Another one bites the dust- Visceral Games shut down by EA

[gourimoko]

An an aside, am I the only one who absolutely despises "linear adventure" games?

Linear adventure games can be good -- they just are more difficult to make, and appeal to a smaller audience.

Hell, the best games I have ever played were linear games; like Xenogears and Final Fantasy. Non-linear, open world games are different experiences, and are more about gameplay than storytelling. Some games can be a happy blend of both, like Knights of the Old Republic, or the sequels to Mass Effect.

But market demands really shift production budgets such that traditional "adventure" games barely exist anymore. Games like Blade Runner, Police Quest, Myst, Gabriel Knight (the old Sierra games in general)... There are few games as good as Blade Runner or Gabriel Knight (a masterpiece of a game) out today, and that genre doesn't even exist anymore.

And when you think back to those games, they all had strong foundations in their story; which meant, relying on a great fantasy or sci-fi writer.

I think Life Is Strange is a good example of a game with decent writing that presented a somewhat compelling, albeit pedestrian, story.. Very Young Adult book feel to it, but, well done nonetheless.

 

[Jack Brickman]

Linear adventure games can be good -- they just are more difficult to make, and appeal to a smaller audience.

Hell, the best games I have ever played were linear games; like Xenogears and Final Fantasy. Non-linear, open world games are different experiences, and are more about gameplay than storytelling. Some games can be a happy blend of both, like Knights of the Old Republic, or the sequels to Mass Effect.

But market demands really shift production budgets such that traditional "adventure" games barely exist anymore. Games like Blade Runner, Police Quest, Myst, Gabriel Knight (the old Sierra games in general)... There are few games as good as Blade Runner or Gabriel Knight (a masterpiece of a game) out today, and that genre doesn't even exist anymore.

And when you think back to those games, they all had strong foundations in their story; which meant, relying on a great fantasy or sci-fi writer.

I think Life Is Strange is a good example of a game with decent writing that presented a somewhat compelling, albeit pedestrian, story.. Very Young Adult book feel to it, but, well done nonetheless.

I think Telltale are the masters of that style of adventure game these days. They're not like the LucasArts adventure games from when we were kids, but they're story-based and generally very well-written. The Wolf Among Us, The Walking Dead, Tales from the Borderlands, their Batman series...all fantastic games. The Game of Thrones one was solid too, but suffered because it was telling a side story to coincide with the TV series and thus your actions couldn't really have a major impact on the story as a whole.

Old-fashioned adventure games are still being made, though. Thimbleweed Park came out not too long ago to good reviews. I haven't played it yet but have heard a lot of good things.

I'm still upset with that game because they quite clearly cut out an entire section of the game. I also don't think the open world really did that game favors other than having large filler. They recognized where things are going though, but I think it's the most flawed game in the series.

I thought that, while MGS5 was good, it didn't feel like a MGS game. I really missed all the wild and crazy cut scenes that the series is known for. There were some of those, but the story mostly took a backseat to everything else. And while the gameplay was very well done, I found myself missing all the story stuff. I don't expect that from every series, but I sure as hell expect it from a Metal Gear Solid outing.