No one plays adventure games anymore?

[Samus Aran but a man]

Do you mean point-and-click adventure? If so, one of my favourites is the incredibly underrated gem for the Wii, Zack and Wiki.

 

[Zeema]

isnt Skyrim a Adventure game with RPG/fantasy elements?

 

[jthwilliams]

I use to play adventure games like you, but then I took a Skyrim to the Monkey Island.

sorry, I had to.

 

[Folji]

So, by your definition, what is an "adventure game"? You said you could name some.

If we knew what was covered in that genre, maybe we'd talk about it?

Not trying to be a smartarse here, just trying to understand your viewpoint.

I would say having a character-based story, with progress based on success in solving puzzles, and little or no reflex-based actions required from the player.

So Myst, Longest Journey, Syberia, Monkey Island, Sam & Max, Broken Sword, Gabriel Knight, Ceville, Jack Keane, Drawn etc.

Waaaaaait. I think you accidentally misquoted me for something the person right above me in the thread wrote. I was honestly surprised to find that quote messsage in my inbox since I could not remember writing anything of the sort.

 

[Anti Nudist Cupcake]

I'm playing a few point-and-click adventure games if that counts. Sam and max season 1, 2 and 3. Hector badge of carnage 1 and 2. My personal favorites are that of Yahtzee not because I like zero punctuation but because the stories were really really good; 5 days a stranger, six days a sacrifice, seven days a skeptic (best horror) and Trilby's notes.

 

[Kefo]

Go play Amnesia: the dark descent and the penumbra series. You can get the penumbra pack for under 20 and amnesia for another 20. Both great games that does not involve combat, just solving puzzles and not pissing yourself when a monster wanders near your hiding spot.

 

[kurtzy23]

People do still play adventure games but now adventure is a genre that can classify almost any game.

 

[gideonkain]

Well, I'm playing Jurassic Park the Game right now, it's a tell tale game - it's little more than a CGI movie with quick-time events but it faithfully reproduces the feel of the Jurrassic Park movies...wonder mixed with fear.

 

[SoranMBane]

They were bred out of existence when the technology behind games started to allow for the possibility of both good stories and good gameplay at the same time, because while traditional adventure games often had above-average writing, they always had awful, boring gameplay. Now we have games like Psychonauts, Portal, Half-Life, Deus Ex, Shadow of the Colossus, and Bioshock in their place; games with great gameplay hand-in-hand with stories that rival or even surpass anything old adventure games could accomplish. I think our own Yahtzee says it all best in this little bit he did:

I don't agree that they surpass the old adventure games - Portal and Psychonauts are the only ones which I would say rival them, but by making the bulk of the gameplay jumping and hitting things, surely something is lost don't you think? And even if it wasn't, if the potential was there, as I think it probably can be, as Yahtzee says, they still need to take the huge step of not hiring chimps, which seems to be too difficult.

I'd say that the swing towards action-adventure has simply made the stories more engrossing, as action-oriented gameplay simply lends itself to better story-gameplay integration and gives the player a more active role in that narrative. In classic adventure games, the puzzles are generally no more than arbitrary obstacles that wall off the rest of the story until they're solved, where recent action games have actually utilized aspects of their gameplay to deepen the narrative. In every one of the games I mentioned, the gameplay actually plays a key role in the story instead of cutting you off from it. Even one of the few examples of great story-gameplay integration I've come across in an adventure game (a bit in the I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream game where you can electrocute a bunch of caged animals to get a key that doesn't actually unlock anything) simply can't compare to the level of emotional impact in the nuke scene from Call of Duty 4 or the twist in Bioshock where you learn that the phrase "would you kindly?" isn't just Atlus being polite. Nothing is lost with the added emphasis on action beyond the frustration of having to check a walthrough for the twentieth time because the puzzles in adventure games always work on Wonderland logic.

 

[JoesshittyOs]

I was about to let loose the rash and rather annoying side of JoesShittyOs for a second, but I stopped myself because I'm not quite sure what technically qualifies as an Adventure game.

Can someone define this for me, because I for some reason assumed that every game is an adventure game (cue magic rainbow)

 

[elvor0]

It's funny how you complain about that people don't understand adventure games yet you're unable to provide a definition for it yourself. Give us the list of 1 adventure game released for each month of 2011 since you claim there are so many.

I gave a definition on the last page: A story based game in which you play as a protagonist, with progress based on success in solving puzzles, and with little or no reflex-based actions required from the player.

So you have essentially just been a massive dick for the last two pages wherein multiple people said "point and click" which is what you're on about in your OP stop pretending to be fucking Sheldon, your definition is just a very very long winded description of "point and click". Heck in your OP you don't even mention that you do mean point and click, you just say "adventure" a genre which can encompass almost every game on the planet aside from simulators and rts.

People have even made well natured points and you've just been "OMG IGNORANT ESCAPIST FOOLS!"

Get your head out of your ass and just make your discussion.

 

[Blood Brain Barrier]

They were bred out of existence when the technology behind games started to allow for the possibility of both good stories and good gameplay at the same time, because while traditional adventure games often had above-average writing, they always had awful, boring gameplay. Now we have games like Psychonauts, Portal, Half-Life, Deus Ex, Shadow of the Colossus, and Bioshock in their place; games with great gameplay hand-in-hand with stories that rival or even surpass anything old adventure games could accomplish. I think our own Yahtzee says it all best in this little bit he did:

I don't agree that they surpass the old adventure games - Portal and Psychonauts are the only ones which I would say rival them, but by making the bulk of the gameplay jumping and hitting things, surely something is lost don't you think? And even if it wasn't, if the potential was there, as I think it probably can be, as Yahtzee says, they still need to take the huge step of not hiring chimps, which seems to be too difficult.

I'd say that the swing towards action-adventure has simply made the stories more engrossing, as action-oriented gameplay simply lends itself to better story-gameplay integration and gives the player a more active role in that narrative. In classic adventure games, the puzzles are generally no more than arbitrary obstacles that wall off the rest of the story until they're solved, where recent action games have actually utilized aspects of their gameplay to deepen the narrative. In every one of the games I mentioned, the gameplay actually plays a key role in the story instead of cutting you off from it. Even one of the few examples of great story-gameplay integration I've come across in an adventure game (a bit in the I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream game where you can electrocute a bunch of caged animals to get a key that doesn't actually unlock anything) simply can't compare to the level of emotional impact in the nuke scene from Call of Duty 4 or the twist in Bioshock where you learn that the phrase "would you kindly?" isn't just Atlus being polite. Nothing is lost with the added emphasis on action beyond the frustration of having to check a walthrough for the twentieth time because the puzzles in adventure games always work on Wonderland logic.

Why is an adventure game puzzle arbitrary while a rope across a chasm in Tomb Raider not arbitrary? I can't see a more obvious example of an arbitrary obstacle than that, or a room full of soldiers that you have to kill. I agree that adventure puzzles can be arbitrary if they are totally unrelated to the story (thought I'd like you to provide an example of this because I think it's more the exception than the rule), but fail to see how action deepens the narrative like you say.

Let's say I need to get a map from a shop by tricking the shopkeeper. An adventure game would require you to examine your surroundings, look at what you can use, and figure out a way to manipulate them to your advantage. How is that arbitrary? Compare that with a game where I push a button to go into stealth mode and sneak up behind the shopkeeper to get the map. I don't see a whole lot of difference except one way requires more thinking than the other.

 

[octafish]

Anyway, Wadjet Eye make some very good, very interesting adventure games. Check them out if you like adventure games, or don't, I don't have a stake in the company.

 

[Blood Brain Barrier]

It's funny how you complain about that people don't understand adventure games yet you're unable to provide a definition for it yourself. Give us the list of 1 adventure game released for each month of 2011 since you claim there are so many.

I gave a definition on the last page: A story based game in which you play as a protagonist, with progress based on success in solving puzzles, and with little or no reflex-based actions required from the player.

So you have essentially just been a massive dick for the last two pages wherein multiple people said "point and click" which is what you're on about in your OP stop pretending to be fucking Sheldon, your definition is just a very very long winded description of "point and click". Heck in your OP you don't even mention that you do mean point and click, you just say "adventure" a genre which can encompass almost every game on the planet aside from simulators and rts.

People have even made well natured points and you've just been "OMG IGNORANT ESCAPIST FOOLS!"

Get your head out of your ass and just make your discussion.

Settle down. Maybe instead of ranting you could tell me how my description of a game with:
1) A character based story
2) Puzzles
3) No action
is impossible without using a cursor? If you can't imagine a game with those three elements that can't be played without a moving a cursor around the screen, you don't seem to have much of an imagination.

In conclusion, No, I don't mean only point and click!

 

[Lukeje]

Let's say I need to get a map from a shop by tricking the shopkeeper. An adventure game would require you to examine your surroundings, look at what you can use, and figure out a way to manipulate them to your advantage. How is that arbitrary? Compare that with a game where I push a button to go into stealth mode and sneak up behind the shopkeeper to get the map. I don't see a whole lot of difference except one way requires more thinking than the other.

You realise that enemies can be puzzles too, right? Like in Zelda games.

 

[Blood Brain Barrier]

Let's say I need to get a map from a shop by tricking the shopkeeper. An adventure game would require you to examine your surroundings, look at what you can use, and figure out a way to manipulate them to your advantage. How is that arbitrary? Compare that with a game where I push a button to go into stealth mode and sneak up behind the shopkeeper to get the map. I don't see a whole lot of difference except one way requires more thinking than the other.

You realise that enemies can be puzzles too, right? Like in Zelda games.

Of course. What's your point? A soldier pointing a gun at you in Call of Duty is a puzzle too.

 

[Lukeje]

Let's say I need to get a map from a shop by tricking the shopkeeper. An adventure game would require you to examine your surroundings, look at what you can use, and figure out a way to manipulate them to your advantage. How is that arbitrary? Compare that with a game where I push a button to go into stealth mode and sneak up behind the shopkeeper to get the map. I don't see a whole lot of difference except one way requires more thinking than the other.

You realise that enemies can be puzzles too, right? Like in Zelda games.

Of course. What's your point? A soldier pointing a gun at you in Call of Duty is a puzzle too.

A puzzle with a simple solution. Unlike in Zelda where you often have to

examine your surroundings, look at what you can use, and figure out a way to manipulate them to your advantage.

 

[Sandernista]

..The reason being the gamers weren't intelligent enough to be bothered solving puzzles. There's a reason you couldn't enjoy Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, and it wasn't because of bad puzzle design.

Or it could have been because old school adventure games are boring?

 

[Blood Brain Barrier]

Let's say I need to get a map from a shop by tricking the shopkeeper. An adventure game would require you to examine your surroundings, look at what you can use, and figure out a way to manipulate them to your advantage. How is that arbitrary? Compare that with a game where I push a button to go into stealth mode and sneak up behind the shopkeeper to get the map. I don't see a whole lot of difference except one way requires more thinking than the other.

You realise that enemies can be puzzles too, right? Like in Zelda games.

Of course. What's your point? A soldier pointing a gun at you in Call of Duty is a puzzle too.

A puzzle with a simple solution. Unlike in Zelda where you often have to

examine your surroundings, look at what you can use, and figure out a way to manipulate them to your advantage.

I guess that's the "adventure" part in Zelda being an "action-adventure"

 

[Blood Brain Barrier]

..The reason being the gamers weren't intelligent enough to be bothered solving puzzles. There's a reason you couldn't enjoy Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, and it wasn't because of bad puzzle design.

Or it could have been because old school adventure games are boring?

Anything using the brain is boring.