Adventure!

Many games take a pullback from story and it's characters...it's not their fault...gameplay is an important aspect. After all, don't have that and you don't...well...have a game. And for the most part, that takes center stage.

There was a genre that had been somewhat lingering a few years ago...and was sidelined more thanks to attempts to port classics to handheld system...but it's started to come back through indie developers, kickstarters, and remastering.

I'm talking, the true Adventure games. No no, not "Action Adventure", we're talking actual adventure.
For these experiences (and for what it's worth, they are some of the great ones), gameplay takes a common, but comfortable seat. It isn't about running and gunning, it isn't about grinding levels, it isn't about platforming to smash your head against a brick and getting a gold penny. No, it's the world around you, the characters you encounter, and the story that draws you in.

Limiting concepts to these main things, adventure games can give you quite an experience. Some of the worlds are just so amazing, you just want to explore more of it. Characters can be enticing, from being villainous scoundrels, to protagonists with a dash of wit that make you chuckle whenever they snap off a line.

Honestly, I haven't played TOO many adventure games, but I've played some very good ones and hope to in the future. Today (er...yesterday) marked the day of the release of the third in a very interesting adventure game series, and I figured to give adventure games in general some love. Here are some I've experienced, and maybe they'll get some appreciation...

Grim Fandango: Coming from adventure game masters at the now-deceased LucasArts, Grim Fandango is one of the best adventure games ever made. The studio's first 3-D animated, render-backgrounded monument of greatness has an amazing cast, fantastic setting, and enough bundle of humor to entertain you for hours. Set with the backdrop of Aztec mythology's "Land of the Dead", it takes a spin on the lives of departed souls after mortality. Each soul has their deeds in life judged by a Grim Reaper travel agency, which offer travel packages to get them to the Ninth Underworld. You take on the role of Manny Calavera, a down-on-his-luck Grim Reaper who, through a twist of fate of his own making, uncovers a conspiracy that leads him on a 4-year journey through this fantastical world, encountering everything from literal speed demons, to skeleton poetry slams, to gigantic-cat race gambling, to...well...you'll just have to see for yourself. With clever humor throughout, you'll enjoy this experience for the epic it is, and come off with a good set of laughs to boot.
While you can get Grim Fandango on PC, it's also been remastered for the PS4, thanks to the efforts of Tim Schafer's Double Fine (which also created the awesome Psyconauts (and it's soon to be sequel!), as well as remasters of other LucasArts greats, such as Day of the Tentacle and Full Throttle).

Syberia: When lawyer Kate Walker is sent to finalize the take-over of a french toy factory, she realizes she must contact the brother of it's deceased owner up on her arrival. While the premise seems straight forward (find the guy, get the deal sealed), Kate's search for this brother, Hans Voralberg, sends her on a quest full of steampunkish elements. From using Han's clockwerk locomotive (piloted by the animatronic man Oscar), Kate uncover's Hans' past and follows his path, all the while questioning her own life. Through encounters of learning of the legend of Syberia, escape the clutches of a singer-obsessed eccentric, to helping one man's dream to fly, Kate's journey eventually succeeds...but does she want to go back to her normal life? Or does this experience leave her wanting more? Well...why do you think there's a Syberia 2 heheh?
Funny enough, I learned Syberia 3 is actually coming around in April, and I'm glad. Coming off Syberia 2, I wondered what Kate's next journey would be...and seeing the trailer...oooh....it looks even more exciting and dangerous! Go Kate go! Be the next Lara!
But uhh...whatever you do...don't...don't play the DS version. It's....it's insulting...

Dreamfall - The Longest Journey: Sequel to "The Longest Journey", Dreamfall places you in the shoes of Z....in the shoes of....huh....ya know, Rigel...want to take this one? The cue cards are right here....
Uhh...yeah, sure buddy, no problem. Ahhhhheeemmm!
So yeah, in Dreamfall, you play as....Zoe Castillo...currently...comatose. Oh wow, that's not a good start. Wonder what happened. Well, the backdrop of the Longest Journey goes on to say that Earth is of two parallel worlds, one techy one in Stark, and one with magic, Arcadia. There are special people who can go between these worlds, know as "Shifters". And there's this sort of "balance" thing that's going on that handled by the Guardians. Eh, heavy stuff.
Anyway, in Dreamfall, something called the "Collapse" happens, where a lot of Stark's high tech stuff went haywire and supernatural stuff started going on, while in Arcadia, an industrial empire started conquering and spreading propaganda. Hm...sounds worlds are mixing together eh?
But back to this one. Zoe's involvement of things starts small. She starts seeing and hearing this creepy little girl on screens who's telling her to "Find April", a reference to first game players as "April Ryan", the first game's protagonist. She gets further intrigued when her boyfriend, investigating a company that's creating destructive "dream consoles", goes missing. Zoe's curiosity draws her deeper in to a bigger plot with what is going on between the two worlds and what he place in it is.
The ending of Dreamfall is a big shocker for all those involved, and it took awhile, but FINALLY a sequel of sorts came up, albiet episodic. But NOW, it's all being released together, thanks to Kickstarter funding!

Ah, yeah, thanks Rigel. Ahem. But yeah, brief mentions of some of my experiences. As said, Dreamfall Chapters released yesterday...though strangely enough gamestop doesn't have it showing up...weird...know it's in their books...well hopefully it'll get attention...

But on the topic of adventure games...I have to wonder...with all the experiences I go through...wonder what an adventure game of those experiences would be like...hmmmmm...

Could I playable or...?

You'll be an NPC.

Oh come on buddy! Give me some credit....

Fine...but if that's true, better make Aeryn one...

Her inventory will be filled with guns, you know that?

Better than out and shooting us...

Good point...