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The Future Of Adventure Games Discussed
Thanks to AdventureGamers.com for the first part of their continuing feature article discussing what the future holds for the adventure game as a genre. The author shrewdly points out: "The death of adventure games is a topic that's been... well, done to death", and goes on to muse: "We can restlessly theorize about the genre's supposed 'death' forever, but it won't really get us anywhere. Instead, we need to take a closer look at the stuff (adventure) games are made of." He then points out: "Syberia or Jak & Daxter - ask anyone on the forums which one is the adventure game and everyone will reply the former. It's a no-brainer. However, things get difficult when you try to define exactly why Syberia is the adventure game." It's then claimed that "...the most visible characteristic of adventure games is that they offer a departure from action-and-reaction gameplay and manual dexterity" - but do games in this genre still appeal?
Adventure games now have all become along the lines of Myst and such, there is very little interaction in them between multiple characters, and most of the games I've played lately that call themselves 'Adventure' games have less adventure in them than Grand Theft Auto! I'd say it's not that Adventure games don't exist or are dying, but that they've changed significantly from the older Adventure games. IMHO, the older games like Kings Quest and Space Quest, Bards Tale, Loom, Sam and Max, Day of the Tentacle, etc, are all substantially better games than the newer Adventure games like Ico (PS2), Syberia (XBOX), or Myst. The new games just seem to be lacking in story and interaction.. Space Quest and such had such great plots (even if they were tongue in cheek!) and at the very least were entertaining throughout, whereas Myst and such just don't seem gripping to me. But-- That's just my opinion, and I've been wrong before. sYn
To the darkened skies once more, and ever onward.
Just because the genre has the word "adventure" in it, that doesn't mean that any game featuring some kind of adventure automatically joins the genre. In Super Mario World you play the role of Mario, but is that an RPG? 2D Side-scrolling console games were never considered adventures, unless they featured elements such as the ability to communicate with non-player characters, an inventory, some sort of story and puzzles to solve. More importantly, adventure games should not punish you for being a crappy gamer, as long as you can think you should be able to progress through them nicely. "Adventurous" games are not necessarily adventure games, nor do adventure games need to have huge elements of adventure in them.
Of course consoles never had pc styled adventures.
Except for, um, Maniac Mansion for the NES. And the PS1 versions of the Broken Sword series. And Clock Tower on the SNES and PS1. And scores of lesser-known titles.
You forgot to mention the PS2 port of Escape from Monkey Island.