Characters in Adventure Games

[Redlands]

I've seen a couple of posts dealing with this topic lately, and I've been kind of curious what people think about it in general.

You have games like Myst where there are almost no characters to interact with at all. You have games like King's Quests where you have characters to interact with, but they're not really gone into with much depth. Then you have ones like Gabriel Knight, where they're more fleshed out, and have their own personalities. You've also got ones in between, obviously.

Speaking for myself, I don't mind any category preference... except when it tries in-world to be funny or goofy. I really just can't bring myself to play games where I feel this to be the case, because I really just can't stand it when people "try" to be funny.

 

[kaizoku]

pity post



I'm a storyfag, so when I play a game having a story and interesting is a big plus.
In the particular case of adventure games, I do need to have a story and/or interesting characters. If all I wanted were puzzles then I could play chess or some other similar game.
For RPGs, the lack of these elements can be balanced out with interesting places to explore, quests and TB combat.

 

[agentorange]

pity post



I'm a storyfag, so when I play a game having a story and interesting is a big plus.
In the particular case of adventure games, I do need to have a story and/or interesting characters. If all I wanted were puzzles then I could play chess or some other similar game.
For RPGs, the lack of these elements can be balanced out with interesting places to explore, quests and TB combat.

Yeah but even without characters a game like Myst can tell a story through through the puzzles, literature, or other ambient clues, or a game like Rhem can wrap its puzzles in an interesting atmosphere - neither of which you'll get if you just play chess.

I guess I prefer character heavy adventure games, since Syberia and The Longest Journey might be my favorites, but the idea is of course having a balance of difficult (but not developer mind reading) puzzles and interesting characters/situations.

 

[kaizoku]

I have never played any Myst.
The reasons being that I dislike FPV (pet peeve I know) and - from the images I saw - the game always seemed desolate (lack of characters to interact with).
Given that it is a highly rated game I will have to give it a go someday, maybe I'll change my view about such games.

 

[Jaesun]

Myst is entirely about you uncovering info on the 3 characters you eventually meet in Myst (as well as why in the fuck you are there), because you are given a choice about how you want to proceed concerning the 3 characters.

You should definitely give it a try someday. And DON'T use a shitty walkthrough.

 

[tuluse]

Myst is desolate, but it's intentional. It uses the desolation to add to the atmosphere.

 

[abnaxus]

Myst 3: Exile was the last Myst I played. It was pretty decent story and character wise, and even has multiple endings.

From what I hear and read, the ones after that were dumbed down with hint system and such.

 

[Infinitron]

What I find interesting about the classic Monkey Islands, the first two games, is that despite being funny games with funny characters, you always felt a certain sense of isolation and alienation. The characters you met were vaguely antagonistic, and you never really got to know them. Even when you thought you had gotten them on your side, it never lasted. Guybrush was a lonely man in a messed up world.

 

[Jaesun]

Myst 3: Exile was the last Myst I played. It was pretty decent story and character wise, and even has multiple endings.

From what I hear and read, the ones after that were dumbed down with hint system and such.

IV is fucking TERRIBLE, just watch a LP video. It is basically add a bunch of shitty puzzles together because that is what Myst is about, instead of the organic integrated puzzles in the first 3. V was actually... OK. And was done by Cyan (and the first time they used an in game NPC charcter model instead of a "cut scene" NPC).... which was odd (probably due to the low budget).

Pretty much I - II - III are the best of the series.

 

[Whisky]

I like both styles.

Character based ones obviously can be a lot more appealing to people due, with the inclusion of appealing characters and generally following what we normally expect from a story.

I do love desolate adventure games like Myst too. The sense of isolation as you wander around trying to unlock a mystery on your own is something I see far too little of.

Of course, I have some fond memories of Myst, I was about five when it became a big hit and I remember getting further than all the adults in my neighborhood and having a few of them actually ask me for help. That was pretty surreal for the time.

 

[agentorange]

Yes, I love the desolate, lonely atmosphere of Myst and Rhem. It's like you are passing through a world that was once inhabited, but everyone left before your arrival. I think that's one reason I really like Syberia, because it has that abandoned world atmosphere but also mixes in a good plot and some very well written characters.

 

[Redlands]

Myst 3: Exile was the last Myst I played. It was pretty decent story and character wise, and even has multiple endings.

From what I hear and read, the ones after that were dumbed down with hint system and such.

IV is fucking TERRIBLE, just watch a LP video. It is basically add a bunch of shitty puzzles together because that is what Myst is about, instead of the organic integrated puzzles in the first 3. V was actually... OK. And was done by Cyan (and the first time they used an in game NPC charcter model instead of a "cut scene" NPC).... which was odd (probably due to the low budget).

Pretty much I - II - III are the best of the series.

The Myst games are some of my favourites.

I: Myst is a decent, short game; but it has its problems. Some puzzles are just to awkward to interact with: even if you know what to do, it can be hard to get the answer just right. realMyst might be a better alternative, but I haven't played it in a while so I'm not 100% on how it compares to the original. If you're deaf you'll probably have quite a bit of trouble with this game (there's at least one puzzle off the top of my head that would require a walk-through if you are).

II: Riven's one of the best adventure games I've played; I've never been as satisfied when things have clicked into place as they did in this game. The one major annoyance has disappeared now you can get the game online or on one DVD (vs the five CDs it came on originally, and required you to switch if you traveled quite regularly). Some of the puzzles are arbitrary, but they still somehow seem appropriate. It's definitely the best game of the franchise. There's also an Easter egg (I believe, it may be a separate video) where the villain sings opera.

III: Exile's a great deal of fun, but it's rather easy, and one of the worlds can be hard to navigate if you don't know where to go, especially with the new 360 degree range of vision. But the others have very nice "payoffs" when you complete them. Also Brad Dourif.

IV: Revelations, well, I kind of like one of the ages, and the new in-game camera makes things a fair bit easier note-taking wise (particularly helpful in this type of game), but I really remember very little about this game, like it fell into some black hole. Some of the designs are just ass-backwards, and you have to babysit a little girl. Jaesun's not wrong: it's the weakest entry of the franchise, aside from perhaps...

V: End of Ages. But dear lord did I HATE this one. Yeesha consistently doesn't talk like a normal person: I guess after the events of Revelations she got heavily into the pot and became intolerable. The main villain is basically Lyric Suite, only you can't ignore him. And you have to use a tablet to draw pictures: a nice idea, but it can be as finicky as hell and just becomes tedious once you've "solved" the puzzle to draw it on correctly. Some of the puzzles were neat, I guess; the problem was the story. And maybe the fact they'd switched to using animated figures instead of actual actors. I like this one the least, because I fucking loathed it.

?: Uru; the single-player MMO. This and its expansions are a GIGANTIC game, and well worth the price. It's a far better game than the last two. However, there are some really, really badly-designed puzzles (I think in one of the expansion packs) where you have to wait in real-time... and can fuck it up so you have to do it again. I think you can still play the MMO side, which I haven't done, but I've seen a good LP of it and it does some pretty good things with it.

 

[Whisky]

If you're deaf you'll probably have quite a bit of trouble with this game (there's at least one puzzle off the top of my head that would require a walk-through if you are).

Ah, you just brought back one bad memory.

FUCK. THAT. ROCKET. TONE. PUZZLE.

I brute-forced it when I was young. I can never get through it now. I always get so close in tone, yet it still reads it as wrong.

 

[Jaesun]

The main villain is basically Lyric Suite, only you can't ignore him.

If you're deaf you'll probably have quite a bit of trouble with this game (there's at least one puzzle off the top of my head that would require a walk-through if you are).

I actually mapped that out (because I didn't got to a certain Age first where they explain the &^*%$# tones!)

 

[Redlands]

If you're deaf you'll probably have quite a bit of trouble with this game (there's at least one puzzle off the top of my head that would require a walk-through if you are).

Ah, you just brought back one bad memory.

FUCK. THAT. ROCKET. TONE. PUZZLE.

I brute-forced it when I was young. I can never get through it now. I always get so close in tone, yet it still reads it as wrong.

You can do that one without the tones, but you still have the same problem due to the control fiddliness: sometimes testing the tones can shift it up/down one.

Spoiler

The bottom note matches to the bottom of the slider; then just count the semitones (white and black notes) in between. I found this out from a let's play; haven't needed to use it myself and can probably get pretty close from memory anyway.

If you're deaf you'll probably have quite a bit of trouble with this game (there's at least one puzzle off the top of my head that would require a walk-through if you are).

I actually mapped that out (because I didn't got to a certain Age first where they explain the &^*%$# tones!)

Yeah, for me, that one is okay - in this sense - since you can do it without the tones (it just involves a lot of backtracking and possibly mapping it out), and from the limited options at the start you could probably figure out what tones corresponded to what direction anyway (if you can hear them, that is).

The only puzzle that you're really screwed with if your deaf is the puzzle where you have to get into the building. You may be able to visually get the right order, and figure out appropriate "sounds", but I'm pretty sure there's no visual clues whether the slider combo you've entered is correct or not unless you get all of them correct. You need to set (I believe) five sliders to the correct one out of 8-10 positions: that's a LOT of incorrect combinations to brute force.

(BTW, if anyone feels like watching a Let's Play of any of the Myst series, I highly recommend Dilandau3000 on Youtube. He's very knowledgeable on the games, and the Myst series in general.)

I find this "passive" story-telling far more pleasing than I do the "active" type. You can pretty much ignore the story if you want, and focus on the puzzles, or you can pay attention and read all the books and learn all about what's going on; either way, you're being rewarded for putting more effort into the game.

I guess the big problem I have with characters is that, at least for adventure games, you almost always get to ask everyone about everything. It's essentially a cutscene you have to button-awesome your way through. Now, if the writing is good and the characters are enjoyable, then that's less of a hindrance. But it seems like a wasted opportunity that almost no-one's really done anything with characters other than turn them into inventory converters and exposition dumps.

 

[trustno1code]

?: Uru; the single-player MMO. This and its expansions are a GIGANTIC game, and well worth the price. It's a far better game than the last two. However, there are some really, really badly-designed puzzles (I think in one of the expansion packs) where you have to wait in real-time... and can fuck it up so you have to do it again. I think you can still play the MMO side, which I haven't done, but I've seen a good LP of it and it does some pretty good things with it.

For the curious, they've resurrected the game as Myst Online: Uru Live (again) about three years ago, free to play, been living since then on donations from the community. Cyan probably won't be doing any new content in the foreseeable future, but they release the occasional patch.
And they've made most of it open source by now, so If anybody ever wanted to write their own age...

 

[taxalot]

Is there not an offline version of Uru?

 

[Redlands]

Is there not an offline version of Uru?

Yeah, I played it offline.