In theory, it sounds great to "remaster" the original game for modern machines and provide quality of life improvements. And actually, some of the additions to the game in this version are nice ideas: hotspots, skippable cutscenes, easier access to the map. However, from the moment the game starts up, you get the feeling that not a lot of care was put into this. The menu screen feels a bit thrown together, the MojoTouch logo looks surprisingly unprofessional, and the replacement for the original Trilobyte logo is bad (and ruins the game's intro's atmosphere). Presentation is important! As you actually get into the game, it still is basically "The 7th Guest," but it feels not very polished around the edges, especially where the new features are present. One very annoying thing is that the skeleton hand mouse cursor now seems to be entirely different and doesn't point at things quite right on-screen. Apparently this version includes the original "legacy" game too...maybe play that instead. Its a much better experience from a time when a game like this was a big budget event versus something thrown together to get a few more sales.
Though they're technically in the same series, it's hard to imagine an odder package deal. If you're an old-school adventure game or KQ fan, odds are you'll find KQ7 charming and enjoyable. I enjoyed it overall, though I found the Disney-esque feel to be a bit sickeningly sweet at times. But it also has an unexpected dark side at times. The walk speed is insanely slow - it will really test your patience. KQ8 is very different from every other game in the series, and for that reason, it has been pretty universally hated. However, I think with the benefit of time, and looking at it as its own game, it's actually a pretty fun action/RPG/adventure hybrid. It's a bit rough around the edges by today's standards, but I had a great time with it. A lot of the dialogue has a "medieval english" vibe to it that was surprisingly endearing and fun.
I actually have some fondness for this game - as a kid, I tried and failed many times to get this game to run on the family PC. When it eventually did work, I must have spent hours exploring the first area, trying to figure out how the heck anything works. Playing it now, it's no surprise I never made progress in this game - the puzzle logic is about as far-fetched as can be. The solutions often seem to be complete non-sequitors (to the point you start to wonder if the game bugged out). Two frustrating design sins appear constantly: randomization and repetition. Through every part of the game, key puzzle solutions involve randomized elements: searching the dump *may* give you something useful, maybe not. Giving an item to a character *may* grant an important item, maybe not. You can easily cheese this with the save/load system, but even then, it took me 30-40 loads in one case to get past the randomization...can you imagine solving this as intended!? Again and again, the solution is to do the same thing a ton of times until you make progress. As you solve puzzles, it just gets more bewildering. How and why anything is happening is just completely unclear. Enter a cave, an avant-garde video clip plays, suddenly you're somewhere else. Whiff a "magic can" to just go places for reasons. Make plants grow by using sea creatures on them. Just whatever! And, of course, there's a maze thrown in there. And you have to navigate it twice. I actually don't think the graphics are as bad as others have mentioned, but they're not awesome. It probably seemed very bleeding edge at the time, but hasn't aged super well. Certainly the previous game's graphics were better. Bringing back the villain from the first game as the hero is a fun idea, and Malcolm is a great character. The dialogue and scenarios are sometimes pretty funny. But the story just goes nowhere - part of the puzzle is understanding why in the world you are doing anything this game wants you to do.
As with the first game, the fantasy setting for this game is in danger of being too generic...until you start to explore a bit and find a gang of interesting characters spouting funny and enjoyable dialogue. The world, characters, and dialogue are quite fresh, enjoyable, and funny. In terms of puzzles, this game is definitely a step up from the first. For the first few areas of the game, the puzzles feel pretty logical and clever. The game makes heavy use of a spell crafting mechanic, which starts out feeling fresh, but eventually feels overused - almost every situation in the game requires you to brew a potion! As the game progresses, difficulty ramps up and things become more frustrating. At least one puzzle relies on being aware of real-world knowledge, and others are not deducible except by looking at inventory items available right now in relation to spells in the spell book. There's a point about half-way through the game where the character straight up tells you what potion to brew because it makes no sense otherwise. One frustrating puzzle solving detail is how Zanthia can sometimes pick up anything on-screen, even if it is 100% out of her reach. But other times, she'll say "I can't reach it." It's an inconsistently applied rule in this game world, and it sometimes makes the puzzles feel cheap or illogical. Overall, I really enjoyed the atmosphere, the characters, and the writing in this game. The artwork also has a nice 2D pixel art style, with some interesting and varied environments. Music and other audio is likewise pretty great! I'd recommend giving the game a go on your own, but don't feel bad about resorting to a walkthrough as things get a little too difficult.
There are plenty of reasons this game should be disappointing: the rudimentary 3D graphics, the infamous cathair-moustache puzzle, Gabe's exaggerated drawl. However, GK3 has enough going for it to overcome these issues. The 3D graphics are rather dated, but they aren't so different from what you'd see in other 3D games from the era. The team deserves credit for developing a facial animation system for the characters that does an amazing job of conveying the emotion necessary for this kind of narrative-driven game. Despite a couple illogical puzzles, they are overall great. There is a large riddle-based treasure hunting puzzle that lasts for the majority of the game; it's probably one of my favorite adventure game puzzles ever - immensely interesting and satisfying. There's also some fun investigative work - spying on suspects using binoculars, lifting fingerprints, matching license plates to suspects, analyzing photographs, etc. The scenario is a bit contrived, but once it gets going, the story does an excellent job of mixing historical fact and real-world locations with fiction. I really liked the portrayal of the vampires, plus the parallels drawn between blood (vampires love it!), bloodlines, and viticulture were really satisfying. It's a bit of a cliffhanger, but the ending is pretty good too. The control scheme for this game is also kind of cool - you control the camera independently using first-person controls, but you click to move Gabe or Grace around the scene or have them perform actions. This is kind of a natural extension of a 2D adventure game into 3D, and it works really well - I kind of wish more games had tried this approach. Anyway, to summarize, several problems, but totally worth a playthrough. There are some technical challenges: you need a CD drive (a bug in the game's code causes the game to not run if no CD drive is present), and the game is a bit unstable on modern hardware. But if you can see it through, it's a great time.
The Legend of Kyrandia tells a relatively generic fantasy story: a seemingly normal guy is beset with a quest to defeat a nefarious villain who has overthrown a fantasy kingdom and restore balance to the world. However, where the game really shines is in its characters and dialogue. The villain, Malcolm, is super fun and memorable, and a lot of the dialogue is humorous, witty, and enjoyable. The hero, Brandon, comes across somewhat dull and dimwitted to great comedic effect as the cast of supporting characters rag on him during his journey. Early on, the puzzles feel pretty clear and logical. However, things take a turn for the worse and never really recover for the second half of the game: - Randomized item placement makes it a pain to find an item when you need it - Puzzle solutions are sometimes not logical or deducible. The only way to solve is trial and error. - Multiple large maze-like areas, one of which causes instant death if you go the wrong way - Lack of direction later in the game...a seemingly important character disappears and you're on your own until the credits role. - Puzzles later in the game may require you to backtrack all the way to the beginning. - Totally possible to dead-end and require a game restart. The artwork is pretty good, but there's also just a ton of forest imagery, to the point that it becomes a bit exhausting. UI, SFX, and VO are all great as well. I particularly appreciated an autosave feature, which seems rare for older games. If you're an adventure game fan, there's no doubt you ought to play through this game (and the sequels). It's worth experiencing, but there were a lot of painpoints that made it a struggle.
