I might be talking out of turn here from a position of ignorance, but I've always seen point-and-click adventure games as one of the most accessible genres to make. It's partly because tools like Adventure Game Studio exist, which sells itself on the premise that anyone can use the program to make an adventure game, but also because they seem to be one of the most prolific genres around.
Viewing entries tagged
adventure
As much as I'd like to claim otherwise, it's impossible for me to distance myself from when I was a kid spending hours fixated by LucasArts point-and-click adventures. I know I'm not alone, so it's nothing new, but I'd like to think that even though nostalgia can spark interest in a game, it doesn't dictate one's enjoyment. The thing is though, I'm not sure if I love Thimbleweed Park because it takes me back to being a kid, or because it's a fantastic iteration on the genre. I guess I'm pretty sure that it's both.
Seems I've been playing a few mobile ports lately, which could reveal an improvement of mobile games, or perhaps a better understanding of how to port mobile games to PC. A while ago it seemed like every mobile port was guaranteed to be garbage, but it's hard to deny that developers have learned from past mistakes and there are some cool titles available if you look hard enough.
Following up a huge indie success must be like trying to write a novel after publishing a best-seller. All that expectation and affection gained from success can often be a recipe for disaster, as a sequel rarely lives up to its predecessor. Of course, we remember the ones that do, but have a look at movies in particular, and you'll find that there are a hell of a lot of sequels that you've probably never heard of.
I think it's fair to say that narrative focused games got a real boost when TellTale came out with their version of The Walking Dead. It was arguably when the mix between visual novels and point and click adventures became popular. So why haven't we seen more clones of the formula? Why is it that Life Is Strange feels like the only direct competitor around?
With Steam Greenlight slowly dying at the side of the road, it might be worth having a think about some of its relative success stories. I say relative, because there's a bit of a well-earned stigma around Greenlit games, which are arguably considered to be of lower quality than the dreaded Early Access title. On the flip side, we now have a bunch of weird little games that probably would never have seen the light of day without the Greenlight entry point.
For the longest time, I didn't have a console in the house to play games on. Since the SNES I had been a PC gamer, but when the shiny new Playstation 3 was released, I knew it was time to dive back in. One of the first games I played on this fancy new generation was Ninja Theory's hack and slash Heavenly Sword. It was the pinnacle of graphics, but suffered from a short campaign with uninspired combat. I didn't care at the time, because I was blown away by the experience, so continuing the journey with Enslaved: Odyssey To The West couldn't go wrong.
I find it increasingly hard to put up with a game that leans on easy one liners and fourth wall breaking in an attempt to shoehorn humour into its writing. It's often on the nose and fails to add any actual wit to the writing, so I'm a little surprised at how much I forgave Her Majesty's Spiffing after it quickly stumbled across the finish line. There's something to be said about self-awareness, but there's something else to be said about it being the sum total of an experience.
For a new console to have a killer game available on release day, it usually takes something special. Recently a whole bunch of people got excited about a new Zelda title gracing the shelves along with the Nintendo Switch. So much so, that the game has outsold the console (at time of writing). When I think back to awesome launch titles I've played, I inevitably draw a blank. Often it's much easier to remember the disaster of a game like Lair (PS3 launch), or some shoe-horned Kinect driven abomination.
If paintings ever came to life and you were able to walk around in their world, I imagine it would be pretty close to what Nubla proposes. Even the shortcomings of this student game could be realistic downsides to a painted world that probably doesn't work the way you'd expect.
Surely I'm not the only one who missed out on the hype train that was Moirai back in 2013, but the thousands of reviews and praise for this short free to play game stand testament to its popularity. It wasn't until someone posted a link on social media with the caveat "just play it" that I even had an inkling it existed.