Review: Machinarium
- Thread starter Logan Westbrook
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I still like it. To be honest, I thought the premise was never that important. Questions like "Why am I rescuing this person? Who is it?" etc. never bothered me much.
Still, they did much better game-playing wise with the Samorost games. That clock thing WAS annoying.
Still, they did much better game-playing wise with the Samorost games. That clock thing WAS annoying.
Silly me, I thought the art in this game was the stunning backgrounds and genuinely amazing/twisted character designs. And that the gameplay was clicking around solving puzzles.Noelveiga said:
But again, silly me
. Don't misunderstand me though, this was totally worth the purchase just to see and experience the world.
I loved every pixel of that game, only thing bad about it is the fact that it is so damn short!
As for people saying its gameplay and puzzles were not as good, I actually loved the fact that most of the puzzles were not clear after the first glance at them. I actually hate this easy stuff in modern games, makes puzzles feel like annoyance more than anything.
I care to disagree, but see where you're coming from. In my opinion, art can add to the overall gameplay experience, but when taken as separate entities the act of pointing and clicking in this game is not very good, or very fun. Clicking around in the environments is, however. Hence why I think the art is fantastic; but the gameplay isn't.Noelveiga said:
Hopefully I got the point of your post. I won't lie, it was a bit over my head.
Completely disagree with this review. Perhaps the best game I played last year. The puzzles weren't easy or intuitive but maybe I'm a masochist. I enjoyed it greatly. It hearkens back to the days of the Golden Age of Adventure games (most of you weren't even born I wager). The atmosphere and artistry were simply delightful. I actually liked not knowing exactly what was going on: it lent an air of mystery and left some of the interpretation of this world up to the player. It also wasn't weighed down with ceaseless dialog like the Sam and Max games. A true palate cleanser.
I wouldn't admonish anyone for not liking this game however: as the saying goes, different strokes for different folks.
I wouldn't admonish anyone for not liking this game however: as the saying goes, different strokes for different folks.
I liked Machinarium a lot. Then again, I had an online strategy guide helping me. Still, it's a sight more appealing than many games that are easier to play these days.
Very much agreed. It also fit in well with the art style, which greatly reminds me of Dr. Seuss' nonsensical buildings.HerrShmidt said:
I do not agree with this review, seems like the reviewer just wanted to finish all the puzzles and get it over with rather than to think about the subtle backstory.
Also, it was no "guard" in the tower that came down for no reason. If you care to play with the clock longer, you'll realize that there are more combinations. There is one for the Jew in the tower, one for the fanatic and one for the Islam person hiding above the tower clock. It shows that there are religions in this imaginary world of machines...
Also, it was no "guard" in the tower that came down for no reason. If you care to play with the clock longer, you'll realize that there are more combinations. There is one for the Jew in the tower, one for the fanatic and one for the Islam person hiding above the tower clock. It shows that there are religions in this imaginary world of machines...
I have to disagree,
While the puzzles may be obtuse, they are never cheap or illogical and they often make sense during or after the action.
Some of the harder portions would be the mini-games involved in solving a puzzle, like Tic Tac Toe vs the AI or tracing the lines.
To solve the problem of objects you can choose, the robot can only stand on certain locations and reach objects in a circle around him when he's short/normal/tall. That reduces the grabbable items to 3 small circles per area. That was the intention of the design.
And the premise doesn't matter, it's up to your imagination
Plus there are hints in every page telling a little story with it
While the puzzles may be obtuse, they are never cheap or illogical and they often make sense during or after the action.
Some of the harder portions would be the mini-games involved in solving a puzzle, like Tic Tac Toe vs the AI or tracing the lines.
To solve the problem of objects you can choose, the robot can only stand on certain locations and reach objects in a circle around him when he's short/normal/tall. That reduces the grabbable items to 3 small circles per area. That was the intention of the design.
And the premise doesn't matter, it's up to your imagination
Plus there are hints in every page telling a little story with it
This review makes me think a bit. For the most part I agree with what it says, having myself played Machinarium, but I take exception at the tone. I think this dichotomy between art (or presentation) and gameplay is unjustified.
I think that to say that it's a game with great art ruined by poor gameplay, or a game with poor gameplay saved by great art, is not the best way of looking at it. That's treating them too differently. If we were talking about a game meant to be Prince of Persia or Castlevania, yes, the gameplay, that is, the mechanics of the game, are far and away the most important thing. But they're less important with Machinarium. I know, I know, gameplay > all, but maybe not.
Suppose we have a scale, on the one end of which are things that literally have no gameplay (a movie, a book), and on the other are games that are almost wholly gameplay (pure puzzle games, storyless shooters, "versus" fighting games). On the latter side, poor gameplay is damning; nothing could save Street Fighter if the controls were clunky, the action poorly timed. Most games are weighted to that end, but I think Machinarium is one that falls closer to the middle; the artwork and music (which cannot be praised enough; if you have any love for Wall-E, you'll love this protagonist) are really the main substance of the game.
It reminds me of playing Riven. While Myst really is pretty flawed, and not very interesting looking now that the novelty of 3D CGI has worn off, Riven is still a very beautiful and complete game. I found when I played it, though, that if I played it as a game, the way I play other games, it was insufferable; there was no action. I had to walk around a lot. The game did not give me information, but left me to find it myself. I enjoyed the game when I played as... something else. I don't have a precise word to use, but ultimately something between a game and a book. That is to say, Riven, despite being a fully-realized work, is less of a game than other games are, and so your input, the player's part, is less important than it is in other games. Riven is as much about looking and seeing as it is about playing and interacting.
I'd say the same of Machinarium. And for most point-and-clicks, actually. Though many point-and-clicks do manage to ruin themselves with poor gameplay, because many point-and-clicks are ridiculously difficult for anyone not a fanatic. Machinarium, I felt, did alright. It skirted the edges, but ultimately, accounting for the built-in hints, I never got stuck on one screen for more than a few minutes; though there was a bit of pixel-hunting, I really felt the whole time that the game was holding my hand.
I think that to say that it's a game with great art ruined by poor gameplay, or a game with poor gameplay saved by great art, is not the best way of looking at it. That's treating them too differently. If we were talking about a game meant to be Prince of Persia or Castlevania, yes, the gameplay, that is, the mechanics of the game, are far and away the most important thing. But they're less important with Machinarium. I know, I know, gameplay > all, but maybe not.
Suppose we have a scale, on the one end of which are things that literally have no gameplay (a movie, a book), and on the other are games that are almost wholly gameplay (pure puzzle games, storyless shooters, "versus" fighting games). On the latter side, poor gameplay is damning; nothing could save Street Fighter if the controls were clunky, the action poorly timed. Most games are weighted to that end, but I think Machinarium is one that falls closer to the middle; the artwork and music (which cannot be praised enough; if you have any love for Wall-E, you'll love this protagonist) are really the main substance of the game.
It reminds me of playing Riven. While Myst really is pretty flawed, and not very interesting looking now that the novelty of 3D CGI has worn off, Riven is still a very beautiful and complete game. I found when I played it, though, that if I played it as a game, the way I play other games, it was insufferable; there was no action. I had to walk around a lot. The game did not give me information, but left me to find it myself. I enjoyed the game when I played as... something else. I don't have a precise word to use, but ultimately something between a game and a book. That is to say, Riven, despite being a fully-realized work, is less of a game than other games are, and so your input, the player's part, is less important than it is in other games. Riven is as much about looking and seeing as it is about playing and interacting.
I'd say the same of Machinarium. And for most point-and-clicks, actually. Though many point-and-clicks do manage to ruin themselves with poor gameplay, because many point-and-clicks are ridiculously difficult for anyone not a fanatic. Machinarium, I felt, did alright. It skirted the edges, but ultimately, accounting for the built-in hints, I never got stuck on one screen for more than a few minutes; though there was a bit of pixel-hunting, I really felt the whole time that the game was holding my hand.
I think the reviewer couldn't solve the puzzles without resorting to the walkthrough section. I think that shoot-em -up thing is a great idea since it stops you looking at the walkthrough the second you get stuck. I will admit that there are one or 2 tedious puzzles but overall its good fun IF you like point and click adventures.