Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is some Bullllllllsshiiiiittt adventure game nonsense

[Freedom = $1.05]

First off look at this shit

Look at this stupidly excessive verb system. look at that floor. those shelves, everything. Look at this and wonder if youre in the mood to pixel hunt all these shelves (there are 8-10 shelves that are a full screen each of books) for 3 books NO ONE TELLS YOU THAT YOU ACTUALLY NEED. Also, keep those pixel hunting skills sharp because the whole game is full of bullshit pixel hunts for things you have no reason to believe you need. Sharp sharp sharp

Look at this and imagine you can only see 1/25 of this maybe at any given time because its shrouded in a darkness fog. It's also like one of 4-5 mazes you encounter within the first 30 minutes of this game

I havent even gotten to the fist fighting yet or the +60 page PDF file of the game's manual that is also a DRM tool that you need to finish the game but apparently wasnt even packed in with later retail releases of this thing.

this thing is just stupid

I'll likely finish this game since I want to see all LA adventure games thru but good god they sure bundled together all the worst shit an adventure game could have and did so with much gusto. And dont come at me with "but this game is 30 years old!" because i dont care, im pretty sure people weren't tolerate of bullshit time wasting 30 years ago.

 

[Xiaomi]

I beat the game when I was in elementary school. But I had a lot more time and patience when I had fewer games to play.

 

[Bookman]

Yes we where. I was looking for a key in monkey island for 4 months. That one in le chucks cabin.

Best game ever

 

[lobdale]

Yep my step bro and I took this thing to task when were were 11 or 12. We were stuck on one scene of Fate of Atlantis for a literal month or more with no way to know what to do, no internet, no guides. When you only got a couple games a year, you craved shit like this.

 

[Freedom = $1.05]

Yes we where. I was looking for a key in monkey island for 4 months. That one in le chucks cabin.

Best game ever

Click to shrink...

There's a difference between what this game wants out of the player versus what even MI1 wants. MI1 is pretty good about directing the player and throwing a hint here and there about what it would like for you to do. This game doesn't give a fuckkkkk.

 

[Acquiescence]

Was hoping for a remake someday to remedy some of these problems, but our situation has not improved.

 

[danmaku]

lol you're not even playing one of the hardest adventure games. The underlying mentality was that you were supposed to play them for a long time, and getting stuck was expected. It was a matter of when, not if. Sometimes you got stuck and stopped playing for a while, you asked friends for hints or look for a solution in magazines. Also, some studios had help lines for people stuck on certain puzzles. They were supposed to be a challenge and a meaty part of the game, not just a small timewaster between parts of the story. These games also offered a cinematic experience miles ahead of any other genre, so we were willing to forgive some obtuse puzzles for a game that looked and played like a movie.

About the DRM... people hated it and still played the games, just like now people hate Denuvo but play the games anyway.

 

[Opa-Opa]

Yes, it's bullshit and it ever was. Only have it on GOG for OCD reasons.

Monkey Island saved us in the following year.

 

[lobdale]

lol you're not even playing one of the hardest adventure games. The underlying mentality was that you were supposed to play them for a long time, and getting stuck was expected. It was a matter of when, not if. Sometimes you got stuck and stopped playing for a while, you asked friends for hints or look for a solution in magazines. Also, some studios had help lines for people stuck on certain puzzles. They were supposed to be a challenge and a meaty part of the game, not just a small timewaster between parts of the story. These games also offered a cinematic experience miles ahead of any other genre, so we were willing to forgive some obtuse puzzles for a game that looked and played like a movie.

About the DRM... people hated it and still played the games, just like now people hate Denuvo but play the games anyway.

Click to shrink...

Seriously, at least the LucasArts games generally don't have fail cases, or those awful fail cases where you actually lose the game like 5 minutes after you start and you don't realize it until 80 hours later when you need an item you don't have cause you didn't get it or you threw it away months ago and you can't go back to get it. Try some of the Sierra stuff from the mid to late 80s, fuuuuck that noise. (i still loved it)

 

[No Depth]

I finished the game on each path as a 10 year old back in the early 90's. One of my favorites in the genre.

Absolutely you will get stuck, but I worked it out with patience and some real lateral thinking, often while doing other things during the day. I believe you can too. It took time for sure, frustration and overwhelming satisfaction born from observant critical thinking(sometimes illogical) was very much part of the experience. Very few beloved games in the genre were ever straightforward and obvious.

Or bitch and complain. That's another(easier) option.

 

[PuppetMinion]

Confession, I never beat the game as a kid. It was the fist fighting mainly that stumped me

 

[Shake Appeal]

I beat this as a kid, and I've rarely felt that level of accomplishment from a game since.

It is pretty stupid, though. Fate of Atlantis is far superior.

Burt yeah, as others have said, this isn't even that hard. Try some of the early Sierra games (King's Quest, Space Quest) for true frustration.

 

[Futaleufu]

Par for the course for a late 80s adventure game. I completed it without guides back then but it took months.

Pixel hunting got worse in 3D games.

 

[No Depth]

Seriously, at least the LucasArts games generally don't have fail cases, or those awful fail cases where you actually lose the game like 5 minutes after you start and you don't realize it until 80 hours later when you need an item you don't have cause you didn't get it or you threw it away months ago and you can't go back to get it. Try some of the Sierra stuff from the mid to late 80s, fuuuuck that noise. (i still loved it)

Click to shrink...

Sierra were fuckers. So many delayed fail states in a lot of their games.

Police Quest 1 will kill you a few hours in if you didn't do a proper check of your car at the very start of the game as part of normal police procedure. Out of nowhere you crash and die after following some leads and getting progress in the main case. But suddenly dead. Please restart and this time don't miss that step!

I think it was Space Quest 1 or 2 that you needed a missable item from the first couple screens that sat unused until the endgame or game over. A real fucker that one was.

 

[Hesemonni]

No u.

 

[Freedom = $1.05]

I'll grant most of y'all that this isnt as bad as the sierra adventure games but it's pretty bad for a LA adventure game. I haven't felt this annoyed with the lack of logic or direction from a LA game outside of maybe Grim Fandango in parts.

 

[danmaku]

Seriously, at least the LucasArts games generally don't have fail cases, or those awful fail cases where you actually lose the game like 5 minutes after you start and you don't realize it until 80 hours later when you need an item you don't have cause you didn't get it or you threw it away months ago and you can't go back to get it. Try some of the Sierra stuff from the mid to late 80s, fuuuuck that noise. (i still loved it)

Click to shrink...

Yeah, even knowing the mindset behind these old games, it still blows my mind that any designer thought it was a good idea to leave the player in a dead end. It's just terrible design, but it was considered fair and square. Thankfully Lucasarts put an end to it (Zack McKraken still had a dead end though, iirc).

 

[Ithil]

Let me in, you Darwinian nightmare.

Spoiler

Fate of Atlantis is the real Indy 4

 

[steejee]

Beat this as a kid, and yeah it has the usual adventure game bullcrap but at the time that was all fine by me. After all, I got like 3 or 4 games a year, I had time to slowly work my way through and explore frickin' EVERYTHING

 

[LordGorchnik]

Let me in, you Darwinian nightmare.

Spoiler

Fate of Atlantis is the real Indy 4

Click to shrink...

Don't you dare leave me here you....you troglodyte!

 

[No Depth]

I'll grant most of y'all that this isnt as bad as the sierra adventure games but it's pretty bad for a LA adventure game. I haven't felt this annoyed with the lack of logic or direction from a LA game outside of maybe Grim Fandango in parts.

Click to shrink...

I'll agree that Grim Fandango is terrible. Good for its story and characters, but the puzzles I could never defend. One of the most overrated games in the genre.

 

[Shake Appeal]

Sierra were fuckers. So many delayed fail states in a lot of their games.

Police Quest 1 will kill you a few hours in if you didn't do a proper check of your car at the very start of the game as part of normal police procedure. Out of nowhere you crash and die after following some leads and getting progress in the main case. But suddenly dead. Please restart and this time don't miss that step!

I think it was Space Quest 1 or 2 that you needed a missable item from the first couple screens that sat unused until the endgame or game over. A real fucker that one was.

Click to shrink...

And one of the early King's Quests only allowed you to cross a bridge eight times before it collapsed. But you needed to cross it exactly eight times to complete the game.

 

[ColdSun]

The Last Crusade, Fate of Atlantis, and Loom were some of my favorite point and click adventures. Outside of the DRM, I never found it particularly troubling.

 

[Roven]

I played the game before watching the movie and it was fucking hard

 

[Futaleufu]

I'll grant most of y'all that this isnt as bad as the sierra adventure games but it's pretty bad for a LA adventure game. I haven't felt this annoyed with the lack of logic or direction from a LA game outside of maybe Grim Fandango in parts.

Click to shrink...

Sam & Max and The Dig also had their moon logic puzzles. I still remember trying to assemble that alien fossil where every piece looked exactly the same as the other.

 

[Alastor3]

that remind me, is there some difficult point and click adventure game recently? Like really difficult but not badly design-made

 

[Digoman]

As someone that played a lot of old Sierra games with the text parser (and with English not being my first language) lets just say that even the more obtuse LucasArts games were easy in comparison. I have so many memories of dying on those games, like the maze in Space Quest 2 (I think) where you couldn't miss by a pixel.

Still, even then I dind't like The Last Crusade very much. If felt a little inspired and to derivative from the movie. Fate of Atlantis on other hand, that was on another level.

 

[hanmik]

Sometimes I cry when I read threads on this forum... this is one of these times..

EVERY single LucasArts Point&Click game is GREAT/AMAZING/GOAT... except Grim Fandango, which was funny as hell, but sucked the life out of me..

Those games where perfect at the time of release... gamers at that time were used to games like this, they knew what to expect and knew how to solve puzzles..
Those games are still perfect, but not if you are not a gamer from that time... there is no hand-holding, no helpscreens etc.. they are produced for gamers from another time..

I will go over in my corner and cry a bit more..

 

[Budi]

It ain't that hard, just call George and he'll hook you up!

https://www.polygon.com/2014/5/11/5...-spielberg-day-of-the-tentacle-hint-lucasarts


I remember annoying pixel hunt part in Full Throttle too, it had me kicking a wall (in game) for a long time. Love these games though.

Seriously, at least the LucasArts games generally don't have fail cases, or those awful fail cases where you actually lose the game like 5 minutes after you start and you don't realize it until 80 hours later when you need an item you don't have cause you didn't get it or you threw it away months ago and you can't go back to get it. Try some of the Sierra stuff from the mid to late 80s, fuuuuck that noise. (i still loved it)

Click to shrink...

I loved the quick deaths in Sierra games, some of those were so absurd that they were absolutely hilarious (and some so logical that I could only blame myself). Though what you are describing isn't that fun.

 

[Fluffernutter Pancake]

I think that I ended up getting lost in the desert region ; haven't proceeded since.....

 

[neoak]

Let me in, you Darwinian nightmare.

Spoiler

Fate of Atlantis is the real Indy 4

Click to shrink...

The story was written by Hal Barwood and Noah Falstein, the game's designers, who had rejected the original plan to base it on an unused movie script. They came up with the final concept while researching real-world sources for a suitable plot device.

Click to shrink...

Nope, it isn't. All original.

 

[Gakidou]

I'm with OP, I remember the "penitent shall pass" puzzle I was absolutely fuming, its my least favourite bit in any adventure game ever.

Me: I know what that means! You have to kneel. How do I kneel?
Game logic: You have to click on the correct invisible pixel in the middle of the room to make him walk right and he will do it automatically if you clicked the correct invisible pixel
People who looked at guides and forget those kind of details in retrospect: WOW I FEEL LIKE I DEFINITELY DID THE LOGIC ON THIS ONE PHEW, IM SO SMART AND SATISFIED BECAUSE OF MY PERSISTENCE AND CREATIVE THINKING

I've played dozens of early sierra and lucas games, but I still have a particular chip on my shoulder about this one. Whole game is basically the adventure games equivalent of Bed of Chaos boss in Dark Souls.

 

[Sloane]

It's almost like the game was made in 1989 or something.

I agree that the pixel hunting sucked and the game definitely isn't LucasArts best work but we were able to "beat it" as 10-year-olds with a little bit of patience and no guide.

Game logic: You have to click on the correct invisible pixel in the middle of the room to make him walk right and he will do it automatically if you clicked the correct invisible pixel
People who looked at guides and forget those kind of details in retrospect: WOW I FEEL LIKE I DEFINITELY DID THE LOGIC ON THIS ONE PHEW, IM SO SMART AND SATISFIED BECAUSE OF MY PERSISTENCE AND CREATIVE THINKING

Click to shrink...

Probably helped knowing the scene from the movie but adventure games have always been a lot of trial and error. If you weren't able to solve a puzzle, you just messed around and stumbled onto the solution. It's not like this specific game or puzzle was an exception in that regard.

 

[Big Wazu]

Was hoping for a remake someday to remedy some of these problems, but our situation has not improved.

Click to shrink...

I never did finish this game but have been meaning to go back to it. These old adventure games are tough but I love them.

 

[LiK]

The final puzzle was absolute BS

 

[Ithil]

Nope, it isn't. All original.

Click to shrink...

I know dude, I was saying it's a better Indy 4 than the actual Indy 4.

 

[neoak]

I know dude, I was saying it's a better Indy 4 than the actual Indy 4.

Click to shrink...

I... Can't argue with that.

 

[Noema]

With old school adventure games, if you weren't stuck for months pixel hunting on every single screen, you weren't getting your money's worth. It probably took me and my cousins over six months to beat Fate of Atlantis (that fucking Crete Moonstone) and that game is much easier and less pixel huntey than Last Crusade.

Heck, there were people who actually raised a stink on BBS when they started removing the verbs in favor of a simpler 5 action graphical UI circa 1993 like in Sam and Max.

 

[ffvorax]

I still remember the joy when, as a kid, I finally found the correct floor to break... and the I lost myself in the next damn labyrinth... lol
Loved that game, sure it was hard (at least for me).
Never finished anyway.

 

[Xagarath]

that remind me, is there some difficult point and click adventure game recently? Like really difficult but not badly design-made

Click to shrink...

Technobabylon isn't quite as difficult as the 90s adventures but has some solid puzzles, and a steeper challenge than most modern adventures.