Goatee. Goat-eee. Goat tie. Go tee! Go, tea. Goaty. Go-at-ee.
It’s GOTY time.
Much has been said about Double Fine’s Broken Age. Maybe because it’s Tim Schafer’s first point-and-click adventure game since 1998’s Grim Fandango. Maybe because it’s a huge Kickstarter success story, earning well over $3 million by the end – one million of that in the first day – after only asking for $400,000. Maybe because of the near-catastrophic announcement last year that development on Broken Age was behind schedule and over budget, enough that hitting their original release goal would require cutting 75% of the game.
“How you gauge the score above depends entirely on what you look for in an adventure game. If you couldn’t care less about awkward controls, a cumbersome interface and a plethora of illogical puzzle solutions then Grim Fandango rightly deserves your attention — it’s nigh on perfect in every other way. For me though, these flaws couldn’t be overlooked and irretrievably bogged down the whole experience, making me a very sad panda.”
Last week, the San Francisco Chronicle’s Playing Games column listed their nine Most Bizarre Video Games of All Time. To limit the list, the authors decided to concentrate on titles that were “actually kind of fun to play” and exclude licensed titles. (I’ve included my impressions for the games that I’ve played.):
Review by Jen Developer LucasArts Publisher LucasArts Released October, 1998 Available for PC Time Played Finished Verdict: 5/5 Gold Star “Read no further! Play this game instead! I hereby nominate this for Adventure Game of the Millennium! Five stars! It’s got it all! It’s epic! If you must know more, here are some details.”