I quite enjoyed it myself. I'd have to say that my least favourite scene was the sitcom piece because I'm really not into American sitcom humour, there are a lot of things I 'get' but that just isn't one of them, really. However, there were also some absolutely wonderful pieces. Embarrasing Idol was marvellous and it felt very LucasArtsy in the way Sam wrangled and man-handled the competition, leading to one, lone result.
Overall I had a blast but I will say this, if I can't get Sam's singing out of my head soon, I will kill Telltale. Ahem, that is all.
Hey! If you had fucked up those things you surely would have heard it already and then the difficulty level wouldn´t even have been an issue worth mentioning!
Like I said I don´t have a problem with new gamers being able to play the game, but I just wish there would be some challenge for us more experienced dudes. Difficult levels or something.
Hmm like a pro mode? (MI2 as ex.) woul'd be fine imo.
Telltale you have my money, but after the 4 Jan.. :P
At least you are trying to build little bridges for the time between release for non gametap users.
So, if your entertained by the game, why is the puzzle difficulty such a huge issue? It sounds like you enjoyed playing it, so.... where's the beef? Can't expect 6 new Hit the Roads, after all.
Well, the whole gaming experience (IMO) contains three things:
1. The artistic awesomeness, like music, visual art etc... It doesn´t have to be high tech mega-awesome ultra hyper latest anti alias technology 3d things. It just has to look sound and good. What does it look like, how was it made or is it the latest technology doesn´t matter, the art has to fit, look and feel good. It could be just Super Mario 1 -quality or it could also be Doom 3 -quality. So, the tools doesn´t matter, but the artists have to be good. All the dialogue and other things are also included in this category so I could say that it´s an artistic impression category. Telltale succeeded in this with Sam and Max episode 1.
2. The gameplay. It has to work well. You know, however it is done it has to work. The optimal situation would be a that after learning all the controls and gameplay mechanincs they become just a tool to transfer player´s thoughts into the game. Well, I can´t see how Telltale couldn´t have succeeded in this category.
3. The third category is very crucial to a video game. It´s the challenge. It´s like a game developer comes to me and challenge´s me to a duel. The ultimate insult would be though that the challenge that the duel has to offer is next to nothing. It´s like "how do you even dare to insult me with such a weak challenge" -thing. It´s like a duel with guns and the opponent doesn´t have bullets. I play games, not just to entertain myself with them but to also see how could I win a challenge.
So, if your entertained by the game, why is the puzzle difficulty such a huge issue? It sounds like you enjoyed playing it, so.... where's the beef? Can't expect 6 new Hit the Roads, after all.
You are right it is entertaining(or it was), i played ep one 3 or 4 times, at least two time to understand all humor(my english isn't very good. )
But it is too easy, to some parts i agree with telltale, it's hard to access the casual gamers if the difficulty is too hard but what about raise the difficulty in between the episode?
I think 2-4 hard puzzles in a ep. would not hurt the casual gamer. (or make some puzzles so stupid easy that they are hard to solve, sry can't describe it right... but such puzzles are the best imo)
Sure a other tactic would be to spread sam and max with the episodes(easy puzzles), and then create a bomb sam and max 15-25 hour adventure, but i don't think that's the plan from telltale. *g*
Btw we don't need 5-6 hit the roads, that would kill the franchise for sure(at least until someone digs it out after some jears. )
Btw2, i don't think that the ep. are to short, add all together and you have a nice fullgame(at least telltale mentioned a slight bigger plot behind all episodes), and a nice bang for buck ratio too.
So, they don't need to create more content, but some nice hard'er puzzles would raise the playtime for self up. IMO
Sure not to much because some peps. woul'd then think that they are trying cheat with the playtime.
Yeah i bet most peoples that are criticise the difficulty are oldtimers(as my self, ok bad word for it. )
So Telltale has a good position now they have the chance to make the perfect(or almost) balance for us oldtimers, and for the new ones.
Just don't make it the same way as UBI did with their GR and RB6 franchise they left the oldtimer almost alone to reach the casual gamers.(features that made this franchises big killed ubi because it is againt console politics(in some ways).
That was their big mistaker because the simlike features was mostly optional for casuals, but if someone had needs for the possibilities of the Games they could use it....and now?
Maybe i just typed a bunch of sh.t here down but i love games as much i love to create them(DCC).
He does sound very similar to the other guy, so I'm not surprised that some people don't notice. I think it's actually an improvement. As someone else noted he doesn't sound as strained.
3. The third category is very crucial to a video game. It´s the challenge. It´s like a game developer comes to me and challenge´s me to a duel. The ultimate insult would be though that the challenge that the duel has to offer is next to nothing. It´s like "how do you even dare to insult me with such a weak challenge" -thing. It´s like a duel with guns and the opponent doesn´t have bullets. I play games, not just to entertain myself with them but to also see how could I win a challenge.
That's a good way of putting it, I can't say I entirely agree, but now I understand your POV. The reason I don't agree: Look at, say, Postal 2. The game is even easier than Sam and Max, because it's a "sandbox" style game. Yet, I keep coming back to it because in some twisted way, the pointless unchallenging mayhem is surprisingly addictive. Sure, it's satisfying to finally outwit a brutal challenge, but sometimes it's endless fun to shut down all thought processes and let your hands do all the work. I think that's why multiplayer FPSs are so popular. It hits the fine balance between skill and twitch, where shooting at every moving polygon or pixel is just as good a technique as racking your brain for a strategy in most titles.
I like to challenge my mind, but it's hard to argue that there's anything more fulfilling in a game than using pure instinct and animal reasoning to take out that moron who keeps calling you a "n00b". :P
Well, the whole gaming experience (IMO) contains three things:
1. The artistic awesomeness, like music, visual art etc... It doesn´t have to be high tech mega-awesome ultra hyper latest anti alias technology 3d things. It just has to look sound and good. What does it look like, how was it made or is it the latest technology doesn´t matter, the art has to fit, look and feel good. It could be just Super Mario 1 -quality or it could also be Doom 3 -quality. So, the tools doesn´t matter, but the artists have to be good. All the dialogue and other things are also included in this category so I could say that it´s an artistic impression category. Telltale succeeded in this with Sam and Max episode 1.
2. The gameplay. It has to work well. You know, however it is done it has to work. The optimal situation would be a that after learning all the controls and gameplay mechanincs they become just a tool to transfer player´s thoughts into the game. Well, I can´t see how Telltale couldn´t have succeeded in this category.
3. The third category is very crucial to a video game. It´s the challenge. It´s like a game developer comes to me and challenge´s me to a duel. The ultimate insult would be though that the challenge that the duel has to offer is next to nothing. It´s like "how do you even dare to insult me with such a weak challenge" -thing. It´s like a duel with guns and the opponent doesn´t have bullets. I play games, not just to entertain myself with them but to also see how could I win a challenge.
Actually, I don't agree at all. I think adventure games are different from most video games in that the main concern is just playing out a story. The most important thing is to tell a good story, and to do it in a way that makes you feel involved in the story. For me, adventure games are just another form of storytelling art, like books or movies. In that respect, I think the puzzles in adventure games are mostly there to make you feel as if you're the one advancing the plot, and also as if you're actually playing one of the characters in that plot.
Many very good (in my opinion) adventure games have no puzzles at all (mainly IF games, like All Roads) or they are extremely easy (Sanitarium) or they are very well hidden and you don't really feel like you're solving puzzles at all but only feel like you're advancing the plot (The Last Express).
Hard puzzles can be sort of an added bonus if they're not annoying, but it's hard to make a small game with tough puzzles which aren't annoying...
Sanitarium: Great example of easy puzzles done right.
I think the only time puzzle difficulty ever ruined a game for me was with The Neverhood. The puzzles were easy, but they took a very long time to do, and the game would reset the puzzle progress if you decided to come back to it later. (The giant Memory game comes to mind) I love the Neverhood, but the puzzles were horrid. (and don't get me started on Skullmonkeys... another great game ruined by horrendous difficulty)
Speaking of challenging games, I've just been trying out Myst Online: Uru Live lately, since I'm a Gametap subscriber--it's an interesting and compelling game, but man is it a challenging game--levers, switches, and buttons galore, as well as things such as learning a new numbering system. I really didn't feel like I had the patience to work through the game (it really is not a game you can play in under-1-hour-spurts), but it seems to be right up the alley of the challenge lovers among you.
As a side note, I find it slightly amusing that there is a Myst fan on the Sam and Max hints forums asking for hints and saying that they aren't really good at "Sam and Max" types of games, Myst being a hallmark of challenging puzzles and all that... I think it's almost obvious that Myst-experience doesn't really translate well to Point-and-Click experience.
yeah solving a puzzle in myst and solving a puzzle in say day of the tentacle or grim fandango are completely different things one is fun the other is not :rolleyes:
Oh yeah, I forgot about Myst. The original drove me apesh*t with it's difficulty lol. I never played the sequels, the first game ruined it for me. Altho an MMO Adventure game sounds quite appealing. Didn't Shivers 2 have a semi-multiplayer feature where you could exchange hints with other players?
Being a European I just got the game. And I solved it quite quickly and even though it was funnier, the puzzles were not as difficult as episode 1. I also have to ask...
Why didn't you keep the Soda Poppers theme as ending? The Office theme felt like it ruined closing up the episode...
Given the easy difficulty and unsatisfying "closure", I still liked the episode a lot. British Bosco (with the joke about which language he is speaking) and the Soda Poppers bleeped out cracked me up. It was priceless when Specs wants to *bleep* his brother.
Comments
Overall I had a blast but I will say this, if I can't get Sam's singing out of my head soon, I will kill Telltale. Ahem, that is all.
Good job, guys.
Hmm like a pro mode? (MI2 as ex.) woul'd be fine imo.
Telltale you have my money, but after the 4 Jan.. :P
At least you are trying to build little bridges for the time between release for non gametap users.
1. The artistic awesomeness, like music, visual art etc... It doesn´t have to be high tech mega-awesome ultra hyper latest anti alias technology 3d things. It just has to look sound and good. What does it look like, how was it made or is it the latest technology doesn´t matter, the art has to fit, look and feel good. It could be just Super Mario 1 -quality or it could also be Doom 3 -quality. So, the tools doesn´t matter, but the artists have to be good. All the dialogue and other things are also included in this category so I could say that it´s an artistic impression category. Telltale succeeded in this with Sam and Max episode 1.
2. The gameplay. It has to work well. You know, however it is done it has to work. The optimal situation would be a that after learning all the controls and gameplay mechanincs they become just a tool to transfer player´s thoughts into the game. Well, I can´t see how Telltale couldn´t have succeeded in this category.
3. The third category is very crucial to a video game. It´s the challenge. It´s like a game developer comes to me and challenge´s me to a duel. The ultimate insult would be though that the challenge that the duel has to offer is next to nothing. It´s like "how do you even dare to insult me with such a weak challenge" -thing. It´s like a duel with guns and the opponent doesn´t have bullets. I play games, not just to entertain myself with them but to also see how could I win a challenge.
You are right it is entertaining(or it was), i played ep one 3 or 4 times, at least two time to understand all humor(my english isn't very good.
But it is too easy, to some parts i agree with telltale, it's hard to access the casual gamers if the difficulty is too hard but what about raise the difficulty in between the episode?
I think 2-4 hard puzzles in a ep. would not hurt the casual gamer. (or make some puzzles so stupid easy that they are hard to solve, sry can't describe it right... but such puzzles are the best imo)
Sure a other tactic would be to spread sam and max with the episodes(easy puzzles), and then create a bomb sam and max 15-25 hour adventure, but i don't think that's the plan from telltale. *g*
Btw we don't need 5-6 hit the roads, that would kill the franchise for sure(at least until someone digs it out after some jears.
Btw2, i don't think that the ep. are to short, add all together and you have a nice fullgame(at least telltale mentioned a slight bigger plot behind all episodes), and a nice bang for buck ratio too.
So, they don't need to create more content, but some nice hard'er puzzles would raise the playtime for self up. IMO
Sure not to much because some peps. woul'd then think that they are trying cheat with the playtime.
Yeah i bet most peoples that are criticise the difficulty are oldtimers(as my self, ok bad word for it.
So Telltale has a good position now they have the chance to make the perfect(or almost) balance for us oldtimers, and for the new ones.
Just don't make it the same way as UBI did with their GR and RB6 franchise they left the oldtimer almost alone to reach the casual gamers.(features that made this franchises big killed ubi because it is againt console politics(in some ways).
That was their big mistaker because the simlike features was mostly optional for casuals, but if someone had needs for the possibilities of the Games they could use it....and now?
Maybe i just typed a bunch of sh.t here down but i love games as much i love to create them(DCC).
Ha. They said they kept the same actors.
That's a good way of putting it, I can't say I entirely agree, but now I understand your POV. The reason I don't agree: Look at, say, Postal 2. The game is even easier than Sam and Max, because it's a "sandbox" style game. Yet, I keep coming back to it because in some twisted way, the pointless unchallenging mayhem is surprisingly addictive. Sure, it's satisfying to finally outwit a brutal challenge, but sometimes it's endless fun to shut down all thought processes and let your hands do all the work. I think that's why multiplayer FPSs are so popular. It hits the fine balance between skill and twitch, where shooting at every moving polygon or pixel is just as good a technique as racking your brain for a strategy in most titles.
I like to challenge my mind, but it's hard to argue that there's anything more fulfilling in a game than using pure instinct and animal reasoning to take out that moron who keeps calling you a "n00b". :P
Actually, I don't agree at all. I think adventure games are different from most video games in that the main concern is just playing out a story. The most important thing is to tell a good story, and to do it in a way that makes you feel involved in the story. For me, adventure games are just another form of storytelling art, like books or movies. In that respect, I think the puzzles in adventure games are mostly there to make you feel as if you're the one advancing the plot, and also as if you're actually playing one of the characters in that plot.
Many very good (in my opinion) adventure games have no puzzles at all (mainly IF games, like All Roads) or they are extremely easy (Sanitarium) or they are very well hidden and you don't really feel like you're solving puzzles at all but only feel like you're advancing the plot (The Last Express).
Hard puzzles can be sort of an added bonus if they're not annoying, but it's hard to make a small game with tough puzzles which aren't annoying...
I think the only time puzzle difficulty ever ruined a game for me was with The Neverhood. The puzzles were easy, but they took a very long time to do, and the game would reset the puzzle progress if you decided to come back to it later. (The giant Memory game comes to mind) I love the Neverhood, but the puzzles were horrid. (and don't get me started on Skullmonkeys... another great game ruined by horrendous difficulty)
As a side note, I find it slightly amusing that there is a Myst fan on the Sam and Max hints forums asking for hints and saying that they aren't really good at "Sam and Max" types of games, Myst being a hallmark of challenging puzzles and all that... I think it's almost obvious that Myst-experience doesn't really translate well to Point-and-Click experience.
Why didn't you keep the Soda Poppers theme as ending? The Office theme felt like it ruined closing up the episode...
Given the easy difficulty and unsatisfying "closure", I still liked the episode a lot. British Bosco (with the joke about which language he is speaking) and the Soda Poppers bleeped out cracked me up. It was priceless when Specs wants to *bleep* his brother.