Written by The TAG Team
 |
| Sadly, "It stinks!" could be said about way too many of the games Morpheus has played. |
1994 was a year of missed release dates.
The same could be said of our research for this year. A lot of time was spent trying to figure out when games were released, if they were released in 1994, or if they were released in 1993 or 1995. Some games with questionable release years were added, like Goblins Quest 3, others with more distinct release dates were pushed to Missed Classics, like the award winning Midnight Stranger and the uh..."adventure" game Man Enough. If you were wondering why we’ve left out Alone in the Dark 3, The Bizarre Adventures of Woodruff, Commander Blood and whatever other games you think we missed, that’s why.
In a sad sense, for these reasons you could consider 1994 to be the first death of adventure games. A number of magazines we looked through talked about adventure games in the first half of the year, but as it wore on, some of them just stopped.
For those that are new to the blog in the last few years, this is the post where we plan which games are going to be played from the 1994 releases out there. The last time we did this was just before we started the 1993 games, which are getting close to winding down. We still have some games to go, but we’re posting this now. Our plan is to start mixing in the 1994 games as we wind down the 1993 list, with our two newer reviewers in the mix, but also inviting new voices to join in the quest.
We will still be tackling the year ahead with the same categories of games as before. Our basic criteria for choosing a game, adjusted for 1994:
- It has at least 10 magazine reviews (our definition of magazine is loose and inclusive)
- It is listed on the Wikipedia List of Graphic Adventure Games and has its own dedicated Wikipedia page
- It is undeniably a graphic adventure game
If a game meets all of the criteria, it will be automatically
Accepted, which means that it will be added to our playing list.
If a game meets only two of the requirements, it is classified as
Borderline, and with some discussion in the comments and an investment of those CAPs you’ve been earning on the site, they will also be added to the playlist. These games will cost 100 CAPs. As in the past, commenters can pool their resources together if needed.
Games that only meet one standard are labeled
Disregarded, and will cost 200 CAPs to add to the playlist. This year, however, we are offering a sale price: if a commenter who has never done a post for the blog wishes to do the game review/playthrough themselves, they can purchase it for half-price, only 100 CAPs. If CAPs need to be pooled for the purchase, the commenters must agree on who is going to play the game before it will be accepted.
There’s also a category called
Panthro’s Law, where a game meeting none of the criteria can still be nominated and purchased for the playlist. The admins can nominate up to 4 games this year, because we are in the year 199
4. We’ll try to explain our logic for putting them forward. The cost to add one of these games is 500 CAPs. These games can also be gotten at the same half-price discount, 250 CAPs, with the same rules.
The fine print for this coupon sale: if the CAPs are pooled for a discounted purchase and the new reviewer doesn’t follow through, there will be no refunds. Sorry, much like an adventure game at a flea market today, all sales are final.
You may have noticed sweeping changes have been made to how game selection is being done. Firstly, instead of ratings, we've switched to magazine reviews, which might be a problem down the line, but for now seems to work well. Secondly, while we'll continue to use the Wikipedia list, games will only count if there's a page for the game. Plague of the Moon, for instance, is Disregarded because it's on the list, but there's no page, while Blown Away, while having a page, is Borderline because nobody bothered to add it to the list.
As with last year, we’re adding in licensed games that wouldn’t otherwise be notable to the Disregarded pile, and we’re also putting in titles from developers who have mainline games in the past or future. We tried to be strict about it, not tossing in some “barely adventure” game stuff like a Sailor Moon FMV game masquerading as an adventure or reaching for what qualifies as mainline in the future or past.
A change that was extensively argued about, is the consideration of text adventures based on how many ratings they have on IFDB. This is done on a provisional basis to see how well it works, and most of us admins have made a gentleman’s agreement not to pay for them. That is to say, if you want us to continue with it, vote with your CAPs wallet.
Further, it's been agreed that games should only count when they're first released in English, so say hello to two Synergy games and Cosmology of Kyoto, while saying see you next time to Eastern Mind and Igor: Objective Uikokahonia. This means officially, not unofficially, so we have Policenauts and some Czech games here, bizarrely. We've added in earlier games of future mainline titles, and even a few console games. Further clarification and complaints can be addressed to Morpheus, as he did the majority of the work while everyone else agreed or disagreed with whatever cockamamie stuff he said.
Because we will be overlapping the years this time, we can’t use our traditional date of “last game started” to signify a cut-off for formulating the list this time, so we will just choose an arbitrary date. All purchases and trades must be done by the end of February 6, 2025 (blog time), which is Michael’s birthday, which he shares with reggae legend Bob Marley and world-famous actor Ronald Reagan. We might start playing an automatically accepted game before then, but won’t be closing the disregarded game store until that time.
Another note: Because of the overlap we’re planning, it may be a very long time before the “Full House” guesses can be judged for 1993. We are purposely holding back on one 1993 game because it will fit info Joe’s Infocom and Zork marathons, so 1993 might not be finished completely for some time. The guesses aren’t forgotten; just our change of strategy means that it will have to wait, so we can ensure regular game coverage going forward.
Final note: While in the past we’ve made limited exceptions to the rule and allowed missed classics from the current year, when it comes to games from 1994, if a borderline or disregarded game isn’t purchased with CAPs, it cannot be played as a missed classic until 1995 begins.
Games immediately Accepted
Beneath a Steel Sky
 |
Will the addition of the guy who drew Watchmen save Revolution Software?
|
| Is it clearly a graphic adventure game? | Yes |
| Does it have 10 or more Magazine Reviews? | Yes (37) |
| Is it on the Wikipedia Notable Games list? | Yes |
Does it actually have a Wikipedia page?
| Yes
|
Result
| Accepted
|
Potential Reviewers
| Zenic Reverie |
Burn;Cycle
 |
Another cyberpunk horror adventure game, this time with a two hour time limit. Like the Japanese game D.
|
| | | Is it clearly a graphic adventure game? | Yes | | Does it have 10 or more Magazine Reviews? | Yes (25) | Is it on the Wikipedia Notable Games list?
| Yes | Does it actually have a Wikipedia page?
| Yes
| Result
| Accepted
| Potential Reviewers
| Morpheus |
|
Death Gate
 |
Based on the famous book series by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman.
|
| Is it clearly a graphic adventure game? | Yes |
| Does it have 10 or more Magazine Reviews? | Yes (24) |
| Is it on the Wikipedia Notable Games list? | Yes |
Does it actually have a Wikipedia page?
| Yes
|
Result
| Accepted
|
Potential Reviewers
| Vetinari, Reiko |
Dragon Lore: The Legend Begins
 |
Cryo's big jump into 3D graphics.
|
| Is it clearly a graphic adventure game? | Yes |
| Does it have 10 or more Magazine Reviews? | Yes (26) |
| Is it on the Wikipedia Notable Games list? | Yes |
Does it actually have a Wikipedia page?
| Yes
|
Result
| Accepted
|
Potential Reviewers
| Morpheus |
Dragonsphere
 |
The final part of Microprose's informal adventure trilogy.
|
| Is it clearly a graphic adventure game? | Yes |
| Does it have 10 or more Magazine Reviews? | Yes (18) |
| Is it on the Wikipedia Notable Games list? | Yes |
Does it actually have a Wikipedia page?
| Yes
|
Result
| Accepted
|
Potential Reviewers
| Vetinari |
Dreamweb
 |
A cyberpunk adventure with a weird perspective.
|
| Is it clearly a graphic adventure game? | Yes |
| Does it have 10 or more Magazine Reviews? | Yes (34) |
| Is it on the Wikipedia Notable Games list? | Yes |
Does it actually have a Wikipedia page?
| Yes
|
Result
| Accepted
|
Potential Reviewers
| Will, Morpheus |
Freddi Fish and the Missing Kelp Seeds
 |
| Humongous's great undersea detective gets her start. |
| Is it clearly a graphic adventure game? | Yes |
| Does it have 10 or more Magazine Reviews? | Yes (10) |
| Is it on the Wikipedia Notable Games list? | Yes |
Does it actually have a Wikipedia page?
| Yes
|
Result
| Accepted
|
Potential Reviewers
| Michael
|
Gadget: Invention, Travel and Adventure
 |
A steampunk Myst-style adventure alleged to have few puzzles but a lot of focus on environments.
|
| Is it clearly a graphic adventure game? | Yes |
| Does it have 10 or more Magazine Reviews? | Yes (14) |
| Is it on the Wikipedia Notable Games list? | Yes |
Does it actually have a Wikipedia page?
| Yes
|
Result
| Accepted
|
Potential Reviewers
| Morpheus |
Goblins Quest 3
 |
There's only one goblin now. (Note, despite claims of a 1993 release, we haven't seen any evidence to this)
|
| Is it clearly a graphic adventure game? | Yes |
| Does it have 10 or more Magazine Reviews? | Yes (23) |
| Is it on the Wikipedia Notable Games list? | Yes |
Does it actually have a Wikipedia page?
| Yes
|
Result
| Accepted
|
Potential Reviewers
| Ilmari
|
Hell: A Cyberpunk Thriller
 |
Another cyberpunk horror game, this time with all your favorite famous actors.
|
| Is it clearly a graphic adventure game? | Yes |
| Does it have 10 or more Magazine Reviews? | Yes (25) |
| Is it on the Wikipedia Notable Games list? | Yes |
Does it actually have a Wikipedia page?
| Yes
|
Result
| Accepted
|
Potential Reviewers
| Will, Morpheus |
Inherit the Earth
 |
It's another one of those fantasy games set after the fall of man.
|
| Is it clearly a graphic adventure game? | Yes |
| Does it have 10 or more Magazine Reviews? | Yes (23) |
| Is it on the Wikipedia Notable Games list? | Yes |
Does it actually have a Wikipedia page?
| Yes
|
Result
| Accepted
|
Potential Reviewers
| Will |
The Legend of Kyrandia: Malcolm's Revenge
 |
A strange finale to the series, now 3D.
|
| Is it clearly a graphic adventure game? | Yes |
| Does it have 10 or more Magazine Reviews? | Yes (23) |
| Is it on the Wikipedia Notable Games list? | Yes |
Does it actually have a Wikipedia page?
| Yes
|
Result
| Accepted
|
Potential Reviewers
| Michael
|
Noctropolis
 |
An adventure game answering the typical comic plot, what if the fanboy became the superhero?
|
| Is it clearly a graphic adventure game? | Yes |
| Does it have 10 or more Magazine Reviews? | Yes (21) |
| Is it on the Wikipedia Notable Games list? | Yes |
Does it actually have a Wikipedia page?
| Yes
|
Result
| Accepted
|
Potential Reviewers
|
|
Policenauts
 |
The original PC-98 version of Hideo Kojima's followup to Snatcher.
|
| Is it clearly a graphic adventure game? | Yes |
| Does it have 10 or more Magazine Reviews? | Yes (10) |
| Is it on the Wikipedia Notable Games list? | Yes |
Does it actually have a Wikipedia page?
| Yes
|
Result
| Accepted
|
Potential Reviewers
| Morpheus
|
Relentless: Twinsen's Adventure (Little Big Adventure)
 |
The natural followup to Alone in the Dark.
|
| Is it clearly a graphic adventure game? | Yes |
| Does it have 10 or more Magazine Reviews? | Yes (10) |
| Is it on the Wikipedia Notable Games list? | Yes |
Does it actually have a Wikipedia page?
| Yes
|
Result
| Accepted
|
Potential Reviewers
| Morpheus |
Roberta Williams' King's Quest VII: The Princeless Bride
 |
The game many wish ended the series.
|
| Is it clearly a graphic adventure game? | Yes |
| Does it have 10 or more Magazine Reviews? | Yes (23) |
| Is it on the Wikipedia Notable Games list? | Yes |
Does it actually have a Wikipedia page?
| Yes
|
Result
| Accepted
|
Potential Reviewers
| Michael |
Snatcher
 |
Hideo Kojima's first adventure game, which thanks to quirks of our rules is going to be played alongside the original.
|
| Is it clearly a graphic adventure game? | Yes |
| Does it have 10 or more Magazine Reviews? | Yes (30) |
| Is it on the Wikipedia Notable Games list? | Yes |
Does it actually have a Wikipedia page?
| Yes
|
Result
| Accepted
|
Potential Reviewers
|
|
Superhero League of Hoboken
 |
Superheroes in New Jersey!
|
| Is it clearly a graphic adventure game? | Yes |
| Does it have 10 or more Magazine Reviews? | Yes (15) |
| Is it on the Wikipedia Notable Games list? | Yes |
Does it actually have a Wikipedia page?
| Yes
|
Result
| Accepted
|
Potential Reviewers
| Vetinari, Will |
Under a Killing Moon
 |
What many consider to be Tex Murphy's finest hour.
|
| Is it clearly a graphic adventure game? | Yes |
| Does it have 10 or more Magazine Reviews? | Yes (35) |
| Is it on the Wikipedia Notable Games list? | Yes |
Does it actually have a Wikipedia page?
| Yes
|
Result
| Accepted
|
Potential Reviewers
|
|
Universe
 |
Can Core finally design a good adventure game?
|
| Is it clearly a graphic adventure game? | Yes |
| Does it have 10 or more Magazine Reviews? | Yes (22) |
| Is it on the Wikipedia Notable Games list? | Yes |
Does it actually have a Wikipedia page?
| Yes
|
Result
| Accepted
|
Potential Reviewers
|
|
Borderline (100 CAPs)
Alice: An Interactive Museum
 |
The world's most expensive game of 52 card pickup.
|
| Is it clearly a graphic adventure game? | Yes |
| Does it have 10 or more Magazine Reviews? | No (3) |
| Is it on the Wikipedia Notable Games list? | Yes |
Does it actually have a Wikipedia page?
| Yes
|
Result
| Bought by MorpheusKitami (-100 CAPs) |
Potential Reviewers
| Morpheus
|
Are You Afraid of the Dark: The Tale of Orpheo's Curse
 |
The spooky kids series gets a game from the good folks at Viacom.
|
| Is it clearly a graphic adventure game? | Yes |
| Does it have 10 or more Magazine Reviews? | No (7) |
| Is it on the Wikipedia Notable Games list? | Yes |
Does it actually have a Wikipedia page?
| Yes
|
Result
| Borderline
|
Potential Reviewers
|
|
Blown Away
 |
A movie license based off a movie I haven't even heard of before.
|
| Is it clearly a graphic adventure game? | Yes |
| Does it have 10 or more Magazine Reviews? | Yes (12)
|
| Is it on the Wikipedia Notable Games list? | No |
Does it actually have a Wikipedia page?
| Yes
|
Result
| Borderline
|
Potential Reviewers
|
|
Cosmology of Kyoto
 |
Roger Ebert's favorite game.
|
| Is it clearly a graphic adventure game? | Yes |
| Does it have 10 or more Magazine Reviews? | No (8)
|
| Is it on the Wikipedia Notable Games list? | Yes |
Does it actually have a Wikipedia page?
| Yes
|
Result
| | Bought by Laukku (-100 CAPs) |
|
Potential Reviewers
| Morpheus |
Desire
 |
The original PC-98 version of Hiroyuki Kanno's debut, which is supposed to be important.
|
| Is it clearly a graphic adventure game? | Yes |
| Does it have 10 or more Magazine Reviews? | No (1)
|
| Is it on the Wikipedia Notable Games list? | Yes |
Does it actually have a Wikipedia page?
| Yes
|
Result
| Bought by Laukku (-100 CAPs) |
Potential Reviewers
| Morpheus |
Heimdall 2
 |
Hey, you guys said the first one was an adventure game!
|
| Is it clearly a graphic adventure game? | Yes |
| Does it have 10 or more Magazine Reviews? | Yes (22)
|
| Is it on the Wikipedia Notable Games list? | No
|
Does it actually have a Wikipedia page?
| Yes
|
Result
| Borderline
|
Potential Reviewers
|
|
Mavlin: Vesmirny unik
 |
This one is only available if someone around here can read Czech.
|
| Is it clearly a graphic adventure game? | Yes |
| Does it have 10 or more Magazine Reviews? | No
|
| Is it on the Wikipedia Notable Games list? | Yes
|
Does it actually have a Wikipedia page?
| Yes
|
Result
| Borderline
|
Potential Reviewers
|
|
Mansion of Hidden Souls
 |
This is the Sega CD game which was released in Japan in '93, but in English in '94. The Saturn sequel was released in Japan in '94, but in English in '95. This was very confusing.
|
| Is it clearly a graphic adventure game? | Yes |
| Does it have 10 or more Magazine Reviews? | Yes (22)
|
| Is it on the Wikipedia Notable Games list? | No
|
Does it actually have a Wikipedia page?
| Yes
|
Result
| Borderline
|
Potential Reviewers
|
|
MTV: Club Dead
 |
Look at that video compression!
|
| Is it clearly a graphic adventure game? | Yes |
| Does it have 10 or more Magazine Reviews? | Yes (10)
|
| Is it on the Wikipedia Notable Games list? | No
|
Does it actually have a Wikipedia page?
| No
|
Result
| Borderline
|
Potential Reviewers
|
|
Prince Interactive
 |
Or the Game Formerly Known as Interactive.
|
| Is it clearly a graphic adventure game? | Yes |
| Does it have 10 or more Magazine Reviews? | Yes (10)
|
| Is it on the Wikipedia Notable Games list? | No
|
Does it actually have a Wikipedia page?
| Yes
|
Result
| Borderline
|
Potential Reviewers
|
|
Return to Ringworld
 |
Did we have unfinished business?
|
| Is it clearly a graphic adventure game? | Yes |
| Does it have 10 or more Magazine Reviews? | Yes (11)
|
| Is it on the Wikipedia Notable Games list? | Yes
|
Does it actually have a Wikipedia page?
| No
|
Result
| Bought by ShaddamIVth (-100 CAPs) |
Potential Reviewers
| Reiko |
Tajemství Oslího ostrova
 |
Another Eastern European game with an English translation that was released by Epic MegaGames, and I'm Teddy Roosevelt.
|
| Is it clearly a graphic adventure game? | Yes |
| Does it have 10 or more Magazine Reviews? | No (4)
|
| Is it on the Wikipedia Notable Games list? | Yes
|
Does it actually have a Wikipedia page?
| Yes
|
Result
| Bought by arcanetrivia (-100 CAPs)
|
Potential Reviewers
| Michael |
Valhalla and the Lord of Infinity
 |
Why are half the games with weird perspective about Norse Mythology? (And Amiga originals?)
|
| Is it clearly a graphic adventure game? | Yes |
| Does it have 10 or more Magazine Reviews? | Yes (10)
|
| Is it on the Wikipedia Notable Games list? | No
|
Does it actually have a Wikipedia page?
| No
|
Result
| Bought by Reiko (-100 CAPs) |
Potential Reviewers
| Reiko |
Disregarded (200 CAPs)
+=3
 |
Not so much a game as much as a philosophical question.
|
| Is it clearly a graphic adventure game? | Yes |
| Does it have 10 or more Magazine Reviews? | No
|
| Is it on the Wikipedia Notable Games list? | No
|
Does it actually have a Wikipedia page?
| No
|
Result
| Disregarded
|
Potential Reviewers
|
|
Around the World in 80 Days
 |
An educational game from the short-lived EA Kids label.
|
| Is it clearly a graphic adventure game? | Yes |
| Does it have 10 or more Magazine Reviews? | No (2)
|
| Is it on the Wikipedia Notable Games list? | No
|
Does it actually have a Wikipedia page?
| No
|
Result
| Disregarded
|
Potential Reviewers
| Reiko |
Astronomica
 |
It's time to learn about space.
|
| Is it clearly a graphic adventure game? | Yes |
| Does it have 10 or more Magazine Reviews? | No (4)
|
| Is it on the Wikipedia Notable Games list? | No
|
Does it actually have a Wikipedia page?
| Yes
|
Result
| Disregarded
|
Potential Reviewers
| Reiko |
Balances
 |
The example game that came with earlier versions of Inform.
|
| Is it clearly a graphic adventure game? | Yes |
| Does it have 10 or more Magazine Reviews? | No
|
| Is it on the Wikipedia Notable Games list? | No
|
Does it actually have a Wikipedia page?
| No
|
Result
| Disregarded
|
Potential Reviewers
|
|
The C.H.A.O.S. Continuum
 |
This one is going to take more explaining than a caption should say.
|
| Is it clearly a graphic adventure game? | Yes |
| Does it have 10 or more Magazine Reviews? | No (7)
|
| Is it on the Wikipedia Notable Games list? | No
|
Does it actually have a Wikipedia page?
| No
|
Result
| Disregarded
|
Potential Reviewers
|
|
The Clue!
 |
Adventure + Crime Heist= ???
|
| Is it clearly a graphic adventure game? | No
|
| Does it have 10 or more Magazine Reviews? | Yes (19)
|
| Is it on the Wikipedia Notable Games list? | No
|
Does it actually have a Wikipedia page?
| Yes
|
Result
| Bought by Will (-200 CAPs) |
Potential Reviewers
|
|
Digby's Adventures (and various other names)
 |
You'd think a game connected to Shelly Duvall would be more famous.
|
| Is it clearly a graphic adventure game? | Yes
|
| Does it have 10 or more Magazine Reviews? | No
|
| Is it on the Wikipedia Notable Games list? | No
|
Does it actually have a Wikipedia page?
| No
|
Result
| Disregarded
|
Potential Reviewers
|
|
Doctor Hauzer
 |
Alone in the Dark without the combat.
|
| Is it clearly a graphic adventure game? | Yes
|
| Does it have 10 or more Magazine Reviews? | No (5)
|
| Is it on the Wikipedia Notable Games list? | No
|
Does it actually have a Wikipedia page?
| Yes
|
Result
| Disregarded
|
Potential Reviewers
|
|
Flash Gordon: Il Rapmento di Dale
 |
There's an interesting story behind this game's publication process.
|
| Is it clearly a graphic adventure game? | Yes
|
| Does it have 10 or more Magazine Reviews? | No
|
| Is it on the Wikipedia Notable Games list? | No
|
Does it actually have a Wikipedia page?
| Yes
|
Result
| Bought by Vetinari (-200 CAPs)
|
Potential Reviewers
| Vetinari |
Flash Traffic: City of Angels
 |
Die Hard as an adventure game?
|
| Is it clearly a graphic adventure game? | Yes
|
| Does it have 10 or more Magazine Reviews? | No (5)
|
| Is it on the Wikipedia Notable Games list? | No
|
Does it actually have a Wikipedia page?
| Yes
|
Result
| Disregarded
|
Potential Reviewers
|
|
Gahan Wilson's The Ultimate Haunted House
 |
A collaboration between two famous illustrators, published by Microsoft.
|
| Is it clearly a graphic adventure game? | Yes
|
| Does it have 10 or more Magazine Reviews? | No (3)
|
| Is it on the Wikipedia Notable Games list? | No
|
Does it actually have a Wikipedia page?
| Yes
|
Result
| Disregarded
|
Potential Reviewers
|
|
Hawaii High: Mystery of the Tiki
 |
A Nancy Drew-inspired game, before that meant something else.
|
| Is it clearly a graphic adventure game? | Yes
|
| Does it have 10 or more Magazine Reviews? | No
|
| Is it on the Wikipedia Notable Games list? | No
|
Does it actually have a Wikipedia page?
| No
|
Result
| Disregarded
|
Potential Reviewers
|
|
Die Hohlenwelt Saga: Der Leuchtende Kristall
 |
A German game made famous internationally for being what inspired the creation of a machine language translation tool, or is that AI now?
|
| Is it clearly a graphic adventure game? | Yes
|
| Does it have 10 or more Magazine Reviews? | No (8)
|
| Is it on the Wikipedia Notable Games list? | No
|
Does it actually have a Wikipedia page?
| No
|
Result
| Disregarded
|
Potential Reviewers
|
|
In the Dead of Night
 |
Trecision's debut, which has a hard to follow release history, but we're pretty sure it was released this year.
|
| Is it clearly a graphic adventure game? | Yes
|
| Does it have 10 or more Magazine Reviews? | No (1)
|
| Is it on the Wikipedia Notable Games list? | No
|
Does it actually have a Wikipedia page?
| No
|
Result
| Bought by Vetinari (-200 CAPs)
|
Potential Reviewers
| Vetinari |
The Manhole: Masterpiece Edition
 |
The remake of Cyan's famous children's game, GOG alleges that 1994 is the release date, as there is some confusion.
|
| Is it clearly a graphic adventure game? | Yes
|
| Does it have 10 or more Magazine Reviews? | No (1)
|
| Is it on the Wikipedia Notable Games list? | No
|
Does it actually have a Wikipedia page?
| No
|
Result
| Disregarded
|
Potential Reviewers
|
|
Museum Madness
 |
The bridge between the earlier educational adventures we've seen and stuff like JumpStart.
|
| Is it clearly a graphic adventure game? | Yes
|
| Does it have 10 or more Magazine Reviews? | No
|
| Is it on the Wikipedia Notable Games list? | No
|
Does it actually have a Wikipedia page?
| Yes
|
Result
| Disregarded
|
Potential Reviewers
|
|
Nishimura Kyoutarou Travel Mystery: Akugyaku no Kisetsu
 |
A licensed Japanese console adventure, the end result of us not realizing what could possibly go wrong to innocent changes.
|
| Is it clearly a graphic adventure game? | Yes
|
| Does it have 10 or more Magazine Reviews? | No
|
| Is it on the Wikipedia Notable Games list? | No
|
Does it actually have a Wikipedia page?
| No
|
Result
| Disregarded
|
Potential Reviewers
| Morpheus |
Pac-Man 2
 |
They turned Pac-Man into an adventure game.
|
| Is it clearly a graphic adventure game? | No
|
| Does it have 10 or more Magazine Reviews? | Yes (15)
|
| Is it on the Wikipedia Notable Games list? | No
|
Does it actually have a Wikipedia page?
| Yes
|
Result
| Bought by Michael (-200 CAPs)
|
Potential Reviewers
| |
The Pagemaster
 |
Macaulay Culkin, what did they do to you?
|
| Is it clearly a graphic adventure game? | Yes
|
| Does it have 10 or more Magazine Reviews? | No (2)
|
| Is it on the Wikipedia Notable Games list? | No
|
Does it actually have a Wikipedia page?
| No
|
Result
| Disregarded
|
Potential Reviewers
|
|
Plague of the Moon
 |
A Spanish Elvira-clone, this is going to be a trip.
|
| Is it clearly a graphic adventure game? | Yes
|
| Does it have 10 or more Magazine Reviews? | No
|
| Is it on the Wikipedia Notable Games list? | No
|
Does it actually have a Wikipedia page?
| Yes
|
Result
| Disregarded
|
Potential Reviewers
| Michael |
The Residents': Freak Show
 |
The second of the infamous band's computer games.
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| Is it clearly a graphic adventure game? | Yes
|
| Does it have 10 or more Magazine Reviews? | No (1)
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| Is it on the Wikipedia Notable Games list? | No
|
Does it actually have a Wikipedia page?
| Yes
|
Result
| Disregarded
|
Potential Reviewers
|
|
The Romantic Blue
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William Fisher makes a game that isn't about your aunt the witch...which would become connected to your aunt the witch anyway...
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| Is it clearly a graphic adventure game? | Yes
|
| Does it have 10 or more Magazine Reviews? | No (1)
|
| Is it on the Wikipedia Notable Games list? | No
|
Does it actually have a Wikipedia page?
| No
|
Result
| Disregarded
|
Potential Reviewers
| Morpheus
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System's Twilight
 |
Andrew Plotkin does his own take on A Fool's Errand.
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| Is it clearly a graphic adventure game? | Yes
|
| Does it have 10 or more Magazine Reviews? | No (1)
|
| Is it on the Wikipedia Notable Games list? | No
|
Does it actually have a Wikipedia page?
| Yes
|
Result
| Bought by Reiko (-200 CAPs) |
Potential Reviewers
| Reiko |
Tenchi Muyo Ryoki
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Based off the wildly popular anime of the '90s.
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| Is it clearly a graphic adventure game? | Yes
|
| Does it have 10 or more Magazine Reviews? | No
|
| Is it on the Wikipedia Notable Games list? | No
|
Does it actually have a Wikipedia page?
| No
|
Result
| Disregarded
|
Potential Reviewers
| Morpheus
|
The Underoos That Ate New York
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This is going to be very weird...
|
| Is it clearly a graphic adventure game? | Yes
|
| Does it have 10 or more Magazine Reviews? | No
|
| Is it on the Wikipedia Notable Games list? | No
|
Does it actually have a Wikipedia page?
| No
|
Result
| Disregarded
|
Potential Reviewers
|
|
Urusei Yatsura: Dear My Friends
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Another anime adaptation, from the same lady who brought you Ranma 1/2.
|
| Is it clearly a graphic adventure game? | Yes
|
| Does it have 10 or more Magazine Reviews? | No
|
| Is it on the Wikipedia Notable Games list? | No
|
Does it actually have a Wikipedia page?
| No
|
Result
| Disregarded
|
Potential Reviewers
| Morpheus
|
Wrath of the Gods
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One of Maxis's more oddball efforts, and yes, I know how odd that is.
|
| Is it clearly a graphic adventure game? | Yes
|
| Does it have 10 or more Magazine Reviews? | No
|
| Is it on the Wikipedia Notable Games list? | No
|
Does it actually have a Wikipedia page?
| Yes
|
Result
| Disregarded
|
Potential Reviewers
|
|
Yamamura Misa Suspense: Kyoto Anba Sanso Satsujin Jiken
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1994 was a good year for Japanese writers getting games based off their work.
|
| Is it clearly a graphic adventure game? | Yes
|
| Does it have 10 or more Magazine Reviews? | No
|
| Is it on the Wikipedia Notable Games list? | No
|
Does it actually have a Wikipedia page?
| No
|
Result
| Disregarded
|
Potential Reviewers
| Morpheus |
Yellow Kid: Giallo al Circo
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Anybody remember Hogan's Alley?
|
| Is it clearly a graphic adventure game? | Yes
|
| Does it have 10 or more Magazine Reviews? | No
|
| Is it on the Wikipedia Notable Games list? | No
|
Does it actually have a Wikipedia page?
| No
|
Result
| Disregarded
|
Potential Reviewers
|
|
Yu Yu Hakusho Gaiden
 |
Why did they make an adventure game based off this?
|
| Is it clearly a graphic adventure game? | Yes
|
| Does it have 10 or more Magazine Reviews? | No
|
| Is it on the Wikipedia Notable Games list? | No
|
Does it actually have a Wikipedia page?
| No
|
Result
| Disregarded
|
Potential Reviewers
| Morpheus
|
Panthro's Law (500 CAPs)
When the time came to start adding games to this category, nobody really wanted to add anything except Morpheus. And by now Morpheus already went over most games he thought were interesting in previous categories, even ignoring that we kind of went a bit strict on the licensed game rule to avoid the list being entirely dominated by bizarre German, Italian and Japanese games. Let's see what's left...
Ecstatica
 |
Alone in the Dark, but with spheres.
|
One of the first
Alone in the Dark-style games, made by a Brit who basically did this and some sports games. It's a medieval horror game, which is very different from anything else in its genre. Also in its favor are a focus of very black comedy, befitting the nation that gave us
Blackadder and
Monty Python.
Entombed
 |
Myst from Australia, or is that Austria?
|
A very odd game, a
Myst-style game made as shareware, which was eventually sold commercially. Egyptian-inspired, but not quite as focused on that as later games like
Egypt or
Riddle of the Sphinx. Also notable for having a hint system that tells you everything...right up until the end.
Necronomicon
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Lovecraft or Giger, that is the question.
|
Picking one up distinctly from Morpheus's wishlist, we have Necronomicon, one of the last and allegedly best of Fairytale's horror Japanese-style adventure games. Will it live up to the hype or turn out to be as horrifying as the book it takes its name from?
The Yukon Trail
 |
There's gold in them hills.
|
Finally, we have The Yukon Trail, the spinoff of The Oregon Trail that asks the question, how would you handle the Klondike Gold Rush? If you've seen the video Brutalmoose did on the game, the answer will shock you.
And the reviewers...
Just like in previous years, we will also decide who's to play what game
in the comments below. Especially with continuing series, reviewers for
previous parts are preferred over completely new reviewers.
As per last year, you can suggest reviewers for a game, but we'll reduce the cost to 10 CAPs. Also per last year, don't concentrate them on one person, and generally don't be the reason why a new rule has to be made.
mmm, I don't know if I agree with most stuff in the rules. Let's see.
ReplyDeleteFirst, magazine reviews seem like a good pick, but which magazines ? which ones are you counting ? I have a collection of argentinian magazines for example, very famous , that were also scanned and uploaded some time ago, that will cover and review most of the obscure games. Same with magazines from that era from other sources.
Also, using an english wikipedia article seems like a bad idea, that list can be edited by anyone, and adding sources (see Citogenesis for some fun on this concept). That article is also not static, it was used 6 years ago for example for the 1993 list, and now it's different that back then.
Regarding release dates, Goblins 3 and Alone in the dark 3 have something in common apart from the 3, they are french games. I think the dates being conflicting is related to the fact that they probably were released in 1993 and 1994 but in France. I definitely got both 1 year later on DOS (1994 and 1995), and Goblins 3 also had a very famous demo, which was also probably distributed in 1993, adding confusion. In the end it doesnt really matter a lot, since you will still be playing the games, sooner or later.
I really hope you find the place to include Igor Objetivo Uikokahona, it's the first spanish adventure game from a studio that I think is still around today, and released a ton of other adventures. Most derivative no doubt, but still relevant in history, definitely more important than most of the random games in the disregarded list.
I also hope Ecstatica can be included, that game is so weird that it fits for a good reading and experience.
Not trying to be disruptive, just very interested in adventure games.
Let me see what I can answer -- even though this is a team project, Morpheus did most of the hard work for this post.
Deletebut which magazines ?
Generally, it's magazine reviews from the game's Moby page. If you look in the comments for the 1993 post, you'll see the admins then were also getting frustrated with the questionable status of the games in the Wikipedia notable list -- most notably, way too many of them weren't adventures. Or, they weren't notable enough to even get their own Wikipedia page. So, we wanted to try to find a way to weed out the riff-raff. Previously, we used ratings on the Moby page, but those have become unreliable as well, as updates to Moby pages often take months or even years to appear. This was a test -- and we are certainly open to more suggestions when 1995 rolls around.
You also highlighted our issue with relying on Wikipedia, but we're taking baby steps. That's how Trickster started developing his list way back when, and we're not ready to completely give it up yet. But we are not taking the information in the Wiki page as absolute fact. Often, we went to multiple sources to really discern when a game actually did come out.
I really hope you find the place to include Igor Objetivo Uikokahona
It was moved to 1995 because that's when the English-language release date was. Using the English language date is not a new change -- see the 1993 post as well.
I also hope Ecstatica can be included
That depends on you, or other readers. Pool together some CAPs to add it to the list (it will cost someone only 250 if it's a new reviewer who chooses to handle the review themselves.)
While the WP list can be said to have a subjectivity problem regarding what counts as a graphic adventure game, so does any other possible list. Adventure Gamers regards Portal 1 and 2 as adventure games which I disagree with (I'd classify them as puzzle platformers). The blog's own "Is it clearly a graphic adventure game?" criterion acts somewhat as a safeguard.
DeleteBut adding some objectivity is WP's notability ruleset, which determines which articles are allowed to remain on the site. Basically there must exist enough quality sources about a game so that at least a basic article can be created from them. And there are constant deletion nominations for obscure articles. I think having an article is a fully reasonable factor for the blog's inclusion criteria, making it easier to include important / skip unimportant games.
>Which magazines.
DeleteWhy should we exclude a magazine for reviews? The real question, IMHO, is what websites we should include when that starts becoming more of a thing. Mobygames includes stuff like Allgames in its websites which feels like padding to me, since that particular brand of websites wasn't about anything but the database.
>Wikipedia.
I agree on both counts, (Freddi Fish actually changed from Disregarded to Accepted as I was working on this) but I don't think Citogenesis is an issue here since we don't qualify as a notable source. It's more about being notable enough for an article, whether the article is barely readable as English or full of complete lies is irrelevant. Magazines were intended as, when this came out, people noticed, and Wikipedia is more, now people still recognize it. The change now was to remove games like Melvin from last time which had a mention, but no article. They'll still probably be here, but its no longer the free ride it was.
>Release dates.
I actually forgot it myself a few times when writing this, but release dates are for the English release date. No idea about Goblins or Alone in the Dark 3, since places don't seem to differentiate between France and Europe, assuming there is a difference. However, Igor is definitely going to be in next year, it not being in while fitting all the criteria would have been another embarassing oversight.
>Ecstatica
Alas, we admins have a gentleman's agreement not to pay for the text adventures or Panthro's this year. (At least I think on the later...otherwise I'll see what I have left later on)
>Disruptive
Nah, you're not disruptive at all.
Also forgot to mention in my post, I would really like to buy games for future playing, but it seems commenting in most gameplays for the past 6 years or so, didn't get me points to do so.
DeleteFeels like the system was made to avoid playing unwanted games, or discourage post engagement. Either way, hope someone else can afford to unlock the games
I'm sorry you feel that way -- the CAP system, and the "buying" of games to play were started by Trickster himself for the goal of "post engagement".
DeleteOver the years, the admins before me added more potential games to play (see "Panthro's Law", for example). But the main problem remains: a lot of games to play, but less and less people willing/able to do it.
That's why, this year, we are testing a new idea, where it costs less CAPs to add a game to the playlist if someone plays it themselves. We need more reviewers -- the ones from the past decade are largely unable to dedicate the same amount of time to the blog as in the past, and the games are getting more and more complicated as computers get more powerful.
Anyone, a reader, a reviewer, can play one of the past so-called "unwanted" games as a Missed Classic. They are not banished from the blog -- we just make sure the games that most closely match the original criteria of being "notable" get priority.
But I can see your point -- since the pandemic, the blog didn't have as many posts or games covered, so the scoring possibilities were sometimes limited. Sometimes, though, it's because of lack of engagement. When's the last time you saw someone wager CAPs on a bet?
Perhaps we need to readjust the CAP values or rewards going forward for inflation. And maybe bring back some contests (like Trickster's ROT-13 riddles). Sadly, we don't have a generous benefactor providing free games anymore, but it's worth talking about.
That's fair, I was aiming more towards something where people would pay for games they actually wanted to see, as opposed to previous years where people paid for most games regardless of whether or not they wanted to see it or not. I didn't consider how it would look from the opposite direction.
DeleteThat said, we admins have a gentleman's agreement not to pay for any of the Panthro's, but if Michael's okay with it, I can pay for Ecstatica. That said, I'd only play it if nobody else was interested in playing it, because I beat it a few years ago, and I still probably have an idea of how to deal with most of the puzzles. (Which isn't very fun to read about)
As an aside, Alex is #7 on the CAP list, and that has been without any reviewing to get our numbers up, that was done on pure commenting, so I think it is just that specific section which is very expensive to buy into. If he wants to volunteer to play it and blog it I will offer to cover half the cost (125 CAPS) of it.
Deleteactually, Im 27 in the real list. That's a different list
DeleteHey Alex, what argentinian magazines did you read from that era? I only remember buying a few issues of PC Juegos. (My favourite magazine will always be Micromania's second age, but that was from Spain)
Deleteyeah, it was PC Juegos at the time. Then I was a fan of Xtreme PC, I still have the full collection. I was featured 2 times on that magazine as well, one being a 2 page interview. Lots of great memories
DeleteI never ever heard of XTreme PC back in the day. Why where you featured and interviewed?
Deletepro gamer, winner of several championships, some being the first ever done in Argentina
DeleteOh, nice, that explains why you still have The Dark Half on your to play list. What games, if we might ask?
DeleteUnreal Tournament, the original one from 1999. I played it at a professional level between 2000 and 2002. Basically until UT2003 was released. At one point I was top 1 in my country and continent.
DeleteLeo Vellés
DeleteSorry about the last comment, I just wanted to say to Alex: "Muchaaaaachooos"
DeleteI guess it‘s only slightly OT then (even though it would probably fit more on MK’s FPS blog) to mention that Epic has just officially allowed Unreal and UT to be hosted / available for free on the Internet Archive (see e.g. https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/classic-shooters-unreal-and-unreal-tournament-are-now-free-and-preserved-on-the-internet-archive).
DeleteRelated tangent, Alex Romanov has been featured in a gaming magazine, as have I (a program of mine in an issue of GGW). Anyone else in the TAG community?
Delete>A lot of time was spent trying to figure out when games were released
ReplyDeleteI felt that frustration too when spot-checking & fixing release dates of a few adventure games of around this era on Wikipedia. For example, GOG.com lists a wrong year for Teenagent which has spread everywhere, and I had to find and image-translate a contemporary Polish magazine article from the Internet Archive proving that no, it wasn't yet released in 1994. Who knows how many more are wrong.
Yeah, I noticed that when I was checking Uvlist, which caused me to get confused, considering that it got a game of the year award from 1995, and that was basically where all the data for it was from. Hopefully that isn't a problem for any other games which may be using GOG as a source. (you'd think they would have access to data everyone else doesn't...)
DeleteFor a year that represents the first death of adventure games, it had some *killer* entries: Dragonsphere! Dreamweb! Beneath a Steel Sky! Under a Killing Moon! All great games. (...okay, King's Quest VII happened too, but still!)
ReplyDeleteAnd with this comment, let me be the first to throw my hat into the ring to play the whimsical-looking KQ7. I remember starting it some 25 years ago, but I never got very far and don't remember why. Maybe it's just because in 1994, I had gotten my learner's permit, then license, and my first summer job, so I likely just ran out of time.
DeleteI'll throw my hat in the ring for Dreamweb, Inherit the Earth, Hell, and Superhero League of Hoboken, all of which I'm very interested in playing for the blog. Also, I'd fork out the CAPs to lift "The Clue" up to the main list. It's a weird little game but I have a soft spot for it.
ReplyDeleteThe Clue! purchased.
DeleteLooking forward to Universe! I remember not liking the interface, but I loved the setting/atmosphere. Might play along, it's been on my replay list for a long time, so it's a good opportunity to setup a WinUAE CD32 config.
ReplyDeleteRe: Goblins Quest 3 - there are plenty of reviews of the game in German magazines 1/94 issue, which hit store shelves in December 1993. That's not conclusive of course, but it seems that at least in Europe (where it's just called Goblins 3), a late 1993 release date is a probability. Maybe someone that speaks French could dig through French magazines of the time. Then again: Whether the game released 12/93 or 1/94 doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things :)
Being from the same studio which made Curse of Enchantia doesn't bode well for Universe.
DeleteThe (French PC version of the) game was reviewed in the November 1993 issues of the magazines Tilt (https://archive.org/details/Tilt119/page/n87/mode/1up) and Joystick (https://archive.org/details/joystick043/page/n159/mode/2up).
DeleteI want to point out that it needs to be the first official English release, I know some Coktel Vision games included a language selector, dunno if Goblins 3 was one. French and German magazines having it in 1993 doesn't necessarily mean it's 1993 for us. And all I've seen regarding a 1993 release is a December 31st release date and the copyright date, which can be glanced over when everything else seems to point to 1994.
Delete@MorpheusKitami Ah, that makes sense! It's always extra tricky with end-of-year releases as well.
Delete@Laukku I looked it up, and Wikipedia says Universe was originally supposed to be Curse of Enchantia II but ended up different enough in development that they changed the name. ...still doesn't bode well for its potential quality.
DeleteHeyyyy, The Secret of Donkey Island (Tajemství Oslího ostrova)! I'll pony up the 100 CAPs for that.
ReplyDeleteDone!
DeleteAnd if no one else wants, I'll volunteer to play that one. Not much on the list that interests me this time around, but this could either be really good or really bad.
I'm impressed anyone recognized it. At least not anybody who wasn't Eastern European.
DeleteIt's kind of, hm, I guess a little infamous once you get deep enough into Monkey Island fandom? I didn't actually straight-up recognize it just from the Czech title and screenshot, but I said "I need to know what this thing is that's clearly using MI graphics assets", so once I Googled the title it became clear.
DeleteUnless someone else wants to buy it and play it themselves, I'll use my CAPs for PacMan 2 and play it myself.
ReplyDeleteI'll buy Cosmology of Kyoto and Desire. While the latter hasn't IMO aged well it's worth it for historical reasons and for the killer soundtrack.
ReplyDeleteSnatcher got an official English release in 1994, but on a console (the Sega CD) so is that why it's not available?
Purchases made. I'll ask Morpheus to comment on the Snatcher dates; he may have found more concrete information in his research.
DeleteI own a copy of Cosmology of Kyoto (which might qualify as self-doxxing based on how many copies are around), so if nobody else is interested, I'll play it. And since Desire is the original PC-98 version, even if I don't really think it'll be worth my time except to test out my Japanese.
DeleteI'll add Snatcher once I finish responding to comments. I have no excuse for missing it, I was on Uvlist checking games and it's right there in 1994.
Tentatively putting myself on every Japanese exclusive game by virtue of being the only one willing to play them. I'm not really going to pay for most of them. (You have no idea how annoyed I was to see that Urusei Tatsura game) I'll pay for Alice though, since I'm going through the rest of Synergy's catalog.
ReplyDeleteI'll throw myself into the running for Burn;Cycle, Dragon Lore, Dreamweb, Gadget, Hell, and Little Big Adventure. I'd like a shot at Beneath a Steel Sky or Under a Killing Moon, but that feels like stuff a bit out of my reach considering those are the two titles most likely to reach the top ten list. Well, outside of Cosmology, and I'm already asking for that one.
Transaction completed.
DeleteNot sure I can really manage a whole Japanese game by myself, but just thought I'd toss it out there that I know some Japanese and might be able to help with these if you need it.
DeleteGood to know. So far the only real problem with Japanese games has been the "go ahead and wander everywhere" attitude I've noticed they've had. There are the occasion bits where I'm wondering what exactly they mean and names can be confusing, but I also sometimes have that problem in English too. If I do ask you about something, I'll try to make it an actually good game though...
DeleteWoohoo, jumped in fully prepared to shell out some of my hard earned CAPs to guarantee Relentless/LBA a showing, but pleased to see it made it in of its own accord. Looking forward to playing through Beneath a Steel Sky with the review - has been on my playlist for the longest time, and there's nothing like a little peer pressure to make it happen!
ReplyDeleteThere was never really any danger of that, even with the old "votes on Mobygames" system, it had enough to get automatically accepted.
DeleteI guess I was more concerned it'd be considered too biased towards the action side of action/adventure... happy days though!
DeleteI find it slightly mystifying that, given the nature of the project you're all engaged in here, you would disregard *any* game to which the answer to the question 'Is it clearly a graphic adventure game?' is yes.
ReplyDeletePerhaps I could suggest taking (further) inspiration from the CRPG Addict and introduce the concept of the BRIEF? That is, single-entry articles that provide at least a cursory documentation for a game, without committing to a full playthrough. They could either be unrated or perhaps provide a provisional rating.
Of course, it's easy for me to make a suggestion from the comfort of the sidelines, ignoring the substantial workload entailed. So perhaps I should put my labour where my mouth is (in lieu of my CAPs, of which I haven't any - I'm a longtime reader, but I'm not sure I've ever commented under this name, due to the fiddly interaction between blogspot's comment widget and ghostery's privacy filters).
Would you be interested in a few BRIEFs of disregarded games from me, to round out the coverage for the year? We could maybe start with one, to see how my writing style fits with the site and if the concept is well (or poorly) received.
Our version of the "BRIEF" is the Missed Classic. We've covered many of them that only lasted for 1-2 posts, some for longer. But, it still might not be a bad idea to consider going forward, the way that you describe. Let's discuss this.
DeleteThe difference between the original intent of this blog and CRPG is one word: notable. Chet set out to play every practically CRPG that met his definition of the game. Trickster set out to play the most notable adventure games. When the readers took over the blog, they started covering the less-notable ones. But it's a fine line -- if we cover too many of those, the readers usually complain that we are neglecting the "Main Line" or notable titles.
I mean, mainline are supposed to be done relatively quickly, whereas with missed classics we generally go for titles we didn't get to in the past. If you look at Jason Dyer's blog, he's been at 1982 for three years with no signs of finishing it yet, and he seems to show no signs of reaching 1983. For 1994, I imagine the total of adventure games could reach 500. Since a significant number of those are in Japanese-only, it would fall to me to play those, and I don't want to be the guy everyone is waiting for to finish the year on.
DeleteThat said, I did put in a rule about how games not paid for can't be played as missed classics until the next game year, but it was rather last minute...
Thanks for the explanation(s). The consideration of notability is interesting - it allows you to avoid getting 'bogged down', but also demands the ongoing question of where to draw the line.
DeleteBuilding off of the idea of 'missed classics', I've been wondering what shorter write ups of (otherwise non-notable) games for the year in progress might be called. (Assuming they might be permitted, which admittedly seems a point in dispute.)
I quite like 'caught classics', it's snappy, it has a certain logic, albeit one that strays so far from the original phrase as to divest itself of any actual meaning. But then, that's just the sort of logic that adventures are sometimes notorious for :)
Two missed classics were done for 1993 already. Joe did a text adventure and I did a Korean Goblins-knockoff. You're going to be fine.
DeleteHeh, well, *I* know where the end is! I only have one more game left I would call murderhard on my list, and it is coming up soon.
DeleteI am past 3/4 so technically I have it locked in even w more discoveries.
Lots to sort through here! It's exciting that so much is ahead. I'm toying with the idea of playing something for the blog, especially with how much enjoyment reading it has given me, but will need to weigh up whether I realistically could.
ReplyDeleteI suppose with Under A Killing Moon we are truly entering the turning point of the adventure game. There's still such a wide range of games available though. I only played a few demos of some of these back in the day, and have almost no knowledge beyond that. You've also unearthed a bunch that I'd not even heard of!
ReplyDeleteI also realise I don't have so many points any more (spent too much in previous years!) but there's a few that I'm interested in, the idea of "alone in the dark without the combat" intrigues me, as does Blown Away. No idea if they are available anywhere or easy enough to find and play.
DeleteStrange that Die Hohlenwelt Saga is marked as having no Wikipedia page, even though it does have one, if in German.
ReplyDeleteAlso, you misspelled Yatsura as "Tatsura".
Typo corrected.
DeleteAnd I suspect we should have said US Wikipedia page; there's too many countries that have their own separate pages for us to include them all, and we are basing our games on their English language releases, generally.
It kind of didn't matter that much since the point is whether or not it's connected to the List of Graphic Adventure games on the English Wikipedia. In theory I can check the Spanish one, too, but that's noticeably lighter than the English one.
DeleteI am very interested in tackling Death Gate and Dragonsphere. Superhero League of Hoboken too, if nobody else wants it.
ReplyDeleteAlso, do I see an Italian adventure game there? I'll buy Flash Gordon: Il Rapimento di Dale for 200 CAPs, please.
Since I do not think many of you speak Italian, put me down for playing Flash Gordon too.
DeletePurchase made and game assigned.
DeleteLooks like we have a few popular choices here; let's get all the interested parties listed and we can square away the details.
I was actually eyeing Death Gate, but I've been sick the last few days and didn't see that the 1994 post was made until today, or I would have spoken up sooner. Back in the day I read the entire 7-book Death Gate Cycle and really enjoyed them. No idea how good the game is, but it looked interesting. So at least I'd like to put my hat in for backup if Vetinari gets busy and can't get to it.
DeleteAdding you to the list of potentials. There's still time to see who is interested in what before a plan gets made.
DeleteFor the same reason (Italian adventure game) I will buy and volunteer to play "In the dead of night".
ReplyDeletePurchased. But this one at least offers a language choice (English/Italian). Oddly, MobyGames only has the US releases listed, but has primarily Italian screenshots.
Delete"A movie license based off a movie I haven't even heard of before."
ReplyDeleteI've heard of it before, it was the Discworld's version of "Gone with the wind" in Moving Pictures. *Checks Google...* Good grief did NOT know it was an actual movie!
That said I'd like to buy Return to Ringworld, I remember the first one and would love to see it played through!
Bought.
DeleteI'd also suggest Reiko as a reviewer. I greatly enjoyed her playthrough of the first Ringworld game.
DeleteAgreed, her Gateway 2 review was also excellent!
DeleteThanks everyone, I'd be happy to cover Return to Ringworld when we get to it. I was going to ask for it anyway. :)
DeleteAnd it should have already been suggested, since you handled the previous. That was just an oversight, now corrected.
DeleteI'm confused why +=3, Balances, and Underoos would be considered "clearly a graphic adventure game" :P
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing it has to do with the change mentioned in the paragraph about interactive fiction and IFDB. In that case the "graphic adventure game" rationale phrasing is misleading.
DeleteIn particular, where on earth did +=3 come from? It's hardly an adventure game classic; it's barely more than a single puzzle. Surely it should rate no more than a Missed Classic post? I mean, if we want coverage for the blog, I'll volunteer to do it myself, but I do not think it should be a mainline game at all.
DeleteOn the other hand, Balances and Underoos are the top two rated text adventures for 1994 on the IFDB (which should probably be the MobyGames equivalent for our purposes for text adventures), so they are at least justified in being considered. I would volunteer to cover Balances myself, as it's a Graham Nelson classic in the Enchanter series, unless Joe Pranevich wants to include it in his larger text adventure project, in which case I would be happy to help sponsor it.
Underoos is just a short (one review says 15 minutes) and silly game that probably also doesn't warrant more than a single post.
I probably should have changed that phrasing for them. That said, they were picked based solely on how many ratings they had, that is, seemed notable within the IF community. Oddly, I would say that +=3 is the one that had the most impact, since of the three, it was the one I actually knew of before. Of course, owing to it's nature, it's not the best as a game itself, merely as a single puzzle.
DeleteAlso, there's nothing in the rules which states a mainline game has to go over multiple posts, but I don't believe it's ever cropped up before.
I suppose, since no one else is rushing in to volunteer, I'll put my name as a tentative for Freddi Fish and, if someone buys it, Plague of the Moon. If someone want to buy the shareware title to play themselves, I will gladly step aside.
ReplyDeleteTo be fair, it's only been a couple of days. I've held off on expressing interest in most of the games I'm interested in since I made the thing. (I'm the only one who can play the games in a certain language is different than interest)
DeleteSpeaking of Plague of the Moon, how exactly is it a "Spanish" game? I mean it was released in English by someone living in the United States (or at least the shareware version asks the registration fee to be sent to an individual person with a US address, who presumably is the author).
Delete(I also have an issue with classifying it as an "Elvira-clone" but that can wait until the game is actually played here.)
so I was completely unaware of this Plague of the moon game. It seems it's a USA game, done by one person. Also, it looks like the full registered version is lost and only the shareware version exists.
DeleteAccording to further research, the dev was contacted multiple times in the last 2 decades, and his last reply confirms that he lost the game/source in old hardware since then.
It seems like a nice game for being done by one person 3 decades ago, I hope someone finds the full version eventually.
The answer is that I got the impression of it years ago, falsely, that it was made by someone in Spain. It looked cool, but since it looked like it had a lot of the same elements as Elvira, spellmaking, first person combat, I held off on playing it until I finished Elvira. And partially hoping that the full version would eventually be found, since the shareware version doesn't have sound and a timer of a month for how long you can play.
DeleteOne source I saw said that the shareware version has all the death scenes removed, it's a bonus for the paying players. Hmm.
DeleteGruesome death scenes are what the free version of the game promises to registered users. Given the poor-quality graphics (not just because of the low resolution, but that certainly doesn't help) it's no wonder if no one ever wanted to pay for that.
DeleteI've contacted Exo, and a couple of more software preservation experts. Seems like the registered version is 99,99% confirmed lost. There's some people that suggest that it might have never existed in the first place. But according to my research, it exists.
DeleteUnfortunately, it needs finding out the few people who bought it back in the day. No clues there. Game is for all intents and purposes, lost for now
I would be quite happy if its inclusion here resulted in it getting found finally. Sadly, I think our only hope is if someone gets lucky with old floppy disks or hard drives. It could happen, I mean, several games in The Last Half of Darkness series were found despite their incredible rarity.
Deletea little unrelated, but I had an itch for the spanish game "Trick or Treat" which is almost gone on internet, few videos, few mentions, few walkthroughs. Turns out the game has a terrible history of preservation, with crashes everywhere, a spanish version being a beta and missing 50% of the game, english game not working, missing protection codes, incomplete releases in Europe without the copy protection feelie, a spanish forum "hacking" the game to make it work but without detailing what they did, a diploma prize when you beat the game that didn't work, or was completely missing, etc etc etc
DeleteIn the end, I managed to work it out with people at eXoDOS, game will be fully playable for the first time since the 90s as intended. It will be out in the next version.
Of all the games listed here, I am eagerly awaiting the playthrough and review of Dreamweb. It is a little strange game, with violence, nude pixelated bodies (including full frontal male nudity), and the dark atmosphere of the game is superb eventhough the graphics are very simplistic. The plot is divided by days, the first one is great, but then the game starts to loose all that was great as the days and the plot keeps going. I`m pretty sure that the developers had to rush the production of the game towards the end and it is a shame, because it could be an excellent game that sadly never was.
ReplyDeleteOn the other side, I remember playing that game about Twinsen until the end (I believe I did finished it, but it was a pirated copy with no cutscenes, so I am not sure about this), but what I do remember even now is that it was a fun and interesting game but I never considered it a graphic adventure at all while I was playing it.
I would be surprised if Dreamweb had to be rushed, because it was already completed in 1991 (it I remember the copyright year correctly) and then waited until 1994 before it was released. Or maybe the developers ran out of money in 1991, spent the next few years shopping for a publisher, and then had to ship the game in an unfinished state.
DeleteWow, didn't knew about that, but yeah, from the production values of the game, it seems more from a game developed in 91 than 94
DeleteI'll chip in for Valhalla and the Lord of Twilight and volunteer to cover it. It looks like it presents a rather unusual viewpoint.
ReplyDeleteI'm also interested in these three:
Around the World in 80 Days
Astronomica
System's Twilight
I'd be happy to play them all, but while I'm most interested in System's Twilight, I suspect I may not be smart enough for it, as it's an Andrew Plotkin game made as an homage to Cliff Johnson's Fool's Errand, one of the hardest puzzle games ever made for the Mac. I tried to play it for a while some years ago and did not get very far.
So I'd like to gauge interest in those three before committing to which ones to sponsor.
To clarify, I played Fool's Errand before, and though it was really fun, it was very very difficult and I did not solve very much of it. Intense puzzle games like that might be better as a collaboration between more than one mind, like a puzzlehunt.
DeleteWhile Zarf certainly developed System's Twilight under the influence of Cliff Johnson, the puzzles in it mostly don't resemble any puzzles in Johnson's games (but I don't know whether that would make it harder or easier for you). ST also has a setting that's very different from anything Johnson ever wrote. However my main concern about someone playing ST for this blog is that I don't see how that coverage could end up being anything other than a hint guide (if not an outright walkthrough) for the game, because there's so very little in the game apart from the puzzles.
DeleteThat's basically true for most games the blog covers though. I think readers generally know that these are playthroughs and there will be complete spoilers for any game we cover. Other sites do spoiler-free reviews already.
DeleteI don't know about System's Twilight specifically, but if it's anything like Are We There Yet (which was made by someone who worked on a port of AFE I think) it'll be easier than A Fool's Errand. A Fool's Errand had this overarching plot that was really important, not just some puzzles that were difficult. OTOH, Plotkin is exactly the sort of person I would expect to do something fittingly difficult in a game like it. (I've beaten the two I mentioned, not ST, but AFE was a very tainted win)
DeleteAnon, I would think with something like this that the reviewer would be describing their thought process a bit while solving the puzzle. I don't think it would be that different to say, The 7th Guest.
Purchase for Valhalla registered, and name put down as potential reviewer for those titles if purchased.
DeleteOkay, I managed 7th Guest, so I think I'll give System's Twilight a shot. I was able to find an emulated package on Zarf's website that worked to get it running. So I'll put in the CAPs for it so I can cover it when we get to it.
DeleteDone. Looking forward to it.
DeleteI'll pool 100 CAPs for Die Höhlenwelt Saga and 200 for Necronomicon. These have long been among the most interesting-looking untranslated adventure games to me.
ReplyDeleteIf there's a new reviewer who can speak the language and is interested in one of these games, I'll also pool in. I'm not CAP rich, but I can help.
DeleteI don't recall whether you've covered Quest for Glory IV: Shadows of Darkness yet. Per MobyGames, it was released in 1993, 1994, and 1995. I think September 1994 was the white box CD-ROM release, which is definitely the one to play. I'm not sure what was different in the Dec. 1995 version.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, since this article is about 1994 games, that's the proper place to put Quest for Glory: Shadows of Darkness. I couldn't find a good way to search the site to see if you've already reviewed it.
It's on the books for 1993. The reviewer who's handling Open Season, Alex, is slated to handle that one next.
DeleteIf there's another game you want to know if we covered or not, there's a link at the top of the sidebar: Index of Games Played by Year. It has links to all the games so far.
There is a search bar, but only on the web version I think, not on mobile.
DeleteBeneath a Steel Sky is one I can review, having never played it before.
ReplyDelete