I’ve been playing the new Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition, which is the original MI with updated graphics. It has taken me back to this genre that I loved so much growing up. I have been reviewing in my mind what games are the best.
First, let’s define the genre. I used Wikipedia and they cited an outside text that defines the adventure game as, “a video game in which the player assumes the role of protagonist in an interactive story that is driven by exploration and puzzle-solving instead of physical challenges such as combat”
Works for me. So basically, games like King’s Quest and Myst, but not a game like Zelda because of the “actiony” aspects. Minor action like that in Last Crusade counts because it is minimal.
You won’t find many text adventures on my list, if any. I have only played a few and I was just too young to play them. When I was about 6 or 7, we bought and played King’s Quest 1 and 2, to give you an idea of my age. Feel free to include text ones as well! Anyway, what are your favorites and why?
I’d say:
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- Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge** - This game is better than the original, and that is saying a lot, as the first is a classic. It’s funny, has a great story, and has a few of the hardest puzzles I’ve ever seen in a game. I’ll never forget when I lowered the hook to get the map piece…only to see it get taken away by a seagull! Frustration and hilarity at the same time!
**2. King’s Quest VI **– Amazing at its time and it holds up well. I love the story and the puzzles in this game are amazing. It still has “random death” syndrome, but not as much as previous entries.
**3. Myst IV **– The best Myst game and maybe the most overlooked. The two main worlds you “solve” are each the best individual worlds in any Myst game. I particularly loved the world that required you to communicate with Monkeys by turning the instruments so they imitate language. Figuring out the monkey language and imitating it to control them was a classic puzzle.
4. The Secret of Monkey Island – The first adventure game to figure out that death is stupid in adventure games and that the player should be able to try every dialogue option just to see how people react. One of the few games that I do not forget most of the puzzle solutions, as well. Great game!
5. King’s Quest IV – The first game I ever played that utilized a sound card to play midi music. Still part of the older style graphic adventures, where you had to type and death followed you everywhere, but it was a great game. The only real problem was that you could get stuck in this game. If your shovel broke, I believe you can never dig up the correct grave later in the game. King’s Quest V was far worse in the “stuck” respect, however.
6. Riven(Myst 2) – The hardest Myst game and perhaps the most unique, as you spend 95% of the game in one world. Some of the late game puzzles were brutal and they almost reached the point where I did not enjoy the solutions, but the game overall was very well made and was better than the original, which is impressive.
**7. Zork: Nemesis **– I have a special place in my heart for this game. I will never forget the asylum planet or the conservatory planet, both of which were my favorite puzzle areas at the time. I liked a lot of the Zork games, but even though this one is the only “serious” one, I liked it the most.
8. Grim Fandango – I love this game, but I’ve always held that it isn’t as good as some people say(it was Gamespot’s game of the year when it came out). For me, this game is all about the “mood” and the tone, while the puzzles were….OK. I did like the section set in the city, where Manny owned the casino, but was not as big a fan of the earlier and later sections of the game. Still, it is very good and I have enjoyed playing it more than once. By the way, I do love making the Robert Frost balloon!
After here, it head toward a bunch of ties. I really liked Last Crusade, Legend of Kyrandria 2, Myst 1 and 3(5 was a let down). I also think that **The Longest Journey **deserves some credit as a newer game, but I found the puzzles to be weak. I like Sam and Max, but not as much as some people did.
What games do you like the most?
