We're going to try something a little different now – The Discussion Point.
It's pretty straightforward – we throw out a topic we'd like to hear people's opinions about and then we all discuss.
Today’s topic:
The Best Introduction to an Adventure Game
What do you think is the best introduction to an adventure game? Is there an introduction or starting area that impacted you so much you can still remember it in detail years after playing it?
Your choice can be for any reason. It could be an opening screen or two that perfectly sets the tone and makes you want to play the game. It could be a particularly funny/chilling/interesting cutscene that sets the mood for the game to come. It could be... well, anything you particularly liked about a game's opening. Go crazy and let us know.
For my part, I'd give my vote to Curse of Monkey Island. It started with a funny cutscene of Guybrush wondering how he'll survive, then gives us the iconic opening Monkey Island music and opening credits before continuing the cutscene. Then the game gives us a few simple puzzles to get us used to the new interface, introduces us to one of the best characters in Monkey Island lore and sets up the main plot for the game.
Today’s topic:
The Best Introduction to an Adventure Game
What do you think is the best introduction to an adventure game? Is there an introduction or starting area that impacted you so much you can still remember it in detail years after playing it?
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| Do you prefer a the intrigue of a cutscene showing the potential health risks of an old man throwing a cloth hat across a room? |
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| Or perhaps getting straight into investigation mode by determining an employee's future after asking a single question? |
For my part, I'd give my vote to Curse of Monkey Island. It started with a funny cutscene of Guybrush wondering how he'll survive, then gives us the iconic opening Monkey Island music and opening credits before continuing the cutscene. Then the game gives us a few simple puzzles to get us used to the new interface, introduces us to one of the best characters in Monkey Island lore and sets up the main plot for the game.
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| Am I the only person who hears the theme music in my head whenever I'm reminded of a Monkey Island introduction?
So tell us about your own favourite in the comments below and - I don't know - maybe we'll give a prize to the most interesting or agreed with answer or something.
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Indiana Jones and the fate of Atlantis.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion it's a really cool and atmospheric intro. I don't know if I should go into any kind of detail, since it's one of the upcoming games this year, but basically you do some exploration during the intro credits. I think it sets the mood really well.
This.
DeleteI second this. My thoughts exactly. It manages to be slapstick funny and at the same time important to the rest of the story.
DeleteI agree. I mainly find it memorable as I had a copy that would let me through it once but on subsequent playthroughs, no matter what, I was searching for a different artifact and it wouldn't let me complete it. Don't know what was missing (and no it wasn't me, I've managed fine with the Steam version and haven't done anything differently). I enjoyed it the first time, hated it multiple times, and held it in trepidation on my most recent playthough.
DeleteQFG4 had a strong atmosphere at the start, especially the first narration when voiced by John Rhys-Davies. Very eerie opening segment.
ReplyDeleteBut I'd have to agree on Curse of Monkey Island. That intro is just a perfect combination of humor/drama/music. And, after so many years of waiting for a third Monkey Island game, when the excellent half-acoustic version of the theme music kicked in, it brought a tear to my eye.
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ReplyDeleteFor me, it's the intro to Zork Grand Inquisitor: https://youtu.be/VGKs60XPlSY
ReplyDeleteThe blend of dry humor and casual malice is what I'd always wanted from a graphical Zork game. And to this day, I've dutifully never forgotten who is the boss of you.
One interesting trend I've noticed is that Sierra's games tend to present you upon startup with a main menu screen (where you can watch the intro separately or start the game directly), whereas LucasArts games automatically show the intro which then segues into gameplay.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't say "Introduction", but let's talk about "first locations".
ReplyDeleteThe start of Leisure Suit Larry I is pretty special by just how much it says about the game you are about to play. You walk into Lefty's bar and everyone has their backs turned. You're not a hero coming to save the day, just a dork walking into a bar. It's not even a nice bar; there's a seedy vibe that will come to define pretty much the entire game. There are women you can strike out with immediately, a puzzle with the door, and even some further exploration. But I can't think of a game that struck me more by its first room than LSL1.
The nightmare from Gabriel Knight 1.
ReplyDeleteYou get a sequence of eerie visions, which ends with Gabriel waking up in horror. A perfect way to set the mood for a horror game! And then you get more elaborate versions of it as you progress further into the game, and as you learn more of the story the meaning of the visions starts to click together.
Or you can read the included comic and get the full version with dialogue before you start.
DeleteSurprisingly, in Gabriel Knight 3 if you don't read the comic you have no idea why you are where you are and what you're supposed to do.
DeleteThe version of GK1 I own is the Sierra originals release, which doesn't seem to include the comic. I read it later online.
DeleteSpace Quest IV!
ReplyDeleteYou have Vohaul searching for Roger, a cantina scene that's a homage to Star Wars, find out you have a son, then get thrown forward in time! (not to mention the wonderful fourth-wall breaking narration, in which Roger looks up to the status bar to see he's in Space Quest XII!). The music and art in particular are wonderful too.
Colonel's Bequest has a lovely intro too, showing you the characters and a bit of backstory. Really sets the scene.
We should surely mention Day of the Tentacle too, which has a fantastic intro.
Also I really love the creepy Alone in the Dark intro, again it's the music that is particularly great.
More great selections!
ReplyDeleteStrictly speaking it's more of an action-adventure game, but Another World intro blew my mind. It was so stylish! The graphic style, the music, the Ferrari car, the scanner, the soda can... and then you're thrown directly into water and you drown until you understand you have to swim to save your life from the killing seaweeds. I remember dying several times before understanding that the intro was over and the game had started... And after that, you discover the barren landscapes and a few screens from there you meet the lion which makes for probably one of the most memorable pursuits in video game history... you don't get many intros like that!
ReplyDeleteIt's still some years into the future, but I like the Journeyman Project 3: Legacy of Time intro. How we go from the companies logos directly into the intro scene with a stranded agent, with aliens appearing clouding the sky, quickly transported to space were a ship intercept a distress signal from a research station spotting an unidentified ship, more appears and they blow the station up and more and more of the unidentified ships shows up on the intercepting ships radar screen. You know it was serious. And had you played the two first games it might have been only better. One of the better FMV games that really understood to make the intro feel like an sci-fi action movie opening.
ReplyDeleteThen again, I still remember most of the introduction dialogue from Curse of Monkey Island so thats good too.
Broken Sword. "Paris in the fall. The last months of the year, and the end of the millennium. The city holds many memories for me. Of cafés, of music, of love... and of death." Creepy music that changes into this epic piece by Pheloung... It's really powerful. :)
ReplyDeleteHmm, when I read the title, I understood the question as "best game to introduce new players to adventure games", but according to the replies it's actually intended as "adventure game with the best introduction / start". :)
ReplyDeleteTo the first question, I'd probably suggest the first Monkey Island (a lot of fun, great atmostphere, easy to progress at the beginning, impossible to die or get dead-ended.)
To the second, there have been some good suggestions here. I'd add The Longest Journey, Dreamfall, King's Quest 4 (with MT-32 music, and being the first SGI game ever, the long (for the time) intro was *very* impressive), and many others that don't come to mind right now. :)
Tie between Sam and Max, Full throttle and Day of the tentacle. I love me a great cutscene.
ReplyDeleteIf I had to choose one perhaps it would be DotT. Those opening credits are just wonderful.
Maniac mansion?
ReplyDeleteI have a soft spot for the Manhunter series overall - there's something about it that really sparks my imagination. Despite (or perhaps because of) the low-res AGI graphics it creates a very eerie & moody atmosphere that has stuck with me ever since the first time I played it. Manhunter San Francisco's intro is pretty simple - a title saying 'In 2002 the Orbs invaded Earth...,' a couple of space ships fly into San Francisco (with a pre-QFG2 detour around the Sierra mountain), one crashes into a building and onto the street, crushing a Manhunter whose identity you assume to begin the game.
ReplyDeleteThe evil Phil's demonic smile, the red sky, the brown robes, the evil floating eyeballs...if you haven't played Manhunter New York (which I hadn't at the time), the game basically just dumps you into this crazy world and raises a ton of questions, leaving you to put the pieces together yourself...perfect for what is essentially a detective game. I reminds me a lot of Mad Max Fury Road in that respect. Totally underrated genius game in my view, despite its flaws, and a great intro!
Myst is another great one that came to my mind. Its introduction is very surreal: a rift opens up in a void, through which a person drops a book (until I looked at the animation closer I always thought is was the person transforming INTO the book, which would be creepier). It hits the ground, you've given control, you see it's a hideously worn tome with the title of the game on it, then you get sucked into it. That kind of atmosphere and unpredictability continues into the main game as well.
ReplyDeleteOur family had the first game for Macintosh since the 90's but never got very far (until I started and finished it within the last few weeks). For Riven they obviously tried to create a more well-defined self-consistent setting, but at the same time it has become much more mundane in comparison. It feels more like a good but generic adventure game that happens to use Myst-style presentation.