Inspired by this post. If the cookiemonster asks me to take it down, I will.

God of War is an adventure. So are Ratchet and Clank and Super Mario. But they’re not really the kind of adventure games I’m talking about.

In the early to mid nineties, a company called Sierra pumped out titles spearheaded by wonder-woman Roberta Williams (a real icon among a male-oriented profession). LucasArts was forgoing the Force in favour of a dog and rabbit pair. In these games, you didn’t blast baddies to bits and collect orbs/bolts/coins. You took on a quest, and picked up whatever you needed to help you solve it.


Sir Graham adventures to retrieve the Kingdom's stolen heirlooms. The simplicity is charming.

I remember playing King’s Quest with my dad. It was one of the first games I’d ever played and I didn’t really know what was going on. Still, even I could enjoy the witty dialogue and storytelling written by game developers. Wait, what?

That’s right, game writing was excellent. Where today games mostly draw their storytelling inspiration from cinema (and a very small percentage like Bioshock define their own methods), adventure games of old were derived from books. This didn’t mean boredom. In fact, it resulted in deep, personable characters and storylines that managed to be engaging and simple at the same time. Storytelling isn’t all that’s changed. Today a situational puzzle in an adventure title means PUSHING A BLOCK. In 1999’s The Longest Journey, I attached an inflatable duck to a pair of pliers in order to pick up a key without electrocuting myself. Properly executed, puzzles were challenging enough to give some pause but ultimately rewarding.


Gabriel Knight and his secretary have a conversation, featuring some of the best game dialogue ever written.

Unfortunately the genre has taken a turn for the worse on these fronts. While it’s certain that God of War’s combo play, Ratchet’s shootouts and Mario’s jumping are great examples of gameplay, it’s unfair that they’ve stolen the title another genre defined. Worse still adventure game developers were forced to “adapt” to the climate set by a new kind of video game, sacrificing story for clunky combat mechanics. Most simply died, including King’s Quest and Gabriel Knight which are still unrivaled in writing quality among video games. Some, like the Longest Journey dipped their sequels into vats of real time combat, simplicity and melodrama to increase appeal.

Luckily, these days I’ve seen the genre spring back a little. Sam and Max’s episodes on Gametap have been a resounding success, and Jane Jensen (the woman behind Gabriel Knight) is releasing a new game entitled Gray Matter. I’d encourage those of you who’ve ever enjoyed a good book or a challenging puzzle to look into games like King’s Quest VI, Gabriel Knight, and The Longest Journey. You won’t be sorry.


Experience the beautiful vistas of Arcadia in The Longest Journey, the last great Adventure game.