Topic: The Adventure Games Thread

@N00BiSH Thanks for sharing.... out of interest what made you rank TP below RtMI? (Both are great games for sure, I just felt like TP edged it in terms of feeling less linear.... but I much preferred the art style of MI)

What would you say was/is the most difficult in your top 5? I'm really keen for a challenge, and something to keep me warm until TotK

@CJD87 it's a couple things for me. First is personal preference; I like Thimbleweed but I LOVE Monkey Island, it always going to be a bit above the former for me.

Second, you specifically the best Pn'Cs on Switch, and I feel like RtMI controls better than TWP, which feels kinda stiff on an analog stick.

In terms of difficulty I'd like to say that without exception of RtMI they're all about the same--challenging but if you know what you're doing you can pull through. If you want a REAL brain tester, I'd recommend Return of the Obra Dinn. THAT'S a game where you really gotta think through the solutions.

Can you believe it's been a year since the greatest April Fools' joke was announced

I run a weekly retro video game poll on Reddit that covers all platforms. For the Atari era, the only 2 adventure games that made the top 50 were Zork Trilogy and King's Quest I: Quest for the Crown.

For the NES/Master System era, the only adventure game that has made the top 100 so far is Maniac Mansion.

@MontyCircus what’s the link? I’d be curious to see the ranking!

What is your own personal top 5 point/click? (On Switch ideally…)

@CJD87

I don't know how NintendoLife feels about outside links, but here is the link to this week's poll: https://www.reddit.com/r/retrogaming/comments/129swt9/best_vi...

@MontyCircus cheers!

Yeesh, this page is dusty as heck. Let's try to fix that.

Today, the remaster of Ghost Trick releases to the masses, much to the delight of its niche but strong fanbase. I've never played the original on DS--it was one of those games I missed out on for one reason or another--but I was always kinda interested in it mainly due to the character designs, so it's nice to have the chance to finally play it without breaking the bank. I'm only an hour in but I'm already having a blast. I'm especially digging the puzzle design, it's got a level of context sensitivity you don't too much of in most adventure games.

I too missed out on Ghost Trick originally despite always being interested in it so I'm really glad to have it on Switch, loving it so far

Hey.

Not sure if you knew this, but there's a new Sam & Max remaster coming out next year.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2648050/Sam__Max_The_Devil...

And it's looking pretty good.

@N00BiSH

Thanks... I in fact did not know that!

A quick heads up to anyone wanting a fantastic adventure game.... I recently played an excellent one - "The Will of Arthur Flabbington"

This game was like a cross between Thimbleweed Park & Lucy Dreaming - obviously heavily influenced by both.

Quite challenging, but logical in solutions. Definitely a good fix if you're looking for a classic LucasArts style game

I finished Deja Vu and Uninvited recently and tried Return to Shadowgate PC Engine CD which is possibly the hardest game ever! Death scene are funny such as the old woman showing you her photo album and your a skeleton in the chair.

Not sure if they count but I just finished the first 6 Lone Wolf choose your own Adventure on the DS

I have a lot of the text Adventures on the Commodore 16 and Commodore 64 like the Saint Brides and Scott Adams games can’t finish them.

I recently finished Tangle Tower, it's been a while since I last played it, and I picked the best time to replay it too, 'cause apparently they just up and announced a sequel!

@Shadow_Dancer never played Lone Wolf. Are they any good?

YEAHHHHHHHHH I JUST GRABBED THE ORIGINAL WITH GOLD POINTS 2 MONTHS AGO, THAT'S AMAZING TIMING

I wasn't planning on playing through Tangle Tower anytime soon but the announcement of a sequel (which is almost guaranteed to be coming to Switch) definitely makes me want to hop into it as soon as possible, can't wait!

As we start to put a capper on 2023, I thought I'd go back and reflect on some of the more notable adventure games I've played over the year and share my thoughts on them. (Warning: it gets wordy.)

First up was Monkey Island 2. I've made it a habit of revisiting this one in the last few years and most of my opinions haven't really changed. Still incredibly well-written and cynically hilarious, even if the puzzles are kind of a pain(looking at YOU, hand puzzle). What I really came back for was the ending. Before, I was largely ambivalent towards it; didn't love it, didn't hate it, just wondered what it was trying to say as an ending. Now, in a post-Return to Monkey Island world, I find myself with a much stronger appreciation for 2's ending knowing what we know now. Crafty one, that Ron Gilbert.

Speaking of April Fools' jokes, the next adventure game I played was The Murder of Sonic The Hedgehog. I think it's bit of a stretch to call this a proper adventure game--it's more of a visual novel with some decent puzzles--but it's still a fun game regardless. A lot of fun character interactions in this one, I can tell the writers had a blast putting this together. Brings me closer to getting a proper point and click adventure with Team Chaotix. That's the dream right there.

Then there was the remaster of Ghost Trick. Probably the best one out of all of these. The puzzle design is fantastic, the presentation is rock solid with strong character design and music, the story is great with a strong mystery(even if it's a little heavy on plot twists)and I haven't looked at a lamp the same way since.

After that, I revisited Strong Bad's Cool Game For Attractive People, the funniest game Telltale's ever made. Their Sam & Max games are riots, but SBCG4AP has the edge over those imo, mostly because it had way more involvement from creators Matt & Mike Chapman in both the writing and voice acting department. You know you've written a really good game when even the tutorial is making me cackle.

Continuing from that, I played Dangeresque: The Roomisode Triunglate. Did you like SBCG4AP? Specifically, Episode 4 of SBCG4AP? This is more of that, in a more traditional 2D adventure game format. Not very long, but like the Telltale game, it's an absolute riot from start to finish.

Finally, there was Tangle Tower, which I haven't played since...late 2021, I wanna say? Either way, it was long enough for me to warrant a revisit, and I had a good time. The story and characters are great; well written and excellently voice acted, and it might have some of my favorite puzzle design in a point and click game.

And that's my 2023 in adventure games. What about you? What adventure games did you play this year?

@N00BiSH Thanks for sharing!

Funnily enough I picked up Tangle Tower today on Steam for around 3.00 £GBP, seemed like a steal!

This year I played 3 x adventure games:

1) Darkestville Castle - very reminiscent of the latest Monkey Island game, and a solid P&C game with a great interface for Switch. Puzzle difficulty was quite hard, but nicely so.
2) Leisure Suit Larry: Wet Dreams don't dry - expected this to be a tedious affair, but loved it!
3) The Will of Arthur Flabbington - a small indie P&C adventure, borrows heavily from Thimbleweed Park and Lucy Dreaming..... a really incredible effort! My favorite on the list, very challenging but incredibly logical in puzzle design

Playing World of Horror here and there throughout the week.

Might be the best monochrome, adventure/rpg, roguelike, eldritch-flavored experience I've ever had.

Just another one of those amazing passion projects I suppose.

I backed the Double Fine Adventure kickstarter back in the day. It was spearheaded by Tim Schafer, who felt personally responsible for the death of the genre. His flagship game Grim Fandango at the end of the 90's, was held to high critical acclaim but still sold poorly and that was that. DFA was his attempt to kickstart the genre again.

DFA turned out to be Broken Age. Its campaign got a lot more money than the initial goal, increasing the scope of the game. But they overshot, so they had to release the game in two parts, with sales of the first part funding the second. For me the most important reason for backing was of course the video documenting of the entire process of making the game, a fascinating look behind the curtain of video game development. I thoroughly enjoyed watching it. The series has since been made publicly available on youtube (just look for Double Fine Adventure, 20 episodes).

Seeing all the hurdles that came along their way (budgetary, creative, technical), it's a miracle video games get made in the first place. Adventure games aren't the easiest, cost effective games to make either. They're linear playthroughs and there's all the voice acting, dialogue trees, artwork etc. What was particularly nice is you were given insights into the inner workings of a small organization, not some big EA-like studio, where people had personal relations and cared about each other. I couldn't help but sympathize and root for them.

I kind of have a love/hate relationship with point & click adventure games and more of the latter. I want to like them but I'm not a fan of quirky dialogue or convoluted, far-fetched puzzles. None of that in Norco. You keep a steady pace progressing, the dialogue and art are great and that atmosphere... Really special. I started following it from when Geography of Robots started posting about it on social media and had a demo up at itch.io. The game originates from his own experience living in the Bayou Louisiana area where petro chemical industry crept up right next to the residential areas of slave descendants, and all of the consequences this presents for the community, ecology, personal health and so on.

@StarPoint I think you'll have a jolly good time then with Aviary Attorney. The end of that first act...

@F-ZeroX That one's on the wishlist! I'm preparing for the Apollo Justice Trilogy since it's out on the 24th, so I'm taking a slight break from VNs for now. But that game does look very creative and a neat spin on the AA games.