Yakoob on 20/7/2013 at 17:51
I've been craving a story, but something less passive than merely watching a movie so... adventure games, right? I got the Yathzee's "5 Days A Stranger" or Monkey Island (original) and after an hour I ended at the same point I always end with adventure games... stuck, and annoyed.
I never liked point and clicks (save few rare exceptions like Beneath Steel Sky or Walking Dead) and maybe they're simply not my genre and maybe I should stick to watching LPs of them... but for the sake of self-doubt, maybe I'm just not DoingItRight™ ?
I always fall on the same pattern - start off enjoying the game, sucking into premise, laughing at witty dialogue, make some initial progress, then eventually hit the dreaded "stuck" point. So it turns into "try every item on every object" which is just tedious - I'm not even playing, but mechanically going through a checklist of every possible combination until I stumble upon the Dev's Arbitrary Solution™ just "because." When that fails, I look up a walkthrought (and it's always some random tiny ten pixels I didnt realize were usable, like TALKING TO A FUCKING BACKGROUND TREE in "5-days-a-stranger").
Both are just frustrating and kinda of defeat the point of even playing an adventure game in first place. So knowing TTLGs love for many adventure games, how do I go about actually "enjoying" them instead of frustrating myself silly?
june gloom on 20/7/2013 at 18:11
You play the ones that don't suck. Like Kentucky Route Zero.
Sulphur on 20/7/2013 at 18:22
Or The Walking Dead.
I'd suggest taking a stab at Resonance, which is good at being entertaining while relying on oldschool puzzling with a minimum of pixel-hunting. There's a pretty weird take on the inventory that also figures into its puzzles, but it's not all that annoying, and the game narrative itself is rather good.
As far as enjoying oldschool adventures goes, if your gripes are arcane puzzles and obtuse hotspots, you're going to need more patience, and that's all, really. It's not everybody's thing, so if it doesn't work for you, it might just be a genre you can't force yourself to enjoy. A lot of the good oldschool games avoid the teeny-tiny pixel hunt bullshit, at the very least, like Loom and Grim Fandango. They're also fairly good at having a self-contained internal logic that works with a minimum of 'read the dev's mind when they dreamt this puzzle up', so give those a shot if the stories float your boat. (Though, with Grim Fandango, I don't see how anyone could dislike it.)
Eshaktaar on 20/7/2013 at 18:24
When I play adventures I have to be in a different mindset than when I play other games. I don't start expecting to finish the game in one sitting or to be entertained for an entire evening, instead I prepare myself for the inevitable moment when I get stuck. My advice is to stop playing for a while when you hit the wall and come back to the game later, maybe the next day. Chances are you'll stumble upon the solution shortly after you've resumed the game. This is how adventure games were played back in the day when we didn't have a walkthrough handy, and I guess that's part of what made them enjoyable (and also last longer than just one evening). Play them as "side projects" in short bursts.
Admittedly this doesn't always work so well when the game adheres to some outlandish moon-logic or takes joy in hiding objects in the background. Just don't play any of Sierra's adventures. ;)
Rather than looking up a walkthough I'd recommend using a hint system, like (
www.uhs-hints.com) http://www.uhs-hints.com. This way you can get gradually more specific hints to a certain problem which makes it feel less like just looking up the plain solution. Also, you don't risk seeing the solution to other puzzles by accident.
Renzatic on 20/7/2013 at 18:33
Quote Posted by Eshaktaar
Just don't play any of Sierra's adventures. ;)
Aw, comeon. Kings Quest IV and Space Quest III were responsible for some of my best adventure gaming memories. Only a couple of the Lucasarts Golden Age games came close to matching them.
Yakoob on 20/7/2013 at 18:41
Aye it's the puzzles that always get me, often just seem arbitrary. Or maybe I'm just not putting myself in the right mindset to solve them?
Oh and I loved Grim Fandango back in the day but never beat it, my second cd was scratched :/ been having a craving for it recently (prolly due to my own death themed game heh), wish it was available digitally somewhere.
Quote Posted by dethtoll
You play the ones that don't suck. Like Kentucky Route Zero.
Monkey Island sucks?
fetgalningen on 20/7/2013 at 19:11
Quote Posted by dethtoll
You play the ones that don't suck. Like Kentucky Route Zero.
This one. And taking it slowly. Progressing a bit and then taking a break. Enjoy it and never rushing it.
Eshaktaar on 20/7/2013 at 19:13
Quote Posted by Renzatic
Aw, comeon. Kings Quest IV and Space Quest III were responsible for some of my best adventure gaming memories. Only a couple of the Lucasarts Golden Age games came close to matching them.
I rather enjoyed Space Quest 5 and Leisure Suit Larry 7, but most of Sierra's offerings were showcases in how not to design puzzles. Except if you want to make lots of monies with your hint hotline.
Recent adventures I can recommend (i.e. I managed to complete them without any walkthroughs): The entire Blackwell series & Ben There, Dan That! which was a genuinely funny adventure.
I'm currently playing The Book of Unwritten Tales and so far the puzzles have been quite enjoyable. The game has a very fair interface where objects in the scenery that are not vital for solving puzzles stop getting highlighted, making it much easier to determine if a room is still important or not.
I'm also playing Resonance, and I'm a bit at odds with the interface. You can drag almost anything in the world into your memory and use that as a topic when you talk with other people. This system has more than once gotten me utterly stuck for some time because I missed the right combination. Even though the game is trying to keep the puzzles (somewhat) grounded in reality, I feel there are too many option with this conversation system which quickly leads players to talk with everybody about everything in the hopes of triggering something.
PigLick on 21/7/2013 at 04:29
There is this online chapter series called "the Last Door" done in a 8 bit retro style, kind of a lovecraftian horror tale. The first chapter is free and I found it excellent, quite creepy and atmospheric, the puzzles are fairly logical. Worth checking out.
forgot the (
http://www.thelastdoor.com/) http://www.thelastdoor.com/
ZylonBane on 21/7/2013 at 04:42
Anyone who doesn't like obstuse puzzle-solving should be playing an action-adventure instead of a straight-up "adventure" game.
