Zero Punctuation: Broken Age
- Thread starter Yahtzee Croshaw
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As someone who never got the problem anyone else seems to be having - nice episode Yahtzee, one of your better ones in a while.
I bought the game (not backed though. Shame, I'm a sucker for appearing in game credits), and gotta say, while it is funny, witty and interesting (for me at least), and the art style is amazing, I just cannot believe this game cost as much as it did, and it took that long to make it. Sure, the music made by Melbourne Symphony Orchestra probably wasn't cheap, neither was Elijah Wood or Jack Black voice appearance in it, but damn it, for a game this short (okay, it's the act 1, but that only raises more questions about the time to produce it), and without the need to completely and truthfully animate human and environment models in full 3D, how could it even reach the levels of that much cash investment? This is mind boggling. I always thought, the games cost so much this days, because of technology, but I don't SEE some kind of superior technology that would justify the cost on this one, after seeing the final result.
Okay, okay, it might seem like I'm ranting here (and I kinda am), but the game is still good, and if you're looking for a good time with an adventure game, then... Buy it, because it's fun, charming and witty... But only after they'll release the second act, because DEM CLIFFHANGERS! Seriously, The Walking Dead, The Wolf Among Us (main offender so far) and Cognition gave me enough of a headache with this episodic BS. Can we just stop saying that "it's a thing" and finally start making full games for once?
I bought the game (not backed though. Shame, I'm a sucker for appearing in game credits), and gotta say, while it is funny, witty and interesting (for me at least), and the art style is amazing, I just cannot believe this game cost as much as it did, and it took that long to make it. Sure, the music made by Melbourne Symphony Orchestra probably wasn't cheap, neither was Elijah Wood or Jack Black voice appearance in it, but damn it, for a game this short (okay, it's the act 1, but that only raises more questions about the time to produce it), and without the need to completely and truthfully animate human and environment models in full 3D, how could it even reach the levels of that much cash investment? This is mind boggling. I always thought, the games cost so much this days, because of technology, but I don't SEE some kind of superior technology that would justify the cost on this one, after seeing the final result.
Okay, okay, it might seem like I'm ranting here (and I kinda am), but the game is still good, and if you're looking for a good time with an adventure game, then... Buy it, because it's fun, charming and witty... But only after they'll release the second act, because DEM CLIFFHANGERS! Seriously, The Walking Dead, The Wolf Among Us (main offender so far) and Cognition gave me enough of a headache with this episodic BS. Can we just stop saying that "it's a thing" and finally start making full games for once?
If I remember right, they made the graphics engine from scratch, which is the quickest way to have costs go to the sky, so a big part of that I'd blame it on that. But yeah, I can believe it being that expensive, and I still firmly believe that even with all the positive press, it's going to be a financial failure.Yossarian1507 said:
The positive out of this is that they at least now have the engine done, so developing another similar one should go a lot faster and be a lot cheaper.
Yeah, while Broken Age may not fill me with Psychonauts levels of adoration, I quite enjoyed it. It's been years since Schafer's been able to release a charming (yet mildly dark) story experience like this, and the way publishers are today it wouldn't be possible without crowd-funding. So I find it hard to hate on the process too much.Oskuro said:
His feelings regarding kickstarter are rather in line with his past stances, in particular game pre-orders. Both involve giving money to developers in advance with the promise of an awesome experience at a later date, with all the benefits and drawbacks that such a system provides. Crowdfunding is a blessing for fans of niche games and genres that would never be funded otherwise, but there's potential for bad there,too.BX3 said:
Easy, folks...easy....
We all know how such technical problems should be addressed...
BLAME KROSS!!!
[small]...oooohhhh....so that's what happened to the hamsters....[/small]
We all know how such technical problems should be addressed...
BLAME KROSS!!!
Kross said:
[small]...oooohhhh....so that's what happened to the hamsters....[/small]
As long as "Bob" doesn't serve us any coffee...I'm guessing we'll be alright. <_<Zachary Amaranth said:
Here we go again with people being pretentious budget analysts. You don't know anything about how much a game could cost and nor do I. Broken Age's engine is completely new, and it's actually 3D. Compare Broken Age to the most beautiful adventure games. Now if you're a fan, you know that's Daedalic games. Their games cost around $500,000. Now also you should know, living costs and other factors are different from Germany versus San Francisco. People were outraged a single character in Skullgirls cost $150,000 and I thought people had learned from that that they don't know shit all about game development [http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=516730]. So you can stop your mind boggling, and get informed but you, much like I, still won't know the whole picture because you aren't as intimate with the day to day struggles. Or you know, watch the Double Fine documentary if you get a chance.Yossarian1507 said:
Episodic adventure games are working, because they work on a story anticipation level like a tv show where you care about the characters and what will happen with the world. Since these games have smaller budgets, they are able to see whether enough people are interested in the game to develop the next episode. With all the between time of episodes, you get to savour and since adventure games are about story and characters, you can see what's memorable. Personally, really excited for the next episodes of Kentucky Route Zero and The Dream Machine.
Same here. Anyone know when those are expected? Dream machine I understand why it's taking to so long but KRZ should be due any day now. The fact KRZ doesn't really have any puzzles makes the wait somewhat strange.Moeez said:
Review seems bit premature since this was only part one and since it's largely story based it's like reviewing the first 1/2 of a book. Also it's a point-and-click adventure game not a puzzle game, most people don't enjoy wandering around aimlessly for hours trying to figure out what random object they need.
Also, I didn't actually buy or play the game, just watched a LP of it on youtube ^^
Also, I didn't actually buy or play the game, just watched a LP of it on youtube ^^
I kinda agree with Yahtzee that backing anything on Kickstarter is a huge risk. But the game isn't made for him (or me), it's made for the backers. If they are happy with the quality of the game, then it's a success. Because they got the game that they wanted. I remember watching a Tim Schafer interview, he said that he's not worrying too much about the game's wider appeal, his first goal is to make a game that the backers wanted. So in that sense, he succeeded.
The two game halves are actually really well connected. When I sat down and thought about them, the parallels made perfect sense. The broken age is actually quite good. Short, but somehow still worth it. The girl's story does have some problems, but it is still mostly good. What's more, the "deus ex machina" serves the plot in more ways than just giving you a weapon, it has underlying plot implications. I recommend the Broken Age, it is actually quite good, but keep in mind you are paying 20 dollars for like 3-4 hours worth of game, a lot of which is story. That isn't actually bad- we pay like 20 dollars for a brand new movie that lasts an hour and a half- but it might put some people off.
hahah, well, apparently the Escapist doesn't get my *puts sunglasses on* "refreshing" humor. yeah! I got warned for this post. Not that I care it's just that some website might be experiencing discomfort in certain areas of the body located on the opposite side of the face right below the waist.Grenge Di Origin said:
I'd love to see Yahtzee put his money where his mouth is about nostalgia and experiment with what happens to your fanbase if you break long-established tradition. Let's see 7 or 8 negative images at the end instead of 5. Let's have the background be fec900 instead of fede00. Do another production of the theme song with slightly crisper recording.
Haha my sentiments exactly. I was hoping to see people discussing the review and/or game. Instead, they're talking about issues regarding the site.BX3 said:
Video worked fine for me; then again, I did watch it at, like, 2:30 AM. They probably had the issues ironed out by then.
T-that's why I asked...Don Reba said:
I'm talking old school collectathons, hub worlds and the sort, the last one I played was Rayman Legends. I know theres some interesting little nuggets in the indie scene but they all seem more like narrative driven affairs, not that I hate such buisness, and I dont really play Mario games. I just miss my Spyros, Tais and Psychonauts is all.lickilax said:
First of all, they didn't get 6 million, they got 3.3 million. Secondly, though I do agree the game was much easier than Day of Tentacle or Full Throttle, teh game is beautiful and much more smooth than the old adventure games. I think that for the first solely adventure game double fine ever made it's fantastic. But this things get better over time, I can drastically see the difference between the first Monkey Island and Sam & Max Hit the Road or Grim Fandango. As a matter of fact, Grim did not had verbs anymore.randomthefox said:
I do think act I could be longer, but loved it and can't wait for act II.
Wonderful images on hand today, especially the adorable Octopi tied together and Yahtzee's rolling eyes.
So Tim Schafer still has yet to top Pyschonauts since it's came out, darn.
Oh and I just caught on, all hail the return of the Triple C****d H****r.
So Tim Schafer still has yet to top Pyschonauts since it's came out, darn.
Oh and I just caught on, all hail the return of the Triple C****d H****r.