Broken Age

1. DigitalBrains

   May 15, 2015

   9

   I can wholeheartedly recommend this game. It's gorgeous, it has a nice story beginning to end, the characters are likeable, and the music andI can wholeheartedly recommend this game. It's gorgeous, it has a nice story beginning to end, the characters are likeable, and the music and voice acting is excellent.
   
   I'm pretty okay at adventure games, but not the best. I've played quite some (among my favourite are Day of the Tentacle, Sam & Max Hit the Road, Machinarium and Book of Unwritten Tales), and I'm familiar with the general way of how adventure game puzzles are structured. The puzzles ranged from simple to challenging, but I never found them dull or illogical. I reached for a walkthrough once, and when I read the solution to that puzzle, I immediately realized where I had forgotten to connect the dots. I had disregarded some comment by one of the characters as irrelevant and forgotten about it, but it turned out to be relevant after all. That's something that happens to me a lot more in adventure games, and I'm fine with that. Never have I thought "Well how was I supposed to come up with that?". As is common in adventure games, sometimes you do think "Why can't I just solve it this way? That would be way easier!" or "Surely that other character has the necessary qualifications to solve this issue for me". But obviously, if it were way easier, or you would let someone else fix things for you, you wouldn't have a puzzle to solve, now would you? :).
   
   There are some puzzles where Vella or Shay will give a hint when you do it wrong a few times. Sometimes I thought they were a bit soon with that, I would have preferred to muddle along a bit more without any hints.
   
   The characters often have funny things to say, and I've laughed out loud on many occasions. I have properly enjoyed myself playing the game, and I found the end satisfying. Sometimes a game is very nice while you play, but they botch up something at the end that leaves you unsatisfied even though you enjoyed it right up to the end. Luckily, this is not the case here. Oh, on that subject: the pictures surrounding the ending credits give a sort of epilogue to the story, so even if you usually click through the credits, you might not want to do that for this game.
   
   It runs fine on my Linux machine, which is nice, because I only boot Windows for games that don't run or don't run well natively on Linux. But I could use my preferred OS just fine.
   
   I could only find one problem with the game, related to clicking on objects in a scene. It turns out I need a lot of explanation to make clear what the problem is; so here goes.
   
   When you try to use an object from your inventory on an object in the scene, the object in the scene is highlighted. However, when you simply hover your cursor on an object in the scene, it's not highlighted. The cursor does indicate you can click, but the thing you're clicking on is not indicated. This can get confusing when you're trying to determine if something is clickable or not; whether it's background or a usable object. Say there's a person in the scene, and a space ship control panel next to that person. When I hover over the control panel, the cursor indicates I can click. But when I click, it becomes clear I've chosen to interact with the person. This can be confusing: is it indeed the case I can't click the control panel, or was I clicking too close to the person? After several clicks which initiate talking to the person, I'm concluding the control panel is part of the background scene. This can be annoying, because knowing what you can interact with is very important in a point-and-click adventure. Note that there is no pixel hunting in this game; it's not as bad as that. Everything you can interact with has a decent size, it's just that not everything that has a decent size can be interacted with :).
   
   I'm surprised by the amount of negative publicity around this game. These negative reviews are the main reason for me to write this review, because I think they paint a wrong picture of the game and might put off people who would love the game. So I'll admit I might be somewhat biased in my review, although I'm really doing my best not to be. But I feel a lot of the negativity and bashing is also not because of the actual game itself but because of other things surrounding it. People seem to be actively looking for things to fault the game for because there is something else they don't like for some reason or the other. Whether that be consciously or unconsciously.
   
   This game might not be your thing, and that's okay. But I find it very hard to find fault with the quality of this game. If you think this could be your thing, don't be disheartened by the negative reviews. It would be such a shame if you decided not to buy this game because of those, and missed out on the great joy you would have had playing it!… Expand

   • 0 of 0 users found this helpful
2. RagingPoet

   Jan 23, 2018

   8

   Broken Age is good adventure game. The only thing I didn't like about it was the last puzzle: not very hard but very annoying. Also the endingBroken Age is good adventure game. The only thing I didn't like about it was the last puzzle: not very hard but very annoying. Also the ending felt a bit rushed, actual closure comes from after credit's drawings rather than from final cutscene, but probably it was intentional.
   The rest is great: visuals, voice-acting, characters, dialogues. Puzzles and interactions are logical and fun (except for the last puzzle again).… Expand

   • 0 of 0 users found this helpful
4. Vitoner

   May 3, 2015

   8

   This is NOT a bad game, in fact it's one of the best graphic adventures I've played recently. The problem here is that it is not theThis is NOT a bad game, in fact it's one of the best graphic adventures I've played recently. The problem here is that it is not the groundbreaking masterpiece fans of Grim Fandango and other old glories were waiting for.
   It is funny, witty, entertaining and hard enough for newcomers to the genre (a little bit too much on the easy side for veterans, especially the first half). Puzzles are fun and well done (especially near the end of the game). The score and the art are amazing, the game is trurly a joy to look at and listen to. Voice acting is excellent and the game features people like Jack Black, Will Wheaton and Elijah Wood.
   However, there are flaws. Some characters are a little "glossed over". They come and go very quickly in Act 1 and when they return in Act 2, you basically won't talk to them after the first dialogue. The character played by Jack Black is the best example: funny, interesting and full of potential "wasted" in 2 dialogues and 1 puzzle. Despite the development time, the game offers a little selection of settings (screens) compared to the average old G.A. (what you see in Act 1 is basically what you'll get in Act 2 along with a handful of new locations). Also, the ending feels rushed and generic. I was truly disappointed by it because it sort of gives closure to everything in the lazyest way possible (you'll see) and abrupts the game in a point where I was excited to see what was coming next (again, you'll see).
   I won't mention backtracking as a flaw because it is inevitable in some sort of way in a G.A. I think it is only more evident here because of the restricted number of screens.
   For the record: I am not a backer, but I've watched the Making of documentary on Youtube. I know what Double Fine has been through while making this game, but that is not an excuse for its shortcomings.
   
   I give Broken Age an 8/10 that would have been a 7.5/10 if it weren't for the art and the music.
   
   PROS
   + Art style
   + Voice acting
   + Orchestral score
   + Puzzles are hard enough for newcomers to the genre
   + Classic Tim Schafer dialogues
   
   CONS
   - Puzzles are fairly easy for veterans of the genre
   - Some NPCs could have been used more
   - Very few screens
   - The ending feels generic and rushed… Expand

   • 2 of 4 users found this helpful
5. Underpants158

   May 18, 2015

   7

   What is this game?!: A point and click adventure game with two protagonists that you switch between and solve puzzles and meet quirkyWhat is this game?!: A point and click adventure game with two protagonists that you switch between and solve puzzles and meet quirky characters!!
   Pros:
   -Great writing and voice acting
   -Beautiful graphical style
   -The logic is zany but only mildly so making the puzzles much more...well, logical but still fantastical.
   
   Cons
   -Recycled areas between act 1 and 2 start to make the world feel stale as you get towards the end.
   -I myself wasn't a fan of the end/story and that's all I'll say about that/
   -There are some frustrating puzzles that make checking walkthroughs very tempting. I'm thinking of you wire puzzles!
   
   Conclusion: It's a game I wanted to like a lot but ended up getting tired of and at times frustrated with. Yet I still do like it.… Expand

   • 0 of 0 users found this helpful
6. GolovA

   Jun 19, 2018

   7

   Good.
   
   Plot could have been taken deeper, but instead felt rushed and a bit flat without a tangible closure at the end. The dramatic endingGood.
   
   Plot could have been taken deeper, but instead felt rushed and a bit flat without a tangible closure at the end. The dramatic ending was also thrown off by the tediousness of the hard end-puzzle.
   Super voice-acting, creative visuals, atmospheric backdrop and theme.
   
   RECOMMEND.… Expand

   • 0 of 0 users found this helpful
7. aditya1101

   Oct 5, 2017

   7

   Really nicely done point and click game, I loved the art and the story was pretty niceReally nicely done point and click game, I loved the art and the story was pretty nice ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------… Expand

   • 0 of 0 users found this helpful
8. yesterdayatnoon

   Dec 4, 2017

   3

   Broken Age is a pretty simple and short point and click adventure game. For whatever reason I couldn't get it to run at full screen with maxBroken Age is a pretty simple and short point and click adventure game. For whatever reason I couldn't get it to run at full screen with max resolution despite the menu system indicating that both were options. It also runs really slow for something that isn't more complicated than a flash game. Maybe it's a steam port problem, I never bothered to figure it out.
   
   The animation and character design are both uncomplicated, but manage to avoid looking cheap. The voice acting is also quite nice, though the story doesn't really call for an expressive range.
   
   I'm a big fan of old school point and click games, and Schaefer's games in particular, but this one seemed sort of boring. The pacing was slow, the humor missed more often than not, and the puzzles didn't feel rewarding when completed. I'd get it on a 5$ sale if you feel the need to grab it.… Expand

   • 0 of 0 users found this helpful

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