It's been so long since cast to walk this project, today crowdfunding implemented on platforms like Kickstarter is seen as normal, and has offered some of the best games of recent times, such as the recent Pillars of Eternity. Thousands of users put their money to play games that are created, and because of this it is possible to see new works of genres they thought were forgotten, at least by the producers, not by the players, as evidenced by the success of many initiatives in Kickstarter.
Double Fine Adventure was one of the first great successes of this fruitful relationship between video games and micro-patronage, and based on an ambitious objective was to raise $ 400,000, ended up getting 3.3 millions, thanks to the collaboration of more than 87,000 people eager to play an adventure as before. And the final game in our hands we can look back and draw some conclusions, such as Double Fine Productions has paid the hazing of being one of the first studies to embark on the adventure of Kickstarter, a development that it has not been all that well managed.
It has been over three years since it closed its financing (March 2012), and almost a year and a half since the first event was launched, too long for an adventure game that is pretty good, but we expected a little more. This is not to say it's a bad game, or a failed one at all, but perhaps too many expectations have been generated around with both development time, and a graphic adventure that is a masterpiece are expected, as LucasArts provided us in its best years, they will be disappointed.
Broken Age has the spirit of adventure of the mid-90s, when they had already discarded the traditional actions of "looking", "take", "talk", "use", etc., to invest in more modern interfaces, simple and intuitive, suitable for all kinds of players, but while still offering a great challenge to our neurons (there we have games like Full Throttle and Grim Fandango, the own Tim Schafer). Broken Age is even more simple than the games playable in its approach, and to an item or a character stage different actions have not only one: interact. We do have the classic inventory, we can go keeping all kinds of objects for use with stage elements or combined.
While many may say that the gameplay is not strictly classical, and therefore does not recover the spirit of those adventures, so we do that makes it more important aspects, such as its charming mood for everyone, his wit and imagination, a delightfully written dialogues, and to the extreme care, both visually and in sound art section. A "magic" and almost lost in contemporary graphic adventures, which only the talent of Tim Schafer and his team have managed to bring back, although the final result will have been a little out of touch the gates of heaven, more than we would have liked.
Heroes Accident
Broken Age tells the story of Vella and Shay, two teenagers who live in worlds completely different circumstances, but both have something in common: they are condemned to fulfill a destiny that have not chosen, and will have to decide if they want to break with what is expected of them in order to take control of your life. She lives in a small village, and will be sacrificed in an ancient ritual that serves to appease the hunger for destruction of a huge monster who visits regularly. He is trapped in a spaceship controlled by an overly maternal artificial intelligence, protecting you constantly, and so do not get bored, we charge a ridiculous and repetitive missions where you have to exercise false hero.
From this interesting point, we can control any of the two characters at will, at least to reach certain specific points of the game, in which we have completed the plot of the story both to move on. No matter where in the order in which we complete their stories and if we alternately, these are separate and do not mix, and what we do to one will not affect the other. And it's a shame, because in the final stretch this changes and the proposal playable earn much interest by forcing us to switch between Vella and Shay constantly, and that certain actions have an impact on the development of another character, and it is necessary to alternate to solve puzzles. This represents a small percentage of the game, but shows that have been made during more time would have been facing a much more challenging and original graphic adventure.
Leaving aside what might have been, the difficulty curve is pretty good throughout the game, which does not mean it's easy, and we'll be stuck more than once, although we will never despair if we have some experience in the genre. It is a tricky adventure, do not store tens of objects or these are too hidden to not see them if you look at the scenarios carefully, and there are three or four puzzles of all life, even some of the catching pen and paper, that standing a little to think them are quite logical, but we require work energetically. We think it offers an almost perfect difficulty, and appreciated that have not included a system of tracks and other facilities that we have seen in recent years in the genre, and Double Fine continue to rely on the intelligence of the player.
Another detail that we liked is how well measures are the talks, numerous other, but never too long or unnecessary lines of these you just going fast. We listened quietly all dialogues, brilliantly written, and better interpreted, with a humor that although you do not take loud laughter, if you persistently keeps a smile on his face. The conversation system is totally classic, with a number of predefined over which we have no power of decision and alternative lines, and almost always should be exhausted. To praise the quality of the dialogue does not mean that we are saying the same history, and this has disappointed a lot.
Started well, keeping some mystery, and has a great mid-game twist, those who already have seen the first part launched in January last year. But from here the story does not improve, its outcome is poor shooting, and it is a shame to discover that the game had shown us its best narratives cards in the first half, when we expected to pass along the opposite, and that the argument exploded in the second act. As disappointing as this is the fact to discover that all the scenarios that we saw in the first part are recycled in the second half of the game, there are little new locations, and we have to go virtually the same places with some modifications, controlling another character and with new stories and puzzles in them. We expected something much more ambitious after waiting for so long to enjoy the adventure complete.
Although at the time I cross out the first act of facile and rather short, the whole game has a more accurate term, about 12 hours, depending on how much you choke a particular puzzle. As imagined the greatest challenges were coming in the second half, which is not far from a walk, and his simple story and discover not give to lengthen much more the thing, at least not without including straw, which hardly has.
The audiovisual section have loved, starting with its artistic design, hand drawn fairy tale that will not please everyone, but that seems beautiful with scenarios that are a riot of imagination, and a tremendously expressive characters, reacting differently from each line of dialogue. The game looks and moves just as well on PC and PS4 (it is played without any problems with the controller by the way), but we can not say the same for the version of PS Vita, which has a big problem, some times load scenarios between too long, between 10 and 15 seconds. So that not seem excessive, but believe us that they are, in a game you have to constantly move from one place to another looking for a solution, and becomes unbearable to go to a very remote place, when PC is instantaneous PS4 and move between scenarios .
On the other hand the sound is outstanding, superb, with an excellent soundtrack composed by Peter McConnell, composer of some of some of the best adventures of LucasArts as Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle, The Dig or Grim Fandango, and that proves to be in top form. An elegant, subtle compositions that create a perfect atmosphere, with a curious melancholy and nostalgic air that perfectly conveys the feelings of the characters and the world around them.
Essential if you grew up with the great adventures of LucasArts
We have thoroughly enjoyed Broken Age, and reminded us those unforgettable moments that we live in the 90s when adventure games were a genre star, and moved us to strange worlds that never have been able to erase from our memory. Perhaps his greatest enemies are going to be the long development time and 87,000 producers, since it is inevitable that all we waited a little more so noisy project. More locations, more elaborate story, and ultimately a more memorable game that has finally been.
But leaving aside these drawbacks, we have a lovely adventure, made with exquisite taste, and with graphics, a soundtrack and some interpretations available to very few titles. If one day you loved this kind, or if you're still wanting, Broken Age is a great game that you can not miss.
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