Full list of ranked games and timestamps: 01:52 Alfred Hitchcock Presents The Final Cut 02:54 Are You Afraid of the Dark: The Tale of Orpheo's Curse 03:53 Belladonna 04:38 The Blackwell series 07:35 Broken Age 08:51 Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars 10:00 A Case of Distrust 10:57 The Cat Lady 12:26 The Charnel House Trilogy 13:10 Chicken Police: Paint it Red 14:05 The Darkside Detective 15:12 Detective Grimoire: Secret of the Swamp 16:15 Don't Escape: 4 Days to Survive 17:19 Downfall 18:21 Dropsy 19:11 Fran Bow 19:55 Gemini Rue 20:45 The Goosebumps Game 21:33 The Haunted Island: A Frog Detective Game 22:21 I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream 22:23 Jenny LeClue Detectivu 24:22 John Saul's Blackstone Chronicles 25:26 Kathy Rain 26:25 King's Quest (2015) 27:56 The Last Door 28:55 The Legend of Kyrandia 30:15 The Lion's Song 31:14 The Little Acre 32:13 The Longest Journey 33:33 Lorelai 34:44 Midnight Scenes: The Highway 35:33 Moebius: Empire Rising 37:21 Monty Python's Quest for the Holy Grail 38:25 Neofeud 39:49 One Chance 40:43 The Pandora Directive 41:31 Primordia 42:18 The Procession to Calvary 43:19 Rainswept 44:20 Richard & Alice 45:04 Sanitarium 46:08 Shardlight 47:01 The Shivah 47:46 Stasis 48:48 Strangeland 49:56 The Sundew 51:16 Technobabylon 52:13 The Tesla Effect 53:13 Thimbleweed Park 54:04 Unavowed 55:25 Under a Killing Moon 56:22 Whispers of a Machine 57:40 The X-Files Game I realized that I forgot a bunch games, there are just so many of them: 7th Guest is a B. Some of the puzzles are cool, some are very annoying. I like the vibe though. Blade Runner is a B. I love the aesthetic, it really captures the movie, but I spent an inordinate amount of time just jumping between locations trying to figure out what I was supposed to do to trigger the next event. Lamplight City is a detective point and click with multiples ways to solve cases, some of which may be wrong. Quite good. A. Syberia is a C. It's pretty, but boy is it boring. Tex Murphy Overseer is an A. Great puzzles, great story. I just didn't like the interface as much as the other games.
Great List, but not one single DAEDALIC Game? I know they have their Flaws (God knows) but i Think "The Whispered World" and "Edna: The Breakout" Earn a chance
Fantastic video as always Pam! Lots of new-to-me games that I'm gonna have to check out. One classic adventure game that I recommend you check out is The Last Express (GOG version). It's a great period piece with fantastic voice acting and animation. The way it creates the illusion of time passing really makes it feel like your choices matter. It did time loops before the genre existed.
Not bad for a part 1, seriously, I feel it's fair to list several of the final fantasy titles as adventure games, adventure, pitfall and E.T. all from Atari should be included as well. Just to be fair E.T. is a masterclass on how not to make a game, Scarab of Ra, Myst, Riven, The Last Express, 7th guest, 11th hour, the Dig, and Atlantis for the Mac should be covered as well. Thank you for making this content it was very entertaining to watch.
It has some weaknesses. The VA is awful (luckily the german dub is fantastic). Its has some frustrating pixel hunt moments. The famous goat puzzle and a rather disappointing ending. Also I dont get why the neo templars are supposed to be the evil guys. tehy only really killed one of their own. And no organization of that size can be expected to not accept some collateral. Their actual goals seem fine.
It's dog shit... just kidding haha. Bro, it's good but atleast she is honest about her own tastes and don't give AF how unpopular her opinion is. I enjoy it.
@@briankory She's entitled to her opinion and I certainly enjoyed listening to her, but in that case I think she vastly underestimated such a legendary game.
You didn't mention Myst, but that game has had a major influence on the adventure genre ever since it came out. The kind of serene, chill, unthreatening style of gameplay, coupled with new age-y ASMR-like atmospheric music, that we find in Syberia, The Longest Journey, The Witness, Firewatch, Gone Home, Everybody's Gone to the Rapture, and on and on, would be unthinkable if Myst didn't exist. The first time I saw Myst and its aesthetics when the game came out, it was unforgettable. That kind of aesthetics also coincides with the sensibility of many adventure game fans, I would think. It fits adventure better. In a first-person shooter, that kind of aesthetics wouldn't work.
I tried to play Myst once when I was 11. Had no idea what to do. I tried it again a few weeks ago, again I turned it off almost immediately. It's just not for me.
Someone else would have inspired the genre instead. And yeah myst might be related but is also very different from P&C adventure games. Mainly in being dialogue story driven. Which changes the whole deal of the game. I did play the very similar physicus when I was younger. And I could only get myself to play that one cause it taught about actual science. While I love P&C Myst is not for me. Id say Zork is closer but I can understand anyone being frustrated by the navigation
I get the feeling that this channels is more focused more on shorter, easier(at least not hardcore), story driven games. Since myst-like games are usually long, difficult and cryptic, it's no surprise there are non on this list.
I'm surprised not to see Beneath a Steel Sky, Syberia, Vampyre Srory and the Czho Mythos on this list. A very overlooked comedy adventure game is Flight of the Amazon Queen, which is free on GOG so it's super easy to give it a try.
I enjoyed Beneath a Steel Sky and the first two Broken Swords, i remember being stuck on a couple of the puzzles in a Smoking Mirror, pre gameFAQ days.
The greatness about your channel you always bring new and interesting titles to my attention that I have never heard of. (btw when you do long videos like this I treat them like a podcast, so I play video games in the background while listening) Thank you for your contribution to the gaming community.
A UK developer called Darkling Room has made a few point-and-click adventure games that I enjoyed: Dark Fall (2002), Dark Fall: Lost Souls (2010), The Lost Crown (2008). They all have supernatural themes. An Australian-made indie adventure game called The Eyes of Ara (2016) also impressed me. These are all fairly challenging games with little hand-holding. E.g. When you have to guess a computer password, it won't be written on a scrap paper nearby; you have to deduce it from all the journals, posters, etc. you've seen up to that point.
I had the same first bad impression about Technobabylon when I played it (getting stuck at the very beginning and all) and almost dropped it, but after the bad start it was an amazing game. The restaurant sequence was bone-chilling, I fear that something similar could become reality someday.
I am in an On/Off Relationship with Point and Click Adventures. Back in the day I loved them, partly also because there were not as much options in the video game market as today. Then, when technology evolved, i stopped playing them. But from time to time, i get this nostalgia boosts and want to play them again. but it is not just that. in my opinion point and click adventures are the "reading a good book on a rainy sunday afternoon" of the video game industry, and when i have the right pointy and clicky at the right timey, its hard to beat that feeling, man. the last ones i played for the first time a few weeks ago were: broken sword, secret files tunguska and broken sword 2. and after trying to decide for a felt decade if i should give the longest journey or the very first monkey island a try, this video right here made the decision for me. for a very long time i wanted to play the longest jorney, because every time i see it mentioned in a video it has a strange power over me. like a magic spell, casted on my brain. it has some sort of gravity. cant wait to play it°!
@@Cannotbetamed1 thanks. i am a few hours in already and i have to say, this game really has a magic to it, i love the world and the sound but i have one big problem. i dont like the main character. she is so bitchy and unlikeable. i really hope they did that so she can grow and get some good ol´ character development. ^^. the story itself had me hooked from the beginning. ^^ i am curious if i will ever find a pointy n clicky that will ever beat my GOAT (Gabriel Knight) ^^
Hey, i got into the Blackwell series after watching this, and i was pleasently surprised today as i finished Deception for the second "commentary" playthrough when Dave Gilbert mentioned Deionarra's theme from Planescape, my jaw dropped.
Great video! Kyrandia was my jam as a kid. I loved those games - vastly underappreciated. And ah, the Last Door.... Such a promising series that ended in such disappointment. I wish another studio would pick it up and give it a proper ending.
Love these ranking videos, i hope you cover Dreamfall: The Longest Journey and Dreamfall chapters one day as seeing The longest journey in S is the thing i needed to see to push on and finish that game.
I love this genre. A couple I didn't see on the list (or forgot about, sorry) that you might enjoy: "A Golden Wake", "Haven's Vault", "Lamplight City", "Lost Horizon", "A New Beginning", "The Raven".
I always enjoy your ranking videos, and it's quite lovely to see one with so many games I worked on or were made by friends of mine. So many memories from these past few years! Thanks so much for supporting smaller developers and for sharing your thoughts.
The Longest Journey is amazing and probably deserves its own video. I never played many adventure games growing up (I did play Legend of Kyrandia and, despite the ridiculous puzzles, thought it was great at the time) but picked up The Longest Journey and had an amazing time. I want to replay it but I remember it was like 6 discs of content or something.
Always like these videos for picking out games I'd like to play for myself. Thanks! Even thinking about The longest Journey gives me instant goosebumps. Truly amazing game.
I see The Longest Journey is up there in the S-Tier, that's right where I'd put it, too. There's only so much time in the day, and wow, 57 games must have been a lot of time! If you can find the time, I hope someone, sometime, told you about its sequel, Dreamfall: The Longest Journey. TLJ is a hard act to follow, but I was happy and satisfied, revisiting that world. I might compare Dreamfall and TLJ to Chrono Cross and Chrono Trigger. Same world, a few of the same proper nouns, you'll recognize a lot from the first game, but it's very much its own story.
It is sad see that all daedalic adventures were skipped, because there are some really nice games from them. I could recommend the "Deponia" and "Edna & Harvey" games.
Wow, this gives me a lot to think about. I haven't played many since the heyday of Sierra/LucasArts. One that I did play that I thought was good was To The Moon.
Coming back to these point and click adventures, they really help me wind down before bed. Great memories from my childhood too. Thanks for the tier list I've got a lot of catching up to do. Just noticed yr Sierra and Lucas Arts ranking video!
I just recently discovered your channel and as someone who was a kid of 90's CD-ROM adventure games, this has given me a full laundry list of newer titles to check out. Thank you for this!
While Kyrandia's 1 and 3 where both wholly infuriating experiences for me, the second Kyrandia game, The Hand of Fate, is surprisingly solid. There are a few bad puzzles, certainly, but overall it's colorful, charming, and funny, and the puzzles generally make sense or are even clever sometimes.
Well, every one of your S-tier games is already in my collection., but I added about half a dozen of your A tier to my wishlist and you reminded me I never finished Whispers of a Machine so I'm playing that soon. Maybe I finish it this time. Thanks Pam!
Whoa, so much point & click adventure games that I never played.. thanks for the ranking, I'll try out some of them! A few games that I enjoyed very much but not found in your list: Beneath A Steel Sky Toonstruck Runaway Deponia
I have some good news: there's a free program called FlashPoint that lets you play Flash games that have been archived, and One Chance is among them. You can download the whole database, which is over a terabyte, or you can download just the program, and it downloads the game/animation and keeps it on your hard drive the first time you check it out.
Thank you for the video. I picked up "I have no mouth and I must scream" after watching you recommend it. Although I strongly disagree with your take on Broken Sword, I really appreciate your list. I'd recommend the first two "Simon the Sorcerer" games, the "Black Mirror" trilogy, "Cognition - An Erica Reed Thriller", "Gray Matter", "Memento Mori" and the "Runaway" series. And I'm pretty sure you're going to like the "Still Life" games, although they are a bit clunky.
Nice ranking list. I haven't played a lot of these, so there's definitely some to look into in the future. I've actually been slowly making my way through The Longest Journey, and whilst I have been enjoying it, it's so long! Haha. Other games that I have played that don't appear on this list are the Discworld games. Especially Discworld II, as well as Broken Sword 2: Shadows of the Templar. I know you ranked the first Broken Sword game, but I found the second game to be a better experience. Anyway, looking forward to your next ranking list.
Pam, gotta say I really enjoyed this video. Nice to hear someone with a different take on adventure games despite a lot of these Cs and Ds are regarded as classics. Really want to hear your thoughts on Beneath a Steel Sky, Blade Runner, Gemini Rue, The Last Express, Myst/Riven (Maybe this is outside the scope), The Neverhood, and Syberia 1 and 2. Hoping you will give us a part 2 of this video soon.
Nice list iv'e added a few to pick up, would recommend giving "The lost crown a ghost hunting adventure" a play, the dialog can be a little janky but the aesthetic and atmosphere are top notch. also Star Trek 25th and Star trek judgement rites. very good adventure games even has the original voice cast.
Longest Journey is the S'est of S'es for me, I played it when as a teenager back in the old days of 2001 and it was the first game I finished that gave me the post-game blues. I remember being restless and sad for several days because this amazing experience was over... good times
Interesting list. There are some games on there I hadn't heard of before but I'll certainly be checking them out. It really does show you how many adventure games there are out there when you've played so many yet still left some out that I was certain to see. A mixture of old school (Future Wars, Cruise For A Corpse and Beneath a Steel Sky), 90's games (the Discworld series and Blade Runner) and more modern titles (Deponia, Lamplight City and all of the Telltale adventure games). Of those I would especially recommend Blade Runner and Lamplight City. One other game I would recommend is The Dream Machine which is a more obscure game that I really enjoyed even if it is a bit short.
In this comment, I'm going to be your very predictable GenX'er with my list of 'how come you didn't talk about these games I like?' haha! Great video Pam. Lots for me to check out! :) Not sure how you didn't get to Hand of Fate or Malcolm's Revenge which improve on Kyrandia in every possible way and even make the 1st one worth playing. Also, does Dynamix count? Rise of The Dragon!!! And then finally - I think you'd REALLY love Companions of Xanth, and to a slightly lesser extent, Death Gate. :)
Well, I just played the first Kyrandia a couple weeks ago, so that would explain how I didn't get to the 2nd or 3rd. Also the fact that there are thousands of games out there to play. I really hate the Xanth books, don't think I'll play the game.
Adventure games' heyday was when 3D action games were still not sophisticated enough. But once games like Doom came out, the handwriting was on the wall for adventure games' demise. LucasArts was smart enough to make the first-person shooter Dark Forces, which did very well. Sierra didn't do anything of note to that end, and that was it for them. Sierra used to make games in tons of genres: sports, flight sim, pinball, adventure. But they couldn't make one in the genre that mattered the most at the time: first-person shooter. (They did publish Half-Life and made lots of money.)
Oh I loved Broken Age and the second act puts a great twist on the story. If I recall it's a much larger share of the game than Act 1 too. It's worth going back to.
I remember really liking Access Software's "Countdown". It has a Robert Ludlum vibe that I enjoyed but I also remember it having a super annoying wine cellar puzzle. It's also from around the time when Access started with the digitized characters thing and that probably comes across as a mixed bag today.
This will be awesome! Adventure games made by LucasArts is what i am familiar with so will be cool to see ones from different companies. Thanks for this!
Love the video, Pam! I was bracing myself for you to be harsh on The Longest Journey because of its occasional reliance on moon logic puzzles (including the infamous rubber ducky), so I was delighted you ranked it so highly. Keep up the amazing content!
This is a super interesting ranking, totally different from what I would choose. Mby its personality driven or some other factors. Not sure, is it strictly Point and Click, so The Vanishing of Ethan Carter and Detriot: Become Human doesnt count, or what? xD. Few games I am missing here: Jack Orlando, Hopkins FBI, Deponia (and other Deadalic games), Teenagent(its free on GOG), The Pillars Of the Earth, Syberia, All Sherlock Holmes games made by Frogwares, Her Story, Dont Feed the Monkeys, Doki Doki xD, Gray Matter, The Neverhood, 3 Skulls of the Toltecs, Blade Runner ^
I'm a Sierra die-hard (QFG, OMG!) followed by LucasArts-diehard but The Last Express might be my ultimate favorite not made/published by either of those two. I loved the environment and rotoscoped characters. I have to try a bunch of yours on your list. I've only tried a little under half of them but I'm not sure I'm the biggest adventure fan in retrospect so much as a disgruntled RPG/strategy fan wanting more games like QFG, VtM, Fallout 1&2, X-Com: UFO Defense, Shining Force, and M&B.
I love some adventure games, they are very immersive! Mine suggestions are Ghost Trick, the Ace Attorney franchise, Hotel Dusk and the Zero Escape games.
The Are You Afraid of the Dark game actually came preinstalled with my family’s first computer back in the day! I remember playing it as a kid and being really creeped out by it
Some recommendations not on this list: Simon the Sorcerer I & II Discword 1,2 & Noir Gilbert Goodmate and the Mushroom of Phangoria Beneath a Steel Sky Toonstruck Nelly Cootalot and the Fowl Fleet 2064: Read Only Memories Gray Matter Deponia (series) The Unwrtitten Tales (series) Blazing Dragons Ark of Time
I love traditional point-and-click adventure games, but the genre has got to keep evolving to stay relevant. It can't stay "traditional" and "retro" forever. I would like to see more groundbreaking stuff like the two games made by No Code -- Stories Untold, and Observation -- which Pam has raved about. These two games still have the same spirit of clue-hunting, puzzle-solving, and storytelling, but wrap them up in such creative and memorable ways. Right now the games that most often carry the torch (if you will) for adventure games are those walking simulator games, like it or not. But those kind of games are often watered-down in the clue-hunting and puzzle-solving departments.
Randomly found this in my feed. Youre getting a sub from me just for putting Longest Journey as your first S :D. Its one of my favorite adventure games along with Grim Fandango
That's a good list! I don't fully agree on Kyrandia and Sanitarium - but those could be my nostalgia goggles. You definitely gave me some inspiration to check some games in your top tiers. I think you will really like the Discworld games (especially the first two). They were a big hit in Europe but I read that they never travelled much to the US. Voicing is done by Eric Idle and the main character was tweaked a bit to be a bit more "python-esque" than the source material. The third game is a Noir detective game set in the same universe. While I think it's great it's also very early 3D adventure with all the issues that come with it.
Hi, pam. Maybe you want to try out „discworld“ or „gray matter“. Thanks for your adventure games recommendations. There were many I wasn’t aware of that they exist.
As usual another great and comprehensive ranking of this plethora of games. Any thoughts on Lacuna from last year? Does it count if it's more dialogue driven?
Do try the the Yathzee (Ben Croshaw) Chzo Cycle, a series of freely downloadable adventure games. You might like them. It starts with the game "5 Days a Stranger", a game I found a bit rough, but after the first game, the games get so much better. Sorry for the typo I made earlier. It is "Chzo" ,not Chtzo. They can get quite gory, but that gore is never gratuitous, it always supports the story line.
Thanks for this thoughtful and comprehensive ranking of adventure games. And thanks for the handy timestamps in your comment. I love adventure games because you have time to think about the solutions, not just run around shooting everything in sight. I also love the artwork, the characters and the story. My favourite adventure game is Grim Fandango and my 2nd favourite is The Longest Journey and its sequels. But it could be the Quest For Glory series. So hard to choose :-) Thanks again ❤
Excellent video! I love to see more attention being given to non Sierra and Lucas arts adventure games. My best definition of adventure game would be that the primary gameplay is built around storytelling, that would also include games like visual novels and I would say that classical adventure games are a subgenre that focus on puzzle-solving to tell its story.
Very interesting list. I will look into a few of them . I would recommend Black Mirror (2003) if you haven't tried it. I really enjoyed the atmosphere.
I could listen to Pam rank video games all day, and now thanks to this video I can! ☺️ Seriously, though, I really enjoy your thoughts on adventure games and watching you play them on stream!
You are wrong about Broken Sword - it should be higher! :D I've think I played that game 3 times, and the sequel twice. I'd say it's a great combination of history and thriller, so wouldn't say it is mundane. The humour is probably a different style since a lot of point and clicks can be very over the top. If you hate box puzzles, definitely skip Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon if you decide to try others in the series. An interesting point and click I played a few years ago is Toonstruck which combines animation with your live-action main character. People seem to really love Edna & Harvey the Breakout but I wasn't a fan of that. I did love the sequel Harvey's New Eyes though.
Oh no! I just got the kings quest ps4 remakes when they were on sale ($5.99 for the whole thing!) and now I’m worried because I hate backtracking. Thanks for the heads up Pam! Love the video! Love you! Love your lil plants in your window! Have the best Sunday ever and an even better week 😎🐸
Daedalic are very hit n' miss and I think they suffer for poor English voice acting as well as translation issues in places. But the Dark Eye series: Chains of Satinav & Memoria are excellent and "A New Beginning" is a hidden gem.
Resonance from Wadjet Eye was great! I have mixed feelings about the Telltale Games, and I never played their biggest (The Walking Dead,) but I really loved Back to the Future and The Wolf Among Us. I haven't tried Corey and Lori Cole's new game Hero-U (They made Quest for Glory), but I'm interested in trying it out.
Awesome list. :) My own take on just my favorites: S The Longest Journey (well, when playing with a guide - at least) The Lion's Song Chzo Mythos (series in four parts made by "Yahtzee", although perhaps it's only the two last games that are S tier) A The Apprentice II: Knights Move (Threepwoodesque adventure game) Snakes of Avalon (short and sweet) Soviet Unterzögersdorf (part of an art project made by former Soviet people, very funny and cool) B The Journey Down (made by a couple of Swedes) The Dream Machine (also made by a couple of Swedes) Gateway II (also also made by a couple of Swedes, or perhaps even ONE, and also I'm a Swede ^^) The Apprentice Spooks (made by Lively Ivy/Erin Robinson, who has some other cool Adventure Game Studios games) The Marionette (psychological thriller that I haven't played for over ten years so who knows if it's really any good, but I enjoyed it back then, at least)
What a great overview! I have to try a some of your favorites. I love Simon the Sorcerer 1 & 2 and the little known Chewy: Esc from F5 with DotT-like graphics. I also like the Telltale Sam & Max games and Deponia. Maybe some of these games were more popular in Germany but are definitely available in English
book of unwritten tales 2 is my favorite point and click adventure games; its very funny, has great art, and good voice acting. I'm not sure if the Telltale games would be considered adventure games or just visual novels but they are very good because of their choice system. I hated Technobabylon because it mixed meaningless sci-fi technobabble with puzzle solving. The procession to Calvary is made by the same people who made 4 last things. That's game also featured classical music and renaissance art and was very funny. The Unavowed is definitely my favorite Wadjet eyes game. And Grim Fandango is one of my favorites but i don't remember who made that one so maybe that's why it wasn't featured.
Great list - I love Fran Bow, Dropsy, the Cat Lady and Unavowed! all S tier material IMO. I might have to drop Logest Journey, though I still love it. There's some more Adventures I think you should try though. :) I haven't played a lot of Legend's games adapted from books, but I hear great things. I really loved *Death Gate,* and *Companions of Xanth* was mostly solid (but MAZE ALERT!), *Shannara* can get dull and has useless combat, but is still kind of charming. All have great art and acting, but short term dead ends are possible so keep multiple saves. *The Last Express* is a masterpiece 1914 period detailed story with a unique time mechanic. Every Adventure Game fan should at least try it. *Myst* - the whole series has my abiding love. Not everyone's cup of tea, usually based on just the fist game, but the lore is superbly deep and the puzzles do make sense, in their own special way. *Apprentice 1 & 2,* amazing standards for a 2004 indie with animations and style on par with Curse of Monkey Island. Damn tease for a 3rd game that never came though. Telltale's *Sam and Max* (15 games). If you liked the original, and can adjust to the new voices. *A Tale of Two Kingdoms* - great fantasy game, check out the special edition. *Strong Bad's Cool Game For Attractive People!* Maybe my favorite Telltale, but I was always a sucker for Homestar Runner (dot) com. *Adventure: the Inside Job* trilogy - a free Independent darling and a must play tribute to the genre, especially when you've played many of the icons of the 80s and 90s. *Enter the Story* - A very overlooked, stylish redefining of the genre that explores classic books (it covered the Devine Comedy, the Theogony, Tale of Two Cities and the Count of Monte Cristo between 2009 and 2011). I'm partial to it because I did a lot of beta testing for it, otherwise all the work was the vision of one Scottsman. *Puzzlebots* - 2010 - Don't come for the story but the problem solving of controlling these little tiny robots with different abilities is fun and novel. *Back to the Future* - 2010 - OK, this isn't different really, but it's worth playing if you like the films (and gets my list up to 10 :) *Donna - Agent of Blood* - 2012 Freeware - I really loved this moody vampire (who dresses like Trinity) against neo-fascist s story. A well-rounded adventure (if you don't mind reading) though the blood drinking mechanic can get a little tedious, it's still totally worth it. It's kind of like the Cat Lady mixed with Gabriel Knight. *Botanicula* - 2013 - From the guys who made Machinarium, it's so zany and cute and organic with outside the box puzzles. *Oxenfree* - 2015 I've only been through once, but I loved it and it seems like there's lots of replay value. 5 teens exploring a Haunted island with a radio, you figure out what happened and what your personal path will be making telltale like conversations that seem to have some consequence. Maybe that's enough to get on with LOL!
Good rankings (I tend to be more sympathetic towards Moebius though it's a total mess--so woulda given it a C--knowing Jane planned to make it a series with the two male leads in a relationship she coulda at least introduced that in the first game. And mazes.) It's interesting, I had always heard how amazing the Broken Sword games were so finally a couple of years back played 1, 2 and 5 (the ones available for phone--I guess 3 and 4 are the more action heavy ones and couldn't make the switch.) And I liked them--I think they actually improve as they go on, but really in terms of the character dynamics, the mix of slightly supernatural historical stuff, etc, they really just felt like Gabriel Knight Light to me. I *am* surprised you don't have Gray Matter on the list though--or haven't played it. It's far from perfect, but is a MUCH better example of a Jane Jensen game post GK than Moebius is.
I have played Gray Matter since I made this list. I quite enjoyed it, though I did find things fell apart a bit at the end. Fun story and puzzles though.
@@Cannotbetamed1 Glad to hear!! It just seems to kinda get forgotten now and, though I know even when it came out a lot of fans were disappointed, I think it's aged quite well (maybe the much bigger disappointment of Moebius has helped raise it in my estimation.) I do think things get a bit too messy in the final sections (and when recruiting students there was one puzzle that, even with a walk through, I had a Hell of a time making work...) Anyway--have had a great time going through all your videos--dunno how I missed them all these years.
Where is Overseer? Since you are a Tex fan I figured it would be there. Other recomendations from the 90s would be: Ripper and Black Dahlia. Both are pretty great games with great stories and seem to be in line with the type of games you like. Unfortunately, they are not on GOG or anything and are difficult to get to run these days, but both were pretty awesome mid-90s FMV games that were done by Take 2.
I'm fairly new to the PC adventure game scene and these recommendations sound awesome. Definitely going to check out your Sierra and Lucas Arts video. Thanks for making this!
I haven't played most of these, but I did really enjoy Fran Bow, Unavowed, The Last Door, and the Cat Lady. It's a shame that the new King's Quest isn't very good. It looks amazing...Oh well.
Pretty cool list, but you missed sime classic Adventure games. The Delphine games (Operation Stealth, Cruise for a corpse, future wars) Beneath a Steel Sky, the Discworld games etc. Good list though...definitely going to check out a few 😀
I personally love the Amanita Design games (Samorost, Machinarium, and Botanicula), though admittedly a lot of that is the art and music. The big one I still need to get around to other than Unavowed is Kentucky Route Zero.
Thank you for the goldmine, Pam. The Last Door was disarmingly effective, especially for such a low-res pixel art game. Game Kitchen clearly has some of the best pixel artists out there!
If you have a chance, I think The book of Unwritten tales, all three are pretty good with good character. Daedalic had a decent run. Depends on what you like or not, I think they all have a little something for someone and are high quality. I did have a blast with Edna and Harvey, they were really funny. Great list, I did discover a few game I was unaware and wanting to play.
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Full list of ranked games and timestamps:
01:52 Alfred Hitchcock Presents The Final Cut
02:54 Are You Afraid of the Dark: The Tale of Orpheo's Curse
03:53 Belladonna
04:38 The Blackwell series
07:35 Broken Age
08:51 Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars
10:00 A Case of Distrust
10:57 The Cat Lady
12:26 The Charnel House Trilogy
13:10 Chicken Police: Paint it Red
14:05 The Darkside Detective
15:12 Detective Grimoire: Secret of the Swamp
16:15 Don't Escape: 4 Days to Survive
17:19 Downfall
18:21 Dropsy
19:11 Fran Bow
19:55 Gemini Rue
20:45 The Goosebumps Game
21:33 The Haunted Island: A Frog Detective Game
22:21 I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream
22:23 Jenny LeClue Detectivu
24:22 John Saul's Blackstone Chronicles
25:26 Kathy Rain
26:25 King's Quest (2015)
27:56 The Last Door
28:55 The Legend of Kyrandia
30:15 The Lion's Song
31:14 The Little Acre
32:13 The Longest Journey
33:33 Lorelai
34:44 Midnight Scenes: The Highway
35:33 Moebius: Empire Rising
37:21 Monty Python's Quest for the Holy Grail
38:25 Neofeud
39:49 One Chance
40:43 The Pandora Directive
41:31 Primordia
42:18 The Procession to Calvary
43:19 Rainswept
44:20 Richard & Alice
45:04 Sanitarium
46:08 Shardlight
47:01 The Shivah
47:46 Stasis
48:48 Strangeland
49:56 The Sundew
51:16 Technobabylon
52:13 The Tesla Effect
53:13 Thimbleweed Park
54:04 Unavowed
55:25 Under a Killing Moon
56:22 Whispers of a Machine
57:40 The X-Files Game
I realized that I forgot a bunch games, there are just so many of them:
7th Guest is a B. Some of the puzzles are cool, some are very annoying. I like the vibe though.
Blade Runner is a B. I love the aesthetic, it really captures the movie, but I spent an inordinate amount of time just jumping between locations trying to figure out what I was supposed to do to trigger the next event.
Lamplight City is a detective point and click with multiples ways to solve cases, some of which may be wrong. Quite good. A.
Syberia is a C. It's pretty, but boy is it boring.
Tex Murphy Overseer is an A. Great puzzles, great story. I just didn't like the interface as much as the other games.
I would say you forgot Blade Runner too.
I sure did.
Great List, but not one single DAEDALIC Game?
I know they have their Flaws (God knows) but i Think "The Whispered World" and "Edna: The Breakout" Earn a chance
Fantastic video as always Pam! Lots of new-to-me games that I'm gonna have to check out.
One classic adventure game that I recommend you check out is The Last Express (GOG version). It's a great period piece with fantastic voice acting and animation. The way it creates the illusion of time passing really makes it feel like your choices matter. It did time loops before the genre existed.
Not bad for a part 1, seriously, I feel it's fair to list several of the final fantasy titles as adventure games, adventure, pitfall and E.T. all from Atari should be included as well. Just to be fair E.T. is a masterclass on how not to make a game, Scarab of Ra, Myst, Riven, The Last Express, 7th guest, 11th hour, the Dig, and Atlantis for the Mac should be covered as well. Thank you for making this content it was very entertaining to watch.
Thank you for your continued support of the Tex Murphy series!
Thank you for developing the Tex Murphy series!
Broken Sword deserves in S. One of the greatest videogames of all time.
It's also hilarious
YES.. THANK YOU!
It has some weaknesses. The VA is awful (luckily the german dub is fantastic). Its has some frustrating pixel hunt moments. The famous goat puzzle and a rather disappointing ending.
Also I dont get why the neo templars are supposed to be the evil guys. tehy only really killed one of their own. And no organization of that size can be expected to not accept some collateral. Their actual goals seem fine.
@@squattingheads What? It has some of the best voice acting in videogame history. What do you mean?
It's dog shit... just kidding haha. Bro, it's good but atleast she is honest about her own tastes and don't give AF how unpopular her opinion is. I enjoy it.
@@briankory She's entitled to her opinion and I certainly enjoyed listening to her, but in that case I think she vastly underestimated such a legendary game.
You didn't mention Myst, but that game has had a major influence on the adventure genre ever since it came out. The kind of serene, chill, unthreatening style of gameplay, coupled with new age-y ASMR-like atmospheric music, that we find in Syberia, The Longest Journey, The Witness, Firewatch, Gone Home, Everybody's Gone to the Rapture, and on and on, would be unthinkable if Myst didn't exist. The first time I saw Myst and its aesthetics when the game came out, it was unforgettable. That kind of aesthetics also coincides with the sensibility of many adventure game fans, I would think. It fits adventure better. In a first-person shooter, that kind of aesthetics wouldn't work.
I tried to play Myst once when I was 11. Had no idea what to do. I tried it again a few weeks ago, again I turned it off almost immediately. It's just not for me.
Someone else would have inspired the genre instead. And yeah myst might be related but is also very different from P&C adventure games. Mainly in being dialogue story driven. Which changes the whole deal of the game.
I did play the very similar physicus when I was younger. And I could only get myself to play that one cause it taught about actual science. While I love P&C Myst is not for me.
Id say Zork is closer but I can understand anyone being frustrated by the navigation
I get the feeling that this channels is more focused more on shorter, easier(at least not hardcore), story driven games. Since myst-like games are usually long, difficult and cryptic, it's no surprise there are non on this list.
@@Cannotbetamed1 Give the recent remake of Myst and Riven a try. Its beautiful.
I'm surprised not to see Beneath a Steel Sky, Syberia, Vampyre Srory and the Czho Mythos on this list. A very overlooked comedy adventure game is Flight of the Amazon Queen, which is free on GOG so it's super easy to give it a try.
Love Vampyre Story. Never quite finished it.. I should do that!
I enjoyed Beneath a Steel Sky and the first two Broken Swords, i remember being stuck on a couple of the puzzles in a Smoking Mirror, pre gameFAQ days.
The greatness about your channel you always bring new and interesting titles to my attention that I have never heard of. (btw when you do long videos like this I treat them like a podcast, so I play video games in the background while listening) Thank you for your contribution to the gaming community.
Thank you so much. Sounds like a good way to experience these videos.
@@Cannotbetamed1 I sat through the whole thing in one sitting.
A UK developer called Darkling Room has made a few point-and-click adventure games that I enjoyed: Dark Fall (2002), Dark Fall: Lost Souls (2010), The Lost Crown (2008). They all have supernatural themes. An Australian-made indie adventure game called The Eyes of Ara (2016) also impressed me. These are all fairly challenging games with little hand-holding. E.g. When you have to guess a computer password, it won't be written on a scrap paper nearby; you have to deduce it from all the journals, posters, etc. you've seen up to that point.
Dark Fall and The Lost Crown. Very good (and creepy) stuff.
Those sound cool, I hadn't heard of them before.
I had the same first bad impression about Technobabylon when I played it (getting stuck at the very beginning and all) and almost dropped it, but after the bad start it was an amazing game. The restaurant sequence was bone-chilling, I fear that something similar could become reality someday.
I am in an On/Off Relationship with Point and Click Adventures. Back in the day I loved them, partly also because there were not as much options in the video game market as today. Then, when technology evolved, i stopped playing them. But from time to time, i get this nostalgia boosts and want to play them again. but it is not just that. in my opinion point and click adventures are the "reading a good book on a rainy sunday afternoon" of the video game industry, and when i have the right pointy and clicky at the right timey, its hard to beat that feeling, man. the last ones i played for the first time a few weeks ago were: broken sword, secret files tunguska and broken sword 2. and after trying to decide for a felt decade if i should give the longest journey or the very first monkey island a try, this video right here made the decision for me. for a very long time i wanted to play the longest jorney, because every time i see it mentioned in a video it has a strange power over me. like a magic spell, casted on my brain. it has some sort of gravity. cant wait to play it°!
I hope you like it as much as I do!
Point and Clicks definitely have that cozy, nostalgic feel.
@@Cannotbetamed1 thanks. i am a few hours in already and i have to say, this game really has a magic to it, i love the world and the sound but i have one big problem. i dont like the main character. she is so bitchy and unlikeable. i really hope they did that so she can grow and get some good ol´ character development. ^^. the story itself had me hooked from the beginning. ^^ i am curious if i will ever find a pointy n clicky that will ever beat my GOAT (Gabriel Knight) ^^
Hey, i got into the Blackwell series after watching this, and i was pleasently surprised today as i finished Deception for the second "commentary" playthrough when Dave Gilbert mentioned Deionarra's theme from Planescape, my jaw dropped.
Great video! Kyrandia was my jam as a kid. I loved those games - vastly underappreciated. And ah, the Last Door.... Such a promising series that ended in such disappointment. I wish another studio would pick it up and give it a proper ending.
The longest journey was so good, one of my favorite games ever, I'm happy to see you agree
Love these ranking videos, i hope you cover Dreamfall: The Longest Journey and Dreamfall chapters one day as seeing The longest journey in S is the thing i needed to see to push on and finish that game.
I'm in the same boat - The Longest Journey really does live up to it's name in terms of length, doesn't it? Haha.
I love this genre. A couple I didn't see on the list (or forgot about, sorry) that you might enjoy: "A Golden Wake", "Haven's Vault", "Lamplight City", "Lost Horizon", "A New Beginning", "The Raven".
I always enjoy your ranking videos, and it's quite lovely to see one with so many games I worked on or were made by friends of mine. So many memories from these past few years! Thanks so much for supporting smaller developers and for sharing your thoughts.
So glad you liked the video.
The Longest Journey is amazing and probably deserves its own video. I never played many adventure games growing up (I did play Legend of Kyrandia and, despite the ridiculous puzzles, thought it was great at the time) but picked up The Longest Journey and had an amazing time. I want to replay it but I remember it was like 6 discs of content or something.
Always like these videos for picking out games I'd like to play for myself. Thanks! Even thinking about The longest Journey gives me instant goosebumps. Truly amazing game.
I see The Longest Journey is up there in the S-Tier, that's right where I'd put it, too. There's only so much time in the day, and wow, 57 games must have been a lot of time! If you can find the time, I hope someone, sometime, told you about its sequel, Dreamfall: The Longest Journey. TLJ is a hard act to follow, but I was happy and satisfied, revisiting that world. I might compare Dreamfall and TLJ to Chrono Cross and Chrono Trigger. Same world, a few of the same proper nouns, you'll recognize a lot from the first game, but it's very much its own story.
I should try that one again. I started it on Xbox was back when it came out and didn’t like how it controlled so I stopped playing.
😫 Im heartbroken, no Machinarium. The music is sooo good in this game and the company makes nice games overall.
Amanita Design got me back into adventure games. Machinarium, Botinicula, or Samarost 3 are all great starting points.
Horrible games.
love Amanita Design games, they are some of the best!
It is sad see that all daedalic adventures were skipped, because there are some really nice games from them.
I could recommend the "Deponia" and "Edna & Harvey" games.
I have tried a number of them and never managed to stick with one.
Wow, this gives me a lot to think about. I haven't played many since the heyday of Sierra/LucasArts. One that I did play that I thought was good was To The Moon.
Coming back to these point and click adventures, they really help me wind down before bed. Great memories from my childhood too. Thanks for the tier list I've got a lot of catching up to do.
Just noticed yr Sierra and Lucas Arts ranking video!
Can you do next Ranking horror games from Scary to not so Scary
I just recently discovered your channel and as someone who was a kid of 90's CD-ROM adventure games, this has given me a full laundry list of newer titles to check out. Thank you for this!
You're welcome! Hope you enjoy the stuff you try.
While Kyrandia's 1 and 3 where both wholly infuriating experiences for me, the second Kyrandia game, The Hand of Fate, is surprisingly solid. There are a few bad puzzles, certainly, but overall it's colorful, charming, and funny, and the puzzles generally make sense or are even clever sometimes.
Well, every one of your S-tier games is already in my collection., but I added about half a dozen of your A tier to my wishlist and you reminded me I never finished Whispers of a Machine so I'm playing that soon. Maybe I finish it this time. Thanks Pam!
Love your work! Can’t believe they’re still making so many of these games. Haven’t heard of most of these. Very interesting.
Whoa, so much point & click adventure games that I never played.. thanks for the ranking, I'll try out some of them!
A few games that I enjoyed very much but not found in your list:
Beneath A Steel Sky
Toonstruck
Runaway
Deponia
I have some good news: there's a free program called FlashPoint that lets you play Flash games that have been archived, and One Chance is among them. You can download the whole database, which is over a terabyte, or you can download just the program, and it downloads the game/animation and keeps it on your hard drive the first time you check it out.
Good to know! Thank you.
Thank you for the video. I picked up "I have no mouth and I must scream" after watching you recommend it. Although I strongly disagree with your take on Broken Sword, I really appreciate your list. I'd recommend the first two "Simon the Sorcerer" games, the "Black Mirror" trilogy, "Cognition - An Erica Reed Thriller", "Gray Matter", "Memento Mori" and the "Runaway" series. And I'm pretty sure you're going to like the "Still Life" games, although they are a bit clunky.
Great Vid, this added Whispers of a Machine and Neofeud to my radar. Thanks for that
Glad I could help!
Nice ranking list. I haven't played a lot of these, so there's definitely some to look into in the future. I've actually been slowly making my way through The Longest Journey, and whilst I have been enjoying it, it's so long! Haha.
Other games that I have played that don't appear on this list are the Discworld games. Especially Discworld II, as well as Broken Sword 2: Shadows of the Templar. I know you ranked the first Broken Sword game, but I found the second game to be a better experience.
Anyway, looking forward to your next ranking list.
Pam, gotta say I really enjoyed this video. Nice to hear someone with a different take on adventure games despite a lot of these Cs and Ds are regarded as classics.
Really want to hear your thoughts on Beneath a Steel Sky, Blade Runner, Gemini Rue, The Last Express, Myst/Riven (Maybe this is outside the scope), The Neverhood, and Syberia 1 and 2. Hoping you will give us a part 2 of this video soon.
Nice list iv'e added a few to pick up,
would recommend giving "The lost crown a ghost hunting adventure" a play, the dialog can be a little janky but the aesthetic and atmosphere are top notch.
also Star Trek 25th and Star trek judgement rites. very good adventure games even has the original voice cast.
Longest Journey is the S'est of S'es for me, I played it when as a teenager back in the old days of 2001 and it was the first game I finished that gave me the post-game blues. I remember being restless and sad for several days because this amazing experience was over... good times
I should play Toonstruck, that looks great. I have played, and enjoyed the other 2 since I made this.
Some great recos on here, even some of the Bs sounded interesting for the kind of stuff I'm into. Love the Tex Murphy series.
Interesting list. There are some games on there I hadn't heard of before but I'll certainly be checking them out. It really does show you how many adventure games there are out there when you've played so many yet still left some out that I was certain to see. A mixture of old school (Future Wars, Cruise For A Corpse and Beneath a Steel Sky), 90's games (the Discworld series and Blade Runner) and more modern titles (Deponia, Lamplight City and all of the Telltale adventure games). Of those I would especially recommend Blade Runner and Lamplight City. One other game I would recommend is The Dream Machine which is a more obscure game that I really enjoyed even if it is a bit short.
Lamplight and Blade Runner should have been in the video. There are so many adventure games, I guess I missed tagging those ones in my tracker.
Resonance is another great game published by Wadjet Eye Games. It's got a lot of unique features and the puzzles are great 😃
Somehow that one escaped my notice. Thanks!
Now I start to doubt how much I should rely on your rankings.
In this comment, I'm going to be your very predictable GenX'er with my list of 'how come you didn't talk about these games I like?' haha!
Great video Pam. Lots for me to check out! :)
Not sure how you didn't get to Hand of Fate or Malcolm's Revenge which improve on Kyrandia in every possible way and even make the 1st one worth playing.
Also, does Dynamix count? Rise of The Dragon!!!
And then finally - I think you'd REALLY love Companions of Xanth, and to a slightly lesser extent, Death Gate. :)
Well, I just played the first Kyrandia a couple weeks ago, so that would explain how I didn't get to the 2nd or 3rd. Also the fact that there are thousands of games out there to play. I really hate the Xanth books, don't think I'll play the game.
Have you played Dreamfall and/or Dreamfall Chapters?
I played Dreamfall Chapters. Guess I forgot that. I found half the chapters good... and half kinda dull and annoying.
@@Cannotbetamed1 I don't remember any of the story in Chapters, just that it was depressing as hell
Adventure games' heyday was when 3D action games were still not sophisticated enough. But once games like Doom came out, the handwriting was on the wall for adventure games' demise. LucasArts was smart enough to make the first-person shooter Dark Forces, which did very well. Sierra didn't do anything of note to that end, and that was it for them. Sierra used to make games in tons of genres: sports, flight sim, pinball, adventure. But they couldn't make one in the genre that mattered the most at the time: first-person shooter. (They did publish Half-Life and made lots of money.)
I love your passion for games and these videos are excellent! Thank you Pam.
Glad you liked it!
Oh I loved Broken Age and the second act puts a great twist on the story. If I recall it's a much larger share of the game than Act 1 too. It's worth going back to.
I remember really liking Access Software's "Countdown". It has a Robert Ludlum vibe that I enjoyed but I also remember it having a super annoying wine cellar puzzle. It's also from around the time when Access started with the digitized characters thing and that probably comes across as a mixed bag today.
This will be awesome! Adventure games made by LucasArts is what i am familiar with so will be cool to see ones from different companies. Thanks for this!
Hope you like it
Haven't played BladeRunner? It's really good. I haven't tried the GOG version yet but apparently there's some cut content added back into it.
Love the video, Pam! I was bracing myself for you to be harsh on The Longest Journey because of its occasional reliance on moon logic puzzles (including the infamous rubber ducky), so I was delighted you ranked it so highly. Keep up the amazing content!
Thanks! That was a very silly puzzle, but it's such a great game overall.
25:30 -- "You play Kathy, a university student who's on the edgy side." Lol, don't know why but that delivery cracked me up.
I'm glad I discovered your channel. The content is right up my alley and you're a very good presenter. Thanks!
Welcome to the channel!
The neverhood, the discworld games and myst were my favorites as a kid.
This is a super interesting ranking, totally different from what I would choose. Mby its personality driven or some other factors. Not sure, is it strictly Point and Click, so The Vanishing of Ethan Carter and Detriot: Become Human doesnt count, or what? xD. Few games I am missing here: Jack Orlando, Hopkins FBI, Deponia (and other Deadalic games), Teenagent(its free on GOG), The Pillars Of the Earth, Syberia, All Sherlock Holmes games made by Frogwares, Her Story, Dont Feed the Monkeys, Doki Doki xD, Gray Matter, The Neverhood, 3 Skulls of the Toltecs, Blade Runner ^
I'm a Sierra die-hard (QFG, OMG!) followed by LucasArts-diehard but The Last Express might be my ultimate favorite not made/published by either of those two. I loved the environment and rotoscoped characters. I have to try a bunch of yours on your list. I've only tried a little under half of them but I'm not sure I'm the biggest adventure fan in retrospect so much as a disgruntled RPG/strategy fan wanting more games like QFG, VtM, Fallout 1&2, X-Com: UFO Defense, Shining Force, and M&B.
I need to try The Last Express. Maybe I’ll make it the next game I stream.
Thank you for the video. I'll have to try out some of these games.
I love some adventure games, they are very immersive! Mine suggestions are Ghost Trick, the Ace Attorney franchise, Hotel Dusk and the Zero Escape games.
The Are You Afraid of the Dark game actually came preinstalled with my family’s first computer back in the day! I remember playing it as a kid and being really creeped out by it
Some recommendations not on this list:
Simon the Sorcerer I & II
Discword 1,2 & Noir
Gilbert Goodmate and the Mushroom of Phangoria
Beneath a Steel Sky
Toonstruck
Nelly Cootalot and the Fowl Fleet
2064: Read Only Memories
Gray Matter
Deponia (series)
The Unwrtitten Tales (series)
Blazing Dragons
Ark of Time
I love traditional point-and-click adventure games, but the genre has got to keep evolving to stay relevant. It can't stay "traditional" and "retro" forever. I would like to see more groundbreaking stuff like the two games made by No Code -- Stories Untold, and Observation -- which Pam has raved about. These two games still have the same spirit of clue-hunting, puzzle-solving, and storytelling, but wrap them up in such creative and memorable ways. Right now the games that most often carry the torch (if you will) for adventure games are those walking simulator games, like it or not. But those kind of games are often watered-down in the clue-hunting and puzzle-solving departments.
Randomly found this in my feed. Youre getting a sub from me just for putting Longest Journey as your first S :D. Its one of my favorite adventure games along with Grim Fandango
Welcome to the channel!
4:07 In my book Victor created the guy. So the guy IS a Frankenstein. You create a sentient lifeform. It got your name. Same for pets btw.
Love the Unavowed shout-out, one of the all timers, I also recommend Virtuaverse.
That's a good list! I don't fully agree on Kyrandia and Sanitarium - but those could be my nostalgia goggles. You definitely gave me some inspiration to check some games in your top tiers.
I think you will really like the Discworld games (especially the first two). They were a big hit in Europe but I read that they never travelled much to the US. Voicing is done by Eric Idle and the main character was tweaked a bit to be a bit more "python-esque" than the source material. The third game is a Noir detective game set in the same universe. While I think it's great it's also very early 3D adventure with all the issues that come with it.
I'd like to try that series sometime.
Hi, pam. Maybe you want to try out „discworld“ or „gray matter“.
Thanks for your adventure games recommendations. There were many I wasn’t aware of that they exist.
Late Shift was a fun FMV with high production values.
As usual another great and comprehensive ranking of this plethora of games. Any thoughts on Lacuna from last year? Does it count if it's more dialogue driven?
I'm not familiar with Lacuna.
@@Cannotbetamed1 it is glorious
Do try the the Yathzee (Ben Croshaw) Chzo Cycle, a series of freely downloadable adventure games. You might like them. It starts with the game "5 Days a Stranger", a game I found a bit rough, but after the first game, the games get so much better.
Sorry for the typo I made earlier. It is "Chzo" ,not Chtzo. They can get quite gory, but that gore is never gratuitous, it always supports the story line.
No, I never tried those. I do like Yahtzee though.
@@Cannotbetamed1 Sorry for the Typo in my recommendation. Enjoy :-)
Thanks for this thoughtful and comprehensive ranking of adventure games. And thanks for the handy timestamps in your comment. I love adventure games because you have time to think about the solutions, not just run around shooting everything in sight. I also love the artwork, the characters and the story. My favourite adventure game is Grim Fandango and my 2nd favourite is The Longest Journey and its sequels. But it could be the Quest For Glory series. So hard to choose :-) Thanks again ❤
No problem, glad you enjoyed!
Excellent video! I love to see more attention being given to non Sierra and Lucas arts adventure games.
My best definition of adventure game would be that the primary gameplay is built around storytelling, that would also include games like visual novels and I would say that classical adventure games are a subgenre that focus on puzzle-solving to tell its story.
Depends upon how old one is, some of the best for me were from the 80's as I hit my 48th year and some of them were on the C64 and Amiga as well PC.
Oooh - And have a look at Noctropolis. Its a 90s era mature comic book adventure. Fantastic artwork and music!
That one does look cool.
Beneath a steel sky , Simon the sorcerer 1 and 2 and Toonstruck are highly recommended on my part
I guess I wasn't playing any games that were not Sierra or Lucas. I must have switched over to puzzle games like Myst and 7th guest.
Very interesting list. I will look into a few of them . I would recommend Black Mirror (2003) if you haven't tried it. I really enjoyed the atmosphere.
I could listen to Pam rank video games all day, and now thanks to this video I can! ☺️ Seriously, though, I really enjoy your thoughts on adventure games and watching you play them on stream!
Glad you like them!
You are wrong about Broken Sword - it should be higher! :D
I've think I played that game 3 times, and the sequel twice. I'd say it's a great combination of history and thriller, so wouldn't say it is mundane. The humour is probably a different style since a lot of point and clicks can be very over the top.
If you hate box puzzles, definitely skip Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon if you decide to try others in the series.
An interesting point and click I played a few years ago is Toonstruck which combines animation with your live-action main character.
People seem to really love Edna & Harvey the Breakout but I wasn't a fan of that. I did love the sequel Harvey's New Eyes though.
Yeah I don't get her point about the humor. This game is a riot. "Don't shoot I'm innocent! I'm American!" "Can't make up your mind eh?"
Toonstruck looks fun.
Oh no! I just got the kings quest ps4 remakes when they were on sale ($5.99 for the whole thing!) and now I’m worried because I hate backtracking. Thanks for the heads up Pam! Love the video! Love you! Love your lil plants in your window! Have the best Sunday ever and an even better week 😎🐸
I hope you like it more than I did.
Daedalic are very hit n' miss and I think they suffer for poor English voice acting as well as translation issues in places. But the Dark Eye series: Chains of Satinav & Memoria are excellent and "A New Beginning" is a hidden gem.
Have you tried "Bad Day on the Midway". It's very strange with a lot of imagination, and great art.
Resonance from Wadjet Eye was great! I have mixed feelings about the Telltale Games, and I never played their biggest (The Walking Dead,) but I really loved Back to the Future and The Wolf Among Us. I haven't tried Corey and Lori Cole's new game Hero-U (They made Quest for Glory), but I'm interested in trying it out.
This is a long video, but it saved me a whole bunch of time!
That transition from Downfall to Dropsy was pure gold.
Awesome list. :) My own take on just my favorites:
S
The Longest Journey (well, when playing with a guide - at least)
The Lion's Song
Chzo Mythos (series in four parts made by "Yahtzee", although perhaps it's only the two last games that are S tier)
A
The Apprentice II: Knights Move (Threepwoodesque adventure game)
Snakes of Avalon (short and sweet)
Soviet Unterzögersdorf (part of an art project made by former Soviet people, very funny and cool)
B
The Journey Down (made by a couple of Swedes)
The Dream Machine (also made by a couple of Swedes)
Gateway II (also also made by a couple of Swedes, or perhaps even ONE, and also I'm a Swede ^^)
The Apprentice
Spooks (made by Lively Ivy/Erin Robinson, who has some other cool Adventure Game Studios games)
The Marionette (psychological thriller that I haven't played for over ten years so who knows if it's really any good, but I enjoyed it back then, at least)
What a great overview! I have to try a some of your favorites. I love Simon the Sorcerer 1 & 2 and the little known Chewy: Esc from F5 with DotT-like graphics.
I also like the Telltale Sam & Max games and Deponia. Maybe some of these games were more popular in Germany but are definitely available in English
Oh wow, I have not thought about Chewy in such a long long time!
book of unwritten tales 2 is my favorite point and click adventure games; its very funny, has great art, and good voice acting. I'm not sure if the Telltale games would be considered adventure games or just visual novels but they are very good because of their choice system. I hated Technobabylon because it mixed meaningless sci-fi technobabble with puzzle solving. The procession to Calvary is made by the same people who made 4 last things. That's game also featured classical music and renaissance art and was very funny. The Unavowed is definitely my favorite Wadjet eyes game. And Grim Fandango is one of my favorites but i don't remember who made that one so maybe that's why it wasn't featured.
Great list - I love Fran Bow, Dropsy, the Cat Lady and Unavowed! all S tier material IMO. I might have to drop Logest Journey, though I still love it. There's some more Adventures I think you should try though. :)
I haven't played a lot of Legend's games adapted from books, but I hear great things. I really loved *Death Gate,* and *Companions of Xanth* was mostly solid (but MAZE ALERT!), *Shannara* can get dull and has useless combat, but is still kind of charming. All have great art and acting, but short term dead ends are possible so keep multiple saves.
*The Last Express* is a masterpiece 1914 period detailed story with a unique time mechanic. Every Adventure Game fan should at least try it.
*Myst* - the whole series has my abiding love. Not everyone's cup of tea, usually based on just the fist game, but the lore is superbly deep and the puzzles do make sense, in their own special way.
*Apprentice 1 & 2,* amazing standards for a 2004 indie with animations and style on par with Curse of Monkey Island. Damn tease for a 3rd game that never came though.
Telltale's *Sam and Max* (15 games). If you liked the original, and can adjust to the new voices.
*A Tale of Two Kingdoms* - great fantasy game, check out the special edition.
*Strong Bad's Cool Game For Attractive People!* Maybe my favorite Telltale, but I was always a sucker for Homestar Runner (dot) com.
*Adventure: the Inside Job* trilogy - a free Independent darling and a must play tribute to the genre, especially when you've played many of the icons of the 80s and 90s.
*Enter the Story* - A very overlooked, stylish redefining of the genre that explores classic books (it covered the Devine Comedy, the Theogony, Tale of Two Cities and the Count of Monte Cristo between 2009 and 2011). I'm partial to it because I did a lot of beta testing for it, otherwise all the work was the vision of one Scottsman.
*Puzzlebots* - 2010 - Don't come for the story but the problem solving of controlling these little tiny robots with different abilities is fun and novel.
*Back to the Future* - 2010 - OK, this isn't different really, but it's worth playing if you like the films (and gets my list up to 10 :)
*Donna - Agent of Blood* - 2012 Freeware - I really loved this moody vampire (who dresses like Trinity) against neo-fascist s story. A well-rounded adventure (if you don't mind reading) though the blood drinking mechanic can get a little tedious, it's still totally worth it. It's kind of like the Cat Lady mixed with Gabriel Knight.
*Botanicula* - 2013 - From the guys who made Machinarium, it's so zany and cute and organic with outside the box puzzles.
*Oxenfree* - 2015 I've only been through once, but I loved it and it seems like there's lots of replay value. 5 teens exploring a Haunted island with a radio, you figure out what happened and what your personal path will be making telltale like conversations that seem to have some consequence.
Maybe that's enough to get on with LOL!
Thanks for all the recommendations. I've always wanted to play Shannara. The Last Express as well. I love Oxenfree.
@@Cannotbetamed1 If you already like the Shannara books, then you'll probably enjoy the game.
The Dark Eye: Memoria and The Dark Eye: Chains of Satinav are top tier games.
Oh, and Night of the Rabbit
Good rankings (I tend to be more sympathetic towards Moebius though it's a total mess--so woulda given it a C--knowing Jane planned to make it a series with the two male leads in a relationship she coulda at least introduced that in the first game. And mazes.)
It's interesting, I had always heard how amazing the Broken Sword games were so finally a couple of years back played 1, 2 and 5 (the ones available for phone--I guess 3 and 4 are the more action heavy ones and couldn't make the switch.) And I liked them--I think they actually improve as they go on, but really in terms of the character dynamics, the mix of slightly supernatural historical stuff, etc, they really just felt like Gabriel Knight Light to me.
I *am* surprised you don't have Gray Matter on the list though--or haven't played it. It's far from perfect, but is a MUCH better example of a Jane Jensen game post GK than Moebius is.
I have played Gray Matter since I made this list. I quite enjoyed it, though I did find things fell apart a bit at the end. Fun story and puzzles though.
@@Cannotbetamed1 Glad to hear!! It just seems to kinda get forgotten now and, though I know even when it came out a lot of fans were disappointed, I think it's aged quite well (maybe the much bigger disappointment of Moebius has helped raise it in my estimation.) I do think things get a bit too messy in the final sections (and when recruiting students there was one puzzle that, even with a walk through, I had a Hell of a time making work...)
Anyway--have had a great time going through all your videos--dunno how I missed them all these years.
Where is Overseer? Since you are a Tex fan I figured it would be there. Other recomendations from the 90s would be: Ripper and Black Dahlia. Both are pretty great games with great stories and seem to be in line with the type of games you like. Unfortunately, they are not on GOG or anything and are difficult to get to run these days, but both were pretty awesome mid-90s FMV games that were done by Take 2.
I'm fairly new to the PC adventure game scene and these recommendations sound awesome. Definitely going to check out your Sierra and Lucas Arts video. Thanks for making this!
No problem
I loved the list. Have you ever played Overseer, the Tex Murphy's adventure that followed Pandora? I think it's really worth taking a look.
Yes, I have, must have forgotten to include it.
The Unfinished Swan is short and simple as an adventure game, but it has an artsy and clever feel to it
I haven't played most of these, but I did really enjoy Fran Bow, Unavowed, The Last Door, and the Cat Lady.
It's a shame that the new King's Quest isn't very good. It looks amazing...Oh well.
One hour of reviewing adventure games, wow!
Pretty cool list, but you missed sime classic Adventure games. The Delphine games (Operation Stealth, Cruise for a corpse, future wars) Beneath a Steel Sky, the Discworld games etc. Good list though...definitely going to check out a few 😀
I personally love the Amanita Design games (Samorost, Machinarium, and Botanicula), though admittedly a lot of that is the art and music. The big one I still need to get around to other than Unavowed is Kentucky Route Zero.
Thank you for the goldmine, Pam.
The Last Door was disarmingly effective, especially for such a low-res pixel art game. Game Kitchen clearly has some of the best pixel artists out there!
For sure! I love how their games look.
Wow, I don't even know some of them. My brain is stuck on Monkey Island 😄😄😄
If you have a chance, I think The book of Unwritten tales, all three are pretty good with good character.
Daedalic had a decent run. Depends on what you like or not, I think they all have a little something for someone and are high quality.
I did have a blast with Edna and Harvey, they were really funny.
Great list, I did discover a few game I was unaware and wanting to play.