Good adventure games
Playing TOMI has gotten me back in the spirit of adventure games, something I used to love years ago. And I don't mean to be openly talking about games sold by companies other than TTG (if it makes you feel better, I just purchased both seasons of S&M), but I am too lazy to join another forum just to ask this question. Besides, the community here obviously has good taste in adventure games!
I've tried a couple here and there in recent years, but they always end up sucking. Terrible voice acting, dumb plot, senseless puzzles, no real conversation trees, etc.
I recently tried a demo for "Art of Murder: Hunt for the Puppeteer" and I didn't like it. The voice acting was just okay, but the puzzles were lame, items scattered about in stupid ways, etc. Glad I tried the demo first, that's for sure.
The only somewhat recent adventure games I have played were "Scratches" (okay but mostly lame) and "After Life" which was an impulse buy and I dreaded every minute of playing it (terrible voice acting and dumb minigames).
Some games that sound interesting include "The Lost Crown" (looks okay, but unsure), "Darkness Within", "Culpa Innata", etc. But I am afraid they will have bad voice acting, stupid puzzles, silly minigames (timed, arcade-like etc) that distract from the game, stupid plots, limited conversation choices, etc.
I just want a nicely made, nicely acted "serious" (scary/mystery) adventure game. Nice controls is a definite plus too.
To give you an idea on what I used to like (although I don't know if I still would or not), I used to play the Tex Murphy games, Phantasmagoria, Myst, etc.
What have you all been playing? Anything stand out as a nicely made adventure game? How is Telltale's own CSI game?
I appreciate any thoughts or advice!
I should also add that I don't care too much for games that involve pages and pages of reading. (Yeah, I know Myst was like that, but.....)
I've tried a couple here and there in recent years, but they always end up sucking. Terrible voice acting, dumb plot, senseless puzzles, no real conversation trees, etc.
I recently tried a demo for "Art of Murder: Hunt for the Puppeteer" and I didn't like it. The voice acting was just okay, but the puzzles were lame, items scattered about in stupid ways, etc. Glad I tried the demo first, that's for sure.
The only somewhat recent adventure games I have played were "Scratches" (okay but mostly lame) and "After Life" which was an impulse buy and I dreaded every minute of playing it (terrible voice acting and dumb minigames).
Some games that sound interesting include "The Lost Crown" (looks okay, but unsure), "Darkness Within", "Culpa Innata", etc. But I am afraid they will have bad voice acting, stupid puzzles, silly minigames (timed, arcade-like etc) that distract from the game, stupid plots, limited conversation choices, etc.
I just want a nicely made, nicely acted "serious" (scary/mystery) adventure game. Nice controls is a definite plus too.
To give you an idea on what I used to like (although I don't know if I still would or not), I used to play the Tex Murphy games, Phantasmagoria, Myst, etc.
What have you all been playing? Anything stand out as a nicely made adventure game? How is Telltale's own CSI game?
I appreciate any thoughts or advice!
I should also add that I don't care too much for games that involve pages and pages of reading. (Yeah, I know Myst was like that, but.....)
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Also, there is a free episode of Wallace & Gromit out today. If you don't already have the Wallace & Gromit season you should pick it up, you really have nothing to lose
I'll look into The Longest Journey. I'd really like as much input from people as possible. I miss the old classic adventures. I actually recently installed a Tex Murphy game (Under a Killing Moon) into my Virtual PC running Win98 and I hate to admit that I wasn't getting into it. Funny how you remember those old games looking so much better. They are pretty ugly by today's standards. (Even MI2 is pretty hard to look at, but the story makes up for it).
I also played Grim Fandango for the first time about 5 or 6 months ago. Sad, I know. It was okay, but not quite up to MI standards in my opinion.
If you wanna go a bit more old school you can download a free copy of beneath a steel sky via the scummvm website, another one of my faves from back in the day
So anyway..... I've got a lot of gaming to do now but I'd still like to get some more input on other quality adventure games. Funny is good, but I also like a good mystery or something that'll give me the willies if I play it late at night with the lights off.
Maybe I will try the demo for CSI here, but I am curious if Telltale did all of those games as there are more than one out, but only one on this site.
I ask because there is a multi-pack of 4 CSI games on Amazon for even less $ (no offense TTG, and you can delete this paragraph of the post if you want to).
As for other adventure games, I recommend the entire Monkey Island series, both Longest Journey games and the Ben and Dan series. I cannot recommend the latter enough - they're absolutely hilarious and dirt cheap. Grab 'em on Steam.
You mentioned Phantasmagoria- have you tried the Gabriel Knight series? They'd be worth looking into if you want a horror game.
The problem I have noticed with many of them is that most are made overseas and when the characters speak in English, it often sounds so unnatural.... not to mention lacking proper emotion and voice inflection.
I know the genre isn't dead, but unfortunately all the big players in the good old days are no longer playing.
annnd cpu gpu slowers..
and nah gabriel knight has always been advent.. not horror..
and phantasmagoria was one such game I spoke of needing tweaking...
all of those old games with the apple quicktime oddball codecs can also toss your machine for a loop
I'll look into Gabriel Knight games too. I've heard of them, but I don't think they appealed to me back in the day; However, tastes change.
Nobody seems to be mentioning any recent games (other than CSI)..... are there really none made in the last couple years that are any good? Are the CSI games any good, or all equally as good as each other? I'll try the demo one of these days.
I seem to have memories of having a hard time finding good quality adventure games even back then.... many of them sucked, but every once in a while you found a good one. I remember Phantasmagoria being one of the first video games that ever freaked me out a bit (it had its moments). But having played it again a few years ago, even that is a bit tame by today's standards.
For now I am enjoying Wallace & Gromit as well as Sam & Max (and OF COURSE Tales of Monkey Island). I am still in shock that we have an all new piratey Monkey Island adventure. I really hope they keep 'em coming for years and years. Even though TTG was pretty well known before TOMI, I'm certain that they are even more well known now and that sales of ALL of their games have shot up. I'm very happy for them and I wish them continued success. All I ask for is about, oh..... 20 more seasons of TOMI.
i just dont see the horrible in the old games... i see past that, and i never had an issue with tex.. ever.. well not game wise..
getting it to work.. well there was one that did work but went to slow or fast.. either or..was nuts..
still loved it more than 70% of the advents out today
and i loved its free roam system and crave it... even telling telltale CSI would better in this arena.. but no one listens!
plenty of awesome 1st person advents.. just have to do it right, and with this lastest csi fiasco .. well .. lets just say those games just got worse and worse(i dislike them very much)
20 seasons? lol id hope for 3-4
and you didnt like strogbad? wowzer
http://machinarium.net/demo/
I haven't tried Indigo Prophecy but that was another I saw mixed reviews on. Also, Machinarium.... I read about that the other day and the article said it was very good. Just wasn't sure of the plot or the idea of playing as a robot. However, I just played with the demo for a few minutes (thanks) and it seems okay. I will add that to my list of games to look into further and/or try.
Oh, and the 20 years of TOMI was a joke. Though I wouldn't mind it, I know it is unrealistic! I agree.... 3 or 4 seasons would be nice, and I also hope LA gets back into adventure games as well.
I must add- once you get through the first part, the game really opens up and there's plenty to explore. It may feel a little claustrophobic and possibly frustrating to begin with but its worth it
The white chamber. It's not very long, and is quite linear (except for the endings, which you have 4 different ones), but I really enjoyed playing it, and for a non commercial game, i was very impressed.
"Apprentice 1 and 2"
http://www.herculeaneffort.com/index.php?page=apprentice1
Indiana Jones and The Fountain of Youth (Demo)
http://www.barnettcollege.com/demo.htm
Broken Sword 2.5
http://www.brokensword25.com/
Real Games
A Vampyre Story : http://www.vampyrestory-game.com/ Made by CMI creators and artists but GET THE PATCH!
Simon the Sorcerer 4, yeah whatever... I like it!
http://www.gamespot.com/pc/adventure/simonthesorcerer4chaoshappens/index.html
(The entire series is great, but the 3rd game has graphics that take time to get used to..just a few hours, then the game is actually pretty good. the 3rd one that is...)
Star Trek A Final Unity is a must
http://www.gamespot.com/pc/adventure/startrekthenextgfu/index.html?tag=result;title;0
Star Trek Judgement Rites
http://www.gamespot.com/pc/adventure/startrekjudgementrites/index.html
Star Trek 25th Anniversary
http://www.gamespot.com/pc/adventure/startrek25thanniversary/index.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=gssimilargames&tag=similargames;title;2
(The three are the best star trek games EVER made and if you're a fan you'll have a wet dream..apparently you can download the one I've just mentioned but I have hard copies, myself and..whatever...)
^^^ Voiced by the original casts, I think all 3 games.
Well those are a few good ones that come to my old mind that can't remember more as of now, that haven't been mentioned.
Also, I second, third, fourth, fifth or whatever number we're on Machinarium - beautiful game.
I've heard Mata Hari is pretty good, but I haven't gotten a chance to try it yet.
duckman - short, but really funny, you can download that one legally for free, at abandonia for instance
the goblins games, of which i find goblins 3 to be the best one by far
simon the sorcerer 1&2 (forget the rest, especially 3!!)
touché is pretty funny but has some stupid puzzles
i have no mouth but i must scream is pretty alright, since it has a very pessimistic and terrible feel to it
space quest 6 is also funny, bad start but it gets better and better
longbow is a very good sierra adventure game too, robin hood based
i've never played the police quest series, wouldn't recoment king's quest, it's ok, but mostly too many destinations without knowing, what to do exactly, the last part looks like a cheap sunday afternoon kid's animation movie
of the above mentioned:
broken sword 1&2 (forget the rest)
machinarium (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
beneath a steel sky
lure of the t's ok, but i wouldn't be able to play it now, the graphics and controls are outrageously bad, same thing goes for the feeble files, which is a decent adventure as well
gabriel knight
i can also recommend, that you take a look at the site adventuregamers.com, they have pretty decent reviews.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blade_Runner_(1997_video_game))
here is some gameplay at the beginning
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9-hTaFqh_Q
BTW you can get this game cheap used from amazon...
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B000BFP82E/ref=dp_olp_used?ie=UTF8&condition=used
Hmm, this one looks worth getting. Seen it before and was about to look up its price and it's not insanely priced.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083658/
I don't like ridiculously hard games, I just like games with a long lasting story, adventure, cool characters, and general entertainment value.
Seen most of HFord's movies even one of his old westerns that there's little known of. I could never sit through Sabrina though, as big as a fan as I am...I just hate it. Regarding Henry is one of my favorites though, when considering his acting potential.
Cayanne Pepper
Annie Android: Automated Affection
Infinity String
I had Journeyman Project 2 I think... it was a bit weird when they referenced stuff in number 1 which I hadn't played. I liked that you were a time traveller, and had a talking computer chip (I think? it was a long time ago) but some of the time travel locations seemed a bit bare. I think in Da Vinci's workshop it was empty because it was night, and for some reason in the Mayan pyramid they were all off at some sacrifice somewhere...
I wonder if Journeyman Project 3 was better?
I think I also had Gabriel Knight 2. For some reason I always jumped into a series at number 2 and didn't have the first one... it was a bit weird having Tim Curry do the voiceover though... he sounded like some drunk middle aged southern person, which wasn't what I pictured Gabriel Knight to sound like in my head...
Is this only about real adventure type adventures (like LucasArts and Sierra games) or has anyone mentioned FPS, stealth, RTS or space combat games with some adventure storylines thrown in? I found the Metal Gear series, Oni, Deus Ex, Nexus: The Jupiter Incident, Super Metroid and Star Trek games interesting to play. It's nice to have something with a story line.
EDIT: I just remembered a cool adventure mystery type game I had- TITANIC: Adventure Out of Time! It was so awesome because the game had you running around a 3D replica of the real Titanic which was so detailed that there was also a tour mode where you could wander around and talk to characters who would tell you about the real ship and historical figures. Plus it gets really time critical when it hits the iceberg and starts sinking, because then you only have limited time to solve the mysteries and get off the ship!
If you played JP1, you'd find out why: you'd change history otherwise if you came in contact with a being from another time period.
JP3 was okay, but it was really easy and the adventure genre was declining at that time.
Also, you could try this pack http://store.steampowered.com/sub/2102/ for only £7. I beleive they are all talkies, with semi-decent plots. They are supposed to be quite good (coming from the so called golden age of Point&click gaming). I haven't played those yet, so someone else will have to give you an opinion.
More recently, Telltale is really the only developer still doing Point and click. Lucasarts did a remake of the original Monkey island game if that intrests you though.
Best thing is, DRM free, and they're all compatible with XP/Vista (they patch the games up, and use ScummVM or DOSBox to run their games as flawlessly as possible).
Seriously, GOG.com (stands for Good Old Games) is the best thing that's happened to digital distribution since Steam and Telltale