I enjoyed the Runaway series more than the Broken Sword series. There, I said it! Because let's face it, if you are going to compare Runaway with another game, that would be Broken sword. And while the Broken Sword series started with a bang, they felt to be going lower with each release, while Runaway kept the bar on pretty much the same level throughout the trilogy. Mind you that, although a trilogy, they are three complete games, meaning there are no cliffhanger endings here, just three adventures with the same protagonists in the same universe. If I had to name the weaker of the three I would say the second (Dream of the turtle). It's plot does tend to be a bit all over the place, but the title alone should prepare you for that. But man, what a cinematic adventure feeling each title has! Gangsters, conspirators, money hunts, flamboyant characters, travels, exploration, twists, all wackiness is there for our entertainment! The graphics speak for themselves through the images and trailers, and the voice overs and music are well above average. In conclusion, play the first (wait for a discount if need be), and if you like what you get, proceed to the rest without fear!
A sequel in par with the first Inner World game, The Last Wind Monk is a welcome return to Asposia. Some things are better/improved: - The character designs blend better with the background art (a simple flat shading did the trick) - The hint system is a nice addition (if not for the spoiler free hint system, then fpr the simple task of stating the quest running at any given moment) Some things (good and bad) remained the same: - Characters still talk too much, while dialogue is not as funny as needed. - The background art remains extremely nice, the music/sound is what the game needs, voice acting remains ok (above average). One things is not as good as in the 1st game: - The overall story/plot is not as engaging as on the 1st game. The story of The Last Wind Monk, while not bad by any means, just feels less epic. All in all, if you liked the 1st one and you find this on discount, you can safely purchase
The Inner World is a traditional style point and click adventure game with hand drawn 2D graphics with a nice story, an interesting world of its own, and some very interesting creatures. It starts a bit slowly, with the characters speaking more that they should, and the hotspots having descriptions longer than needed, but the pace picks up from the middle of the game onwards. The puzzles are on the medium to easy side without being uninteresting or boring, the dialogues could and should have been snappier, the voice acting is ok, but it could have been quicker spoken in many cases. The sound/music is fitting of the world, and the world itself with its own lore is a fresh twist on the fnatasy genre. The humour is not as funny as the writers would hope it is, certainly not laugh-out-loud, and we could have been spared a lot lines of non plot advancing dialogue if some (many) of the weaker jokes were to be omitted. All in all, a recommendable game which should have benefited from a tighter script/dialogue. If you are an adventure-game fan and catch this at a discount price you won't regret the money or the time.
Dissapointing cliff-hanger-y ending with practically tons of lose threads. Way too many dialogue and descriptions than needed to advance the plot, making the experience somewhat tedious. Not so funny as it should have been either, for the volume of dialogue/text given. Only a few good jokes scattered between constant forced attempts at hit-and-miss humour. Puzzles not nearly as inventive as the 1st game, but passable (above average). Again, the non-ending is a deal-breaker and a mortal sin of games, especially adventure games that rely on storytelling such as this. Only bought this because I've enjoyed the 1st so much, but was uterly dissapointed. Shame really. On the plus side, nice graphics and good overall plot (if not for the overstretching of dialogue, the plot-holes, the inadequate ending, etc)
The visuals and music are exceptional, the storytelling is very nice, the platforming ranges between ok and challenging. The completion time is short (about two hours, depending on how good are your platforming skills), which is not necessarily a bad thing on its own, although it becomes a minus at the full price being asked (9.99 at the moment). If you like what you see from the trailers/screenshots, buy it on a discount (or when the price drops below 5.00) and you won't be dissapointed.
