Broken Sword (for DS and Wii)

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

The closeup scenes (especially in the new parts) look very amateurish, like someone made the characters like cardboard cutouts to slide around on flash scenes.  They're not on par at all with the original animation work done for the game (like the cutscene at the restaraunt) and the difference is pretty obvious.

Also, the game suffers from what I am now calling Casual Gamer Syndrome (tm).  They saddle you with not one but two slide puzzles right beside each other and right after that you get two safe tumbler games.  

What is really interesting to me about the whole Director's Cut is it presents us with a clear view of the change in times and approach to puzzles, because the puzzles in the added content simply do not measure up to the rest of the game and are just simplistic, trial-and-error affairs or unimaginative combo puzzles where all the items you need are in and around the area you are at.

[magintz]

Even from the wii version?

That sucks.

Well I've only played the DS version. Yea kinda a big disappointment, but the new puzzles and story make up for it a little, but as ProgZ says it is geared more towards a casual gaming market. I'll not complain too much as any DS point and click adventure is okay in my books. Let's hope we do see a return in them and perhaps accept that the genre has changed.

[midasmax]

Yes, I think that it's indeed sad, and rather inappropriate, that Adventure Games are being classified under this "casual games" category.

If anything, Adventure Games like Gabriel Knight, Broken Sword and The Dig are Epic masterpieces in terms of story, ingenuity, dialogue and gameplay compared to the so called "hardcore" titles that you see nowadays which, sadly, have begun shifting to towards shoot-em-ups and spinoffs of shoot-em-ups.

I still lay hope to the belief that Adventure Games will soon be able to re-establish itself as a great genre. It's amazing how many people whom I've attempted to introduce Adventure Games to just can't seem to get around the idea that you'll have to investigate, talk to people, pick up items and work out small solutions to small problems in order to progress.

Rather, with nothing to blow up, they seem to get pretty lost.

[Al_Ninio]

There was also a GBA port of this game, minus the new DS part.
It was alright, I suppose. I'm not a huge Broken Sword fan but I enjoyed it for what it was - an adventure game I can take along for a ride.
There's also a Syberia port for the DS, haven't tried it yet though.
The DS has some nice exclusive adventure games - nothing amazing, but Touch Detective and Hotel Dusk are decent.

[blueskirt]

What is really interesting to me about the whole Director's Cut is it presents us with a clear view of the change in times and approach to puzzles, because the puzzles in the added content simply do not measure up to the rest of the game and are just simplistic, trial-and-error affairs or unimaginative combo puzzles where all the items you need are in and around the area you are at.

But how are the rest of the puzzles? Are they like the originals? If they are, how do they suppose the casual audience with deal with this abrupt change from casual puzzles to hardcore puzzles?

It seems like the casual gaming industry will have to stop a second and think twice about the concept of casual gaming. Because it seems to me that there are two kind of casual gamers:
There is the inept player, raised on easy and simple games like Bejeweled, The Sims, Diner Dash, Mystery Case Files and their clones,
And there is the former hardcore gamer, who used to spend 50+ hours a week gaming but realised one day that they had spouse, job, kids and no more time to play games.

And that's two completly different public, the first one want simple and easy games, while the second one want challenging or intense games but in shorter dose, with shorter levels, less time wasting activity like grinding experience or without having to explore 11 separate dungeons to find 11 sacred crystals. And I think most adventure gamers fall in the second category. But with all this bad mouthing about puzzles in general coming from the adventure community, I could be wrong.

Yes, I think that it's indeed sad, and rather inappropriate, that Adventure Games are being classified under this "casual games" category.

I wholeheartedly agree. Old adventure games may be slow paced and not require manual dexterity, but they were none the less hardcore games, without a walkthrough you could easily play a single adventure game for weeks. I'd challenge any hardcore gamers nowaday to finish an old adventure game without a walkthrough and tell us whether these old games were casual. The sole old school adventure game that could be considered casual is Loom, with its easy puzzles and an average of 8 hours of gameplay.

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

because the puzzles in the added content simply do not measure up to the rest of the game

IE, the rest of the game is unchanged aside from the new interface, which does admittedly make it somewhat easier since moving the stylus around creates highlight areas that show you pretty much everything in the room.  I'm not crazy about the new interface either to be honest.  I think a regular verbcoin would have worked much better than the hybrid weird verbcoin they made for it, where you have to click on specific areas (areas that CAN be interacted with) for it to show up and then it only shows actions possible.  It greatly narrows down the interactivity of hotspots in the game only to what is immediately useful, but this seems another casualty of Casual Gamer Syndrome.

[LimpingFish]

Bought Flower, Sun and Rain today.

Box blurb highlights that it's a "Seek and Find adventure!". A sneaky sideways lure to fans of Mystery Case Files?

Instead, it's more surreal weirdness from Suda 51.

[magintz]

But how are the rest of the puzzles? Are they like the originals? If they are, how do they suppose the casual audience with deal with this abrupt change from casual puzzles to hardcore puzzles?

Well the interface definitely is helpful to the casual gamer, less hotspots and the hotspots are all clearly visible on screen just by moving the stylus around (they animate when the stylus gets close) and with the context sensitive menu the puzzles never get that difficult (although I have done them all before).

[ManicMatt]

Is Flower, Sun and Rain any good? If I hated and was weirded out by Killer 7, I get the feeling it isn't a game for me.

Syberia on the DS? Cool! Already played it so no point, mind..

Tunguska Secret files was virtually the same as the PC version, I believe, minus the voice acting. I enjoyed it! Better than the last Broken Sword on the PC..  :o

[LimpingFish]

Flower, Sun and Rain is good, but it's a very acquired taste.

The story and dialogue is fine, but the puzzles are all number-based. It's a matter of figuring what the question is, rather than figuring out the answer, for most puzzles. And that, largely, is it for the puzzle side of things.

But to then discover the various number-based answers, you have to talk to people, read through the hotel guidebook (fifty pages+), and generally find areas and objects in and around the hotel that trigger the main character's "jack-in" ability.

It's all very post-modern, game-within-a-game type stuff, and by no means straightforward.

But it's original, and I'd recommend it over a lazy retread of a 13 year-old PC game.

Syberia and Tunguska on the DS are just shovelware ports, and pointless if you've played the originals.

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

I finished the DS Broken Sword and it tries (haphazardly) to explain why the events in the prequel exist NOW rather than in the original release, because Nico makes a sudden vow not to tell George.  It works if you believe that after all they go through Nico doesn't feel close enough to trust George with secrets about her father and it fails if, like me, you don't buy the one line excuse given.  Overall, the new material only adds annoying stylus puzzles and made the game less enjoyable, since I've got better things to do with my brain than do slide puzzles and rotate locks around.  Some genuine brain-strainers would've been nice.

[magintz]

Sounds like it's more annoying box sliding puzzles from Broken Sword 3. I haven't progressed much further. The lack of voice acting and the poor character portraits has really been putting me off. I have to say that upon playing further this isn't as good as I'd first hoped.

Shame.