Hugely disappointing

[Tiggum]

This game isn't even an adventure game. The "puzzles" are just "do the most obvious thing" and the core gameplay mechanic seems to be the combat, which is tedious, repetitive and dull.

And I don't know what it is, but the story that sounded really interesting in the promo material is just plodding and unengaging.

I love the Blackwell games, but having bought Emerald City Confidential, Puzzle Bots and now Gemini Rue, I'm not buying anything unrelated to Blackwell from you again. It's just a guaranteed disappointment.

[frederic09]

yeah, and you forget you need 5 hours to complete the game.

And the bugs/glitches like for the weights or the maintenance door.

And if the keyboard is not "qwerty", then it's a pain to do the fights. Including the ones in the easy mode.

And ... i'll stop here i think it's better.

But stilll, the end of the story was unexpected, so... i'll give a 10/20.

[StingingVelvet]

There will always be varying opinions on any game... even the classic movies, albums and games of all time have people who dislike them.  Gemini Rue is being very well reviewed and most forums I go to are filled with people who like it, so I would say it's a hit.

Shame you guys don't like it, but hey... it happens.

What have been some of you guys' favorite adventure games recently?  I am just curious.

[Tiggum]

What have been some of you guys' favorite adventure games recently?  I am just curious.

Recently? None. I tried playing one of the Tales of Monkey Island games, and it was awful. Shitty UI, really bad jokes, and absolutely nothing that kept me coming back despite those two facts.

As mentioned above, Puzzle Bots was awful. The characters were unlikable, the puzzles were ridiculously easy and the plot basically just seemed tacked on and unrelated to the gameplay.

Like I said though, I really love the Blackwell games. That is what adventure games should be like. Interesting plot, engaging characters, good humour and puzzles that make sense but aren't so blatantly obvious that the first half-baked idea you try just works. Although honestly I wish they'd ditch Rosa and make more about Lauren, because she is by far the better character (and Unbound the better game).

I also really enjoyed Beneath a Steel Sky (which you can get for free on Good Old Games if you've never played it) and Discworld Noir, although buggy as hell, is worth playing. The first Broken Sword game is also not bad, but the second one just drags an a bit too long and the third one is best not spoken of at all.

If you know of any games I haven't mentioned that are like Blackwell or BASS, let me know. Good adventure games are really hard to come by, and I'm sure there are more out there I haven't seen yet, but sifting them from the crappy ones is something of a challenge.

[frederic09]

There will always be varying opinions on any game... even the classic movies, albums and games of all time have people who dislike them.  Gemini Rue is being very well reviewed and most forums I go to are filled with people who like it, so I would say it's a hit.

Shame you guys don't like it, but hey... it happens.

What have been some of you guys' favorite adventure games recently?  I am just curious.

Well the latest AGS game i liked, it's "~airwave~ - I Fought the Law, and the Law One".
I know it's a free one, but even if i thought it was a little short, i enjoyed playing it.

You know, I don't mind supporting the Indie games but i have a limit as a player/customer, and this time i reached it.  For a commercial game, i can accept sometimes the bugs and other glitches because nobody is perfect.
But I had some extra problems - like the gunfights. It was designed for the english market and not the "foreigners" like me. And it's something i didn't liked at all.
You should try with an azerty keyboard and see if you could handle well in the easy mode.

And now i will be more careful before buying here. I've learned my lesson.

See you for the next blackwell game

[alphatt]

By your description, you like the kind of perplexing game that is discworld 1, which is why it's strange you liked the blackwell games, because I thought the  puzzles weren't nearly as f*d up. I haven't played gemini rue before, but based on the adventuregamers.com review i think it's safe to say it's worth the asking price if you like adventure games.

[Nathan Allen Pinar]

The "puzzles" are just "do the most obvious thing" and the core gameplay mechanic seems to be the combat, which is tedious, repetitive and dull.

I don't understand why you think this. There were a few puzzles in the game that were quite odd and not obvious at all.

[StingingVelvet]

I don't understand why you think this. There were a few puzzles in the game that were quite odd and not obvious at all.

Yeah, I got stuck a few times so all the people calling this game too easy make me feel dumb

[DaveGilbert]

I got stuck a few times the first time I played it, too.  Darn extension plug.

[Tiggum]

By your description, you like the kind of perplexing game that is discworld 1

If that's directed at me, no, not at all. Discworld Noir, yes (despite the bugs), BASS, yes, Innocent Until Caught, yes (to an extent), Blackwell, yes. Discworld 1 and 2? No. I like puzzles that make sense but still make you think. Puzzles that make sense only to the person who wrote them are one of the many things adventure games should have long ago gotten past.

There were a few puzzles in the game that were quite odd and not obvious at all.

I didn't finish the game, so maybe it gets less obvious later on, but after the fourth or fifth gunfight (which, as someone else mentioned, are kind of a bitch on a non-QWERTY keyboard and as I mentioned, are tedious and dull) playing through one section as Delta-Six and two as Azriel I feel I've given it sufficient opportunity to stop sucking and putting more time into it would just be throwing good money after bad, so to speak.

But to give you an example of what I'm talking about, going from "I'm looking for this guy" to "I'll look him up on the internet" is not a puzzle. Even the getting the ID card to access  the internet wasn't a puzzle, because some guy just gave it to me for no apparent reason. "I've never met you before, you seem kind of suspicious and you have no legal ID. So I guess you can borrow mine!"

While I'm on the topic, that's not the only example of absurdly stupid dialogue. The bit where Matthius is bitching about you not shooting the guards and asks for your gun; "But what about your vow to never use a weapon again?" "Oh right, the vow. I just totally forgot about that, so it obviously wasn't that serious, but since you've brought it up I guess I'll stick to it." Someone actually thought that made any kind of sense?

[TheJBurger]

The first sections of the game are designed to be easier than the rest - I did this intentionally so that players would NOT get stuck early on. (If you buy an adventure game and heard about all these great things and get stuck in the first 10 minutes, you never have a chance to get even absorbed in the world to want to continue playing the rest of the game, in my humble opinion.)

The game is designed in that respect so that players can move on without much frustration early on, and then it opens up to be more challenging and less obvious towards the middle.

As far as your second comment, there is a logical rational behind it - you just have to keep playing to find out.

[Tiggum]

The game is designed in that respect so that players can move on without much frustration early on

So, the gunfights were a pretty bad idea then.

[TheJBurger]

The game is designed in that respect so that players can move on without much frustration early on

So, the gunfights were a pretty bad idea then.

The gunfights are introduced in a tutorial and then only to the players in the third scene in the game, approximately at least 30 minutes in.

[Tiggum]

The gunfights are introduced in a tutorial and then only to the players in the third scene in the game, approximately at least 30 minutes in.

Once again, maybe this is because I haven't played through the whole thing, but is 30 mins in not early?

[StingingVelvet]

The game is designed in that respect so that players can move on without much frustration early on, and then it opens up to be more challenging and less obvious towards the middle.

And I think you did this very well.  I know I start a lot of adventure games and if I get stumped in the first few sections it can turn me off a game.  Once you get hooked on the story and characters though you will fight through any puzzle to try and see more.