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| 19 MAR 2008 at 7:35am |
Steve VSorcerer Apprentice
Posts : 265
Joined: 16 MAR 2008
Status : Online | This is going to seem strange when I specifically asked for examples of NON supernatural type games in my post below but the screenshots looked so intriguing and 2 out of the 3 reviews I saw were awesome (he other one appeared to be written by a 12 year old with ADD so I ignored it). Anyway, I bought it and have just finished playing through the first day..
The Good
The atmosphere is genuinely foreboding, and nothing remotely terrifying has actually happened yet so I am preparing myself to be pretty scared as the game progresses. This is a testament to 2 things, it was a flash of genius to have 99 percent of the game in black and white and the background sounds really add to the creepiness.
There haven't been any tricky puzzles to solve yet and I think this is a good idea at the beginning of a game like this to let you get into the whole story before having to really think hard about how to progress.
The interface is excellent, easy to use and really you aren't likely to get something horribly wrong while trying to move the character or use things in inventory.
The Not So Good
Once we start seeing a lot of player comments on this game I know exactly what the main gripe will be - most of the voice acting is just terrible, I mean really really cringeworthy and there is NO way to just play with the subtitles on. The main problem is that Jonathan Boakes as Nigel Danvers just cannot get the inflection or timing down on his lines, it is embarrassing. When he talks to 'himself' playing the part of Professor Hardacre it's almost laughable, there's practically no difference between the 2 at all! Remember those english classes you had when you were 13 and everyone was allocated a part to read in a play, if you can recall how bad that acting was,you get some idea.
The character movements looks a little strange but to be honest I don't really care how you get the characters from A to B in a game, just so long as they get there, it might be off putting to some people though.
Had one out of sequence moment in a dialogue with the landlady at The Bear Inn, if you just ask the questions in sequence, she mysteriously knows who you are without you telling her (thats good, most of the townspeople seem to know you were coming), then for some reason after a question further down the diologue tree she has to ask who you are, like she really doesn't know. Obviously not a game breaker, but something that jars none the less
I will continue this when I am a lot further through the game to give a more rounded view..
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| 19 MAR 2008 at 10:29am |
ElessarIntergalactic Janitor
Posts : 99
Joined: 3 MAY 2004
Status : Online | I enjoy this game very much. So far, the only drawback is that you cannot skip the dialogue lines. This is really a bother since I sometimes hesitate to click again on something because I don't want to hear the same dialogue all over again. I believe that this should be fixed with a patch,
[b][size=13][url]www.adventureadvocate.gr[/url][/size][/b]&&&&[b]The Biggest Adventure Games Source In Greece[/b]
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| 19 MAR 2008 at 6:46pm |
Steve VSorcerer Apprentice
Posts : 265
Joined: 16 MAR 2008
Status : Online | Elessar, you don't need to keep clicking on a question when you already have heard the answer, i'm not sure what you mean by hearing the same conversation several times?
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| 19 MAR 2008 at 8:47pm |
ElessarIntergalactic Janitor
Posts : 99
Joined: 3 MAY 2004
Status : Online | Yeah, try to accidentally click on the same topic or try to examine something for a second time. I want to have the choice to examine something again without having to hear the whole dialogue line. All adventures support this feature, why the LC doesn't?
[b][size=13][url]www.adventureadvocate.gr[/url][/size][/b]&&&&[b]The Biggest Adventure Games Source In Greece[/b]
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| 19 MAR 2008 at 10:33pm |
Steve VSorcerer Apprentice
Posts : 265
Joined: 16 MAR 2008
Status : Online | Well, it certainly gets scary! Fortunately the acting is so bad that I haven't gotten completely terrified yet. I've finished day two and I'm still not sure where this story is going, I like the fact that there are several different plot lines going at the same time, but exorcising all the restless spirits seems to be a bigger deal than the actual Lost Crown at the moment.
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| 19 MAR 2008 at 10:45pm |
SirDaveGuild Master
Posts : 4941
Joined: 17 OCT 2002
Location: US
Status : Offline | Originally Posted By Steve V (19 MAR 2008 7:35am)
The main problem is that Jonathan Boakes as Nigel Danvers just cannot get the inflection or timing down on his lines, it is embarrassing. When he talks to 'himself' playing the part of Professor Hardacre it's almost laughable, there's practically no difference between the 2 at all! Remember those english classes you had when you were 13 and everyone was allocated a part to read in a play, if you can recall how bad that acting was,you get some idea.
Nice post and just the way to put any criticism in perspective. Having already purchased it, I'm hoping to get down to this game soon. Based on Jonathan's first two games, I guess this 3rd person with dialogue stuff is somewhat new territory for him and I guess when he showed up to interview for the dialogue roles, the author/developer forgot to ask him if he had any acting experience...
The future ain't what it used to be!
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| 21 MAR 2008 at 1:57am |
mjowIntergalactic Janitor
Posts : 11
Joined: 18 JUN 2005
Status : Online | Steve's negatives pretty much agree with my views after day two is completed ie. truly dire voice acting and overly simplistic dialogue plus some strange character movement in places. I was quite surprised given how good Barrow Hill played out, but hopefully both of these issues will be sorted out when the next JB adventure appears.
Overall though the graphics, music, atmosphere, puzzles and storyline are excellent and it is certainly one of my top ten adventure games.
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| 22 MAR 2008 at 9:48am |
VolkanaIntergalactic Janitor
Posts : 33
Joined: 14 FEB 2008
Status : Online | Just started playing this game. It looks really good so far. I love the black and white picture...
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| 22 MAR 2008 at 10:29pm |
IviniaGuild Master
Posts : 4459
Joined: 7 JUN 2003
Location: US
Status : Offline | It's interesting to read these because they were my first impressions as well, but once you get beyond the first day/night these all become minor as, at least for me, they weren't even noticeable at that point because I was used to it. The nice thing is that the game starts off weak and a bit slow, but it keeps building and pulling the player deeper and deeper into the game.
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| 22 MAR 2008 at 11:21pm |
Steve VSorcerer Apprentice
Posts : 265
Joined: 16 MAR 2008
Status : Online | Originally Posted By Ivinia (22 MAR 2008 10:29pm)
It's interesting to read these because they were my first impressions as well, but once you get beyond the first day/night these all become minor as, at least for me, they weren't even noticeable at that point because I was used to it. The nice thing is that the game starts off weak and a bit slow, but it keeps building and pulling the player deeper and deeper into the game.
Yes, its also true that the acting does improve slightly as you go on, I'm stuck finding all the clues for the treasure hunt but I'm thinking more about the over arching storyline now. Spoiler AlertThere are a lot of threads that don't seem to be hanging together, someone who has finished the game posted something wondering if in fact Saxton is literally a ghost town in that everyone you meet is actually dead. We know that Robert and Katherine are ghosts at Ager House so its possible. Nanny Noah seemed surprised when you tell her that there is a vicar at Northfield church etc, I'm not sure if this is a clue or just an inaccuracy in the game but the return ticket in Lucy's wallet just says 'Sedgemarsh to Sedgemarsh' whereas a genuine return ticket would have 'Sedgemarsh to x' 'x to Sedgemarsh' - kind of suggests there is no way out, especially when you remember the station master doesn't let you travel back right at the beginning. Also,why was the Bear open at 3 oclock in the morning when you get the book from Bob Tawny there?
I think finding the lost crown is just going to be the way to put the whole of Saxton to rest...
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| 23 MAR 2008 at 1:46am |
JA-Staff2Private Detective
Posts : 466
Joined: 4 JUN 2004
Location: 0
Status : Online | Hey Steve - I modified part of your post to put in the spoiler tags in case someone reads it who hasn't played it yet. Please use those spoiler tags when discussing parts of games which might give away information you might get from playing a game.
...and welcome to the forums!
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