Gemini Rue

This is one of the best point 'n' click adventure games that has been released in a long time. Most modern adventure games try to put too much effort into the graphics and sadly lack where it really counts, in the gameplay, story and dialogue. Thankfully Gemini Rue is the complete opposite. With old school graphics, a simple and easy to use interface and amazing story this is simply a joy to play. Reminiscent of games like "Innocent Until Caught" and it's sequel "Guilty" it has that cyberpunk feel to it - set it a futuristic universe but with a dose of detective noir thrown in for good measure. Not to be missed!

Wadjet Eye Games has consistently developed and published point-and-click adventure games with good puzzle logic, beautiful and nostalgic artwork, strong voice acting, and memorable settings and stories. Gemini Rue was one of the first games to be published by Dave Gilbert’s Wadjet Eye but developed by another party. Fortunately, developer Joshua Nuernberger continued the Wadjet Eye tradition and delivered one of strongest entries under the Wadjet Eye banner. Most of the elements mentioned above (voice acting, artwork, etc.) are on par with other games by the developer, which already makes the game very good in those regards. What sets Gemini Rue apart, however, is its thematic weight and integrity. Considerable effort has clearly gone into developing a strong backdrop to enrichen the game’s setting and deepen the stakes for the characters. The adventure game genre has a great deal of potential for strong storytelling, but video game designers often are not well-versed in how to create a video game and a compelling story. I would hazard to guess, however, that Joshua Nuernberger has spent a good deal of time studying dramatic theory. The story’s themes are consistent and identifiable, and its structure is solid. The principle of Chekov’s gun is well-applied- here is no wasted time or pointless diversions. Despite the traditional low res graphics and an unostentatious point-and-click interface, the game has a cinematic feel. I personally would submit Gemini Rue as the second best Wadjet Eye game and would heartily recommend it to any fan of adventure games or thoughtful science fiction.

Gemini Rue is efficient and workmanlike, but nothing more than that. Let me compare this empty shell to a good adventure game I played recently: Professor Layton versus Phoenix Wright. Professor Layton versus Phoenix Wright is an imaginative game: The premise is that the characters are thrown into a medieval world of witches and inquisitors, where magic is commonplace, even though they come from the modern world. Seeing Phoenix Wright, a lawyer become acclimated to life and the legal system in such a world is interesting, and it makes the experience feel fresh. Gemini Rue’s world is bland, mostly focusing on two areas. One of those areas is a dull, featureless facility. Its other setting is a e futuristic Noir city, which quickly turns out to be pretty bland: Everything looks like a modern city, with only a tiny scrap of future technology, and very few items can be manipulated. Both parts of Professor Layton versus Phoenix Wright are satisfying, and though the two sometimes intersect, neither feels repetitive: They require thought and versatility. Gemini Rue has two different characters, but only one is interesting to play: The other is stuck in a dull facility where he spends most of his time performing the same actions, riding elevators, performing boring tests and failing to develop a personality. Professor Layton versus Phoenix Wright has good puzzles and humor: A variety of eccentric characters, classic puzzles, and court cases create colorful gameplay for the players. Professor Layton is a puzzle solver, and there are dozens of brain teasers for he and the other characters to solve, some of which are tricky. Sometimes poor writing makes the instructions confusing, but the puzzles are usually explained well. Court cases also function like puzzles, and though sometimes logical solutions are incorrect, they are gripping and exciting. Gemini Rue’s puzzles are ridiculously simplistic: I never needed more than a few minutes to solve any of them, and when I did, I felt little satisfaction since the solutions tended to be incredibly obvious. Pacing is the one area in which Gemini Rue succeeds: Professor Layton versus Phoenix Wright tends to have overlong chapters, sometimes requires the player to scroll through long dialogue sequences that he already saw after failing, and can repetitive after a long session.

I've completed other Wadjet Eye games like Primordia, Technobabylon, and Shardlight. My eyesight isn't the best, so where I usually go sideways with their games is not seeing some barely visible thing I have to click on. There are a few in Gemini Rue that had me cussing. #1. Calling the pilot. You can kind of puzzle out what you are supposed to say to him through trial and error, but I missed the one dialog option that triggers his information. As a result I ran around for hours trying to figure out what I missed. #2. The guards outside room 2a. There is this little smudge on the wall that's supposed to be a hole that you can put your foot in and boost yourself up to disable the electricity on a whole floor with your LOCKPICKS. Aside from that sounding incredibly hazardous, I walked up and down that hall a dozen times, then back all over the map trying to find out how to get past the guards. It's not obvious at all because it's hidden by the blurry graphics. What a waste of time. Also, why would I assume that 2 of the guards would run off if I turned out the lights? If anything, I would expect they would look down the hall then shoot me. This was a dumb puzzle solution, and an even worse pixel hunt. I really think Wadjet Eye does a great job with their games, but I absolutely hate "puzzle garbage" like this. There is no reason in any even semi-modern game for pixel hunting. Ruined an otherwise enjoyable gaming session for me. It's a decent story, so I might watch a "Let's Play" of the rest of it, but I'm not going to finish it.

Going into Gemini Rue the only thing I knew was that it was a highly lauded Adventure game from an Indie studio not known for making much else. After having played the game all the way through to completion, the only thing that this game leaves me with is a sense of all-encompassing awe. It's quite clear that the one man who wrote this had both an affinity for this kind of game as well as the setting and characters that he created. While I would never say that this is the best game ever, or even the best game I have ever played, it is one story that I will not soon forget. I can't wait to see more from Joshua Nuernberger. Truly though, no amount of words can describe how awesome this game made me feel. (Almost makes you wish a big studio would pick this up and do the game justice in movie form - it's just begging for it!)