Last night, I had a truly odd dream which was either owing to the rapidly all-encompassing madness of my mind – OR, a brilliant plot line for the quirkiest Adventure games since Grim Fandango. It had it all: the shadowboxed exposition scenes, the multiple-choice dialog options, the inventory filled with mundane items that combined into random and miraculous inventions. (Go go, Gadget Lock-Opening-Spy-Cam-Pencil-of-Wonder!)
The details though – now those were something special. The city’s skyline was comprised of two-dimensional set pieces done in pastel watercolors with a sickening patina of Pepto Bismol pink. The streets were lined with Smart Cars that were powered by fabric zippers embedded in the gravel. Farm animals spoke in indistinguishable accents – and I was particularly fascinated with a chatty goat who was rather exasperated (yet exceedingly polite) and kept saying things like “This situation is making me feel quite put out!” and “I’m rather burdened by your expectations of me!” What I was asking him to do is unclear – although it was entirely legal, I assure you! – but I can understand his distaste.
After all, I was a pigtailed, scantily clad lass named Lolly who worked as an exotic dancer in a strip club. In a mall. And the moniker? My act involved the constant presence of a Tootsie Roll Pop. (In my mouth, thankyouverymuch!) What can I say? Apparently I was an artist with those suckers – in more ways than one! ;-)
So of course the first idea that (lolly)popped into my mind when I woke up was that I needed to play an Adventure game again. Perfectly logical, right? But what to choose? I flipped through my CD case of games and felt uninspired. The Gabriel Knight series is my touchstone of ultimately Adventure gaming awesomeness, but I’ve hesitated to play any of them since the early 2000′s for fear that I’ll be disappointed. After all, once you get into games where strategic choices and actions are key, I’ve found that it’s rather difficult to return to very linear, point-and-click titles where you may need some ingenuity and creative-thinking, but exploration and strategy (not to mention combat) are noticeably absent.
I shuffled past The Longest Journey (#2 on my favorite Adventure games list) and its sequel, Dreamfall, which I got after my transition into RPGs and thus never finished, as it kinda bored me in comparison. Sanitarium was tempting, but I remember having problems running it on Windows XP. I was never particularly keen on Broken Sword, so that got the pass – and I was actually a bit surprised to discover that most of my old Adventure games were AWOL – likely having been sold off years ago on Amazon and eBay. I poked around a little bit on Home of the Underdogs (at one time a site that I lived and breathed for), but it appears that they no longer host downloadable abandonware titles, and instead are mostly a directory/review site.
What I realized in that 30 minutes or so of fruitlessly searching for an engaging Adventure game is that my heart really wasn’t in it. Which is a bit sad, to be honest, but I like the fact that I’ve evolved as a gamer. I’m not saying that Adventures are anything less than other genres, but to me they were always more in the “interactive story” vein, rather than a true “gaming” experience. It was an interesting transition after spending my childhood playing action-oriented games on the original Nintendo, and I think that’s what I truly enjoy about RPGs, in that they seem to strike a fantastic balance between creative-thinking Adventures and fast-paced Action games.
Also, I get to kill stuff – which, for a fiery gal like myself, is a “full of win” situation!
I did happen to notice a game peeking out of its plastic-sleeved abode which caught my eye that might get a coveted install slot on the ol’ PC. It was my greatest disappointment of 2008 – a little game that surely no-one’s ever heard of, called Spore. [/End Sarcasm] I’m wondering if maybe I haven’t given it a fair shake though. I bailed out in the Tribes stage, and I’ve heard repeatedly that the game improves exponentially once you get to space (the final frontier?) But we’ll see if I’m really willing to let Will Wright’s epic let-down back onto my system. After all, I’m told that Jade Empire and Dragon Age: Origins are really worth a look. Which reminds me – I already have the best readers ever!
Off to suck on something hard n’ sweet …
Scarlett ♥
