Ben Jordan Case 5

[Grundislav]

So several people may or may not have fallen for my reverse April Fool's gag.Ã,  In any case, Ben Jordan 5 is done.

In the event that anyone needs a hint, please go to the Official Hint Thread

Also, please refrain from posting in this thread with one-word posts or stuff like "awesome! I'm downloading it right now!"Ã,  Some form of feedback would be appreciated if you are gonna respond.Ã, 

Otherwise, enjoy!

http://www.grundislavgames.com/games/bj5.zip

Screenshot:


After the events in London, Ben Jordan returns home for a much needed rest. One day, he receives a conference call from his friends Simon Booth and Alice Wilkins. Simon has heard of a series of murders in Osaka, Japan, and thinks there is some sort of paranormal activity involved. Ben, Simon, and Alice travel to Japan, but soon find there is much more to the story than they first thought...

[marlamoe]

I am in heaven.  It was SO hard not to break the rules and ask about this game.  Hope everything is fine for you after that nasty hurricane.  Thanks for the game.  Can't wait to start!!

[Rosie]

YEAH
The best games are Ben Jordan games

[Afflict]

OMG OMG OMG OMG
Ã,  :oÃ,  Ã, Ã,  :oÃ,  Ã,  Ã, :oÃ,  Ã,  Ã, :o

The time has come... I cannot believe it!!!

Download, burn to cd and hide in vault underneath shoes in closet...

[dasjoe]

don't play it, we unanimously decided it sucks

[Afflict]

Hajo get some sleep and then reply again

Man 58% into download...

AAAARGH

Edit:// This game is just the quality we came to expect from grundislav in fact way better this time.

BTW grundislav post some screenies and give the  others a break down on what the games about.

Great game love the backgrounds they came out neat as well as the levators some confusing stuff and some really interesting puzzles. (not posting go find the hints forum )

I am now on 48 points or something halfway through the game almost (point wise) The game seems to be taking an interesting turn... Well I am stuck now so will figure it out and get back to you when I have completed it.

PS : It was worth the wait guys.

[Grundislav]

Also, please refrain from posting in this thread with one-word posts or stuff like "awesome! I'm downloading it right now!"Ã,  Some form of feedback would be appreciated if you are gonna respond.

[Dr. Scary]

Downloaded and played through it yesterday. Kept me up several hours. Best BJ I've had in years.

[Hammerite]

YAY ALL OF THE MAKING MASSIVE THREADS IS OVER NOW
WILL DOWNLOAD IMMEDIATELY!

[Grundislav]

Why do I even bother?

Okay, maybe some reverse psychology.

HEY EVERYBODY ARE YOU DOWNLOADING IT??! AWESOME TELL ME WHAT PERCENTAGE ITS AT!!!

[marlamoe]

I recant

Why do I even bother?

Okay, maybe some reverse psychology.

HEY EVERYBODY ARE YOU DOWNLOADING IT??! AWESOME TELL ME WHAT PERCENTAGE ITS AT!!!

Geesh what do you want?Ã,  Ã, Some of us (not all), followed the rules of not bringing up old threads.Ã,  I personally waited patiently...didn't even play the demo.Ã,  I just wanted to let you know how happy I was that you were safe and that the game was uploaded.Ã,  I cared about you more than the game, (sent you a message but you did not respond months ago)Ã,  but was thrilled to see it finished.Ã,  I will be sure not to say a word next time.Ã, 

Here you go:Ã,  download 100%..only took about a minute for me.Ã,  Game play...am still on first day.Ã,  Graphics...awesome.Ã,  Ã, GUI...simple.Ã,  Your game is great.Ã,  Last you will hear of me here.

[Scorpio_Phoenix]

OMG!! ITS HERE!  i love ben jordan.....BEST GAMES EVER!!

I love it already  great plot. Very mysterious. I can tell i'll be at this game for a while lol im already stuck lol.

[UP]

Also, please refrain from posting in this thread with one-word posts or stuff like "awesome! I'm downloading it right now!"Ã,  Some form of feedback would be appreciated if you are gonna respond.

Actually, I have to admit I'm doing the same thing for a while too, but once I get around to playing it, I'll edit my comments here. I swear!

Anyways, umm... Awesome! Downloading right now! Actually, I already did that, so that's not true... anyways, as before, been a fan since you released the first. Though you seem to always release them around the time I have to study a lot...Ã, 

I guess you could've had one episode in between, and then brought Simon and Alice back, but I guess there's not much difference in it I guess (or something)

(Edit): Ah, now I played it for a bit. Seems like another great Ben Jordan! There are some things about the graphics, perspective quirks and such, and the rooms are quite large, yet empty (though the emptiness is actually a pretty good thing, so you won't have too many things to check). Nothing too huge though. The story seems quite interesting, though it's a bit odd that they just decide to go there without being called or anything. How can they know they can get any information? Didn't really play much, but as I said, looks excellent!

I also hope that he'll wear the legendary clothes at some point. At least in a following game. On the other hand, it would be cool if he in the last game he wears them in a Batman-like way, if you know what I mean The clothes were just über-cool!

[DoorKnobHandle]

I played it through yesterday. It was great, I absolutely loved the atmosphere! I really can't see if it was better than Case 4, but it was definitely a great follow-up. First I kinda fell for your April Fools joke, but then I realized how finished the version was that your created user posted...

Some constructive criticism: First of all it may be a good idea to increase Ben's walking speed or make it user-customizable, because he walked a bit too slow for my taste. Your cutscenes (that are skippable with ESC) are placed strangely - it's great that you can skip the elevator scenes with ESC but there were still a lot of times, where I had to wait way too long for my taste (for example you can't skip the intro for the TV-show and I had to watch it over and over, because I wanted to win it). Then I managed to get that

Spoiler

poisoned fish from the sushi bar twice

[close]

somehow and I analyzed it twice and got the same dialog resuluts, which was kinda strange. One more thing about dialog lines: After

Spoiler

Shinobi is found dead

[close]

Ben still wouldn't want to search through the cabinets etc., because "it would be kinda rude to go through his stuff while he's right there watching you"...

But I don't want to sound overly harsh, it was an absolutly great game once again! Very worthy to wait for (I already can't wait for Case 6). I loved the TV-show and all your other creative ideas. Nice work!

EDIT: Another bug, on the day after I could see the

Spoiler

poison fishes in the acquarium

[close]

in the backroom of the sushi bar, there were some kind of splash sprite instead of the fishes at the acquarium. I couldn't really make out what it should be and the description text still called it "fish", on looking at it, Ben said "those are those poisonous fish" or something.

EDIT 2: Added [ hide ] - spoiler tags on request...

[Mats Berglinn]

It's very great game. In my oppinon it is the greatest of all games. Just one little thing though:

Spoiler

When you take the wire, Ben doesn't go to the computer to get it.

[close]

[bush_monkey]

dkh, if you're gonna talk about the storyline, please use spoiler tags!

[DoorKnobHandle]

Ok, I'll edit my post. I didn't use spoilers because I didn't think I'd give too much away.

[Hammerite]

Great game. I'll try not to harass you to much about the next one.

Spoiler

Was this the first one where the paranormal was proven false?

[close]

edit:: sorry!

[xenogia]

Hammerite spoiler, you just ruined the game for me

[Gord10]

I have just completed the game. Congrats, Grundislav! It is a very good job, I think Case 5 is the best game in the Ben Jordan series.

[nihilyst]

Great game! I really appreciated it!

[Mortadelo]

I liked this game, in fact I think it's the best in the BJ saga.

I really liked:

Spoiler

1. It was nice to see how it began with some kind of paranormal investigation and then it all changed, giving us a logical explanation.

2. How Ben faces his past, his relationships, etc.

3. I really liked the sprites. Nice work.

4. That odd character from the japanese tv show. Pretty funny.

[close]

I didn't like or at least I think it could have been improved:

Spoiler

1. I know it's hard to make a game, but I think it needs to be longer, with more challenging puzzles and more research during the investigation.

2. The backgrounds are nice, but not as the spritesÃ, 

3. It's hard to believe that the japanese police let a young "paranormal investigator" mess with their investigation. It's just a game, ok, but we could be given a rational explanation.

[close]

Otherwise, a pretty good game. Good work!

[MissyChelle]

Downloading right now!!! 

[EKM]

Oh wow! I'm really excited now =)

I've been waiting for this game for a long time.

[passer-by]

Spoiler

3. It's hard to believe that the japanese police let a young "paranormal investigator" mess with their investigation. It's just a game, ok, but we could be given a rational explanation.

[close]

Spoiler

They didn't exactly "let" him do so...Ã, 

[close]

[MillsJROSS]

My review of day one.

There's not much to say. So far the story is interesting enough. The graphics are the same, and since it's better than I can do, they're brilliant. The music works well.

My only complaint is ackward exit areas. Sometimes it's hard to see where the exit really is. It wouldn't be such a problem, but Ben Jordan is slow enough that if you guess wrong it just kind of slows the pace of the game. The dialog is the same, some of it is good, some of it is a little strange. I don't personally like the dialog option with an exclamation point, but that's my personaly preference.

and one confusing thing for me

Spoiler

The names of the victims...it was kind of annoying that BJ didn't naturally just write them down in the notebook, only because he does this naturally when he finds something to do. It also took me a while to realise, that in the inventory I had a list of the names, apart from the notebook, when I kept trying to show the notebook to Ben's friend. Also, not a huge problem, but Ben's friend only took like five seconds to research the names.

[close]

But most of these are small complaints, and I haven't finished the game, yet. I'm enjoying what I've played so far.

-MillsJROSS

[Grundislav]

Marlamoe: I'm sorry I didn't mean for you to get upset, I know lots of people are excited and stuff but it's just kind of annoying when the thread gets cluttered up with a bunch of posts that just say "OH BOY I'M DOWNLOADING IT!!"Ã,  Several people who did it have gone back and edited them later to include their comments, so that was fine.Ã,  I didn't mean for you to stop posting.

The bug where you can get the fugu more than once has been fixed, just re-download the game if you got the April Fool's Day version.

Everyone else: Thanks for the comments! 

[KristjanMan]

I like it 8)

Veery nice game I simply love all the BJ's right now I'm stuck there where i have to find the link between the deaths and murders. I think the story is quite good so far and i got nothing bad to say. Well nothing else to say good game (so far)

[LimpingFish]

I hate the Ben Jordan games! They suck! 

STOP MAKING THEM!

[Scorpio_Phoenix]

Hey LimpingFish why dont you get lost! If you dont like the games that dont mean u have to come here and talk like an idiot just to get attention. Ben jordan rules! and everyone else thinks so so just go get a life.......u sad person!!

[Hammerite]

am i right in saying, that the next one will be where the main storyline will start to become more apparent? also am i right in saying that it wont take as long to make (since a lot of last time was spent on newer character sprites i think), anyway, good luck whatever your decision is.

[jimrh]

WOO HOO!!!!!
Now that case 5 is done I'm going to ask the HARD question Gudinslav.
have you started case 6 yet or are you gonna take a well deserved rest??

[Grundislav]

NO COMMENT! 

[jimrh]

AAAHHHHHHHHHH MAAAAAAAAAAAAN

[jonqueztor]

I finished the game, and I love it, along with all the other BJ games. They all remind me of my younger days where I watched Scooby Doo every day.

Spoiler

I really like the new face you put on Ben, looks a lot more realistic.

The game show host looked hilarious. He almost looked like one of those goofy looking guys you see on the get-rich-quick-scam infomercials you see on late-night TV.

And I absolutely loved listening to the beginning of "My Woman From Tokyo" during the intro. Classic!!!

[close]

[nihilyst]

Grundislav:

Spoiler

I first had a very bad feeling about the gameshow moderator. In my eyes, his appearance had a very mystery kind of touch, and I thought, that it was a trap, in which he wanted to lure Ben. Was that intended? But I loved the gameshow, although I didn't beat it the first time. ^^

[close]

[magintz]

Very good game, not the best Ben Jordan in my opinion as I found the puzzles to be a tad easy. Graphics have had a nice improvement and the music and sound effects were real nice.

I still think case 4 is the best.

Nice work, and as always am looking forward to the next one (hopefully we might get to see some of it appear at Mittens this Summer)

[LimpingFish]

Hey LimpingFish why dont you get lost! If you dont like the games that dont mean you have to come here and talk like an idiot just to get attention. Ben jordan rules! and everyone else thinks so so just go get a life.......u sad person!!

I see my humor reserves have diminished so much as to be non-detectable.

[CosmoQueen]

Wow this is weird I can't believe I didn't see this thread yesterday!!! I downloaded BJ 5 last night and was just about to come on here to see if anyone else has seen it LOL.

I'm addicted to Ben Jordan and really loving this one! I can't wait to finish it

[Artphreak]

I love the Ben Jordan games, and this one is a great addition. I just finished it, and i even

Spoiler

looked up all the answers to the gameshow questions

[close]

. I was glad to see this finished after the rough year you've had, so great job!
My only critique is that

Spoiler

it reminded me of the CSI Miami game where tetrodotoxin was involved, but considering the location and plot were different I guess it was just the toxin itself plus the ben jordon experience was more than enough to outweigh this.

[close]

[Fisher]

Great job, Grundislav! I've played ALL of the Ben Jordan games and I must say that they rank right up there as some of my favorites!

Thank you for this one and I HOPE to see more.

Very much appreciate your hard work!

[InCreator]

Hm. Finished and liked. Quite.

It's definetly one with highest quality in BJ series, but also quite easy one - I never needed any hints and there was only 3-4 hard points in game.

Two things bothered me quite hard:

The overall mega-depressive mood in the game ruined it... I can't understand was it your own depression, Grundislav, or intended one.

The puzzles, scenes, and other doings feel way TOO much like original Gabriel Knight game (newspaper reading, police officer, nightmares, costume puzzle, map...)

Otherwise, a nice solid game, and like others, one of higher-quality games among AGS games.

I could repeat the same suggestion list you've already heard, like "Visit CL once in a while", "add pointer pixel to inventory items", "use less blur", etc, but you ignored this when I said so after previous games, so what's the point... Anyway, Alice looked quite awful (fat and well, extremely unsexy), and BJ's new outfit (pointless pants) sucked too... but other characters were quite fine, and closeups & animations are better than before.

The music was very good, but a bit too depressive aswell. The type of music in sushi restaurant was something that I'd use in many other places too, where theme wasn't too serious for this. I found myself wandering in restaurant just to hear music and pump up the mood...

What can I say? More! But take a break first.

[Rosie]

I found a bug in the game.  I was stuck and couldnt go any further in the game because I couldnt get into the inspectors room......Here's what I unknowingly did:

Went into Shinoli's room and got a fingerprint from the sword in his back......took it to the lab..... He told me I should try to get another fingerprint to match it to.   I went back to Shinoli's office and took another fingerprint from the same sword and then took it to lab again.  The lab man said it was a match and gave me the letter to confirm it. (I replayed the game because I was stuck and found that I had to get the fingerprint from the sword in the asuka house.  But great game.........Thank you

[MillsJROSS]

Well, I'm finished now.

It wasn't really up to my expectations. I was annoyed by a few pixelish hunting things.

Spoiler

Like the fish on top of the trash. It took me forever to find it, figuring that trash can implied everything within the can. And I couldn't understand why one door was locked, and the door opener couldn't open it, but it could cover the huge vent. The police completely allowing you the ability to come in and out as you pleased seemed inplausable, even in the context of a BJ game. There were many times where I was left wandering the game with no idea what to do, even thought the notebook gives you some idea of what to look for.

I found other people refering to the women as Ben's girlfriend to be annoying (other than Ben's friend), and his denial annoying as well. There were many characters that you used that were never touched again, and Ben still would come up to them and do the hello, may I talk to you, Goodbye, bit. I was also angered by the fact that you could go to the dead guys building but couldn't do anything, so it was just a waste of time. But I still had to keep checking because I never knew if you were going to do something over there.

You're friends ability to hack into things with ease annoyed me, not that he could do it, but it took five seconds. When an easy "moments later" screen or something would have worked better, for me. The exits on all screens were difficult to detect. There was one place in the village, with the bushes, where there looked like a trail heading east, but Ben couldn't go that way. And even when they were detected, it was difficult manuevering Ben over there sometimes. There was a collection of odd dialog. For some reason once you talk to the women who's grieving her husbands death, you're able to talk to her about serious issues without even explaining who you are.

[close]

I like the graphics, they work well with each other and nothing sticks out. The music is always top notch. The story was a little on the weak side, but interesting enough to keep me going. But I just didn't enjoy the game that much. Which is a shame, becuase I've enjoyed the other four.

-MillsJROSS

[duu]

Finished it. Now some bugs & comments:

Spoiler

- I seemed to have an uncommon problem: I played the game through but never visited the sushi bar. Is this intentionaly?

- It would be great if you could change the speed of speech & walk.

- Had the same problem than inCreator. After shinobi was dead I taked the fingerprint, used it in lab, taked another one from the same sword and they matched. When I told about Inspector from this, BJ sit in an invisible chair!

- You had to combine the basket and robe before you could wear it. Huh?

- Some exits where hard to find or even realise that they existed.

- In the end had to look in computer before could take the loose wire. Didn't realise wire because of that.

[close]

Otherwise, great game and I'm looking for more!

[Afflict]

I just got annoyed with the

[/spoiler]

puzzle where i couldnt take the fingerprints off the victims body. and had to go back to take it of his sword. It also didnt make sense to visit the lady again IMO as what business did the priest have there? Further along on this same puzzle what could of happened if the real priest was there in the mean time?

Spoiler

[close]

[magintz]

One of my biggest dissapointments was that BJ went to Japan and there were no ninjas!

I do agree with inCreator on mos the points that he made and hope the next game has some improvements as I feel that it was more of a story than an adventure game (just reading through dialog).

Also the gameshow was quite funny, google was my 'phone a friend'.

Lastly I have to say I was stuck on the same part as Afflict.

Spoiler

Why would the priest need to return

[close]

[CosmoQueen]

Great job Grundislav!!! *applauds* I finished the game and it was awesome!!!

I can't wait for the next one!

[SSH]

I always play AGS games windowed and its a real pain trying to click right on the left or right-most pixel just to get Ben to change rooms sometimes... and these things are easy to fix!

[Grundislav]

I have uploaded another fixed version which has eliminated the bug where you can get the print off the sword in Shinobi's office more than once.Ã,  That seemed to be causing a lot of other weird things to happen.

Thank you for the comments and criticisms.

InCreator: I know what you mean about the "visit the CL."Ã,  In this game I experimented with tracing over photographs for the backgrounds, and I admit the results are not very good.Ã,  However I can assure you that I've dumped this method, so hopefully the next game will be more consistent visually.

I'm still working on getting the right balance between puzzles and story.Ã,  It seems every BJ game I release will always have either the inevitable "I finished it, it was so easy!" or "cardboard windows!? what were you thinking?!" Or both!

Also, one comment that confuses me a little is

Spoiler

the one about being frustrated by having to look at the monitor to find the wire.Ã,  Aren't adventure games about exploration?Ã,  I thought that having the hotspot names would make it obvious as to what was important in each screen.Ã,  If you look at either of the monitors it tells you that there's a loose wire.

[close]

[Hammerite]

what does "visit the CL" mean?

also:

Spoiler

1.) why does mary tell ben to consider his career path in the dreams?
2.) where the hell was percival for this game??
3.) what was his card for?
4.) will them weird witchy people be returning?

[close]

[Nikolas]

I'm still working on getting the right balance between puzzles and story.Ã,  It seems every BJ game I release will always have either the inevitable "I finished it, it was so easy!" or "cardboard windows!? what were you thinking?!" Or both!

I think that simply every game that comes out of your hands is so great that Case 5 was bound to be compared. Sometimes it is difficult to beat your own self

But for me, which BJ5 is the first game I play from the series, I find it superb! The music is lovely, the animation and characters also.

The story is fine as it is, and I've not finished it yet!

Now, I've got to go... Got to go play a little 

[Snarky]

Congrats on finishing BJ5, Grundislav! I always enjoy playing the Ben Jordan games.

I was having suspension-of-disbelief problems with the setting (and quite a lot of the plot) in this one, though. None of the other games were exactly realistic, either, but since this game seemed to have a more serious tone it was a lot more difficult to overlook.

I didn't really believe the depiction of Japan; I got the feeling it was all based on well-known stereotypes and watching Lost in Translation. (And aren't Japanese toilets known for being absurdly high-tech, rather than the hole in the floor you showed? Though I'm sure that varies...) The Chinese-style temple certainly didn't help, even with the in-game excuse.

You avoided the danger of ethnic stereotyping (always a danger when representing foreign cultures), but you ended up going too far the other way, so that many of the characters actually looked more caucasian than Japanese, and spoke perfect (or at least very good) English. OK, I can buy that some of the business men speak English in their line of work. Maybe even a police detective. But every person in the police station? A sushi chef? Most Japanese people I have met struggle with the English language, and they're people who studied in the US or UK. It actually occured to me that maybe you only decided to set the game in Japan when you were halfway through, and left the characters and backgrounds you had already created as they were.

Spoiler

Similarly, I had a hard time believing in the degree of cooperation you got from the police, what with access to the (somewhat spartanly equipped) crime lab and everything. I didn't understand why the police kept the names of the first four victims secret (or how, if they were really the heads of some of the biggest corporations in the city) but allowed the paper to print a picture of the fifth victim. I couldn't believe that the widow would be fooled by a red-haired Zen priest with a flower basket for his hat. It strained belief that several people could die mysteriously in a village accessible from Osaka but no investigation, autopsy, or even examination by a "trained physician" performed. (What's an "untrained physician", by the way? Some guy who just calls himself Doctor?) It seemed really strange that the lab technician would need a sample of puffer fish detrodotoxin (surely a well-known poison) to be able to identify what was in the dead man's blood.

[close]

As long as Ben Jordan lives in a kind of Scooby Doo world where ghosts and skunk apes are a matter of course, these things don't really matter. However, in the later games in the series it seems like you're being more ambitious than that, Grundislav. Even the resolution of Case 5 indicates a new level of seriousness. But in order to pull it off you need to pay more attention to details like the ones listed above. Good luck with your future games!

[lspace]

Just finished the game and enjoyed it immensely.Ã,  Well done.Ã,  And thank you for making it.Ã,  I do have question.Ã,  Will this game have a name other than Case 5?Ã,  All the previous games had an additional title.

[GarageGothic]

Just finished the game and enjoyed it immensely.  Well done.  And thank you for making it.  I do have question.  Will this game have a name other than Case 5?  All the previous games had an additional title.

It already does, on the title screen it says "Land of the Rising Dead".

[Grundislav]

Believe it or not, I have an excuse as to why the police allowed Ben to be so "hands-on" and also why the widow didn't really question his ethnicity.Ã,  Some might view it as a convenient cop-out, but I can assure you I had it in mind from before.Ã,  It will be explained later in the series. (Like so many other things, including the one question I'm still surprised nobody has asked).

[CosmoQueen]

It was the right balence to me. Not too hard and not too easy.

I have uploaded another fixed version which has eliminated the bug where you can get the print off the sword in Shinobi's office more than once.  That seemed to be causing a lot of other weird things to happen.

Thank you for the comments and criticisms.

InCreator: I know what you mean about the "visit the CL."  In this game I experimented with tracing over photographs for the backgrounds, and I admit the results are not very good.  However I can assure you that I've dumped this method, so hopefully the next game will be more consistent visually.

I'm still working on getting the right balance between puzzles and story.  It seems every BJ game I release will always have either the inevitable "I finished it, it was so easy!" or "cardboard windows!? what were you thinking?!" Or both!

Also, one comment that confuses me a little is

Spoiler

the one about being frustrated by having to look at the monitor to find the wire.  Aren't adventure games about exploration?  I thought that having the hotspot names would make it obvious as to what was important in each screen.  If you look at either of the monitors it tells you that there's a loose wire.

[close]

[CosmoQueen]

LOL Wow I never even thought of that!! I was just having too much fun playing the game!

Believe it or not, I have an excuse as to why the police allowed Ben to be so "hands-on" and also why the widow didn't really question his ethnicity.  Some might view it as a convenient cop-out, but I can assure you I had it in mind from before.  It will be explained later in the series. (Like so many other things, including the one question I'm still surprised nobody has asked).

[Petra]

First of all, thanks for the BJ5

I enjoyed playing it.

However, the pixel hunts when trying to change the rooms were a bit annoying.

And in accoradance with all the others here..
The reason to visit the widow a second time was not obvious...

And the puzzles were a bit too easy in my opinion, even me didn't need any help from the hints forum...


But overall, another nice game in my collection...

[GarageGothic]

Believe it or not, I have an excuse as to why the police allowed Ben to be so "hands-on" and also why the widow didn't really question his ethnicity.  Some might view it as a convenient cop-out, but I can assure you I had it in mind from before.  It will be explained later in the series. (Like so many other things, including the one question I'm still surprised nobody has asked).

Does this mean a Monkey Island 2 ending?

[Snarky]

It will be explained later in the series. (Like so many other things, including the one question I'm still surprised nobody has asked).

Why did Professor Whatshisname call Detective Yoshi to talk about Ben?

[Grundislav]

Another excellent question (Though not the one I was referring to).Ã,  And it's Percival Quentin Jones.Ã, 

[adventuregamegal]

   Excellent game.  I love the graphics, it's nice and neat (I mean uncluttered)...I only had to check the walkthrough once, and I should have tried a little harder before I did.  I love a game where everything makes sense, the game has a great story, and you can play uninterrupted without spending days on one puzzle, or using hints every hour.  I think it makes the flow of the game more enjoyable.  I love your games.  Please don't stop

[Bjyman]

Great games keep the good work up.  Here's my feedback

-How about a World Map Icon on the Top Interface Bar so you can immediately get to the map without having to go to the exit point get there.  I find that annoying.

-Why wasn't the clothes transition explained from BJ3 to BJ4? Or did I miss it.

-The absence of the cell phone from BJ4 to BJ5 is odd

-Also with all the emenies BJ is facing it would make sense if he gets some heavy artierlary like a tazer or a gun just to be safe.

-I'm guessing with Simon's new invention that pretty much eliminates locked doors as a puzzle for any future BJ games?

-If Ben is teaming up with people could a switch player mode like Day of the Tentacle be possible?

[Dennis Ploeger]

Hi Grundislav!

Just played through BJ 5 and I'm adding myself to the list of "Thank-You"- and "I like it"-sayers. But as you said before, you'd like some critics. So here goes nothing:

Spoiler

- I found it rather annoying to wait until Ben walks from the entry of the small town to the field where the bushes are along the way. This would have been nice, if it was a one-timer. After that I would just either position Ben directly in the field or cut the whole room out.
- As much as I like your "G-R-U-N-etc."-intro I would really like to have an opportunity to skip it the second time I start the game and just jump to the "Load Game"-window. (I've nearly crashed my F7 waiting for the intro to roll through)
- Although I really like linearity, I found it quite awful to go to the police station - no Yoshi - go home, read the paper, go to the police station - Yoshi's there. I know, that you wanted this "Read the paper in the morning"-action every day, but it took me three (game-) days to find this out.
- I wondered, why Ben didn't want to examine the previous crime scenes. In other games (and series and movies) people always examine the previous crime scenes.
- I found this TV show rather uncompatible with the rest of the game. Like others said, I think you're just in the middle of a morph from a comedy adventure to a serious adventure (from what I'd take the second as my favourite one) and this game show would be something to cut out the next episode.
- Perhaps here is the missing question: Why is Ben's such a celeb to be invited in the game show?
- Again about your Grundislav-logo. I think, morphing into serious episodes requires changing the logo. (Sorry 'bout that)

[close]

But after all, again, I liked the game and am looking out for more serious and well-crafted episodes of Ben Jordan.

Keep up the good work!

deep

[edmundito]

Oooh! I want to answer a batch of questions:

what does "visit the CL" mean?

You see... us normies call it the Critics Lounge, but there seems to be a group of people with delusions of acronyms that call it the CL. I actually figured it out right before running into your question.

also:

Spoiler

1.) why does mary tell ben to consider his career path in the dreams?
2.) where the hell was percival for this game??
3.) what was his card for?
4.) will them weird witchy people be returning?

[close]

answers:

Spoiler

1) Hmm... good question. I'm assuming that since it's a paranormal series then ben jordan has very paranormal dreams as well. Now why does mary know so much? well, we'll have to see. or beat up grundislav after case 8 comes out and it doesn't answer all of the questions.
2) Well, I assume that percival has work to do. He doesn't really team up with ben like Simon and Alice do.
3) Just as a reference. You usually get cards from people you talk to when you're a professional. coincidentially, it worked to remind Inspector Yoshi about you.
4) I still wonder the same thing. I mean why would they want ben jordan?

[close]

-How about a World Map Icon on the Top Interface Bar so you can immediately get to the map without having to go to the exit point get there.  I find that annoying.

I didn't mind walking off screen to go back to the map. Otherwise you might as well turn off the walk to option.

-Why wasn't the clothes transition explained from BJ3 to BJ4? Or did I miss it.

People like to wear different clothes?

-The absence of the cell phone from BJ4 to BJ5 is odd

I thought it was more odd that ben got a cellphone while he was in england for a few days, and the weirdest part was that the phone worked like a normal phone and you didn't have to press the send/call button ¬¬

-Also with all the emenies BJ is facing it would make sense if he gets some heavy artierlary like a tazer or a gun just to be safe.

Wrong game. What is this, doom?
Also, it would imply that Ben is afraid, and yet he hasn't really shown signs of fear from everything that's happen so far. Just anger mostly. You can't really fight the paranormal with weapons anyway.

-I'm guessing with Simon's new invention that pretty much eliminates locked doors as a puzzle for any future BJ games?

Uh... dunno... grundislav, do you? Locked door puzzles are very cliché, though

-If Ben is teaming up with people could a switch player mode like Day of the Tentacle be possible?

It's possible to do it in AGS, yes.

(And aren't Japanese toilets known for being absurdly high-tech, rather than the hole in the floor you showed? Though I'm sure that varies...)

It's a myth, really. They do indeed have those ultra-high-tech americanized toilets, but the traditional toilet is the one you can have to squat to do #2 (and #1 if you're a girl), and if you're american you grab a handle for assistance. Wikipedia has interesting information about japanese toilets.

You avoided the danger of ethnic stereotyping (always a danger when representing foreign cultures), but you ended up going too far the other way, so that many of the characters actually looked more caucasian than Japanese, and spoke perfect (or at least very good) English.

I think that it's difficult to portray people who speak another language; it would difficult to express emotions and thoughts where the language is chopped off and made very basic (like the "leskonian" game host because he was funny and didn't have to be taken seriously) However, I thought it was rather cool that Alice could speak very good japanese, so the conversations between her and the window seemed plausible. Excellent use of a supporting character.

[InCreator]

By CL - I *did* mean Critics Lounge.
I'm a CL resident since 2003 so I rarely use full name nowadays.
But why visiting it?

Simply because in game, there was some mistakes (both in backgrounds and sprites) that are most commonly pointed out whenever someone posts something at Crits Lounge. Something like where typical C&C starts from.

If you avoid CL just because you want to keep characters/details in secret, post a sketch or equal sprite... for example, you could have posted a woman sprite similar to Alice and our artists could showed you the way making her better. And then you could make your Alice according to tips you got for this random-female-sprite.

Or simply browse other female sprite posts people have submitted (there's million of them!) and take tips from there.

What I mean is Critics Lounge is endless library of art knowlegde and it would be stupid to ignore that. Ignore ProgZmax's way to give characters very original and detailed look, Bigbrother's/Farlander's minimalistic photorealism, Darth Mandarb's way to make things cute.... etc.

Also that BJ games are my personal favourites (among very few at all) in AGS games and it's a bit sad to see otherwise very solid and compact (i mean, commercial-like) game to suffer under very basic problems that could have been easily avoided.

But all that explaining rolls the problem bigger that it actually was. And BJ5 still IS a great game.

[KristjanMan]

I have a question too!

Do you have the whole story (all cases) thinked through alredy?

[thewalrus]

I really enjoyed the game. I think it was the best in the series so far. The only thing i was a little disappointed with was the ending, I thought it was kinda abrupt. But alll in all a great game that I would have even paid for.

TheWalrus

Goo, goo, ga joob!!!

[duu]

Also, one comment that confuses me a little is

Spoiler

the one about being frustrated by having to look at the monitor to find the wire.  Aren't adventure games about exploration?  I thought that having the hotspot names would make it obvious as to what was important in each screen.  If you look at either of the monitors it tells you that there's a loose wire.

[close]

Spoiler

It's just quite non logical that if Ben tries to use computer, he don't see the loose wire, where as if he looks at the computer he notices it. Where is Ben looking then if he tries to use computer? 

[close]

This is, of course, a minor problem. Thumbs up for a great game!

[Hammerite]

rite ive figur'd out what that excellent surprising-no-one's-asked-it question!!

Spoiler

why in the chinese lady's house is there a picture of a familiar place (which i assume is smailholm)?

[close]

[KristjanMan]

rite ive figur'd out what that excellent surprising-no-one's-asked-it question!!

Spoiler

why in the chinese lady's house is there a picture of a familiar place (which i assume is smailholm)?

[close]

and I think I figur'd out the answer

Spoiler

Remember the Zen monks black roubes?

[close]

but then again I might be wrong...

[Hammerite]

that's a nice thought, KristjanMan.

[nihilyst]

If I remember correctly, Grundislav mentioned that question, that he is surprised, nobody has asked, before the fifth installment was released. That means, the question has to refer to something in the first four cases. And I have a feeling that it has something to do with Percival.

cheers
nihilyst

[Scorpio_Phoenix]

At the end of Ben Jordan 5 i thought there was something weird about Percival....i might be wrong but i think hes going to be a part of a big story line.....

[Hammerite]

btw, am i the only one whose never really thought of ben jordan as a comedy adventure (i think of it more as a serious adventure with humour added, similar to broken sword)

[KristjanMan]

btw, am i the only one whose never really thought of ben jordan as a comedy adventure

What do you mean you are the only one

[Hammerite]

its just a lot of people have said on this thread that from this game its changing from comedy adventure to serious adventure (personally i didnt see much difference in this respekt)

[Gord10]

It will be explained later in the series. (Like so many other things, including the one question I'm still surprised nobody has asked).

Was it

Spoiler

in the case 3; the reason why Ben Jordan was especially sent for the witchcraft ceremony? I think there was a special reason them to victimise him, but not someone else.

[close]

[Grundislav]

Oh boy, I've inspired discussion!

KristjanMan: Yes, I have the rest of the main storyline planned out.

deepgames: You can press the ESC key to bypass the walking in the village entrance, also the elevators.

Hammerite: The picture of Smailholm was just an in-joke.Ã,  But you are right about the BJ games being serious with humor.Ã,  My intent wasn't to make comedy adventures with these, but also not to have a super serious melodramatic story either, I try to balance the dark with humor.

nihilyst: You're on the right track about the question.Ã,  It could have been asked from Case 1, really.Ã,  And you're also on the right track thinking there's something up with Percy.

If you sit down and think about things that seem a little "odd" in this game (like the police letting Ben in so easily) as well as stuff in other games, you might get the impression that it's not all coincidence...

[KristjanMan]

Hmm...

At the end of the 4th case
Ben: I'll be in touch
Percy: I'm sure you will

Well anyway I have one more question.
I haven't seen any conections to the Lost Galleon. Why is that so or am I just blind and haven't noticed conections?

[Gord10]

Well anyway I have one more question.
I haven't seen any conections to the Lost Galleon. Why is that so or am I just blind and haven't noticed conections?

Spoiler

The newspaper reading guy in the information desk of the Yushishimato (or whatever, I don't remember its name) Building and the TV station. He was a character from the 2nd case, the cashier man in a coffee shop (or whatever).

[close]

And I have a small theory:

Spoiler

It is about how easily the Japan police allowed BJ to help them... Maybe Quentin Jones did know Yushi before, and called him with telephone to tell Ben Jordan can solve this case, and to tell that the paranormal things really exists (as PQJ witnessed the witches in Case 3). So, Yushi was already waiting for BJ.

[close]

[Hammerite]

oh man, im gonna play ben jordan 1 as soon as possible.
thankfully my sis has just downloaded it so i dont have to download it again

[passer-by]

KristjanMan: Yes, I have the rest of the main storyline planned out.
Hammerite: The picture of Smailholm was just an in-joke.Ã,  But you are right about the BJ games being serious with humor.Ã,  My intent wasn't to make comedy adventures with these, but also not to have a super serious melodramatic story either, I try to balance the dark with humor.
nihilyst: You're on the right track about the question.Ã,  It could have been asked from Case 1, really.Ã,  And you're also on the right track thinking there's something up with Percy.
If you sit down and think about things that seem a little "odd" in this game (like the police letting Ben in so easily) as well as stuff in other games, you might get the impression that it's not all coincidence...

Dear AGSers

Grundislav will not be able to give you hints and answer your questions for a while, he's under lock and key in his room (without lock suckers but with a new computer and stacks of dry food and water), working overtime on cases 6-10 of 10.

I apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

Thank you for your patience.

[Gord10]

KristjanMan: Yes, I have the rest of the main storyline planned out.
Hammerite: The picture of Smailholm was just an in-joke.  But you are right about the BJ games being serious with humor.  My intent wasn't to make comedy adventures with these, but also not to have a super serious melodramatic story either, I try to balance the dark with humor.
nihilyst: You're on the right track about the question.  It could have been asked from Case 1, really.  And you're also on the right track thinking there's something up with Percy.
If you sit down and think about things that seem a little "odd" in this game (like the police letting Ben in so easily) as well as stuff in other games, you might get the impression that it's not all coincidence...

Dear AGSers

Grundislav will not be able to give you hints and answer your questions for a while, he's under lock and key in his room (without lock suckers but with a new computer and stacks of dry food and water), working overtime on cases 6-10 of 10.

I apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

Thank you for your patience.

It's no problem for us since BJ6 will be released earlier ._.  You're free to execute him in case the game release date gets late.

[Babar]

Just a minor thing, but

Spoiler

Shouldn't most call buttons have prints on them?

[close]

[sergiocornaga]

I tried that with every single one... I guess all Japanese people wear gloves. 

[linus]

I loved BJ5 and I think it's the best of the series so far. Maybe it's because I'm a sucker for almost anything Japanese (excluding Mangas), but I believe it's also because it has much depth. It's not hard to see that the series has become a lot more ambitious. I already like the Ben Jordan series as much as the GK series, which is not to say that the BJ "universe" doesn't have its own special feeling to it. The mixture between genuinely dark and dramatic elements on the one hand and some light, funny elements on the other is something that rarely works without one destroying the other, but BJ manages a very good balance between the two.

Spoiler

The TV show host was hilarious and also a bit mysterious at the same time.

[close]

The puzzles are very easy and intuitive most of the time, but I don't think that's a problem. BJ is just focused more on story than on puzzles and that's alright. You usually don't get stuck for long in a BJ game, so you can experience the story in one evening and allow it to completely drag you in. I like the new graphics style for the characters, I think it's also more consistent (previously Ben was a lot more cartoony than Alice, for example). I've never minded  the blurry style of the backgrounds, they make the graphics look unique and allow to blend graphics from different sources. Also, I don't think the mixture of photographic images and drawn backgrounds was so bad. The temple with the two lions probably wouldn't have looked very good, if you had drawn them (no offense, these things are very difficult to draw).

There were some strange things that I noticed and which haven't been mentioned yet:

Spoiler

- Ben couldn't read the Japanese text in the newspaper. But why could he read Inspector Yoshi's name then (or even find out that it was a name)? Japanese names are usually written in Kanji (Chinese characters) and you can only tell them from other Japanese words from within their context.
- All the signs in the police station are in English.
- I've been wondering a while now: How much money does Ben make in his "job" as a paranormal investigator? Did he make any money from case 5 at all? If he's only had five cases in his career so far, how can he afford tickets to Scotland, London and Japan?

[close]

So, thanks for making BJ5. The Ben Jordan game are a great inspiration to me and they're always a pleasure to play.

[Vel]

Congratulations on completing another Ben Jordan game, Grundislav.
I just finished it, and I think it maintains the high level of the previous games.Looking forward to the next cases!

[KristjanMan]

Spoiler

- I've been wondering a while now: How much money does Ben make in his "job" as a paranormal investigator? Did he make any money from case 5 at all? If he's only had five cases in his career so far, how can he afford tickets to Scotland, London and Japan?

[close]

Well he got money from first case and i think he got some from second too so he went to scotland and he got to london with percy and Miggs payd him too i guess

[Divinefuror]

Well, ok, let me begin with the cliche "Great game! Thank you for making it" and just say that I downloaded it yesterday for both myself and my highly AGS addicted girlfriend.

I was alive and well when Adventure hit the market, and when Zork was a revolution, and I have to say designers like you make me misty-eyed for times past when a game wasn't all flash and glitz and 3d nauseating camera angles. I have the following criticisms/comments:

1. The plot with Ben being in love with Alice is unbelievable, given the context of your previous games. They don't talk, they don't have an extant relationship, the schtick is funny but if you really want to insert some romance, insert some romantic scenes.
2. Nice ambience for Japan, but there's nothing Japanese about the flow of the game. If you're going to immerse Ben in other cultures when writing these games, make the Japanese act like Japanese, not Americans.
3. Depth. This is an excellent short, extremely linear game. The handbook that accompanies it is kind of unnecessary, and I think you know that. Also, you drop the mystery development in favor of puzzle completion, instead of weaving the two together. I got the feeling by Day 5, as a programmer, you really wanted the game to end ASAP....and while I can imagine your tedium, better to delay distribution than short out your own creative potential.
4. NPCs that take up space take up space, you know? That poor guy in the front room of the police station, or that extra lab scientist...they just stand there uncertainly. Give them lives or lines. Even in TADS the NPCS can do hilarious self-repeating things that give them personality.

[Rosie]

Great Game......... Thank you for all your time and effort

[jimrh]

Are there any walkthroughs for the Ben Jordan games??

[Scorpio_Phoenix]

http://arnjeir.borgarholt.info/ags/walkthrough_wizard/index.php?portal=home

ben jordan 5 walkthrough is gonna be added very soon!! 

[Hammerite]

i found a finito'd walkthru somewhere.
btw, added ben5 to mobygames.

[switcharoo]

Here's a walkthrough for BJ5 - http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/yabb/index.php?topic=25869.60

It's the huge spoiler post about half way down the page.

[dazmoose]

Just wanted to say I'm loving all the B.Jordan games so far! Keep 'em coming!

[jetlag]

A custom end credit theme. Amazing!

[Andail]

Good job Grund! I enjoyed watching it being tested at Wintermeet.
I think you've soon established a position as the currently most productive game creator.
In AGS, that is.
When it comes to Ben Jordan games, that is.

[Ali]

Another great game, thank you!

[ida]

Enjoyed this game immensely thank you.

It was extremely well thought out. The relationships between the 3 main characters was very realistic.

The animations for the newspaper reading and Ben sitting on Yoshi's chair were excellent.

And a few of the puzzles were cool too 

[jimrh]

Now that theres been 5 games to this series...and I'm putting them all on one cd, I was wondering if anyone has come up with a cd or jewle case cover for the games...so as to look professional 

[otter]

Hey Grundislav,

I really like the game so far!  The level of detail is great (in particular, the animations, although there are plenty of other interesting touches, like the choice of characters in Yamamoto's office -- nice bilingual pun).

One problem for me is that it crashes with the Mac interpreter at the opening screen for Day 4, with the error:

Adventure Game Studio for Mac
An error has occured. Please contact the game author for support, as this
is likely to be a scripting error and not a bug in AGS.
(ACI version 2.71.872)

in Room script (line 105)

Error: SetObjectTransparent: transparency value must be between 0 and 100

This may just be an interpreter bug, of course.

[JRock]

  YAYÃ, 

Just downloaded and played for about 10 mins.

Wanted to say that so far this game is amazing!!Ã,  Ã, 

The graphics are beautiful!Ã,  And the music is sensational!Ã, 
I love it already!Ã,  Can't wait to play again tomorrow!!!

Good work!!!Ã, 

By the way,

Spoiler

The part in the intro where the hand came from under the ground and
grabbed Ben, scared the SHIT otta me!Ã,  I loved it!!!Ã,  Ã, 

[close]

[seaduck]

Hi Grundislav!

finished BJ5 and enjoyed it very much! The puzzles were logical, except for

Spoiler

the part where the priest needs to return

[close]

and pretty straightforward.

The music was very good, up to the BJ series standard (which is high!). My favourite piece is still the Dunesberg theme from BJ2, that one's just amazing, I love it!! - it could have been the main theme of a blockbuster western, that's for sure!

To be honest, the BJ series' graphics was never really my cup of tea, but it never ruined my gameplay, either. To be specific:

The backgrounds - all the way through the BJ series, the backgrounds is what I don't like very much - because of the bluriness and because of the "someone-scribbled-something-over-a-photo" look. I loved what Buloght did with the BJ1 backgrounds in his remake...

The portraits - even though some looked a bit too "shiny" (like polished statues, rather than having a sking), especially Simon, I still think you did a very good job.

Character sprites - well I never did like the characters without faces and I think their shading is rather weird too. In this game what bothered me the most was Alice's sprite (could use some rework) and the TV show moderator's sprite (blurry). Also sometimes Ben's arms would look too long and made of rubber (no bones), like in the flight sequence.

That said, the game has great atmosphere, a catching story, and is certainly among the best in the BJ series. Playing it was a great pleasure for us, BJ fans!

Cheers!

EDIT: The police inspector's full name - Hamato Yoshi - made me laugh out loud!Ã,  Did you name him after Splinter from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles intentionally?

[Mordalles]

nice game.

the music was awesome, and the animation was good too.

i think choosing white and grey colours for backgrounds is the worst colours to choose for an adventure game. (but that might just be me  ) and the blotches of airbrush randomly around each room is kinda distracting. it just makes the whole atmosphere of the game a bit dull and lifeless.
sprites were good. although, i think the female sprite needs a bit of work.

sometimes i walked around not knowing what to do, since the game never told me what to do, so your just hoping to stumble upon something new at a background you've already been a few times. this is something which i also found in 5 days a stranger. storywise you could learn from a game like prodigal, which really has you on edge the whole time.

overall nice game, and i think an improvement on your previous games. and i can see gk is your favourite game. 

[T_ed89]

Mmmm this held the same high quality as the other bj games (but I still think smailholm is the best).
The only thing that I think should be changed for the next game, is the scary moments, because this game wasn't scary at all. No, the other games didn't scare me to death, but I still got a certain feeling and started to look over my back when I played it.
Also, very good music, espesially on the hotel.

Already looking forward to the next game in what I think is one of the absolutly best gameseries here on AGS...

[Anym]

I'm a bit late in posting here, but it's only because I had to play the other four Ben Jordan games first (for the first time). I really enjoyed them all and this one is no exception. Great game! Thanks a lot! I thought that this one was definitely the best one graphics-wise, although I have to agree with T_ed89 that Case 3 remains the best overall.

Just two things nobody seems to have mentioned so far:

• I found it odd that "In the Hollow of a Wave off the Coast at Kanagawa" in your hotel room was described as "pleasant".
• Spoiler

  I didn't like that Ben would move the trashcan in the toilet of the sushi bar around even if he had no reason to do so. In typical adventure fashion, the first thing I did in said toilet, before ever concerning myself with the vent, was to use the trashcan, expecting Ben to search it or to get a funny remark. To my suprise Ben moved it under the vent, making it unmistakably clear that I would have to do something there. A clear case of encountering the solution before the problem.

  [close]

[deadsuperhero]

Grundislav, that was truly an incredible game. Just as good as any of your other ones, if not better. On your site it said you'd make around 8 games? Geez. You really have talent, and a passion for what you do.

[paolo]

Great game, loved it... just about the right level of difficulty for me at least.

My only quibble (and it's a small one) is over Simon... he's supposed to be English, but he seems to use American expressions every now and again (maybe from all the time he's spent with Ben ). Fair enough, because we Brits pick up a lot of American vocabulary from all the American TV we get here. However, on the morning of day 3, when Ben says "See you later", Simon says "Ta". "Ta" means "thank you", not "goodbye". Perhaps he meant to say "Ta-ta".

Anyway, like I said, a minor quibble. I'm looking forward to case 6 (and still trying to find the Easter egg in case 5!)

Paul

[Cownip]

God these game just get better and better each time. I was a little freaked out with all the Smailholm refrences, was there any connection or was it a red hearing or something for the fans who played number 3 to enjoy?
Anyway, awsome game, keep up the good work!
P.S. Will there ever be a Ben Jordan 6, I pray so.

[Hammerite]

well there is a continuing storyline apparently, but the picture in the Japanese woman's house was simply a reference.
and yeah, i'm guessing there's going to be a ben jordan 6 or he might be assassinated, possibly by rolf.

[Grundislav]

Yes, there is a continuing storyline, and there are going to be a total of 8 cases.

[Chicky]

I added u on myspace Ben! <3333

[Sylvia]

I really loved this game!!!! Are you already working on part 6?? I'd love to be a beta-tester..
My compliments!!!!!!!!!!!

[Hammerite]

if he is, he'll probably be more secretive after last times... uh... predicaments.

[Mr. Mozzarella]

I'm a bit late, already finished it a week ago, but I also loved it
Although I think that the Japanese people look a bit too European (eg Mr. Shinobi and the show master)
The quality of the art and also of the music is very high But my fav one is still part 3, maybe because Scotland is a bit more fascinating to me than Japan ... who knows ... anyway, I am already looking forward to the 6th part.

Also I wonder whether Grundislav (or anyone else here?) knows the episode of Inspector Columbo called "Murder under Glass" (and has probably watched it before writing the plot of BJ5)

[xelanoimis]

Hi, congratulations for this one too!
I've just finished and it was nice.

Not as nice as Case3 or 4 I woud say.
Too predictable and not scary enought for me.
And not very japanese. For example the japanese swords are slightly curved and have much loner handles. As someone said before on the forum, do more cultural research for a better athmosphere.
Didn't liked the tv-show stuff. Supposed to be weird and funny, but it only looks silly and ruins the suspense.

The rest, it was pretty nice. I liked the Ben's dream idea too.

Spoiler

I was dissapointed that the bad guy did'n turned into a zombie and get another round

[close]

[Mats Berglinn]

Hi, congratulations for this one too!
I've just finished and it was nice.

Not as nice as Case3 or 4 I woud say.
Too predictable and not scary enought for me.
And not very japanese. For example the japanese swords are slightly curved and have much loner handles. As someone said before on the forum, do more cultural research for a better athmosphere.
Didn't liked the tv-show stuff. Supposed to be weird and funny, but it only looks silly and ruins the suspense.

The rest, it was pretty nice. I liked the Ben's dream idea too.

Spoiler

I was dissapointed that the bad guy did'n turned into a zombie and get another round

[close]

Uh, you type in the wrong code. It's not

Spoiler

but [ hide] if you want to hide the spoilers!

[close]

[Hammerite]

he means you have to type in [gHIDE]spoiler text[/gHIDE] without the lower case gs

[Vespr]

Thanks for the game - I finished, but not with full marks. Not sure if the next part needs to be tagged as a spoiler, but just to be on the safe side..

Spoiler

In the old lady's house in Asuka, the entryway has a large print with writing all over it - it looks as if there's some sort of secret doorway or passageway behind the left panel. From my cursory pixel hunting it doesn't show up as a particular hotspot. Is it supposed to be part of the game? Or am I just reading too much into a random collection of shadows?

[close]

[buloght]

Finished it, very good game I liked the new character sprites and portraits.

One thing that got me a little annoyed (not toooooo much) was the fact that you can't skip walking in and out of the village.

[Grundislav]

You can. Press ESC.

[buloght]

you can? Sorry .... i could sweared I tried it, maybe i was confused because some of your cutscenes are unskippable. Sorry, to think I always walked the distance there ... what's wrong with me.

[Hammerite]

Will someone PM me saying what that easter egg is if you get full points and also with info saying what that door that you couldnt open was about?
ChEERS

[Tom S. Fox]

Awesome! I'm downloading it right now!

Hehe, no just kidding!
I downloaded it earlier this day and finished it now.
All by myself!!!Ã, 
Anyway, I really enjoyed it, but there is one thing, that seems a little strange to me:

Spoiler

There wasn't anything paranormal about this case. Everything could be explained logically at the end.

[close]

I wish, I'd have took notive of this game, earlier, but I had not the time to visit these forums, recently.
However, please try your best to finish all 8 parts of the series.
I just want to learn the secret, that connects all the cases.
And it still gives me nightmares, that Ron Gilbert couldn't make his version of Monkey Island 3. (True story!)
Well, I'm looking forward to Ben Jordan 6.
Do you have a release date? Hehehe...Ã, 

[calacver]

I cannot wait for number 6. This game was excellent with well paced puzzles. Your graphics are improving all the time. Good work!

[TheCheese33]

Grundislav, is it as scary as 3 or 4?

[edmundito]

how would grundislav know? only the audience knows!

I'd say the scariest one is still case 4.

[Hammerite]

Grundislav, is it as scary as 3 or 4?

download it anyway, it doesnt cost anything

[7th guest;)]

yeea everybody knows that this jordan ben game is worst ever and nobody likes it just becouse they like grundislav they say that this game is great but they all lying 

[Hammerite]

what in god's name are you on about?

[7th guest]

just joking nevermind

[TheCheese33]

I just played it, and loved every minute. I wasn't a fan of the 3rd or the 4th, because they were too dark and graphic. This one was just right for me. I can't wait for Case 6!

[advent]

You should try playing 3, it's the best on the series.

[TheCheese33]

Oh, and Grundislav, I think I figured out the question you were wondering about;

Spoiler

Doesn't that one businessman that BJ is sure he's seen before have an eerie resembelence to the evil man from Case 3? Or maybe it's...Percival Jones!

[close]

[advent]

I don't remember Ben saying that... When was it? But I remember than in Case 1, Ben said that he remembered Ernie from somewhere else, and in BJ4, its strange how...

Spoiler

Percy came to the house so fast when he gave the ring to Ben

[close]

[Grundislav]

The Ernie thing was a joke.Ã,  It's because his character portrait looked like Ernie the Keebler elf.

[advent]

Ah, so I was worried about a injoke all the time, 
however...

Spoiler

I still think that Percy has a secret.

[close]

and...

Spoiler

Alice Wilkins is buried in the cementary in BJ3

[close]

is one of these is the question that no one asked?

[Grundislav]

No, but they're definitely things to notice! 

[treq]

Finshed case 5 a while ago, brilliant game. It wasn't as atmorpheric or creepy as case 3 and 4. But all in all it was still a brilliant game with a really good story.

One question tho. What happened to that guy who was first introduced in case 3, he was a skeptic detective and then in case 4 he was brought back as Ben's agent. Just wondering if he was going to be brought back or was he just Ben's agent for paranormal activities in England.

[edmundito]

Hey, did you guys noticed that picture of the smailholm church and cemetery in Ben Jordan's room? I bet there's little details around the game that grundi put in but wouldn't tell us where!

[DazJ]

I've just finished playing ALL of the Ben Jordan games and am awaiting the 6th instalment.

I have to say I was very impressed with the overall series so far and was so drawn in to the games I found myself playing up until 3am on a number of occasions.

I think part 4 was the best for me but part 5 was still a very good game.

I noticed the only real problem seems to lie with the perspective of the backgrounds but they weren't a real problem as the story and characters all took my mind away from it.

Keep up the good work!

[Mike S.]

Ah, so I was worried about a injoke all the time, 
however...

Spoiler

I still think that Percy has a secret.

[close]

and...

Spoiler

Alice Wilkins is buried in the cementary in BJ3

[close]

is one of these is the question that no one asked?

As far as I know, when I played Ben Jordan 3,

Spoiler

Alice Wilkins IS buried in the cemetary. I'll have to check that out. More in a little bit.

[close]

[Mike S.]

Okay since I can't edit my posts, I have PROOF that

Spoiler

Alice Wilkins is buried at Smailholm Church Cemetary!

[close]

Click here for a IMAGE THAT COULD BE A POSSIBLE SPOILER:
SPOILER IMAGE

[edmundito]

there's only one explanation, that could blow this whole case open:

Spoiler

BEN JORDAN SEES DEAD PEOPLE, BUT THEY DON'T KNOW THEY'RE DEAD!

[close]

[deadsuperhero]

Spoiler

She's a witch like everyone else in the town, though. The graveyard is obviously fake, as there's no bodies.

[close]

[Grundislav]

Spoiler

She's a witch like everyone else in the town, though. The graveyard is obviously fake, as there's no bodies.

[close]

How do you know the whole graveyard is fake?Ã,  And how do you know everyone who has ever lived in the town is a witch? 

[deadsuperhero]

Well, I assumed since they were witches, they could not be dead. Therefore, if they're not dead, whyever would they need graves? It's all basically to make it look convincing.
And the town WAS rather small (ok it's a game, doesn't matter)
I always assumed that though.

[SSH]

there's only one explanation, that could blow this whole case open:

Spoiler

BEN JORDAN SEES DEAD PEOPLE, BUT THEY DON'T KNOW THEY'RE DEAD!

[close]

or maybe...

Spoiler

Percy "made" BJ a paranormal investigator by planting the PI guide where Ben would find it and get interested, then caused all paranormal events to happen... which only the DEVIL could do, so Percy is Beelzebub! Just like Unbreakable!

[close]

or maybe...

Spoiler

The village elders dress up as the strange red-wearing monsters to scare the villagers into staying put and they are actually inside a wildlife reserve!

[close]

or maybe...

Spoiler

Hang on, I haven't seen Shylamalan's latest movie yet

[close]

[Gijs]

Just finished this game, it was ok. But it felt to much like gabriel knight sins of the fathers set in Japan. The other cases were better in my opinion.

[Hammerite]

just wondered, whats up with the pictures next to the unreleased cases on your website, grundislav?
you think they'd be pictures of ben, not percival.
is that a hint or what?

[Petra]

Played this speech version today and I have to say:

1. Great job as usual
but
2. would have appreciated undertitles as well, as I'm not an English native speaker.

And sometimes I had difficulties to get all the hints

[Hammerite]

Uh... wrong thread. 

[passer-by]

2. would have appreciated undertitles as well, as I'm not an English native speaker.

Seconded.
Apart from that, nice job.

[veryweirdguy]

If you guys are talkign about Ben Jordan Case 1 Deluxe (which I think you are) then ctrl-T will give you subtitles!

[Hammerite]

Spoiler

She's a witch like everyone else in the town, though. The graveyard is obviously fake, as there's no bodies.

[close]

How do you know the whole graveyard is fake?Ã,  And how do you know everyone who has ever lived in the town is a witch?Ã, 

that sounds like a BIG FAT hint and is adding even more intrigue

[deadsuperhero]

Here could be the ultimate twist to the whole series:

Spoiler

Ben Jordan never WAS a paranormal investigator. He wakes up in a mental institution in the end of the 8th game, the whole series was some sort of demented dream.

[close]

OR, maybe how the 8th game will go.

Spoiler

Just the 8th game didn't happen. Maybe Ben will see Alice and Simon die, but Ben's just in some hospital, dying. And he has to go inside his own mind and battle some inner evil. He wakes up to find Alice holding him, and crying "I love you." Or something like that.

[close]

[Rui 'Trovatore' Pires]

Someone has been playing "Sanitarium"... :

[Hammerite]

Here could be the ultimate twist to the whole series:

Spoiler

Ben Jordan never WAS a paranormal investigator. He wakes up in a mental institution in the end of the 8th game, the whole series was some sort of demented dream.

[close]

OR, maybe how the 8th game will go.

Spoiler

Just the 8th game didn't happen. Maybe Ben will see Alice and Simon die, but Ben's just in some hospital, dying. And he has to go inside his own mind and battle some inner evil. He wakes up to find Alice holding him, and crying "I love you." Or something like that.

[close]

i hope not because that would be shit.
Pure brown stinky shit.

[=The=Brat=]

i hope not because that would be shit.
Pure brown stinky shit.

with Peas and Carrots.

[Hammerite]

But the peas and carrots would be stale and awful like that twist was.

EDIT: i was just replaying case 3 and I was wondering, how the hell did Percival know that ben was coming to smailholm?

[Grundislav]

An excellent question.

[Hammerite]

and is marcus wilkins related to alice wilkins?

also, hope the german guy comes back and who, in the fourth one, is the fourth ghost because i can only think of three (the horror and the 2 sailor guys)

sorry to hound you with questions by the way 

[Tom S. Fox]

An excellent question.

Hmm, is the answer to this question hidden somewhere in mysterious, spanning plot-line and the fact, this questions exists is a hint for the smart and oberservant players to discover... or did you just screw up?

Ah, sorry, now I'm doing it as well!

[veryweirdguy]

I think it'll be the former - Grundi would admit if it was just a plot hole.

[Hammerite]

or just ditch case 6 and start over and take a really long time to fix everything



forget i said that ok?
FORGET I SAID IT.
NOW.

last question (though dont count on it)
is mr yoshi a witch, because ben comments on his paleness?

[Tom S. Fox]

Oh, I think, Grundislav intended to provoke those theories.
I bet he is sitting in front of his computer, laughing up his sleeve and thinks: "Hehehe... they have no idea!"

[Hammerite]

You're right.
I bet Alliance was actually really accurate and case 8 will be the worst game ever made and the ending will be cheesier than a cheese sandwich containing all the different kinds of cheese between two slices of cheese-flavoured bread.

[Tom S. Fox]

Don't forget the glass of stale milk! 

[Hammerite]

being drank with a cheese straw

[Mike S]

being drank with a cheese straw

In a glass made of cheese, on a plate made of cheese with a napkin made of cheese.

[Hammerite]

the table is also made of cheese

[Sam.]

How does one laugh up one's sleeves? I wish to learn.

[Hammerite]

well you'd have to kind of get your head in your sleeve and then laugh.
probably be easier with a longsleeved shirt/sweater or something.
uh... hope that helped... uh... yeah.

but this is getting really offtopic.
i regret the whole cheese 'incident'.

[deadsuperhero]

and is marcus wilkins related to alice wilkins?

:o
*smacks head*
Good Lord! I forgot his last name was Wilkins.

[Hammerite]

i really think i'm starting to overanalyse.
i did it with lost and now im doing it with this.

[Rui 'Trovatore' Pires]

I really think so too. In fact, I think in the end there might be a hundred possible scenarios posted here... and one of them might happen to be the one Grundislav's working on, thus rather spoiling the surprise and the motivation for many people. :

Let it rest, gentlemen, or PM Grundig himself. Enjoy the eggs that have hatched already.

[Hammerite]

still, i'd like to know how far in development case 6 is.
because i didnt even notice that the name had been announced until a while after it had been.

[Tom S. Fox]

And I wonder what happened to all the livers, the skunk-ape took out of all his victims.
I mean, we can only assume, it at them. Unless I missed something, this was never revealed.
I'm sorry to bring this up, but that's really something to think about, in my opinion, at least.

[Hammerite]

another thing that seemed to be intriguing is that the guy with the cocaine in case 1 left to make a phonecall... ...
... but to who?
that could explain how mr. monk man at the end of case 1 deluxe knew about ben or whatever.

[Tom S. Fox]

Yeah, but personally, I think the thing with the phone call was just an excuse, so he could go and hide the cocaine.

Hmm, we should open a ben-jordan-theories-thread, don't cha think?

[Hammerite]

would we be called bennies or geordies (divveny divveny divveny)

[neoen]

Did you mention bottle of wine in lost galleon? Especially year of production? And did you remember when was galleon lost? 

[Hammerite]

no, but maybe i'll replay it to fuel my addiction.

[TheCheese33]

I bet in Case 8, you find out that cult, Mr. Yatamoto, and the rest of the murderin' gang, were all controlled by a giant lambchop! A giant, evil lambchop, that you get into a Final Fantasy boss battle with. And, of course, since the lambchop is undead, you use your most powerful Curaga spell on it to do insane damage! And then when you kill it, all evil is destroyed, and there's peace on earth, and all of that hippie stuff.

And then, Ben Jordan pulls off his mask and reveals he is and was Jesus all along, and Ben Jordan was just a made-up name! Well, this kind of makes that girl sad (because there's no way she can marry Jesus, because that's probably impossible), and Simon starts playing air guitar because his best friend turned out to be Jesus. And then Percival Jones gets a haircut. The end.

[Buckethead]

shhhht I'm still in day 1!!! I haven't played this game for ages dunno why 

[SSH]

All the mods are at Mittens or this would have been locked a long time ago

[Hammerite]

does this mean we have the forums to OURSELVES?
this is like those crappy teen movies where they have parties when their parents are out except instead of parties, we can post crap in the Games In Production thread.

[MrColossal]

does this mean we have the forums to OURSELVES?
this is like those crappy teen movies where they have parties when their parents are out except instead of parties, we can post crap in the Games In Production thread.

No, this means you post in a mature manner. Not all the mods are gone...

[Hammerite]

yeah but we can bribe you right?

btw, the year on the wine in ben2 is the same as when the sailors died right?
so i guess they had somethin to do with the old galleon