Right o lads and lasses. Time I let you in on a little secret:
I am writing a thread where I give my impressions on over 50 PnC Adventure games that I have played in the past 2 yaers (2016 & 2017).
I initially started with a Draft (ver. 0.5), and am now doing a proper writing of it which I hope to get ready by January, if not before or by the Steam Winter Seal. As is I'm going into ver. 0.8 or 0.9, and I wanted to share with you an early look at what the thread would look like.
ATM I've got the thread title as:
A Birdman's retrospective of 100 Point 'n' Click Adventure games & their derivatives
So please give it a read and let me know what are things I should make a note of. Any criticism is welcome, even if it towards my writing style or the way I am presenting each game (structure etc.).
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A quick history about myself and the PnC genre
Let me take you back to a wondrous era: The Windows 98 era. Ah what a time; DOS, Win 3.1 and Windows 95 were still in use in some circles, and PC gaming was flourishing with many great hits coming out from various genres. Windows 98 may not have had
that glorious tune, but its own
start up theme was still lovely to hear.
My dad had gotten a laptop, I was around 10-12 years old at the time and I had not known that laptops were rather pricey for the time.
Among the games that were somehow attached to my memories of playing on the laptop were Dune 2000, a DK Multimedia disc and a promo disc from LucasArts featuring a demo of a game for this thing called Star Wars (whatever the heck that was) and FULL THROTTLE
Me and my brothers didn't care for this weird looking game where you couldn't even see your character, and put most of our hours into Full Throttle.
Man what a game, I know we beat it as kids, but the 'journey' for lack of a better word, was still a fun ride of figuring out what to do while trekking around like a boss as a badass black jacket wearing biker.
It's the simple things that mattered to a young'un like me at the time. From then on, well my scarce memory of playing any other PnC games include Sam and Max, Monkey Island 4 and Broken Sword 2.
The here and now (or rather 'so far')
Many years later I had managed saved up for a gaming lappy, and had stockpiled many PnC games over the years, and this past year I had played through this backlog, discovering many new titles, some entertaining experiences, others not so much, and I've made this thread to share my impressions of these games.
In addition to sharing my impressions, I hope this thread could introduce more people to the many titles in the genre (and its derivatives), and give some a starting point or list of titles they can themselves play and find some joy in those games.
I should note something in advance: I did not finish ALL the games listed here. Some I had dropped either halfway through or near the end of the game, and I'll mention such where applicable. Furthermore the numbering does not necessarily indicate the order at which I played them or any form of ranking. Just treat them as a 'counter' of sorts.
I also won't be writing TOO much about a game's plot or story so as to avoid spoilers, but will give the basic gist of the plot.
Furthermore, expect to see a few Visual Novels in here (thread title does say 'derivative'. While VNs aren't exactly seen as more proper PnC games, there are a few that'll get notable mention here. I would make another thread about VNs I own and played in the future.
The titles I've written about are divided into 3 sections:
1- Games I REALLY liked. These are titles that I enjoyed a lot either because of their design or simply due to their story, character or humor.
These titles are graced by that awesome GIF known as the 'Agent Cooper Tumbs up of Approval.GIF'
2- Games I enjoyed, but had flaws that held them back that I personally disliked. Be it performance issues, irritating puzzles or sections etc.
For these titles, I award them the 'Raoh is pleased.jpeg'
3- Games that I played...but did not enjoy. These don't get any form of image and are the 3rd tier. They are likely to contain games that any of you have enjoyed, and that's fine. Which brings me to the next point in this thread.
Feel free to discuss and give your own impressions about any of the titles in this thread. While I wanted this thread to showcase the many titles I experienced, I welcome an open discussion even if you heavily disagree with some of my impressions of some titles. More talk about PnC and Adventure games is never a bad thing!
So with all the prefaces out of the way, here are the 50+ titles I played in 2017, along with others I played in the previous year.
"Diane, make a note of these fine Graphic Adventure Games, they add an exquisite sensation to my coffee any time of the day."
1- The Journey Down series
Release in: Ch. 1 in 2012, Ch. 2 in 2014, Ch. 3 in 2017
Developer: Skygoblin
Platforms: iOS, Android, PC
Synopsis
Bwana and Kito run a gas station in Kingsport Bay at the outskirts of St. Armando. One day after they cause a blackout to the entire city after fiddling with a fuse box, they are approached by Lina whom the duo agree to offer the services of their run down plane to help her fly to the Underland and find out why the St. Armando Electric Company is very vehement about keeping everyone in the dark about its existence.
The game has an interesting presentation, drawing insperation from Afro-Carribean culture, and I really like the voice acting esp. Bwana and Kito's. The overall presentation is really nice, as Skygoblin opted for a noir-themed setting.
Gameply wise you mainly control Bwana as he explores areas and interacts with objects. Interactables can be highlighted when playing which makes it easier to find objects or items needed in order to progress. There will be times when you find yourself exhausting every item in your inventory with objects until you find one that works, like the one time I needed to use a
plunger to open a window. Yeah it's one of those kind of games.
Still the puzzles and gameplay were never a detterent to me and I very much enjoyed the humor in the game and there are some wily characters to meet over the course of the 3 games.
The overall music in the games are good, and I found them quite relaxing with some Jazz themed tracks here and there. The first 2 chapter's music were performed by Simon D'souza, who sadly passed away a few years ago. Purchases of The Journey Down soundtracks on Bandcamp will have proceeds given towards The Brain Tumour Charity. This also includes Ch. 3's soundtrack which was performed by Jamie Salisbury.
2- Day of the Tentacle
Release in:
Developer:
Platforms:
Synopsis
A purple tentacle, Purple Tentacle, drinks toxic wastes and undergoes a terrifying mutation: HE GROWS TINY PENGUIN-LIKE ARMS. With his newly formed apendages he decides to TAKE OVER THE WORLD.
To stop him, Dr. Fred Edison decides to send Bernard and his 2 friends, Laverne and Hoagie, BACK TO THE DAY BEFORE, in order to prevent Purple Tentacle's mutation and stop his plans for world dominance.
Things don't go exactly as planned, [strike]partially[/strike] due to Dr. Fred's use of imitation diamonds that the chron-o-johns need, which sends Hoagie to the past, and Laverne to a Bad Future where Tentacles rule the earth. With Bernard still stuck in the present, he must work together with his friends to bring them back and then they can set off to stopping Purple Tentacle's mad schemes.
Having played this game for the first time recently via the re-release, I can confidently say that Day of the Tentacle aged pretty well far as the genre is concerned, and is well deserving of its praise.
I found the puzzles pretty good and liked how you can switch between the trio to get items and solve them, and the humor was pretty light and servicable.
The re-release also has the original PC ver. of the Maniac Mansion game, which is a game I ought to play in the near future.
3- Contradiction
Released in:
Developer:
Platforms:
Synopsis
Contradiction follows Detective Inspector Jenks, the man of many reactions, as he investigates the death Kate Vine, and conclude whether her death was a suicide or a murder. His investagion takes him to the small village of Edenton, where you must interview or interrogate the various citizens related to the case in order to uncover the truth behind Kate's death.
Contradiction's gameplay is pretty simple and straight forward: Explore areas and find items to use during interregations. You would need to speak and find contradicting statements in order to progress, which is indicated when the game shows a clock stating that an hour has passed. If you're lost at what you need to do next, the game has a Hint system to help out.
The actors' performance is pretty good and the scenes are all well acted, but Rupert Booth steals the show with his performance as Jenks.
The game becomes much shorter once you figure out what to do, but it's an entertaining experience and one I can come back to from time to time. Just wish we'd get a successor or sequel, even if it is a separate story from this one. I need more Jenks reactions in my life.
4- Late Shift
Released in: 2017
Developer: CtrlMovie, Published by Wales Interactive
Platforms:
Synopsis
"After being forced into the robbery of a lucrative auction house, mathematics student Matt is left proving his innocence in the brutal London heist. Your choices will have consequences from the very start, right through to the very end. One small decision could change the entire outcome in a choose-your-own-adventure style gameplay that can lead to one of seven conclusions."
I've only seen one possible ending in the game, and will replay it in the future to see what other possible outcomes could happen, even if it is a different route that leads to a similar ending sequence.
The overall performance by the actors is good and the story has is pretty gripping. I don't think there is more I can say that wouldn't spoil the plot, but the video quality is very good. If you found Telltale's 'create your story' theme in their past half a dozen or so games leaving you humdrum, Late Shift might offer you a better experience. For one thing there wouldn't be any jank!
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