So... has anyone played it? Thoughts? Is it understandable, or a goddamned mess like Brain Pipe?

It's good.

I've completed it and... wow! Best adventure game I've played in... actually, it's hard to think of a better one. I think only The Longest Journey trumps it. Even then only just. Which is as much to do with the games' length as anything.

Seriously? This soon? Wow. I usually feel I need to wait a year, think about it some more, and then decide it's my favorite game of all time. What got you the most? The puzzles, art, music, story, controls?

I'm not saying it's my favourite game of all time. That would require a great deal more retrospective, like you say. But it's easier to compare to adventures.
The art style is the first thing that hits you. Sketchy, yet detailed drawings that have been highly polished, painted and exquisitely animated.
The characterisation is also exceptional. Perhaps this is thanks to the fact that there is never a word spoken in the game. The handicap making the other aspects stronger to compensate. But the game has a way of making you feel for the characters in ways you'd have thought impossible given that they're mute machines.
But it's perhaps the puzzles that steal the show, both in terms of variety and challenge. Yet there is a helpful hint system at hand if it leaves you baffled.
All in all it's a charming, creative and exceptionally well polished game that I recommend highly.

Yeah, very good.

Personally, I won't be buying this until it has a 50% sale. I just can't justify paying $20 for a flash based game, no matter how good it's supposed to be.

What's the difference between this and the Flash based predecessor?

A $20 price tag?

... And?

How the hell would I know? I'm not forking out $20 to find out!

Don't be daft. This is a real adventure game, it just happens to be written in Flash.

Obviously some people are.
Maybe when it's extremely cheap, I'll think about it. Right now I have too many adventure games to play that I haven't even begun.

Some people hate DRM, I hate paying over $10 for games written in Flash. End of.

Well, you _are_ daft, then. :-)
Navagon says it's maybe the best adventure game he's ever played. Maybe better than TLJ. I've only played half an hour so far, but it has more charm than pretty much any adventure game released in the last decade, including everything by Telltale.
Armageddon Empires was the best strategy game I played last year, and that was written in Adobe Director. Sure, I could have made up some silly reason not to play it (heck, that one costs $30), but all that would have achieved is to deprive me of one of the best gaming experiences I had last year.