What is adventure games "Citizen Kane" moment?

Eric · Mon 08/07/2013 04:50:00

Quote from: Ascovel on Sun 07/07/2013 13:05:11For example, did film follow the same evolution as did painting or architecture? Did it start from scratch in terms of shaping a new art form?

A case could be made for "early silent film with stationary cameras" = "text adventures."

dactylopus · Mon 08/07/2013 05:12:44

I am going to say Myst.

Calin Leafshade · Mon 08/07/2013 08:34:21

I think there's a case to be made that The Longest Journey and Dreamfall approach the medium with the greatest maturity, especially in their portrayal of women. Both games contain female player characters who are strong without needing to appropriate masculine traits. These women are not sexualised either. Both games have the PC start in their pants but neither scene feels cheap, titillating or sexualised... they are just women in pants. (I would also argue that both scenes are noticeably symbolic and draw parallels between the two characters in their "waking up" stage).

I wouldn't go as far as to say they were the Citizen Kane of adventure games, since i don't believe such a thing yet exists, but they are certainly the most 'adult' games on offer.

Magic · Sun 14/07/2013 17:13:26

How about I just create a Citizen Kane adventure game?

LOOK at ROSEBUD

SMASH the ROOM

Secret Fawful · Sun 14/07/2013 20:42:36

The truth is, there is no Citizen Kane of adventure games, or video games at all. There never will be, and people should stop chasing it. Games have the power to create their own defining masterwork, but this is all just part of a mindless, misguided trend to compare games to films, because no one has any confidence in the medium at all nowadays.

I do think Grim Fandango is a masterwork, but it's not a Citizen Kane. That's stupid.

wisnoskij · Sun 14/07/2013 21:38:44

Quote from: Armageddon on Fri 21/06/2013 01:14:22
It seems like we have a lot of them. But what adventure game can be our Citizen Kane?

SO, to be clear, we are talking about/looking for an adventure game that is really old and over-rated? That is at its last moments of cultural applicability, and is technically outdated?

What might be a better question is, what is the Shawshank Redemption of adventure games. Which I would argue is the Citizen Kane of my generation. I doubt that that any of my similarly aged friends, except for myself, have watched Citizen Kane. I doubt that most of my generation have ever even heard of it.

Armageddon · Sun 14/07/2013 21:40:22

I'm pretty sure a lot of people have heard of it. Also I'd say Braid really showed what games were capable of just through play and brought it into it's own medium of art.

Magic · Sun 14/07/2013 21:52:32

According to Extra Credits, the Walking Dead games have done something truly amazing for the genre. Good episode, though I agree that the 'dead genre' label isn't really valid.

Armageddon · Sun 14/07/2013 22:52:03

I really did not like the Walking Dead game, it was so dumbed down it wasn't even point and click, just select your dialogue option and watch the story.

Babar · Sun 14/07/2013 23:43:57

I'm confused about The Walking Dead. I just played it for the first time and finished it yesterday, and while it had an engaging and engrossing story and you grew a connection with the little girl and all...there wasn't much game in there. An interactive movie with quicktime events. While it is purely for the story purposes I enjoyed it, if you stripped out all the "game" from it, it would definitely suffer.
Does it really count as an adventure game?

I'm not sure asking "What is the Citizen Kane of adventure games" is comparing them to movies, more like trying to find an equivalent in a different genre. The problem as I see it (from this thread, even) the whole idea of "Citizen Kane" and what exactly it represents to movies seems to be quite vague and undefined, so it would be difficult to apply them to anything else.
If you're talking about initiators, then you have Colossal Cave/Zork/Mystery House/King's Quest/Maniac Mansion. If you're talking about something so famous it sort of defines the genre, maybe Monkey Island or the King's Quest series. If you're talking about innovative or envelope pushing stuff, maybe Loom or Myst or even the Walking Dead.

Eric · Sun 14/07/2013 23:56:02

Quote from: Magic on Sun 14/07/2013 17:13:26
How about I just create a Citizen Kane adventure game?

Pixel hunt!

Secret Fawful · Mon 15/07/2013 01:01:17

Games where there are HUGE patches of areas you can not walk on without your character floating and getting stuck on the scenery, like the Walking Dead, aren't adventure games. There's a part where you have to sidle along a police car, and you can't even go backwards! OR GO BACK BEHIND THE POLICE CAR! NO! JUST NOOOO!