imunbeatable80

@glots: thanks for the read and comment.. I have the 2008 one sitting on a shelf and my only hope is that it is at least more interesting then this one, but I'm sure I will be disappointed.

I had no idea they were making a new one, but that has to be a scary proposition with how many good games were just released this year.

@arbitrarywater: thanks for the comment.. and I can't tell you how happy I am to see I'm not alone in my assessment. I finished the game and saw low 80s on metacritic and assumed I played a different game.. but it is boring and missing any flow.

@judaspete: thanks for the comment. Yeah 5 years after resident evil 1 and yet they still managed to miss on nearly every aspect they had in common. I know some of that is them trying to re-work their own legacy, but it's rough.

@bigsocrates: thanks as always for the read and comment.. I'm fully prepared to make the bottom 10 of my list comprise of all alone in the dark games if I have to. Maybe I'll look back in a week/month and say that I was in a bad mood and the game should really be 140 or something, but right now there this feels right because of how much I disliked playing that game.

As for silent hill ascension, I haven't gotten to it yet, but there's still time.

@wollywoo: thanks for following up.. yeah I agree especially about the ending. I just don't know how you fumble that so badly.. everyone hated the MI2 ending, why revisit that well.

I liked the trip down memory lane and some of the puzzles as an adventure game, but was let down by elements I associate with the series. It's music was less memorable, it was less humorous and some of its writing suffered.

What's most damning is that I'm actually good in terms of the series now. I don't want a sequel in the works certainly not now.. and that seems crazy to think about.

@sethmode: ouch.. Friday the 13th is miles below this game. We can still be friends, but it will take some time repair.

@redwing42:I have a feeling our opinions will be very similar. While I am not done with the game yet, the early review is that this game should be everything I want (turn based combat, individual level ups, strategy game), but I find its missions either poorly designed or just plain annoying.

@chamurai: I suppose it is the nature of this game, that if you take away the mystery and know great builds, since you only control movement there isn't a lot that can you throw you off from playing it outside of "randomization." Thanks for the read and comment.

@peezmachine: I may have not been there in the beginning, but I'm glad I played it. There is a high you can get from playing this game well (especially early on in your career) but I don't know if I will dive deep into the knock-off categories. Thanks for the read and comment.

@junkerman: Thank you so much.. It will hopefully live up to your expectations.

@nodima:thanks for the read and comment.. Yeah this game holds a special space in my heart as well because of the nostalgia I have for it when I played it as a kid. Some of that even applies to puzzles that I remember doing as a kid (the turtle puzzle never bothered me), so I know I am looking through it with some clouded eyes. Its the first time I remember thinking that I was playing a movie, and that was the highest bar I could think of at the time as well. Sure, it hasn't aged gracefully and the puzzles I don't remember in the game are more annoying than genius, but I still don't think this game deserves some of the hate it got.

@tartyron: Thats an amazing story.. I am sure you aren't the only kid that had to convince parents that a video game tip line was in fact different from a sex line.

@bigsocrates:Come Thanksgiving, I will be telling my parents of their failure to raise me on the good games. They were foolishly thinking with their wallets and not their brains.

@sparky_buzzsaw: Thanks for the read and comment. Yeah while I might like someone re-visiting this game, I think it would be a lot of work for very little reward. To make it worthwhile the game would have to change a lot of its puzzles, and probably big chunks of plot as well.

@zombiepie: That's fair.. I can see how this game doesn't work for a lot of reasons I outlined above. However, this blog not only didn't touch on a Sierra vs. LucasArts debate, or "proof" of dominance in the adventure game market, but has never skewed towards that conversation. I grew up playing both Sierra and Lucasarts games.. I had an earlier blog talking about my love of the Sierra game, Gabriel Knight. I'll leave that debate and in-depth sales figures to other blogs, like yours. I'm just grading the game on the finished product (as I also mentioned above). Whether it made a billion dollars, or $10 dollars if it is a finished product for sale, it gets reviewed the same.

@goosemunch: Totally understand your feelings on the game. If I wasn't approaching this with nostalgia, I don't think I would be able to even pull out the few positives I outlined in this game. While I haven't played every Lucas-arts adventure game ever released, I will say that Escape from Monkey Island might hold the spot for my least favorite Lucas-arts adventure game of their time..

@bigsocrates: well sure if you want to think about it logically... but if you want to make wild accusations not bound to reality, then I'm in the right.

@arbitrarywater: The math checks out, and I think that's all we need to say this is officially confirmed. The way they fully embrace this mascot is crazy to me, but when there are shantae plushes, skateboards, cards, and pillow cases.... and presumably people buy them, then I guess they are doing ok.