Playing traditional adventure games

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Just finished replaying The Dig, which I hadn't touched in over a decade.

Gameplay wise it's quite a modern game, one of if not the first LucasArts game to introduce the double-click, fast transition mechanic we all love. Graphics and animation are still great.

While the concept in general is very interesting, the writing is as atrocious as I remembered. It's full of tacky, Hollywoodesque one liners. The voice cast leaves something to be desired as well, specially Maggie.

It is however a true adventure game with lots of exploration and some problem solving. I do wish there were more puzzles and things to solve.

Not my favorite adventure game, but give it a try.
 


stasisgame.com

 
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We have the "Playing Classic RPG's" thread (which is one of my favorites) so I figured, why not have a thread dedicated to the good old (and new) text and graphical adventure genre?

When we talk about adventure we talk about exploration and problem solving, not running down a slope in a tropical jungle shooting down jaguarbears and ancient deities with handguns. We talk about the almost dead genre that favored, above all else, narrative depth and rich visual scenes (whether drawn of described by text). In fact, I believe this (graphical adventure) to be the one PC or video game genre that best exemplifies why video games can be art. Essentially, a traditional adventure game is an interplay of literature, visual arts and music.

So bring it on!

I was a little late to the Adventure game boom ~ Played Monkey Island, Kings Quest and Heart of Darkness though :x all fun - Never finished HoD.

Just noticed this thread, thanks for putting this up so I can find more, I enjoy this type of game ~Assuming I didn't get the wrong angle on this :)
 
Release: STASIS



A familiar ambience awaits...

STASIS
, an istometric point-and-click horror adventure, is available now on Windows and Mac OS X - DRM-free on GOG.com with a 20% launch discount.

There is a familiar, unmistakable feeling to STASIS, an atmosphere we've felt before. A musical, ambient hum of decrepit machinery. Dirty, pre-rendered environments. A horrid discomfort and grime.Through subtle graphical aesthetic, particular animation and sound design, STASIS invokes powerful memories of exploring the desolate vaults of Fallout, the twisted halls of Sanitarium, and the strangest corners of Planescape: Torment - a freak-show, a circus of nostalgia.

STASIS
tells its story on a derelict spacecraft, home of self-professed gods and scientific progress, where everything that could go wrong, did: technical failures, deaths, inhuman experiments and an orbit in decay. You're a survivor on the lifeless, floating husk - perhaps the last, perhaps just one of the few. You hope for the latter, because your child and wife were right beside you as you fell into a deep, cryogenic sleep. With deeply ingrained old-school influences, and a soundtrack designed by the man behind the 90's most iconic gaming sounds (including Fallout, Planescape: Torment and Sanitarium) STASIS strikes an unprecedented balance between a modern revival, and a classic aura.

If you're up for more classic intensity, you can also pick up the Deluxe Edition, complete with Unique Backgrounds, a PDF Art Book, and the incredible OST in MP3 and lossless FLAC.

The memory lives on in STASIS, available now, DRM-free on GOG.com. The launch discount will last for one week, until Monday, September 7, 12:59 PM GMT.

Developer Q&A:

If you're as intrigued by the game and its influences as we are, drop by for the upcoming Developer Q&A, where Chris & Nick Bischoff - the guys behind the game - will answer all of your questions about the game or their favorite coffee place.

Look for the dedicated forum and newscasts, and join us between 6:00-8:00 PM GMT on Tuesday, September 1!
gog.com/news/release_stasis
 
Fair bit of warning in regards to Stasis - this game is so old school it's hard-locked at 1280x720. And you can't do a damn thing about it because the backgrounds have been rendered at that resolution.

Apart from that it's nothing short of impressive so far, and even more so considering that basically one dude put it all together over the course of 6 years.
Great unsettling atmosphere as well, very Alien(s)/Event Horizon/Pandorum-like.
 
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I've recently played 'I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream' - this is a pure gold of a story, don't know how I missed it back in time. The most terrifyingly depressive thing I've ever seen in videogame format.

Also I'm a huge fan of The Longest Journey/Dreamfall franchise, and particularly fond of Syberia games. Most of Lucas Arts' games not exactly my cup of tea, though they are quite good written, but Grim Fandango is unearthly great.
 
Way too many games in this genre to mention but if I had to name a few that stand out:

Syberia II and the Longest Journey might be my favorite in the "serious" adventure genre... however the scales shift slightly towards Lucas arts and their brilliant franchises Day of the Tentacle/Monkey Island/Indiana Jones...

Special mention to Sherlock Holmes the Silver Earring and the Awakened.

Also if you like the goofiness of old-school LucasArts, the more "recent" Runaway trilogy comes to mind, very good and silly at the same time...
 
Hi @Redemyr.

I personally didn't like the Longest Journey. It's nice playing as a female character on equal terms with everyone else but I actually thought the game portrayed April Ryan as an extremely annoying brat. Many times the only dialogue options were truly embarrassing, or showed she wasn't paying attention.

But yeah the classic LucasArts games are amazing, almost all all them. If you haven't you should try out Full Throttle, and of course Grim Fandango now that it's available from GOG.com.
 
So in case anyone needs a scratching for their point-and-click adventure itch - Stasis may just provide that.

If:

- you can see past its minor technical deficiencies (locked resolution at a somewhat blurry 1280x720 and potential glitches in cutscenes and animations when running at refresh rates > 60Hz) and pretend that it's a contemporary to games like Sanitarium or the first two Fallouts

- you don't mind your point-and-click adventure being a bit on the shorter side of things

- you don't mind a fairly linear approach to puzzle-solving which, apart from one or two exceptions doesn't leave too much room for complete failure

- you always wanted a much bleaker and more psychological isometric version of Dead Space or System Shock 2, having the aforementioned Alien(s), Event Horizon, Pandorum or Sunshine written all over it

- you can appreciate (or even enjoy) having the opportunity to put an end to the protagonist's life in various and creative ways, by either (ab)using most of the items you pick up along the way or by means of environmental hazards

- you can appreciate having the opportunity to listen to more music by Mark Morgan
 
This Chris Bischoff guy... sure has talent:








Wasteland 2 Fan Art - NIGHT



Wasteland 2 Fan Art - DAY



Wasteland 2 Fan Art - MORNING



Wasteland 2 Fan Art - DUSK



Plane



When Wasteland 2 was announced I delved right in and did these concepts for what I thought the game could look like. Obviously the FALLOUT influence is strong, although there isn't any reference to the 'retro futurism' that FALLOUT had. Instead its a much straighter look at a 'Post Apocalyptic' world.


Fallout 4 - 2D Isometric



Fallout 4 - 2D Isometric



To celebrate the release of STASIS I wanted to do something special! Fallout was a HUGE influence on STASIS, even with Mark Morgan signing on to do the games beautiful soundtrack! Here is our take on FALLOUT 4 - keeping it in the original 2D Isometric view!







1000 Years Later - Prototype











Ah, so he has some healthy envy :) That's good. Do you have a source for what he said? I'm interested in collecting these opinions of RPG veterans about Witcher games. May be it would be useful to make a dedicated thread about it. Or continue one he had about roleplaying aspects of TW3.
He put it a bit differently (as in that he's very likely to 'hate' it) in the original tweet but there's no reason not to imagine him foaming at the mouth while playing Wild Hunt, at least as far as roleplaying aspects are concerned.

Downloading Witcher 3 now... I'm sure I'll hate it. Hate how good it is.
twitter.com/BrianFargo/status/603178507817082880


He also seemed particularly fond of this little coincidence(?):

My favorite Witcher 3 screen...

twitter.com/BrianFargo/status/601280497797484544
 
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Way too many games in this genre to mention but if I had to name a few that stand out:

Syberia II and the Longest Journey might be my favorite in the "serious" adventure genre... however the scales shift slightly towards Lucas arts and their brilliant franchises Day of the Tentacle/Monkey Island/Indiana Jones...

Special mention to Sherlock Holmes the Silver Earring and the Awakened.

Also if you like the goofiness of old-school LucasArts, the more "recent" Runaway trilogy comes to mind, very good and silly at the same time...

Longest Journey is my favorite adventure game. Here's hoping they make The Longest Journey Home before I get too old
 
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