This game is bad

[Tiggum]

I'll admit up front that I've only played the demo, but the issues that are preventing me from buying the game are all pretty apparent and unlikely to be significantly different in the rest of the game.

The biggest thing is the "puzzle" design, for want of a better term. Need to buy a newspaper from a vending machine? OK, use machine. Nope, you need money! OK, get wallet from inventory and use it on the machine. Haha, this machine takes credit cards, not wallets! You actually have to get your credit card out of your wallet and use it on the machine. This isn't a puzzle, it doesn't add anything to the game other than frustration.

And this is far from the only example of needlessly tedious gameplay. Need to search a filing cabinet for a specific file? Well, it could be one click, since your character knows exactly which file he wants, but how about instead you make the player search each of the four drawers separately and type in the name of the file each time?

Need to open a locked door to which you have the key? Well, get the key out of your inventory, because otherwise your braindead character will just keep trying to open the door without unlocking it.

Need to open or shut a valve? Your character needs to be told which way to turn it every. single. time.

Then there's the way the characters behave in completely bizarre and unrealistic ways. The train you're on suddenly stops for some reason, so you force the doors open and walk off into a pitch black subway tunnel instead of just waiting for the problem to be fixed. No sane human behaves this way.

Or how about this: You're a detective on the scene of an explosion. An employee at the building tells you someone's trapped inside. Do you call an ambulance? The fire department? Of course not, just break in and check if there really is anyone in there first.

Add some awkward, unnatural dialogue, an interface that's constantly just slightly frustrating and (at least in the demo) some puzzles where it's never made clear what you're actually trying to accomplish or why until you stumble on the solution, and you have a recipe for a game that's not quite bad enough to make you quit in frustration, but isn't actually fun at all.

[aidanreynolds]

I like it so far. I've only played the introductions to the four characters. The mainframe hacking puzzle was very well done I thought but I didn't like the Anna and the monster puzzle, timed puzzles in adventure games are a bad idead imo.

I found it a bit off putting to begin with that a lot of the speech bubbles are not accompanied by a voice over but I can get over that.

Other minor annoyances are AGS related, like not being able to set my native resolution and the mouse feeling sluggish or something, not as responsive as it should be.

But the story is intriguing so far.

[Thegreenthing16]

All true adventure games are tedious and frustrating, that's part of the gameplay style.

[disastar]

I'll admit up front that I've only played the demo, but the issues that are preventing me from buying the game are all pretty apparent and unlikely to be significantly different in the rest of the game.

The biggest thing is the "puzzle" design, for want of a better term. Need to buy a newspaper from a vending machine? OK, use machine. Nope, you need money! OK, get wallet from inventory and use it on the machine. Haha, this machine takes credit cards, not wallets! You actually have to get your credit card out of your wallet and use it on the machine. This isn't a puzzle, it doesn't add anything to the game other than frustration.

And this is far from the only example of needlessly tedious gameplay. Need to search a filing cabinet for a specific file? Well, it could be one click, since your character knows exactly which file he wants, but how about instead you make the player search each of the four drawers separately and type in the name of the file each time?

Need to open a locked door to which you have the key? Well, get the key out of your inventory, because otherwise your braindead character will just keep trying to open the door without unlocking it.

Need to open or shut a valve? Your character needs to be told which way to turn it every. single. time.

Then there's the way the characters behave in completely bizarre and unrealistic ways. The train you're on suddenly stops for some reason, so you force the doors open and walk off into a pitch black subway tunnel instead of just waiting for the problem to be fixed. No sane human behaves this way.

Or how about this: You're a detective on the scene of an explosion. An employee at the building tells you someone's trapped inside. Do you call an ambulance? The fire department? Of course not, just break in and check if there really is anyone in there first.

Add some awkward, unnatural dialogue, an interface that's constantly just slightly frustrating and (at least in the demo) some puzzles where it's never made clear what you're actually trying to accomplish or why until you stumble on the solution, and you have a recipe for a game that's not quite bad enough to make you quit in frustration, but isn't actually fun at all.

Regarding one of your points: right clicking on objects brings up a description of that object, and often provides helpful clues. In the example of searching the file cabinet, you would have found that right click on each drawer provided the alphabetical contents of each drawer, thus saving you from guessing which drawer contained the file. The developer is trying to promote right-clicking early in the game, when the puzzles are simpler and more straightforward, in an effort to ward off your frustration later in the game. He's teaching you how to explore and create with easy examples--taking the credit card out of the wallet so that you know to carefully examine items in your inventory--etc. It's good game design. Does it add some tedium? Perhaps, but the game is very fun and the puzzles enjoyable thus far, and I highly recommend the game to people who grew up playing these types of adventure games.

If you're new to adventure games, Gemini Rue would be a better place to begin. The puzzles are a bit simpler and the story-line, graphic design, and audio production are all top-notch.

[Tiggum]

All true adventure games are tedious and frustrating, that's part of the gameplay style.

I don't even know how to respond to that. You sound like a victim of Stockholm Syndrome.



Regarding one of your points: right clicking on objects brings up a description of that object, and often provides helpful clues. In the example of searching the file cabinet, you would have found that right click on each drawer provided the alphabetical contents of each drawer, thus saving you from guessing which drawer contained the file. The developer is trying to promote right-clicking early in the game, when the puzzles are simpler and more straightforward, in an effort to ward off your frustration later in the game. He's teaching you how to explore and create with easy examples--taking the credit card out of the wallet so that you know to carefully examine items in your inventory--etc. It's good game design.

It's really not. There's no reason for such basic, mundane, busy-work non-puzzles to be in any part of the game, as tutorials or otherwise. It's not teaching you to right-click things, it's teaching you that you have to break every action down into its most basic steps even when those steps are obvious and should be automatic.


If you're new to adventure games, Gemini Rue would be a better place to begin. The puzzles are a bit simpler and the story-line, graphic design, and audio production are all top-notch.

Gemini Rue is even worse, with its tedious crate-moving puzzles and its godawful combat minigames.

If you want to see adventure games done right, try Broken Sword (just the first one, the sequels are terrible), Innocent Until Caught (again, avoid the sequel), Beneath a Steel Sky, Discworld Noir (not the first or second Discworld games though), the Blackwell games (the first one's not brilliant, but still way ahead of pretty much anything else, and the other three are great) or the Hector: Badge of Carnage series.

[nevik92]

The biggest thing is the "puzzle" design, for want of a better term. Need to buy a newspaper from a vending machine? OK, use machine. Nope, you need money! OK, get wallet from inventory and use it on the machine. Haha, this machine takes credit cards, not wallets! You actually have to get your credit card out of your wallet and use it on the machine. This isn't a puzzle, it doesn't add anything to the game other than frustration.


Well, actually you're right. It's not a puzzle. But as disastar mentioned, it introduces you to some of the gameplay-elements.
And what is frustrating about that?? I did everything almost automatic, it wasn't really a problem at all.


And this is far from the only example of needlessly tedious gameplay. Need to search a filing cabinet for a specific file? Well, it could be one click, since your character knows exactly which file he wants, but how about instead you make the player search each of the four drawers separately and type in the name of the file each time?


Disastar has also mentioned that, by rightclicking you could have solved that problem as easy as moving around.
You have played so many Point&Click Adventures and still did not looked through that mechanic...?

I think that kind of gameplay includes the player more into the game.


Need to open a locked door to which you have the key? Well, get the key out of your inventory, because otherwise your braindead character will just keep trying to open the door without unlocking it.


Nothing new in the Point&Click genre :D.


Need to open or shut a valve? Your character needs to be told which way to turn it every. single. time.


And again, I think that is to involve the player more... But I have to admit it is totally unnecessary ^^.


Then there's the way the characters behave in completely bizarre and unrealistic ways. The train you're on suddenly stops for some reason, so you force the doors open and walk off into a pitch black subway tunnel instead of just waiting for the problem to be fixed. No sane human behaves this way.

Did you understand the reason why Ed is in such a hurry? His boss wants to destroy his whole research! Ed didn't want that to happen, that's because he leaves the train...
And in addition if you have already played the full game (I doubt that ^^):
It does really makes sense in the end that he acted like that :D

Or how about this: You're a detective on the scene of an explosion. An employee at the building tells you someone's trapped inside. Do you call an ambulance? The fire department? Of course not, just break in and check if there really is anyone in there first.


Pay attention to the plot.
There was a blackout in the whole town and the detective as a matter of fact says that that's the reason why he does not call a ambulance immediately.


Add some awkward, unnatural dialogue, an interface that's constantly just slightly frustrating and (at least in the demo) some puzzles where it's never made clear what you're actually trying to accomplish or why until you stumble on the solution, and you have a recipe for a game that's not quite bad enough to make you quit in frustration, but isn't actually fun at all.

Sorry but I really don't understand you. Which dialogue was strange?
What is your problem with the interface and puzzles (none of the puzzles in the demo was too complicated...)?

To everyone else: Don't judge a game by one post against it. Try the demo if you have time and if you enjoyed it, buy it or not.
It's up to you.

In my opinion Resonance is a Point&Click with fresh ideas including the shortterm- and longterm-memory and story.

PS:If you finish the game, don't skip the credits! ;)

[Tiggum]

Well, actually you're right. It's not a puzzle. But as disastar mentioned, it introduces you to some of the gameplay-elements.
And what is frustrating about that?? I did everything almost automatic, it wasn't really a problem at all.

Essentially it's bad interface design. A good interface should be based around the principle of "do what I mean"; that is, the results of an action should be what the user expects them to be.

In that case, when the player clicks on the newspaper machine they expect the character to take out his credit card and buy a paper. That's the instruction you think you're giving, but the game doesn't see it that way.


Disastar has also mentioned that, by rightclicking you could have solved that problem as easy as moving around.

This is another example. The command you think you're giving is "search the filing cabinet for that file I need" but the game takes it as "search this specific drawer for a file to be specified".


You have played so many Point&Click Adventures and still did not looked through that mechanic...?

I'm familiar with the "right-click to inspect objects" command, there's just no intuitive reason to use it in this case.


I think that kind of gameplay includes the player more into the game.

If anything it takes you out of the game. I could go into this further, but fortunately someone else has already said it better than I could so I'll just link it: Immersion And The User Interface by Drakkos (http://drakkos.co.uk/blog/blog.c?action=filter&blog=mud%20commentary&id=456?action=filter&blog=mud%20commentary&id=456).


Nothing new in the Point&Click genre :D.

Well, that's the problem. This is a genre with huge potential but very little innovation actually going on, and even when someone does come up with a better way to do things it;s usually ignored by the other creators.


Did you understand the reason why Ed is in such a hurry? His boss wants to destroy his whole research! Ed didn't want that to happen, that's because he leaves the train...

Not sure why you're spoilering that since it happens in the opening scene, but yeah, I got that. Walking out of a stopped train into a dark subway tunnel is still stupid.


Pay attention to the plot.
There was a blackout in the whole town and the detective as a matter of fact says that that's the reason why he does not call a ambulance immediately.

Again the unnecessary spoilers. Yeah, I got that, but there's still no way an experienced police officer would go in there, or allow anyone else to until emergency services arrived.


Sorry but I really don't understand you. Which dialogue was strange?

I'm thinking mainly of the conversation on the train, since there's not a lot of actual conversation in the demo aside from that.


What is your problem with the interface and puzzles (none of the puzzles in the demo was too complicated...)?

My main issue with the interface was the slowness of it. Sometimes if you try to do things too quickly it doesn't work because the game hasn't finished the previous thing yet. And these are arbitrary times, not technical limitations.

For example, if you go to use an inventory item and accidentally click it instead of dragging it, you have to wait for a couple of seconds while the game tells you the item won't do anything on its own before you can drag the item. If you try to do it too soon it just doesn't work.

As to the puzzles, take the getting out of the train one. The character's motivation is really not clear so as a player I have no real indication of what I should be doing. As far as I could tell, the correct course of action was to wait, and the only indication that that was not what the character wanted was that nothing was happening, so obviously there must be a puzzle to solve.

In a story-based game like this, all puzzles should arise naturally out of character motivations, eg. The character wants a sandwich, so you travel to the cafe. If it's never explained that the character wants a sandwich, you have no reason to go to the cafe other than that it's the only location available to you, and that's bad design.

[nevik92]

At first sorry for the spoilers, I thought it would make sense to to so ^^.

Maybe I misinteprate it, but wouldn't a 'good' interface make games much too easy? And none current game has a bad interface like in the example of your posted link with the shoe and the thread. None is that extreme, though the newspaper-machine is of course familiar to the shoe-thread problem.

The blog entry was very informative and I get your point concerning the interface.
Again the unnecessary spoilers. Yeah, I got that, but there's still no way an experienced police officer would go in there, or allow anyone else to until emergency services arrived.
I can only guess, that he helped Ed to get in the building because he is no friend of police-rules (if you can call it like that ^^), that he is always doing things his own way, as seen in his part before the blackout.
I'm thinking mainly of the conversation on the train, since there's not a lot of actual conversation in the demo aside from that.
Mhmm... I had no problem with any dialogue, do you mean the possible approach-tries?
Yes, those were a little bit strange, still nothing ...well...uncommon?
Don't know if that word describes it best ^^.

About the slowness,
of course it may be annoying, but I had no problem with it. Maybe it's again only me who does not care about things like that.
As to the puzzles, take the getting out of the train one. The character's motivation is really not clear so as a player I have no real indication of what I should be doing. As far as I could tell, the correct course of action was to wait, and the only indication that that was not what the character wanted was that nothing was happening, so obviously there must be a puzzle to solve.

In a story-based game like this, all puzzles should arise naturally out of character motivations, eg. The character wants a sandwich, so you travel to the cafe. If it's never explained that the character wants a sandwich, you have no reason to go to the cafe other than that it's the only location available to you, and that's bad design.
I played the scene again and you are right, there is no indicator which says you to directly leave the train.
And though I felt the urge to to so...
I had in mind that Eds boss wants to destroy his research and that Ed is in a hurry because of that...

[Tiggum]

Maybe I misinteprate it, but wouldn't a 'good' interface make games much too easy?

This is (briefly) addressed in the post I linked. Adding interface complications for valid gameplay reasons is perfectly fine. It would be easier in a FPS if pressing the fire button made your character just shoot any enemies in the vicinity, but it wouldn't make for much of a game, so you have to aim first.

But to carry that example forward, it would be possible for a FPS te require you to specify exactly where you're carrying all your spare ammunition and to manually empty your gun and then select a new clip from wherever you chose to store in and put it into the gun in order to reload, but that doesn't happen because that's not fun. Your character takes care of those uninteresting but necessary bits of the action when you run out of ammunition or press the reload key, because that's all implied in the command. The game knows you want to do that, so you don't have to tell it.


And none current game has a bad interface like in the example of your posted link with the shoe and the thread. None is that extreme, though the newspaper-machine is of course familiar to the shoe-thread problem.

Honestly, I see the newspaper machine as directly analogous to the example in the blog. The exact nature of the steps is different, but it's the same unnecessary complication of what should be a simple command.


I can only guess, that he helped Ed to get in the building because he is no friend of police-rules (if you can call it like that ^^), that he is always doing things his own way, as seen in his part before the blackout.

Actually, in the pre-blackout scene he's constantly reminding his partner that this is how they do things in the police force, as opposed to the army. I got the impression that he was supposed to be fairly typical.


Mhmm... I had no problem with any dialogue, do you mean the possible approach-tries?
Yes, those were a little bit strange, still nothing ...well...uncommon?
Don't know if that word describes it best ^^.

I don't remember specifics, but I found the whole conversation awkward and unnatural.


I played the scene again and you are right, there is no indicator which says you to directly leave the train.
And though I felt the urge to to so...
I had in mind that Eds boss wants to destroy his research and that Ed is in a hurry because of that...

I never got that sense of urgency. It's not like he was going to get there all that quickly anyway, since he had to walk to the train station then get the train then walk to the lab. If his boss was going to carry through with his plan, he had plenty of time.

The only scenario that makes sense there is that Ed believes that his boss will wait for him to arrive and talk it out (or just won't actually go through with it at all).

Basically, it was important enough for him to go in on a Sunday, but not some desperate race against time.

Also, didn't Ed have a large portion of the research in his house anyway? He had his computer running calculations and all his manual working, which he seemed to think was actually proof of his boss's theory. It seems to me that he actually had the most important bits himself, there's no way his boss even could have destroyed it if he was serious about wanting to.

[nevik92]

Your FPS-example is really good. I understand that those actions, like doing everything manually , would be needless, unreasonable.


Honestly, I see the newspaper machine as directly analogous to the example in the blog. The exact nature of the steps is different, but it's the same unnecessary complication of what should be a simple command.
Well, I meant that there are any interfaces that extremly bad. In the example really every step have to be done manually. Applied to the newspaper-machine it would not only be get the credit card out of the wallet and use it with the machine, but also steps like use the credit card with the credit slot and take the bought newspaper out of the opening of the machine... you see, it could be even worse like in the example given in the blog ^^.


Actually, in the pre-blackout scene he's constantly reminding his partner that this is how they do things in the police force, as opposed to the army. I got the impression that he was supposed to be fairly typical.
He says that sometimes you have to do your own orders, maybe thats what I recognized as against-rules-behavior.

I never got that sense of urgency. It's not like he was going to get there all that quickly anyway, since he had to walk to the train station then get the train then walk to the lab. If his boss was going to carry through with his plan, he had plenty of time.
Well, he is in a big town. How else should he have gotten there ^^?


Also, didn't Ed have a large portion of the research in his house anyway? He had his computer running calculations and all his manual working, which he seemed to think was actually proof of his boss's theory. It seems to me that he actually had the most important bits himself, there's no way his boss even could have destroyed it if he was serious about wanting to.
He checked something of the theory but most of the important stuff was not at his home. I could go now deeper in the story,
what would explain one or two things, but I don't want to do this ^^.
Perhaps you'll play the game somewhen... perhaps :)

[Tiggum]

Well, he is in a big town. How else should he have gotten there ^^?

Taxi? Trains are great if you plan ahead and have time to work around the schedule, they're not great for "I need to be somewhere right now" situations, unless you happen to be extraordinarily lucky with the timing and both the start and end points of your trip are really close to stations.

And maybe it says otherwise later on in the game, but the phone call at the start definitely makes it sound like he has all the important information with him, so there's no real danger of the boss destroying it. If that's not the case, that's a badly written scene.

[nevik92]

Taxi?
Did you take a look at his 'apartment'?
Do you think he could affort something like a cab? ^^
And in a Big Town the metro might drive every 5 - 10 minutes.

I think the acuteness of Ed's voice and word choice while the phone call makes the player get the urgency to get to the professor. Ed is desperate and does not want the research to be destroyed.

Oh and still he just had something to proof on his boss theory and had not the essential data.

[Thegreenthing16]

I don't even know how to respond to that. You sound like a victim of Stockholm Syndrome.

That's putting it lightly

[Tiggum]

Did you take a look at his 'apartment'?
Do you think he could affort something like a cab?

Well, yes. Taxis aren't massively expensive on a one-off basis. I'm not saying he should take one to work every day, but in an emergency situation where time is critical it would make sense.


And in a Big Town the metro might drive every 5 - 10 minutes.

On a Sunday? And even if so, there's still the walking.


I think the acuteness of Ed's voice and word choice while the phone call makes the player get the urgency to get to the professor.

Not really. Like I said, it seemed like he felt that he had to go see him, but there was no sense of panic or anything. "Hold on, I'm coming over." rather than "♥♥♥♥, I'll be there in 10 minutes!"

[benco97]

Pretty much everything you mentioned is standard point&click adventure fare.

It comes from the days when adventure games were text only where opening a door would go like this:
>OPEN DOOR
"The door is locked"
>USE KEY ON DOOR
"You aren't holding a key"
>GET KEY
"You get the key"
>USE KEY ON DOOR
"You unlock the door"
>OPEN DOOR
"You push open the door"

Thing is, once you meet one locked door you know how to handle all other locked doors in the future, so that speeds it up.

I grew up with games like this and my all time favourite game is still "Lords of Time" by Level 9 Computing, which had a relatively poor parser!

It seems like what you're asking for is more context sensitive control of the game but too much of that can be a bad thing in itself, you don't want to find yourself skipping through the "Boring" bits where you don't do anything but walk around and pick up objects. These actions are what make those boring bits not boring otherwise we may as well just teleport from puzzle to puzzle and then the final credits, it isn't a puzzle game, it's an adventure game and part of the fun there is in being lost, in not knowing what the next step is, in experimenting.

I would propose that an optional system of context sensitivity be implemented wherein filler actions can be performed automatically, this should please most people.

[oliathsg]

This thread is hilarious.

I saw some game play videos - and thought - wow - this game looks like a classic point and click. I loved trying to figure out how to do all these little things and progress.

I'm curious if OP is just reacting badly or he has a point.
I'm here because I have the game - so i can see for myself...

EDIT:
Well i have been playing for the last....no sure how long - but been through the opening and I LOVE IT.
Its a real hark back to older adventure games but with exceptional story telling! I am really enjoying it so far.... and have to say that the puzzles are in no way tedious OR challenging yet.

[Eek!]

To be honest I think the OP has put his or her opinion across well, there are lots of valid points, and the Stockholm Syndrome line made me laugh. Certainly, I think the one star rating this thread has received has more to do with the "Wah, I don't agree with you!!1" approach than anything truly worthy.

I like point and click adventures, and I can see both sides of the coin, but I'm not going to try and slate the OP when what they posted is valid and well written.

[oliathsg]

To be honest I think the OP has put his or her opinion across well, there are lots of valid points, and the Stockholm Syndrome line made me laugh.

Yep me too.
I read the thread after I purchased and while i was waiting for my download and thought.... 'oh no - what have i got into'.

Horses for courses, i suppose.

I quite like the modern presentation of pretty much the only type of game my computer could handle back in the day! I'm sure there will be puzzles the frustrate the heck out of me later.

So far I really enjoyed the one in the reception area. That was nice and involved and made me feel quite smart as i was hacking into stuff :D

[bdo7]

The only thing wrong with this thread is the title. I realize one can only be so articulate when extremely limited on characters, but I really wasn't expecting such a thorough treatment after reading the brusque subject line.

Otherwise, good points and counterpoints. Much better than the kind of "debates" we usually get on the SPUF.

My own gut feeling is that this game is going to rock. I might have to pick it up. But thanks to everyone on both sides for taking so much time to discuss it in such detail.

[Tiggum]

Pretty much everything you mentioned is standard point&click adventure fare.

Well, it was ten years ago, certainly. There have been games made more recently that have come up with better ways to do things, and this is a step back.


It seems like what you're asking for is more context sensitive control of the game but too much of that can be a bad thing in itself, you don't want to find yourself skipping through the "Boring" bits where you don't do anything but walk around and pick up objects. These actions are what make those boring bits not boring otherwise we may as well just teleport from puzzle to puzzle and then the final credits, it isn't a puzzle game, it's an adventure game and part of the fun there is in being lost, in not knowing what the next step is, in experimenting.

I'm not sure you quite understand where I'm coming from with this. Try playing the demo for The Blackwell Deception to see how the puzzles are more engaging and the action seems less stilted when you don't have to spell out every little thing that the character does step by step.

[Dorohn]

I have bought this game on gog and damn, this game was awesome. haven't played a game with such engaging story for a very long time. I certainly did not see those plot twists coming!

4 out 5 in my book! :D

[JacksRache]

Just finished the game. The time was well-invested. The story was mature and full of twists yet conclusive. It gave me something to think.

I just wish this thread had a different title because if you're someone like me who wants to listen to some buyers' impressions before purchasing a game you may be easily scared by a thread like this.

[PhyreMatrix]

This thread is hilarious.

I saw some game play videos - and thought - wow - this game looks like a classic point and click. I loved trying to figure out how to do all these little things and progress.

I'm curious if OP is just reacting badly or he has a point.
I'm here because I have the game - so i can see for myself..
I think the OP has a point. And it's good enough for him to come to the conclusion to pass on buying the full game. I played the demo too and found that I spent WAY too much time figuring out the reception area to the point of frustration myself until I read you had to press right click on something instead of left click. Which when you think about it DOES indeed sound a bit tedious.

Now I'm not expecting games to operate the same way as in reality so things like "guy jumping onto train tracks" or "people going inside a burning building instead of waiting for an ambulance" don't bother me as much. I don't expect a video game to act as rational people do in reality. This game is supposed to tell a story, so I don't expect it to be based in reality. But is the user interface a little gimped? It sure is.

Personally I think the demo is alright in a sense that it gives you a good idea of what the game play will be like to make an informed purchase decision. I just played the demo of The Dream Machine and it was literally one 10 min puzzle. The only 15 min demo that has ever made me want to buy the game is Batman: Arkham City.


I just wish this thread had a different title because if you're someone like me who wants to listen to some buyers' impressions before purchasing a game you may be easily scared by a thread like this.
It's one thread in a sea of praise threads. If you're scared from ONE person's critical reception of something then you (not you in particular) aren't mature enough to make your own conclusions.

[WarMachineWCLH]

I'll admit up front that I've only played the demo, but the issues that are preventing me from buying the game are all pretty apparent and unlikely to be significantly different in the rest of the game.

The biggest thing is the "puzzle" design, for want of a better term. Need to buy a newspaper from a vending machine? OK, use machine. Nope, you need money! OK, get wallet from inventory and use it on the machine. Haha, this machine takes credit cards, not wallets! You actually have to get your credit card out of your wallet and use it on the machine. This isn't a puzzle, it doesn't add anything to the game other than frustration.

And this is far from the only example of needlessly tedious gameplay. Need to search a filing cabinet for a specific file? Well, it could be one click, since your character knows exactly which file he wants, but how about instead you make the player search each of the four drawers separately and type in the name of the file each time?

Need to open a locked door to which you have the key? Well, get the key out of your inventory, because otherwise your braindead character will just keep trying to open the door without unlocking it.

Need to open or shut a valve? Your character needs to be told which way to turn it every. single. time.

Then there's the way the characters behave in completely bizarre and unrealistic ways. The train you're on suddenly stops for some reason, so you force the doors open and walk off into a pitch black subway tunnel instead of just waiting for the problem to be fixed. No sane human behaves this way.

Or how about this: You're a detective on the scene of an explosion. An employee at the building tells you someone's trapped inside. Do you call an ambulance? The fire department? Of course not, just break in and check if there really is anyone in there first.

Add some awkward, unnatural dialogue, an interface that's constantly just slightly frustrating and (at least in the demo) some puzzles where it's never made clear what you're actually trying to accomplish or why until you stumble on the solution, and you have a recipe for a game that's not quite bad enough to make you quit in frustration, but isn't actually fun at all.

I agree with you 100%. Everyone else seemed to think this game was awesome so I bought it and I'm seriously regretting it. If I'd have known it was the same company that made gemni rue I'd have never bothered with it in the first place. I keep playing it because I feel obligated to get my money's worth and not because it's actually any fun or entertaining. :(

[Tiggum]

If I'd have known it was the same company that made gemni rue I'd have never bothered with it

Not all their games are bad. The Blackwell series are some of the best adventure games I've ever played. You should definitely at least have a go at the demo for the latest one.

[WarMachineWCLH]

Not all their games are bad. The Blackwell series are some of the best adventure games I've ever played. You should definitely at least have a go at the demo for the latest one.

Does it use that same system where resolution is unchangeable, heavily pixelated, and the mouse is sluggish?

[Tiggum]

Does it use that same system where resolution is unchangeable, heavily pixelated, and the mouse is sluggish?

The graphics are low-res. I didn't notice any sluggishness of controls. But you can download the demo for free, so I'd say it's worth your time to check out if you like adventure games.

[kalirion]

Just finished the game and I enjoyed it. For those who don't like low-res graphics, run the setup and switch to DirectDraw 5 / hq3x. Might need to play windowed if your monitor doesn't support 960x720 (or use GPU drivers for custom resolution.)