5th March 2004, 2:45 PM
Oh it is a fact that Myst led to the downfall of the genre. You can't really argue that whether you think it is good or bad. And I don't "absolutely hate" Myst. I have played it some. It is like a series of pretty pictures with often nonsensical logic puzzles in your path. A very different style of adventure game from normal graphic adventures, for sure... but it wasn't Myst itsself that killed the genre it was its effect. It did extremely extremely well, obviously. So everyone copied it. And failed. And abandoned the genre because it wasn't selling anymore. Simple.
As for Syberia I played the demo. It's just the beginning of the game so obviously it doesn't have much but as I said the game has great graphics, very cool mechanical devices (going with the theme of a factory that makes mechanical toys in the first town in the game), and a story that I'm sure gets interesting... and some puzzles. It is a good game. My problem with it was ... hmm kind of hard to explain better... interactivity? As I said it feels 'sterile'. I really like how in most adventure games you can look at your surroundings and get explanations of things. I miss that feature greatly when it is missing. It's not in this game. Also in the demo at least where you could go was very limited, and all of the people who weren't major characters said next to nothing (were essentially doorblocks for a few cases)... from what I've heard you probably make more conversations on your cellphone than with the other characters... it didn't feel 'alive' or real or something. But you should play it and make your own judgement. That's how I felt (though I'll certainly say I found the demo fun). It reminded me a bit too much of ... well, Myst, in a way...
The Longest Journey is simply a brilliant game. ZIt's a long game, with epic scope (as its 4-disc length suggests -- and it's not just full of FMVs! It's just a fairly big game.), a great mix of both futuristic and fantasy worlds, really good story, nice puzzles... it's just got everything you could possibly hope for from an adventure game. Easily one of the best ever and I'm thrilled that they're making a sequel.
As for Syberia I played the demo. It's just the beginning of the game so obviously it doesn't have much but as I said the game has great graphics, very cool mechanical devices (going with the theme of a factory that makes mechanical toys in the first town in the game), and a story that I'm sure gets interesting... and some puzzles. It is a good game. My problem with it was ... hmm kind of hard to explain better... interactivity? As I said it feels 'sterile'. I really like how in most adventure games you can look at your surroundings and get explanations of things. I miss that feature greatly when it is missing. It's not in this game. Also in the demo at least where you could go was very limited, and all of the people who weren't major characters said next to nothing (were essentially doorblocks for a few cases)... from what I've heard you probably make more conversations on your cellphone than with the other characters... it didn't feel 'alive' or real or something. But you should play it and make your own judgement. That's how I felt (though I'll certainly say I found the demo fun). It reminded me a bit too much of ... well, Myst, in a way...
The Longest Journey is simply a brilliant game. ZIt's a long game, with epic scope (as its 4-disc length suggests -- and it's not just full of FMVs! It's just a fairly big game.), a great mix of both futuristic and fantasy worlds, really good story, nice puzzles... it's just got everything you could possibly hope for from an adventure game. Easily one of the best ever and I'm thrilled that they're making a sequel.