Broken Age

[Fandango9641]

Broken Age

Being the huge Tim Schafer junkie and fan of old school adventure games that I am, I picked Broken Age up earlier this week and managed to put aside an hour or two to give it a whirl this weekend. Honestly, I'm not all that impressed! Great production value aside, I'm just not digging the writing and am finding the 'puzzles' to be super, super easy. Anyone else pick this up? How are you finding it?

 

[volsung]

I am a big fan of traditional adventure games (in fact I'm just replaying Loom) but I want to wait until Broken Age is complete before I buy it. I don't want to have to stop halfway through the game.

Also I want a DRM-free Linux version, and so far I only found it on Steam.

 

[Fandango9641]

Aye, I purchased it on Steam for my sins. Never got around to playing Loom - perhaps we should start ourselves a dedicated old-school adventure game thread?

 

[volsung]

Aye, I purchased it on Steam for my sins. Never got around to playing Loom - perhaps we should start ourselves a dedicated old-school adventure game thread?

There: http://forums.cdprojektred.com/threads/28879-Playing-traditional-adventure-games

 

[Jack_in_the-Green]

I think there will be a DRM-Free version (outside of STEAM), that aparently will be out for backers when 2nd part is finished... Not sure about Linux...

But Im pretty sure regular gamers that didnt backed the game will have to endure the STEAM version, for what Ive been hearing in Double-Fine's forums...

I absolutely love the art design and voice over work,:cheers: but agree in general that puzzles are a little too easy... Maybe they will crank up the difficulty for the second part, it makes sense.

 

[volsung]

In retrospect most adventure games weren't very long but the hard puzzles made them last for a while. I remember battling with games like the Day of the Tentacle and Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis for years, before I had access to the Internet.

 

[Jack_in_the-Green]

Update: As a Valentine's Day "gift" Double Fine has just delivered the DRM-Free version of the 1st Chapter to all backers.

 

[volsung]

How? Direct download from their server or a third party like the Humble Store? Will it be available for purchase?

 

[Jack_in_the-Green]

How? Direct download from their server or a third party like the Humble Store? Will it be available for purchase?

From your account in Humble Bundle... The files (also the STEAM version) are being forward to backers through their Humble Bundle's accounts.

 

[volsung]

Cool, Humble Bundle. I hope the other Kickstarted projects will consider that as an option too. Right now we're stuck with either a multiplatform version with Steam DRM, or a DRM-free version from GOG who neglect's Linux support.

 

[Fandango9641]

Ok, so I finally got around to finishing off part 1 and man this game is bland! There's no challenge, the writing is kind of tame and the overall presentation seems to play to a really young demographic. I mean the game is somewhat fun - in a benign kind of way - but doesn't come anywhere close to hitting the (admittedly high) watermark of games like Grim Fandango or Monkey Island. Disappointing!

 

[octavian123]

Ok, so I finally got around to finishing off part 1 and man this game is bland! There's no challenge, the writing is kind of tame and the overall presentation seems to play to a really young demographic. I mean the game is somewhat fun - in a benign kind of way - but doesn't come anywhere close to hitting the (admittedly high) watermark of games like Grim Fandango or Monkey Island. Disappointing!

Yep, that's what I thought. I still don't regret funding it though.

 

[volsung]

It's a shame to hear that. I expected a full fledged adventure game with puzzles that would make you sweat blood and with narrative worthy of at least a paperback novel. Maybe they will make it up with the second part.

I suppose Tim Schafer is not much of a management guy and Double Fine got a little overwhelmed with their 3 million dollars. Tim is very creative and funny, but maybe he needs a little direction. In any case, it's good that a game like this was made. Perhaps it will mark the return of the genre on a regular basis.

There *are* other decent adventure games out there, though mostly indies. Daedalic (Deponia, The Whispered World, Chains of Satinav, Memoria) makes fun, relatively polished games but still has much to learn in mechanics and characterization. Wadjet Eye games are somewhat raw. And Amanita design are more art showcases than proper games, although Machinarium was awesome (but short). Telltale is busy consolidating their own approach: interactive narrative is fun, but games like The Walking Dead barely had any puzzles or logical thinking. Their former games, including Sam & Max seasons 1, 2 and 3, Tales of Monkey Island, Wallace and Grommit, and even Puzzle Agent, are all fun but again, really lame puzzles. Out of all these, I think ToMI has the most polished puzzles, but the episodic nature limits the scope of well, everything. We barely have any traditional adventures left, so maybe after the Broken Age experiment Double Fine will have something better to offer.

I admire inXile for their approach though. Tim Schafer might have broken the kickstarter game scope but Brian Fargo has shown he really knows his business. Wasteland 2 might yet become a modern classic, while Broken Age is probably just probing the adventure game "market".

 

[Fandango9641]

Honestly, I half suspect that the success of Telltale's recent offerings influenced the development of this game. I've been trying to place it in my mind and would say that Broken Age probably sits somewhere between those great old adventure games of yore and the wonderful Walking Dead. As for the writing - which has always been Schafer's strongest suit - it never had me laughing out loud.