There's been a lot of "retro revival" booms lately, from sidescrollers to boomer shooters to 3D platformers, but what about point-and-click adventure games? Are there any decent modern showings in this genre? The last I'm even aware of are the Deponia games and various remakes/remasters. Haven't heard of anything actually new.
>>738014178There are a shitload of point and click adventures made, but they're all indie productions and most of them have the problem of "modern design" AKA near total lack of actual puzzles. Instead you mostly just talk to people and beating the game is less about thinking and more about sitting through a book's worth of pointless yammer.
>>738014178The two Kathy Rain games are pretty decent. There is a shit ton of dialogue so they suffer the same kind of issue that >>738014279 is talking about, and the protagonist can be kind of insufferable at first, but there are actually some pretty solid puzzles throughout that require you to use your brain. The Drifter is also another modern point-and-click that has mostly a puzzle and atmosphere focus over actual dialogue.
There are analogous games, they just aren't popular at all unless they do something really, really unique.Also, when you say 'point and click' that's not necessarily descriptive. A lot of the more modern games are first person physics-enabled games like those Escape Room games, or otherwise things like Obra Dinn. Those games are basically the exact same genre, but you personally might not consider them 'point and click' because they're first person.
>>738014528Obviously first person adventure games don't count when people ask for point and click adventures. Same species, different race.
wasn't the last monkey island the best-selling in the franchise despite everything
>>738014279>you mostly just talk to people and beating the game is less about thinking and more about sitting through a book's worth of pointless yammer.Uhh. That's always been point and click adventure games. You think people played Monkey Island and Grim Fandango for the puzzles? Cmon with that. They played for the funny dialogue. It was just good, well-performed dialogue.
>>738014646Uh huh. Then what's Grim Fandango? You can literally mod the controls to be point and click instead of tank controls.
>>738014178if you're specifically looking for gonzo moon logic puzzles, you won't find much. there's a million adventure games made almost every day but the puzzles are all much more conventional. Modern adventure games tend to have more of a murder mystery or similar focus half the time, and the puzzles rarely even reach the level of even the balloon puzzle in Grim Fandango.
>>738014735What kind of mouthbreathing retard are you that you think Grim Fandango is a first person game?
>>738014838Reading comprehension.
>>738014693>Uhh. That's always been point and click adventure games.Wrong.>You think people played Monkey Island and Grim Fandango for the puzzles?Yes, yes they did you retard. That IS the gameplay in this genre. That is the main appeal. The story was always window dressing, nothing more. If you don't like the gameplay just go fuck yourself in hell.
>>738014924You're the one who brought up a totally irrelevant question as a "gotcha". It doesn't matter what Grim Fandango is since we're not talking about it.
Cotton games
point and click adventure games basically got replaced by RPGs. most RPGs are basically point and click games if you think about it. like disco elysium. its a game where you talk to NPCs and have to figure out where to go next, works just like a point and click in most ways.
>>738015025You think a comparison is a 'gotcha'. I see. Calm down.>>738014942So you're saying people literally played Monkey Island exclusively for the amazing puzzles in that game and that the dialogue had no bearing. I see.Surprises me that you ever played a game where you had to read.
>>738015120A "game" where all you do is talk to people is worthless and doesn't deserve an audience.
>>738014924>"You might not consider escape room games/Obra Dinn point-and-clicks because they are first person">first person adventure games don't count>"What about Grim Fandango? You can mod it to use different controls"What exactly am I failing to comprehend? You brought up Grim Fandango in a conversation about first-person games and why they don't count. Nobody ever said Grim Fandango didn't count.>>738014942With that being said, I'm going to apologize to the guy above because you are the dumbest nigger in the thread. What do you mean the main appeal is the puzzles? The main appeal of Monkey Island or the other LucasArts games has always been the humor and goofy stuff like insult swordfighting. No one has ever praised the puzzles in Monkey Island as particularly engaging. Especially the first game, they're all braindead there.
>>738015118Disco Elysium is closer to an adventure game than an RPG, it just has stats. The problem with RPGs is that if you really mostly enjoy dialogue, puzzle solving, and exploration, those elements get bogged down by tedious combat encounters. I tried getting into Baldur's Gate 3 but didn't enjoy the combat at all even if I liked the dialogue and creative workarounds in the world.
>>738015118That's like saying fighting games were replaced by beat em ups
>>738014693>>738015120b8 or woman. Either way fuck off.
>>738014178>anon forgot when doublefine kickstarted one and it was so trash it sent the point and click industry back 20 years
>>738014178Its very barebones and youthful but I liked the Touch Detective games for DS/3DS.
>>738015420I'd say it's closer to a VN with event dice rolls.
>>738014693This is true but autistic people don't like good writing so........
>>738015420>Disco Elysium is closer to an adventure game than an RPG, it just has statsNah, Disco Elysium is a detective point and click CRPG. It emulates tabletop RPG mechanics more than modern combat turn based RPGs. You literally compare passive stats and add dice rolls for modifiers for hundreds of checks
>>738014178https://store.steampowered.com/app/274350/Dropsy/https://store.steampowered.com/app/1071130/The_Procession_to_Calvary/https://store.steampowered.com/app/1361230/Cleo__a_pirates_tale/https://store.steampowered.com/app/1532710/Lucy_Dreaming/https://store.steampowered.com/app/1468380/The_Sundew/https://store.steampowered.com/app/1182310/The_Excavation_of_Hobs_Barrow/https://store.steampowered.com/app/1098770/The_Crimson_Diamond/https://store.steampowered.com/app/1709880/Loco_Motive/https://store.steampowered.com/app/1170570/The_Drifter/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/270610/Mages_Initiation_Reign_of_the_Elements/https://store.steampowered.com/app/3751600/Dunwich_Horror/https://store.steampowered.com/app/1098770/The_Crimson_Diamond/https://store.steampowered.com/app/1706280/Space_Voyage_Episode_1_A_BIG_Soviet_Adventure/https://store.steampowered.com/app/2117400/Splittown/https://store.steampowered.com/app/4125050/Paradise_Falls/https://www.gog.com/en/game/heroines_quest_the_herald_of_ragnarokhttps://store.steampowered.com/app/4113400/Slaughterhouse/https://store.steampowered.com/app/1709730/Beyond_The_Edge_Of_Owlsgard/https://store.steampowered.com/app/1765670/Aboard_the_Adventure/https://store.steampowered.com/app/1721530/The_Captain/https://store.steampowered.com/app/1519180/President_Rocket_Game/https://store.steampowered.com/app/1841190/Casebook_1899__The_Leipzig_Murders/https://store.steampowered.com/app/3277930/Cult_Manos_Demo/https://store.steampowered.com/app/2314850/The_Legend_of_Skye/https://store.steampowered.com/app/4339630/The_Eye_of_Vala/
Back in the ps1/2 days I didn't have internet, so being stuck on a puzzle meant having to bike several kilometers to the next mediamarkt to read up the solution, but not to much since I didn't want to get spoiled.I enjoyed that experience.I soaked up every little detail in these games, because of the consequence of not paying attention.I hate that action adventure games introduced forced spoilers if you took too long looking around for over a decade.At least many games now make that shit optional.
>>738014178The Homestar Runner guys did a throwback to LucasArts games with their Dangeresque Roomisode games a year or two ago.
>>738016386Oh yeah, strong recommend for Loco Motive. Beautiful sprite work and one of the protagonists is such an immoral prick he makes Halligan from Mystery of the Druids look like an ethical paragon.
>>738014178I don't play them anymore but I've seen many lately. For some reason a lot of them get ported to mobile and even manage to thrive there. That's a curious development because for the longest time the genre was being replaced by hidden object games, room escape and walking simulators.One of upcoming games anons were actually talking about during a Next Fest was Neo Junk City.
>>738014178Kathy Rain 1 and 2The DrifterLoco-motionClam ManGibbousNear-MageDetective Waffles
Also loved the mood in Slender Threads, had its bad jokes, but there was always something off all the time.
>>738017892The design of the main character reminds me of a very obscure free adventure game I played when I was a kid. Dirty Split. The rest of the art seems to be leagues above that game tho
>>738014178Point and click games have had steady stream of releases even after Lucas Arts closed up. We lost a real one with Daedelic, genre has always been big in Germany. Whispered World had so many good scenes. Wadjet Eye has been steadily making games too, Primordia is unashamedly Planescape: Torment but I forgive it because the whole game is so good.
>>738018351This game is so boring man. I remember gettin baited because of the beautiful backgrounds but everything in the game is really static and the story was very boring
there's literally a sam and max vr game
>>738018320Are you thinking about the detective or Buzz? Just asking because I love saying the detective's name is Don R. Ketype.
>>738014178>but what about point-and-click adventure games?Those already had their boom when The Walking Dead got popular. You got the Sam and Max games, Batman, Back to the Future, Strongbad, Broken Age, Life is Tumblr, and so on.
>>738017892Seconding the Kathy Rain games, really good duology. People probably don't talk about them here because the protagonist is a blue-haired biker chick, but they're some of the best mystery adventure games I've played.
More of a puzzle game I guess but the Case of the Golden Idol is a modern classic.
>>738016550The original was a promotional piece for SBCG4AP, they just made new episodes to justify the effort of porting it off of flash.
>>738018439Which one? Whispered World? Hah! Sucker! You see, thats how they get you. Make some really nice renders, puts them on the box or store page, then you buy and downloaded it and it has the worst voice acting imaginable, obtuse puzzles and almost no hints. And I wouldnt have it any other way.
>>738018481Sam and Max VR is like an hour long tech demo, it barely counts as a game let alone an adventure game.
Zap & Andy: Go To Hell
>>738018678Yeah, loved those games. First the scenes are detailed and moody and then the plot starts rolling. I still remember the Hell parts and when your hacker roommate gets kidnapped.
>>738018678Is a virgin run possible in that game?
I feel it borders on a VN at times, but there's plenty of clicking so Im gonna post NORCO. Fucking loved every minute, man.
>>738014942>If you don't like the gameplay just go fuck yourself in hell.Grim Fandango sucks ass gameplay-wise, some of the puzzles are insanely convoluted and make no sense, same with S&M HtR and probably Monkey IslandIt never was about the gameplay, for the gameplay you are basically forced to use guides and manuals because the game is impossible to beat otherwise. It's about the funny dialogue and setting, and sometimes bonus games like all the Stuckey's minigames in HtR
>>738016509I beat Grim Fandango with a friend without anything spoiled. Good times.
>>738014178Because point and click games were only ever a product of their time and technological limitations, they barely had any gameplay, the point of them other than the educational ones was the story, and as such they were replaced by movie games.
>>738014178Chicken Police Paint the Town RedChicken Police Into the HiveThis one just came out too.https://store.steampowered.com/app/2230450/Moses__Plato__Last_Train_to_Clawville
Add in Detective Grimoire and the follow-up, Tangle Tower. Mermaid's Mask any day now.
>>738014178Adventure games were basically just leveraging the fact that they didn't need as much bullshit going on on-screen with constant motion like Mario or Mega Man or whatever, to have more detail or in-depth storytelling.It's why a lot of early gaming publications classified Zelda games even as late as Ocarina of Time as RPGs. It wasn't an arcade-y action fest where Link just slaughtered his way past hordes of monsters. But it wasn't just a point and click adventure game where he used items on random bullshit. We literally didn't have the vocabulary for what we would term "action adventure" games, just like how it took a while for the first person shooter to be named.Once technology caught up and any genre could do what they did, e.g. the aforementioned Ocarina of Time or Resident Evil, the "presentation" leverage that point and click adventure games had didn't exist anymore.Hence now they basically exist as either deliberate throwback homages or a less obtuse, more streamlined form in the Telltale/Life is Strange-esque format.
>>738018754I know but those extra episodes were worth the price imo
>>738019427Oh shit, Moses and Plato. Demo left me wanting more. Need me some not-Post WW1 Europe murder mystery with talking animals.
>>738019332>they barely had any gameplayyou are an insolent caveman. puzzles are gameplay. analyzing a complex puzzle and coming up with a solution is the point.
>>738019135>>738019332Filtered.
>>738014178i remember playing this on a pc back in the day that didn't have a sound card that would have supported the audio, made the game feel pretty flat
>>738018481S&M VR is a tech demo only made because Purcell knows his franchise is on death's door and wants to squeeze out the few remaining dollars from it, the last real S&M games were the Telltale ones, Skunkape is just remaking them but they've got an even tinier fanbase and people are angry with how woke and censored the remakes areIt's very telling that the Poker Night remake only holds relevance because of the unlockable TF2 items, S&M are extremely niche and Homestar Runner and Penny Arcade are so old that nobody cares about them anymore
people dont like point and click games because they usually require having outside knowledge, rather than being able to solve the puzzles using the game's internal logic. that's why the puzzles in point and click games often feel like BS
>>738018678>>738018991Just finished this a few days ago. >all of the game is just doing the logical thing and finding rational solutions to problems>suddenly hit with esoteric bullshit straight out of lategame Blue Prince>back to smooth sailing after thatThat thing was so out of place compared to the rest of the game.
>>738019779>analyzing a complex puzzle and coming up with a solution is the pointPuzzles are based around specific criteria being set up and the solver has to come up with a way to fullfil such criteria under specific, reasonable methods. A puzzle game that fails to set up criteria or be reasonable is a failed puzzle gamePortal is a good puzzle game because it sets up chambers in a way where you know where to go via signs or seeing the door, the player has been taught various methods of acquiring goals and uses them in progressively more complex ways in order to finish the puzzle.Grim Fandango is a failed puzzle game because it doesn't set up criteria most of the time. Take for instance the part at the docks where you have to board a ship. You have no hints or guidance on what to do, you're thrown into a MASSIVE level with like seven different areas to explore and are expected to find the beginning of the puzzle, the way to solve that and the later continuations. There isn't even a hint system Hit the Road is a failed puzzle game because the methods to solve the puzzles are inconsistent and illogical. The very first screen in the game punishes you with Max berating you for having Sam try to pick up a random object, yet you're expected to for some reason know that by interacting with the mouse hole that looks like a background detail, you'll get cash which is necessary for the rest of the game. Or later on you're expected to find a wrench, bring it to a random NPC you meet who can bend things, then use it on a random fish prop in an area so the duo can hide in it. There are no hints or anything, in fact most "puzzles" in the game is illogical and requires manuals to understand.Don't get me wrong, it's still better than shit like King's Quest or Space Quest which have bullshit fail conditions that can trigger way after not getting an item with zero explanation, those are just utter bullshit in every way
>>738019573>Once technology caught up and any genre could do what they didThis is a misunderstanding of how genre mixing works. You can never do everything the prior genres could, but only a shittier, simplified version of both. Otherwise, the adventuring will break the action or vice versa.>the "presentation" leverage that point and click adventure games had didn't exist anymore.This is true, but only for casuals. Same deal with arcade games at the time, when compared to home consoles. Casuals never played metal slug for the gameplay, only for the graphics, which is why they never got past the third stage in any of them without credit feeding.But why would this be relevant for anyone in the videogames board, is beyond me.
>>738014178OP is retarded and does not play the genre at all.He can't even be bothered to click on the tag on his bloated drm botnet launcher store of choice.
>>738020371Are you talking about the Crypt puzzle? That one does suck especially considering the rest of the game is just normal. There's like a thousand ways someone could interpret those clues.Unless you're talking about some of the stuff in the nightmare world which is basically just a skill issue.
>>738016480>>738016386Appreciate the giant list anon. If you could recommend me just one though, which would you pick
>>738014178Pay attention to the one Neil Cicierega is working on. It won’t be out for a while, but everything he makes is good.
>>738020674What the hell? What's it called, Brodyquest?
>>738020620I meant the code for the wall safe, I think that's the same thing.
>>738020598The steam tag is filled with anything but point and click games
>>738015420You play Baldur’s gate to smooch Astarion and that’s basically it.
>>738014178modern gamers are too stupid and impatient for retro point and click games
>>738020725Just scroll a bit man.https://store.steampowered.com/app/3454610/Poco/Here have a free one that is nice and without dialogue.
>>738020721I don’t think it has a public name yet. He showed a screencap of it off during his presentation at the XOXO Festival in 2016, which you can see here:>https://youtu.be/TB7fqT1uAII?t=1096&si=YI1P0nfM5Jzl9hOTIt’ll be most analogous to the LucasArts SCUMM games. He’s focusing the most on his video game podcast these days, so it’ll probably take a while.
>my fucking face when steam shows me that leaves 3 is releasing>made me realize that there was a Leaves 2https://store.steampowered.com/app/4460170/LEAVES_3/Only played the first so far but it's a very 00s flash gamey/myth feeling point/click. Would compare it most closely to Samorost.Just be aware that you have to limit the fps in your gpu config because that game is so old that it will run as many frames as your PC can physically manage.
How does 4chan feel about the extremely arcane point-and-clicks that were completely unknown last decade, like Eastern Mind and Drowned God?
>>738020645Loco Motive is the closest to a LucasArt comedy like Monkey Island
>>738020724Yeah that one is bullshit. If you haven't played the second game yet, I would recommend it - it doesn't really have a moment like that if I recall.
>>738014178The problem with the Adventure genre is that it can't exist anymore in the same manner it did, where it was more about the wackiness, hidden interactions and character design. Now it has to be all DavidCageSlop and TelltaleSlop moviegame bullshit.It's a 2000s game but Time, Gentlemen, Please and Ben There Dan That are funny and retro-style. Play those.
>>738021168Drowned God would be worth experiencing even without what happened to the creator, the atmosphere and presentation are excellent. It's the biggest shame that the source code is lost so QOL features like subtitles can't be added
>Kathy RainSooo was any of that real or were you just tripping on the fumes?
>>738021707>redditspacer has no idea what she is talking aboutEl Classico
I can play them with my eyes closed but I should do another run of the dig and curse of monkey island
>>738021784This is like asking of Fran Bow half way into her game actually went on to a fantastical journey in a magical land full of fairy tale creatures and talking animals or if she just OD'd or probably died on the fucked up drugs they gave her in the institution.
>>738019573my brain isn't working right now and i think i'm too young to catch what you're referencing to in a lot of your talking points but erm why are you playing the de-make and not the original Resident Evil? I for one find the remastered graphics way too convoluted and overdone.
>>738021168>>738021716i remember some point and click "horror" free flash games that had really intense atmosphere that i really liked. They were around during the mid 2000's golden era of flash games. I wish i could remember some of their names.
Upcominghttps://store.steampowered.com/app/1206070/Phonopolis/https://store.steampowered.com/app/3858650/Crushed_In_Time/https://store.steampowered.com/app/3905500/Beware_of_the_Cartographer/https://store.steampowered.com/app/3076910/UNDERGROUNDED/https://store.steampowered.com/app/3873720/Unboxing_Mr_Coo/https://store.steampowered.com/app/3784300/Mysteries_of_Old_Tokyo/https://store.steampowered.com/app/2771220/The_Tragedy_at_Deer_Creek/https://store.steampowered.com/app/3677050/HABROMANIA/https://store.steampowered.com/app/3265960/Adventures_of_a_Cat_in_Space/https://store.steampowered.com/app/1814690/Zid_Journey/https://store.steampowered.com/app/3071440/A_Week_in_the_Life_of_Asocial_Giraffe/https://store.steampowered.com/app/1185380/The_Season_of_the_Warlock/https://store.steampowered.com/app/2684630/Endacopia/https://store.steampowered.com/app/1368040/The_Tideshell_Keeper/https://store.steampowered.com/app/2257440/Tom_the_postgirl/https://store.steampowered.com/app/3057340/As_The_Leaves_Fall/https://store.steampowered.com/app/3003310/AngelGaze/https://store.steampowered.com/app/2079920/NAME_OF_THE_WILLhttps://store.steampowered.com/app/4111040/Gregoire_Lefebvre_Investigations__The_Vow_of_Hatehttps://store.steampowered.com/app/2431920/Heir_of_the_Doghttps://store.steampowered.com/app/3594530/Ghost_Haunting/https://store.steampowered.com/app/4274830/Dreamera_Figment_of_Dreams/
>>738014178https://store.steampowered.com/app/503400/Four_Last_Things/https://store.steampowered.com/app/1071130/The_Procession_to_Calvary/https://store.steampowered.com/app/1739900/Death_of_the_Reprobate/These are really funny and use old classic paintings for all the backgrounds and characters. They will get a DLC that packs them all into 1 game for consoles soon and adds 4 unused scenes.
>>738022798https://store.steampowered.com/app/4102890/The_Many_Sins_of_House_Ocampo/Adding this. New game by the devs of the free and fantastic On A Winter's Night.
>>738020645Well, my list included released and non-released games but if I have to pick just one, that is currently released, it'd be Heroine's Quest. Which is even free so there's literally no reason not to be playing it. Unless you suck at games. Then don't even bother.
>>738021784Pretty sure it's mostly intentionally ambiguous whether she and the rest of the cast were tripping on Red Scythe or whether the supernatural shit was real but the photo of the three lights existing in a physical sense implies everything was to some extent.
>>738014178You some kinda dummy?
bump
>>738016480Mage’s Initiation has much more in common with Quest for Glory, just like Heroine’s Quest, a free game that’s actually better than most entries in that series.Unfortunately, we’ll never see a continuation of Mage’s Initiation. I really liked it, played through it with all four elements.
>>738021707some people close their eyes because they refuse to see
>>738020775Also they all go straight to the walkthrough, which would make all point-and-clicks utterly pointless. At that stage you're better off watching someone else play it, and then it's just a pixel art animation.
>>738019573We had the term action adventure since the mid 90's for the Tomb Raider games. No one ever called a Zelda game an RPG.Source my hyper autism.
>>738022843I still remember how I accidentally played through the last one without knowing it was the third game in a series. I can only recommend it, it’s really funny. I should play the other two titles one of these days.
two recent point-and-clicks:https://store.steampowered.com/app/4150180/Erma_The_Game/https://store.steampowered.com/app/2117400/Splittown/point-and-clicks don't require much to develop so i can't see them ever dying
>>738014178>>738019332>>738019573I don't know if I'm delusional, but I'm completely convinced that adventures are one good game away from genre revolution, except that game never came or wasn't noticed.I think the genre has a fundamental appeal that is still not met by its contemptroraries and "substitutes". I also think that appeal isn't in the puzzles at all, they're just a vehicle. I'm not sure what the appeal is, it's hard to explain, I feel it's there, but I can't quite name it.The catch is that you can't make guidelines for how to create a good adventure-style puzzle, it's a personal effort thing, so it isn't generalisable to an entire genre. But puzzles in the current form of the genre are necessary because they serve as a "pay your attention" test and also as a vehicle for progression. If you take them out, you need to substitute them with something, and not everything will do.I still think that perhaps one day the game that will redefine the genre will come. I think it's possible. I don't think it's just an artifact genre of simpler technology.But yet this game continues to not exist, and it's making me feel delusional. I'm almost tempted to enter gamedev to create it myself, but I don't believe I can actually do it.
>>738014178>but what about point-and-click adventure games?all of the good ones relied on creative writing, charming characters, witty jokes and fun worlds all these things people cannot make up anymore
>>738029265In my opinion, The Drifter is very close to being that game.
>>738014178>Indie game uses a limited color palette to simulate colors that only NES can display>Ignores the NES's hardware limitations for literally everything else
This one is pretty neat:https://store.steampowered.com/app/611760/Dont_Escape_4_Days_to_Survive/
>>738014178Just install exoscumm they got newer point and clicks included with the classics.I recommend Gemini Rue and the Blackwell games which are included.
