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Lesser known point and click games

v1rus

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Well, the title says it all. You have your Monkey Islands, Grim Fandangos, Beneath The Steel Skies, but, all the big names aside.

What are some of the lesser known, but equally good p&c games?
 

Darth Roxor

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I always feel like the Goblins series is extremely overlooked, which I also find criminal because Goblins 3 might be my fav adventure game ever, and 2 is not very far behind it. Skip 1, though, it's pretty terrible.
 

MRY

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I have a special fondness for Dragonsphere, which is free on GOG. (Wait, what the hell, it's now $6 on GOG? What a world!) It has its flaws, but it has a few really neat elements, all of which will be harmed by discussion except to say that the graphics are good.

Hugo II, Whodunit? is directly responsible for me thinking I could make an adventure game (a process that took ~20 years). It's a parser, not P&C, but close enough.

Deja Vu made a big impact on me as a kid, too, even though I never got very far into it (Shadowgate I eventually beat, but with a fair amount of hint guide help).
 

v1rus

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I have a special fondness for Dragonsphere, which is free on GOG.

Really? I hated it for some reason. Perhaps I should give it another spin.

That aside, come on people, its impossible I've heard of every P&C worth playing :(
 
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MRY

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Well, a big part of my fondness surely comes from the fact that it was on some shareware CD that my friend (the same friend who introduced me to Hugo, the same friend who co-made my early adventure and RPG attempts, now a very successful CS professor) had, and we played the one-room demo over and over fantasizing about what the rest of the game must be like. I think part of why we liked it was that serious fantasy adventure games were so rare (and still are). Then, like five years later I stumbled across the game being given away somewhere, and it was like, I dunno, finally getting into a liquor supply that had been theretofore temptingly locked behind glass. Even if the liquor burns, you have it at last. Nowadays, I view it through the lens of nostalgically remembering a fulfilled childhood desire -- it's like rose glasses on rose glasses.

Did you play it all the way through? If so, spoiler to follow:
I thought the mid-game plot twist was great. Totally fair, but I didn't see it coming until very close.
 

v1rus

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Robespierre

Havent played Darkfall, looks like it could be interesting. And The Last Express is probably one of the better known ones - not the obvious tier, but, still well known Id say.

MRY

Yeah, I made it to the twist. It was a good one, but, i found most of the puzzles illogical and the game sorta shallow.
 

CryptRat

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come one people
As good as Grim Fandango and Beneath a steel sky is an intimidating premise. :)

From recent titles, the kind Dropsy, the visually stunning recent Shadowgate remake or the funny Edna & Harvey : The breakout (this one because despite being their only game which is pretty poor from a technical point of view it may be my favourite game from Daedalic's catalog, but most of their games are cool, especially Chains of Satinav and Memoria if you're looking for something darker) are worth a ride. I remember thinking Ben there, Dan that and Time gentlemen, please were fairly decent but it's been a while now. Also I have some nostalgia-induced fondness for Future Wars : Time travellers but I replayed the game recently and it's definitely fun.
I guess you've already played both Mission Critical and Zork: Grand Inquisitor, I hadn't played the latter myself until recently for some reason and it's actually very good.

Skip 1, though, it's pretty terrible.
Ah, I can totally understand why someone would hate it but at the same time I personally enjoy it about as much as the 2 other ones. What's sure it that the games are clearly among my favourites.
 
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MRY

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I assume everyone knows of the three Dynamix ones (Willy Beamish, Heart of China, and Rise of the Dragon)?
 

MRY

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They're definitely classics -- lots of warts, but lots of neat stuff. Plus you can see the origin of Gemini Rue's silly gun sequences in RotD. :) I think Heart of China is my favorite of the bunch, but Willy Beamish was supercool when I was 11 or whenever. I don't think I actually beat it until my 20s, though, since this was another played-at-a-friend's-house adventure.
 

Darth Roxor

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Ah, I can totally understand why someone would hate it but at the same time I personally enjoy it about as much as the 2 other ones. What's sure it that the games are clearly among my favourites.

There are two things that really bother me about Goblins 1.

First is the stupid health bar. By far one of the best things about the Goblins series is seeing your characters fail in hilarious ways. In Gob1 they also fail in hilarious ways, but the health bar discourages you from trying these out. Not to mention half the things the dumbfuck engineer can pick up will hurt him with the default fail animation if you use them incorrectly, which is frustrating as hell.

Second, which is directly connected to the health bar, is that some of the puzzle elements where you have to pick 1 good thing among a multiple bad ones are randomised. Which means there's never any indication which one you should pick, and which will kill you.
 

Dedup

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There's Countdown by Access Software. I particularly liked the insane asylum that you start the game in. It had an appropriately creepy feel to it.
 

Jaesun

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The Rhem series I'd say pretty much lesser known. It's Mystlike and with all logical puzzles, with increasing puzzle difficulty. I quite liked the few I did play, but I think it will only appeal to certain people.

The first few releases were OK, but they did continue to improve the series.
 

v1rus

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Discworld Noir?

Beat it, loved it. I'd also rank it among "better-known" p&c games.

While we are discussing lesser known p&cs, Ive never played Lure of the Temptress. Is it any good?
 

MRY

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I'd also rank it among "better-known" p&c games.
Well, I'd say the same for the Dynamix games, so I realized that it might not be a game you knew. I only heard of it years after its release, whereas the Dynamix games were a big deal for me at release.
 

Outlander

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Divinity: Original Sin Wasteland 2 Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
I strongly second the Touché recommendation, it' p. good.

You might also want to check out Igor: Objective Uikokahonia and Innocent Until Caught 1 & 2.

I think none of these are available for sale, though.
 

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