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| That's pretty big guarantee! Could I play the game to completion, come to the conclusion that some small detail didn't satisfy me and get a new game? |
What a better way to begin a new year of gaming, but with - not one, but - two Coktel Vision games. Alfred has for a while been playing Ween: The Prophecy, and now I get to continue the saga of Gobliiins
Nothing much seems to have changed in the development team. The creative force behind the game is still Pierre Gelhodes, while Muriel Tramis had only the ephemeral position of project manager for the game. Other people from the team were experienced Coktel Vision workers.
Indeed, when I started the intro of the game, a feeling of familiarity came over me. The music and the graphical style were very familiar from the first game, as were the visual gags and the whole comedic style.
The plot of the game, as described by the manual, begins with a familiar note: king has become berserk!
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| I just love the look on the king’s face |
This time, it’s not a voodoo doll that’s behind it, but a demon Amoniak, who has stolen king’s only son, because king Angoulafre defeated him in a battle fifty years ago. King asks the assistance of Modemus, the magician, who then sends the two heroes of the game to a village near a castle that the evil demon has conquered.
I mentioned there are two heroes, which is also reflected in the number of Is in the title of the game. The three heroes of the first game had their own distinct abilities - we had a magician, a strongman and a handyman. Here, the two characters - Fingus and Winkle - don’t have different abilities, but different attitudes, one being straight man, the other a trickster. I don’t yet understand how that will work puzzlewise, but it sounds interesting.
I gave the first game of the series the score of 48. I enjoyed the humour, but the game also had its flaws, which were mainly due to cumbersome interface choices, such as an energy meter, sections limited to one screen and a lack of a proper save feature. I won’t yet go into the interface of this game, but the manual appears to promise that some of these flaws have been fixed. Furthermore, judging by the intro, the comedic elements still manage to put a smile on my face. Take that into account as you wish, when you guess the score of this game. Personally, I am already a bit excited.
Note Regarding Spoilers and Companion Assist Points: There's a set of rules regarding spoilers and companion assist points. Please read it here before making any comments that could be considered a spoiler in any way. The short of it is that no CAPs will be given for hints or spoilers given in advance of me requiring one. As this is an introduction post, it's an opportunity for readers to bet 10 CAPs (only if they already have them) that I won't be able to solve a puzzle without putting in an official Request for Assistance: remember to use ROT13 for betting. If you get it right, you will be rewarded with 50 CAPs in return. It's also your chance to predict what the final rating will be for the game. Voters can predict whatever score they want, regardless of whether someone else has already chosen it. All correct (or nearest) votes will go into a draw.
Note Regarding Spoilers and Companion Assist Points: There's a set of rules regarding spoilers and companion assist points. Please read it here before making any comments that could be considered a spoiler in any way. The short of it is that no CAPs will be given for hints or spoilers given in advance of me requiring one. As this is an introduction post, it's an opportunity for readers to bet 10 CAPs (only if they already have them) that I won't be able to solve a puzzle without putting in an official Request for Assistance: remember to use ROT13 for betting. If you get it right, you will be rewarded with 50 CAPs in return. It's also your chance to predict what the final rating will be for the game. Voters can predict whatever score they want, regardless of whether someone else has already chosen it. All correct (or nearest) votes will go into a draw.
I'll guess 49 for some unspecified reason.
ReplyDeleteI distinctly remember the entries of this series getting better as they go along, but I don't remember this one much. I'll guess 55.
ReplyDeleteI'll also be playing along, since I don't remember this one much and I'm a sucker for Coktel Vision games.
Oh, btw, there's a weird line at the end that goes off the side of the screen.
ReplyDeleteHi Morpheus. assuming you're referring to a formatting problem on the blog, is it still happening?
DeleteI corrected one error already - an extra text line with some weird formatting - so that might have been it.
DeleteYeah, that was it, you can just remove my post now, since there isn't much point in keeping it.
Delete47
ReplyDeleteI have a vague recollection of this one being a little less irritating to play than the first one, but we'll see. Uhh... 50?
ReplyDeleteI'll guess 51 - it's hopefully going to be better!
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking 52
ReplyDeleteI grew up with both the first game and this one, and I preferred this one by a mile. It's been a very long time so I don't remember a lot of the details (and thusly I'm excited for this project), but I do remember that the puzzle difficulty was upped quite a bit since each section consisted of a few interconnected screens that you could traverse instead of the "solve all the puzzles to move to the next screen" ethos of the first game, so they could get a little more complex with solutions. That and they got rid of the "wrong solutions deplete an energy bar" mechanic that was so frustrating in the first one, letting you make incorrect choices without any real consequence (and usually with a funny animation to boot).
ReplyDeleteI'm going to be optimistic and say 56.
My guess is 54. The funny animations for getting things wrong is half the fun, so this one and the third game get that right.
ReplyDeleteLove this game, recently revisited it again, and the first puzzle of the game, is ridicolous. You are already expecting this from these french games.
ReplyDeleteI will still guess 60, much better than the first
From what I remember from this game, the only fact that they removed the health bar makes for a way better experience overall... I'll go with 53.
ReplyDeleteI'm going 53, because it seems it is better than the first game. I might even play along if I can get my version working (I bought the series off a downloadable games store that no longer exists)
ReplyDeleteI am shooting for 48 even though it does look like an improvement. I find that humour has a tendency to fade with sequels.
ReplyDeleteI'll say 44. Not fond of the Goblii(i)ns games.
ReplyDeleteGonna go with 51.
ReplyDeleteNever played it, but i don`t think this even is an adventure game, but a puzzle game (i didn´t read Ilmari's post, maybe he explained there why this is an adventure game, since i am still catching up with older posts, but i don´t either want to miss some possible sweet caps), so my score is going to be a bit low: 45
ReplyDeleteThis issue was discussed already when I was playing the first game of the series, and the general - and my - opinion was that Gobliiins was truly an adventure game. Inventory management alone was something that made it an adventure, instead of a puzzle game. The second game of the series is even more clearly an adventure, since the player is not limited to a single screen.
DeleteI had always been under the impression that it was more like Lemmings, but the first post Ilmari did on the actual gameplay quickly dismissed that.
DeleteIt is not as clear cut an adventure game as the staple in the blog but certainly has enough common elements.
I still think Gobli(ii)ns is more like Lemmings, albeit with some backdrop, but I guess I'm in the minority.
Delete46, because work kept me from the blog and all the good spots were chosen already...
ReplyDeleteJust a question because I'm curious: Which version will you be playing, Ilmari? The version I have has voice acting which is obviously the CD version, but there was a floppy version as well
ReplyDeleteGood question. I am playing the version on GOG, which I suppose must be the CD version (with voice acting). I might take a quick look of the floppy version, if I'll find it.
DeleteDoesn't GOG include both the CD and floppy versions? They have different music, that much I know.
DeleteWell, so it does! (Shows how much I'm used to GOG). Yes, I've been playing CD version (I seem to have done that for the first one also). The only differences I saw in the flopy version - in the first few screens at least - were the lack of voice acting and somewhat different (and slightly more annoying) music.
Delete