Hi! I finished Nibiru a few hours ago and sat directly to write my opinion on it. I'd appreciate any feedbacks!

I enjoyed the game, generally, but not overwhelmingly...
It started out very poorly I think. Without an opening movie, nothing impressive - only some chats between Martin and his uncle.
That's weird, because usually games try to "brag" and look as impressive as they can at the beginning. That's a sickness really, since many games I know have holes in their plots as the story develops, a clear sign for a pressing dead-line, or shortage of money.
In Nibiru, it was quite the opposite, funny enough! No cut-scenes, no fancy rides, hardly any exposition to the characters...
In the beginning I didn't enjoy the game so much. I thought it was rather plain, the main character bored me, and I didn't relate to the story. However, as the game evolved - especially after the german mines - I became more and more fond of Martin and his quest.
The Mayan area was definitelly the most enjoyable - I enjoyed the puzzles and the atmosphere there.

The graphics were fine. I didn't like the animations at all though - the fact that Martin didn't run, for example, when he lights the dynamite - was really weird. Also, as I've said, hardly any movies or cut-scenes in good graphics - movies I know many gamers enjoy. I just finished Still Life, and this game pales next to it, at least movie-wise.
What I really didn't like about the game is it's lack of music. From time to time you'd hear a certain mayan flute, or some bass - but it was akward and irreleavent. I think the game would be much better off with more music and life to it.

The dialogs were so-so. Not quite as realistic as you'd expect. I also didn't like the fact that I'm not controlling the dialog at all.

The voice-overs were kinda annoying. Martin's grew on me, eventually, though I thought he lacks character. All the german-prague-frace voice overs were horribly done I think. They were sooooo exaggerated.The "bad guys" sounded as though they're chocking on their accents.
Also, there were some very strange, out of place accents along the game, such as that begger behind the hotel in France, who had an irish (I think!) accent or something. Whatever it was - it was definitelly not French! It doesn't make sense that every person Martin encounters in Mexico, French and Germany knows Enligh by heart!
If you'd ask me, I'd rather have all the characters who are not English (or American), and don't know English, speak their own native tounge, and to either have subtitles if Martin understands the language, or have nothing if he doesn't (and obviously find an alternative way of getting information needed). If you, as a player, do understand, it just adds...
In Gabriel Knight 2, for example, there are people who hardly know English, and therefore they speak half English-half German (like that meat-seller on the main street, or the priest in the church in Rittersberg). I know it's poetic license and all, but it wrecks the immersion for me.

The puzzles were good enough for their kind, but nothing too impressive. All the puzzles were very focused and not original. Whether it was sliders you need to move to make way for a golden slider (a game I liked to play when I was little), or matching coloumns of colors on a circlish pattern - it all seemed random, like they just googled for puzzles and found some ideas. One exception would be the mayan numbers puzzle, which was nice:
That's the exact opposite from puzzles I really adore, that are integral with the plot and story of the game. Examples are of course most of the Mysts (especially 2 and 4), and also Gabriel Knight 3 (Le Serpent Rouge puzzles), and of course many more.
The inventory-based puzzles were fine, but I never really liked the whole inventory concept. A few itmes are fine, but I always found it a bit silly that you can pick up anything you see and put it in your pocket.

The lack of freedom in the game also bugged me. Rarely you have more than 2 screens to explore at a certain period. It's so much easier (and therefore less complex and less intruiging) to design a game like this - in such a linear way. It takes much more effort to build a game that enables you to visit many places at once. For example - I had a map. I always wanted to travel from a spot to another but of course I can't cause "I better look around smoe more". This also makes it very hard to not use hints when you're stuck, because when you're stuck looking for a safe code or something, you have nothing else to do, to "clear your mind in". Also, it makes the puzzle itself obviously a lot easier, because you know the answer lies just around you, and I don't consider this an adventage.

I'd give it 7/10.
Thanks for reading, maybe it helps someone
And thanks for the guys who helped me on the hints forum!

Tomer.

Thanks for letting us know how you liked the game. Good review!

Ana

Thanks Tomer. That one is in my "one the computer waiting to be played" pile

Tomer nice review.

Thanks Tomer for your interesting review!

I really liked the game myself - I do prefer games weighted with inventory type puzzles (I don't mind about the ridiculousness of what's carried around - I call it artistic license ) but if the game includes other types of puzzles I prefer THEM to be in context & logical & I don't like too many!! The only thing that spoilt the game for me was the ending - I found it very disappointing! Up until then I found the story very engaging - for me the story is the driving force!

But, I really enjoyed & found it enlightening reading an opinion of the game from someone looking at it from a different point of view!

No need to bow, I'm happy you enjoyed it

And yeah, when I said "poetic license" I meant "artistic license". I agree it's legitimate, but I still find it rather pointless.
In any case you end up trying all of your inventory items on all the hot spots when you're stuck - what's that supposed to prove?

That's why I'm glad there are a wide variety of adventure game types. Something for all of us

Nice review! I agree that Martin's character doesn't "jump off the screen" at first, but as you spend time with him, you grow to like him.

I liked the Prague environments a lot. Some of the accents were of the "how Hollywood thinks Europeans talk" type.

Why can't an Irish begger see the sites and travel through Europe?

Well, I guess she can... I just wonder whether that was the purpose

They probably just wanted to give the begger a distinctive "voice" and didn't think too hard about the circumstances.

I also remember a mysterious blonde man in black who shows up for a brief time (I think in a warehouse) and then you never see him again. I wondered about that too.

I just began playing this game today...interesting to see this review. So far I really like the game because it's really a kind of game I like. I also enjoy inventory puzzles. Tomer: did you find the inventory puzzles logical or did you often end up trying all your inventory items on the hot spots?

I have just stopped playing this game right now, because a certain puzzle buffled me and kind of shocked me to be honest...it was there when so there I got stuck. I really did not know what to do and had to look the walkthrough. I did what was told in the walkthrough but saw no sense in it at all! Any comments on this are welcome and any explanations helpful as I did like the game until now, but now I am not sure I'll finish it.

Jedi -- you are not the only person shocked by that particular part of the game. There is nothing else in the game like that, as far as I remember -- though the end (though not involving innocent rats!).

Thanks Becky for your reply. I am still left with a bitter taste in my mouth after that puzzle, so I sort of dislike the game now because of that...anyway I think I'll finish it anyway. However

Jedi -- it's been a long time since I played this one, but I remember thinking

Hi Becky, yes I thought about the the position being important too, even though. Anyway very weird puzzle! Makes you wonder what they were thinking when they made it! hehe

Hi, I liked the game and as I remember though I don't remember whether it was said in the game or I read it in a walkthrough, cause I was stuck there for some time too

Hi

Understanding the way the mind of a developer works can be a very frustrating affair so I gave up on that many years ago

When I play a game, I try everything conceivable or not conceivable that I can think of to solve the puzzles .... and sometimes I get lucky .... but I nearly always enjoy myself hugely

EDIT :
Forgot to say thank you for the review, Tomer, on me !!

Cheers.

Mad

Jedi, I'm sorry for not responding, I haven't read this topic for a while.
You asked me whether I thought the inventory puzzles made sense or not. I guess most of them did, but not in a terribly obvious way. There were many moment of "ah yeah, makes sense that works", but still, I remember other moments I thought other ideas could work as well.
I'm not a big fan of inventory puzzles anyway, but that's really my own taste. I have no problem with a nice, clean inventory, without junk and weird things. It makes much more sense to me that the character would carry a few important items such as a notebook, a knife, and some artifacts of course (but he has to have a bag, or some other exuse for carrying everything! otherwise it just looks bad in my eyes).

And you guys are most welcome for the interview - I wanted to post it and share my thoughts!

That puzzle was probably the most illogical one I ever had to do. I still don't get why it was there at all, even though the notion that does make sense, somehow. But I would have never thought of that myself; I didn't even solve this puzzle myself because it was so over the top that I didn't think of it and had to consult a walkthrough.

By the way, what did you guys think of the ending? It's been a while since I played the game but I remember that the ending has left me puzzled and confused and, yes, a little angry because there were many questions left unanswered (as in Black Mirror). Overall, I thought the story was a bit thin; it did sound interesting but I would have liked more background information on the 12th planet.
Another thing: Did your copies feature a swastika in the tunnels? Because mine (German) didn't - for some reason or other it was censored or rather replaced by another symbol which I found quite confusing. After all, these were Nazi tunnels, right? But maybe they had to change it for the German market - Germans and Austrians still tend to react when it comes to Nazis

Jehane - my version *did* have swqastikas in the mines, and also:
.
Funny they didn't include that on your version!

As I said, it's probably because I own the German version and Germany (Austria as well) is pretty strict as far as swastikas are concerned. Also, Germany is exceptionally strict when it comes to censoring games and movies - especially games that are meant for a younger audience. Currently, they have a heated debate going on in Germany whether or not to prohibit "killer games" (= first person shooters). Also, you won't find certain zombie movies in Germany - at least not in an uncut version, and if you want to play certain ego-shooters, people/zombies are frequently substituted by robots/aliens/monsters. Instead of red blood, you get green or black blood and so on.

So I think these restrictions might be a reason why the swastikas in the German version of NiBiRu were omitted - after all, this is a game suitable for ages 12 and up (it say so on the box) and God forbid that the kids would take a look at a swastika, they might just turn into Nazis just like everybody playing shooter games turns into a killer *irony off* No, I don't like Germany's system of censorship but on the other hand, I don't live there

Jehane, I think we had this discussion a while back when the game first came out.

Well, I think that's pretty much an example for how laws act without almost any logic.
It's not the mere existence of the symbol that threatens the youth, but the values behind it. Censorship is probably the worst way to deal with these traumas - it just gives one the need and urge to rebel against it.

Tomer, that may well be true, but that is outside the scope of this forum.

Let's get back to the game.