| 3 NOV 2008 at 9:44pm |
JehaneSpace Cadet
Posts : 128
Joined: 15 MAY 2007
Status : Online | I usually like to finish a game and if I don't find a game appealing, I try to finish it via a walkthrough. But I've more or less stopped doing that as well because if I feel a game is a waste of time, I abandon it and don't bother to make my way through via a walkthrough. There are a couple of games I'll never complete:
- Myst. It's just not my type of game. I tried. And tried. Tried some more. Used a walkthrough. Got fed up and tossed it aside. Uninstalled. Reinstalled. Tried again. Used a walkthrough again. Gave up about halfway into the game, uninstalled and will never reinstall it. It's just not my cup of tea.
- Necronomicon. Bad dialogue and voice-over, horribly hard puzzles later in the game versus really annoying, stupid puzzles in the beginning (ask people where your best friend lives even though you both live in the same tiny town... :)
- The Cameron Files: Amenophis. It's just boooooooooooring. Just like its predecessor used to be. I thought, wrongly, that maybe the developers had learnt from previous mistakes (include more persons to talk to, inlcude more interesting puzzles, and, above all, write a decent, gripping story) and made a better game; the story sounded interesting enough. It's not. And Cameron is the most boring character I've ever played in an adventure game (apart, probably, from Martin Holan *eg*).
- Jack Orlando. Boringboringboring. Plus I couldn't relate to Jack even though some of his remarks were pretty witty.
- Ring 2. The stupid thing just isn't working; the controls are horrible and the soundtrack basically consists of Wagner - not that bad, mind you, but if Siegfried just isn't moving and you keep hearing the same theme over and over again while trying to steer your character... it gets very tiresome, believe me. Uninstalled and forgot about it.
Games I regret having played because, in retrospective, they were just an awful waste of time:
- The Cameron Files: Loch Ness. Did I already mention Cameron was the most booooooooring character ever?
- Lost. I hated this game. Simply hated it. Hated the awkward controls, hated how slow it ran on my computer despite my machine meeting all the requirements, hated the character, hated the action, hated not being able to save when I wanted to, hated that I had to bother with this piece of **** because I was supposed to write a review. Definitely the worst adventure/action adventure I've played so far.
I still have lots of games sitting on the shelfs that I've started to play but didn't get around finishing; And then there were none is one of them - I abandoned it for the sake of, I think, Goin' Downtown, and haven't returned to it yet. Other games I installed and haven't even looked at. I'm sooo looking forward to those two weeks of vacation in December...
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| 4 NOV 2008 at 1:40am |
An_InklingSpace Cadet
Posts : 171
Joined: 20 JUN 2008
Status : Online | Originally Posted By Jenny100 (3 NOV 2008 9:38pm)
The Last Express is one I keep going back to... and giving up on.
It has so much going for it. I love the time period and the train and the story (as far as I've gotten with it). But I just can't get used to the "egg" type "rewinding save" system, or the idea that it's impossible to experience everything in the game on one playthrough.
The only thing to be missed on a playthrough is some mostly inconsequential dialogue between other characters. Needing to be in the right place at the right time to eavesdrop on conversations added a nice bit of believability to the game for me. It may be frustrating for completionists, but you will get to hear most of them, and no incidental conversation is crucial to the game, just a nice bit of flavour.
On the save system - the game saves automatically at certain points and upon exiting (as far as I remember). If you do something in the game you're not happy with or run into a dead end, you just turn back the clock to return to a previous point. I quite liked the different take on it.
Originally Posted By Jenny100 (3 NOV 2008 9:38pm)
I've tried playing both with a walkthrough and without. I can't seem to follow the walkthrough for very long because things that are supposed to happen don't seem to -- or don't happen in the same order.
The only place I had difficulty with this was at the concert. Can certainly understand the frustration when you can't find the next trigger. The game would have benefited by some extra non-linearity, by providing the player with multiple ways of completing a task, sometimes finding that one particular thing the game wants you to do can be a trial.
Who is this great burdensome slavering dog-thing that mediocres my every thought? ([i]Nick Cave - We Call Upon the Author[/i])
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| 4 NOV 2008 at 2:55am |
colpetSchattenjger
Posts : 1630
Joined: 12 APR 2003
Status : Offline | The only place I had difficulty with this was at the concert. Can certainly understand the frustration when you can't find the next trigger. The game would have benefited by some extra non-linearity, by providing the player with multiple ways of completing a task, sometimes finding that one particular thing the game wants you to do can be a
That's what happened to me - I must have walked up and down the cars 5 times, and nothing changed. I was supposed to be looking for the egg in someone's room, but I couldn't get in.
I can see the attraction of the game. It was very atmospheric and the way it played out was interesting in that you can overhear conversations, and have different encounters depending on the time you do things. For a puzzler like me, that part was a nightmare. I usually take extensive notes, and I just could not keep up with watching the video and wrtitring down what was being said all at the same time.
I'm glad to have tried it out so now at least I know about its uniqueness (is that even a word?) first hand.
Occasionally visiting Uru Live (KI 0063722 .&&
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| 4 NOV 2008 at 3:21pm |
| Deleted User | Under most circumstances I really don't like to abandon a game if it's playable. I admit that at a certain frustration level I will run to the nearest walk through to see how it pans out. There is that other class of games though:
The Davinci Code
Next Life
Indigo Prophesy
Way too much intense hand/eye coordination required. I tried really hard though but with a spinal injury just not possible
The Experiment
I stared, blinked at this for about thirty minutes, shook my head and un-installed it. I have no interest in keeping these so if anyone's interested......
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| 4 NOV 2008 at 4:27pm |
FnordSchattenjger
Posts : 2752
Joined: 15 SEP 2008
Location: SE, Stockholm
Status : Offline | I dont understand why keepsake gets so much hate. It's not the best game of all time, but the puzzles were not that bad. I have to admit to using the help system to figure out where to go next (after a short while, i simply used it after every puzzle).
Same for rama. Altough as it was my first AG of that type, i might be a bit biased. It's not particularly hard, once you figure out how the designers thought when the created the puzzles (most of them follow a simliar patern), and a calculator helps with the math puzzles. Also, the story picks up once you get a bit further into the game.
As for AGs that i never finished:
Secret of the lost cavern: I really liked the setting, but the puzzles were boring as *bep*.
THe legend of kyranida: Puzzles did not make much sense, got bored.
Simon the sorcerer: A game that invents it's own kind of logic is no fun in my book.
Mysterious journey 2: I did love the first one, but the puzzles in part 2 did not interest me, neither did the story.
And as for games that i refuse to play without a waltrough:
Monkey island: Again, the puzzles makes no sense (get a drink for the sunbather, switch the mug to the "bottomless mug", put the mug on his belly, pour red dye in the mug, pour hot oil on his back->you get a map), but at least the jokes are fun.
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| 4 NOV 2008 at 5:29pm |
Murphy2042Intergalactic Janitor
Posts : 59
Joined: 16 AUG 2008
Status : Online | The Daedalus Encounter , probably the biggest load of :-X i´ve ever seen.
I played it only for a few minutes and shortly after, the game literally ended up where it belongs... in the trash can
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| 6 NOV 2008 at 4:46pm |
ArkadiaPrivate Detective
Posts : 558
Joined: 1 JUN 2008
Status : Online | Originally Posted By Fnord (4 NOV 2008 4:27pm)
It's not the best game of all time, but the puzzles were not that bad. I have to admit to using the help system to figure out where to go next (after a short while, i simply used it after every puzzle).
I believe that is why Keepsake gets a lot of hate You should be driven to play and explore the game for the fun of it. When one resorts to using an optional system that tells you exactly where you need to go next, because it's not interesting enough to want to find out for yourself, it means the game isn't doing its job right. IMO, at least.
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| 6 NOV 2008 at 7:53pm |
Steve VSorcerer Apprentice
Posts : 265
Joined: 16 MAR 2008
Status : Online | Originally Posted By Arkadia (6 NOV 2008 4:46pm)
Originally Posted By Fnord (4 NOV 2008 4:27pm)
It's not the best game of all time, but the puzzles were not that bad. I have to admit to using the help system to figure out where to go next (after a short while, i simply used it after every puzzle).
I believe that is why Keepsake gets a lot of hate You should be driven to play and explore the game for the fun of it. When one resorts to using an optional system that tells you exactly where you need to go next, because it's not interesting enough to want to find out for yourself, it means the game isn't doing its job right. IMO, at least.
I would substitute the word 'intuitive' for 'interesting' here..Yes, Keepsake isn't a classic but its touching and charming in its own way, I think it gets more hate because its an 'empty' playing experience, you could spend many hours teleporting from one place to the next without ever meeting anybody or interacting with anything which is why the help feature is essential..
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| 6 NOV 2008 at 8:17pm |
JKingSchattenjger
Posts : 2349
Joined: 4 MAY 2008
Location: 0
Status : Offline | Or, alternatively, "fun" rather than interesting. While the environment and architecture of Keepsake is indeed beautiful and worth exploring in principle, in practice it's just not rewarding to do so, because it's slow and tedious and there's a whole ton of backtracking (of which I am usually a fan) which is also slow and tedious. The game just wasn't fun to play, past a certain point; it started feeling like a chore.
You can't kill someone in a studio.
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| 6 NOV 2008 at 9:14pm |
| Deleted User | Tssk! I don't care what you bunch of people have to say about Keepsake. I enjoyed it, and so did my little boy. [smiley=soapbox.gif]
Just to prove how much I enjoyed it, I actually installed the game again on my kiddie's PC, and helped him play it a bit.
He loves running around in that big old building, and the lovely grounds outside too.
So there! There are at least two people in the world that love Keepsake! >
By the looks of things, we might be the only ones... :'(
EDIT: @ Steve V
I think it gets more hate because its an 'empty' playing experience, you could spend many hours teleporting from one place to the next without ever meeting anybody or interacting with anything which is why the help feature is essential..
..but the whole point of the story is that the place is deserted!
So then why are Myst, and Schizm, and all those other Myst like games not hit on for being "lonely" games?
Anyway, you do meet people in Keepsake - the very irritating vendor, and the reasonably ok "wolf"
Plus all the flashbacks she has, have a lot of human interaction, and tell a very human story.
Anyway, Steve, thanks for actually noting that the game was poignant and charming to an extent.
Hmmf! And JKing, FYI, the reason I could never finish Myst, is because it started feeling like a chore. All the running back and forth amongst the same locations, with some puzzles which had you pulling your hair out! like the "piano" puzzle for instance.. and keeping in mind that was when you could figure out that there actually is a puzzle to solve, to start with!
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| 6 NOV 2008 at 11:20pm |
HalcyonSchattenjger
Posts : 1652
Joined: 17 NOV 2006
Status : Offline | You can keep Keepsake. It was in the Adventure Collection I bought. But thanks to buying that Adventure Collection, I discovered a game I did finish--Nibiru. Nice game, good visuals, toughish puzzles for me.
_________________
Exercise your vision.
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| 7 NOV 2008 at 12:00am |
Jenny100Guild Master
Posts : 3510
Joined: 12 OCT 2002
Status : Offline | I only used the Hint system in Keepsake for a couple of puzzles. Most of them I solved on my own. I like those types of puzzles better than inventory puzzles. I didn't really have a problem with the "backtracking" either because I enjoyed exploring the place. Hardly any adventure games these days have a really big world you can explore, so it was nice to find one -- especially such an attractive one.
What I didn't care for was when the game would stop and run the same old conversations between Zak and Lydia that I'd already heard before -- especially since I didn't care for the voices.
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| 7 NOV 2008 at 6:13am |
| Deleted User | Originally Posted By Jenny100 (7 NOV 2008 12:00am)
I only used the Hint system in Keepsake for a couple of puzzles. Most of them I solved on my own. I like those types of puzzles better than inventory puzzles. I didn't really have a problem with the "backtracking" either because I enjoyed exploring the place. Hardly any adventure games these days have a really big world you can explore, so it was nice to find one -- especially such an attractive one.
What I didn't care for was when the game would stop and run the same old conversations between Zak and Lydia that I'd already heard before -- especially since I didn't care for the voices.
Ah, now here's a really intelligent person talking! ^^^
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| 7 NOV 2008 at 7:43am |
Adventure boyIntergalactic Janitor
Posts : 5
Joined: 7 NOV 2008
Status : Online | Nancy Drew: Curse of Blackmoor Manor. My first Nancy Drew game, I never finished it and will never buy another. I hated the fact that every time you wanted to open a door, you had to solve the same stupid puzzle. I hated her voice. I hated the timed sequences and mini-games. I didn't care for any of the characters in the game and thought the story was boring and predictable (as well as far fetched and unbelievable).
Finally, someone that is normal !!!!!! I totally agree !!!!
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| 8 NOV 2008 at 12:45pm |
Taurnil MithrandirJourneyman
Posts : 1093
Joined: 13 AUG 2006
Status : Online | @TheTraveler
I agree with you. I also enjoyed this game very much and I still recall it from time to time due to different things: the plot (an hymn to friendship), the heroine full of joy for life and love, I can'y write further, make my eyes water a bit....
As for the game I abandoned sorry to say but I haven't abandoned any adventure game ever! Of course I have played AG that were not so nice and attractive to be engrossed in them but I believe that a game as indifferent as it may be there is a whole new perspective to finish it and juxtapose the facts and figures! What was wrong; what you didn't like; what a relief to finish it but detected the spots that you don't want to see in another game. I may be wrong but a game has a little jewel inside it as bad as it looks at the beginning!
....set the controls for the heart of the sun....
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| 8 NOV 2008 at 2:13pm |
| Deleted User | Originally Posted By eragon (8 NOV 2008 12:44pm)
@TheTraveler
I agree with you. I also enjoyed this game very much and I still recall it from time to time due to different things: the plot (an hymn to friendship), the heroine full of joy for life and love, I can'y write further, make my eyes water a bit....
As for the game I abandoned sorry to say but I haven't abandoned any adventure game ever! Of course I have played AG that were not so nice and attractive to be engrossed in them but I believe that a game as indifferent as it may be there is a whole new perspective to finish it and juxtapose the facts and figures! What was wrong; what you didn't like; what a relief to finish it but detected the spots that you don't want to see in another game. I may be wrong but a game has a little jewel inside it as bad as it looks at the beginning!
Another intelligent and discerning person to join our exclusive club of non-complaining completionists!
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| 8 NOV 2008 at 2:14pm |
JehaneSpace Cadet
Posts : 128
Joined: 15 MAY 2007
Status : Online | @Traveler: I totally agree with you on both Keepsake and Myst. I loved Keepsake for the beautiful surroundings - the instant I saw the Dragonvale Academy, I fell in love with it. Yes, it did feel lonely but that was just the point of the game - you had to explore a deserted place to find out *why* it was deserted. Sometimes it did get a bit tedious - the running back and forth wasn't always fun. And sometimes I wondered how on earth Lydia could still be on her feet after all that running around; to me it seemed she was running around more than any other character I've played so far The puzzles were hard, and I had to resort to the hint system for some of the really hard puzzles because I simply couldn't figure them out. But it was a wonderful game; had me glued to my screen for a whole week
As for Myst, well, I've said in a previous posting that I couldn't and will never finish this game - for the exact reasons Traveler has given. I thought it was pretty annoying having to repeat puzzles in order to get to a location I had already visited just because those annoying guys in the books kept pestering me about getting back some pages. I still fail to see the story in there and won't bother to find out; it's just not my type of game
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| 8 NOV 2008 at 2:22pm |
| Deleted User | Originally Posted By Jehane (8 NOV 2008 2:13pm)
@Traveler: I totally agree with you on both Keepsake and Myst. I loved Keepsake for the beautiful surroundings - the instant I saw the Dragonvale Academy, I fell in love with it. Yes, it did feel lonely but that was just the point of the game - you had to explore a deserted place to find out *why* it was deserted. Sometimes it did get a bit tedious - the running back and forth wasn't always fun. And sometimes I wondered how on earth Lydia could still be on her feet after all that running around; to me it seemed she was running around more than any other character I've played so far The puzzles were hard, and I had to resort to the hint system for some of the really hard puzzles because I simply couldn't figure them out. But it was a wonderful game; had me glued to my screen for a whole week
As for Myst, well, I've said in a previous posting that I couldn't and will never finish this game - for the exact reasons Traveler has given. I thought it was pretty annoying having to repeat puzzles in order to get to a location I had already visited just because those annoying guys in the books kept pestering me about getting back some pages. I still fail to see the story in there and won't bother to find out; it's just not my type of game
Another very discerning person! :-*
Jehane - I think the point that some people are missing, is that we are not saying that Keepsake is a perfect game (very few, if any, games are perfect, - not so?), but that it had a certain poignant charm, that made up for many of its shortcomings.
Yes, agreed, there was a lot of running around, but I almost felt that the navigation was a sort of maze-like puzzle on it's own, similar to those puzzles where you have to find your way through a maze.
Perhaps this aspect featured too strongly, but then I was not argueing that this is a perfect, or even a very good game; but it was for me a game that was worthwhile playing and finishing; and it still has a warm place in my thoughts.
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| 8 NOV 2008 at 2:26pm |
JKingSchattenjger
Posts : 2349
Joined: 4 MAY 2008
Location: 0
Status : Offline | For what it's worth, Traveler, I don't disagree that Keepsake has its charms---indeed it has charm in spades! In that sense it reminds me of The Legend of Kyrandia, except much, much larger, of course. The only difference is that I didn't find its charm made up for its shortcomings. :-/
You can't kill someone in a studio.
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| 8 NOV 2008 at 10:15pm |
Taurnil MithrandirJourneyman
Posts : 1093
Joined: 13 AUG 2006
Status : Online | As for the 'running around' issue I strongly believe she had to do this to show that the loneliness at the Academy was not a simple thing. She had to search the entire Academy (a lot of space) in order to find stg to prove the existence of anything. (person, state etc). Spoiler AlertWhen she succeeded in transforming the wolf into human -at last- her joy was incomparable. Do you remember that? Full of joy, energy, satisfaction. Her will was to discover stg to prove the existence of Good. She wanted to find her friend throughout this strange and massive building called the Academy. If it was stuffed with the students believe me the run-around would not be so wide!
....set the controls for the heart of the sun....
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| 10 NOV 2008 at 10:13am |
| Deleted User | You are so right, Taurnil. The whole idea was to create an atmosphere of lonely deserted desolation, but one which had been imposed suddenly, and that they did succeed in.
Everywhere you found clues that people had until very recently, still been there, which , of course, deepens the mystery.
Also, the loneliness did make the Wolf (in all of his deception) a valued companion for her.
It also emphasised the absence of her friend. If the place had been filled with people, it would have changed the quality of her quest to find her friend. The whole question of where everybody had gone, would not have been part of the mystery of her friend's disappearance, and the entire story would have been different.
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| 10 NOV 2008 at 10:37pm |
JehaneSpace Cadet
Posts : 128
Joined: 15 MAY 2007
Status : Online | I totally agree with you guys. What made this game special to me was the story about friendship. And I desperately wanted Lydia to find Celeste. This was one of the view games that almost had me in tears at the end. On the other hand, Lydia found a new friend; still, it was very, very sad. It might not be perfect - no game actually is (except, maybe, the Gabriel Knight games *g*). But it does have its merits and its charm. And I believe it wouldn't have been the same if the place had been crawling with people to talk to.
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| 11 NOV 2008 at 1:17am |
ArkadiaPrivate Detective
Posts : 558
Joined: 1 JUN 2008
Status : Online | I think for me, the reason I didn't feel any of that emotion while playing Keepsake, or the reason it didn't affect me at all, was because I couldn't stand the characters. It was impossible for me to feel empathy for a character with such horrible, droning voice acting, and oftentimes I thought the scriptwriting was absolutely horrible. A lot of things that came out of her mouth were unrealistic simply because of the writing, but the terrible voiceacting just made it worse. It's hard for me to empathise with people I simply cannot stand :-X
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| 11 NOV 2008 at 3:02pm |
Taurnil MithrandirJourneyman
Posts : 1093
Joined: 13 AUG 2006
Status : Online | Except for Mustaaaaaaaaavio whose voice was utterly dissapointing and without harmony indeed, the rest of the voices were clear. What things were unrealistic coming from her mouth? It was really emotive when Lydia was giving a big clap when she discovered or understood something of great importance and commented on it with true honesty. Don't forget that she was strolling in a world of pure magic. I believe that sometimes the law of logical outcome in these worlds aren't quite 'human'!
....set the controls for the heart of the sun....
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