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[Leisure Suit Larry Reloaded] Drama at Replay. Josh Mandel quits. Adventure Dream done.
C2B
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SwitzerlandRegistered User regular
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Yeah, I mean, LSL was my first real adventure game (when I was at the ripe old age of 7), but how can the joke work nearly 30 years later? The whole point is that Larry is still stuck in the 70's. Even if they do some sort of cryogenic freeze conceit, it will likely come across as forced. Besides, Austin Powers went that route.
Now, Space Quest? Sign me the fuck up.
They are going to update a lot of the more dated jokes and add new content if it exceeds the goal. How well this will work remains to be seen but its done by the original writers/other ex-sierra designers/writers.
According to a comment Scott Murphy (Space Quest Co-Creator/one half of the "two guys from andromeda") is also ready to jump on board.
So, Larry is gonna be wearing a lot of flannel?
Personally I can't stand Sierra games so am not interested, but again, more power to those that want this if they can make it happen.
Also thread title typo conjures up amusing images of a hapless armchair and sofa combo trying to hit on the ladies.
*spit-take*
Wait, WHAT? First I've heard about that.
COME FORTH, AMATERASU! - Switch Friend Code SW-5465-2458-5696 - Twitch
A quick Google says they announced it just over a year ago and then nothing since.
If she's looking for capital because she's somehow got the rights to Gabriel Knight back I'll throw all my money at the monitor.
That being said, LSL was one of my first forays into point-and-click games, and I still love playing through 6 and 7 to this day, so of course I'm in for $15 for right now, may up it in the future.
~ Buckaroo Banzai
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Too unambitious and overdone for me.
While some of this sounds weird I have no real reason not to believe them. Why would they lie in the first place and guys like Josh Mandel are classy. (With him having provided his Graham voice for the fan-Kings Quest remake and all)
Also they are doing a bit more than just a bar bones "remake" from what it sounds like they are going to overhaul everything (Including Script/Jokes, Score everything, add voice acting and so on) and create a whole new engine. (Which is probably going to be used for future games) apart from the general design. If it exceeds its goal new content will be added too.
If the teams who did the King's Quest and Hero Quest fan remakes had been pulling salaries the whole time that they were making them, sure, it would have cost half a million.
If I had more money to burn, I would totally get one of the bigger packages to get my face in the game. As it is, I'll just pay for the game and soundtrack download.
The last LSL game came out about 15 years ago, was in a modern setting, and it wasn't an issue at all. The point is not that he's mega 70's style, it's that he's a loser with no taste, and everything else is just a vehicle for ridiculous sex jokes.
Al Lowe (Leisure Suit Larry, Torin's Passage, Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist)
Josh Mandel (Voice of King's Quest Graham, Space Quest 6, Freddy Pharkas)
Scott Murphy (Space Quest Co-Creator)
Sabine Duvall
Leslie Balfour
Edit: New (Older) Interview with Lowe http://killscreendaily.com/articles/interviews/lowebrow/
And that list of talent will definitely have me upping my donation come payday.
The question is, do I go all the way up to the $100 pledge? An LSL lubber would be an amazing conversation piece.
~ Buckaroo Banzai
Pretty sure Al hated the new games (and their lack of his involvement, heck they never even told him about Magna Cum Luada.) and gladly jumped on the chance to bring back his Larry.
http://pinkertonroad.com/games/
I was learning by ear on my keyboard to the Gabriel Knight theme just last night, so hearing that Jensen will be back in game making is great.
That was probably the only good thing to come out of Magna Cum Laude. It's sadly also why I still have kind of a soft spot for that game.
Even so... a remake of the first Larry? Again? I'd've much preferred Larry 3 or Love for Sail.
You are aware, I hope, that Jane Jensen made Gray Matter last year (or maybe the year before that)?
From what I understand they bought the rights for LSL from Codemasters under the condition that they first show that they can make an LSL remake successfully. That's probably also why they only seem to publish LSL1 so far:
http://www.replaygamesinc.com/?games=leisure-suit-larry-in-the-land-of-the-lounge-lizards
So they do this and then get the full rights.
Which is really weird but there you go.
The thing is, the character is too dated now. How about Hipster Harry? If I was Lowe, I would go with a Torin's Passage sequel (Maybe a more mature one? A la late Harry Potter.) or make something new.
Yep. Jensen is still bopping along, but with some French developers. Grey Matter has some parallels with GKII. You play two different characters.
For some reason, European video games tend to slowly trickle over to the US. Retronauts last podcast said they were going to tap into that lost history. Europe always seems to get tucked away in the global scheme of things.
Maybe it is just me, but I always get the impression that adventure games are less restricted over there. More of that kind of game tends to come from the Europe.
Actually, I'd entirely forgotten about that one. I'll have to look into getting it.
It's actually pretty damn good. It's not as grim-dark or mature as the GK games, but that's because they were shooting for a T rating. But the storyline is very cool with some unique hooks, dialog is up to Jane's previous quality, and while there is some 3D pixel hunting involved, most all the puzzles actually make sense.
If you're interested it's on sale for like $11 at Amazon:
Grey Matter
~ Buckaroo Banzai
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1005365109/jane-jensens-pinkerton-road-2012-2013-csg?ref=live
My interest in this is growing, more because of the future plans but it really feels like a long shot, as you say, what a weird way to get the rights, it feels like they are forcing them to win a three-legged race before they are actually allowed to shoot for the stars.
I hope this succeeds just for the chance of a good new LSL game.
The implication of all of this creeps me out like nothing else.
As a game, Larry falls kinda short:
1) Like most Sierra games, Death is a frequent, unavoidable and unpredictable occurrence. This is not "Losing is fun" but "Safe scum! SAFE BEFORE YOU DO ANYTHING!"
2) Unlike LucasArts adventure games, there are dead-end avenues that you'll never find out about: Did you eat the pie instead of the meat 2 acts back? well, too bad, now you die.
3) Larry's humor is...well..juvenile, and not even in some kinda awesome way. This again, in contrast to the LucasArts adventure games that embraced a more timeless sense of humor.
4) The text parser is more finicky then other text parsers, and the later GUI interface is also boring. For instance: Larry 5 has a Zipper action. Presumably for "stick it in", but we'll never know because I don't think you can actually ever use it on anything. On top of that, I don't remember any fun or unexpected or great things you could do with it. 80% of the uses were "Use [blank] on [blank].
5) The story is...well.. "there" and that's it, it always feels more like just some random areas thinly connected by script-magic.
6) Again I'll have to mention the weird instant unpredictable deaths. I mean, leaving the screen is deadly, crossing the street is deadly, flushing the toilet is deadly, in lsl3 you have the fun "pick flowers super-close to a ravine, but of course, 1 pixel too close is deadly, and Larry will only pick up the bloody flower if you're 3 pixels away from death.
7) Roberta Williams Dream Logic. Now that example is from Gabriel Knights, but most of Sierra's "master-pieces" worked like that.
You know what they should remake? Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, maybe turn it into the fourth Indy movie.
Never finished it, dunno why. I like adventure games, but Sierra's games were too tough for me.
Actually, if you watch the kick-start video, you'll finally know why: Sierra made their money selling hint-books, they depended on making puzzles that were unsolvable on their own.
Well, that's a joke, but there might be a bigger kernel of truth in it then I would like.
Actually, I'm pondering if Sierra actually ever made a GOOD and FUN adventure game in their entire existence.
Something like Full Throttle, Monkey Island or Grim Fandango.
And the only thing I can come up with is "King's Quest 5 was fun if you had a hint-book so you could avoid all the random death and traverse the deadly Dessert and Maze parts"
And I've heard good things about Gabriel Knights, but I haven't played it.
Strange how I can list half a dozen of classics from LucasArts, and even some highly playable others (Like The Longest Journey, and some of the Kyrandia's) but none of Sierra's games.
And they were KNOWN as "The Adventure game company"
Wow, that explains everything. No wonder they made hintbooks if they knew their games were too damn crazy.
To be honest, I thought Phantasmagoria was good in its own way, but also really, really cheesy. Some of those death scenes were just so bad (plus the acting) that it made the game worth at least a playthrough.
Too bad LucasArts doesn't make any adventure games. In my eyes, they are the perfect company who made, without a doubt, the best point and click games of all time. Sure, GF wasn't point and click, but it's a huge favourite of mine.
Also I disagree with this
There were (and still are if you get in the mindset) quite a few really awesome bits in the Larry games.
But you're right with Sierra's puzzle problems. You should really try Gabriel Knight by the way. The first two games are actually pretty good when it comes to that and have pretty logical puzzles. GK3 however has one that has become a meme for bad sierra puzzles due to last minute interference by a producer.
Actually on the topic of Lucas Arts. Schaefer is quite a bit a fan of Lowe. They get along really well.
But if you don't like the humor, then yeah, I guess you should pass, because that's the point of the whole series.