Double Fine Debuts Broken Age Teaser

[Andy Chalk]

Double Fine Debuts Broken Age Teaser

​

Get ready for your first look at what happens when you throw two million dollars at Tim Schafer and Double Fine Productions and tell them to have fun.

Broken Age, the proper name of the "Double Fine Adventure" that brought in more than $2 million on Kickstarter last year, was revealed to the world [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/122875-Tim-Schafers-Double-Fine-Adventure-Gets-Named] earlier this week as a story about a boy and a girl living parallel lives: he on a spaceship under the care of a machine mother, while she in a village, as a sacrifice-in-waiting to a terrible monster. Intriguing, but not exactly the most concise synopsis ever put together.

But now I come to you with good news - and bad news. The good news is that Double Fine has plopped a teaser trailer on the tubes and it is, in the words of my esteemed colleague Sarah LeBoeuf, "sweet." The bad news is that, sweet as it is, it's not terribly informative. I love the visual style (and it's just about exactly what you'd expect from a Double Fine game) and the music is great too, even if it's only a placeholder for the video. But what's actually going on? Not a clue.

I am, however, intrigued, which I suppose is the point. And the other bit of good news - yes, there's more - if that if you, like me, took a pass on the Kickstarter, you can still get in on the action through either a $15 preorder or a $30 "Slacker Backer" option, which includes access to backer-exclusive forums, the 2 Player Productions documentary of the game's development and other material - just like the people who were paying attention a year ago when the Kickstarter was actually running!

So there you go. Definitely looking forward to this one. You can find out more about Broken Age at brokenagegame.com [http://www.brokenagegame.com/].


Permalink

 

[Ewyx]

These high profile games will make or break the kickstarter model, I'm definitely intrigued to see what'll happen. FTL proved it can work for indies, but can it work for larger teams? Guess we'll wait and see.


I can live with a bit of a cliched storyline, as long as they deliver a good game.

 

[Avaholic03]

the overall "broken age" storyline seems to be a chopped up mix of the most cliched and stale stories in existence.

i mean, come on!

another "i will oppose tradition and authority figures and be shocked and suprised how they react. but i will prevail because their tradition and agendas are flawed and i am no sheeple, derp derp derp something... lone wolf something, something.... perhaps time travel"

yeah, the story will unfold nicely, but still the story is just something we already saw hundreds and thousands of times. and its getting quite boring..

I'm gonna file this post under "haters gonna hate". I mean, they never claimed to be creating some groundbreaking narrative. They did claim to be making an old-school adventure game. So is it really surprising that they would fall back on old tropes? I'm sure the story will have its own twists and unique take on old ideas. Isn't that what Double Fine is good at: familiar stories in fantastical settings?

 

[ohnoitsabear]

As somebody who backed this Kickstarter, I am definitely pleased with how this is turning out. Hell, this game will probably be worth playing for the art alone. I mean look at it!

I cannot wait for this game.

 

[Entitled]

These high profile games will make or break the kickstarter model. FTL proved it can work for indies, but can it work for larger teams? Guess we'll wait and see.

I somehow doubt that. Kickstarter as a whole won't go anywhere, it has been steadily growing for three years. There have been projects bigger than this one successful already.

If This and Wasteland 2 would fail, than the gamer tribe's view of Kickstarter as a shop would end, so there would be no more "randomly browsing KS for interesting obscure projects" type of window shopping, and that would harm indies.

But the biggest projects so far have relied on their leader's reputation, not on the kickstarter model's reputation. I just do't see how if Will Wright would put up a new city building game, or Joss Whedon a new Firefly, their personal fans would just reply "Nope, we don't trust you with our money any more, because Tim Schafer's adventure game also ended up being too clichéd."

 

[The Great JT]

$2,000,000 well-spent says I. And so will the $60 or whatever-launch-day-price-is I spend on the game.

 

[bluepotatosack]

the overall "broken age" storyline seems to be a chopped up mix of the most cliched and stale stories in existence.

i mean, come on!

another "i will oppose tradition and authority figures and be shocked and suprised how they react. but i will prevail because their tradition and agendas are flawed and i am no sheeple, derp derp derp something... lone wolf something, something.... perhaps time travel"

yeah, the story will unfold nicely, but still the story is just something we already saw hundreds and thousands of times. and its getting quite boring..

Every storyline has been done before. The art is in the telling.
"Basic" Plots in Literature [http://www.ipl.org/div/farq/plotFARQ.html]

 

[Thoric485]

I wasn't really sold on it from the concept art, but seeing it all moving together, it's pretty neat. Detailed, colorful, offbeat, like a Double Fine hit should be.

Cinnamoons look tasty.