Posted September 21, 2019
I find the puzzles in Technobabylon fell in the easier side, which is OK. Sometimes I feel like having a more relaxing experience with the puzzles and focus more on the story and characters. There wasn't moon logic or pixel hunting, but some of them made me step back and think about a logical solution (especially those about handling the futuristic technology). It can also help getting newer players into the genre.
However, I feel in general most puzzles felt easier than they were in paper, because usually everything you need to advance or solve a situation is right there where the problem is (or at the most, next door). This is probably a consequence of dividing the game in mini-chapters with alternating characters (and often resetting inventory). Each chapter is contained in very few rooms (sometimes it's only just two), so the objects and people to interact are limited. I wish they had shaken things a bit and place some items in other locations. My favorite part of the game was the final chapter, when you handle three characters at the same time and need to use their skills in the different levels of the tower. I also especially enjoyed Latha's visit to the underground trancing club (with several things to do in both the physical and the virtual world).
For example, every thing you need in the appartment crime scene is either in the main room, the upstairs room or the outside corridor. What if the magnet or the battery charger had been places in a different location that would have been needed to visit?
Or during the restaurant mystery murder, what if you could switch to Lao and send her to one of the conspirator's house or office to check their alabis, instead of having her driving around in circles?
Or in the plant laboratory, what if the injector and the medicine to cure the aphasia were in CEL's medical lab instead of literally next door? In this case no new rooms would have been needed, so no extra budget for art assets.
However, I feel in general most puzzles felt easier than they were in paper, because usually everything you need to advance or solve a situation is right there where the problem is (or at the most, next door). This is probably a consequence of dividing the game in mini-chapters with alternating characters (and often resetting inventory). Each chapter is contained in very few rooms (sometimes it's only just two), so the objects and people to interact are limited. I wish they had shaken things a bit and place some items in other locations. My favorite part of the game was the final chapter, when you handle three characters at the same time and need to use their skills in the different levels of the tower. I also especially enjoyed Latha's visit to the underground trancing club (with several things to do in both the physical and the virtual world).
For example, every thing you need in the appartment crime scene is either in the main room, the upstairs room or the outside corridor. What if the magnet or the battery charger had been places in a different location that would have been needed to visit?
Or during the restaurant mystery murder, what if you could switch to Lao and send her to one of the conspirator's house or office to check their alabis, instead of having her driving around in circles?
Or in the plant laboratory, what if the injector and the medicine to cure the aphasia were in CEL's medical lab instead of literally next door? In this case no new rooms would have been needed, so no extra budget for art assets.