I had played the second game first and found it entertaining and clever (pregnant elf and such). Years ago I bought the first and Critter Chronicles.
Okay, this game and all the references is soo derivative. I work on a point and click adventure as well and I know that it almost can't be helped but make meta references to LucasArts titles and other classics, but here it felt standard. Even whole puzzle quest items were taken from Monkey2 and the fact that they winkingly point it out does not make it less of a stolen idea. If not just Star Wars, Mission Impossible, Shrek or Indiana Jones stuff, wasn't the whole fantasy turned on its head schtick done already in Simon The Sorcerer? The jokes are stale and way too much dialogue I skipped a lot of. And the puzzle design as a whole is really bad (was it better in 2?), when it wasn't badly adapted from another game. There were some neat narrative ideas but because of the very unsatisfying puzzle design (talk to that guy after you walked once through a room in the crypt, pixel hunting when not using the space bar and that dumb ass bow puzzle with the movable pans you have to arrange trial and error, and each time the whole dialogue and orc shooting first… I digress). Also the character design is horrid! Sorry, but nightmare puppet face gnomes and buggy circling elven women, the German makers probably touched themselves over, just won't do even in 2012. And the ending was confusingly abrupt.
I liked some of the room art design, Death Swamp, Monster Insides, the Hell Tower, the backgrounds in general are really nicely done, there was a good artist at work there.
An awkward feedback sandwich, I know, I tried to find good stuff too. ha. I really don't know why I liked the second one so much, I can't remember most of it, maybe I just became a cynical asshole… oh well.
Okay, this game and all the references is soo derivative. I work on a point and click adventure as well and I know that it almost can't be helped but make meta references to LucasArts titles and other classics, but here it felt standard. Even whole puzzle quest items were taken from Monkey2 and the fact that they winkingly point it out does not make it less of a stolen idea. If not just Star Wars, Mission Impossible, Shrek or Indiana Jones stuff, wasn't the whole fantasy turned on its head schtick done already in Simon The Sorcerer? The jokes are stale and way too much dialogue I skipped a lot of. And the puzzle design as a whole is really bad (was it better in 2?), when it wasn't badly adapted from another game. There were some neat narrative ideas but because of the very unsatisfying puzzle design (talk to that guy after you walked once through a room in the crypt, pixel hunting when not using the space bar and that dumb ass bow puzzle with the movable pans you have to arrange trial and error, and each time the whole dialogue and orc shooting first… I digress). Also the character design is horrid! Sorry, but nightmare puppet face gnomes and buggy circling elven women, the German makers probably touched themselves over, just won't do even in 2012. And the ending was confusingly abrupt.
I liked some of the room art design, Death Swamp, Monster Insides, the Hell Tower, the backgrounds in general are really nicely done, there was a good artist at work there.
An awkward feedback sandwich, I know, I tried to find good stuff too. ha. I really don't know why I liked the second one so much, I can't remember most of it, maybe I just became a cynical asshole… oh well.