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| 15 MAY 2011 at 12:48pm |
TCPrivate Detective
Posts : 688
Joined: 14 NOV 2005
Status : Online | I guess I'm starting this thread to discuss something that I'm really eager about, with a tinge of anxiety, and that's unique, or nearly unique AGs throughout the decades. I'm sure this has been discussed before, but I haven't seen any recent discussions, so here goes.
Obviously the starting point should be the definition of the term 'unique' in regard specifically to AGs. I would say that that's when a game does something that is markedly different from most other games before it, something novel and original in a key element, e.g. protagonists, plot development, and obviously, the most important game-wise: gameplay and interface. The basic rule should be that the game was the first, or at least recognized as the first to employ such unique elements. This is of course very tricky, and there's going to be some disagreement. I'll start with a few games I (and many others) believe are unique:
The Last Express - an obvious choice. This was an experience I've never had before or since. Sure, it was low on puzzles, the controls were very clunky, but I was still mesmerized by the events transpiring on the screen. The live-based rotoscoping, the exquisite acting, the terrific authenticity and realism (one of the very few multi-lingual AGs), all those were just contributing factors to make it, IMHO, a true masterpiece. But the 'unique' comes from the real time aspect, from which several other things follow, such as the rewinding of the clock backward and forward, in order to try different things (essentially a unique saving system), and to reach different outcomes. Some would say that we don't really have much effect on some of the pivotal occurences (those who played it know what I'm referring to), but that's so neglibile in the grand scheme of things. Another thing is the almost complete non-linearity; TLE is probably the adventure game with the highest replay value I know of. There's also something about the characters and plot that make the game unique, as it's one of the best and most original scripts I know of in a computer game, certainly AG. Now where's the sequel? :-?
The Neverhood - - The spiritual ancestor of Machinarium? Just by playing the demo of the latter, it's plainly obvious the designers were influenced by the former. This makes me think that sometimes we're not even aware of the actual pioneers, simply because we never even heard of them i.e. someone who's never even heard of The Neverhood could easily think Machinarium is the first of its kind. There's not much to say about this one actually, it's something that has to be experienced, otherwise it's hard to describe the effect with just 'klaymation', though it's obviously unique, but again I'm careful - who knows, maybe there really was a game like The Neverhood before it, and actually around the same time they made another unique game with klaymation - The Dark Eye, which was also novel in its own way (and not simply because it's based on supreme literature, many games in fact are).
Grim Fandango - two things: controls (less interesting), and story. Assuming the role of dead person as a protagonist. The terrific plot and writing are just by-products of the unique and insanely imaginative, creative setting.
Myst - do I really need an entire paragraph?
A common thread is that most of these titles are highly controversial, and did poorly with regards to sales, with the exception of Myst. Hence they're extremely rare to find, which is a shame.
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| 15 MAY 2011 at 1:56pm |
tincup2Journeyman
Posts : 821
Joined: 8 MAR 2011
Location: US, NYC
Status : Offline | Bad Mojo comes to mind. I think of it in the same light as the others you list. And maybe Bad Day on the Midway as well. Both stand out pretty as much one of a kind types games, not great sales, and no great line of immitators as far as I know. They depend entirely on the bizzar mood they manage to convey, and that's a harder comodity to export since it's not purely graphic or technical.
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| 15 MAY 2011 at 2:03pm |
TCPrivate Detective
Posts : 688
Joined: 14 NOV 2005
Status : Online | Originally Posted By mgonneau (15 MAY 2011 1:56pm)
Bad Mojo comes to mind. I think of it in the same light as the others you list.
I concur.
Reading over my post, perhaps I should've used the term 'innovation' and its adjective 'innovative', instead of unique? Come to think of it, these are two, totally different things. I'd say that while Myst is innovative, TLE is unique. Or is it vice versa?
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| 15 MAY 2011 at 2:08pm |
tincup2Journeyman
Posts : 821
Joined: 8 MAR 2011
Location: US, NYC
Status : Offline | They are all innovative and unique. No problem with that!
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| 15 MAY 2011 at 2:52pm |
StilerJourneyman
Posts : 1460
Joined: 27 SEP 2004
Location: US, TN
Status : Offline | Fahrenheit (aka Indigo Prophecy). Took the adventure genre in a whole different direction, with more logical tools and the ability to affect how the story plays out based on what you do (IE what puzzles you solve, don't solve, etc).
This carried over into the design of their next (and hugely more successful) game, Heavy Rain.
I thought it was a nice direction for an adventure game, it fixed some things that annoy me from time to time (non-logical puzzles/not being able to move forward for some obscure reason).
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| 15 MAY 2011 at 4:59pm |
FnordSchattenjger
Posts : 2751
Joined: 15 SEP 2008
Location: SE, Stockholm
Status : Offline | The void: It is often classified as an AG, although it should probably be viewed as something from a new genre. The theme of the game is very different from anything that I've seen, you are basically a lost soul trapped between life & death, a place that is in decay, and which as lost most of its "life", its artistic direction is also rather unique, and the gameplay is like nothing that I've ever played before or since. You grow colour which you then use in order to strengthen your allies or harm your enemies, and the things you do are gesture based. The game is very hard to describe with words.
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| 15 MAY 2011 at 7:25pm |
Jenny100Guild Master
Posts : 3510
Joined: 12 OCT 2002
Status : Offline | Not all "unique" games are popular, and many remain "unique" because they weren't popular. For example games like Blue Ice and Isabelle -- definitely unique, but didn't create any trends. Gadget, L-Zone, and Alice: An Interactive Museum weren't trendsetters either, though they might be considered "experimental" rather than unique. The Path was definitely experimental. I don't know if Legend of Lotus Spring was a unique adventure game so much as it was intended to be a multimedia experience instead of a game (despite how Dreamcatcher marketed it).
Shadow of Memories/Shadow of Destiny was unusual because of how they used the concept of time. Throughout the game you'd go back in time to fix things, come back to the present to find new things broken, and have to go back in time to fix those things.
The kind of "unique" games I like best are relatively traditional in terms of gameplay, but with an unusual plot or theme or because the game environment is so bizarre. For example Faust: Seven Games of the Soul, 9: The Last Resort, or Obsidian.
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| 15 MAY 2011 at 8:33pm |
FnordSchattenjger
Posts : 2751
Joined: 15 SEP 2008
Location: SE, Stockholm
Status : Offline | Shadow of memory/Shadow of destiny also had branching plot paths, which is quite rare in adventure games.
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| 15 MAY 2011 at 10:09pm |
walshSorcerer Apprentice
Posts : 384
Joined: 15 DEC 2010
Status : Offline | The Experiment for the unique perspective (2nd person?). Not just the first time it's been done in a graphical adventure but probably the only time it will be, as these sorts of novelties don't usually lend themselves to repetition.
Day of the Tentacle - Maniac Mansion did the multiple character thing, but the idea of three characters in different time periods each affecting the events in the other timelines was something I'd never seen before.
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| 16 MAY 2011 at 10:32am |
JKingSchattenjger
Posts : 2349
Joined: 4 MAY 2008
Location: 0
Status : Offline | LOOM is quite unique, as you have no items, but you do have musical "spells" which allow you to affect the environment. Whether it's good is, I think, a hotly contestable matter of opinion, but it's probably safe to say it's not a bad game.
You can't kill someone in a studio.
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| 16 MAY 2011 at 4:07pm |
tincup2Journeyman
Posts : 821
Joined: 8 MAR 2011
Location: US, NYC
Status : Offline | The kind of "unique" games I like best are relatively traditional in terms of gameplay, but with an unusual plot or theme or because the game environment is so bizarre. For example Faust: Seven Games of the Soul, 9: The Last Resort, or Obsidian.
Along the same lines I would be tempted to add OutCry. It's not innovative in any technical sense - in fact quite the opposite. It is remarkable for sticking steadfast to the basics of the pure point-n-click first person 2D pre-rendered world formula so closely - demonstrating it's native potential - something almost unique in these days of heavy narrative and character arc AG's.
It's silky smooth interface, haunting score and ambient effects, complelling other-worldly graphical treatment, logical puzzles well situated in it's game world, and a spartan story line that rarely obstructs the fantasy that it is you that are there, are the essential classic elements of the form, and done well enough to grant it particular status in my book.
I would also consider Barrow Hill and the Dark Fall series in the same class, but OutCry seems the more pure stripped-down representation of the art; Barrow Hill has a real narrative and characters occasionally spill into the story, and both it and the Dark Fall games are clearly set in the here and now - lacking the intense fantstical element I also associate with the Myst/OutCry style AG.
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| 16 MAY 2011 at 6:54pm |
colpetSchattenjger
Posts : 1630
Joined: 12 APR 2003
Status : Offline | I thought that the Gabriel Knight 3 game play was unique (sort of like Uru's). I like being able to choose between playing in 1st person and looking at a scene (standing back to see the view, so to speak) in 3rd.
Occasionally visiting Uru Live (KI 0063722 .&&
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| 16 MAY 2011 at 7:05pm |
Igor HardyIntergalactic Janitor
Posts : 67
Joined: 27 SEP 2010
Status : Online | Very interesting topic for me, especially since I'm currently working on a game with quite an unique interface myself.
I'd say The Last Express, The Neverhood, Grim Fandango, LOOM, The Experiment, Bad Day on the Midway, GK3 and Myst are the kind of games I'd call unique. Strangely, some (Myst in particular) were much more influential than others.
Games like Faust, OutCry, DOTT or Obsidian have their unique elements naturally, as I don't think a game can be at all good without having something original to it, but not enough to be compared to the above group IMO.
And then there is Fahrenheit - a hybrid of QTE (Quick Time Event) games and "Simon Says" games which there were lots of in the past, but it feels a bit different too. I don't know how to judge its originality, or if I should, because personally I didn't like it at all. Except for the diner scene at the beginning.
Covering independent adventure games in [URL=http://hardydev.com/][B]A Hardy Developer's Journal[/B][/URL]
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| 16 MAY 2011 at 7:39pm |
tincup2Journeyman
Posts : 821
Joined: 8 MAR 2011
Location: US, NYC
Status : Offline | Games like Faust, OutCry, DOTT or Obsidian have their unique elements naturally, as I don't think a game can be at all good without having something original to it, but not enough to be compared to the above group IMO.
And then there is Fahrenheit - a hybrid of QTE (Quick Time Event) games and "Simon Says" games which there were lots of in the past, but it feels a bit different too. I don't know how to judge its originality, or if I should, because personally I didn't like it at all. Except for the diner scene at the beginning.
I tend to agree with you there - my comments re OutCry not withstanding. To avoid the list becoming another 'favorite game' list the criteria needs to be pretty limiting.
I've gone over my collection list and no other titles really pop out - perhaps the Rhem games? They are easily identifiable by look and fanatically focused puzzle types [from what I've gleaned so far], and have a bonafide niche following. Perhaps that might qualify them.
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| 16 MAY 2011 at 11:54pm |
Jenny100Guild Master
Posts : 3510
Joined: 12 OCT 2002
Status : Offline | I think the RHEM games were inspired by Riven.
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| 17 MAY 2011 at 12:08am |
JKingSchattenjger
Posts : 2349
Joined: 4 MAY 2008
Location: 0
Status : Offline | I'd probably classify I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream as unique. If there's any game with an illusive goal, that's it.
You can't kill someone in a studio.
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| 17 MAY 2011 at 12:44am |
tincup2Journeyman
Posts : 821
Joined: 8 MAR 2011
Location: US, NYC
Status : Offline | I just downloaded and started to play Slip Space: The Burma-Shave Analogy, and what a trip so far! Has anyone who finished it think it could make the list? Certainly looks like it will to me..
I'd probably classify I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream as unique. If there's any game with an illusive goal, that's it.
Yes... "so which one of you would like to join in my little game?" if memory serves me correctly...
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| 30 MAY 2011 at 6:32pm |
TCPrivate Detective
Posts : 688
Joined: 14 NOV 2005
Status : Online | Originally Posted By JKing (17 MAY 2011 12:07am)
I'd probably classify I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream as unique. If there's any game with an illusive goal, that's it.
Very good pick. Actually there *is* a defined goal, but I'd say it's unique because the more important part is the long road leading to that ultimate destination.
Another I'd like to add is the Goblins series, especially the third one (Woodruff is also of the same style, but it's not part of the series). Goblins Quest 3 is simply one of the zaniest creations ever. To say that incredible imagination and out of the box thinking went into it is a huge understatement. It's millions of light years away from the proverbial box. Now to finish the first and second (less impressive). And there's also the even more fiendish Woodruff to complete.
Another reason - it has one of the most original and surreal settings in an adventure game. Also control of six different characters throughout the game, including various forms for the main character (even his shadow and reflection!). In short - Coktel Vision wasn't called that for nothing
Also, Goblins Quest 3 features one of the cutest AG sidekicks: Fulbert the Boa Constrictor.
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