Deponia

It really is hard to like Rufus. But I think people who berate the whole game because of him, expressing their utter disgust with his character, missed one simple fact - this is not a serious adventure game. And everything (including the main protagonist's douchery) being blown out of proportion is just part of its being an interactive cartoon. So personally I find it rather unfair to give Deponia a bad rating mostly because you didn't like Rufus - I mean, you were not supposed to like him in the first place. His being an egotistical deluded jerk is just part of the comedy. Admittedly, the humor of this game may not be everyone's cup of tea - I personally found it ok - nothing extra amusing but it didn't get too cringy either. And I even laughed out loud a couple of times, even though my expression throughout most of the game was but a light smirk. Anyway, the story, while not super engaging either, managed to keep my attention until the end. This was in big part thanks to unique art style that just makes you want to explore all the locations and very good music that further emphasizes the game's mood. Also, I don't know why so many people complain about this game being frustratingly difficult or the puzzles being too illogical - I don't share that opinion. I was able to finish Deponia within a few days and even though I did use a walkthrough occasionally (I'm just too old to keep grinding when I get stuck for too long), it was something between 5-10 cases in total - mostly something I just overlooked and it never felt like "What? That doesn't make any sense." The game actually gives you hints on most of the harder puzzles, either through dialogue with NPCs or through Rufus' comments (usually when you're getting on to something but you're using the wrong item in the right place) so I really think with a little bit of patience you can figure most of them yourself even if you're not a hardcore puzzle gamer (I'm not). For me, this was a decent adventure game.

Great game. Characters are well done, even the main guy that you play. Beautiful scenes, good conversations, whacky humor. The German sound pack is het best! The first part is fantastic. Later on the puzzles and goals you have get very incoherent. I found myself wandering around town, with no clue as to what my goal was, no clue even of what puzzle to solve next. A few times I had to look up hints on the net. After that it got frustrating. You solve one part of a puzzle. That's good. Then the next part, that's fien too. Then you are ready to finish the complete puzzle, and it gets you nowhere! Every time! Every time you think "ha, solving this will get me further to my goal, whatever goal that is". But no. So you end up completing 10 puzzles which do exectly nothing to get you further in the game. After blundering my way to the part where you contact a guy from Elysium, this game broke me. You would think it would get you somewhere but no, the game suddenly changes everything and you are back to nowhere, feeling completely clueless. I'm no adventure hero. I played Sam and Max Hit The Road, and I really enjoyed it. Because solving puzzles really gets you somewhere, even if those puzzles are more weird than Deponia's. The feeling of "Hey, I finally got this gizmo to work, now I can see if i can enter the fortress" is completely absent here. It's more like "You're almost there, almost there... haha got ya, sucker!". Every time.

This game managed to make me play a point and click adventure - the thing I almost never do. Why? Because of adorable art style, detailed picture and really awesome story, filled with astonishing humour.

Along with The Longest Journey, the Deponia series are my favorite adventure games. And for me they are the best among humorous games. I found them funnier than the Monkey Island series and all the other humorous games I've played, whether in the adventure or other genres. They also manage to combine that humor with serious, dramatic and emotional moments that even made me cry (which is something that only a handful of games have managed to do). Based on the review scores online, I would say they are seriously underrated. After watching the opening 10 minutes or so of the playthrough of the first game on YouTube, I immediately knew that it will be something special, that its humor will click with me, and that I will find it hilarious.

Great game, but unfortunately has many bugs that prevent from playing it properly and you have to load save files from the internet from time to time to advance in it