Adventure/Puzzle games

from Elemental Forums

Anyone else really not enjoy what are dubbed adventure puzzle games? Solving puzzles to me is just a variation on the Police/Space/King's quest series or something like Leisure Suit Larry. That you have to solve the puzzle in a very specific way the designers intend and the puzzle takes you out of the immersion. Sure some puzzle's may have a few variations, but its very limited and linear. Which is frustrating for me because I've been looking for a game I can be immersed in with good game play, graphics, and an indepth story to tell that is first person or third person.

An example that comes to mind is Call of Cthulu:Dark Corners of the Earth. Basically you go through Lovecraft's Innsmouth Horror if my memory is correct. The problem is everything you did in that game was following something very linear. The generic you have to pick up the flower to give to the maiden who gives you a coin which you use to hold open the secret door which leads you to the underground pumpkin patch where you find a candle which lights your way to the floating islands which you hop across...etc etc etc.

 

The only games I've played that I really enjoyed that were in these genres were Fallout: New Vegas and Vampire:Bloodlines. In these the atmosphere was amazing, the voice acting was great(new vegas's characters were a ton better than fallout iii which bored me/drew me out of immersion because of the characters in the game), the game play worked really well. The "puzzles" were very immersed and depending on your skills you could "solve" them in many different ways. On the few exceptions where the particular situation was linear the game didn't lose me. For example, going after the "serial" killer gangrel in the car junkyard in Bloodlines still had a few ways to avoid taking damage based on your skills and it was over fairly quickly.

So anyone else like me? Have you found any games that are actually immersing in this genre? Anyone else annoyed 'immersive' is not an accepted word in the forum's spell checker? ;P

28,965 views 10 replies
Reply #2 from Sins Forums Top

Not sure if it's necessarily the same thing, but one of the most immerse games that I've played is 'Dreamfall: The Longest Journey' purely from a story standpoint.

 

http://www.dreamfall.com/

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Reply #3 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting boshimi336, reply 2
Not sure if it's necessarily the same thing, but one of the most immerse games that I've played is 'Dreamfall: The Longest Journey' purely from a story standpoint.

 

http://www.dreamfall.com/

Thanks i'll check it out. Though the fact that it has "mini games" is a bit disconcerting.

 

 

Reply #4 from Stardock Forums Top

There are a lot of these types of games making a comeback on Kickstarters.

 

Remember Shadowgate?  http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/zojoi/shadowgate

And the Quest for Glory devs have a new one called Hero-U:  http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1878147873/hero-u-rogue-to-redemption

 

Hero-U may not make it's funding goal. Shadowgate has a better chance.  But check them out.  Kickstarter has been great for games like this.

Reply #5 from Elemental Forums Top

I highly recomment a recent game called The Dark Eye of Satinav. It's very linear, but beautifully drawn, and the story, at least for me, is captivating. 

Best adventures I have ever played (some are not pure adventures):

Gabriel Knight 1-3

Dreamweb

Perihelion

Silent Hill games (considered as "horror survival", but I play them for the narrative)

To the Moon

Dark Earth

Tangle in the Web (Interative fiction)

Zeno Clash

Heavy Rain

 

... and many, many more

Reply #6 from Sins Forums Top

Quoting Kamamura_CZ, reply 6
Heavy Rain

 

This is another good one.

Reply #7 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Kamamura_CZ, reply 6
I highly recomment a recent game called The Dark Eye of Satinav. It's very linear, but beautifully drawn, and the story, at least for me, is captivating. 

Best adventures I have ever played (some are not pure adventures):

Gabriel Knight 1-3

Dreamweb

Perihelion

Silent Hill games (considered as "horror survival", but I play them for the narrative)

To the Moon

Dark Earth

Tangle in the Web (Interative fiction)

Zeno Clash

Heavy Rain

 

... and many, many more

My whole point is I do not like most of the games because of the linear aspect and the puzzles. Something can be drawn great, but if the game plays shiete there's no point in playing.

Reply #8 from Sins Forums Top

You will very probably enjoy Dreamfall: The Longest Journey as it is an Action/Adventure game with a very deep story.

http://www.ign.com/games/dreamfall-the-longest-journey/pc-535842

If you are looking for more on the Dark Thriller side of an Action/Adventure with a deep engaging storyline, then Heavy Rain is probably for you as well.

http://www.ign.com/games/heavy-rain/ps3-811232

 

These are the two games I would recommend the most.

Reply #9 from Elemental Forums Top

Syberia 1 & 2. I mean, I love a lot of the games listed, but how those two have been missed I don't know. Also, Tex Murphy, Broken Sword, hell, just go to GoG, click adventure, sort by user rating and run down the list all the way to 4 star. Easy.

Reply #10 from Elemental Forums Top

Well, you have to chose, i am afraid - you either get a linear (or semi-linear game), and a good story, or you get a sandbox-style gameplay with a lot of freedom, but the story will lack the dramatic pacing.

If you want the opposite side of the spectre, try Dwarf Fortress - the adventure mode and the Legends provide hilarious emergent stories, but the game is not very accessible. Also, GTA games offer a lot of freedom with hilarious story bits, and I consider the games very well designed. 

 

An old game inspired by the Gibson's classic called "Neuromancer" comes to mind - the game is very old, but the gameplay was excellent, you were a hacker in the cyberspace, the game took place both in the real world, where you could purchase components for your deck, implants, or even sell an organ or two when out of cash, and in the cyberspace, where you scoured for critical information, hacked ice defenses on databases, fought AIs, etc.

But if you really want relative freedom, immersive story and clever puzzles, I recommend to forget about graphic games and try modern text-only interactive fiction - anything from Andrew Plotkin like So Far, again Tangle in the Web, or Galatea, Photophobia and others. The interpreters and games are free.