OK, the idea behind click and save games is you've got to switch around objects with characters in order to get to the next part of them game, right? Well, I think it sometimes gets a little ridiculous!
Take Longest Journey. There's a section where April has to get to the old theatre to see Cortez. But no one's at the box office. So she has to get the garage entrance open. Then she has to create a diversion so that the stupid son of the owners keeps the back entrance to the theatre open, and she can walk in.
Come on! Why didn't they just have someone at the box office. Then she'd use her card and get in to the theatre. Or else, she could have done some other activities, then gone back to the theatre later in the game!
Any of you have thoughts on this subject?

i hated the whole game - that's why i'll trade it.the death point for me wasn't trying to get into the theater ,but how she got rid of the detective...

Whats wrong with the theatre section of the game, it was good. Better and more entertaining that just walking in straight away. Little challenges like this is what makes adventure games so fun. For the majority anyhow.

Btw @ Niteowl07, you a niteowl with alan on metro radio. I used to be one too awhile ago.

Hi Douglas

If you are expecting that the majority of adventure games be logical then you will be sorely disappointed

Some of the "Classics" from the glory days of adventure games had the most illogical puzzles known to man

Cheers and

Isn't it amazing how people will love a game, hate it or just not care one way or the other?
I liked the game a lot......loved finding a use for Guy. I didn't mind all of the conversation or being side tracked by clues. When I played the game, I'd never even seen a walkthrough or heard of gaming forums and to be honest, I didn't know I could die in a game. I simply enjoyed poking around and borrowing things when I could.
It was a learning experience for me and hopefully I'll remember what I did learn.

Sue

I really love The Longest Journey, in fact I have it on my computer again to play and am expecting Dreamfall, which actually is The Longest Journey 2 and I should get it in just a few days. I think a few people just don't have the patience for these games, me I love them. Sorry Douglas. Have a Happy Easter.

Maggie

It's what's known as a puzzle. If you don't like them, you're playing the wrong kind of game. The puzzle you described is pretty typical for 3rd person adventure games. You need to get in somewhere. You're blocked from getting in by the normal routes. So you have to be creative and find some other solution, often doing things you'd never do in real life. Success is often rewarded by an amusing cut scene.

Sometimes I like'em that way and sometimes I don't. Guess it depends on the mood I'M in. Lately I've been in the "don't" category.

The first puzzle I remember that was really illogical to me was after getting into the Clock Tower in MYST (my first game) and having to pull the chains to get a certain number to come up. I was stuck for a week on that one and even charted out all the possible combinations before I discovered, by accident, why logic didn't work. I think it prepared me for illogical puzzles in future games.

I like that kind of puzzle as long as it can be logically solved. I don't like puzzles that make me revisit the same places I've been to 10 times already because the solution is so obscure. That's one of the reasons I prefer 3rd person. I loved TLJ and thought the puzzles were fair.

Melanie

I don't remember that particular puzzle as being illogical. You know the number you're shooting for. You experiment with the machine to see how it operates to get different numbers to come up. You observe what you do to get one number to change, to get two numbers to change, etc. Where wasn't it logical?

my only objection to the game was not enough puzzles - it was like the cut-scenes controlled everything as far as moving on.i never never ever would have thought of the detective thing - i had to use the walkthrough and remembered thinking "my sense of humor just left ". and it is odd how everyone likes different things- i play to try and sharpen my mind by thinking in different ways - i thought the theater part was really fun - kinda like coming home from college with no key, unexpectedly , and no one home !

Okay, I liked the game, but that doesn't mean I have to like every puzzle in the game. I remember that box office only too well. I thought that was the way to go since I had the card. I figured there was just something I had to do first before the box office would open. Sometimes just walking out of a scene and into another scene or two and then walking back will move things along and the box office would be open. Or maybe I had to do something else that would trigger the opening of that box office. Finally the thing I personally had to do, was go to the walkthrough! Once I was pushed away from box-office-thinking, I was able to figure out the hat trick for the shadow and some of the rest. I think the box office was there to deliberately trap one! Is that fair? Oh sure, in adventure games it is, I reckon. Anyway, I can certainly empathize with Doug's frustration over that puzzle. I'm sure everybody has felt exactly that same way over different puzzles in different games. Be honest, haven't you?

I'm not a fan of those types of puzzles either, in particular when they get really complex - need key from guy who needs water. To get water need to talk to girl who shows you a well, but now you need a bucket, etc..
It's not even a matter of lateral thinking, because those types of puzzles can be fun. If I knew that I had exhausted all the conversations, and found all the items I need, then I could apply myself to come up with a solution, however goofy it may sound. The problem is that you never really know if you've got every bit of information, and often you try to solve the puzzle without a vital clue. I tend to use hints and WTs in these situations, to avoid the frustration of resorting to try all items on everyone and everything and to ease the boredom of having to retrace your steps multiple times.
Some games do make it easier by refusing progression until all the tasks are done. Then you know for sure that you missed something.
I much prefer puzzles other than the inventory/dialogue kind.
I played TLJ early on in my gaming career, and managed very little of it without hints. I'd probably do better now, but knowing my preferences, I wouldn't be as likely to buy it now.

Exactly!

Rusty

OMG.................Douglas Bregger


That Game I thought was the BEST

Have some patience Also


Darleen

see ? everyone's taste is different ! and so are the puzzles we like - runaway was a good one for off the wall stuff ,yet i played it almost non - stop. tlj was a chore for me to finish - maybe it depends on where our "heads" are when we are playing a game ?? agree about patience for sure !

Hey, don't get me wrong. I loved TLJ! I just felt that the theatre section was a bit silly, that's all.

One of my most favorite, Mad, was in Tony Tough where you had to freeze a worm to use in a keyhole so the door would open...

TLJ=One of the best games ever.

you're right ,jenny - how could i forget the worm !!

Hi Jenny

A good example !!

That is why call them Adventure Games they want you to have challenges to complete puzzles, and make you think what can I do next to get this to level of the game. I have played some time sequences puzzles that would drive any sane person up the wall and had a couple puzzles that I have played for days before I got it. Then think of all the stupid things I tried to get it right. And when it works it is such a pleasure. It they where too easy your game time would be short. Besides I think writers love to challenge players to see what they can do to make us really go crazy.

Huh??...Puzzle is something really fun,TLJ is good game..try t'be more patience t' solving any puzzle, I like any puzzle in any adventure games,that's what we find inside adventure game,is part of the game, I love t'try solve the prolems 'till my brain melted...(it's melt already,real stuck, I contact game hints forum..hehehe)

I'm playing one of those frustrating games now, Scratches. Absolutely nothing that should work to solve the puzzles seems to. I like the puzzles that you have to do a million things to solve them better than the puzzles where you don't even get a clue as to what to do next. I guess it's one of the reasons I like third person games. Wamdering around the same place endlessly in silence is not for me.

I always felt like a solution would come to me in TLJ or in Runaway for that matter, but this game reminds me of the myst games only with a smaller territory to cover. I could use a game mate on this one.

Melanie

I just love playing pc games. Even the frustrating ones have redeeming qualities because they are a challange and they are a new experience.
The object of any game for me is the pleasure and fun of taking me into a fanatsy or magical or spooky environment that challanges my mind and spirit! I do it to have fun and be entertained!