Showing posts with label adventure game studio. Show all posts
Showing posts with label adventure game studio. Show all posts

Monday, May 11, 2015

First Impressions: Blackwell Legacy (PC)



I've mentioned in the past that I have a subscription to the google + account of Indie Game News, wherefrom I get a lot of my favorite Pak Watch featured games.  One thing I have noticed about Indie Game News is that they report a lot about point and click adventure games.  For this reason, I have paid more attention to that particular genre of late, and It has piqued my interest.  I pitched the idea of playing an adventure game to Jane, and she was really into the idea.  I review the best rated games at Adventure Game Studio, and settled on Blackwell Legacy.  Jane approved of my choice, and we started playing.

So far, so good.  The writing and voice acting is solid, though it takes a minute to get used to the sort of stiff flow of conversation that happens by necessity when you control the flow of scripted conversation.  It's really fun to play two-players, putting our heads together and solving puzzles.

That said, the game falls into the same problem so many games fall into:  when you can't solve a puzzle, and you just click on everything in one location, go to another location, click everything there.  Go back to the previous location, click things, talk your way through every conversation tree.  Check gamefaqs.  The answer is just some small detail you neglected, and thank god the game has begun to flow again.

When it is flowing, Blackwell legacy has interesting characters and a compelling story.  I happily anticipate the next time we get to play it.

-D

Friday, February 13, 2015

Pak Watch Deluxe: Point-and-Click Adventure games

This is a Deluxe edition of Pak Watch because it features 4 games instead of my usual one or two.  I recently completed 'Six Days a Sacrifice, and I wanted another taste of the point and click adventure genre.  It appears that this genre is thriving on the internet;  when I started looking, I just kept finding new and interesting information about the genre, least of which is the Adventure Game Studio community.  More on that later, for now, some games:

----------------------




Developer:  Ben Chandler and Francisco Gonzales
Publisher:  Dave Gilbert of Wadjet Eye Games

Shardlight is a post-apocalyptic game, that I can find minimal information about, and the same four images over and over again.  But I really like what I see, and I'm very interested to see how it works out.  I love the post-apocalyptic genre, and the 'world of junk and ruin' aesthetic looks solid here.  I can't speak for the story, but here's hoping.  



 ------------------





unprintable MAGENTA
Developer: Fitz
Publisher: (Unknown) 

Another link I got from Indie Game News.  Unprintable Magenta has a strange, low-production visual style that piques my curiosity.  It looks to take place in a modern, superhero setting, and has plenty of room for silliness.  I appreciate that.   



-------------------






Thimbleweed Park
Developer: Ron Gilbert and Gary Winnick
Publisher: Kickstarter, kind of.  
 
Maniac Mansion is back! Or at least, the creators of that classic game are back, with a very successful kickstarter for a new game called Thimbleweed Park.  Viewing the promo video for said kickstarter, I think we can count on a true retro delight.  There are hilarious referential jokes all throughout the kickstarter page.  Have a look if you have any interest at all. 



--------------------





Project Scissors: Nightcry 
Developer: Hifumi Kono and Takashi Shimizu
Publisher: Playism games
And one more game with celebrity developers: a horror game from the makers of the Clock Tower series and the director of JuOn (the grudge).  That was enough to get my attention.  Then I got scared after viewing some of the images.  Maybe I don't have the guts to play this game.  Do you?

-D