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Tuesday, 8 November 2016

Discussion Point: What Adventure Game Would Best Lure Your Friends Into the Genre?

By the TAG Team

There are times when our reviewers just have so much other commitments to deal with that they cannot make their posts on time. It just so happens that affairs of the most important nature have just delayed both our current reviewers.


We are not saying it has something to do with the American politics.
We are definitely not implying that 'Deimar' and 'Joe Pranevich'
 are just nom de plumes of certain otherwise famous persons.
We are also not denying it.
Since the next game post will be postponed after the big election (again, we were highly encouraged to state that this is nothing but a coincidence), we thought it best to publish yet another discussion post.

The topic was actually suggested in our last post by Dehumanizer, who correctly noticed that an introduction to adventure game could be understood in a completely different manner.

We all know that adventure games are the underdogs of gaming industry. We all have friends who enjoy playing such games like Sky Rim, Fall of Fury, Simulated Lives of Ordinary People, Civilizing Nations IX, FIDE World Cup 2017, Accordion Hero World Tour or even Tamagotchi Go, but barely raise an eyebrow for a Kickstarter of Les Manley Under a Killing Moon Goes Cosmic Gender Bender. The obvious question is what would be the perfect game for introducing these people to the joys and wonders of adventure games.


Should it be a game specifically meant for newbies...

...or a game that lures you into thinking it is actually a cheaper version of Test Drive...


...or perhaps a game with a bold and innovative plot?

So, be bold and innovative yourself and suggest a good introductory game for adventuring novices and remember to explain why do you think it is such an obvious and good choice. In the mean time, we'll be waiting for hilarious solutions to all the problems in the White House (hey, it was a Dungeon reference - what were you thinking?).
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8 comments:

  1. Laukku9 November 2016 at 00:17

    I'd imagine something relatively short or light on plot, with a good interface, not too difficult or experimental and following the LucasArts philosophy would be the way to go.

    My suggestions:

    Day of the Tentacle (has excellent puzzle design and is hilarious)
    Myst (it didn't become the best-selling PC game for no reason)
    To the Moon (touching story yet is very short and barely has "real" puzzles)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ricky Skegg9 November 2016 at 01:45

    The game that got my wife into it was Tales of Monkey Island (yes, the telltale one). To be honest, it was only a matter of timing, since she loves all kind of puzzles and most games would do the trick anyway. The only thing she doesn't like is highly pixelated, and old school graphics, so old games, and stuff from Wadjet Eye are off-limits.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Joe Pranevich9 November 2016 at 02:26

    I would just like you to know that if you MUST imagine that I am a presidential candidate, please let me be the one wearing the pantsuits.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ilmari Jauhiainen9 November 2016 at 05:30

      I (and majority of the civilized world with me) hope that the pantsuits will win this fashion contest. God bless America, I might say now.

      Delete
  4. Andy_Panthro9 November 2016 at 09:48

    Simplicity and a good story is key, surely.

    Loom would make a good choice, perhaps Broken Age because it's newer. I'd probably try them out with Monkey Island too(the remakes, because the graphics and lack of voice acting might otherwise put off a newbie).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Laukku9 November 2016 at 20:50

      Broken Age is otherwise a good pick but might be a little bit on the tough side - there's some unintuitive puzzles such as the fanxr and hfvat vasbezngvba yrnearq ol gur bgure punenpgre. IIRC it was playtested by experienced adventure gamers.

      Loom is better in that regard but I dunno about the musical aspect. Not everyone has a good musical ear and using the easier difficulty options makes the system kinda pointless.

      Delete
  5. RuySan10 November 2016 at 00:27

    I wouldn't recommend broken age, if only because I think it's a terrible game. The only thing going for it it's the impeccable art style.

    Puzzles are rubbish, both the easy and the hard ones. The game thinks it's funnier than it really is, and dialogue can't be skipped. And there's a lot of it.

    The dream machine would be a great candidate, even if the last episode isn't out yet.

    ReplyDelete
  6. miroz12 November 2016 at 01:16

    I would recommend the first two Broken Sword games. They are still beautiful, easy to play and fun.

    ReplyDelete

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