*First of all, there should be a clear disclaimer that this game promotes homosexuality* Other than that... From remarks such as "Full voice acting! Our largest cast yet" or "High resolution 1920 x 1080 graphics! That's 3x higher than Unavowed" I got the feeling that the game was a very ambitious step for Wadjet Eye. Unfortunately "largest" or "higher" doesn't always mean better... - The graphics, although of higher resolution than previous games (actual pixel art ones) don't look as nice. My guess is, they wanted the simplicity and charm of the of the pixel art at he size of HD but they didn't manage it. The graphics in overall - although not exactly bad - seem to lack the details, the characters more than anything else. Also the general body-types appear strange and the movement of the characters look awkward (especially when they most of the times walk in couples, which also looks funny at best). Another thing I didn't like was that in most of the scenes there's just left-right movement with the camera placed on the same place, so there is no depth and no different angles. And last about the graphics, why have this "main" screen-hub to jump to the different scenes? It's not a huge negative but still, feels unnecessary. - The soundtrack is good and the voice acting is fine but a bit exaggerated at times, which makes some characters really irritating. - The story started seeming interesting to me but ended too fast and abruptly. Then I kept on playing, expecting when the main plot will start to unfold but this never happened. I just played and played (but without getting bored I must admit) until at the very end of the game I understood that the main plot is that there's some irrelevant connection between the separate plots of each chapter. Maybe it was my fault but the individual characters' stories were so indifferent that I didn't feel engaged to the story at all. I was expecting much better than an okay-ish or meh game from Wadjet Eye. Maybe the next one!
I had high hopes for Born Punk and waited for a long time until it was released, since I had added it in my wishlist. I bought it the day it was released (or maybe the next, anyway). Although the 80s nostalgia and the cyberpunk atmosphere of the Menu screen and the game intro looked promising that was all about it. Yeah, the pixel art is nice but: 1. There's one perspective in ALL the locations of the whole game. There's no depth (literally). Maybe some 80s LucasArt old ones seemed to be like that (or were indeed, can't remember to be honest) but one gen after those, all classics had depth. Monkey Island, Loom, Universe, Future Wars... Also some modern pixel-art games manage that perfectly (Gemini Rue, Primordia, Shardlight to name a few). 2. Too many characters to play with, whose stories are at least indifferent. Or maybe I couldn't care about them because they were three of them. 3. There was TOO MUCH dialogue (x3). I don't mean the dialogue options, I mean that there's more listening than playing. 4. Some riddles could be solved otherwise but the solution wasn't accepted. 5. The voice acting was from okayish to annoying. 6.The story itself was too confusing or didn't really matter to me so I just paid no attention. 7. Trying to tell too many things in a single game. It's not variety, it's a mixture of unfitting things. 8. Involving politics in games is ok when it's about ideas. Involving actual politics, actual countries, peoples etc in a game is not okay (even more when it's so far away from reality). The team has potential in graphics but they need proper guidance when it comes to the story of the game (and back story) and the direction of the game. Maybe they manage it on their next try.
There's nothing in this one I could really criticize. I had no issues with the game (running it at 60FPS with an RX480, i5-6600, 16GB of RAM, no OC anywhere). This game is fun and it's even better than its predecessors! It looks much more like an Asterix story, rather than a random collection of different games with Asterix and Obelix as the heroes. The fighting is much more fun with more trademark moves by the heroes (slaps, upercuts that send the Roman's flying etc). Um, maybe I would like a "jump" button, instead of a "leap" one, but that's all. You get to go visit, Egypt, Greece, Rome and of course the Village.... Everything adds up to an Asterix classic game and story!
Alright, that's supposed to be a sequel to "Last Quiet Day" but it's actually not. Not storywise at least. Of course I don't suggest starting with this one because the first one's main revelation will be ruined. About the game now. Graphically, it is okay (some human's animations look awkward). The audio is fine too. I'd like it to be gloomier though. Seems too shiny for a post-Apocalyptic scenery. The story shows the situation from the side of the humans. The riddles are fine too. What I really didn't like, was the fact that WASD is even more necessary than in the first part (this is supposed to be an adventure game and they're meant to be mouse only). In Last Quite Day, you could spot something with the mouse and by clicking there, the robot would walk over there so you could avoid some WASD walking. Not in this one. Here, the hotspots will appear only after you're close to them, and only then you can use the mouse to interact with them. Plus the mouse is used for full 360 camera control, while it only moved the camera slightly in its predecessor. This removes points from the game's "direction" as there are no specific cameras, and adventure games depend also on the camera position. One more thing I didn't like was that there was too much dialogue. And lastly, it's too short, like the first part. I'd suggest you buy it at an offer, when it's under 5 euros.
Trying to keep it short (as much as the game is) + graphically nearly perfect, great atmosphere and OST. good voice acting nice plot almost everything, except for the - - way too short (less than 2.5 hours), especially if you consider it's so nice, you really ask for more too high priced compared to the length, 5 euros would be a more reasonable price keyboard (wasd) character movement, a point and click should be played with the mouse alone! =) I wish the devs will complete the game one day, hopefully with full mouse support. I suggest anyone to go for it when it's at around 5 euros (at 2.7 eu, like now is a great chance!)
Let's start with what I don't like about the game. - It could have a bit higher resolution and still be considered pixel art. - The first "stage" could be a bit darker. - Same for some soundtrack parts (could be less playful). Now, to what I like. - Made me relive the early 90s not only by the pixel art but because of the story in the game (childhood memories that you can revisit only in your mind as an adult, wishing you could be there again for a while). - Pixel art! Beautifully drawn and animated! - Smart references to the classic point and click games (Inherit the Earth: Quest for the Orb, Loom etc). - Specific jokes, not thrown all around the game needlessly. - Logical puzzles. - No dead-ends. In case of a "mistake" there's an alternative way to fix it. in order to proceed. - I didn't get bored for an instant, even if I got stuck a couple of times. There's no need for a walkthrough, by the way. - The game is separated in "chapters". Each chapter is a different place including 5-6 locations in it. It helps with the progress of the game and the story telling. - Oh, of course the Story itself!!! Starts with something silly but it's more interesting (can I say magical?) if you read the in-game stories and you pay attention as the game goes on. I say it's a 4.5/5 but since this isn't a possible rating, then 5/5. Anyway, the negatives aren't important or a real problem. I wish it will be completed one day, but I consider myself lucky for playing it regardless!
If the full game follows the way the prologue is done then it's gonna be from good to great. That's the plot and atmosphere a Syberia game needs. What I didn't like though, is the fact that they tried to make it "mouse friendly" rather than designing the game for mouse users. Why hide the inventory? Why abandon the good old pnc inventory style? Why not choose the dialogues by clicking on the line? Why should I do all those item interaction (rotate the mouse, click and move forward etc). They add nothing to the game. I also miss the 2.5D and drawn backgrounds... But apart from my personal preference, the game mechanics work fine as they are and nothing reminds of the Syberia 3 mess... Can't wait until the full game is out!
Actually to be honest I was between 3 and 4 stars... I believe a 3.5/5 would be fairer but there's no option so I went for 3. Anyway, the game is good of course but it failed to hook me in its world. It's got great graphics but ALL the cameras are placed at the same place, there's one perspective in the whole game. More than that, it's quite zoomed in the character so it's like looking a masterpiece painting but from so close that you can't really enjoy the beauty of it. Having to move left and right (rarely up and down) and have the screen scrolling, didn't help at all. The OST is a masterpiece. It's a masterpiece album though. Not all tracks used in the game fit as background music or soundtrack. On the gameplay side, it's a classic old-school-type point and click. There aren't any hotspots (that's fine for me) but there is pixel-hunting which is very frustrating. I can't say the riddles were not solved in a logical way, but it's more like there are 100 easier ways to solve this riddle man... Why choose the most time-consuming and distance-walking one?! On top of that, the protagonist's hints aren't spot on quite many times during the game. Most time in the game is spent just hunting for pixels and trial n error. It just stops the flow and while they may think you play longer, you don't. You're just more frustrated. The story tries to mention too many things in one short take. I like the references in 80s hardware and stuff but I'd prefer the real names. Amiga 500, Atari ST and so on. I also like the references in "virtual" realities and the climate change. They are all connected. But they don't manage to make the connection obvious. So in overall each part has a good and a bad side, graphics, music, gameplay, story... But if you like classic point and click, go for it. Even the full price is reasonable. Just be patient and don't expect a masterpiece.
To keep it short: atmosphere (graphics+OST), narrative, story, voice acting, extras (little objects or recording that add to the story but they're not necessary to proceed in the game), difficulty level... Everything is excellent. Like living in a future earth/space adventure. On the technical side, I found this game running smoother on a GTX 950 than an AMD RX 480 which is kinda strange, or just the game isn't optimized for AMD cards...
Doesn't reach the quality of its predecessor (storywise and depth-wise) but it's still a solid and fun game. Worth the price (specially in sales)!
