Adventure games aren't dead yet! (Syberia)

[Mucman]

I was almost about to put my favorite genre to rest until I heard about Syberia! It's not quite as good as The Longest Journey, but it has
kept me quite busy.

Here's my summary of Syberia :

+ Art/Animation
+ atmosphere
+ Voice acting

- Puzzles don't make sense half the time
- Too many screens to travel... At least half the screens in the game don't have a puzzle. Lots of
eye candy but it gets in the way when you are stuck and you have to travel around to figure out what
to do next

The automaton them is very cool, and the story definitely drives you onwards... I am about 1/3 through the game and I can't
wait to meet this Hans character! Oscar has made me laugh a few times as well

 

[Mucman]

lol... maybe they are dead

 

[PrincessGuard]

Well the game did come out almost a year ago

I was meaning to liberate the only copy from the almost empty adventure game shelf at Frys, but it was gone the next time I went Maybe someone else felt sorry for it.

 

[Spyro]

Originally posted by: Mucman
lol... maybe they are dead

 

[PrincessGuard]

Just thought I'd resurrect this thread

I just finished Syberia. Unfortunately, I also just bought it less than 24 hours ago.

The graphics and animation are incredible. The story is solid, though slightly underdeveloped. The cell phone is also a nice touch.

However, the game itself isn't very impressive:
- There isn't very much interaction with anything. I thought I was playing Myst at times.
- The game progresses very linearly: ie. there's no need to teep track of anything because all the items and information you need will appear right as you need it.
- There are no real puzzles - all of the "puzzles" involve finding part X (requiring lots of running around and "magic pixel" hunting) and inserting into slot Y.
- It's way too short.

In conclusion, if you can borrow it or get it cheaply, certainly give it a try. If you're looking for an engrossing, challenging adventure game, time to dig through the bargain bin

 

[Looney]

Yeah, i played it too... it was ok, graphics was definitely superb, but it wasn't The Longest Journey. I really wish they would make a sequel!

 

[BFG10K]

Ah, the fond memories of playing text adventures on my Apple IIe. I think adventure games are dead but that doesn't stop me from playing the occasional Zork on my PC.

 

[techwanabe]

Originally posted by: BFG10K
Ah, the fond memories of playing text adventures on my Apple IIe. I think adventure games are dead but that doesn't stop me from playing the occasional Zork on my PC.

Whoa! Zork!

That takes me back to the heady days before there were any/many PC's and I was a freshman at Sacramento State University. There was a text adventure game on the mainframe simply called "Adventure" and you typed Advent at the prompt to run it, but only after hours because there wasn't enough CPU time and memory available during the day to run it. I think it was needed to open the "Colosal Cave". Remember XYZZY? Now I'm dating myself!

 

[Mucman]

Originally posted by: PrincessGuard
Just thought I'd resurrect this thread

I just finished Syberia. Unfortunately, I also just bought it less than 24 hours ago.

The graphics and animation are incredible. The story is solid, though slightly underdeveloped. The cell phone is also a nice touch.

However, the game itself isn't very impressive:
- There isn't very much interaction with anything. I thought I was playing Myst at times.
- The game progresses very linearly: ie. there's no need to teep track of anything because all the items and information you need will appear right as you need it.
- There are no real puzzles - all of the "puzzles" involve finding part X (requiring lots of running around and "magic pixel" hunting) and inserting into slot Y.
- It's way too short.

In conclusion, if you can borrow it or get it cheaply, certainly give it a try. If you're looking for an engrossing, challenging adventure game, time to dig through the bargain bin

You summed it up pretty well! the puzzles were very bad. What kept me going was the story.... and the puzzles seems to interrupt the story. In a time of almost no adventure games, this one wasn't bad. Too bad about Post Mortem though... I was looking forward to it, but I hear it suffers the same flaws, but in a worse way.

 

[rainypickles]

i think that it was story driven as well, except the story started to suck. it just started getting TOO ridiculous. instead of going far off to bring some lady to this insane guy, i'd have just whacked him over the head. but maybe im just not used to this genre.

i wished there was more story about the automatons or the mammoths. dont really care about hans =p

 

[Lint21]

Syberia was cool. They're making a sequel to it.

Even better, though: FunCom recently announced that they're making a sequel to The Longest Journey

 

[igowerf]

I'm slowly playing through Grim Fandango right now. I like it although the controls are really frustrating at times.

 

[BFG10K]

Remember XYZZY?

Yes, and "plugh".

 

[Looney]

Originally posted by: Lint21
Syberia was cool. They're making a sequel to it.

Even better, though: FunCom recently announced that they're making a sequel to The Longest Journey

OMG you're right, they are! About time! They've had enough requests for a sequel.

 

[0roo0roo]

i just didn't have the patience for it. was running around screens and screens bah!

eventually i figured i'd just watch the story by using a walkthrough, even thats sorta painful. given up for now, too many other games.

its no grim fandango.

 

[mundane]

Originally posted by: techwanabe

Originally posted by: BFG10K
Ah, the fond memories of playing text adventures on my Apple IIe. I think adventure games are dead but that doesn't stop me from playing the occasional Zork on my PC.

Whoa! Zork!

That takes me back to the heady days before there were any/many PC's and I was a freshman at Sacramento State University. There was a text adventure game on the mainframe simply called "Adventure" and you typed Advent at the prompt to run it, but only after hours because there wasn't enough CPU time and memory available during the day to run it. I think it was needed to open the "Colosal Cave". Remember XYZZY? Now I'm dating myself!

We just had an Software Engineering project to create a game similar to that:
RIT Software Engineering 362 Unit 3 Design Activity
I remember [trying to] program one on my old Atari. I hadn't realized that the genre was so old! 1972 =) I had been under the impression that with the cost of computers being so much (the PDP-11s (I think) went for about $750k each for our college, back in the day), that they wouldn't have been used for recreation.

 

[HappyPuppy]

I just finished Syberia yesterday and feel like I was gypped. I was enjoying the unfolding story while at the same time hating all the unnecessary backtracking. The puzzles weren't anything to rave about but I could accept that. What really really twisted my chonies was that, all of a sudden, the game ends! WTF? The name of the game is Syberia, but it just ends, like right in the middle of the story.

The game, because of it's shortness, is worth $9.95. If and when the sequel comes out I will "borrow" it, but I will not buy it.

 

[NapalmKing]

I wouldn't go as far as saying such games are dead. It's more like there a suitable candidate is yet to arrive and start the lineage again...

 

[ArmchairAthlete]

They're about dead on the PC (since we have better/online games to play), but alive and well on the consoles.

Zelda: The Wind Waker is an excellent game you could call an adventure game for example.


EDIT: Another thought. Dumping your cash on an adventure game that will almost surely last you less than 40 hours doesn't make much sense to most PC gamers when they can get an online game that'll provide hundreds, perhaps even thousands of gameplay hours especially when you consider free mods...