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Post by Gendo Ikari on Feb 7, 2010 9:49:33 GMT -5
On the subject of Stupid Invaders, I personally had a hard time understanding how someone found it even only a decent game, I had many problems with it.
- extremely puerile humour - bad characters who lose any simpathy after their introduction - only a few (mediocre) dialogs - bad character animation and poor movement routines - lots and lots of padding - what was the use of the player's input in the section with the chickens? It would have been better as just a long cutscene - the most uselessly boring cutscene ever (it's a funny at first, but after a while...) - few objects, few puzzles - pressing Space to make the inventory pop out is annoying - you can die simply for entering a door of for a dialog choice - illogical and incoherent even for a story based on dementiality
This is no Day of the Tentacle - it is a horrible wannabe. Rarely I was so disappointed by a game. Developer Xilam is more active in the animation field, an it shows.
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Runaway
Feb 7, 2010 10:11:36 GMT -5
Post by KeeperBvK on Feb 7, 2010 10:11:36 GMT -5
True
Some of them definitely, but not all of them. Have you ever watched the show?
So what? Machinarium has no dialogue and that doesn't keep people from liking it. In fact more dialogue would've completely ruined the atmosphere which was the main thing I liked about Stuoid Invaders. You're often alone in strange places not knowing where you are, exploring the hostile surroundings.
The animations just add to the siliness of the characters and perfectly fit the game IMO.
That also annoyed me really badly, but it's just a small fraction of the game.
That's not a general sign of a bad game, but a matter of your taste. I enjoyed wandering around the scenery, having to solve a puzzle every now and then.
Yeah, truly game-breaking...and if there are that few objects anyway, then you don't even need to open up the inventory all that often anyway. ^^
On one hand I whole-heartedly agree with you, but on the other hand it once again adds to the absurd atmosphere of both silliness and hostility being ever present. Plus, you could simply save regularly.
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Runaway
Feb 8, 2010 14:59:39 GMT -5
Post by syntheticgerbil on Feb 8, 2010 14:59:39 GMT -5
Hello, I signed up to check the reviews for Runaway from the referral from the blog, and while I'll probably be better off not touching the Runaway games again, I just wanted to add some love for Stupid Invaders, since it came up. Stupid Invaders came off simultaneously to me as a game by an animation studio really there just there to make you laugh and a parody of the adventure game genre in mechanics (although sometimes it looks like it accidentally fell into the pitfalls as well). It's really not meant to be enjoyed for a story or great puzzle solving exercise. I found it more fun walking through the weird visuals and rapidly changing scenery that just keep getting more out of place out outlandish as the game went along. The death scenes were ridiculously extravagant beyond what's necessary, which I found hilarious. And like KeeperBvk, you can just save regularly, and even if you die, there's usuall not often a lot of traversing from the last time you saved, since you can just skip every movie to get back to the point you were at. And I guess, Gendo, if you found the most boring cutscene annoying, you can easily skip it after you've had your laugh, and the game will go to the next point. It's not like you have to watch it, although it is all part of the fun.
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Runaway
Feb 9, 2010 13:56:48 GMT -5
Post by Weasel on Feb 9, 2010 13:56:48 GMT -5
And I guess, Gendo, if you found the most boring cutscene annoying, you can easily skip it after you've had your laugh, and the game will go to the next point. It's not like you have to watch it, although it is all part of the fun. Which is quite refreshing, considering that other, higher profile games have similarly long cutscenes that cannot be skipped. (Zelda: Ocarina of Time. King Zora scooting his ass over to let you through his doorway. Takes THIRTY SECONDS, if my estimate was correct...)
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Runaway
Feb 9, 2010 15:30:15 GMT -5
Post by Mr. Faptastic on Feb 9, 2010 15:30:15 GMT -5
King Zora scooting his ass over to let you through his doorway. Takes THIRTY SECONDS, if my estimate was correct... Bweep bweep bweep bweep bweep bweep bweep bweep bweep bweep bweep bweep bweep bweep bweep bweep bweep bweep bweep bweep bweep bweep bweep bweep bweep bweep bweep bweep bweep bweep
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Runaway
Feb 9, 2010 22:46:46 GMT -5
Post by Discoalucard on Feb 9, 2010 22:46:46 GMT -5
Runaway is definitely...European in that approach, I guess. I should note that hooking up with the waitress chick isn't really a puzzle or anything, it just something that happens during the course of the plot (and you can't say no to, either.). It's one of the things where the writers probably said, hey, it's funny and you shouldn't take it seriously even though it kind of undermines the whole point of the plot.
The way it goes down, you can TECHNICALLY interpret it as nothing happening, but...probably not. The only video I found of it was in German so I can't quite illustrate it.
There's a lot of other politically incorrect stuff that really wouldn't fly coming from an American developer, but it's not really funny or anything, just stupid and annoying.
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Runaway
Feb 10, 2010 1:02:19 GMT -5
Post by derboo on Feb 10, 2010 1:02:19 GMT -5
Hmm, interesting Germany got another cover for part 2 (and Italy, but that also completely changed the drawing style). It actually shows a more sexualized picture of the girl, but the hero's attitude looks more OK.
BTW., the title line for part 2 is invisible.
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Runaway
Feb 10, 2010 5:02:55 GMT -5
Post by Gendo Ikari on Feb 10, 2010 5:02:55 GMT -5
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Runaway
Feb 10, 2010 15:05:54 GMT -5
Post by ryochan on Feb 10, 2010 15:05:54 GMT -5
Strangely, I don't find either of the Runaway 2 covers offensive. The first (with her over the shoulder) makes me think less caveman, more fireman carry. The second (her unconcious in his arms) just makes me think of how most guys tend to carry most girls when they snag them up... trust me, I've had BOTH done to me due to me being short as heck (4'8")
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Runaway
Feb 10, 2010 15:27:34 GMT -5
Post by Weasel on Feb 10, 2010 15:27:34 GMT -5
trust me, I've had BOTH done to me due to me being short as heck (4'8") This confused me for a moment before I realized I had forgotten to look at the "Gender" tag on your profile. =P
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Runaway
Feb 10, 2010 16:49:15 GMT -5
Post by ryochan on Feb 10, 2010 16:49:15 GMT -5
trust me, I've had BOTH done to me due to me being short as heck (4'8") This confused me for a moment before I realized I had forgotten to look at the "Gender" tag on your profile. =P lol I worried someone might not get that I was female. Aw well, yes I am a living, breathing, girl gamer. And despite the fact I can act feminist as all heck, I strangely don't find a lot of things offensive that they might. Heck, I even find "Nice Pair" funny.
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Runaway
Sept 21, 2010 16:56:58 GMT -5
Post by jorpho on Sept 21, 2010 16:56:58 GMT -5
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Runaway
Sept 21, 2010 18:33:00 GMT -5
Post by Discoalucard on Sept 21, 2010 18:33:00 GMT -5
Huh. Didn't I mention that? I swear I remember playing it a little.
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Runaway
Sept 21, 2010 22:05:38 GMT -5
Post by jorpho on Sept 21, 2010 22:05:38 GMT -5
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Runaway
Feb 17, 2014 10:51:58 GMT -5
Post by Gendo Ikari on Feb 17, 2014 10:51:58 GMT -5
It's far from being news but I just discovered that a game called Hidden Runaway exists. It's the first episode in the format of a casual Hidden Object game, so it's much simplified. Oddly, it recounts the events of the original with the premise that, years later, Brian and Gina have broken up badly (a teaser for a future episode of the series?)
Pendulo is still quite active, after Runaway 3 they have released The Next Big Thing, which is also a remake/reimagining of their early title Hollywood Monsters (in fact, at least in Italy it's called Hollywood Monsters 2) and Yesterday (New York Crimes in Italy), which despite having more or less the same visual style as the others, seems to a lot more serious and gritty.
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