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Musing on Adventure Games
Blackthorne:
Taking on the task to create and produce a new Adventure Game is a monumental task - one that encompasses so many different areas, all of interest to me personally. Creating the story, inventing characters, situations, motivations and crafting puzzles are some of them. Helping to develop the art and music, and working with an incredibly talented to team to bring these visions to life is amazingly rewarding. I was just listening to some new music that James Mulvale composed recently - and it's a joy to share in the creation of something with another artist.
So, of course, my mind wanders to not only our game, but adventure games in general. I know what I enjoy in an adventure game, but I'm also making one for all of the people out there. I really care what our fans an friends think about adventure games - so I pose several loaded questions to you - "What do you like about adventure games? What do you look for in an adventure game? What draws you to adventure games?"
Bt
Lambonius:
I like the idea of immersing myself in a deep and well-developed world, poking around and putting together bits and pieces of the world's back-story as I explore. I also like being able to unravel a game's narrative at my own pace, which I think is why I find myself much more attracted to the old Sierra-style games than newer "adventure games" by companies like Telltale, which don't contain any of those elements. That sense of exploration and discovery is, to me, what adventure games are all about. I don't necessarily care whether or not the puzzles are "hard," but I do appreciate when they are cleverly devised and executed.
chucklas:
One thing that I love about adventure games as an adult is that I don't need to dedicate huge chunks of time at once playing. I can sit and play for a few minutes (which can turn into hours at times) but when I need to walk away I don't feel rushed into trying to get to the next checkpoint or save location. I can play at my lesiure without the dictating how long I need to play for. I also love that I am not just shoved through a linear story but I can do things in different orders or at different times (this isn't true for the whole genre, but it should be).
Intendant S:
The number one thing that an adventure game needs to have to capture and keep my attention is a well-written and engaging story. For without it it's not an adventure game. Sure, there are some out there that have little-to-no story that I still like, but they don't compare to the greats. Some humor also adds to the fun of playing even a serious game.
Lambonius:
--- Quote from: Intendant S on December 17, 2012, 03:18:19 PM ---The number one thing that an adventure game needs to have to capture and keep my attention is a well-written and engaging story. For without it it's not an adventure game. Sure, there are some out there that have little-to-no story that I still like, but they don't compare to the greats. Some humor also adds to the fun of playing even a serious game.
--- End quote ---
I agree that a great story vastly improves an adventure game, but would you really say that's the core of the experience? We've been seeing more and more examples lately of games that are essentially story-only "interactive movies" like the recent Telltale games, and those don't capture at all the same feel as the classics from the early 90s. Telltale has gone so far as to try to coin the term "cinematic adventure" to separate what they are doing from traditional adventure games.
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