Covskin

Eh, my main memories of Tales aren't as rosy. The repetition of the map puzzle in Episode 1 frustrated me, and the Mer-people of Episode 2 came out of nowhere. I think it was Episode 2, the part where Guybrush teaches LeChuck how to puzzle solve was hilarious to be fair. My memories of Episode 3 were it being the pits, haha. Didn't like the restricted location or the face-pulling minigame/puzzle and Murray could only do so much to carry it. My main reason for still preferring the originals is scale, something that the episodic format of Tales could naturally never match. The quest for the 4 map pieces in MI2 is the pinnacle of open-ended design for me, allowing the player to go through 4 different puzzle lines in any order, mixing and matching whenever you want or need. The Three Trials and Plunder Island are similarly large and varied. Its just something a smaller 3/4 hour episodic game could never hope to match. Its not a deal-breaker, it just comes with the territory. I used to hope after The Walking Dead Season 1, Telltale would have become large enough to not rely on the episodic format anymore, allowing for bigger adventures. Sadly, it was not meant to be.

Aw man. I remember vividly when Telltale first came to the point-and-click scene. I was part of a Monkey Island forum at the time, and after Lucasarts cancelled Sam & Max: Freelance Police, the community was desperately looking for ANYTHING. Telltale got our attention by teasing a licensed game, and all they showed was a close-up of something white. Everyone was convinced it was Max! Eventually, it was revealed to be...Bone. Was a bit of a dick move, really. It wasn't too long after that we got what we had hoped for, new Sam and Max. It was decent, and Season 2 was a definite improvement. I was happy. Telltale was growing. One of my favourite genres was being revitalised. Even then, Telltale had oddball decisions. I love Homestar Runner as much as next guy, but doing a 5-part series on a web cartoon is really a strange business decision. Wallace & Gromit was also an unusual choice, and Back to the Future was a surprise (I don't think it was even for a major anniversary, may be wrong though). It was around this point I first thought Telltale might be spreading themselves too thin. Then the crazy people actually did it. They made a new Monkey Island. It was decent. I haven't played it since it first released almost 10 years, I probably should try it again. Aside from a third series of Sam and Max (probably their most ambitious in mechanics), this is where they moved to interactive storytelling. The Walking Dead Series 1 is a really big deal. I don't fully blame them for changing their focus after its success, and all the media attention Telltale received from it. The Wolf Among Us is also pretty damn good. Series 2 of the Walking Dead disappointed me, and to be honest I haven't bought any of their games since then. I'm stunned at this news though, because of the sheer amount of licenses they were playing with, I reckoned they must be swimming in cash. But as Ryan said above, it was way too much. They had far too many ongoing projects, people splitting time across various franchises leaving no consistency within them. That said, I was quite anticipating The Wolf Among Us 2. If I'd known TWD3 was such an improvement over Series 2, I might have given that a go by now as well. Weren't they actually working on a new engine, or at least a proper update? Figures that as soon as they try to address one of their most common criticisms, they run out of money. Its strange seeing a company rise and fall in about 15 years (or less), and I have sympathy for the staff. Now, with a heavy heart, I'm off to download the games I bought direct from their website, PRE-STEAM before they disappear.

I still haven't got round to playing Mania yet (been waiting for a price drop), but upon seeing this I'm jumping in on Day 1 of Plus. Never did I think we'd see Mighty and Ray come back, hell I thought their cameo poster in Generations was more than could be expected of Sega's acknowledgement they existed. I'm stunned the guys have got the go-ahead to revive them. They're essentially a blank slate for new twists on gameplay, and I trust these guys to come up with something interesting. Art book should be snazzy too.

The original EU Boxart for Broken Sword looks like this: The original US Boxart for the same game (with a worse name) looks like this:

It wouldn't be the first time, remember when Play Magazine gave Sonic 06 a 9 out of 10? Still, I think its more likely just Famitsu being generous, as they tend to be. (Just for reference though, 32 out of 40 is the same as everyone giving Sonic Mania 8 out of 10, hardly hating the game).

Seems to be less about difficulty, more about how time consuming it is. 5 Red Rings, 1 Number Ring and 1 Moon Medal for each level. 30 Levels, plus bonus levels...people probably haven't had the physical time to manage it yet.

Well, if you like playing the game, then there's a huge amount to do post-game. Based off Spaceport though, its very repetitive. I assume the later levels will make finding the number rings and moon medals harder to find. Still, that's each level needing beating a MINIMUM of three times, and that's assuming you get all 5 Red Rings on your first attempt, as well as getting an S-Rank on one of those attempts!

Indeed.

Number one for me has to be Breath of the Wild. I actually bought a cheap second hand Wii U just to play it (though thanks to Odyssey, I might need to get a Switch somewhere down and end up buying it a second time). The sheer scale of the world astounded me; I was constantly wandering off from my intended target to inspect the smallest of distractions. No fight was by-the-numbers, I always had to be alert. Shrines offered variety everywhere. There are some small issues (weapons breaking, dungeons were a bit lacking, some open spaces took too long to traverse and horses weren’t that useful), but I was absolutely engrossed for the 4-6 weeks it took me to finish my 100 hour journey. No game has grabbed me like that in years. Life is Strange took me by surprise to be honest. I got the season for less than a fiver, expecting something mildly interesting, more as an alternative to Telltale as I’d become tired of their formula. The quirky tone of the first episode intrigued me, and by the end of the second episode hooked me. A true example of your choices making a real difference, even your standard playing style and not just your binary yes/no decisions. In fact, the rooftop scene might be my personal favourite gaming moment of the year. It tailed off a little bit near the end, but really brought everything home in the finale. To stop rambling on too much, honourable mentions for Uncharted 4 (including a rare foray into online gaming for me, I really clocked in more hours on that than I expected to), Super Mario 3D World, Bayonetta 2 and The Last Guardian. I haven't played Mania yet, waiting for a sale.

Ok, possible extra ending scene after completing all the secret missions I guess. Maybe a secret boss, possibly just make you fight the normal final boss again though. This game doesn't look as terrible as I feared. It doesn't look good though. As it stands, I probably won't bother with this one, which is a shame. But, the levels are just way too short, and generally uninteresting from a gameplay / level design standpoint. Graphics look nice, haven't heard enough to form opinions on the music or voice acting. In fact, barely seen any story stuff, so can't comment fairly there either. But as a guy who values gameplay above all else, I just can't justify spending the time or money on this one. (in before "Neither could Sonic Team). Something must have happened in those 4 years, because this is NOT the product of that entire time.

You called it.

Even at the end of the game,Red Rings are right next to each other...

I've only had a chance to see a couple of brief videos (my internet speed went kaput last night for some reason). With the previews and demo in mind, have there been any levels longer than 2 minutes yet?