Wadjet Eye The Blackwell Epiphany

[Koschey]

I have to admit, I wouldn't mind doing some sleuthing as Durkin in a future game, wether it involves the comissioner or not.

 

[SCO]

Annoying ending. Possible he will reuse the world, but he made it as hard as he could, really wants to do something new and didn't give a shit about taking a giant dump on the narrative for it.

 

[Jvegi]

You people are nuts. The ending was great, the game was great, it's all great. Or at least good enough to justify shutting the hell up.

Spoiler

ROSA IS JESUS. LOLOLOL

 

[Darth Roxor]

so this ending huh

Spoiler

I find it hard to describe it, so I'll just say it is encompassed in some way by the following three images

 

[Darth Roxor]

Currently going through the thing again with dev commentary on, and I can say only one thing:

Blackwell Epiphany testers were absolute IDIOTS.

 

[Eyeball]

Elaborate? Did the fanboy testers gay the ending up somehow?

 

[Darth Roxor]

Elaborate? Did the fanboy testers gay the ending up somehow?

Well, essentially, it's a constant "this had to be streamlined", "the testers found this confusing", "this had to be deleted". I didn't get to the ending yet, so who knows.

Can you believe, for example, that testers thought it was confusing that Michael gave you the addresses of both Peter and Heather initially? So that was cut only to Peter and unlocked Heather only later.

The testers were apparently also confused by a clue-matching puzzle that revealed the identity of Michael, which led to that ridonk stupid "slip of the tongue".

Furthermore, the testers were also megaconfused about arriving at the Wired Abacus because none of them realised KENDRA'S FATHER RAN THE PLACE without that being EXPLICITLY STATED at entering, which caused an appropriate "[intelligence] huh, so Kendra's father runs this place?" line to appear there.


There are also a few more facepalmery things there, like Gilbert's comment about Lia's suicide scene being "well, now you probably either think I'm brilliant or utterly sick". Yeah, well, there's a third option that I thought of here. Or an entire deleted scene with the police psychic vampire commissioner, which was cut because "it didn't really work" (tm)(c)(r) because obviously leaving it as a glaring loose end from Deception worked much better amirite.

The opening shooting scene was apparently also tacked on because Gilbert "wanted to have someone shot at the start", without really thinking it through that much (the first version was Rosa getting shot and awakening 1 month later in a hospital).

so yeah

much hue

 

[Jvegi]

It's called script polishing. It's a good thing.

 

[Darth Roxor]

It's called script polishing. It's a good thing.

There are examples of good script polishing there, like joining 2 people into the character of Michael Cooper (originally there was a Grace Group priest, and another guy who was a host for Madeline).

You can't tell me with a straight face, however, that dropping ANY kind of puzzle involving the uncovering of Cooper's identity for that COMPLETELY FUCKING LAZY dialogue with the priest at the church was an example of good design and polishing. Unless you were a playtester of Blackwell Epiphany perhaps.

 

[Jvegi]

You keep bitching about that slip of the tongue thing. It's not that serious and it's not that bad.

Blackwell is, and it always was, story focused. If you need to simplify a puzzle to avoid story going out of focus and unnecessary name clutter, then go for it. The pacing stutters a little in the middle as it is.

Also I don't think none of the testers realized who owned Abacus. Just some of them did not. The line might seem forced in retrospect, but it's completely fine the first time through.

 

[Darth Roxor]

it's not that bad.

It is that bad. In fact, it is one of the dumbest things in the game. But I guess there's nothing to talk about here if you really think it's a-okay.

 

[Gondolin]

Well, essentially, it's a constant "this had to be streamlined", "the testers found this confusing", "this had to be deleted".

That must be why I got through the game so easily even though it was my first adventure game. Now I'm pissed off.

 

[Jvegi]

it's not that bad.

It is that bad. In fact, it is one of the dumbest things in the game. But I guess there's nothing to talk about here if you really think it's a-okay.

It felt natural. Things like that happen irl, so it fits in a story driven game.

It's not like this series lacks puzzles based on finding out someones identity.

Well, essentially, it's a constant "this had to be streamlined", "the testers found this confusing", "this had to be deleted".

That must be why I got through the game so easily even though it was my first adventure game. Now I'm pissed off.

It was easy because it was supposed to be. You're not supposed to get stuck in those games. That's the fucking point.

 

[Sceptic]

Jvegi confirmed as one of the Blackwell Epiphany testers responsible for turning "polishing" the screenplay into the turd we got. Commence lynching.

There are also a few more facepalmery things there, like Gilbert's comment about Lia's suicide scene being "well, now you probably either think I'm brilliant or utterly sick".

Hey there Mr Gilbert, I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that this scene does not make you seem sick at all. The bad news is that it is instead completely, utterly, unreservedly, irredeemably retarded. And that does not reflect on your self-professed brilliance very well.

 

[Eyeball]

Come on, the game was good, derp ending notwithstanding. Give the man a break.

 

[evdk]

It was easy because it was supposed to be. You're not supposed to get stuck in those games. That's the fucking point.

Oh ffs, this opinion is so retarded I don't really know what to say. Why would I want to play that when I could watch a LP on youtube then? ALthough this brilliant design philosophy would explain the battery puzzle from TWD and other modern monstrosities - "Look, Ma, I am a hard core adventure player!"

 

[SCO]

Everything could have been forgiven with a good ending


instead...

 

[Jvegi]

It was easy because it was supposed to be. You're not supposed to get stuck in those games. That's the fucking point.

Oh ffs, this opinion is so retarded I don't really know what to say. Why would I want to play that when I could watch a LP on youtube then?

Because imershun.

It's not an opinion, it's a fact. I'm saying this as someone who went though every game in the series with a commentary mode on. You might not agree with this approach (of course you don't, you're all so hardcore), but that's just how it is.

The way those games work is similar to TWD, except it's good. Provide mild challenge to keep you active and involved. To give you a way of interacting with the environment, which is a form of world-building on it's own. Dialogue based gameplay keeps you involved, even though you can't mess it up and there is no C&C. And all of those things allow you to experience some of the best stories and characters in any game evar, on a very involved, personal level. It enhances ( ) the story.

It works and it's fucking sweet. God forbid every adventure game be like that, but from time to time storyfags should get their something.

 

[Jaesun]

Was this series the first Adventure game you have ever played Jvegi ?

 

[Jvegi]

Was this series the first Adventure game you have ever played Jvegi ?

Not by a long fucking shot.

I edited my previous post for greater wisdom.

 

[Name]

Stucking in Adventure games is getting relative pointless with online walkthroughs and forums.
I think there is a reason Sierra designed their games to be filled with dead-ends. To sell walkthrough!
But dumbing down puzzles is stupid too. I prefer the extensive in-game hints/walkthrough system (Is that started by Tex Murphy 2?).
And don't cite the abomination know as Walking Dead. There is no puzzle in it.
I understand that people who use their brains most of day for real life stuff would enjoy a game that challenge them at an accommodating difficulty.
But that has nothing to do with immersion. I don't know, figuring something really hard may be more immersive because you're like those people in the little game world. Facing challenges and saving the world.

 

[Darth Roxor]

Was this series the first Adventure game you have ever played Jvegi ?

he played broken age first

 

[taxalot]

Oh, wow. From all the butthurt ere I would have thought the endiing was terrible. I just saw it and it was not. I found it quite moving as a matter of fact and I am unsure what you people were expecting

The only thing that bugged me, literally, is that I had to watch the endgame off youtube. A bug at the very final sequence made the whole game incompletable : Joey's tie had disappeared and become a second totem. Because of that, there was no way to complete that last puzzle. This is the second time this happened to me in a Wadjet Eye game, first one was Gemini Rue a game for which I also had to thank Youtube.

Speaking of Wadjet Eye, I still have the Shiva and Resonance to play through. Are they worth my time?

 

[Name]

Oh, wow. From all the butthurt ere I would have thought the endiing was terrible. I just saw it and it was not. I found it quite moving as a matter of fact and I am unsure what you people were expecting

The only thing that bugged me, literally, is that I had to watch the endgame off youtube. A bug at the very final sequence made the whole game incompletable : Joey's tie had disappeared and become a second totem. Because of that, there was no way to complete that last puzzle. This is the second time this happened to me in a Wadjet Eye game, first one was Gemini Rue a game for which I also had to thank Youtube.

Speaking of Wadjet Eye, I still have the Shiva and Resonance to play through. Are they worth my time?

Resonance: In my opinion it is the best story-wise. And it has the best original song.
Shivah: It's very short (similar to the first Blackwell game). It has the shared setting with Blackwell series if you care about such thing, but it has no paranormal elements.

 

[Whisky]

So, I just went through the entire series recently. They were all very enjoyable.

Spoiler

Epiphany's ending...

So, he really should have used the soul vampires as the EPIC FINALE instead of Rosa Universe Jesus. The way the game wrapped up their plot was...

Joey: Hey Benjiro, you look like you have something to say, do you?

Benjiro: Yes, I certainly do.

Benjiro: I have to go now. New Jersey needs me.

FWOOP!

NOTE: BENJIRO WAS SENT AWAY BY ROSA UNIVERSE JESUS.