Posted on: September 8, 2019
2Karl
Verified ownerGames: 102 Reviews: 4
Dated and clunky
I remember rather enjoying the demo of TJP2 which I got off the cover of a PC Format magazine back in the 90s, and I'd enjoyed playing the first one, but I never picked up the full version of it. I saw it on GoG and figured I'd give it a go for old time's sake, after all, the reviews here were all glowing. Well. I can only assume that the reviews on this site were written by people who remembered the game fondly from their childhoods and had not played it recently, or people who have never played any game since the 90s, or sadomasochists, or mac users (last two are essentially the same). The controls are TERRIBLE. Every turn you make is disorienting in the extreme. It makes it very difficult to work out how to get to a place you want to go to or whic direction you're currently facing (especially in the space station). When you're exploring you can instantly die, which means exploration is just not fun, and you have to keep breaking your immersion to save the game. Some of the puzzles require items which are hidden in the environment, which wouldn't be a problem if the controls weren't so awful, or if the game mechanics didn't mean that EVERY TIME ZONE RESETS WHEN YOU LEAVE, EVEN THOUGH IT'S NECESSARY TO LEAVE AND REENTER SOME TIME ZONES SEVERAL TIMES, MEANING YOU HAVE TO WATCH THE SAME OLD BADLY ACTED CUTSCENES OVER AND OVER AGAIN. Also why doesn everyone think that Arthur is "hilarious"? He sometimes says some interesting enough things regarding the time period you're in, but he's never funny. I assume that the baby boomers and mac users dishing out the 5 star reviews don't have a particularly great sense of humour. FMV is poorly acted, interface is slow and clunky, having to retrace your steps is excruciating, and hunting for objects with the fear of imminent death hanging over your head like the sword of damocles is DULL. Still, the concept isn't too bad, so it at least deserves two stars. Get it on sale if you hate yourself.
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