Since very long threads seems to be messing up the post order, how about we just carry on in a new thread. 

Well, I'm not playing much of anything right now!

I've just finished (and rather enjoyed) episode 4 of The Silver Lining.  Aside from a few bugs, I thought it overall rather good, and am looking forward to episode 5 (whenever it ends up coming out). ^_^

I take it that Skyrim is the reason why people don't spend a lot of time playing AGs right now. With E.Y.E. Divine cybermancy being quite a mess I think I'll play something else. Ben there, Dan that! came with the last indie royale bundle, so that is what I'll play now. 

The summer toys and tools are put away. I've got quite a stack of newer AG's to play on these long winter nights.

I've started with The Book of Unwritten Tales. I just got into chapter 4. Beautiful, old-fashioned 3rd-person point & click. Big gaming world. Good voice acting. Puzzles not too hard (some might find them too easy). Clear objectives. I'm really liking this game so far.

The Book of Unwritten Tales

I'd like to revise my previous post from a rave to a major rant.

I was happily playing B0UT when I hit a brick wall. A big, stinking QTE! This mindless twitch exercise has stopped me cold. What happened? Did King Art have a guitar hero refugee on staff that they had to put to work? Totally ruined this game. At least they could have provided an "opt-out" for this thing.

Maybe I'll get one of my young nieces or nephews to eventually get me through this. In the meantime, I'll play Black Mirror 3. And King Art lost a customer.

I've been playing the indie game Trauma, which is more of an interactive dreamscape.  It's very interesting from a psychological point of view, and the voice of the woman narrator is mesmerizing.  My only problem is I don't know how to save my progress.  Has anyone else been playing this?

Originally Posted By Lady Kestrel

I've been playing the indie game Trauma, which is more of an interactive dreamscape.  It's very interesting from a psychological point of view, and the voice of the woman narrator is mesmerizing.  My only problem is I don't know how to save my progress.  Has anyone else been playing this?

It saves automatically if you bought the downloadable version.

It's fun but very short, I hope the developer makes a normal sized game one day, because he has great potential.

I've been playing Drawn (III): Trail of Shadows: as fun as its predecessors, the best casual games series out there. But still a bit too easy to be a serious adventure game.

Big Fish is having a secret sale on all their games this weekend

I've gotten a bit further in Secret Files, just arrived at the hospital with Max. I'm almost convinced that the game was designed by a ten year old boy. Every area has at least one puzzle that requires me to do something ranging from obnoxious to borderline cruel. Again, it really stands out as this is supposed to be a real world setting, not a comedy adventure.

I've never understood the praise for Secret Files. Some people seem to put it on the same level as Broken Sword, which I find very odd given the quality of the writing.

Originally Posted By markornikov

Originally Posted By Lady Kestrel

I've been playing the indie game Trauma, which is more of an interactive dreamscape.  It's very interesting from a psychological point of view, and the voice of the woman narrator is mesmerizing.  My only problem is I don't know how to save my progress.  Has anyone else been playing this?

 

It saves automatically if you bought the downloadable version.

It's fun but very short, I hope the developer makes a normal sized game one day, because he has great potential.

Thanks, Marko!  When I went back into the game, I realized my photos had been saved, even though I was starting in the same place.  I went through the game once, but there are many other paths I want to try now that I have a few more light drawings under my belt.  I do hope to see more by this developer, too.  

Originally Posted By walsh

I've never understood the praise for Secret Files. Some people seem to put it on the same level as Broken Sword, which I find very odd given the quality of the writing.

Those people are...badly mistaken, lets say. Broken Sword 1 has some of the best writing of the genre, while the writing of Secret Files ranges from mostly poor to occasionally mediocre. Perhaps they make the comparision because Secret Files attempts a balance between comedy and drama something along the lines of Broken Sword. I say "attempts" because Secret Files has failed badly so far in that area, while Broken Sword pulled it off quite well.

I agree that the things you have to do as Nina especially was often anti-social in a bizarre way. I suppose that what I rather enjoyed was the variety of settings in the game. 

I never felt I wanted to abandon SF1 while playing, but I never got very far in Secret Files 2, because... I think I felt the irritation wasn't worth it.  Maybe one day.

Done with Drawn already, they're great games but too short.

Now playing Dream Chronicles: The Chosen Child another fun casual game similar Drawn, but graphically less beautiful

Wading through Grey Matter just now.  Oh how far the mighty have fallen.  It is somewhat disappointing.  I believe that Ms Jensen spent too much time designing casual games.  I long for the complexity of the Gabriel Knight series, especially I and II.  Sigh!

Edit:  Ooops, meant I and III - even though I really enjoyed the FMV II.

What you say is true, AD.  GM certainly has a very casual 'feel' to it, especially with all the 'tricks'.  Although it isn't quite up to the standard of the GK games, I still enjoyed the game as an overall experience and I enjoyed the story, especially the emotional aspects of it; but then I am a rather sentimental soul..

It would be nice if you played it to the end and gave us your input of how you feel about it as an overall experience. 

Btw, very nice to meet you, it seems you must have been a very prolific poster here once upon a time...

Originally Posted By Traveller

What you say is true, AD.  GM certainly has a very casual 'feel' to it, especially with all the 'tricks'.  Although it isn't quite up to the standard of the GK games, I still enjoyed the game as an overall experience and I enjoyed the story, especially the emotional aspects of it; but then I am a rather sentimental soul..

 

It would be nice if you played it to the end and gave us your input of how you feel about it as an overall experience. 

 

Btw, very nice to meet you, it seems you must have been a very prolific poster here once upon a time...

Thanks Trav!  Nice to meet you too!  I will play to the end - the story is finally starting to grab me, but the immersive experience is definitely broken by the conjuring mini-game nonsense (or perhaps it's just the way it is presented?)

Conjuring mini-game? I don't remember that part... then again I don't have the best memory...

Originally Posted By walsh

Conjuring mini-game? I don't remember that part... then again I don't have the best memory...

You often, throughout the game have to go into a special "magic tricks" screen in which you have to do the "trick" in a certain sequence, very like a casual type of puzzle.

Recent eBay "bottom feeding" aquisitions: Traque [French release of Russian game 'Chernaya Metka' [the Hunt] but has English dialog, Fallout 3 + Add-on's, FEAR + Addon's, Bioshock 2, STALKER 2 [rounding out the series].

Just finished Puzzle Agent 2. The puzzles were pretty weak, but it was worth playing for a chance to return to Graham Annable's odd, eerie, yet fascinating world. Though it would have been nice if the game had taken the time to wrap up a number of story elements, instead of all of sudden coming  to a halt. Given Telltale's recent game development issues, I have to wonder if time or money was a factor.

Originally Posted By Traveller

Originally Posted By walsh

Conjuring mini-game? I don't remember that part... then again I don't have the best memory...

 

You often, throughout the game have to go into a special "magic tricks" screen in which you have to do the "trick" in a certain sequence, very like a casual type of puzzle.

I seem to recall challenging myself to complete at least some of those without looking up the trick details that the game provides; I think that I even managed a few. ^_^

Given that Sam was a budding magician and kind of a con artist in Grey Matter, the magic-trick device made perfect sense. Once you figured out how it worked, the device did become a bit boring. But there were other types of puzzles to solve and a very good story that unfolded quite effectively.  Plus the in-game artwork was excellent (despite the bargain-basement cut scenes). The voice-acting and music were also top notch.  Otherwise, the program installed and played smoothly on most modern PC systems with few if any technical flaws. 

While not Jane Jensen's best, the game was much better than some people claim. 

Cheers, Terry 

Hmm, I've always praised the "story" in GM, but actually, puzzle-wise, there are a few that reminds one of the Gabriel Knights, and the many of the puzzles in those mazes at the end weren't exactly facile either.  All in all, the game has quite a nice variety, from rather easy to quite hard.  There weren't any puzzles that would take days and days to break, but there were at least a few that were challenging enough to satisfy all but the most hard-core of puzzlers amongst us.