It seems that you're using an outdated browser. Some things may not work as they should (or don't work at all).
We suggest you upgrade newer and better browser like: Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer or Opera

×
I introduced my girlfriend to the Shadowgate remake a few weeks ago. She doesn't play a lot of games, and never played a point-and-click adventure game before, but she really loves Shadowgate. Recently she asked me if there were any other games I knew of that were like Shadowgate, so I was wondering if I could get a few good recommendations, preferably something as deep and complex as Shadowgate.

I already showed her Myst. The concept excited her, but she found it confusing to navigate and would have preferred a more straightforward narrative (the lack of context clues made it difficult to understand what was going on)

Also, she prefers games that don't look "pixellated" (I know, there's a lot of good games with pixellated graphics, but it's her preference.)
While Shadowgate is a point-and-click game, it is also first-person. This sub-genre of P&C is not very prominent these days as most modern first-person perspective games ditch the P&C controls for real-time movement. Due to this, most games that would be similar to Shadowgate are going to probably be "pixelated" to some degree. Here is a list of what is available on GOG:

The 7th Guest and The 11th Hour
Amerzone: The Explorer's Legacy
Atlantis: The Lost Tales, Atlantis 2: Beyond Atlantis and Atlantis 3: The New World
Dracula Trilogy and Dracula 4+5
Nancy Drew: Curse of Blackmoor Manor
Return to Zork, Zork Nemesis: The Forbidden Lands and Zork: Grand Inquisitor

Aside from these, Tesla Effect: A Tex Murphy Adventure would probably be the closest comparison. It is fairly new, so the graphics are very slick. However, it does contain a lot of full-motion video with real actors, something that Shadowgate does not do. Still, it's probably the closest you're going to find from recent years.

I'm curious, with your girlfriend's aversion to pixelated graphics, what she would think of the NES version of Shadowgate that I grew up with. The "retro" options in the new game are a direct homage to that version.
If it doesn't have to be first-person, perhaps she might like the remake of Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers. It has a dark tone and a deep story like Shadowgate, but it is very dialog heavy.

http://www.gog.com/game/gabriel_knight_sins_of_the_fathers_20th_anniversary_edition
Ha! Now the Weekend Promo has some of the games I suggested on sale! Why not take advantage of this chance event, cjspencer1?
I wanted to show my girlfriend the old Shadowgate for comparison, but the art style of the newer Shadowgate was more appealing to her. I also showed her some of the other Macventure games. She wasn't interested in Deja Vu, but she seemed to really like Uninvited (We both kinda want Uninvited to get the Shadowgate treatment, as unlikely as that might be XD) . And I don't think my girlfriend minds Full-motion video. If anything, she'd find it kind of cool.
I'm gonna look into that list of games before I meet with my girlfriend tomorrow, especially Tesla Effect and Gabriel Knight. And hopefully buy them with the sale~

EDIT: And when my girlfriend said she prefers non-pixelated games, I think she was more referring to games that don't have very "blocky" pixels like the EGA/VGA Sierra games/original monkey island. Not sure about games that have that "low-res" pixelated cutscene look to them.
Post edited March 21, 2015 by cjspencer1
While I like Déjà Vu, it is definitely the weakest of the MacVenture games in my opinion (understandable, since it's the first one). While it's not as ingrained in my memory as Shadowgate, I still love Uninvited a lot. I never played Déjà Vu II as that one was never ported to the NES. I didn't really start playing PC games in earnest until last year.

The odds of Uninvited getting a shiny remake aren't entirely outside of the realm of possibility. Zojoi acquired the rights to the entire MacVenture catalogue when they started working on the new Shadowgate remake. They could give Uninvited the same treatment if things are going well with the sales of this game. If all else fails, there's always Kickstarter!
Sorry for the late response, and thanks for all the feedback! I showed my girlfriend the games you guys listed.
Turns out she was a HUGE fan of the Nancy Drew books and I ended up getting her "Curse of Blackmoor Manor". I haven't played it before either and I'm enjoying it as much as she is (Now she wants me to get the entire series of Nancy Drew games. Doubt I can afford all that haha).

Thank you guys so much!
Very glad that you found something that she is enjoying. It was certainly my pleasure to help out a fellow Shadowgate fan.

Happy gaming!