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I've recently gone through the Dragon Lore series of adventure games, which only consists of two titles. From what I had heard, they were very forgettable games, and that is most definitely true of the original, Dragon Lore: The Legend Begins. Bland characters and puzzles made for a uninteresting adventure. But the sequel, it tried a lot. Too much. The sequel, Dragon Lore II: The Heart of the Dragon Man, added so many systems that it's more of a point and click adventure/RPG game hybrid. Unfortunately, all those systems just hampered the experience and turned what would be an alright game into a frustrating one. I go much more in depth in these videos I made, especially the Dragon Lore II video.

If you've played either of these games, what did you think of them?

I recently made a video discussing my worries about the sustainability regarding game development, using Cuphead and Brigador as examples. The main worries being the budgets of games, the health dangers of "crunch", and the lack of visibility for games leading to failure. I was wondering how prevalent these problems exist specifically in the Adventure Game Industry. I think I have a decent idea about visibility, where outside of a dedicated adventure game fanbase games are mostly hidden, except for the few times one can break into the mainstream. But how are the budgets and work environment for adventure games? If there are other issues that I didn't bring up, feel free to bring it up, I'd appreciate learning more about it.

I always like hearing people's thoughts on games I've recently finished, and this time it's Noctropolis(1994)! I played through the updated Night Dive Studios version, so as far as bugs or anything, it worked great. The game itself, it had an interesting idea, entering a comic book world to become a super hero, but it kind of squanders that. There is so much reliance on shock with the sex, violence, and stereotypes that it became silly for me. I had some laughs playing, so I guess it was mostly worth it. It just feels like it didn't get to cover all the ground it wanted to, as (without spoiling anything) it just kind of quickly wraps itself up. The difficulty was surprisingly easy since you just had to use items on the right screen and it would automatically use it on the right thing, making death mostly not a problem. Overall, it was cheesy, one that straddled humorously and eye rolling frequently.

What are your thoughts on the game? I made a video detailing my experience with the game:
(Note: The game does have scenes of explicit nudity, which I do block out, but for story content, I will put a NSFW warning for the video.)

I just recently played through Flight of the Amazon Queen(1995), and I was somewhat disappointed. I felt like the puzzles were mostly check-list fare that doesn't really add anything to the characters or world. There are some funny moments, especially the gorilla(oh that gorilla...). The game is freeware now, so I at least I didn't waste money on it. I made a video detailing my experience with the game:

I was wondering how others felt about this game? I feel like there's parts of the game that can make it enjoyable, the occasional odd story beats being one aspect, but for me it dragged on for far too long in addition to some puzzles I stumbled upon the solution instead of actually figuring it out.

I was looking through the adventure game section of the Steam store and I came across Spud!, an adventure game from 1996. This was one of the weirdest adventure game's I've ever played! It frames itself as a kid's game with a Christmas theme and child protagonist, but that couldn't be farther from the truth! Violence, reindeer nudity, and more, this game was certainly a trip going in blind! I feel like it's a game that should've been one of those cult classics just due to how bonkers it is in parts. The puzzles are pretty simple, but it works. The main problem is how juvenile the game is, especially with the insensitive jokes and offensive stereotypes that are in parts, and I guess that could be a reason for it being forgotten to time. Does anyone else remember this game?
If you want a video to see it in action, I made a review showing the most interesting parts:

I recently was playing through Resident Evil REmake and never realized how much inspiration it took from point n' click adventure games. Rather than surviving attacks from zombies, you spend most of the game solving item-based puzzles to access more areas of the mansion, which leads to more puzzles. Unfortunately, it uses these mechanics poorly, which I explain more in-depth in a video I made:

But it got me thinking: what games have you played that took surprising amounts of inspiration from adventure games(whether it's mechanics, design, etc.) for better or for worse?

    After playing through Thimbleweed Park, I started thinking about what makes adventure games special. I thought about it for a while and I settled on their puzzles and how they strengthen the game as a whole. It was strange as most of my experience with adventure games is with a walkthrough, which kinds of defeats the purpose of having puzzles. After analyzing the game and how its puzzle design makes it that you can solve it on your own(for the most part), it really made me appreciate the puzzles in adventure games. I go more in-depth in a video I made on youtube: (Spoilers)UT:Thimbleweed Park and the Specialty of Adventure Games(Spoilers for Thimbleweed Park!)
    Outside of that, I was wondering what other people think makes adventure games unique from other genres. Is it how they play, their design, their stories and characters, or something else?