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Post by Discoalucard on Oct 4, 2009 22:25:31 GMT -5
www.hardcoregaming101.net/simon/simon.htmThis is an adventure gaming series which is commonly referred to as "The Monkey Island of Britain", which isn't entirely inaccurate but at the same time doesn't really do it justice. It has a very unique, obviously British sense of humour, with a much more sarcastic feel. It's also heavier on the parody, with with fairy tales and popular fantasy fiction. I quite like the first two (I prefer the second, although it seems a lot of fans tend to go for the first), the third has good writing but is terrible to play, the fourth fixes up all that but has terrible writing, and the fifth is currently only available in German, so I can't really say much about it yet.
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Post by derboo on Oct 4, 2009 22:46:42 GMT -5
I only played part 1 and 2, and those in English, but from various German message boards I got the impression that Simon 4 is criticized a lot for its often all too flat humor even here.
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Post by Discoalucard on Oct 4, 2009 22:51:55 GMT -5
Yeah, I'm really curious about the reaction to it in its native language. It totally falls apart in English to the point where it's embarrassing.
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Post by KeeperBvK on Oct 5, 2009 2:25:59 GMT -5
I always loved the second one, but never got the third one to run...maybe it's for the better. The article mentions the first spinoff as Simon the Sorcerer Puzzle Pack, whereas the covershot has Simon the Sorcerer's Game Pack written on it. What's up with that? Alternative title or just a mistake?
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Post by derboo on Oct 5, 2009 4:25:35 GMT -5
Yeah, I'm really curious about the reaction to it in its native language. It totally falls apart in English to the point where it's embarrassing. Here a few (liberally) translated sentences from an arbitrary picked review (http://www.gameswelt.de/articles/reviews/2056-Simon_the_Sorcerer_4/7236.html): "Simon has got a decent enough voice, but his often drawn out and usually rather humourless drivel gets annoying at times. A lot of voices also feel superimposed or inadequate - once again it lacks the teeth of the first two games." "'Chaos Happens' can't quite win my heart, despite its overall solid design. The graphics seem too flat and polished, the humor too conventional and harmless - I'm almost inclined to say too German. I badly miss the rough edges and the British humor from its legendary predecessors." I'm sad to admit that even the best new point & click adventures from Germany completely fail in the humour department (those that try to be funny, anyway). The heroes are almost always much to genre savvy to allow any identification with them or their quests, and you can't help but think of the writers as the kind of person who are always the only ones to laugh about their own jokes.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 5, 2009 4:47:31 GMT -5
Nice article. I've always wondered what the latest games were like. Seems like Simon 2 will still stay as my favorite from the series. From the first three games, it's the only one I've liked enough to finish.
Here's a few mistakes that I found from the article:
Page 1[/u] ",p> But perhaps the funniest moments come from the roleplayers."
Page 3[/u] "The headline title is Swampy's Adventures, an overhead puzzle game vaguely similar to Sokobon or The Adventures of Lolo, where Swampy must rescue his kidnapped children from Sordid."
Corrections: Sokoban, Adventures of Lolo
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Post by Discoalucard on Oct 5, 2009 16:52:03 GMT -5
I always loved the second one, but never got the third one to run...maybe it's for the better. The article mentions the first spinoff as Simon the Sorcerer Puzzle Pack, whereas the covershot has Simon the Sorcerer's Game Pack written on it. What's up with that? Alternative title or just a mistake? Looks like an alternative title, which I added in. The British packaging I have calls it Puzzle Pack. Thanks for the translations - I'll have to amend that part a bit. I wonder what they mean by "German" sense of humor though. What exactly does that typify? I've found people comparing games like Jack Keane and Ankh to Chaos Happens, as far as humor goes. I forget the name of the studio, but they're German too. I haven't really played them very much, but the general opinion seems to be the kind of humor that makes you raise an eyebrow and go "Hey, that's kinda funny" and instead of actually, you know, laughing.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 5, 2009 19:44:17 GMT -5
It's been a while since I've played the first, but aside from the obligatory super-obtuse guide-dang-its and the sloppy organization of the main map, I really liked it. Next time I play it, I want to do so with the voiced version. I trust my eyes more than my ears, but I DO want to hear Chris Barrie being a jerk. I also fully intend to play StS2 also after I get back into adventure titles, which I'm hoping should be soon-ish. Shame what happened with 3, though. There's a good game underneath that pile of brown polygons, I take it.
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Post by derboo on Oct 5, 2009 21:26:13 GMT -5
Kinda surprising that there's no 2D fan remake, isn't it?
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Post by jorpho on Oct 6, 2009 10:36:33 GMT -5
Kinda surprising that there's no 2D fan remake, isn't it? There was one in the works (using AGS); I'm pretty sure you can find the remade intro on Youtube. I think production got stalled, though.
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Post by jorpho on Oct 22, 2009 22:53:10 GMT -5
Tsk tsk. You confused Hamlet with Macbeth on the first page.
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Post by Discoalucard on Oct 23, 2009 7:11:35 GMT -5
Indeed. Shakespeare tends to blend together to me. An English major, I am not.
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Post by jorpho on Feb 25, 2010 12:36:37 GMT -5
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Post by Discoalucard on Feb 25, 2010 14:21:29 GMT -5
Because the search engine on these boards blow.
Thanks for the heads-up, I will give it a go! Hopefully it's better than the last one.
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Post by syntheticgerbil on Feb 25, 2010 14:30:00 GMT -5
I've owned 4, but I still haven't given it a go. The article makes me want to play it even less. I'd be interested in seeing the response to Simon 5.
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