Death in Adventure Games... Good? Bad? Inevitable?

[nikasaur]

Jaz drives were the coolest.

[Irishmile]

Obviously Death in games is a good thing...... at least when its Manny.

[jmm]

It depends on context, story and execution.
Taking a few samples from Sierra:
Gabriel Knight: The snake puzzle. If you have a snake squeezing your neck an you don't react in time, you die -> Good Example for a situation where death it's an appropriate outcome and it's logical (and you actually have enough time to try something). My only complaint: the game didn't have the retry option so you're stuck to load a previous save game if you fail.

Gabriel Knight 3: The pendulum puzzle. If you miss the split-second timed click, you fall and die -> The outcome is logical, but it's a bad design since it punishes the player for not being "precise" (In fact that part of the game seems more like an action-adventure game to me. The rotating platform with blades and the pendulum looks more like an Indiana Jones game than a Gabriel Knight one)

Phantasmagoria 2: The Creature Mix. If you combine the incorrect creatures, you die. No warning, no context, nothing. Not only it punishes the player for not knowing in advance, but it forces you to save, try, restore, and continue until you actually find the combination that works (unless you cheat or are lucky enough to make it right in the first try)

Datasoft's "Dallas Quest" (Parser adventure). Something as simple as waiting in certain areas result in death.
Example:
-Wait for around six times (meaning you enter wrong commands or the wait command) when caught in a tree.
Game Over: "Oh well, at least the jaguar had a nice meal (you!)"
or
-wait in the pasture four times.
Game Over: "The cattle have trampled you to death."

[doggans]

Originally Posted by GaryCXJk

The thing that developers nowadays try to avoid is trial and error. Death in adventure games relies more on trial and error than skills.

I find this interesting, because I tend to experience a lot more trial-and-error in adventure games where you DON'T die. If I know that there are no permanent consequences to a wrong solution, I'm more likely to just keep trying things until they work than I am to actually think through a possible solution.

[tredlow]

The only time death in adventure games really bothers me is in The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy Game and Leisure Suit Larry 1. HGtG not as much as LSL1 because it's kinda art of the humor.

[MusicallyInspired]

Originally Posted by jmm

Datasoft's "Dallas Quest" (Parser adventure)....

I still have this game for my Tandy Color Computer 3 (TRS-80 equivalent). Never did really play it at all.

[StarEye]

Originally Posted by doggans

I find this interesting, because I tend to experience a lot more trial-and-error in adventure games where you DON'T die. If I know that there are no permanent consequences to a wrong solution, I'm more likely to just keep trying things until they work than I am to actually think through a possible solution.

Depends on how you look at it, really. I find that in games that you know you can't die, you're not afraid to try out different stuff. But games that gives you death if you do something wrong have you on your toes and you're afraid trying out stuff that you might have tried if you knew you couldn't die.

I don't mind death in games, as long as there's a proper warning before it happens, and gives you the chance to either replay that part, or save the game just before you get to the scene.