Looking for help from old school PC gamers

[Mochan]

Those aren't RPGs, they're adventure games. The onl RPG among those games is Quest for Glory/Hero's Quest.

I think the game you are looking for would be Longest Journey and Dreamfall: The Longest Journey. I haven't personally played these games but I'm sure the peeps here can recommend it. Unfortunately these games are out of vogue now and not too many people play these types of games anymore.

[AthanAranaser]

Hi there. I'm Mira, and I'm pretty new to this whole thing, so if I do something wrong or this is inappropriate in any way, I apologize! The reason I'm here is this: I'm looking for some help from anyone who used to play RPG-type PC games in the mid-90s. My father and I used to play them together all of the time, but recently, as in the last 4 or 5 years, have been at a total loss as to how to locate a -good- game like they used to have. All the ones we've played now just lack the quality of their predecessors. Games we played and loved were mainly old Sierra games, but LucasArts was a good friend of ours as well. We loved The Dig, Phantasmagoria, Gabriel Knight: The Beast Within, Robin Hood: Conquests of the Longbow, any of the Roger Wilco games, Quest for Glory: Dragon Fire and every King's Quest game up until the new one (we started playing it, and didn't get 20 minutes into it before giving up). There was one by GE, about Atlantis and some lost civilizations that we loved, but the company went out of business before the sequel was completed.

In other words, we're sort of at a dead end, and could desperately use some help. So if there's anyone out there who has played any of these games and can reccomend something, please please do help us out!

Thanks so much,
Mira <3

[Mochan]

Wow, what the heck, my reply came before the original post. =_=

All your thread are belong to me!

[AthanAranaser]

^^; Haha, well, thank you. Obviously, I'm not really savvy about gaming...ness. But yeah, that's helpful, thank you so much <3

[Aku]

Yeah, Mochan's post didn't make any sense until I read the one below it. I guess Mochan is psychic and can post responses to threads that haven't been started yet. :eek:

I don't know that adventure games are out of vogue. They're not in with the cool crowd, but every time I go to the store, I always see a new Myst clone or some other adventure game out there (just saw a couple new ones today in fact). Someone must be buying them.

[BaneNWN]

Hey Mochan can you tell me what the lottery numbers will be next week??LOL when i read your post then read the next post i was like how the heck did he answer the question before it was asked hah

[Suicides-by-Steve]

LOL Don't forget Syberia 1 and 2. It truly is like a novel put within a computer game...

[Mochan]

Problem with MYST-type games is that they don't really capture the same kind of gameplay that the Lucas Arts/Sierra adventure games had. To be honest though I don't know if Longest Journey manages it, either.

If you're not averse to similar types of games, then other than the MYST/Riven games you can also try those Japanese visual novel games. They're more like the really really really old school adventure games (like Troll's Tail, Lucifer's Realm, etc.) though a bit more linear since they basically follow a narrative being told with still shots.

[AthanAranaser]

We tried Myst, and were...well, actually we were rather bored. We're not big on endless puzzles. I, being very strange, tend to feel like games where there are no other characters to interact with tend to be very....lonely ^_^;.

We have Syberia 1, and are...about 1/4th of the way through and are bored with that one, too, actually. Does it just get off to a slow start, or should we just...give up?

The Longest Journey seems to be getting glowing reviews...Is it worth a shot? (Considering that it's not that expensive, I guess it wouldn't hurt.)

What ever happened to Sierra?

Thanks everyone for your help!

[moya]

As far as I'm aware, The Longest Journey is considered to be the best of the old-school point and click type adventure games. I heard some poor reviews for Siberia, and I've personally never been interested in Myst.

This may be too "nu school", but if you fancy a newer adventure game, albeit with a heavy action slant, you could try Beyond Good and Evil. It's got colourful characters, a great lead character, witty dialogue (most of the time) and a very lively graphical style. The gameplay consists of some puzzles, a bit of "stealth" (although really that's just a different kind of puzzle since there's usually one way through and you have to work it out), and some racing and combat. It's really unusual, rarely boring and well worth playing.

[Mochan]

We tried Myst, and were...well, actually we were rather bored. We're not big on endless puzzles. I, being very strange, tend to feel like games where there are no other characters to interact with tend to be very....lonely ^_^;.

My sentiments exactly, which is why I never liked the Myst games. If you're big on characters... try picking up the J Visual Novel "Kana Imouto" or "My Sister Kana" (not sure about the English title, but I know it's out in English). It's a great game in its own right and might just be up your alley, though it's more novel than game.

I haven't been in the adventure game loop for a while so I really don't know much about Syberia or TLJ.

I wanted to bring about Beyond Good and Evil, too. I haven't actually played it but I think it might be something you would be interested in from what I've heard about it.

[E.T.]

Mira asks: "Whatever happened to Sierra?"

Here is Sierra site, you can look for all Sierra titles, genres, platforms here:
http://www.sierra.com/

There was an early 2000 release of Robin Hood, genre was a blend of RPG, strategy & adventure gaming:
http://www.cinemaware.com/robinhood_main.asp

Welcome to the PC forums of VGR Mira :)

[DBS]

The Longest Journey is very good indeed and worth the low cost nowadays. Any fan of adventure games should pick it up. Beyond Good and Evil is excellent as well, looks good and is fun to play. Also I have heard good things of the Prince of Persia series.

[AthanAranaser]

^_^ Thanks so much! To everyone, for being so helpful!

[karnie]

Here's a list of old adventure games I've played and loved:
- The Dig
- Full Throttle
- Sam and Max Hit the Road
- Roger Wilco Series
- Day of the Tentacle
- The Journeyman Project
- Sanitarium
- Myst
- Grim Fandango
- Also the Leisure Suit Larry games, although I never played them

There are some new ones out by The Aventure Company that I just found, such as:
- Voyage: Inspired by Jules Verne
- NIBIRU: Age of Secrets
- Echo
These are primarily Puzzle-based games, I'm playing Voyage now, and it's pretty good.

[Suicides-by-Steve]

Still Life is one I plan on picking up myself.

[E.T.]

I'm a little late getting to adventure games, just installed Grim Fandango for the first time.
Interesting so far [wish options for 1st person & controls were available though].

Has anyone tried the demo for Still Life yet?
http://www.stilllife-game.com/downloads.aspx

[Aku]

I'm a little late getting to adventure games, just installed Grim Fandango for the first time.
Interesting so far [wish options for 1st person & controls were available though].

First person Grim? Yuck. The fun is in watching Manny interact with the crazy people of the Land of the Dead. And Grim isn't supposed to be interesting, it's supposed to be a gas...and it is!

[E.T.]

First person Grim? Yuck. The fun is in watching Manny interact with the crazy people of the Land of the Dead. And Grim isn't supposed to be interesting, it's supposed to be a gas...and it is!

...its that third person camera control [or lack of] thats annoying in close quarters.

"..interesting...gas..", mox-nix to me :) , just so its enjoyable.

[Aku]

Grim works really well with a gamepad. Just walk Manny around and watch when he inclines his head toward something. Press buttons to cycle through inventory. Lets you sit back in your chair and makes the game more relaxing.

[Eric-the-Red]

I realize I'm late to the thread, but if AthanAranaser is interested I'll sell you my copy of The Longest Journey. It's just been sitting in my CD case for 3 years or so. I'll give it up for $5 or so; heck, I'll give it away for free if someone will just pay for the shipping. It's not doing me any good.

Same with some other games I've never going to play again: Sacrifice, Dungeon Siege, Blade of Darkness, Clive Barker's Undying...

[E.T.]

Thats very generous of you!

Those are some good games imo : Sacrifice [though too short], Undying [played it to death, lol]. Never have played TLG, DS or BoD though....

[Mochan]

I have a copy of Blade of Darkness sitting here gathering dust, too. Not a bad game, but not exactly a good game either. THe controls were too unresponsive for it to be a great game. Otherwise, it would have been a great game. Though something you'd expect on a console rather than on the PC.

Undying I say is still one of the better straight shooters around.