I thought this might be a fun idea. I tried to start up a thread like this on Time Extension, but that kinda fell flat, so I figured I'd have better luck over here.
This is a thread to talk about anything and everything pertaining to adventure games(i.e. any game that relies on puzzle to tell stories), from Monkey Island to Professor Layton to just about any adventure games you're into, or any discussions of the genre as a whole.
So if we're gonna get this ball rolling, we might as well start simple: play any good adventure games lately?
My first experiences with the genre were Shadowgate and Deja Vu for the NES. The dark, mature themes of those games were a surprise coming from a console best known for Mario and Zelda. The first playthrough for both can take a little while since the puzzles are a little obtuse. But once you know the pathing for everything you can blitz through them in about twenty minutes.
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The Ace Attorney series is pretty much the only “adventure/puzzle” genre that I play. I’ve been pretty open with my thoughts on these games here, but my goodness I just love them. Such clever and funny dialogue, creative case writing, and phenomenal soundtracks. I just beat the sixth game in the series, Spirit of Justice, and am now considering replaying some of my favorite cases from the first few games. And I’ll eventually be replaying the Great Ace Attorney Chronicles again once I get through that.
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@Tasuki Interesting you bring up Zelda, I don't really consider it a full-on adventure game, more of an ACTION-adventure if anything, but that's on me for having a broad definition of the genre.
(Minish Cap's my favorite)
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@N00BiSH As with most video game genre discussions, I think we need to spend the first 48 pages defining the genre. Zelda games do tell stories via puzzles, and most games, of any genre, are some sort of puzzle/set of puzzles that tell some sort of story.
Street Fighter II is a puzzle game (e.g. 'How do I overcome Dhalsim's ridiculous reach?') with a story.
Grand Theft Auto III is a puzzle game - how do I escape from a 5-star police pursuit? (Spoiler alert: try driving off the side of the bridge).
'Point-and-click' is arguably a clearer way of referring to the type of games I think you're referring to, even if maybe not all of them involve pointing (e.g. something like Night In The Woods fits in this topic, I'd say, but from memory I think you navigate the game with normal directional inputs to move a character rather than pointing at objects/places directly (though I guess you could say any game where you move a character about the screen towards interactive features is still pointing, you're just using the character as your pointer)).
I guess the obvious exception to Point-and-click' is your good ol' text adventure (Sphinx Adventure anyone?), but who ever really played them? I could never work out how to use the boat to cross the river... 5 minutes into the game!
The type of games I think you're referring to can be really charming, but they can also be infuriating as all hell. I remember a couple of times in the first Ace Attorney game spending ages going back and forth in vain looking for a trigger to make the game progress when I thought I'd exhausted every possible permutation of showing every object to every person in every order etc.; and being in court and seeing the contradiction in the evidence immediately but the game not letting me address it until much later in the hearing. Just those occasional major frustrations can really take the sheen off an otherwise lovely experience. Some good examples of why the 'approach puzzles anyway you like' style in Breath Of The Wild is so valuable to a player.
@N00BiSH
Great idea for a thread...! This is a genre that I dabbled with as a kid (Indiana Jones, Broken Sword 1/2 etc) but hadn't picked up again since last year where I played through the new Monkey Island.
I loved Return to MI, and decided to explore the genre a bit deeper. I've played a few since, but my absolute favorite/recommendation would be Thimbleweed Park... by a landslide! TP was developped by the same team behind the original MI games (and Return) - and IMO Thimbleweed offers a far stronger game with better puzzles and it really makes you think.
There is nothing better than being stuck for a couple of hours... only to then have the "lightbulb moment" and solve the puzzle ha!
For reference, I had to use the hint system for RtMI on the very last puzzle... but managed to beat TP without any hints (although there were periods I was stuck for several hours).
As an honorable mention, "Darkestville Castle" is a nice riff on the MI formula...
I've got Broken Sword 5 lined up next, I just hope it provides me a challenge like MI/TP/DC!
To me what separates Zelda(as well as the other games you mentioned) from being a proper adventure game is how the lack of a good connecting tissue between the puzzles and the story. Sure, you HAVE to solve them to progress through the game and see more of the plot, but even with some exceptions, the puzzles in Zelda aren't that well interwoven into that plot. You could remove the puzzles from a dungeon and all you'd have is a(somewhat hollow) action game.
Whereas in games like Monkey Island, every puzzle solved pushes the plot forward in some form or fashion. You can't get on LeChuck's ship because you're on a blacklist, so you have get a disguise and a mop to pose as a swabbie to gain passage. To get the key to open the monkey head, you have to get the local hermit's banana picker back. If you wanna get past that waterfall, you gotta hypnotize the monkey and use it as a wrench. Out of context, yeah, they definitely sound ridiculous, but they're expertly woven into their games' stories('cept maybe the monkey wrench one, but that's a given at this point).
But I think I'm getting ahead of myself. Like you said, this kind of discussion warrants 48 pages and we only have 47 more to go.
@CJD87 Glad to hear you liked Thimbleweed. I do agree with you on the puzzle design of that game being stronger than Return to MI(even if I think Thimbleweed's ending sucks).
well i’m hoping to play metroid (prime)one day for the first time , particularly the remaster . it’s the 3D FPS point of view that makes me intrigued , not really interested in 2D . but too many games & too little time …and money 😅
@N00BiSH
I agree re Thimbleweed's ending - felt like a real cop-out, after such a strong narrative beginning and middle. By contrast, I actually loved the ending of Return to MonkeyI... thought it was really poignant and fitting!
What would your top 5 adventure/point-click games on switch be? Ideally something like Thimbleweed is what im looking for - with a good difficulty curve, whilst avoiding puzzles that are ridiculously obtuse (ala Grim Fandango!)
Have you played Darkestville Castle? I think you'd enjoy that if you like MI
@gcunit
Although I really boils down to semantics, I think I would use the word problem, rather than puzzle. In one sense, all games are a problem to be solved. How do I overcome Zangief; how do I deliver the item without being caught? etc etc.
It's like in bouldering - the different routes are called problem - how do I reach the top?
(And if you want to get reaaaaaaaaly daft about it, life could be seen as a series of problems, but that also includes agency of the self, among other things)
@Rambler To me, a problem is something you can't really avoid:
The radiator is leaking; the rent is due but you can't cover it; the car needs a new tyre; you've got a deadline looming but a contractor's let you down; you've got toothache that isn't going away - those are problems.
Video games are entirely optional activities that we tend to play for leisure/fun, so I think the term 'puzzle' (i.e. a game, toy, or problem designed to test ingenuity or knowledge) is more appropriate. Video games are designed to create a fun test of our skills/ingenuity/knowledge.
I guess the obvious exception to Point-and-click' is your good ol' text adventure (Sphinx Adventure anyone?), but who ever really played them? I could never work out how to use the boat to cross the river... 5 minutes into the game!
Oh wow, it's not every day I see someone else who played that one. We wrote to the creator of it who kindly sent us a map and guide. I remember whatever you threw at the ogre dissolved, so you had to use the axe rather than the sword (which you needed later). I also remember a glacier and some sort of crypt with a creaking noise, but we were never quite sure we'd reached the end of the game.
But yes, apart from text adventures I tend to think of these as point-and-clicks. I think "adventure" is the American term, whereas in Europe we more often referred to them as "point-and-clicks". I must admit the only ones I've played are the Ace Attorney games.
@MetalKingShield What ogre? I seriously never got further than the freakin river. Actually, now I think about it, there might have been something like an ogre that got me once or twice. It's been a while. You need to wrap some spoiler tags around that kinda juice
I can only think of three point & clicks that I've completed. Monkey Island 1 & 2, and Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade. Though it's doing my head in that I can't remember how they handled the ending. My god... maybe I didn't complete it 😳
I've started Indiana Jones & The Fate of Atlantis on Wii, and I'm sure I was holding off ever playing Fate of Atlantis until I'd finished Last Crusade. IDK. Obviously needs a revisit. Should be able to get Last Crusade on my 3DS via Amiga emulator.
Played a bunch of others, but got a lot on my 'To be completed' list.
You guys had me at blood and semen.
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@MetalKingShield What ogre? I seriously never got further than the freakin river. Actually, now I think about it, there might have been something like an ogre that got me once or twice. It's been a while. You need to wrap some spoiler tags around that kinda juice
I did seriously think about it. Sorry, I should have known better. I know emulation makes playing old games possible, but I'm just surprised we're still talking about an Acorn Electron game.
@MetalKingShield I forgot to ask: do you still have the map and guide?
No, sorry. However, if you do an image search for Sphinx Adventure, the result on stardot.org.uk by Alan Hall Bellingham looks very similar to what we had. It's actually more elaborate than I remember.
Come to think about it, I must have played a few more point-and-clicks. Did anyone here play Jurassic Park on the Mega CD?
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