock does. Please leave out additional DRM drivers - as the only thing they can do is annoy/harm the end user, no one else.
B2) Dialog options! To put things simply, there were not enough dialog options. I felt like I couldn't click on hardly anything to get a funny and quirky/useless comment from Guybrush. I really wish you guys could add A LOT more dialog into the game.
B3) Controls! Simply put, the controls were horrible. It was a huge chore for me to use the mouse, and the keyboard option wasn't much better either. Especially considering that Monkey Island is generally known for it's point and clickiness. The whole control system needs to be scrapped and redone, bring back the old controls! Curse of Monkey Island had crystal smooth controls, click here to go here, click on item in bag then Spam it around on all the objects to see what Guybrush will say. In TMI, clicking on one item even once felt like a chore. Redo them!
B4) The Islands! While I liked the overall graphics of Tales of Monkey Island (even though they WEREN'T Cell Shaded - wiki it), the actual islands were terrible! They felt like a bland added corkers to an otherwise good game. It looked bad with hardly ANY detail whatsoever and again - it simply felt like a CHORE to move around on.
Finally, I'm gonna make a short comment about the overall Game Engine. While this part is perhaps a little bit more difficult to improve, I must say that you guys need a better engine. It feels flimsy, as if it was made up of a bazillion of different developing tools. It easily bugs out, especially the sound (which can get really annoying).
Anyways, that's all from me for now! Hope you guys will continue to make great Adventure Games, and I can't wait to see what you'll do with Episode 2 (Unless you keep SecuROM, then I might get a lot less excited). ;-)
- Mromson :cool:
We strive for perfection in everything we do, yet the very achievement of perfection means failure because nothing can ever achieve perfection. By saying something is perfect means that you've given up, and thus failed. Everything can always be improved. We gamers are a very dedicated bunch, we always want THE BEST, we want PERFECTION - always gobbling about everything we didn't like.
I finished Tales of Monkey Island: Episode 1 after about 3hours of playtime, and while I have a few pickles, I'll also point out what I loved about the game.
This is my little review/feedback.Now lets start off with the Good, as negative news supposedly sink in better when served last.
G1) Dominic Armato! I simply cannot say how thrilled I was to hear his voice again. He IS, for all intents and purposes; Guybrush Threepwood. It's the reason I fell in love with Monkey Island in the first place. I could listen to mr. Armato all day and never get tired.
G2) The story! For all intents and purposes, the game FEELS like the sequel to my beloved Monkey Island. It gives off a wonderful vibe of Guybrush being slightly older, yet still retains his quirkiness. I especially liked the Episode ending, while being a bit weird, it certainly did it's job at hooking me on with more anticipation for Episode 2.
G3) Michael Land! The second the music hit in, I knew I was playing Monkey Island. I love music, and for the most part don't even consider purchasing games without good music. Music is the soul of any game, and Monkey Island certainly has it. I only wish there was a bit more "music sound" in the Opening Title, as it felt a little bit bland compared to the scope of emotions the frist three games brought.
G4) Art Design! Whoever did the art for Tales of Monkey Island did a SPLENDID job of capturing the look and feel of Monkey Island, I wouldn't have wanted any other way. Keep it up!
And now to complete the good with the Bad that needs improvement. Take special note of B1, cause that REALLY needs to be fixed.
B1) SecuROM! Now before I explain why I totally hate useless DRM, lemme point out that exactly 37min after Episode 1 came out (could be earlier, didn't check earlier), a working crack was available for download, completely bypassing the SecuROM DRM. Clearly that thing isn't working AT ALL. I've been burned badly by SecuROM in the past, having to reformat my PC twice in the past from installing The Sims. Now at this point I don't really care anymore if SecuROM has reverted from it's intrusive ways. ANYTHING that installs additional and useless software that isn't FULLY REMOVED when I uninstall the game shouldn't even be there in the first place. Not only does it serve no purpose whatsoever, but it annoys US, the paying customers with crapware we don't want. If you want pointless DRM, stick with a normal Serial Number activation and @email registration encrypted into the .exe like Stardock does. Please leave out additional DRM drivers - as the only thing they can do is annoy/harm the end user, no one else.
B2) Dialog options! To put things simply, there were not enough dialog options. I felt like I couldn't click on hardly anything to get a funny and quirky/useless comment from Guybrush. I really wish you guys could add A LOT more dialog into the game.
B3) Controls! Simply put, the controls were horrible. It was a huge chore for me to use the mouse, and the keyboard option wasn't much better either. Especially considering that Monkey Island is generally known for it's point and clickiness. The whole control system needs to be scrapped and redone, bring back the old controls! Curse of Monkey Island had crystal smooth controls, click here to go here, click on item in bag then Spam it around on all the objects to see what Guybrush will say. In TMI, clicking on one item even once felt like a chore. Redo them!
B4) The Islands! While I liked the overall graphics of Tales of Monkey Island (even though they WEREN'T Cell Shaded - wiki it), the actual islands were terrible! They felt like a bland added corkers to an otherwise good game. It looked bad with hardly ANY detail whatsoever and again - it simply felt like a CHORE to move around on.
Finally, I'm gonna make a short comment about the overall Game Engine. While this part is perhaps a little bit more difficult to improve, I must say that you guys need a better engine. It feels flimsy, as if it was made up of a bazillion of different developing tools. It easily bugs out, especially the sound (which can get really annoying).
Anyways, that's all from me for now! Hope you guys will continue to make great Adventure Games, and I can't wait to see what you'll do with Episode 2 (Unless you keep SecuROM, then I might get a lot less excited). ;-)
- Mromson :cool:
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Comments
..and three hours really? I spent ages messing about sending Guybrush into the sea and stuff for fun.
Couldn'y say it better. MONKEY ISLAND = GRAPHIC ADEVENTURE = POINT AND CLICK. If "new gamers" doesn't like it....well, that THEIR PROBLEM. Most of them shouldn't be allowed to play any videogame, they are the reason why most videogames suck nower days.
Well put. And those jews? What about the jews?
How come every "critic" seems like an overweight spoiled couchpotato incapable of thinking or moving by himself? The controls was horrible. I have issues moving the mouse, can't....understand...hand...to...mouse...coordination...too much....chickengrease..on...keyboard...issues....with...wasd...movement...
You guys just dont understand point and click isnt for 3d environment
I absolutely hate MI4 with a passion, the controls were horrible and I felt the game had nothing to do with the previous incarnations, didn't have the feel. This new game is nice to look at but it's a continuation of MI4, 3D. 3D does not work like this for this genre. Maybe it's the telltale way, my free game was samnmax season 1, episode 1, bored after 10 minutes and so tedious sometimes when I had to relisten and rewait for some sequences.
When I look at the remake of MI1 taking place, that looks absolutely great. They totally get it. Perhaps that style is seen as non commercial in that new players and younger players would not like the 2d approach, but you can stay 2d and make the graphics and gameplay amazing, look at the MI1 videos, looks great. Look at diablo 3 gfx, there is some 3d but the characters arent huge and you look down or at the action without your screen being blocked by some huge entities. I'm not really a fan of blizz these days but fake 3d (like mi2) works.
positives:
The sound is fantastic. As is the presentation.
Voices are good.
negatives:
3d walking around is horrible. A few times I felt claustrophobic, and as an ex wow player kept on trying to scroll out the camera so I could look at it all but could not. Totally detracted from the whole experience for me so far.
No push/pull/give/open etc - it's all too limiting and too easy - examine and click. What was wrong with CMI? That was a winning way to approach adventure gaming, hold down button to see the options.
Breaking of adventure game rules - opening scene uses same puzzle solution twice, this should never happen.
Cumbersome clicking - how many clicks to do easy things? And to have to put an object in that screen with another to see they work together. Bah, no sorry.
Can't click through some of the dialogue - why?
Unfortunately I played MI2 and MI3 just before, they were great fun. Had very good puzzles that were tough (had forgotten most of them so it was almost like playing from scratch) and despite the very old graphics, I felt like I was there (!) and it was engrossing.
Why do all the characters have to be so damn big on the screen?
All in all much polish but no soul, it's better than MI4 but not much. It's a good effort but I'd give it a 6 unfortunately. I have to admit I would rather not play episodes either, would rather have a huge game that I could come home and work on for several months. Perhaps it's pandering to the wii generation, which commercially speaking makes sense but I feel a little robbed. I saw that some people had finished this in 2-3 hours, can't remember that happening with the original trilogy but we didn't have web etc.. Other games fall victim to this I admit, it's all a huge rush to finish and then hunger is back for next thing, online hints not helping.
edit 11th of July. I'm afraid the score was too low - just finished the game and really liked it despite some of my negative findings - 8/10 from me
It worked perfectly in Sam & Max..
Now about the game, I played it at a friend's house and it's truly awesome! Best game I've played in a long time.
Best part about the game is it's humour, which is spot on, and the puzzles. They are all solvable with some thorough thinking, as opposed to the old 'let's try to put every single item in my inventory together to get a result somehow'.
Graphics aren't that great but they work well enough. It's not something they can change in the limited amount of time between episodes so I won't comment on those.
Only complaint I can think of is that some puzzle solutions are recycled in a short amount of time. This isn't that much of an issue yet but if they reuse the same ideas for puzzles the next episode it could become a bit of a problem.
AMEN !
Steverin0: I agree, why can't we just directly use one object with another ? We must drag them both to an extra panel and press an extra button....what a waste of time.
As for how long you take to finish the game: keep in mind this will be an episodic release. The original games where not. That's a whole different approach.
hamzie: why point and click is not for a 3d enviroment ? This is not an action game, you just need to find ogjects, combine them, talk to characters...some puzzles requeire timing...and that all. That can be done easely with a point & click interface.
The controls are fine... graphics are lovely... story is fantastic... vocal performances tremendous... difficulty is ok for now but needs to get harder as the series progresses... new characters are average so far... more dialogue options please... more choice in item interaction please.
I'm guessing by now Telltale know what we generally want but whether they have the time and resources to action any of it is another matter. They've done a fantastic job so far, if the game continues being this enjoyable I'll be happy.
Wallace&Gromit had this feature of reminding the returning player of what he needed to accomplish and what he had done so far. I think this a great ... GREAT feature. but I found W&G's to be rather bland reading. Whether *bland* fits the W&G universe is up to the player. But I am loving the save-game texts in TOMI. They gleen more humor out of the story. If you ignored them, go back and read. I betcha you get another chuckle or two.
Another improvement over the W&G games is the movement control. This is what the fanatics cried for: mouse-driven interface in the face of the console generation. And by all the gods, TOMI's works smoothly (allowing for my meager graphic setting of 5). I am loving the click+drag system. It is ever so easy**
I am also enjoying the esoteric humor, not the least of which is the fact that Guybrush's Voo Doo hand is the same that carries his wedding ring. Brilliant! But writing, alone, does not carry the day. Gameplay must be evaluated too.
I am still frustrated with the inventory-combination feature. It's been raised before so I am merely a voice with many but (for dramatic effect):
TRIED/TRUE WAY: CLICK-ON-ITEM. CLICK-ON-OTHER-ITEM vs.
TELLTALE's WAY: CLICK-ON-ITEM. PUT-IN frame. CLICK-ON-ITEM. PUT-IN-FRAME. CLICK ADD button.
Needlessly cumbersome, that, and far too theatrical. It looks good but its a chore that could be avoided. However, I applaud Telltale's move towards an interactive inventory. It has been noticeably lacking, in my opinion. I've been forever thrilled (once introduced to it back in '83) for the need to combine inventory items in adventuring. This feature adds a new (third, if you will) dimension to the adventure genre. I am ultimately pleased with the effort but am equally dismayed at its execution here.
Can anyone say that TOMI has is the ideal inventory item-combine system? Can anyone argue that it cannot be made simpler for us click-weary players? Anyone? Bueller?
Be it noted that these are my only criticisms at this point. I am mostly pleased with the end product and if the game never improves along its 5-episode mission, it will still be well worth the price. Whatever I said earlier, this IS a replayable game.
**Look crybabies, I play all games on my flatscreen, sitting across the room on the couch ... wait for it ... with the mouse ON MY THIGH. Surely, not the most advantageous position for a mouse or its ease of navigation ...and yet ... TOMI is a dream of 3D, console-friendly, movement-control. I have absolutely no trouble navigating Guybrush where I want him. This is a beautiful compromise and I hope Telltale continues this tradition. It is the perfect balance between 3D and
Now, a caveat to this: In the opening teaser, I was frustrated with the movement but that had to do with the immersive, shaky camera depicting rough waters and slamming into LeChuck's ship. I see the beauty of this now as a way to make the player part of the action, if not a little seasick, but it was a terrible introduction to a new movement scheme. I WAS a little pissed about click+drag movement in the beginning. Again, great concept but it lost something in the execution (at least for first-time players).
In TOMI for move Guybrush there is "point and drag" and so I prefer arrows to move.
My thoughts exactly. I accidentally found SecuROM on my PC shortly after finishing TMI, and was like waaah? Just search your HDD for "SecuROM" folder. Or your registry...
I checked the FAQ, and yupp, there it says. All Telltale Games have SecuROM for some godknowsunexplained reason.