Broken Sword 3 I rage-quit the game after I failed for at least an hour to get past a scene were you had to act quickly to avoid being shot. The controls in this game are among the worst I have ever seen. They are super sluggish, do not respond quickly enough when they matter and the camera angles are confusing and can mess things up. The escape scene requires me to run away, which seems simple enough. However, the camera is fixated and requires your character to run toward you. But the problem is: pressing the up key is normally used for walking forward, but in some camera angles in can also mean the opposite. So what you have to do is: counterintuitively press down to reset the camera view, then quickly press up to move forward. However, due to the sluggishness of the controls, you are shot almost immediately and have to see a 1-minute cutscene again.
Other than this, the game is not as engaging. Locations are empty, you spend a lot of time walking, checking out locked doors (and there are a LOT of them) and spending time memorising the unintuitive keys.
01kipper: Book of Unwritten Tales 2 (PS4)
After finishing the first two games in the series, I was eager to give the 3rd one a try. I didn’t own BoUT2 for my desktop computer, but I managed to borrow the PS4 disc from my local library.
I got about 1/4 of the way through the game before I called it quits. At first I thought I wasn’t enjoying the game as much because I needed to get used to the controls (it’s a bit awkward on the PS4), but after playing for a number of hours I was pretty used to the controller but still not enjoying the game.
The character artwork was much nicer in this game, much more smooth and cartoon-like. The voice acting is still excellent. The puzzles are still quite logical. But overall I felt like the game was less funny, less silly, and even more slow-paced than BoUT. After completing about 1/4 of the game, nothing (plot-wise) had really happened yet, I still had no idea where the game was heading, which left me a bit lost and unmotivated to continue.
I am torn on this game too. The humour is definitely there, but the plot or engaging story isn't. The game just has no momentum and it seems like they were trying to divert your attention away from the main plot. I think this game is more of a spinoff, like Critter Chronicles, just starring Wilbur. Nate and Critter contribute almost nothing to the main story and their own parts feel pointless and serve no purpose. Ivo has a bit more of her own storyline with the pregnancy, but then the 'mysterious' aspect hinted upon in the first act is wrapped up so quickly and the storyline is not even concluded in any way. The last act is so disconnected from the rest of game, as if you had a blackout for an hour. The ending cutscene and post-credits scene were among the most disappointing conclusions I have seen in years, it felt like a big 'screw you'. To me, this game is not longer than the first game, I actually feel the opposite. The first game felt like a much bigger adventure to me and it was more engaging. Part 2 is just not a 5-star game.
01kipper: Grim Fandango Remastered (PS4)
The game starts out well, it’s funny and a bit silly while Manny is still in his office building. There were a couple of annoyances: the inventory system (you have to scroll through every item one by one until you find the one you want); and the size of some of the areas is very large on the screen, meaning that it takes Manny a seemingly interminable time to cross them (even running). But I was willing to overlook them because I was enjoying the game nevertheless.
However, once Manny leaves the vicinity of his office the game really started to go down hill. I didn’t find the areas or the characters interesting. The story becomes more serious and less light-hearted. Nor was I a fan of the overall art style.
I eventually quit soon after “Year 2” began, I was just not enjoying the game at all anymore. I wasn’t expecting a masterpiece (despite some reviews), but I was disappointed nevertheless.
I got stuck in year 3, I think. Have not played since. I think Grim Fandango is seriously overrated. The inventory controls are so bad, I cannot fathom why they thought they should keep them for the remastered version. They were probably too nervous to change anything, just to please the fan base. Even for its time, and I played other adventure games that are from the same period, I think this game is just not any good. I wonder why it is praised so much.
drealmer7: played Machinarium a bit with my partner and we enjoyed it okay but it was nothing great and we didn't get very far before ... I don't know, getting distracted by other things. I don't remember the controls being a problem and probably didn't get far enough to get annoyed by puzzles (they seemed pretty cake or took just a couple minutes of thought but weren't overly difficult. I think what I remember most about some of them was I knew what had to be done but didn't know how the game wanted me to execute it, which was a bit annoying. If we'd gotten further I'd probably have been more turned off and have less of an okay feeling than I do about it now having not gotten very far.) It did seem a bit juvenile and definitely not a must-play P&C (barely any story, which is what I think the best qualities of great P&Cs is.) Don't blame you for deleting it.
I think what many people overlook is that Machinarium is more of a puzzle game than a classic point-and-click adventure. You really have to like the idea that you will get stuck at certain places, because you are not able to figure out something. I found this very telling with the board game. There was a trick to win the game, but you really had to figure it out or just continue to play over and over and win by luck. The point-and-click part is usually not a problem, as the game world is fairly linear. What I liked the most about this game is the art style and how it manages to draw you into the world. I was never able to decide whether it was good or bad to live in that robot city. Some parts were depressing, others imaginative and inspiring. For every bad robot, there was at least a good robot as well. Good and evil balancing each other out. I found that beautiful.
