You are skilled differently.

Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
Completed my first playthrough in about 15 years and I still love everything about this games. Even for today's standards the graphics are beautiful (of course only if you like pixel-graphics), the voice acting is great, the dialogues and the story are well-written and there's replaybility, because of the three different paths (I chose the one with Indy and Sophia) and the possibility to solve many puzzles in different ways.

Game was shorter than I remembered, but that's probably because I still remembered the solution of some of the puzzles (especially the more obscure ones).

It's great to have the game here and I will certainly return at some point to try the two other paths as well.

Complete list of finished games in 2014

The Secret of Monkey Island - Special Edition (WinXP)

To be honest, the new version has too many flaws for this price tag.
You still have to use the old "Look, Pick up, Push, Pull, Open etc..." control scheme but the area with those buttons (through which you can derive the keyboard shortcuts easily) isn't there anymore, neither is the inventory and you have to open the inventory with ALT, which I've never seen before. It's ignoring all standards, the old one as well as the new one. What I don't like either is Guybrush's new look. Most of the time it looks like he has a sidecut and in general he is the usualy comic like big and thin figure instead of his old self, especcially the last picture with him and Elaine looks better in the original version.
The feature to switch between versions instantly with a button press is neat though.
The content is the same as before, Monkey Island 1 is just plain weird and defies most logic, which makes it a lot of trial and error compared to modern point'n'click adventures, but it has a certain charme.

Full list:
http://www.gog.com/forum/general/games_finished_in_2014/post695

Finished The Walking Dead Season 2

So yes, I know, it's more an interactive story than a game, I've played the first season, thank you. ^_^ But I can't help to be a little disappointed. Clementine goes through so much shit that sometimes i felt she should have had other, starker, dialogue options. Plus the side characters are incredibly underdeveloped, which means I barely related to them. Take Sarah, Mike or Luke, now that's wasted characters with potential...

Plus it's a bit of a "Game of Thrones" approach: you start to like that character? Boom! he/she dies, how unexpected! ^_^ At that rate, there will soon only be walkers in that world. Plus there are some scenario problems: in the opening, Christa is pregnant from Obed, as it is in Season 1, something happens, you're transported 16 months later and no pregnancy anymore, no baby anywhere, no story about it. WHAT !? If Christa lost it for whatever reason, it would have made an interesting side story, but no.

Last, I played the 400 days DLC of Season 1... and barely recognized any character from it in Season 2. What was the point...

Don't misunderstand me, I still enjoyed that game, but I hope they'll do better story wise for season 3...

So far in 2014: http://www.gog.com/forum/general/games_finished_in_2014/post132

Dracula 4: Shadow Of The Dragon

Wait a second, an adventure game that I've finished in less than one and a half hour?! WTF?! Fortunately Dracula 5 was added for free because otherwise I would be furious about the length of the game and a cliffhanger ending.

The game itself is perhaps not bad. The problem is that even though I took several months long break I'm still comparing it to Dracula 3, one of my favorite adventure games ever. The atmosphere in Dracula 3 is unmatched! Theoretically nothing really important was happening but all the time you had a fleeting feeling that something sinister was behind it. A sentient mind that was trying to lure you to follow his path, the Path of the Dragon. Nothing like this can be said about Dracula 4. You still solve some puzzles and break codes but they are clearly set up by a mere mortal. The only moment that the feeling of "something evil behind it" came back was... the aforementioned cliffhanger ending!

I'll continue with Dracula 5 and I hope it will enhance my overall experience! EDIT: and so I did:

Dracula 5: The Blood Legacy

As it could have been expected it took me only another hour or so to finish the last part. These games should have never been released separately! Two and a half hour adventure game is still short! And I didn't use any walkthroughs nor hints.

The biggest problem of those games is that you can only get stuck in logical puzzles. In Dracula 3, as I already mentioned, you were searching for something in a fog and after some time you realized that it couldn't be a coincidence, some great mind had to be behind it! Here you cannot see anything like that. Wherever you come there is a character who explains you what you should do next. Sure, then you'll face some logic puzzles, some of them challenging but that's all. In Dracula 3 I was talking a few breaks just to try to understand what was that all about. To actually follow the Path of the Dragon, not simply solve puzzles (I guess it would be possible to beat the game this way too but it would be just not entertaining). In Dracula 4+5 there is basically nothing to think about. It's a shame that this series finishes this way...

Full list

I don't play a lot of games with a standard "beginning, middle, end" at least not lately. I've mostly played open-ended rpgs, strategy games like EU 3 and CK2, or skirmishing with friends in Dawn of War.

However, recently I got Bastion...
It's rare for me to play games of this type (2D, "cutesy" animated, action-rpgs) but I am extraordinarily glad that I took a chance with this one. From the beginning the beautiful visuals immerse you in a world that is both unique and wholly familiar; many games of this type exist but Bastion truly stands above the rest due to the unique concept of the platforming system and the art style. The narration provided by the gravelly-voiced Logan Cunningham made me press on even when I grew bored or disinterested.He's a serious talent in this arena.
Gameplay was not overly challenging, although I admittedly did not complete all parts of the game, such as some of the Challenge Zones and the dream sequences. My goal was to see the main story through because it interested me, even if the twists and turns weren't all that surprising, it was compelling.
Much has been said of the soundtrack but I'm still going to talk about how gorgeous Ashley Barret's vocals are, and how perfect Darren Kolb's guitar work and compositions were. Get this game, play it, and if you don't like it, please tell me why.

Two Worlds:

A strange game, very flawed but somehow compelling. The writing (especially the dialog) is horrible, the voice acting is abysmal, quests break if you don't do them in the "right" order (luckily, only side-quests, the main questline worked). World building is obviously incomplete - there's a lot of history and lore hinted at but it lacks fleshing out.
To be honest I tried this game as a diversion from The Witcher 2 - I wasn't sharp enough for the action combat and didn't want to play it with the kids around - so I looked for an easier and more kid-friendly alternative and found the game in my library.
Well compared to The Witcher 2 is was like going from symphonic metal to easy listening - exactly the kind of relaxing game I was looking for. I can be played with divided attention and also with a tired mind. It just flows. And it's got the "one more..." thing going pretty well.
The main quest is rather bland - I mean, save the world and get the sexy woman is standard fare. The "twist" that the sexy woman is your sister is kind of strange - hey, where's my reward? And it's not like the game builds some attachement between the hero and his sister (like i.e. with Imoen in BG). And the conduction of the main quest is very old-school, too. Get the pieces of some artifact, once completed - boss battle. There is supposed to be some twist in who the real bad guy is, but it doesn't work - again, since there is no relationship to these people.
Side quests are a mixed bag. A lot of hunt and kill, fedex - but there are a few more creative ideas out there too. Sometimes you can determine the outcome of the quest. I rather liked the most, but it's a pretty bad idea that you have to actually try every door in a city to find all the quest givers.

I played as pure melee fighter, so I can't say a lot about ranged, magic and sneaky gameplay. Combat works quite well. In the beginning there is some grinding to be done to be able to leave the start area - the border is marked by "silver wolves" that are too tough, especially in groups. Once you manage to defeat them, it's easy going for most of the time until about the last third of the game. There combat gets a little more interesting, since you will battle large enemies that can kill you with one or two hits. Fortunately these are pretty slow - so it's time to do a little dance: Close in, chop chop, jump back, repeat until enemy dies. While it does get a little repetetive it is also strangely satisfying. The last third is an up-and-down in terms of difficulty. You will slaughter through hordes of enemies and barely take a scratch, and you'll encounter enemies where one mistake or just bad luck will kill you.
Overall, the game is not very difficult on medium setting - since you can't really die. If you die, you're instantly resurrected at the nearest life shrine. This sounds boring, but it's actually not that bad. In the beginning these shrines will be all over the place, but later on they are pretty far apart giving you the choice to either accepting resurrection and having to walk for miles to the point where you "left off", or load a saved game like you usually would in any other game.
The equipment system has a nice (of kind of strange) idea going: similar items can be "stacked" to improve them. So if you have i.e. a piece of armor and find the same piece in some loot, you can merge them for a "leveled up" version. The problem with this system is: there are literally hundreds of equiment pieces and sets of different quality and thus rarity. So it's a tough choice to keep the "plain" stuff that you often encounter and level it up, or stick to the better stuff, where - if you're unlucky - it takes ages to find a similar piece to upgrade it. Well you COULD keep all the valuable looking stuff and store it someplace so chances are increased you find upgrades for at least a few of them. But honestly - why bother. I went for a medium quality armor and weapons and during the course of the game managed to level them quite a bit. They were better than any level-1-rare item.

Visually the game is a mixed bag. I definitely looks pre-Oblivion. Overall there is not much detail (clutter, decoration...). Especially the cities have a rather bland look making it hard to remember places like quest giver houses (exception: Ashos). Countryside is okay and varied - mountainous regions, grasslands, desert, swamp.... Daylight and weather changes are nicely implemented and sometimes create beautiful sights. Characters and items could use more detail, but I can live with the way they are. Some of the monsters are pretty cool, especially the sea folk that look humanoid overgrown with fish, seashell and octopus. Animations are lacking, though.

Sound is actually quite good (except for voices). The music is rather good and never got on my nerves. Combat sound are ok, ambient sounds are well done.

The length of the game felt about right. I didn't do all of the sidequests (a few were broken by doing other things first). I wasn't sad that it was over, but I didn't cheer "finally!" either. Another positive aspect were loading times. The game loads and starts pretty quick. Traveling the country will sometimes trigger a short loading interruption (like half a second). Teleporting will get you a loading screen - but not for long either.
The game is very stable (except for script bugs like the quest breaking) and crashed on me only two times. Alt-Tabbing in and out is no problem - the game will auto-pause if it doesn't have the focus - nice. There were a few glitches in displaying far away objects like towns, but that's probably my fault since I hacked the game into a larger view distance than should be possible.

Final verdict: 3/5 - was worth my while, but nothing spectacular. If you're into deep stories, carefully crafted lore and associated quests - avoid this game. If you want some relaxing hack and slash in a diverse environment and don't care about story much - it may be for you. The kids had a lot of fun watching me play. It's not very graphic in terms of violence and has no really scary places to speak of - some dark, foggy graveyard is as far as it gets. Monsters are not very haunting either - it's more the standard fantasy variety with the occasional dinosaur horde thrown in. Even the undead sometimes look more cute than horrible.

Two Worlds 2

After the first game, that felt like an ambitious project that had outgrown it's developers, I was quite curious to try the second. And it really was a positive surprise. In comparision to the first, I was blown away. The landscape is outright beautiful. The characters are really well done. Animations are still lacking, especially in combat - but what the heck.

The main storyline is still a little... well it's not "big drama", though it tries. But it creates a nice backdrop for the game. The main quest is - aside from the story, well done. I especially loved how main quest and side quests intertwined - often some part of the MQ will start a questline that you can choose to follow further - or leave it be. The side quests are well done. The standards are present (fed-ex, hunt and kill, gather stuff) but there is a lot of variety and the quests are well told.


The voice-over is professional. Sometimes the English seems a little off but this didn't distract me much. I really loved the taciturn hero, countering the lengthy tales of the NPCs with a dry "Meaning?" or "So, what do you need?" or "What now?". A problem here is varying volumes - some speakers are too quiet, they are almost drowned in the background noises and music, while other (especially The Oracle) will blow your ears. Also some dialogues are badly scripted - lines are cut off or don't play at all. Again The Oracle has the biggest problems, but I noticed this in other places too.
Ambient sounds are very good - chirping, rustling, waves washing against the shore... And the soundtrack - I love it. There are your generic fantasy tunes, but there a lot of quiet tunes with violin, flute and harp. At first I didn't notice it much, but it kind of wormed into my brain. Then I sometimes stopped playing and just listened to the current tune. It's currently the music I listen to the most when doing household chores.


The whole artwork is very nicely crafted - every place has it's distinct atmosphere. I especially likes the savannah and desert with it's towns and hamlets in the first chapter. Day-and-night make for breathtaking views quite often.

Game mechanics work well - there is a very good crafting system here: Almost everything can be broken down to its components, which in turn allow for upgrading the equipment. Inventory management is a PITA sometimes, especially with the alchemical ingredients. I again choose melee fighter as my way of playing the game. At some point it got a little easy, though there were a few tougher portions strewn inbetween. If I ever play this game again, I'm going to try going mage - the magic systems looks very complex and creative.

Up to this point I would give the game a 4.5/5 - great fun with minor flaws. But here come the buts:

BUT: Why is the game suddenly over? That's what I tought at a very specific moment. I went for walkthroughs to make sure I hadn't missed something important - no. There's this huge island, nearly a continent in the north of the map. And it's mostly decorations. There are only two areas there, one small, one tiny, that you are supposed to visit. I tought I had beaten around half (or at most 2 3rds of the game) and it suddenly was over.
BUT2: The final battle. I felt - totally - fucked over by the devs. I mean, seriously? I tried it maybe 10 times, then I cheated my way through (I almost never do this). I know it can be done the regular way - I just didn't want to.

Nov 6 - Dark Ages (all three parts on easy)

Gameplay is decent and can be pretty difficult at times. Infinite lives and save/restore help with that, but restoring a game with only 1 health can be very tricky depending on the level, especially because health powerups are very scarce. Part 3 seemed the easiest of them all with only 1 or 2 tough areas. Controls are OK, though I wish you could crouch. Hit detection is good, but I did get stuck in a wall in the last level of part 3 (only time it happened). DOSBox rate needs to be low to run.

A Bird Story (8th November 9:20am)

I liked it, I have thoughts on what To The moon 2 is going to be about. The boy wants to fly again or something like that.

I totally recommend people to play it even if it is a bit on the short side. No words but it tells a good story

</span><span class="bold">Sam &amp; Max Hit The Road</span>

This is the first Lucas Arts game I have played, and I must say it definitely made a good impression!
Let me start from a technical standopint: considering that the game has been released in 1993, the detailed, colourful and cartoonish graphics are impressive to say the least, combined with smooth and varied animations still capable to command respect in the entire genere.
Also, the excellent sountrack and the appropriate and convincing voice acting really give a boost to the overall quality, producing imo one among the very best point and click adentures ever made.

The story follows the two main characters, Sam the dog and Max the -ultraviolent- rabbit, freelance policemen, in a "bigfoot chase" throughout the weirdest places in the United States; the whacky narrative will bring them in several "tourist traps", each one more absurd than the other, forcing the two to find even more ridiculous methods to accomplish their mission.
What I really loved about this game is the extravagant -and sometimes a bit black- humor, a crazy irony capable of holding toghether several nonsensical episodes to craft some of the funniest scenes I ever saw in a videogame: it is clear that the developers never cared about giving a sense to the plot or to tie places and actions with logic, opting instead for a wild comedy that concentrates on the single events and often breaks the fourth wall.

Under the gameplay point of view, there is really nothing particular to say: this is a great expression of the standard point'n'click game, focusing on a few basic actions (walk, look, talk, use, pick up) and combining them with a proper use of items. If you have ever played one, you know what to expect.
The puzzles are never too hard, but I warn you: if you don't want to remain stuck for minutes and minutes, remember to pillage every zone as soon as you reach it! Sometimes, the obvious solution of a problem was made more difficult by an object I accidentally ignored but I could have easily obtained before having the necessity to use it.

If you need both a good game and a few genuine LOLs, Sam & Max Hit The Road is the game for you!
The charismatic duo, the brilliant (if not eve genial, sometimes) comedy, the excellent technical quality and the will to see what absurd stunt the characters will do next make this game a must-buy for every esteemer of the genre.

Warmly recommended!

Enebias' official Seal of Approval™

I envy you! All the great adventure games you can still discover ...


I've heard that it's short, but seeing that you've played through it now, can you tell us how short "short" is? I think To the Moon was about four hours, so is this two hours? One hour? Less?

Thanks!

If you loved Sam & Max HtR, keep your fingers crossed that Day of the Tentacle will make its appearance here soon. You will love it, I think.

Updated list :

Chaser
Painkiller : Black Edition