I really liked this one. It's not a great game and the graphics didn't age too well. I know this is heresy, but I actually prefer the direct "console-style" controls in this game to point-and-click, because contrary to the latter you're actually doing something most of the time instead of waiting and watching your character do something. Regarding everything else: the story, characters, voice acting, puzzles etc., I'd say if you liked the first two Broken Sword games, you'll like this one, maybe to a lesser degree, but still enough to enjoy it.
I would say this is an average adventure. It gets repetitive if you play the episodes back to back, so I would advise to make a pause of at least a week between each episode, as characters and places are constantly revisited. I made the mistake of playing all at once. It has its charms, a nice story, mostly likable characters and mostly good puzzles that are just the right amount of difficult. But it's not something that you'll remember too fondly after having played it. To be honest, I was rather glad when it was over, despite its qualities.
I played this just a few years ago and I liked it a lot: Interesting, intelligent and gripping story, good atmosphere and puzzles that strike just the right amount between challenging and game flow. It did age really well - I had no problem playing this although I am too young to have played this or similar games at its time.
The following review applies to both the first and the second Deponia game. The third one I have not played. I find this game to be hugely overrated, but then again it seems to be a "love it or hate it" case. The good: The 2D graphics are quite beautiful, although cheaply animated. Some of the puzzles are good, some are rather obtuse. The bad: The main character is an asshole (not as much as in the second game, but still deeply odious). This is obviously meant to be funny - it's not. It's just annoying. The humour in general is never funny in the slightest. And this is not a translation issue: I played it in its original German, which is my native language. The humour is just inane and offensive, never funny - very German in that regard, unfortunately. The story is servicable at best, mostly cliché and unoriginal, as are the characters. Conversations drag on too long and (see above) are meant to be funny, but instead are just terribly boring. Some of the puzzles are rather obtuse.
The following review applies to both the first and the second Deponia game. The third one I have not played. I find this game to be hugely overrated, but then again it seems to be a "love it or hate it" case. The good: The 2D graphics are quite beautiful, although cheaply animated. Some of the puzzles are good, some are rather obtuse. The bad: The main character is an asshole. This is obviously meant to be funny - it's not. It's just annoying. The humour in general is never funny in the slightest. And this is not a translation issue: I played it in its original German, which is my native language. The humour is just inane and offensive, never funny - very German in that regard, unfortunately. The story is servicable at best, mostly cliché and unoriginal, as are the characters. Conversations drag on too long and (see above) are meant to be funny, but instead are just terribly boring. Some of the puzzles are rather obtuse. Moreover, I disliked the open structure of the game in the beginning. I know many people like this, but I just found this to be ovewhelming and boring: Too many places to examine and too many boring conversations to have at once. The only reason I bought and suffered through the second Deponia game is that I was brainwashed by the critical acclaim (at least in the German gaming press).
