Can we ever re-capture the happiness of youth?
I remember when I was young, how the LucasArts adventures and especially SoMI provided epic levels of escapism for me. But it recently occured to me that I may be just over-romanticizing the *memory* of how much I enjoyed it...
Does anybody think that it's possible to re-capture the epic enjoyment we remember getting from our first MI experience, or do you think that's just an exercise in "chasing the dragon"? Thoughts...?
Does anybody think that it's possible to re-capture the epic enjoyment we remember getting from our first MI experience, or do you think that's just an exercise in "chasing the dragon"? Thoughts...?
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Anyway, you can't stop chasing that dragon. And that's the best you can do.
For example, Sam & Max episodes feel to me like shallow stories, repetitive settings, and dialog that consists of nothing but disposable one-liners. That's not an insult -- I think that's the intention of S&M; it's like the 'fast-food' of adventure games.
The point is though, any enjoyment I've gotten out of adventure games released over the past 10 years has been from the puzzles alone. The stories don't seem to do it for me anymore (although I've gotten close to that level of enjoyment with some RPG's I've played). Anyone else?
I know exactly what you mean. The best story in adventure game I've played in the last 10 years was Syberia in my opinion. Even the average modern RPGs seem to me to have a much better story than some of the good adventure games I've played recently.
Quite.
When that happens, i would really feel the old good times are coming back.
I can relate 100%.
ToMI is the biggest straw Ive had to clutch at though for some time!
I have to agree with this. While the game wasn't flawless, Syberia had a large draw and feeling of magic that I haven't felt from very many adventure games. And for a 3D game that's doing pretty good. The ending was fulfilling and kept that feeling.
With that line, the spark's back. So yes. Fucking yes. Monkey Island is back in a big way.
Ah yes, you mean like into a fresh pile of cocaine!
But regardless, i still find that games aren't designed around the storyline like they used to be. Even falling face-down into it, it's very hard to get that feeling of utter enthrallment. Hopefully TMI will provide that experience.
Some people have recommended Syberia... I'll definitely check that out in the mean time.
I think you've missed the point. Sure that line is funny, but that's not what I'm talking about at all. If all I wanted was one-liners, I'd be satisfied with Sam & Max.
The same thing with the Myst series. I started playing Riven and just wandered aimlessly for hours enjoying the beautiful scenery. None of the other ones could compete with it.
And the same thing with MI2. Just enjoyed exploring.
I think when you first get in love if you put it that way, no other experiences can measure up to how you felt the first time; be it weed, love, video games or whatever. Just the way we work.
Then we might spend tons of time trying to get that moment back, but nothing will ever be quite like it.
I dunno exactly why it is so, but it does work like that way. Might have smt to do w the reward system in the brain and endorphines or w/e.
Yeah, it's the fear induced by Silent Hill with that retro-LucasArts charm.
the 'clone' ending was a tad absurd, though.
This is one of those prize rare quadrilogies where the second one is the worst and the third one is the best.
It broke the bad third story curse.
I think the first one was the spookiest. They were all good, though and each developed the story a little further. I just couldn't get over the warp nacelles on the ship in the second one. They stuck out.
But hey in 15 years playing ToMI will be a nice thing to look back on - just imagine that they playd on laptops with only 8 gigs of memory.....was it the stoneage then
Hrm... I will definitely look into that adventure game series. I'll google it, but in the mean time do you have a link to the dev's website?
I've noticed that people who read lots of books or write their own stories are usually the types that are able to escape into their own imaginations, and can at the very least get another look into what drew them in in the first place.
Also for me, the vivid imagery as well as the engrossing music and sounds of MI3 always draw me back into that mindset that I originally had when I first played it. There are not many games that can do that, most feel like just a mixture of puzzles seperated by lots of grueling walking about. Games with atmosphere, which means everything that you would feel if you were really there - setting, mood, sounds, music, interaction - as well as good gameplay mechanics that give you a reason why you want to be there - story, emotion, characters - help form a different world for the player, who with enough imagination, can get lost in.
Some of the games I've played that have actually drawn me into their world for those reasons include CMI, Syberia, The Longest Journey, Morrowind, the Thief series, System Shock 2, EverQuest and some others. Those are the types of games that evoke such strong emotional reaction from gamers when mentioned, whether it be excitement to go back or longing for that feeling of losing ones tether to the real world for that short amount of time.
A game like that is one in a million, so enjoy them to the fullest when you can.
here you go:
http://www.fullyramblomatic.com/games.htm
The games in the series I mentioned are: 5 Days a Stranger, 7 Days a Skeptic, Trilby's Notes & 6 Days a Sacrifice. They should really be played in that order.
LOL... okay, I'm now certain you've missed the point.
If a bondage joke epitomizes youthful happiness for you, then you must have had a very happy childhood.
Thanks for that. I just checked out the website and some other people's comments on the game, and it looks quite compelling. D/l'ing now.
Overall though, my love of Monkey Island as a kid comes down to cheap gags. And I doubt I'll ever get tired of those, because my sense of humor doesn't seem to have "grown up".
The point is "Can this new Monkey Island POSSIBLY ascend to 'better' than the old ones due to the power of nostalgia?" I get that. But I say that as long as it's funny with a ton of cheap gags and a wacky sense of humor, I'll feel the same about Tales as I do about Secret and LeChuck's Revenge.
Yup, I pretty much got that. And based on that one bondage-related line you quoted, it's likely that for you TMI will live up to the nostalgia of your youth.
But I'm talking more about the sense of *escapism* and utter enthrallment that I and many others remembered from our early MI experiences, which IMO has more to do with the story and atmosphere. If you somehow experienced epic escapism just from cheap one-liners, then I stand corrected.
As for me, the reasons I'm nostalgic about MI are different and can't be guaged without playing the entire game, so I'll reserve judgement.
I played them all again at christmas and they still had the same majic for me. I was totally engrosed in the MI world for the whole christmas period until I had completed all 4 again, and I thought I'd be able to spread them out over the year, they lasted me 2 weeks!!! I have no doubt the new game will be the same, the characters will be enough Nostalgia for me, cant wait to talk to Murry and stan, and meathook!! Im sure they will be in it! there are so many old characters and hopefully we well get to see many of them in the new game, as well as some new characters, I just cant wait!!
I guess the thing with Monkey Island is to let each game be what it is, and not to expect a carbon clone of the earlier ones. Easier said than done, sure, but not impossible.
For me, for some reason, Monkey Island always been surrounded by a sense of occasion. For MI2 (age 12) I remember swapping disks and magazine walkthroughs in the playground (and playing through parts with a friend), for MI1 (13) it was a long birthday weekend with the family, for MI3 (17) I played the game through with my brother, and for MI4 (20) I played with a bunch of friends at Uni. Now, for Tales (29), I'm on holiday in Cornwall from the 6th and a bunch of us are already talking about finding a wi-fi hotspot to download the game...
I just remembered "I'm what-what-a-what-what?" and "well, didgeridoo to you, too" were catchphrases for a while at Uni O_o
That level of escapism I've only experienced in Riven and WoW so far. MI2, which has come the closest in the MI series, is no where near those two. I think not only shitloads of time has to be put down in details, I mean you *know* when you've been fed quality because you keep tasting so much crap day in and day out, but also it's extremely high quality of music.
So you gotta have a lot of time and energy put into the details, you got to have music that enhances the environment, you got to have space to explore and you as a player have to be able to work with the environment.
I don't have that high hopes for a 2-4 hours adventure, because that would be naive. However, it'll definetly be more than enough for me, just because I'm a fan of the series, but it's not like I'm expecting a miracle to come by. If TTG manages to make a smooth running game with some nice scenery, some decent music and not butcher any characters- I know I have gotten quality for the 5 McDonald's menus I paid for this game and will be extremely happy and satisfied.
But to be honest I think stuff was better before. Maybe games are technically better nowadays, but in early 90's there was a great deal of love in their creation. Now games are an industry where they do focus groups, marketing, etc, etc which takes a lot of the risk developers would take and a lot of the creativity and spontaneity.
Even music and movies were better, not to say that everything was better. TV shows have some brilliant examples of quality nowadays like Lost. But mostly there is a factor of nostalgia, but being objective there was a special magical element that is lacking from entertainment these days. Maybe it is a sign of how different society is now.
I'm still hopeful though that I will continue to be amazed by stuff thanks to amazing guys like those from Telltale. Just try to see things and act like a child no matter your age as was mentioned in this thread before :-)
Somewhere around 2000, something happened. Producers learnt dialogue. they learnt personality and mostly; the music actually enhanced the experience.
Nowadays I can watch stuff like American Idol and get moved by emotions. This only because nowadays, they are extremely skilled and have extreme knowledge about how to touch our hearts. They film facial expressions, they put the exact music needed on there and everything just works so well. We have taken some pretty radical steps the last decade.