Whatever happened to the adventure game?

[Sylin]

You remember them. Made famous by companies like Sierra and LucasArts. I'm talking about Sam & Max, Torin's Passage, Space Quest, Gabriel Knight, Discworld, Full Throttle, The Dig, Monkey Island, King's Quest, etc. Even the first Indiana Jones video games were adventure narratives and loads of fun.

The announcement that Myst is coming to the PSP this week got me feeling nostalgic, and I was wondering if anyone else was, too?

Are there any good adventure games available these days for the PS3 or PSP? It seems like the genre has been in steep decline over the last decade.

[hcmrbrhod11]

Don't know if it qualifies as an adventure game, but a fun Fantasy game for the PS2 (so I assume it would work on the PS3), is Champions of Norrath and it's sequel, Return to Arms. I found them very enjoyable. They are in the same vien as Diablo...

[Marine Mike]

Add to the list: Hero Quests

[PH3AR]

I loved the Sam & Max games, there does need to be more adventure games, they are fun games

[Steelmaker]

Originally Posted by Sylin

You remember them. Made famous by companies like Sierra and LucasArts. I'm talking about Sam & Max, Torin's Passage, Space Quest, Gabriel Knight, Discworld, Full Throttle, The Dig, Monkey Island, King's Quest, etc. Even the first Indiana Jones video games were adventure narratives and loads of fun.

The announcement that Myst is coming to the PSP this week got me feeling nostalgic, and I was wondering if anyone else was, too?

Are there any good adventure games available these days for the PS3 or PSP? It seems like the genre has been in steep decline over the last decade.

I thought The Dig was an amazing game! Funny how when the movie Armageddon came out there were a lot of similarities!

[jsteinhauer]

I hear you. I miss text adventures. Zork, Hitchhiker's Guide, Infidel, etc. as well as graphic adventures. Recall Obsidian, Zork: Nemesis, Monkey Island, as you said, Grim Fandango.

But, I can't see being an adventure fan and not liking many of the good RPG's that are out there today, like Fallout 3 and Dead Space as recent examples. But, I can sympathize with you, if your looking for the adventure experience without having to concern yourself with combat, especially when it gets old. The great thing about the pure adventure genre is the ability to play the game at a completely leisurely pace. Whenever combatants get involved, reflexes rather than problem solving come into play. That's pretty much what wore out the Fallout 3 experience. I wanted to keep touring around the map and discovering new things, but having to keep fighting the stupid animals and monsters every 100 yards gets tedious.

I'd like to see some good turn-based RPG's, like the Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, Neverwinter Nights, as well.

[Xerios]

new monkey island just came out.... the old ones were the $|-|1T

[Cordre69]

Discworld was the funniest game I've ever played! Good call!

[Trogdor2010]

I don't get a chance to play alot of adventure games (Console games are stuck with shooters, action and sports), but I really like playing the Myst games, even though they can be extremely challenging and complex, I wished I played Sam and Max though. I watched my friend play Strong Bad's Cool game for attractive people (Or SBCG4AP), and love watching it, but I wished my friend could let me play (My friend frequently makes me watch him play, which gets really irritating).

[SoCalTiger]

I dunno, I thought that Fallout 3 could well be considered adventure. The lack of text input commands didn't make it any less than say Kings Quest. You were still going around this big world trying to solve a mystery and completing tasks along the way.

[Sylin]

Originally Posted by jsteinhauer

Zork: Nemesis

Yesss!

Originally Posted by jsteinhauer

But, I can't see being an adventure fan and not liking many of the good RPG's that are out there today, like Fallout 3 and Dead Space [...]

I'd like to see some good turn-based RPG's, like the Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, Neverwinter Nights, as well.

Honestly, I haven't played a Fallout game since the original. I'm tempted to get Fallout 3 when the GotY edition comes out this fall, but I'll be busy with Assassin's Creed II and Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2!

As for turn-based RPG's, I'm with you. Icewind Dale was AMAZING. Hell, all the titles you mentioned are A+.

I hear the new head honcho @ LucasArts is a big adventure game fan and is looking to resurrect the back catalog. Rumors of XBLA or PSN updates/ports have circulated. My fingers are crossed.

Originally Posted by Xerios

new monkey island just came out.... the old ones were the $|-|1T

Well, I know there's a new one coming to XBLA and PC. I'm a Mac gamer, and the original LucasArts titles were all hybrids, so I'm a little disappointed there's no Mac version (and more disappointed there isn't a PSN version), but I do have a 360 so I'll be playing it for sure.

I know Telltale Games, which is made up of ex-LucasArts employees (mostly the Sam & Max team) has some episodic titles, but I think they're PC only. I will go cry quietly in the corner.

[Shin-Ra]

Heavy Rain's about as close as you'll get to a big-budget adventure game soon. Not many publishers willing to take a risk with these games anymore. Otherwise it's cheesy remakes and lesser quality developers making episodic adventures.

[red_5ive]

Originally Posted by Sylin

You remember them. Made famous by companies like Sierra and LucasArts. I'm talking about Sam & Max, Torin's Passage, Space Quest, Gabriel Knight, Discworld, Full Throttle, The Dig, Monkey Island, King's Quest, etc. Even the first Indiana Jones video games were adventure narratives and loads of fun.

The announcement that Myst is coming to the PSP this week got me feeling nostalgic, and I was wondering if anyone else was, too?

Are there any good adventure games available these days for the PS3 or PSP? It seems like the genre has been in steep decline over the last decade.

You forgot one: Day Of The Tentacle

Hands down my favorite. I miss all the wit in the good ol' adventure games. Now all we get is guns & gore.

[Sylin]

Originally Posted by red_5ive

You forgot one: Day Of The Tentacle

Hands down my favorite. I miss all the wit in the good ol' adventure games. Now all we get is guns & gore.

Good call! It's part of the Maniac Mansion series, which I can't believe I missed. Quality stuff right there.

Originally Posted by Shin-Ra

Heavy Rain's about as close as you'll get to a big-budget adventure game soon. Not many publishers willing to take a risk with these games anymore. Otherwise it's cheesy remakes and lesser quality developers making episodic adventures.

I saw the E3 video for that and was intrigued, so I'll be following it closely.

I don't mind the episodic adventure format, although I'd be lying if I didn't say I prefer to wait and buy the collected editions.

To me, the keys to a good adventure game are in a good blend of humor, fantasy, and story. Like a good book, a good adventure pulls you in and makes you want to keep advancing to the next challenge, and the next, and the next.

I don't get that with many action games--I feel like I could just as easily put the controller down and walk away, no matter how fun they are, because I'm not emotionally involved in the game's outcome.

Of course, as it's been pointed out, a good RPG can do the same thing. I don't know how many times I played and re-played Lands of Lore when it first came out. It's probably my favorite RPG next to Ultima V.

[daevv]

The Star Trek 25th Anniversary cpu game was just like Full Throttle and the like. Great game!

~d

[fsavoie]

Originally Posted by Sylin

To me, the keys to a good adventure game are in a good blend of humor, fantasy, and story. Like a good book, a good adventure pulls you in and makes you want to keep advancing to the next challenge, and the next, and the next.
.

Those are the exact reasons why Uncharted is my favorite game of all time. But its more action than adventure...

[Icemage]

I'm a huge fan of the old adventure games, but the death of Sierra several years back really was a milestone commemorating that that style of game simply isn't sophisticated nor mainstream enough for modern audiences (and truth be told, there hadn't been any innovation in the genre since Myst).

We still see the occasional throwback - LucasArts is getting set to revive the Monkey Island franchise, for instance. But the heydays are definitely over for the adventure game; they've long since passed the torch to more dynamic genres - specifically 3rd person action adventures (Tomb Raider, Prince of Persia, Metal Gear Solid, etc.).

[P@t_Mtl]

Not popular, not selling. The only games everyone want's now a days are one person shooters, fantasy hack & slash or one person games where you steal cars, are a gang member, act as a drug dealer or something similar while driving cars like a maniac and getting extra points for killing a woman crossing the street with a stroller and a baby. Oh! and let's not forget the ultra lame movie game adaptation that are so boring I can't even begin to guess how anyone would want to actualy play them? Both someone must still be playing them because they are making them still.

[SDon1969]

My favorite was always the PC game Grim Fandango. That game was cool, looked good, great story & characters - I do miss the genre, but it's true they typically just do not sell well enough.

[raskal66]

Originally Posted by Icemage

I'm a huge fan of the old adventure games, but the death of Sierra several years back really was a milestone commemorating that that style of game simply isn't sophisticated nor mainstream enough for modern audiences (and truth be told, there hadn't been any innovation in the genre since Myst).

Not trying to sound too cynical, but I think part of why we don't see games like that as often anymore is because they required the gamer to pay attention to details of conversations held way in the earlier aprts of the video game's story.

Nowadays, you predominately get the task, and then go achieve it. You can't proceed until you do. Some of the more nuanced, cinema/arcade style games like Gabriel Knight and Legend of the Red Dragon (big Sierra fan here too) would have you doing the short term goals while also trying to solve puzzles or mysteries that you'd only get a piece of with each step of the game. You might have to fight 20 baddies now for only a sliver of information to help solve the murder at the beginning.

I'm a huge fan of Uncharted because it comes the closest to that kind of game without being an epic sized RPG (which are good, but a different type of game), but even Uncharted says, "I need map" and the very next mission is going to get the map. It's not a bad way of doing things, it's just newer. If they could find a way to include the side mission kind of items that are particularly more prevalent in open world style games and put them into a fixed closed world kind of story, I think you might see more games that harken in terms of structure to those games of the past that had epic story, fun characters, rewarding ending on a more consistent basis.