Bite-Sized Bloggie Treats

While you await the second half of my series on linearity, here's one big collection of mini-posts; stuff that isn't important or interesting enough for a whole post, but which I've been thinking about nonetheless: some of these may receive greater-sized elaborations later.

Tales of Monkey Island

I played adventure games all through my childhood, but didn't play through the Monkey Island series until I was in college (save for the black sheep of the series Escape from Monkey Island, which my friend P. and I played and loved on the PS2 in high school). This is one of my greater embarrassments as a gamer. The series is, of course, a pinnacle of the genre.

I can, and undoubtedly will, go on at length about my perspective on adventure games. But right now, after recently finishing Tales of Monkey Island, a few comments.

Unsurprisingly, the game feels less like Monkey Island 5, and more like Sam and Max Season 2 1/2. It shares the same cartoony graphical style, many of the same voice actors (who were relatively easy to recognize), and shares the same philosophy when it comes to puzzles. Which isn't really a bad thing, because the Sam and Max seasons are my favorite adventure games of the past five years (perhaps longer). Telltale's found a formula that sells adventure games in an unfriendly market, and funny, clever ones at that.

But Tales isn't as good as Sam and Max. It's not nearly as funny, which is again not surprising. Sam and Max is probably the funniest series I've ever played; it's worth the full price of admission just for the privilege of clicking the cursor on all the random objects and hearing their responses. Tales trades out the pure inanity of SaM for a stronger narrative. This would be fine, except Monkey Island is a series with ghost pirates, talking skulls, and a protagonist who's afraid of porcelain. It's hard to get super-invested in plot points like Morgan's love for Guybrush, or the possible betrayal of the Voodoo Lady.

And Tales doesn't have what redeemed the earlier games in the series from a not-too-serious plot: strong puzzle design that's both challenging and fair. This isn't really Telltale's fault: they need to pitch to a casual-aligned market that's not looking for real stumpers. Plus the episodic format limits the size of each location, so the player usually stumbles onto the solution to each puzzle without really having to think.

All things considered, I still recommend the game: it's still pretty funny, there are still some clever puzzles, and the writing is good. But I'm more excited about SaM Season 3.

Shadow of the Colossus:

( Sidenote: I started to play through Final Fantasy Tactics, but playing two full-length RPGs at the same time proved to be a bit much, so I set it aside for the time being. Hopefully, I'll get back to it after Clare and I get through Persona 4.)

I don't usually buy games I've already played, but I had to make an exception here. Since I finished Ico for the first time a year or so ago, this game has been on my mind a lot, and I finally bought it last week.

When I first played it, I pretty much rushed through all the colossi without really exploring the landscape. This time around, I'm taking my time; the game rewards a curious mindset. There's so much about this game that's worth thinking about. Right now, I want to point you to an excellent article that explores the conception of 'place' in this game.

Persona 4:

I'll have a lot, and I mean a LOT, to say about this game and its predecessor when Clare and I get done with it. How much do we like this series? We spent 90+ hours on Persona 3 in a period of three to four months. We emerged from it absolutely exhausted. Within a month or two, we didn't think twice about starting the fourth game. It's that good.

Labyrinth:

This is not a video game, but lately I've spent more time on it recently than any actual video game. Only recommended for people who like riddles, to the point that they are willing to agonize for days over them. For me, it's more dangerous than any drug. I think I'll have more to say about this on my upcoming post on spoilability.

Be careful; it can take over your life.

Well, that's all I got for now. Till next time!