Mean Streets is an unconventional adventure game that combines multiple 'genres' into a playable detective novel. As other reviews have highlighted, there are elements of a flight simulator, action game, and adventure game bundled into one package. Not all of those components are as well executed. The flight simulator mode is required to move between locations; after figuring out how the manual controls work, I figured out that there's an autopilot. Alas, "automatic" means you still have to watch several clunky polygons crawl through coloured planes. They must have been very proud of this feature. What many people consider unplayable relates to the interface. In the dialogue option, you must type out the full (and correctly-spelled) name of the individual you want to ask about rather than selecting the name from a drop-down list. And let me tell you--there are like a gajillion names in this game. Keep pen and paper ready. Interacting with environments--particularly seeing and picking up objects--is an art form. Rooms are split into broad, searchable areas; as the game is fully keyboard operated, it is impossible to directly interact with objects via a cursor highlight. Because it takes so much manual labour, this game is very satisfying to complete, however. Martian Memorandum is certainly a step up from the previous part in terms of interface. It is more of a "pure" adventure game, as the shooting and flight components were eliminated. The game is certainly easier to play, as interacting with environments was much more nuanced and straight forward. As in the previous part, the graphics could at times be really impressive... yet at other times lazily implemented or rushed. Despite the cool world created in the game, it didn't draw me in as well as Mean Streets. Both games craft a unique world with history and lore. In both it is essential that you look before you leap: you cannot observe items in your inventory! Invest in early observation or you will be stuck.
Noctropolis is mediocre adventure game where you play as a rip-off batman. It promises a lot of comic like graphics, but this is only in the beginning and later on only visible in all the cheesy, over-the-top outfits. The first thing you have to overcome is the UI. Especially the inventory system is terrible. The first puzzle which needed an inventory item we had to look up, even though we knew roughly what to do. That is how horrible the controls are. Next there is the navigation. A lot of places on the city map stay active after exhausting all actions there. It is also often unclear what building you have to return to. The final horrific part is the Stiletto character. Poorly acted, is supposed to be hot, but looks like my mom. This character just pisses me off. Oh yes, the end is also atrocious. But not all is bad. Even though it is cheesy it is a lot of fun to play through! The voice acting is bad in a fun way which suits the style and by far the best are the villains. They give a creepy and gruesome undertone to the story and the environment they are related to are just really cool. I cannot advice Noctropolis to anyone. As a seasoned adventure game player I think it was fun, but a comic love could be lured in something he/she might not expect. Whatever you choose; only buy it on discount, since it is really not worth the full price.
Undertale is a J-RPG styled game, but with a twist. The idea is that you do not kill anyone, but it does not mean that you do not have to. The game changes depending on what action you take, so there is replayability to it. I myself finished the game in the neutral and pacifist way. This is what you probably knew already. And in all fairness it is a nice little game, but I do not understand the general awe for this game.. I think the hype comes mostly from the fact that there is a lot of emotion in the game and that there is a psychology behind the story line. The amount of depth is cool and it is why I gave it four stars (since three and a half is not possible). Do know that the game is very short and the fake 8-bit might get on your nerves (because it is not done right). If you are curious and like the idea of a replayable story this game is meant for you. If you are more of a gamer, you should not touch this one.
Day of the Tentacle is (in my opinion) the best adventure game ever made. It has different characters, multiple worlds and it does not take itself too seriously. Back in the day the puzzles combined with the time travel aspect blew my mind. If you never played this, don't hesitate to buy this game. If you did play the original, this remake will not offer you anything new. I had the diskette version, so I had no voice acting. The graphics are nice and look very much so like the original graphics only in high definition. Besides that the interface became significantly less user friendly. Still it is a solid game that aged well, but if you have the original, leave this version be.
Back in the day I really enjoyed the original Monkey Island 2. So when I saw this version on GOG I was sold; I wanted to see what things I still knew and how the game was made differently. As a kid I had the floppy version of the game, so without any voice acting. I have to admit it is actually pretty good. The voices suit the characters and it is only cheesy when it needs to be. What really bugged me were the new graphics. It is poorly animated and I didn't envision Guybrush to look like that, so it was impossible to play. Luckily you can switch to the old graphical mode, so I kept it on. Occasionally I would switch to the new graphics to see how the current screen was interpreted by the new artist, but then quickly switch back. The one thing that was unforgivable in this remake is the absence of the dancing monkeys in the credit sequence, which was in the intro of the original game! This is the moment I loved the game when I was a kid. In conclusion the remake is okay, but does not improve in any way on the original. If you never played this game before and love adventure games, you should totally give it a try.
As a child I only had the shareware version of this game and I really liked it. After all these years I now saw the full version here on GOG. At first I was hesitant to play it again, since things look better in retrospect and I just finished Crystal Caves, which is a very similar game, and had a not-so-good experience with that game. I was pleasantly surprised when I played through all three parts of Secret Agent. It is way less hard than Crystal Caves and the fun was still there. Like all older Apogee games it does get repetitive, so taking a break once in a while is not a luxury. Get this game on sale and it is really worth the playthrough.
In my opinion this is the best Might and Magic game. The formula is the same as all the newer MM games; you create a party by carefully choosing what skills you want your heroes to have, so that your team is balanced in combat and that everyone knows some adventuring skills that complement each other. During the game you have an explicit choice to either be good or evil, which also changes the availability of the classes and quests. The story is set in the world as Heroes of Might and Magic 3, which is also my favourite HOMM game. The game has the same flaw the other MM games have; in the beginning it is super challenging and later on it becomes too easy. Also the ending is super underwhelming. If you like RPG's you should totally play this game. Even if you don't but do like HOMM3, the recognition of characters, monsters and cities will be enough to drag you in.
This is game is the definition of a Good Old Game to me. I played episode 1 back in the day and loved it. Now I finally had a chance to play all episodes. Did this change my opinion? To be very honest, for all games made in this era, which were sold in the same shareware format, the problem is that episode 1 is by for the most fun and shows all the features well enough. Crystal Caves does not have many features to begin with and the same holds here as with its peers. With this knowledge, my expectations were not that high before I started on episode 2 and 3. If you love platform games with solid controls and love levels to gradually become more difficult, this is the game for you. At episode 3 you're really at the end of your chair and you know that every death is your own fault. Especially the last episode is punishing! This is the power of the game and there is not much more to find here. Buy this game on a nice discount if it appeals to you. I mostly bought it for the nostalgia, but I can image it is not enough regarding the difficulty and monotony.
Memoria is a well made adventure game and is a good. The game is beautiful and well voice acted (except for the dreadful performance of a boy in the end-sequence, who is clearly reading his lines). The puzzles are fair, the game is exactly the right length and there are 2 possible endings. It also introduces new game elements, like a new spell that can send images to a person based on objects you see in the room. Unfortunately you only get to use this mechanic a few times, which seems like missed potential. There are some parts that I enjoyed less, like the maze. Fortunately you can skip the maze, but it does feel like cheating. After running in circles for an hour however, you see the added merit of the button though. Another issue I had was the pacing of the game. Some parts pass too quickly and some parts seem to drag forever. For instance, there is this part with a huge spider web, but I found out the solution to the puzzle before I even saw there was a big freaking spider staring at me! The parts in the past are in general way more interesting than the ones in the "present" (Geron's timeline). The "present timeline" drags a lot in the beginning and your motivation (to save the most annoying character in the game) is not enough motivation for me. In short; if you like adventure gaming and liked the previous part, buy this game, because it is worth your time.
For an Al Lowe title, "Torin's Passage" is unexpectedly wholesome, but also unexpectedly... unpolished? The game does not feel like a coherent experience, nor does it feel as complete and high quality as I would have expected. The game is split among five worlds that sprawl below Torin's own. As other reviewers have pointed out, there is a major contrast in length and difficulty between the first two worlds and the remaining three. The first two worlds very much so meet the expectations one would have for an adventure game, but the third is only puzzles. There is no freedom to move around in the environment, and interaction with the enviroment or other characters is limited. Subequent worlds find a better balance between puzzles and more classic adventure game mechanics, but the required actions and their sequences are not very challenging. While I found the characters to be generally likeable, the voice acting to be entertaining, and some of the dialogue delightful... this game just didn't pack much of a punch. I enjoyed playing it, but I would not have enjoyed the short and simple experience had I payed full price for this game. I would recommend this game to players who enjoy some challenging puzzles (I'm looking at you, musical notes puzzle), a straght forward fairy tale, and an enjoyable way to spend a lazy afternoon. For all others... pick this up when it's extremely cheap because there is some charm there, you just have to find it. Just a word of warning: that charm is not in the abrupt ending.
