the game looks charming as hell, but the price is pretty steep. I wish they split the episodes individually so that I could at least afford to play the first episode
Not sure about the other platforms, but Steam has the first episode available as a standalone purchase. It's $10 per episode, and there doesn't appear to be any savings with the complete edition. You get a bonus epilogue with the complete edition. Not sure how big or consequential that will be. The price is steep, but from the sounds of the reviews, it's a much bigger game than what Telltale's been putting out. 5-6 hours as opposed to Telltale's typical 2-3.
the game looks charming as hell, but the price is pretty steep. I wish they split the episodes individually so that I could at least afford to play the first episode
I've been reading some reviews. There's no clear consensus, but it looks like at the least, this is a decent game. I was really afraid they were going to go full-Telltale. Don't get me wrong, Telltale's style is good, but it would have been a disaster for King's Quest. It seems like they went their own direction with this one: somewhere in between what Telltale's been doing, while keeping puzzles and exploration intact. The one thing that the reviews agree on is that it's a beautiful game. I was planning on waiting until at least the second episode (to see what the release schedule is like), but I'm very tempted to pick it up this weekend.
Yeah! Me too. I'm thinking about buying it as well (40 dollars I can use for food and junk going down the drown. ha ha ha...). The game just looks so damn charming, and I would love having another episodic game to play while waiting for other episodic games. That's Why I bought Dreamfall: Chapters, Life is Strange, Kentucky Route Zero (that one didn't work out so well), and of course Game of Thrones and Tales from the borderlands.
I've been reading some reviews. There's no clear consensus, but it looks like at the least, this is a decent game. I was really afraid they … morewere going to go full-Telltale. Don't get me wrong, Telltale's style is good, but it would have been a disaster for King's Quest. It seems like they went their own direction with this one: somewhere in between what Telltale's been doing, while keeping puzzles and exploration intact. The one thing that the reviews agree on is that it's a beautiful game. I was planning on waiting until at least the second episode (to see what the release schedule is like), but I'm very tempted to pick it up this weekend.
I'm a huge Sierra fan, so I've been waiting for a King's Quest 9 for a while. It's the Sierra adventure game with the most known attempts to make a sequel. The choice of King's Quest for a sequel actually makes a lot of sense, as, not only is it one of the most (if not the most) recognizable Sierra adventure game properties, it also has a history of drastic change with each new release.
Telltale picked it up for an episodic release in 2011, and Activision pulled the license from them in 2013, stating that they had their own plans. Last year, those plans were revealed as an episodic game by The Odd Gentlemen, which would be published by Sierra, which was revived by Activision as their indie game publishing label.
I was wondering if they would go the route of modern Telltale games, as that seems to be a market that Activision would want to tap into. The result is a little bit Telltale, a little bit classic Sierra, and a whole lot of fun (the humor in this was said to be inspired by The Princess Bride, and there's definitely a lot of that, as well as other irreverent comedy such as Monty Python).
So far, it actually takes the Telltale formula to the perfect level in my opinion, mixing in the right amount of QTEs and action sequences with classic adventure game puzzles and choices and consequences (although we'll have to see how the consequences play out in later episodes to see if it reaches the levels of games like Dreamfall Chapters). There's the choices and consequences (old King Graham, voiced perfectly by Christopher Lloyd, mentions that his younger self had a choice between several options, each of which would have consequences). There are QTE's, and there are ones where you have to push the button repeatedly, but they make sense here as they're presented as things such as chopping a tree or rowing a raft, rather than just arbitrary things like summing up strength, and the amount of button pressing repetition is never excessive. They also have first person shooting sections (with a bow and arrow) that are handled really well (and sometimes even happen in the heat of the action, which adds to the tension in my opinion). But, there is also an inventory and puzzles, and not ones where the solution is right next to the object, either. The areas to explore are rather large, and the solution might be location far away from the problem, which bridges classic Sierra with the modern adventure game formula together excellently.
I usually don't post my opinions on games until after I complete them, but I made an exception since this one is long (it's said to be around 4 to 6 hours, hence it's price of $10 dollars per episode as opposed to the now standard $5). I played through the intro and the first trial for Graham's knighthood, and I loved it so much so far I had to share my thoughts. The story is exactly what I was hoping, as it's clearly both a sequel (as well as a prequel in parts) and a re-imagining. The set up of old King Graham telling his granddaughter stories of his life works well for the game, as it gets to tell new stories never told before, and for the stories that it does revisit (such as Graham's quest to get the magic mirror from the dragon), any changes to the story can be chalked up to Graham embellishing a bit to keep his granddaughter excited.
I'm a huge Sierra fan, so I've been waiting for a King's Quest 9 for a while. It's the Sierra adventure game with the most known attempts to… more make a sequel. The choice of King's Quest for a sequel actually makes a lot of sense, as, not only is it one of the most (if not the most) recognizable Sierra adventure game properties, it also has a history of drastic change with each new release.
Telltale picked it up for an episodic release in 2011, and Activision pulled the license from them in 2013, stating that they had their own plans. Last year, those plans were revealed as an episodic game by The Odd Gentlemen, which would be published by Sierra, which was revived by Activision as their indie game publishing label.
I was wondering if they would go the route of modern Telltale games, as that seems to be a market that Activision would want to tap into. The result is a little bit Telltale, a little bit classic Sierra, and a whole lot of fun (… [view original content]
Just finished it, it's all up on the youtube channel.
Game's amazing. Puzzles aren't that difficult. Every 'competition' takes about an hour to complete, which seems appropriate. Great length, lots of humor and some surprising levity and sadness. Music is wonderful and the voice acting is incomparable. Some of the best comedic writing I've seen in a game.
I wonder how Jontron would feel about this game? I guess so long, there isn't an annoying owl or if every character in the game moves too "fuckin slow."
So I ended up buying this game shortly after my last post. I don't have much time for gaming during the week, so I haven't finished it yet. My initial reaction is that it's great. I have some further thoughts that I'll post when I'm done with the episode.
I do have a question for anyone who followed The Walking Dead Season 1 from the beginning. What was the reaction like when Episode 1 came out? Did it blow up right away, or did it take two or three episodes? I've been looking for King's Quest discussions on various forums (and reddit), and it looks like most people are ignoring it. I can't imagine sales have been very good so far, which I find sad, and I think would bode badly for games like this, future King's Quest games, and other dead Sierra franchises. How much hope is there for it to pick up steam as more episodes come out?
I think they botched the marketing. There was never much of a marketing campaign (which is fine for a game like this), but what was there was terribly misleading. The trailers made it look like some sort of platformer, which its decidedly not. So they turned off a lot of old KQ fans, and a lot of adventure game fans in general.
The Walking Dead: Season One was a success from the beginning, but Telltale had the lucky fortune of picking up the license as the television show was just starting to get traction, and then coasting on the momentum of the popularity of the show once their game finally came out.
Since King's Quest is no longer a well known name, it will probably take a few episodes for it to catch on. A better analogy to this would probably be Life is Strange, which didn't have the brand name recognition, but slowly built up a following thanks to word of mouth from people who played it.
You're right that the marketing definitely didn't help, as after the trailers came out The Odd Gentlemen constantly had to reiterate that it was an adventure game, despite appearances. There's a bit of platforming in the game (especially in Graham's second (well, first, as far as the timeline is concerned) trip to the cave), but it's of the on-the-rails variety, so Graham can't jump except at the moments in the game where he has to do so.
Just did a second playthrough, this time using the "Brawny" path instead of the "Brains" path. Was hoping for a "Fate of Atlantis" level of differences, but still ended up solving almost all the same puzzles. The only major difference was where I got the monster eye from for the first competition. Otherwise, puzzles remained the same. Although it was fun to play a second time because I was able to chase secrets. Like I COMPLETELY MISSED the fact that you could go to Daventry Castle during my first run.
I finished my playthrough, and I'm mid-way through my second playthrough. I agree with most of what Jennifer and Daishi have said.
I wasn't a big fan of the QTEs in the prologue. It was a little better than Telltale's QTEs, but not by much. I really liked how they used them in the race sequence though. Aside from being am exciting sequence, the QTEs were used to establish the mechanics of the race (ie, you have to duck under branches and jump over obstacles), which later set up a puzzle. I don't think I've seen that before in an adventure game.
On the subject of choice, I think the philosophy was less is more. If you rescue the merchant, Gwendolyn asks old Graham if the merchant "will remember that" and Graham replies "of course not." I'm pretty sure that was a jab at Telltale's notification system. In Telltale games, they're constantly telling you that everything you say is consequential, but when you replay the game, you find out that the vast majority of the choices are not. In replaying King's Quest, there were small but noticeable changes based on what I initially thought were throwaway options. Like, the bridge troll gives you a nickname depending on your initial conversation, and sticks with it the entire game. It would be awesome if he sticks around for future episodes and continues with the nickname.
I'm also thinking that I'm not going to mind the wait as much as I do with modern Telltale games. My guess is that each episode is going to be a mostly standalone story, with a handful of small threads running through the whole game. Sort of like what Telltale used to do with their earlier games. So if I forget stuff, it won't be such a big deal. I'm also interested to see how much the tone changes from episode to episode. Each episode portrait shows an older version of Graham, so I'm expecting to see a more mature, less Guybrush Threepwood-like Graham next episode. Not sure how much that will impact the tone of the game.
Anyways, I would give it a solid 9/10. Probably the best adventure game I've played in a long time. If they add dialogue skipping (for replayability), and don't add another long, super-linear, puzzle-less section like the prologue, I would probably give it a 10/10. The prologue was fine if it was meant as a one-off tutorial, but if they open every episode with a sequence like that, I will not be pleased.
My biggest gripe with my second playthrough is I went with the Brawn path versus Brains path the second time, and the puzzles didn't actually change at all. The only thing that happened was that I didn't have to turn the Pumpkin into an eye.
I finished my playthrough, and I'm mid-way through my second playthrough. I agree with most of what Jennifer and Daishi have said.
I wasn… more't a big fan of the QTEs in the prologue. It was a little better than Telltale's QTEs, but not by much. I really liked how they used them in the race sequence though. Aside from being am exciting sequence, the QTEs were used to establish the mechanics of the race (ie, you have to duck under branches and jump over obstacles), which later set up a puzzle. I don't think I've seen that before in an adventure game.
On the subject of choice, I think the philosophy was less is more. If you rescue the merchant, Gwendolyn asks old Graham if the merchant "will remember that" and Graham replies "of course not." I'm pretty sure that was a jab at Telltale's notification system. In Telltale games, they're constantly telling you that everything you say is consequential, but when you replay the game, you find out that… [view original content]
The prologue was also definitely necessary. That's a training level for anyone new to the mechanics of these games. That's pretty much a necessity of modern games.
I finished my playthrough, and I'm mid-way through my second playthrough. I agree with most of what Jennifer and Daishi have said.
I wasn… more't a big fan of the QTEs in the prologue. It was a little better than Telltale's QTEs, but not by much. I really liked how they used them in the race sequence though. Aside from being am exciting sequence, the QTEs were used to establish the mechanics of the race (ie, you have to duck under branches and jump over obstacles), which later set up a puzzle. I don't think I've seen that before in an adventure game.
On the subject of choice, I think the philosophy was less is more. If you rescue the merchant, Gwendolyn asks old Graham if the merchant "will remember that" and Graham replies "of course not." I'm pretty sure that was a jab at Telltale's notification system. In Telltale games, they're constantly telling you that everything you say is consequential, but when you replay the game, you find out that… [view original content]
Agreed. I just don't want to see the section repeated.
The frustrating thing about the lack of alternate puzzle solutions is that you can see hints of alternate solutions all over the place. I'm almost positive that more alternate solutions were intended, but cut for lack of development time. Like, I was so sure that you could trick Whisper into signing his picture and disqualifying himself. I also thought that you might be able to use the badger to defeat Acorn (like, you get Princess Madeline to freak out and fuck with Acorn). Still seems like a minor gripe to me. I don't recall the old Lucasarts games having more than a handful of alternate puzzle solutions. I think I would have go back to actual Sierra games to find games chock full of stuff like that. It would have been nice, of course, but I think what we ended up with was way above-average compared to contemporary adventure games.
The prologue was also definitely necessary. That's a training level for anyone new to the mechanics of these games. That's pretty much a necessity of modern games.
Is it too early to speculate about Episode 2 and beyond?
Something I noticed in my second playthrough was the goblins. They're clearly involved in trapping the dragon. You can see them running around with a bed, and beds end up everywhere in the well somewhere between Graham's first and second visit. So the goblins are probably going to be important. My guess is that Manny is a goblin hiding himself in his armor. He's about the right size, and during the wits game, he says something about goblins being "smarter than they look."
Agreed. I just don't want to see the section repeated.
The frustrating thing about the lack of alternate puzzle solutions is that you can… more see hints of alternate solutions all over the place. I'm almost positive that more alternate solutions were intended, but cut for lack of development time. Like, I was so sure that you could trick Whisper into signing his picture and disqualifying himself. I also thought that you might be able to use the badger to defeat Acorn (like, you get Princess Madeline to freak out and fuck with Acorn). Still seems like a minor gripe to me. I don't recall the old Lucasarts games having more than a handful of alternate puzzle solutions. I think I would have go back to actual Sierra games to find games chock full of stuff like that. It would have been nice, of course, but I think what we ended up with was way above-average compared to contemporary adventure games.
They just put out a teaser for Episode 2 in this blog post. There's very little in the way of spoilers, in case anyone's worried about that sort of thing,
They just put out a teaser for Episode 2 in this blog post. There's very little in the way of spoilers, in case anyone's worried about that … moresort of thing,
enter link description here
No release date so far, other than "this fall," which could mean anything from late September to late December.
Yes and no. The first 30 minutes of the game has puzzles and QTE's more similar to Telltale now, but the majority of the game is a classic adventure point and click (Like older Telltale Games, and old Lucas Arts adventure games). If you like Telltale I say it's worth checking out at least the 1st chapter.
Anyone remember this game? Chapter 2 comes out December 15!
They've been showing bits of it off. The article has spoilers for the beginning section of the game if you're sensitive to that kind of thing. Apparently the tone of Chapter 2 is going to be somewhat darker than Chapter 1, which is an interesting choice. They're also saying it has more difficult puzzles, and even new game mechanics. For example, you can sleep to pass time. From what I'm reading, it sounds like they're approaching each Chapter as its own game rather than one game broken up into chunks.
Anyone remember this game? Chapter 2 comes out December 15!
They've been showing bits of it off. The article has spoilers for the beginni… moreng section of the game if you're sensitive to that kind of thing. Apparently the tone of Chapter 2 is going to be somewhat darker than Chapter 1, which is an interesting choice. They're also saying it has more difficult puzzles, and even new game mechanics. For example, you can sleep to pass time. From what I'm reading, it sounds like they're approaching each Chapter as its own game rather than one game broken up into chunks.
Its actually pretty impressive how fast they're going all things considered. Compared to Telltale, KQ looks and runs significantly better, and the playtime was 6 hours long or more, depending on how long it takes you to solve the puzzles, compared to the typical 2 or so for Telltale. I also read that they only have about 20 employees. Not sure how many people Telltale have on an active project at one time, but I bet its at least triple that.
Anyone remember this game? Chapter 2 comes out December 15!
They've been showing bits of it off. The article has spoilers for the beginni… moreng section of the game if you're sensitive to that kind of thing. Apparently the tone of Chapter 2 is going to be somewhat darker than Chapter 1, which is an interesting choice. They're also saying it has more difficult puzzles, and even new game mechanics. For example, you can sleep to pass time. From what I'm reading, it sounds like they're approaching each Chapter as its own game rather than one game broken up into chunks.
I'm definetly not waiting to play one episode at a time. I will just wait for the whole season to give it a look and I thought telltale release schedule was ridiculous
I'm definetly not waiting to play one episode at a time. I will just wait for the whole season to give it a look and I thought telltale release schedule was ridiculous
Not that I'm defending it, but Telltale keeps their episodes short because they want their games to be played in one sitting ever since they've moved to choice based titles. Older episodes prior to Walking Dead had more gameplay and were closer to 4-6 hours long.
Its actually pretty impressive how fast they're going all things considered. Compared to Telltale, KQ looks and runs significantly better, a… morend the playtime was 6 hours long or more, depending on how long it takes you to solve the puzzles, compared to the typical 2 or so for Telltale. I also read that they only have about 20 employees. Not sure how many people Telltale have on an active project at one time, but I bet its at least triple that.
Comments
I'm incredibly excited for this one.
the game looks charming as hell, but the price is pretty steep. I wish they split the episodes individually so that I could at least afford to play the first episode
So, It's out! (The first episode at least) If anyone has played it yet, do tell how Good/bad it was.
I CANT BECAUSE THEY SCEWED the PS4 LAUNCH
ANGRY
Ugh guess I'll stream it later.
This one is not gonna be point-n-click like the older ones, is it?
It's like Telltale and a platformer put together judging from the gameplay. I'm kinda glad the game won't have dead end moments like the older games.
Not sure about the other platforms, but Steam has the first episode available as a standalone purchase. It's $10 per episode, and there doesn't appear to be any savings with the complete edition. You get a bonus epilogue with the complete edition. Not sure how big or consequential that will be. The price is steep, but from the sounds of the reviews, it's a much bigger game than what Telltale's been putting out. 5-6 hours as opposed to Telltale's typical 2-3.
I've been reading some reviews. There's no clear consensus, but it looks like at the least, this is a decent game. I was really afraid they were going to go full-Telltale. Don't get me wrong, Telltale's style is good, but it would have been a disaster for King's Quest. It seems like they went their own direction with this one: somewhere in between what Telltale's been doing, while keeping puzzles and exploration intact. The one thing that the reviews agree on is that it's a beautiful game. I was planning on waiting until at least the second episode (to see what the release schedule is like), but I'm very tempted to pick it up this weekend.
Yeah! Me too. I'm thinking about buying it as well (40 dollars I can use for food and junk going down the drown. ha ha ha...). The game just looks so damn charming, and I would love having another episodic game to play while waiting for other episodic games. That's Why I bought Dreamfall: Chapters, Life is Strange, Kentucky Route Zero (that one didn't work out so well), and of course Game of Thrones and Tales from the borderlands.
IT'S GREAT. THE GAME IS GREAT.
lol
If you want to see what it plays like, here's my first video on it. Just got done exporting from Twitch.
https://youtu.be/88V24Tckl9w
I see. I've played two games of the series and enjoyed them very much. I'll try to watch some gameplays to see how good it is.
And by the way, the hour after the intro is just as good as the first half hour. Super funny stuff.
I'm a huge Sierra fan, so I've been waiting for a King's Quest 9 for a while. It's the Sierra adventure game with the most known attempts to make a sequel. The choice of King's Quest for a sequel actually makes a lot of sense, as, not only is it one of the most (if not the most) recognizable Sierra adventure game properties, it also has a history of drastic change with each new release.
Telltale picked it up for an episodic release in 2011, and Activision pulled the license from them in 2013, stating that they had their own plans. Last year, those plans were revealed as an episodic game by The Odd Gentlemen, which would be published by Sierra, which was revived by Activision as their indie game publishing label.
I was wondering if they would go the route of modern Telltale games, as that seems to be a market that Activision would want to tap into. The result is a little bit Telltale, a little bit classic Sierra, and a whole lot of fun (the humor in this was said to be inspired by The Princess Bride, and there's definitely a lot of that, as well as other irreverent comedy such as Monty Python).
So far, it actually takes the Telltale formula to the perfect level in my opinion, mixing in the right amount of QTEs and action sequences with classic adventure game puzzles and choices and consequences (although we'll have to see how the consequences play out in later episodes to see if it reaches the levels of games like Dreamfall Chapters). There's the choices and consequences (old King Graham, voiced perfectly by Christopher Lloyd, mentions that his younger self had a choice between several options, each of which would have consequences). There are QTE's, and there are ones where you have to push the button repeatedly, but they make sense here as they're presented as things such as chopping a tree or rowing a raft, rather than just arbitrary things like summing up strength, and the amount of button pressing repetition is never excessive. They also have first person shooting sections (with a bow and arrow) that are handled really well (and sometimes even happen in the heat of the action, which adds to the tension in my opinion). But, there is also an inventory and puzzles, and not ones where the solution is right next to the object, either. The areas to explore are rather large, and the solution might be location far away from the problem, which bridges classic Sierra with the modern adventure game formula together excellently.
I usually don't post my opinions on games until after I complete them, but I made an exception since this one is long (it's said to be around 4 to 6 hours, hence it's price of $10 dollars per episode as opposed to the now standard $5). I played through the intro and the first trial for Graham's knighthood, and I loved it so much so far I had to share my thoughts. The story is exactly what I was hoping, as it's clearly both a sequel (as well as a prequel in parts) and a re-imagining. The set up of old King Graham telling his granddaughter stories of his life works well for the game, as it gets to tell new stories never told before, and for the stories that it does revisit (such as Graham's quest to get the magic mirror from the dragon), any changes to the story can be chalked up to Graham embellishing a bit to keep his granddaughter excited.
I might actually buy it. I was thinking the price was steep, but then I heard episode 1 itself is 6 hours. Holy cow
It's fun and it's funny. I'm REALLY having a blast with it.
Just finished it, it's all up on the youtube channel.
Game's amazing. Puzzles aren't that difficult. Every 'competition' takes about an hour to complete, which seems appropriate. Great length, lots of humor and some surprising levity and sadness. Music is wonderful and the voice acting is incomparable. Some of the best comedic writing I've seen in a game.
I wonder how Jontron would feel about this game? I guess so long, there isn't an annoying owl or if every character in the game moves too "fuckin slow."
So I ended up buying this game shortly after my last post. I don't have much time for gaming during the week, so I haven't finished it yet. My initial reaction is that it's great. I have some further thoughts that I'll post when I'm done with the episode.
I do have a question for anyone who followed The Walking Dead Season 1 from the beginning. What was the reaction like when Episode 1 came out? Did it blow up right away, or did it take two or three episodes? I've been looking for King's Quest discussions on various forums (and reddit), and it looks like most people are ignoring it. I can't imagine sales have been very good so far, which I find sad, and I think would bode badly for games like this, future King's Quest games, and other dead Sierra franchises. How much hope is there for it to pick up steam as more episodes come out?
I think they botched the marketing. There was never much of a marketing campaign (which is fine for a game like this), but what was there was terribly misleading. The trailers made it look like some sort of platformer, which its decidedly not. So they turned off a lot of old KQ fans, and a lot of adventure game fans in general.
The Walking Dead: Season One was a success from the beginning, but Telltale had the lucky fortune of picking up the license as the television show was just starting to get traction, and then coasting on the momentum of the popularity of the show once their game finally came out.
Since King's Quest is no longer a well known name, it will probably take a few episodes for it to catch on. A better analogy to this would probably be Life is Strange, which didn't have the brand name recognition, but slowly built up a following thanks to word of mouth from people who played it.
You're right that the marketing definitely didn't help, as after the trailers came out The Odd Gentlemen constantly had to reiterate that it was an adventure game, despite appearances. There's a bit of platforming in the game (especially in Graham's second (well, first, as far as the timeline is concerned) trip to the cave), but it's of the on-the-rails variety, so Graham can't jump except at the moments in the game where he has to do so.
So King's Quest is like my book, sales are slow to start but pick up over time.
Just did a second playthrough, this time using the "Brawny" path instead of the "Brains" path. Was hoping for a "Fate of Atlantis" level of differences, but still ended up solving almost all the same puzzles. The only major difference was where I got the monster eye from for the first competition. Otherwise, puzzles remained the same. Although it was fun to play a second time because I was able to chase secrets. Like I COMPLETELY MISSED the fact that you could go to Daventry Castle during my first run.
I finished my playthrough, and I'm mid-way through my second playthrough. I agree with most of what Jennifer and Daishi have said.
I wasn't a big fan of the QTEs in the prologue. It was a little better than Telltale's QTEs, but not by much. I really liked how they used them in the race sequence though. Aside from being am exciting sequence, the QTEs were used to establish the mechanics of the race (ie, you have to duck under branches and jump over obstacles), which later set up a puzzle. I don't think I've seen that before in an adventure game.
On the subject of choice, I think the philosophy was less is more. If you rescue the merchant, Gwendolyn asks old Graham if the merchant "will remember that" and Graham replies "of course not." I'm pretty sure that was a jab at Telltale's notification system. In Telltale games, they're constantly telling you that everything you say is consequential, but when you replay the game, you find out that the vast majority of the choices are not. In replaying King's Quest, there were small but noticeable changes based on what I initially thought were throwaway options. Like, the bridge troll gives you a nickname depending on your initial conversation, and sticks with it the entire game. It would be awesome if he sticks around for future episodes and continues with the nickname.
I'm also thinking that I'm not going to mind the wait as much as I do with modern Telltale games. My guess is that each episode is going to be a mostly standalone story, with a handful of small threads running through the whole game. Sort of like what Telltale used to do with their earlier games. So if I forget stuff, it won't be such a big deal. I'm also interested to see how much the tone changes from episode to episode. Each episode portrait shows an older version of Graham, so I'm expecting to see a more mature, less Guybrush Threepwood-like Graham next episode. Not sure how much that will impact the tone of the game.
Anyways, I would give it a solid 9/10. Probably the best adventure game I've played in a long time. If they add dialogue skipping (for replayability), and don't add another long, super-linear, puzzle-less section like the prologue, I would probably give it a 10/10. The prologue was fine if it was meant as a one-off tutorial, but if they open every episode with a sequence like that, I will not be pleased.
My biggest gripe with my second playthrough is I went with the Brawn path versus Brains path the second time, and the puzzles didn't actually change at all. The only thing that happened was that I didn't have to turn the Pumpkin into an eye.
The prologue was also definitely necessary. That's a training level for anyone new to the mechanics of these games. That's pretty much a necessity of modern games.
Agreed. I just don't want to see the section repeated.
The frustrating thing about the lack of alternate puzzle solutions is that you can see hints of alternate solutions all over the place. I'm almost positive that more alternate solutions were intended, but cut for lack of development time. Like, I was so sure that you could trick Whisper into signing his picture and disqualifying himself. I also thought that you might be able to use the badger to defeat Acorn (like, you get Princess Madeline to freak out and fuck with Acorn). Still seems like a minor gripe to me. I don't recall the old Lucasarts games having more than a handful of alternate puzzle solutions. I think I would have go back to actual Sierra games to find games chock full of stuff like that. It would have been nice, of course, but I think what we ended up with was way above-average compared to contemporary adventure games.
Is it too early to speculate about Episode 2 and beyond?
Something I noticed in my second playthrough was the goblins. They're clearly involved in trapping the dragon. You can see them running around with a bed, and beds end up everywhere in the well somewhere between Graham's first and second visit. So the goblins are probably going to be important. My guess is that Manny is a goblin hiding himself in his armor. He's about the right size, and during the wits game, he says something about goblins being "smarter than they look."
Really enjoying this game so far.
I think the game could benefit of a 'speed up' option for anything you've already gone through before, segments and dialogue included.
AND YES. WHISPER. HOW COULD THEY NOT LET YOU TRICK WHISPER. That was my first thought, then it turned out all the puzzles were essentially the same.
Yeah, goblins are hauling the beds around. I'm glad on my main playthrough that I spared the dragon using the bell.
They just put out a teaser for Episode 2 in this blog post. There's very little in the way of spoilers, in case anyone's worried about that sort of thing,
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No release date so far, other than "this fall," which could mean anything from late September to late December.
A Teaser already?! Impressive!
Is this game similar to the telltale's style or is it something different?
Yes and no. The first 30 minutes of the game has puzzles and QTE's more similar to Telltale now, but the majority of the game is a classic adventure point and click (Like older Telltale Games, and old Lucas Arts adventure games). If you like Telltale I say it's worth checking out at least the 1st chapter.
Anyone remember this game? Chapter 2 comes out December 15!
They've been showing bits of it off. The article has spoilers for the beginning section of the game if you're sensitive to that kind of thing. Apparently the tone of Chapter 2 is going to be somewhat darker than Chapter 1, which is an interesting choice. They're also saying it has more difficult puzzles, and even new game mechanics. For example, you can sleep to pass time. From what I'm reading, it sounds like they're approaching each Chapter as its own game rather than one game broken up into chunks.
I am waiting for all the episodes to get released before I buy the game. I am surprised that it is taking so long for the next episode to get release.
Its actually pretty impressive how fast they're going all things considered. Compared to Telltale, KQ looks and runs significantly better, and the playtime was 6 hours long or more, depending on how long it takes you to solve the puzzles, compared to the typical 2 or so for Telltale. I also read that they only have about 20 employees. Not sure how many people Telltale have on an active project at one time, but I bet its at least triple that.
Bout time! Let the good times finally continue.
I'm definetly not waiting to play one episode at a time. I will just wait for the whole season to give it a look and I thought telltale release schedule was ridiculous
You have to consider that an episode is about 5-8 hours long and the smaller team.
Not that I'm defending it, but Telltale keeps their episodes short because they want their games to be played in one sitting ever since they've moved to choice based titles. Older episodes prior to Walking Dead had more gameplay and were closer to 4-6 hours long.