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.
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 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!
"Now I have an obligation to tag along and clear the area if Luigi so much as glances at a stiletto."
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!
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?
"Now I have an obligation to tag along and clear the area if Luigi so much as glances at a stiletto."
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
@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.
"Science compels us to explode the sun!"
Currently playing:
Xenoblade Chronicles X Definitive Edition (Switch)
Balatro (PC)
@F-ZeroX Norco sounds interesting, I might've seen it on Steam at some point. I'll have to check out that demo later.
Broken Age is a game I'm largely ambivalent towards. As an adventure game on its own merits, it's fine. It's a decent experience with some great production values, strong writing, and puzzle design that's a bit scooty for my liking. As an adventure game that was hyped as a big return for the genre? It misses the mark in a lot of areas and doesn't feel up to par with the high standards set by adventure games of yestertyear or the level of quality from Double Fine's other titles. I do have more respect for it nowadays, though, because in a lot of ways, it ended up shaping the path that would end up getting us Psychonauts 2. A lot of lessons were learned during BA's development, and they went and applied almost all of them to a much bigger project, an effort that I feel paid off*, because Psychonauts 2 is genuinely fantastic and it was kind of thanks to Broken Age.
*By the way, go check out the Double Fine Psychodyssey documentary if you haven't. Covers every area of Psy2's development and is a much bigger beast than the DFA doc.
"Now I have an obligation to tag along and clear the area if Luigi so much as glances at a stiletto."
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