Joystiq review

[Got Haggis?]

http://www.joystiq.com/2010/06/30/review-puzzle-agent/

3/5 - seems to be a mainly negative review (copy of Professor Layton but not as good)

[Gibbeynator]

So, that means Puzzle Agent will be out soon? I mean, if people are already reviewing it, it must be done.

[KLind]

Wow I disagree with their review.

Here's mine for what it's worth: http://buttonbasher.net/2010/06/30/y...-agent-review/

[MRN]

Lol at that review...

[MRN]

Originally Posted by KLind

Wow I disagree with their review.

Here's mine for what it's worth: http://buttonbasher.net/2010/06/30/y...-agent-review/

10/10??

WOW!!!

How long is the game, BTW?

[Secret Fawful]

Seems like the first reviewer had a negative attitude before he played the game. It just feels that way.

[Toast_Burner]

That was quite a bad review.
Im not saying its bad because im biased and love Telltale, but in that review he kept comparing it to Professor Layton. I understand using Professor Layton when talking about the Puzzles but the characters and setting are not suposed to be any thing like 'Professor Layton' its Grinkle where the characters all look the same and usually have no names.

[KLind]

Originally Posted by MRN

10/10??

WOW!!!

How long is the game, BTW?

I feel very strongly about this game and it's series potential.

As for length it seemed about the same length as a typical Telltale episode if not a little bit shorter. Your mileage may vary depending on how long you spend stumped on puzzles.

[MRN]

^^Thanks

[Raum]

Pretty awful review. In every sentence there seems to be contours of arguments, he mentions Professor Layton. It's ridiculous, really.

In fact, a similar critique could be leveled against the whole of the game's tone. It wants to be quirky, funny, oddball, mysterious and a little unnerving, but it never goes far enough in any of those directions to be particularly effective. What you're left with feels like Brett Ratner trying to make a David Lynch movie, and the result is unfortunately mushy, even more so when compared to the specific, deliberate charm of Layton.

The game is subtle, and that's a bad thing, because Professor Layton is "deliberately charming"? Give me a break.

[shref]

im really not expecting anything amazing from this game (tho its telltale so i wouldnt be surprised if i'm wrong on this =P) but i basically got it for free so it doesnt bother me if its bad

[Toast_Burner]

also it seems he didnt like the game because it rips off Professor Layton, but he complains when it does stuff differently to Professor Layton .

[Got Haggis?]

to me its a weird review because its mostly negative, but in the end they give it a 3/5, which is not a bad score.

[Paintbrush]

I don't get this "Professor Layton rip off" thing. By this standard 90% of all games are rip offs (not to mention, all adventure games must be rip offs of early Kings Quests )

[plrichard]

Yeah, it seems like a situation where he heard it was going to be like Professor Layton, which is one of his favorite games and was disappointed. And since he was so disappointed that he said they should've never even tried to copy Layton.

[LordKinbote]

Originally Posted by Toast_Burner

also it seems he didnt like the game because it rips off Professor Layton, but he complains when it does stuff differently to Professor Layton .

Well, no, he complains that most things that Puzzle Agent did, Layton did better. That's not quite the same thing.

It seems enjoyment of the game is very much tied to the Layton-shaped elephant in the room: if you can get past the fact that, yeah, it's fairly derivative, then you'll have a good time. If you can't, then you might want to lower your expectations now.

All I care about are whether the puzzles are good and interesting, and whether the story is worthwhile. Honestly, I'm worried that it will fall in the same trap that Layton fell in, that most of the puzzles will be "chestnuts" (puzzles that are so well-known that most seasoned puzzlers could give you the answer without thinking about the problem at all).

[MRN]

Originally Posted by Paintbrush

I don't get this "Professor Layton rip off" thing. By this standard 90% of all games are rip offs (not to mention, all adventure games must be rip offs of early Kings Quests )

Yeah, it's like saying: "Oh noes, all the Adventure Games are rip offs of the early text adventure game but with images !!!!!!111!!Q!!!"

[Yadda]

Trust me, based on the puzzles we've seen so far... I don't think that's going to be an issue.

And, considering the Layton games, or at least the first one, dunno about the others, were a direct fork of a brain teaser book in Japan... Same puzzles, same order, etc...

You get the idea. Chestnuts be expected in Layton's case as a result of the origin of the puzzles.

[LordKinbote]

Originally Posted by Yadda

Trust me, based on the puzzles we've seen so far... I don't think that's going to be an issue.

And, considering the Layton games, or at least the first one, dunno about the others, were a direct fork of a brain teaser book in Japan... Same puzzles, same order, etc...

You get the idea. Chestnuts be expected in Layton's case as a result of the origin of the puzzles.

Actually, the sock puzzle shown in the second review is very much a chestnut.

[akaimizu]

Well, yeah. The Professor Layton games had puzzles which were directly taken from existing puzzle books. Not just in Japan, but in the West as well. I did know the majority of those puzzles, from the start, though one can always alter a tiny rule or position in them, to make them have a different answer. It's what makes those puzzles really lasting.

Of course, the review really didn't tell me anything other than the guy's personal opinion about the atmosphere of the game. Or anything about whether it is voice acted all the way through, etc. Telltale games are generally 'talky' type of games, where Professor Layton has no voice work outside of a few *specific* animated scenes and soundbites when you solve or fail a puzzle attempt.