Broken Age: The Complete Adventure

Note: I played this game in one go (over a weekend, total play time about 10 hours) after both acts had been published and consolidated into this "complete adventure" edition. Furthermore, I am not a Kickstarter backer - I bought the game on GOG (duh!) after it had been out for a while. Since you'll be in the exact same situation if you're reading this review in order to form a purchase decision, this viewpoint should not be a problem. ;-) The Story (mild spoilers): Two teenagers living in fantasy/SF environments want to break free of certain burdens imposed on them. In the course of their travels, they discover things about their own, and eventually each others' worlds and their connection. The story is "family-friendly". There is no vulgarity, only the mildest, unbloody of violence, no sexual references. Furthermore, the general tone is upbeat and humorous, there is some drama and suspense but no tragedy or horror (and there is a suitably happy ending.) The major niggle with the story is that as its initial mysteries are revealed, it loses quite a bit of its magic. It's still a very good story but not as deep or profound as the strong beginning might suggest. Design values: The "painted" look fits the feel of the game quite well. Graphics and sounds are generally pleasing and of high quality. The (English, haven't tested other languages) voice acting is very good and I have found very niggles in the dialogue direction. Gameplay: This is a traditional point & click adventure, albeit with the simplified interface. Unfortunately, this is where some of the flaws come in. Some of the puzzles are quite counterintuitive and/or insufficiently hinted at, while the majority are ridiculously easy. The worst (to me) were some puzzles where I knew exactly what the method to solve them was, but got stumped because I did not follow the exact procedure demanded by the game mechanics - and received no hint about being on the right track. Overall: Would recommend.

(I'm not one of the backers of the game, and I only played it once both episodes were released, so I can't speak for the release problems, I can only rely my experience playing the full game) Broken Age is a game that starts as two separate stories, that of Shay, a young kid living in routine in a spaceship, wishing his life had more excitement, and Vella, a young girl who wishes her life had less, since she's about to be given to sacrifice to a monster in order to save her town. Both great characters whose stories share a common theme, but otherwise appear to be completely unrelated, and are even ocurring in different times and places, until the point where you realize there's a connection, after which things take a completely different turn. The story is good, the characters are interesting and the visuals and sound are beautiful. Then there are the puzzles. Broken Age's gameplay is somewhat in-between old Lucasarts games and TellTale Sam & Max adventures. Is less complex than the former, but not as simple as the latter. The first act is quite straightforward, but the second one is all over the place, with puzzles ranging from the ridiculously easy to the so-freaking-bonkers-you'll-believe-the-game-is-bugged. Also, you can pick any of the two characters at the beginning and switch any time, but sometimes you'll be stuck in a puzzle not realizing that you have to switch to the other character to do so. Sure, that's the kind of thing you had to do in, say, Day of the Tentacle, but there the characters were somewhat aware of each other's actions, or there'd be hints for the player to realize what to do. That's not here at times, and there's no excuse for it, it's simply bad design. And while the story is good, and there's even an interesting twist at some point, the game absolutely cheats to make sure you don't see it coming. I won't give details, but I found it in bad form. Still, the game is fun (the parts that are not frustrating) and I recommend it.

I came to this with an open mind, as I had no expectations, espacially not the expectation of getting an "old-school" difficult adventure game. And I enjoyed this immensely. Yes, the puzzles are not very difficult in the first part, but I liked that, as this doesn't stop the flow of the game and the story and avoids frustration - something I don't like about many adventure game classics. However, the puzzles are never so easy as to become completely devoid of challenge and boring. The puzzles in the second act are more difficult though, but never too obtuse. What I really loved about this game is the graphics, the characters, the dialogs, story and humour. The graphics look like animated children's book paintings, and they are simply fantastic, amongst the best I have ever seen in a game. The characters are likable and funny and unique, the dialogues are just right and - contrary to a lot of contemporary adventure games - don't carry on too long. The story might not be the best story ever, but it has a few nice twists and keeps you motivated to get to know more. And it's actually quite clever and open to interpretation. I saw this game being about breaking out of the expectations of others or of oneself, about growing up and thinking for oneself instead of accepting others' opinions and tradition as law. Broken Age reminds me of a Wes Anderson movie: Serious themes mixed with whimsy. This game is beautiful and lighthearted and whimsical and never mean-spirited or vulgar (like in Daedalic-adventures). It isn't laugh-out-loud funny, but it' so good-hearted and makes for fantastic entertainment.

Don't buy this. Adventure games are held up by their plot, their puzzles, and their gameplay. The plot is uninteresting and shallow. The puzzles are either trivially easy or so obscure that you'll end up looking up their solutions on a walkthrough guide. None hit the sweet spot of being interesting and challenging. Finally, the gameplay is the same sort of click-and-watch-a-character-walk-while-you-hunt-for-the-one-thing-that-advances-the-game blandness that characterizes this genre. This wouldn't be worth your time even if it were free.

I had a great time with my 12y twins and this game. Due to catching story with many twists they almost didn't notice I made them learn English. I only wish dialogs could be paused and/or repeated. Puzzle difficulty was just enough for us not to get stuck for too long. I understand other reviewers who expected old school adventure. However I got exactly what I wanted and now I have hard time to find another game like this.