The State of PC Adventure gaming

Interviews
The State of PC Adventure gaming
By Jonathan Mills
February 27, 2006 - 14:28

I value story and atmosphere above everything else. If you have no reason for what your doing, then whats the point of doing it? This is why my favorite Genre's are Action/Adventure games and Rpg's.

Unless your familiar with the PC Adventure Genre, you surly have little idea of what they actually are. While I will freely admit that I'm not the most knowledgeable about PC Adventure games, I do have an extremely high curiosity about them, as of the few I've played, I have nothing but good memories.

Whenever i'm trying to gather information about PC adventure games, I head over to adventuregamers.com, I decided to try and get an Interview with the Editor their, to talk about the Genre, thankfully, he granted me that request.

Q: First of all, I'd like to thank Jack Allin of www.adventuregamers.com for taking the time conduct this interview with us.

A: It's my pleasure to do it. Adventure gamers are every bit as passionate and devoted to our little niche hobby as comic book fans are to theirs (except without the action figures), so anything to help bring the genre a little more exposure is a good thing.

Q: My first question is that the perceived notion among the general gaming public is that the PC Adventure Genre is dead, what do you say to that?

A: So long as people don't take the statement too literally, I think there's some merit to the sentiment. There are still plenty of lesser-known titles released each year, but long gone are the days when developers like Sierra and LucasArts were using adventure games to push cutting edge technology and were the dominant form of storytelling in gaming. Somewhere along the line, adventures fell far behind other genres in popularity, funding became more difficult, and the games themselves fell into a rut of fairly uninspired formulas. Adventure games in recent years are virtually unchanged from what they were ten years ago, except without a lot of the creative spark and originality that existed back then. So while "dead" is exaggerating, I think "stagnant" is certainly accurate.

On the plus side, the genre has also attracted lots of new gamers that weren't previously interested in games at all, particularly among older generations. And current developers are starting to be a little more innovative in their approach, leading to more diverse games again. There are still plenty of "old school" games being made, but now the genre doesn't completely feel like it's still stuck in a time freeze. Adventures will never reach the height of popularity they once had, I'm sure, but there's still room for optimism about the future.

Q: Now, most PC gamers out there know what a PC Adventure game is, but for those who aren't fully aware, why don't you explain some of the nuances of the genre?

A: If there's one question sure to generate endless debates among adventure fans, it's "what is an adventure?" But usually we can agree on a few basic principles. At its core, an adventure is an interactive story propelled by exploration and overcoming puzzle challenges, without reliance on action. It's hard to get much more specific, because as soon as you do, it's easy to find exceptions. Characters/no characters, first-person/third-person, text/graphic, 2D/3D, point and click/direct control... adventures come in all shapes and sizes, but they all typically consist of those three elements: story, exploration, and puzzles.

Some like to argue that adventures are a "thinking person's game", but I think that does an injustice to strategy games and other games that require tactical thinking. But it's certainly true that an adventure is about brains over brawn. They're generally leisurely paced and low stress, allowing you to wander around freely, look for clues, collecting useful items, and figure out how to advance the story. Puzzles also vary widely, from inventory combinations to complex logic challenges, but the best puzzles emerge naturally from the story.

Q: What's the game that got you into Adventure games?

Scene from Myst

A: I actually played my first adventure (Zork) way back when they were only text games. I played that game for days on end, staying up into the wee hours of the morning with a friend, determined to get through that sucker. Man, that was a lot of fun. But I didn't have a computer of my own back then, so I got away from PC adventures and contented myself playing console RPGs (which, not coincidentally, are largely about story, exploration, and puzzles... plus a whole lot of fighting in between). I came back to PC adventures in the mid '90s, just at the tail end of their heyday. I think Myst was the first game I played that time around, since everyone and their dog was playing it around that time, and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. But while intrigued by its atmosphere and dazzled by its graphics, it wasn't until I started playing some of the other greats of the genre that I got hooked. So no one game gets all the credit, but a combination of games like Gabriel Knight and Tex Murphy series, Sanitarium, Bad Mojo, and the great LucasArts comic adventures made me realize how much the genre had to offer. This list is certainly not complete; just a few off the top of my head.

Q: In the early '90s, Adventure games were extremely popular but slowly began to die down; why do you think that happened, was it oversaturation?

A: I think technology is the biggest reason. Since they don't rely on fast paced action, adventures are far more forgiving of limited technology, which made them ideal in the early years. But once computers reached the point of rendering action games adequately, they took off. Hello Doom, goodbye King's Quest. It's not just a matter of eye candy, but the ability to create an immersive, dynamic world with improved graphics, AI, etc. Once that became possible, the prospect of slow-moving, static games looked a little dull in comparison, so many who started with adventures moved on, and those just coming into gaming found the faster games more appealing. The same thing happened to strategy games. While there are still a few turn-based strategy and war games, like adventures they've now become a niche interest, while the market is flooded with popular real-time strategy games.

But developers and publishers have to take some responsibility, too. The "Myst killed the adventure genre" argument is pretty popular, and there's a bit of truth in that, too. Not that Myst itself is at all to blame. The problem is that its phenomenal success led to a flood of uninspired clones that appealed to one type of adventure fan

The Longest Journey is one of my favorite games of all time, adventure or otherwise.

and drove away many others. And without the same level of diversity, the genre really did dry up creatively. And when publishers saw the market disappearing, they took their money elsewhere instead of actually investing in a quality adventure that would bring people back. I think a game like The Longest Journey shows that lots of people will still embrace a high quality adventure, not just those that remain devoted to the genre.

Q: What has to happen so the PC adventure genre can thrive again?

A: Well, eccentric millionaires looking to finance projects would help. But since that's not likely to happen, developers need to learn to be creative again within the limitations they face. If your budget is low and you can't compete on production values, you need to deliver in other ways. The most obvious way is to simply tell better stories. People will always love good stories, so any developers skimping in that area should have their heads examined. But there's room to grow and innovate in gameplay, too, and developers need to think progressively, at least in small ways. Games like Return to Mysterious Island took a longstanding gameplay element - inventory puzzles - and gave it a neat little twist that made the game feel fresh and fun. The upcoming Keepsake has a comprehensive hint system that means no one will ever need to go running for a walkthrough. These are just small examples that won't make or break a game, but they reflect the kind of forward thinking that will serve the genre going forward. As the current generation of developers gain more experience, you can see signs that the genre is starting to rise above the general level of mediocrity it's been at for some years now.

Q: What companies are still Developing and Publishing Adventure games?

A: Uh oh. No matter who I name, I'm going to be in trouble for who I forget. There are lots of developers out there. Unfortunately, many of them are struggling to finance their own games until a publisher may or may not pick them up late in development. It's a tough business for them. Just last year several development studios had to close down, most notably Microids Canada, who developed the Syberia games and Still Life. Most of the developers are based in Europe these days, it seems. Funcom (Dreamfall, Norway), White Birds (Paradise, France), Pendulo (Runaway 2, Spain), and quite a few others around the world.

Of course I have to mention Telltale Games in a comicbookbin interview. Telltale is made up of several key former members of LucasArts, and their two biggest properties are based on Bone (by Jeff Smith) and Sam & Max (Steve Purcell). If people aren't familiar with those, I'd definitely recommend them (the comics AND the games).

In terms of publishers, DreamCatcher/The Adventure Company is far and away the largest North American publisher, though there are others that publish one or two games a year. The UK is rather tragically devoid of a reliable publisher these days. I really want to single out one non-English publisher, though, as others should be looking to them as the model of successful adventure publishing. That would be dtp/ANACONDA, based out of Germany. The genre is (relatively) thriving in Germany, and dtp certainly deserves some of the credit for that. I'd love to clone dtp and set them up in English speaking countries.

Q: There seems to be a vast difference of opinion between the mainstream and adventure gaming sources, such as yourself, about the quality of these games. For example, Still Life, a game I know is very well received among your fans, isn't really treated that well among the general gaming press; why do you think the big difference of opinion?

A: I don't think there is that big a difference between credible sources on either end. For example, there's frequently no difference between the scores given on Adventure Gamers and those from Gamespot or IGN. Where you start to get a wider divergence, you have to wonder how much bias is factoring in. Adventure sites often whine that mainstream sources don't appreciate adventures, and mainstream sites accuse enthusiast sources of being fanatically favourable. And in some cases, both are true. But perhaps not as often or to the degree that people might think. Or maybe it is, and I just don't get out enough from my own site. Heh. I do think there are still too many sources on both ends who don't make enough of an effort to be balanced and professional in their approach, however. That tends to give the gaming press a black eye all around. There's always going to be plenty of subjectivity in reviews, but there need to be solid editorial standards or reviews just become a waste.

Q: How much have the fans contributed to keeping this genre alive?

A: Quite a bit. Any niche hobby is dependent on a strong core fanbase. Obviously their most important role is buying the games, themselves, and I'm sure the publishers count on that core to buy new releases in reliable numbers. But beyond direct sales, the community itself is becoming more vocal, more visible. New online adventure sites are appearing in other countries around the world, and games are getting more coverage in places you wouldn't normally associate with adventures - places like Greece or Turkey or Estonia (to name only a few). So while you may not hear much about adventures in the latest U.S. gaming magazine, there are lots of places where you can.

The other contribution that needs to be acknowledged is in independent game development. There are some wonderful utilities for game creation out there, and there are a remarkable number of dedicated fans creating their own free games. Naturally these games come with even fewer bells and whistles than commercial games, which have few enough to begin with, but there's still plenty of entertainment out there. And it's hard to argue with free fun!

Q: Alright, let's say you're talking to someone who has never played a PC adventure game before; recommend to them the one game you think can get them hooked.

Manny from Grim Fandango

A: I can't do it in one, so I'm going to cheat with a layered answer. As a first game, I would probably suggest The Longest Journey, Sanitarium, or Syberia. All are games with strong stories, intuitive gameplay, and aren't so difficult that they would discourage newcomers. There are easier games if that's what you're after, but for a balance of qualities, I'd suggest these three as excellent starting points (and unlike a lot of older games I could recommend, these are all still readily available). If a person is more into puzzles and brain teasers and a really relaxing, sedate experience, then go for one of the Myst titles. They're still the top examples of solitary puzzle-dominated games. They're not my personal favourite, but there's no denying how many people were hooked by a Myst game as their first experience.

The goal, though, is to work up to Grim Fandango by LucasArts. It really is a stunning achievement; a masterpiece of artistic design, atmosphere, characters, story, you name it. But it's not necessarily the best game for an absolute adventure rookie. It's not an easy game, and it's got a quirky control scheme that takes a lot of getting used, and some people never get comfortable with it. I consider Grim Fandango to be the absolute one "must play" game, but if you're willing to try two, then you might want to ease yourself in with something else first.

Q: There have been a few console versions of PC Adventure games, such as Still Life, Syberia and Escape from Monkey Island; do you think these games work on the console?

A: They work reasonably well, but honestly I think games designed as point and click PC games are somewhat wasted on consoles. The whole point of using a gamepad is to create a more tactile feel for a game, like you're moving your character around in the game world. Using it to wave a cursor around on a screen just isn't nearly as interesting. This doesn't apply to Escape from Monkey Island, of course, as that was never a point and click game, so it's slightly better suited to consoles. Other games that take advantage of a console's strengths are Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon and Shadow of Destiny. There may be others, but not many, which is unfortunate. A recent game that got a lot well-deserved attention is Indigo Prophecy (or Fahrenheit in Europe). Although not a standard adventure by any means, it's close enough to mention here.

I do want to mention the Nintendo DS, though. There have been two adventures for the DS, Trace Memory (Another Code in Europe) and Phoenix Wright. The games are completely different, but both well worth checking out. They really make clever use of the DS features like the touch screen and microphone (and the dual screen, obviously). Now THAT is a system I'd love to see explored for more adventures. They're doing it in Japan. Let's hope some of those make their way into English versions.

Q: What games do we have to look forward to in 2006?

Head over to scummvm.org, download their emulation software and a game called "beneath a steel sky", it's fantastic. (and free)

A: Dreamfall and Paradise headline the list. Dreamfall is the sequel to The Longest Journey, but this time moving away from PC-only, point and click, and into full 3D with direct control, and released on all major platforms. Paradise is the next game from Benoit Sokal, the creative inspiration behind the Syberia games. Both are due out this spring. Later this year is the fourth Broken Sword game and Runaway 2. I realize these are mostly sequels, but it's easier to get excited about games we're familiar with. There are plenty of original new games planned for this year, too. But if I told you all of them, then your readers would have no need to check out Adventure Gamers, which of course everyone should do. :D

Q: Anything else you want to add before we wrap this up?

A: These open-ended questions always paralyse me. I'd just encourage people not to write off adventure games if you haven't tried them. They're a different kind of experience that aren't for everyone. But then, not everyone reads comics, either, right? So you understand us. If you're interested, check out a site like Adventure Gamers (and by "like" AG, of course I mean "specifically" AG!) and get a feel for what's out there and what suits you, and give one a try.

Q: Once again, thank you for taking time out for us.

A: It's been fun. Thanks for having me.