Am I the only one that doesn't like Broken Sword?

[Play_Pretend]

I just started playing Broken Sword 1 for the first time.  I'm totally in awe of the graphics and animations, I mean, fantastic!  But the plot and the gameplay...ugh!  I've gotten as far as the reporter girl's apartment after finding the nose and the tailor's number, and I am getting so freaking bored from standing and talking to every character for ten minutes.  None of the thumbs up/down choices seem to really affect anything in the long run, I restored and went back and tried different choices, nothing.  And it's not like you even need to participate in the dialogues...if you just exhaust the possibilities all the way through, you end up where you need to be anyways.

Not to mention how unrealistic it all is...everybody's all like, oh, the cafe blew up?  How terrible.  Welp, on with my day.  The police especially, who don't care about potential clues, who let people wander in and out of the crime scene, no crowd has gathered outside the cafe, it's just really, really farfetched even for an adventure game.

Is it just me?  Does anybody else not like it?  Will it get better and adventurous later in the game?  Please give me hope!

[GarageGothic]

I'm not very fond of the Broken Sword games either. I mean, they're ok adventure games, but the characters are bland and the mix of a semi-serious storyline with comedy gameplay makes it difficult to care about the mystery. Also, every single game in the series is marred by a much too short ending without any real interactivity. If I want globetrotting high jinx, I'd rather replay one of the Indiana Jones games. If I'm looking for realistic and intriguing mysteries, the Gabriel Knight games deliver where the Broken Swords fail.

But of course tastes differ, and Broken Sword seems to be quite popular with certain factions of the adventure gaming community. Popular enough to spawn imitations like Secret Files: Tunguska and the Runaway series, both focusing on the same kind of silly (excuse me, I mean "comedic") distraction puzzles and inventory trial-and-error.

[Babar]

It's an okay game. I was playing for a while, got some technical problems with the image and the PLEASE INSERT CD2 message, solved that, played some more, got stuck somewhere, and forgot to return to it up till now. I don't mind the dialogue too much, at least it is in short bursts with lots of options to explore.

Another game I played recently with very annoying dialogue was The Longest Journey. A dialogue would start, and then suddenly I'd have to go and do some work, but there was no way to pause or skip to the end, so I'd just leave it there. After finishing the work, I'd come back to see the dialogue still going on, and have to spend another minute or two skipping sentence by sentence, until I reached the end, and then restored it to a point before the conversation so I could hear it all.

Also, the puzzles in BS seem relatively easier than most games I play, and I was able to stay away from a walkthrough for quite a while into the game, but then one or two silly puzzles necessitated a walkthrough.

[hedgefield]

I think you should play Broken Sword mainly for the mood it evokes. The first one impressed me so much I feel like I was actually there, it sucked me in. There are only a few other games that ever managed to do that, like Deus Ex, GTA III and Mafia. It's hard to describe but it's that feeling that really makes it work. It paints a very romantic picture of the world, especially Paris, so maybe you need to share that view for it to really grab you.

In my opinion Broken Sword 1 and 2 are the best adventure games out there. The graphics and animations are superb, the voiceacting is great, and I love travelling and ancient mysteries, so the story is right up my alley. I didn't mind one bit talking to a lot of characters, I find the dialogues quite humorous without going over the top like Monkey Island for instance. I have it permanently installed on my computer so I can always play it.

And to answer your question - it does get better as the game progresses. But if you didn't like the start, you probably won't like the rest either.

[OneDollar]

It was... alright. I've finished it (as well as 2 and 3) and although there were several bits I enjoyed it never quite managed to pull me in. The animations are fantastic but they can also get very annoying, like when you're trying to use an item on something on the other side of the screen and George walks all the way over (with his 20-odd frame walkcycle), turns slowly around then shrugs with another however many frames. Great animation, but I'd rather not have to go through 30 seconds of it just to be told I can't use an item there. The puzzles are a little imbalanced; they're mostly pretty easy (though unfortunately a lot of 'talk to everyone about all the topics and items'), but there are one or two tough ones. The story's reasonably well written if you pay attention to it.

I think largopredator's right in that its a game you should play when you're in the right mood, but its also a game that focuses more on dialogue and story than puzzle solving. Its probably worth sticking with it, but maybe not if you have something better to play. Oh, and make sure you save fairly regularly, because there are a couple of places you can get killed.

[Play_Pretend]

I think it was mostly when I'd be talking to the reporter girl, or to the guy that catches you coming out of the sewers, and I'd realize my eyes were drifting all over my computer room and not even watching the screen any more.  Even on some less-than-fascinating games I'd never completely stopped looking at the computer before.   I'm a hard guy to disinterest.

As far as the story goes, I think the whole thing with "No, really, I saw a clown plant the bomb." not interesting the police very much, when you're one of the two surviving witnesses, was just way too implausible.  I couldn't tell if they were trying to play more towards comedy with the sergeant being like Inspector Clouseau, and they were just comically inept cops, or if the writers really had that much of a problem making the plot they had in mind fit with reality.  I also wondered at "If the explosion blew apart the cafe, threw the man ten feet and killed him, why does the waitress not have a scratch on her besides being in mild shock?"  Maybe it's part of the secret as to why that undamaged bottle is on the bar that I just haven't gotten to yet, maybe just bad writing.

Does that stuff with, say, lying to the waitress about being a doctor, giving her the drink she wants, etc., ever come back to haunt you?  Does it actually culminate in anything besides a couple casual comments from the sergeant, or was it as pointless as it seemed?

[hedgefield]

Does that stuff with, say, lying to the waitress about being a doctor, giving her the drink she wants, etc., ever come back to haunt you?

No.

It changes the way the inspector reacts to you during the interrogation, but it doesn't hamper you from continuing with the game. It never comes up again after that.

[LimpingFish]

I've never been that much of a Broken Sword fan. The character of George Stobart just doesn't appeal to me. I know he's supposed to embody some sort of Everyman archetype, but I just don't enjoy inhabiting the fellow. Dropping dogs in water, and matching wits with a tethered goat just don't appeal to me.

On the whole, Shadow of the Templars is a mixed bag. The Smoking Mirror, on the other hand, is tedious almost from the get go.

[Alarconte]

I loved broken sword 1, I played it in his year, And you need to think than every game fit in this time to say its bad or good. Indiana Jones and the fate of atlantis in his time, a time more Innocent, was INCREDIBLE. If indiana jones and the fate of atlantis never existed, and somebody did it today, the impression is different. The game could be good, but is less Incredible.

'bout Broken Sword, Yes, Is conversational extensive, and yes, the dialog Normally not change much about the game, AS the 90% of the graphical adventures in existence. My personal opinion is that you haven't played enougth, The player goes to a lot of nations and have a lot of object-puzzle and a really good inmersive plot. In Paris you don't get idea of the plot...

[Rincewind]

I must say I actually like the first Broken Sword very much. Agreed, Stobbart isn't much of a character, but there is just something very enjoyable about the game, I find. The atmosphere, the story, the graphics, the voices, the music, etc...
Broken Sword 2 is a bit so-and-so, plot-wise, but still fun. Broken Sword 3 and 4, however... Well, that's a different story. Things just went out of hand from there, methinks, and not just beacuse of the graphics.
On the whole, I do prefer Gabriel Knight, though, yes.

[radiowaves]

I have never been a true fan of BS, story is just.. odd fantasy... Too childish in my opinion.
In fact, most of the good games are. The longest Journey is just a big joke - just a commercial effort to increase sells by including every story genre there is out there... sci-fi, fantasy, medieval,  etc... UGH, what a mess! Purists like me want to puke on that.

But GFX is really good though.

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

I never had a problem with the Broken Sword series or George Stobbart's character until the 3d renditions where they started turning him into some kind of Indiana Jones clone.  The last two games in particular try to establish him as some kind of an action hero rather than the more down to earth character he was in the previous installments.  I don't mind character 'evolution' as long as it makes sense, but there's really no pretext for this transformation aside from 'it's 3d and kids have no attention span these days, so let's add action elements'.  I can't remember any stand out puzzles that pissed me off in the series, and that's usually a good sign.

[[Cameron]]

When BS1 first came out Dad bought it and I had myself a little play... that clown at the start freaked the piss out of me. I dont think I've ever actually finished the first one, but I have finished the second, and the third. The 4th one just felt like a whole new level of bland though. On the whole, I do really prefer GK, though I think Broken Sword can still hold it's own.

[Snarky]

The longest Journey is just a big joke - just a commercial effort to increase sells by including every story genre there is out there... sci-fi, fantasy, medieval,  etc... UGH, what a mess! Purists like me want to puke on that.

Just want to say that I think genre "purism" has about as much merit as arguments for "racial purity"; i.e. none. Sci-fi and fantasy (like all pulp genres) have been miscegenated from their very beginning, and TLJ is just a latter-day example of a tradition that goes back to Edgar Rice Burroughs and beyond. You're free to put as many restrictions as you want on what you personally enjoy, but don't kid yourself into thinking you're protecting the "purity" of something that was never pure in the first place.

As for Broken Sword, it's been many years since I played it, and I don't remember much. It clearly didn't make as deep an impression as the LucasArts or Sierra games (or the Tex Murphy series, Beneath a Steel Sky, The Riddle of Master Lu, and a handful of other excellent titles), but what I do remember is mainly positive. Some people seem very concerned about whether certain plot twists and puzzles are meant "seriously". Would it help if someone just said, "No, they're tongue-in-cheek"?

[LimpingFish]

The Broken Sword games (the first two) claim to be cinematic, yet most dialog exchanges take place in a most un-cinematic way; the converstation between George and the retired police officer outside the cafe in The Smoking Mirror is indicative of how the games handle conversations, as you trudge through the exchanges between the two. Most conversations in the games are just too damn long, and take place between not very interesting characters. I just found myself yawning amid all the exposition.

The Broken Sword games are considered prime examples of the adventure genre, because seventy five percent of all other "modern" (post 1997, or there abouts) adventure games are terrible.

For a genre that has a relatively low rate of releases (compared to, say, FPS games were the percentage of quality vs quantity is to be expected) the overall quality of commercial adventures is incredibly poor.

Oh, The Longest Journey...Can't stand it. I recognize it's technical merits, and it's scope, but, imho, it's a severely bloated treatment of a not-very-interesting-anyway kind of story.

[Snarky]

The Broken Sword games are considered prime examples of the adventure genre, because seventy five percent of all other "modern" (post 1997, or there abouts) adventure games are terrible.

I don't think that explanation makes sense, though. Broken Sword came out the same year as The Pandora Directive, Discworld II, LSL7, and Bad Mojo, and only a year after The Dig. It predates Curse of Monkey Island. I would argue that it belongs more to the tail end of the "golden age" of graphic adventures than to the following dearth of quality games.

[LimpingFish]

Good point. It's hard to pinpoint exactly when the sheen was taken off the commercial adventure, but I'd hazard a guess at between '97 and '99. I still hold to the theory that a number of "great" adventure games, that were released around that period, have artificially gained such reverence simply because they were the best of a bad bunch.

I find the two "classic" Broken Sword games to be average examples of the genre, whose apparent quality is somewhat elevated by their presentation.

[radiowaves]

The longest Journey is just a big joke - just a commercial effort to increase sells by including every story genre there is out there... sci-fi, fantasy, medieval,  etc... UGH, what a mess! Purists like me want to puke on that.

Just want to say that I think genre "purism" has about as much merit as arguments for "racial purity"; i.e. none. Sci-fi and fantasy (like all pulp genres) have been miscegenated from their very beginning, and TLJ is just a latter-day example of a tradition that goes back to Edgar Rice Burroughs and beyond. You're free to put as many restrictions as you want on what you personally enjoy, but don't kid yourself into thinking you're protecting the "purity" of something that was never pure in the first place.

What exactly do you mean?

The reason why SF hasn't been pure is merely because of the types of BS!
Oh, are you talking about the old days eh? The times when Captain Nemo ruled the world? Well, those days are over, and it was sort of science fiction in those days, you know. Although Asimovs masterpeces can never be compared to such pieces.

[Stupot]

Wow, I'm surprised at how much Broken Sword bashing I've just read in this thread... I thought we liked Broken Sword here...  I certainly do.

I came across BS2 first (actually, it was the demo on the PlayStation Magazine cover CD), and I really liked it so I went out and bought them both.  I still love them... And I even enjoyed Sleeping Dragon, despite its bad rep.

I actually have a copy of Angel of Death, but I doesn't work on my computer, and aI havent got round to playing it yet.

[Grundislav]

I personally liked the Broken Sword games, although the first one will always be my favorite.  Yes, George Stobbart is sort of a vanilla character, but the first game was cool because it felt like it could actually happen in real life.

Broken Sword 2 introduced the whole supernatural thing and had a very weak ending, a trend which unfortunately continued throughout the rest of the series.  Broken Sword 3 was pretty weak, and Broken Sword 4 seemed like it was an improvement until it was apparent that it was buggy and that the ending was horrible.