Like Guybrush, I liked ToMI, and San & Max.. and pretty much all TTG's games...
@Rather Dashing
Guess, if that so, it will be different. But different can be as good or even better. But I bet you already make up your mind on that, and you will claim everywhere that TTG's KG is bad (even if it's not). That's what fanboys do (compare to fan who let a chance).
"I can't help but feel that Telltale's reboot of King's Quest to be one step away from treason."
Ron Gilbert, from his Twitter
I may have the wording off, but AWAY from treason, if he means telltale haved betrayed lucasarts, than I think they did that when they all quit and created telltalegames.
One step TOWARD treason would be a better example, but we will see.
I have every right to be wary about something when everything Telltale have done in the past has consistently been lowering the bar as far as game design goes. I hoped Telltale would get better but they're getting worse. Seriously, we're not the defensive fanboys here....you are. Defending everything Telltale does. If you like their snooze-fest style gameplay than I'm sure you'll like their new King's Quest but it's not going to be ANYTHING like the originals if that's the case. And as a longtime fan of King's Quest, that upsets me.
A question that comes to mind is why you frequent a forum of a company whose games you seem to dislike to much.
I don't remember Telltale ever stating they were only going to make Lucasarts style games, so I don't see how this could be considered treason :P. All the whining is preventing this thread from becoming enjoyable.
I was not a fan of Sierra games- though I'll admit I haven't tried them all. I'm excited to see what Telltale can do with King's Quest. In opposition to several voices on this forum, I hope they make this series more like their recent games. As a more casual gamer, I enjoy the direction they've been taken.
That said, if the games reflect the difficulty of the original series despite my personal desire for a more casual experience I will not consider this a personal betrayal of gaming and all that is good and holy- but, clearly, that’s just me.
Like Guybrush, I liked ToMI, and San & Max.. and pretty much all TTG's games...
@Rather Dashing
Guess, if that so, it will be different. But different can be as good or even better. But I bet you already make up your mind on that, and you will claim everywhere that TTG's KG is bad (even if it's not). That's what fanboys do (compare to fan who let a chance).
oh, you said what I was thinking without being a jerk. Suddenly I feel silly.
I don't remember Telltale ever stating they were only going to make Lucasarts style games
I have linked once to a quote showing abject disdain for Sierra's design philosophy. If anyone wants, I can compile a list of quotes from both Telltale and Sierra that will show that the two companies think COMPLETELY DIFFERENTLY, that Telltale has NO INTENTION of even ATTEMPTING to think the way Sierra does, and that the overwhelmingly powerful probability for the upcoming King's Quest reboot is that it will be a King's Quest game in name only, with all of the similarities being entirely superficial.
Guess, if that so, it will be different. But different can be as good or even better. But I bet you already make up your mind on that, and you will claim everywhere that TTG's KG is bad (even if it's not). That's what fanboys do (compare to fan who let a chance).
Different to the point of being designed from a diametrically opposed philosophy of design isn't "different", it's a process that will create something with nothing but a surface resemblance to the thing they are ostensibly attempting to emulate. The company is run by people that abhor the means, thought process, and artistic direction through which the King's Quest series was made. I would be less upset if Activision gave exclusive rights to fucking Zynga. And another thing: I am sick of this assumption that comes up everywhere that because I am not at all pleased with something, that I am not a fan or that I don't really care about a particular franchise. Maybe I care about the franchise enough to prefer that the very basic surface view of the thing isn't ripped out and pasted over something with disparate internals. Maybe my disdain for the upcoming game is based on EVEN MORE evidence than your fucking praise, considering MY reaction is based on precedent, interview responses, and an analysis of every product ever released by this company up to this point, while yours is based on empty optimism. MAYBE fans who will take anything that has the name on it, without caring about whether or not the spirit of the original product is actually respected, rather than treated as a piece of garbage that must be discarded because people are busy now when nobody was busy in the 80s, maybe THOSE people are letting blind fanboyism to cloud or replace their judgement. But hey, that's not what I'm here to argue, because I'm not here to punch straw men. I'm here to say this is a bad idea, and if you're not willing to bring anything concrete or valuable to the table in terms of a counterargument rather than slandering me because that's all you have in terms of reasoning, then FUCK YOU.
Beside, I hope we will see an original game one day. It can only be a good thing for TTG. Making sequel or adaptation is fine (as long as the quality is there) but creating something from the beginning it's better.
As a LucasArts fanboy who saw TTG as their spiritual successor I do slightly feel as if they have gone to the dark side!
Obviously there is no way a punishing and frustrating game like the original Kings Quest would be a commercial success today, everyone would just use walkthoughs.
But surely if there was a licence that almost guaranteed a reboot be for the hard core adventure fan this would be it?
If anyone wants, I can compile a list of quotes from both Telltale and Sierra that will show that the two companies think COMPLETELY DIFFERENTLY, that Telltale has NO INTENTION of even ATTEMPTING to think the way Sierra does, and that the overwhelmingly powerful probability for the upcoming King's Quest reboot is that it will be a King's Quest game in name only, with all of the similarities being entirely superficial.
I would actually be quite interested to read that if you could.
RD, is this worse than if TTG had done a Maniac Mansion reboot?
I'm not sure why people think they have to take sides. I was a fanboy of BOTH companies when I was growing up. I played both company's games equally pretty much.
Well, personally i would love to play unique puzzle games with a dense story and interesting characters instead of watching content where flat characters and a boring story rule over the nonexistance of puzzles.
I see your point, but we still should wait it out and see what happens.
As stated Kings Quest cant be that hard anymore due to constant walkthroughs(kind of added to the charm of meatboy though since walkthroughs barely helped there) so we just have to see. It could fail, it could work, but none of us can predict the future.
Well, personally i would love to play unique puzzle games with a dense story and interesting characters instead of watching content where flat characters and a boring story rule over the nonexistance of puzzles.
I would actually be quite interested to read that if you could.
RD, is this worse than if TTG had done a Maniac Mansion reboot?
Maniac Mansion is LucasArts at least.
This is a completely out of left field move, and frankly somewhat baffling. It appears to make no sense from a company that, in terms of style, follows LucasArts much more closely than Sierra - not, of course, that Activision would care, so long as it makes them money! That said, unlike some here, I am at least willing to give them a chance. So come on, Tell Tale, show us what you can do.
I'm not sure why people think they have to take sides. I was a fanboy of BOTH companies when I was growing up. I played both company's games equally pretty much.
I don't think people HAVE to take sides, I just preferred everything about LucasArts games. I never finished a Sierra game.*
Wow, calm down ^^ I didn't say that. Of course a fan is not someone stupid who buy everything with a name on it... What I meant was, you already condamn the game on nothing. You don't have a clue about how the game is made. From the beginning, TTG had a good process on making game : Purcell on S&M, Gale on BTTF etc... So, maybe (just maybe) some people from the old days will work on King's Quest... or maybe not. Maybe it will be good you know. But because you're a fan (an hardcore one obviously) you will not see it. Plus, even if it's bad, the originals still exist. If TTG don't make it, nobody else will, so if it's bad, well, not a big deal really. The licence was buried anyway, let TTG a shot.
I'm like you on other subject that I like, so I know how you feel
But hey, Indy 4 is crappy, that doesn't make Riders disapear or even bad.
I don't have a problem with it as long as it matches the difficulty of the original.
Wich is something to worry about since none of their previous games represent an actual challenge to anyone who claim to have played the originals Sierra or LucasArts games without walktroughs.
So the question for me is, if you have never made and actual challenging game with descent puzzles, how all of a sudden are you gonna achieve a well balanced difficulty for this one?
Because having the same kind of puzzles we are having now on a King Quest game will be like a failure.
And after all, with Monkey Island (classic adventure game if there is one) we got easy puzzles like before.
They have a challenge with this one.
I hope WE get also a challenge when this game comes out.
And i still don't know what exactly a reboot would be on this case.
A question that comes to mind is why you frequent a forum of a company whose games you seem to dislike to much.
I don't. I haven't been that active around here in a long time. I check in in little lurking spurts but nothing beyond that. I'm only here now because I was interested in what the new licenses are. And I'm still playing BTTF. Like Dashing, after that I'll probably be gone for good. Maybe.
I don't remember Telltale ever stating they were only going to make Lucasarts style games, so I don't see how this could be considered treason :P.
They HAVE stated they have a specific way of making their games to suit their business model. Plenty of times. And they haven't yet proven that they can do anything else. There's some big talk of gameplay changes from what they're used to for Jurassic Park but we haven't even seen that in action yet (I mean actual gameplay footage not scripted sequences).
All the whining is preventing this thread from becoming enjoyable.
So anybody that has a difference of opinion from yours is automatically whining?
I agree with the people who say that Telltale has yet to prove they can handle a King's Quest game that does justice to the franchise's legacy.
HOWEVER, with all of their games so far, regardless as to whether or not the game was good, they captured the heart of the adapted franchise. They nailed the different styles of humor in Monkey Island, Sam and Max, Homestar Runner, Wallace and Gromit, and BTTF. They captured the friendship between Marty and Doc. It looks like they may get the tone of Jurassic Park.
If they're capable of replicating different styles of story, characterization, and humor, I hope they'll at least ATTEMPT to replicate a different style of gameplay.
Ad hominem fallacy. It's bad. You can't prove me wrong by calling me a dick, even if I am one. And the fun thing is, this post that I'm quoting, by you, contributes far less and has a far higher antagonism to content ratio than any post I have ever made in my entire time here.
I see your point, but we still should wait it out and see what happens.
As stated Kings Quest cant be that hard anymore due to constant walkthroughs(kind of added to the charm of meatboy though since walkthroughs barely helped there) so we just have to see. It could fail, it could work, but none of us can predict the future.
I'm gonna see this through to the end to just see how they handle it. If I'm not impressed then I'm gone.
Wow, calm down ^^ I didn't say that. Of course a fan is not someone stupid who buy everything with a name on it... What I meant was, you already condamn the game on nothing.
That's not true. He listed several good reasons why Telltale making a King's Quest game is a bad idea, mostly if not for the fact that the people in charge can't stand the Sierra game design philosophy. That's a pretty huge one. Unless they change their minds on this, the future isn't good. But at least we're basing our accusations on something substantial. And like I said, I'm going to stick it through to the end of this King's Quest thing to just see how it's handled.
You don't have a clue about how the game is made. From the beginning, TTG had a good process on making game
I don't believe that. I thought they started out rocky. I just wished and hoped that they'd improve. They haven't. They've gotten worse. I now realise that their design philosophy isn't centered around gameplay at all. That's not a good thing for a game. In short, Telltale are not who I thought they were.
: Purcell on S&M, Gale on BTTF etc... So, maybe (just maybe) some people from the old days will work on King's Quest... or maybe not. Maybe it will be good you know. But because you're a fan (an hardcore one obviously) you will not see it. Plus, even if it's bad, the originals still exist. If TTG don't make it, nobody else will, so if it's bad, well, not a big deal really. The licence was buried anyway, let TTG a shot.
That doesn't mean that we can't be upset with a game company we were once fans of who we believed in and were ultimately let down. Now there's a small chance that the people who disliked Sierra's design style won't be in charge of the King's Quest reboot and maybe some newer employees who DID love it will take the thing and run with it which would be fantastic, I think, if they truly stayed true to the original concept (story and gameplay wise). But that's a very small chance.
But hey, Indy 4 is crappy, that doesn't make Riders disapear or even bad.
The things IGN is saying about the deaths in Jurassic Park tells me Telltale is willing to bend on its "Philosophy." Just sayin'...
That remains to be seen. I am optimistic about that factor. But it is a much more darker and dramatic type of story that involves monsters that eat human beings. There's gotta be danger of death in that. King's Quest, not so much, even though it is a staple of the original I can't help but think that's not how Telltale will see it. My main problem is the idea that Telltale thinks they can improve King's Quest. I hope that's not where this all got started from. We'll see.
I don't have a problem with it as long as it matches the difficulty of the original.
Wich is something to worry about since none of their previous games represent an actual challenge to anyone who claim to have played the originals Sierra or LucasArts games without walktroughs.
So the question for me is, if you have never made and actual challenging game with descent puzzles, how all of a sudden are you gonna achieve a well balanced difficulty for this one?
Because having the same kind of puzzles we are having now on a King Quest game will be like a failure.
And after all, with Monkey Island (classic adventure game if there is one) we got easy puzzles like before.
They have a challenge with this one.
I hope WE get also a challenge when this game comes out.
And i still don't know what exactly a reboot would be on this case.
HOWEVER, with all of their games so far, regardless as to whether or not the game was good, they captured the heart of the adapted franchise. They nailed the different styles of humor in Monkey Island, Sam and Max, Homestar Runner, Wallace and Gromit, and BTTF. They captured the friendship between Marty and Doc. It looks like they may get the tone of Jurassic Park.
If they're capable of replicating different styles of story, characterization, and humor, I hope they'll at least ATTEMPT to replicate a different style of gameplay.
That's the key. It's not just about recapturing the essence of a franchise in the story (which was done exceptionally well in pretty much every TTG game ever), but the main factor is the gameplay and puzzle design. Their "games" are far too easy and completely unchallenging.
Telltale has proven to me that adventure games do indeed have to rely on gameplay AS WELL AS story and completely story-driven games are boring drivel no matter how well they're written.
Could you please cite something from Sierra about their own design philosophy? I'm curious if Sierra's goal was to punish curiosity with death, or if that's just the indirect result, and one possible application, of their overall design goals. Were their puzzles inscrutable just to be inscrutable, or did they lack the story-telling tools to explain the reasoning fully within the game?
Your conclusion is that this quote means he disagreed with Sierra's design philosophy, but all I see is him disagreeing with the end product that they came up with. I'm not necessarily sure that their goals are as antithetical to his as their results are.
I've been a long time fan of King's Quest, and Sierra games in general. I've been playing them since my cousin's neighbor had a PC Jr! And, yeah, I was sad to see the direction and decline of adventure games, but I kind of took it as just how time moves. Time will often leave behind things that people love - a lot of us still love adventure games, but they're not the massive sellers that other genres of video/computer games are.
Time moves on, things change - and Telltale came along. And I enjoyed their games. Sure, the gameplay is different on a lot of the games - different from the original Sierra model, but I'm willing to see what they have to offer. Before I get all up in arms, I'm willing to see what they'll offer. I think getting your panties all twisted before you even see anything is really just a quick way to give yourself a stroke. Lord knows I appreciate the fanlove bestowed upon the series - obviously there's love in Rather Dashing's rant... and I can understand his concerns. I personally think a hopeful, but reserved stance is a better way to go. But that's just me.
I have faith in Telltale for now - and, hey, if they need help with designers and artists, I know of a few who would be good to come aboard, heh.
I am most proud of the development of the characters as personalities that game players could relate to and care about; the beauty of the game world as each new game was developed, and, in thinking of ways to introduce new game players to adventure gaming by developing the idea of the 'icon' based interface rather than the old 'parser' type of game communication where you had to think about how to type in sentences to the computer and then hope that, somehow, the game would respond to you. Basically, in a nutshell, a lot of thought was put into making the game worlds as beautiful as possible, as easy to navigate and communicate with as possible, and as engaging and entertaining as possible. Trying to come up with mind-bending puzzles and brain-twisting plots was never something that I strived for, although, I believe that many designers of games and/or adventure games make their games more complex than they need to be.
Do you guys think this sounds TTG-like or anti-TTG, philosophy wise?
EDIT: I meant to say, that was a Roberta Williams quote.
Yeah? I don't know, I've seen 2 episodes and I happen to think they are doing pretty good. I feel the guys making the Silver Lining seem to get the property and have lots of love for Sierra.
I highly doubt Telltale can do much better. Don't get me wrong, I love Telltale. It's just that King's Quest is a fairy tale of sorts and follows a more different logic, mainly due to the fact the franchise comes from a more innocent time. It focused more on hard puzzles and player punishment, something Telltale are really bad at.
Yeah? I don't know, I've seen 2 episodes and I happen to think they are doing pretty good. I feel the guys making the Silver Lining seem to get the property and have lots of love for Sierra.
I highly doubt Telltale can do much better. Don't get me wrong, I love Telltale. It's just that King's Quest is a fairy tale of sorts and follows a more different logic, mainly due to the fact the franchise comes from a more innocent time. It focused more on hard puzzles and player punishment, something Telltale are really bad at.
I dont know telltale can do much better either...and that is really scary for the franchise.
Lately Im going to have to side with the naysayers. I love Telltale and they've been my favourite developer for awhile now, but havent played a single episode yet since their first Sam and Max that blew me away. My reason being is becuase of their predictable gameplay formula. With each new franchise Im always hoping that the grand scale will be bigger, an unrestricted improvement with a fresh formula.
I became extremely wary with the announcement of the new licenses. Instead of selling out and throwing a bone to a few more audiences, how about concentrating on one game at a time and making that epic as opposed to... pretty much every telltale game under a different skin
I can see myself enjoying this in a way that would totally offend fans of the original series. King's Quest flavor with LucasArts design, a total abomination and an offense to Sierra fans. And something I'd actually buy.
The reaction here reminds me of the Fallout 3 debate thing, where original fans hated the "sequel" and mainstream audiences liked it.
I can see myself enjoying this in a way that would totally offend fans of the original series. King's Quest flavor with LucasArts design, a total abomination and an offense to Sierra fans. And something I'd actually buy.
The reaction here reminds me of the Fallout 3 debate thing, where original fans hated the "sequel" and mainstream audiences liked it.
Interesting observation. As an anti-Sierra adventure fan I can see how people like you would enjoy it. But as a fan of the original King's Quest (not a fan of Sierra) I can't be happy with something like that.....although I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious as to HOW BADLY they screwed it up.
Being one of the old school gamers here I am quite fond of KQ.... the word "reboot" is worrisome.... I hope its not disappointing.. I am not necessarily keen on having to go through the first games story over gain.
Comments
@Rather Dashing
Guess, if that so, it will be different. But different can be as good or even better. But I bet you already make up your mind on that, and you will claim everywhere that TTG's KG is bad (even if it's not). That's what fanboys do (compare to fan who let a chance).
I may have the wording off, but AWAY from treason, if he means telltale haved betrayed lucasarts, than I think they did that when they all quit and created telltalegames.
One step TOWARD treason would be a better example, but we will see.
A question that comes to mind is why you frequent a forum of a company whose games you seem to dislike to much.
Haha. He's kidding, obviously. If anyone was wondering.
That said, if the games reflect the difficulty of the original series despite my personal desire for a more casual experience I will not consider this a personal betrayal of gaming and all that is good and holy- but, clearly, that’s just me.
mmm... passive aggressiveness....
oh, you said what I was thinking without being a jerk. Suddenly I feel silly.
Different to the point of being designed from a diametrically opposed philosophy of design isn't "different", it's a process that will create something with nothing but a surface resemblance to the thing they are ostensibly attempting to emulate. The company is run by people that abhor the means, thought process, and artistic direction through which the King's Quest series was made. I would be less upset if Activision gave exclusive rights to fucking Zynga. And another thing: I am sick of this assumption that comes up everywhere that because I am not at all pleased with something, that I am not a fan or that I don't really care about a particular franchise. Maybe I care about the franchise enough to prefer that the very basic surface view of the thing isn't ripped out and pasted over something with disparate internals. Maybe my disdain for the upcoming game is based on EVEN MORE evidence than your fucking praise, considering MY reaction is based on precedent, interview responses, and an analysis of every product ever released by this company up to this point, while yours is based on empty optimism. MAYBE fans who will take anything that has the name on it, without caring about whether or not the spirit of the original product is actually respected, rather than treated as a piece of garbage that must be discarded because people are busy now when nobody was busy in the 80s, maybe THOSE people are letting blind fanboyism to cloud or replace their judgement. But hey, that's not what I'm here to argue, because I'm not here to punch straw men. I'm here to say this is a bad idea, and if you're not willing to bring anything concrete or valuable to the table in terms of a counterargument rather than slandering me because that's all you have in terms of reasoning, then FUCK YOU.
As a LucasArts fanboy who saw TTG as their spiritual successor I do slightly feel as if they have gone to the dark side!
Obviously there is no way a punishing and frustrating game like the original Kings Quest would be a commercial success today, everyone would just use walkthoughs.
But surely if there was a licence that almost guaranteed a reboot be for the hard core adventure fan this would be it?
I would actually be quite interested to read that if you could.
RD, is this worse than if TTG had done a Maniac Mansion reboot?
I see your point, but we still should wait it out and see what happens.
As stated Kings Quest cant be that hard anymore due to constant walkthroughs(kind of added to the charm of meatboy though since walkthroughs barely helped there) so we just have to see. It could fail, it could work, but none of us can predict the future.
I'm a big fan of Professor Layton.
This is a completely out of left field move, and frankly somewhat baffling. It appears to make no sense from a company that, in terms of style, follows LucasArts much more closely than Sierra - not, of course, that Activision would care, so long as it makes them money! That said, unlike some here, I am at least willing to give them a chance. So come on, Tell Tale, show us what you can do.
I don't think people HAVE to take sides, I just preferred everything about LucasArts games. I never finished a Sierra game.*
EDIT: *Except for the LSL games, which I loved.
Wow, calm down ^^ I didn't say that. Of course a fan is not someone stupid who buy everything with a name on it... What I meant was, you already condamn the game on nothing. You don't have a clue about how the game is made. From the beginning, TTG had a good process on making game : Purcell on S&M, Gale on BTTF etc... So, maybe (just maybe) some people from the old days will work on King's Quest... or maybe not. Maybe it will be good you know. But because you're a fan (an hardcore one obviously) you will not see it. Plus, even if it's bad, the originals still exist. If TTG don't make it, nobody else will, so if it's bad, well, not a big deal really. The licence was buried anyway, let TTG a shot.
I'm like you on other subject that I like, so I know how you feel
But hey, Indy 4 is crappy, that doesn't make Riders disapear or even bad.
Wich is something to worry about since none of their previous games represent an actual challenge to anyone who claim to have played the originals Sierra or LucasArts games without walktroughs.
So the question for me is, if you have never made and actual challenging game with descent puzzles, how all of a sudden are you gonna achieve a well balanced difficulty for this one?
Because having the same kind of puzzles we are having now on a King Quest game will be like a failure.
And after all, with Monkey Island (classic adventure game if there is one) we got easy puzzles like before.
They have a challenge with this one.
I hope WE get also a challenge when this game comes out.
And i still don't know what exactly a reboot would be on this case.
All in all, i'll just have to wait and see.
You're a real internet tough guy.
I don't. I haven't been that active around here in a long time. I check in in little lurking spurts but nothing beyond that. I'm only here now because I was interested in what the new licenses are. And I'm still playing BTTF. Like Dashing, after that I'll probably be gone for good. Maybe.
They HAVE stated they have a specific way of making their games to suit their business model. Plenty of times. And they haven't yet proven that they can do anything else. There's some big talk of gameplay changes from what they're used to for Jurassic Park but we haven't even seen that in action yet (I mean actual gameplay footage not scripted sequences).
So anybody that has a difference of opinion from yours is automatically whining?
HOWEVER, with all of their games so far, regardless as to whether or not the game was good, they captured the heart of the adapted franchise. They nailed the different styles of humor in Monkey Island, Sam and Max, Homestar Runner, Wallace and Gromit, and BTTF. They captured the friendship between Marty and Doc. It looks like they may get the tone of Jurassic Park.
If they're capable of replicating different styles of story, characterization, and humor, I hope they'll at least ATTEMPT to replicate a different style of gameplay.
I'm gonna see this through to the end to just see how they handle it. If I'm not impressed then I'm gone.
That's not true. He listed several good reasons why Telltale making a King's Quest game is a bad idea, mostly if not for the fact that the people in charge can't stand the Sierra game design philosophy. That's a pretty huge one. Unless they change their minds on this, the future isn't good. But at least we're basing our accusations on something substantial. And like I said, I'm going to stick it through to the end of this King's Quest thing to just see how it's handled.
I don't believe that. I thought they started out rocky. I just wished and hoped that they'd improve. They haven't. They've gotten worse. I now realise that their design philosophy isn't centered around gameplay at all. That's not a good thing for a game. In short, Telltale are not who I thought they were.
That doesn't mean that we can't be upset with a game company we were once fans of who we believed in and were ultimately let down. Now there's a small chance that the people who disliked Sierra's design style won't be in charge of the King's Quest reboot and maybe some newer employees who DID love it will take the thing and run with it which would be fantastic, I think, if they truly stayed true to the original concept (story and gameplay wise). But that's a very small chance.
I liked Indy 4.
That remains to be seen. I am optimistic about that factor. But it is a much more darker and dramatic type of story that involves monsters that eat human beings. There's gotta be danger of death in that. King's Quest, not so much, even though it is a staple of the original I can't help but think that's not how Telltale will see it. My main problem is the idea that Telltale thinks they can improve King's Quest. I hope that's not where this all got started from. We'll see.
An excellent post. I agree.
That's the key. It's not just about recapturing the essence of a franchise in the story (which was done exceptionally well in pretty much every TTG game ever), but the main factor is the gameplay and puzzle design. Their "games" are far too easy and completely unchallenging.
Telltale has proven to me that adventure games do indeed have to rely on gameplay AS WELL AS story and completely story-driven games are boring drivel no matter how well they're written.
Which so far hasn't done anything great...
Could you please cite something from Sierra about their own design philosophy? I'm curious if Sierra's goal was to punish curiosity with death, or if that's just the indirect result, and one possible application, of their overall design goals. Were their puzzles inscrutable just to be inscrutable, or did they lack the story-telling tools to explain the reasoning fully within the game?
Your conclusion is that this quote means he disagreed with Sierra's design philosophy, but all I see is him disagreeing with the end product that they came up with. I'm not necessarily sure that their goals are as antithetical to his as their results are.
Time moves on, things change - and Telltale came along. And I enjoyed their games. Sure, the gameplay is different on a lot of the games - different from the original Sierra model, but I'm willing to see what they have to offer. Before I get all up in arms, I'm willing to see what they'll offer. I think getting your panties all twisted before you even see anything is really just a quick way to give yourself a stroke. Lord knows I appreciate the fanlove bestowed upon the series - obviously there's love in Rather Dashing's rant... and I can understand his concerns. I personally think a hopeful, but reserved stance is a better way to go. But that's just me.
I have faith in Telltale for now - and, hey, if they need help with designers and artists, I know of a few who would be good to come aboard, heh.
Bt
Do you guys think this sounds TTG-like or anti-TTG, philosophy wise?
EDIT: I meant to say, that was a Roberta Williams quote.
Yeah? I don't know, I've seen 2 episodes and I happen to think they are doing pretty good. I feel the guys making the Silver Lining seem to get the property and have lots of love for Sierra.
I highly doubt Telltale can do much better. Don't get me wrong, I love Telltale. It's just that King's Quest is a fairy tale of sorts and follows a more different logic, mainly due to the fact the franchise comes from a more innocent time. It focused more on hard puzzles and player punishment, something Telltale are really bad at.
I dont know telltale can do much better either...and that is really scary for the franchise.
I became extremely wary with the announcement of the new licenses. Instead of selling out and throwing a bone to a few more audiences, how about concentrating on one game at a time and making that epic as opposed to... pretty much every telltale game under a different skin
The reaction here reminds me of the Fallout 3 debate thing, where original fans hated the "sequel" and mainstream audiences liked it.
Great post, I agree entirely.