| 4 JAN 2009 at 8:06pm |
AndromusGuild Master
Posts : 5540
Joined: 6 NOV 2002
Status : Offline | Amerzone (also from the creator of Syberia)
Amber: Journeys Beyond
Broken Sword 1 and 2
Discworld Noir
The Longest Journey
Sanitarium
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| 4 JAN 2009 at 9:18pm |
HalcyonSchattenjger
Posts : 1653
Joined: 17 NOV 2006
Status : Offline | Adding to the list...
Sherlock Holmes: Nemesis has a great story.
The Lost Crown story is good and mysterious
Dreamfall I loved -- small action required
Nibiru: Age of Secrets was very good in story and voice
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| 4 JAN 2009 at 9:46pm |
Terry PenrodGrand Inquisitor
Posts : 6694
Joined: 16 OCT 2004
Location: US, Texas
Status : Offline | .
For older games, I recommend Blade Runner from Westwood Studios, which had a very good adaptation of the screenplay with enough variation to keep things interesting.
The Journeyman series also had a very good original storyline and the Gabriel Knight series was top-notch IMO.
NOTE: There was one brief action sequence at the end of GK3 that many people hated. But you can avoid it (and only it) with a particular save game file I have. Feel free to PM me in case you ever need it.
Cheers, Terry
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| 5 JAN 2009 at 1:34am |
Jenny100Guild Master
Posts : 3510
Joined: 12 OCT 2002
Status : Offline | Originally Posted By MaxieNC (4 JAN 2009 7:28pm)
Suggestions please for games that are more story/plot and less puzzle. No action please. I have enjoyed games such as Still lIfe, Post Mortem, Syberia, etc. Mystery is top choice.
I'm not sure what you mean by "more story/plot and less puzzle" because all the games you mention had puzzles. But if you liked Syberia and Still Life, try The Longest Journey, Moment of Silence, Sanitarium, The Lost Crown, and any of the Gabriel Knight games for good stories. Also Evil Under the Sun was pretty good if you haven't already read the Agatha Christie book. And I haven't played it, but I've heard that Overclocked has a good story and minimal puzzles, if you don't mind a dark depressing atmosphere. Perry Rhodan is another one you might look at.
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| 5 JAN 2009 at 4:58pm |
MaxIntergalactic Janitor
Posts : 8
Joined: 4 JAN 2009
Status : Online | I appreciate your suggestion. I have played some of these games. Others not.
Thanks a bunch.
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| 5 JAN 2009 at 5:04pm |
avatar_58Private Detective
Posts : 403
Joined: 27 MAY 2008
Status : Online | I'm not so sure I'd label Overclocked a strong story. It started off well enough but it quickly devolved. Those awkward phone calls didn't help much, I imagine they might have been better in their native language because in enlish they were cringe worthy (and I'm not only talking about the voice talent). The big 'mystery' fell flat on it's face at the end and seemed to only serve to throw puzzles at you, the conclusion in general seemed terrible to me.
The game showed promise but if this fellow is looking for strong stories I'd find it easier to recommend something like Sanitarium or The Longest Journey over that mess.
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| 5 JAN 2009 at 7:16pm |
KurtSorcerer Apprentice
Posts : 204
Joined: 21 JAN 2003
Status : Online | Originally Posted By avatar_58 (5 JAN 2009 5:04pm)
Those awkward phone calls didn't help much, I imagine they might have been better in their native language because in enlish they were cringe worthy (and I'm not only talking about the voice talent).
I played the German version and I didn´t notice anything awkward about them.
The German voice talent involved did an extraordinary job, except for one of the 5 patients, who´s voice acting is a mixed bag.
The main protagonist got dubbed by the German voice actor of Johnny Depp which speaks for the game´s quality in this area.
Back on topic:
My picks are....
Broken Sword 1
Gabriel Knight 1-3
Indiana Jones - Fate Of Atlantis
The Last Express
The Lost Crown
These are the ones from the top of my head !
Was du nicht willst, daß man dir tut,&&das fueg auch keinem andren zu !&&&& o not do to others, what you do not want done to yourself !
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| 5 JAN 2009 at 7:29pm |
MaxIntergalactic Janitor
Posts : 8
Joined: 4 JAN 2009
Status : Online | I have a copy of The Last Express but I have never gotten around to playing it. I don't quite know why. Maybe it has been lost in my stacks. I am currently playing Sherlock Holmes: Mystery of the Mummy and will play TLE next.
I don't have a problem with puzzles in games as long as they are integrated into the storyline. But I find that I am disappointed when the game story is very light. Plot is my number one item.
I played Sanitarium years ago. Supper game. The Longest Journey is one of my favorites.
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| 5 JAN 2009 at 9:06pm |
avatar_58Private Detective
Posts : 403
Joined: 27 MAY 2008
Status : Online | Originally Posted By Kurt (5 JAN 2009 7:15pm)
I played the German version and I didn´t notice anything awkward about them.
The German voice talent involved did an extraordinary job, except for one of the 5 patients, who´s voice acting is a mixed bag.
The main protagonist got dubbed by the German voice actor of Johnny Depp which speaks for the game´s quality in this area.
Well as terrible as the voice acting was I felt it was just crummy writing. The ideas behind what they were saying were interesting, they were just delivered in a cheesy half arsed way.
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| 6 JAN 2009 at 6:23pm |
valypanIntergalactic Janitor
Posts : 46
Joined: 10 MAR 2008
Status : Offline | Hi Max,
I am a big fan og solid storylines myself! The best stories I have ever seen in adventure gaming are Gabriel Knight I, II and III: Jane Jensen is also a book writer so her games have wonderful well-thought out stories. Another series which has an incredibly strong storyline is The Longest Journey and Dreamfall: a really gorgeous story that will keep you playing for hours! Another game with a great great story is Culpa Innata, with a sequel soon to follow. Also Sherlock Holmes: The awakened and Sherlock Holmes Nemesis have good solid detective stories. If you like detective stories, also try Agatha Christie games. You might also like Dracula: Path of The Dragon and Secret Files: Tunguska. Last but not least the classic Syberia series which has an awesome story. Hope this gave you some inspiration!
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| 8 JAN 2009 at 6:11am |
StilerJourneyman
Posts : 1477
Joined: 27 SEP 2004
Location: US, TN
Status : Offline | If you are looking for more storyline and less puzzles, then I would highly suggest Fahrenheit aka Indigo prophecy in the US).
It is an adventure game, though some die hard adventure fans will try to deny it because of how it plays and things.
It does have some quick time "simon says" events, which you have to complete, that's about the only action it really has though.
The game is one of the most unique adventure games you'll find. It came out a few years ago so it doesn't look outdated or anything.
The game is very replayable.
Gameplay wise, your actions can have affects on things later on in the storyline, what you do can actually affect how things may unfold.
Also you are given the choice at various points in the story to control different characters. You have a choice of the Killer (the main character) and the two detectives who are trying to capture him. However which character you choose to play as during that chapter will only get the storyline how they'd get it, so it makes the game replayable as well in that sense.
If you like Mu rder mysteries then you'll probably enjoy it.
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| 8 JAN 2009 at 1:44pm |
avatar_58Private Detective
Posts : 403
Joined: 27 MAY 2008
Status : Online | While Fahrenheit is story oriented it's not a very good story. Well let's give it credit - up until the half way point it was excellent and very interesting but once it started to go sci-fi it became very silly very quickly.
Especially once - Spoiler Alertthe AI was introduced. That was beyond stupid. Your character suddenly became Neo from the Matrix. It seemed to me David Caine wanted was to mix and match his favourite movies and stories but forget that it should mesh together - not create a confusing mess.
It's not helped by the fact that the QTE simon says nonsense blocks your view, making the elaborate cutscenes almost pointless.
I love parts of Indigo Prophecy/Fahrenheit but on the whole I wouldn't exactly call it a strong story. It fell completely apart at the half-way mark. Considering it's short length and lack of actual gameplay beyond the QTE I'm not sure why it's regarded as highly as it is. It's different I'll give it that, but not really in a good way when you examine it from the end.
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| 9 JAN 2009 at 7:06am |
StilerJourneyman
Posts : 1477
Joined: 27 SEP 2004
Location: US, TN
Status : Offline | Lack of Gameplay? If anything it has more gameplay then your usual "adventure" games, that generally consist mostly of pixel h unting and picking up every-single-object on the planet. Rather it was more logical based and allowed your actions and thinking of what to do and how to handle a situation to affect the storyline but not force you down a strict linear path like usual.
The Quick time events, I give you that, I didn't care for them and IMO with the current "trend" of them in a ton of games (almost all new games have some type of QTE, from Shooters, to action games) I think it just feels like they couldn't think of a more natural or rewarding way to create a tense feeling in the gameplay.
As far as the storyline goes, I loved it, even with the later part of it moving more toward a sci fi type of thing. I throught the ending was great and not your usual ending.
Spoiler AlertBasically how in the end, he became a "God" and was in control of the world with her, at least if you got the good ending that is
The main thing I liked about the storyline was that it just kept you on your toes and wanting to get through it. Much like Still life, at least for me, it kept me entertained and tense and wanting to figure out what was going on, it was never "stale" or "boring."
Really looking forward to their next adventure game (heavy rain, only on ps3 though), it's looking great.
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| 9 JAN 2009 at 2:01pm |
avatar_58Private Detective
Posts : 403
Joined: 27 MAY 2008
Status : Online | Depends on what you refer to 'gameplay' when talking about an adventure game. The gameplay I look for includes interaction, puzzle solving and exploring. Fahrenheit had no puzzles, was limited to one screen areas and the interaction was limited at best. You couldn't even examine objects. Thus the only real gameplay you were given were minigames and QTE. Lot's and lot's of QTE.
Choices essentially didn't affect anything. The only choice that mattered occured very late into the game. How you exit the diner, whether or not you slept with your ex - none of this changed the course of the game at all. In fact it annoyed me to no end that the demo indicated the game would be very open ended choice wise - they wisely chose the Diner to hide the fact that none of this mattered. It didn't change *anything* if you left behind clues or hid everything really well. That's highly dissapointing.
Anyway as I'm sure the one who created the thread would like to know - the story was very weak. I'm sorry. The beginning started off with a mystery I was very much into. I put up with the QTE because I wanted desperately to figure out what was going on. Very rare in games will I ignore the core gameplay due to the story.
Then all of the sudden the game took this nosedive into the world of the matrix and M Night Shyamalan and it just got worse and worse. It didn't help that the last hour felt rushed either, with the in-game story ramping up in speed and throwing all mystery out the window. The climax itself didn't do it for me either, as it made little sense. How we got from a mystical murder mystery to a godly matrix war just does not make sense to me. The very inclusion of the AI and the whole council of elders thing just completely lost me.
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| 9 JAN 2009 at 8:27pm |
StilerJourneyman
Posts : 1477
Joined: 27 SEP 2004
Location: US, TN
Status : Offline | You kinda spoiled it a bit .
As far as gameplay, you had many things to interact with and explore, perhaps you were looking too hard for things?
For example, in the Diner area, you had the sink, the blood splatter, the body, etc. All of these things you could leave behind, make choices what to do with them, use objects in the world sink, mop, phone, etc). It just came off more natural and logical feeling then many adventure games where you spend the majority of the time either searching the screen for something you missed or picking up every single possible object because you'll need it later in the game even though there is no logical reason that you shoul[d know to get it. (IE, even some of the great adventures do this, like Gabriel Knight).
Fahrenheit just felt like a step in a new direction as far as adventure games go, it was a breath of fresh air for me.
Yes, the later part of the story could be a let down to some, or throw them off, but I still think it's a game that should be experienced, even if just for the first half of the storyline and gameplay that sets it apart from your usual adventures.
Regardless, I'd at least recommend He try the demo out, after one play through I was hooked and bought the game when it came out:
http://files.filefront.com/Indigo+Prophecy+Playable+Demo+multi+language/;3967842;/fileinfo.html
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| 9 JAN 2009 at 8:54pm |
avatar_58Private Detective
Posts : 403
Joined: 27 MAY 2008
Status : Online | It's a step in the wrong direction if you ask me.
It just came off more natural and logical feeling then many adventure games where you spend the majority of the time either searching the screen for something you missed or picking up every single possible object because you'll need it later in the game even though there is no logical reason that you shoul[d know to get it. (IE, even some of the great adventures do this, like Gabriel Knight).
Logical yes, but only because it was sesame street easy - you automatically had one thing to do at any given time. Sometimes that one thing was simply opening a door or walking forward, which is absurd.
I prefer being able to examine everything ala GK. The whole point is that *I* should be figuring things out and discovering the game world. Why would I want to have matrix-style QTE fights with nonsensical enemies? Why am I randomly pressing buttons as a women tells my fortune?
As I said I agree the game is mainly story focused, but I can't understand why anyone would call it a 'strong' story.
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| 9 JAN 2009 at 9:57pm |
StilerJourneyman
Posts : 1477
Joined: 27 SEP 2004
Location: US, TN
Status : Offline | Originally Posted By avatar_58 (9 JAN 2009 8:53pm)
It's a step in the wrong direction if you ask me.
It just came off more natural and logical feeling then many adventure games where you spend the majority of the time either searching the screen for something you missed or picking up every single possible object because you'll need it later in the ga
me even though there is no logical reason that you shoul[d know to get it. (IE, even some of the great adventures do this, like Gabriel Knight).
Logical yes, but only because it was sesame street easy - you automatically had one thing to do at any given time. Sometimes that one thing was simply opening a door or walking forward, which is absurd.
I prefer being able to examine everything ala GK. The whole point is that *I* should be figuring things out and discovering the game world. Why would I want to have matrix-style QTE fights with nonsensical enemies? Why am I randomly pressing buttons as a women tells my fortune?
As I said I agree the game is mainly story focused, but I can't understand why anyone would call it a 'strong' story.
You had something to do, but many ways to do it. In the firts scene, with the Diner. Logically you wanted to get out of there, however there were many ways to accomplish this that had a small affect on the storyline and the next chapter (where the two detectives are going over it) depending on what you did.
IE - Did you hide the body (which would alert the cop in the Diner), did you wash your hands, clean the floor, use the phone (which later would be tracked to who you tried to call), go out the front or back door, sit down at the table, etc. There was quite a bit of choices and things to do and how you did them does have affects, even if it's small ones.
Perhaps you just went through the game doing the bare thing and didn't realize what affects your actions had, while the big "ending" choices did come later into the game, it still had different choices and options that affected how the storyline itself played out (IE did you save the kid drowning or not was another fairly big one) and other things, like the simple guitar part with your ex girlfriend.
I just don't see how you think the game was simple and had little gameplay elements or choices of things to use/figure out. The scenes could have a fairly decent amount of things in them that you could use somehow, you make it seem like you start in a room and only have a choice to exit it or something simple like that, which is not the case. It was just things that were more logical that you would naturally think of in that situation, rather then something long-stretched and overly-complicated that most normal people would not think of doing because they have no real reason to at that time.
Though I think we are taking this a bit too off topic from the OP , we are going to have to just agree to disagree on the game.
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| 12 JAN 2009 at 4:23am |
avatar_58Private Detective
Posts : 403
Joined: 27 MAY 2008
Status : Online | Well hey I'm just trying to help the fellow out by debating what makes a 'strong' story versus a standard fare one. The more we can narrow down his search the better, instead of being disappointed in the titles we've suggested.
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| 13 JAN 2009 at 5:39pm |
MaxIntergalactic Janitor
Posts : 8
Joined: 4 JAN 2009
Status : Online | You have made some great suggestions. I am reading reviews right now and that will help me make some educated selections. I think that my top contender is The Last Express. I am currently playing Sherlock: Mystery of the Mummy. This is my second try at the game and I still find it disappointing. Good puzzles but not much story so far. But I am not giving up yet...
Thanks to everyone.
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| 14 JAN 2009 at 1:25am |
HalcyonSchattenjger
Posts : 1653
Joined: 17 NOV 2006
Status : Offline | Sherlock the Awakened had a good story, and Sherlock: Nemesis had (for me) some tough puzzles to figure out, some of which I did by myself
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| 14 JAN 2009 at 2:57am |
DangerousDaveIntergalactic Janitor
Posts : 54
Joined: 31 MAR 2008
Status : Online | I also have the Last Express in my collection and have yet to play it..
Also The Lost Crown is a good choice.
I have just completed Indy Fate of Atlantis for the first time..really good game and has a great story. Very short though.
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| 14 JAN 2009 at 3:20am |
HalcyonSchattenjger
Posts : 1653
Joined: 17 NOV 2006
Status : Offline | I just bought Blade Runner for $3.99 and loaded it tonight on XP. The graphics are quite pixelated, but two minutes into the thing and I'm hooked on the atmosphere and attitude and sheer reality of its vision of the future. Being a fan of the film doesn't hurt
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| 14 JAN 2009 at 6:31am |
An_InklingSpace Cadet
Posts : 171
Joined: 20 JUN 2008
Status : Online | Blade Runner is good. I particularly liked that it did not follow the movie's plot or that of the book, but added aspects from both, while having its own narrative (even if very similar to that of the movie/book). Also, Blade Runner is one of the few Adventures where there are choices that have an affect on the game. They may be too few, often too small or too near the end, but it's better than most AGs manage and something I feel the genre should do more of. It would definitely help increase interactivity, the lack of which is a weakness of many games in the genre, particularly those low on puzzles.
@OP: great choice on The Last Express.
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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| 20 JAN 2009 at 5:28pm |
jalexSchattenjger
Posts : 2503
Joined: 5 MAR 2003
Status : Offline | Originally Posted By MaxieNC (4 JAN 2009 7:28pm)
Suggestions please for games that are more story/plot and less puzzle. No action please. I have enjoyed games such as Still lIfe, Post Mortem, Syberia, etc. Mystery is top choice.
It sounds to me like what you want is Pure Adventure. Some adventure games have slipped away from that these days.
Anyway I liked Secret Files :Tunguska It has what I thought was a great story and the graphics are really good as well. It was my choice for the best game I played last year. Rhiannon is also a game with a good story and only a few puzzles. There is The Lost Crown as well. It has a good story and not too many puzzles.
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