11-20-2010, 04:55 AM | #401 |
She Wants Revenge
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Finland
Posts: 494
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I'll give it a go too. I never really made a top list so will see what becomes of this.
1. Discworld Noir - This is easy, it just is the best. The great mystery, the logical puzzles, wonderful characters, perfect humour. Enjoyable piece from beginning to end. 2. The Longest Journey - Epic adventure, can't have enough of them. And April Ryan, who doesn't love April Ryan? Great mix of cyberpunk and fantasy. 3. Gabriel Knight - The Sins of Father - The original Gabriel Knight always grabbed me unlike the sequels. Wonderful obnoxious character(s), interesting voodoo mystery. Jane Jensen's super writing is just that - super. 4. Gray Matter - Yeah, I'm serious. It might be that it will drop a bit whe time fades the memories etc. but I just really loved this one. Shot up right over the GK sequels and a bunch of other great games too. Story, characters, atmosphere it's all there again and I really like how it somehow manages to be a detective kind of game without either of the main characters being anything close to a detective. 5. Still Life - Another super detective story. Cut a bit too short but still brilliant. Too bad they sort of ruined the possibility of real ending with the subpar sequel. 6. Dreamfall - Super story, would be higher up if it wasn't for the clumsy controls and silly action scenes. Truly moving. I really hope they can get to Dreamfall Chapters soon. 7. Grim Fandango - Like Noir it's set up in a wonderful world that is humorous but not completely silly. A great adventure, engaging story with lovable characters and the right kind of humour. 8. Day of the Tentacle - Nowadays I am not so much into comic adventures but this one is a classic. It's just brilliant and I would love a remake. First time playing multiple characters (no, I never played Maniac Mansion, sorry) and solving puzzles "together" with them. It's super whacky, it's absurd and it's actually funny and not just trying to be. 9. Sam & Max - Hit the Road - Another whacky one that has stood the test of time. The absurd puzzles are still logical in the Sam & Max universe (and way more logical than most recent games anyway) and the story is grand. 10. Culpa Innata - This one kind of snuck up to me, I thought it was going to be another average crap with crappy graphics but it turned out to be very engaging adventure in an immersive cyberpunk world. I hope the sequel will see the light of day. Honestly I also love Monkey Island trilogy (the 4th one was crap and haven't played Tales) but I couldn't find a place for them so they get a honorary mention or something . These all are 4,5-5 star games, there's a few more 4,5 ones and maaany 4 star ones that are great, but this is how I get my 10 when feeling it a bit just now.
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Currently playing: AlternativA, Diablo III Recently finished: Hector - Episode 1, Dear Esther, Gemini Rue, Sherlock Holmes vs. Jack the Ripper, Blackwell trilogy All-time favourites: Discworld Noir, Gabriel Knight trilogy |
11-20-2010, 05:22 PM | #402 |
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King's Quest 6 - my first adventure game, and still undefeated. before i had 'the internet' at my disposal, there was just trying and dieing. Took me 3 years to finish.
Monkey island 2 - just ... IMuse, man... everything just clicks in this game. Day of The Tentacle - why don't they make more adventure games with time travel? Monkey Island 3 - technically this is probably the most invested adventure game i've seen. whether it's detailed animation, great epic cutscenes that correspond the actual game graphics, amazing musical compositions, or the great programming,in this game everything seemed to fit perfectly with eachother, making it probably the peak of 2d adventure games. Leisure suit Larry 7 - Excellent non linear storyline and is just fun. games seems to forget the 'fun' aspect of gaming nowadays, and this game is all about it. Simon The Sorcerer 1 - music, voice acting, mostly nostalgic value, but i still love it. Space Quest 5 - great story. a true space adventure. Discworld 2 - tho i thought it had some kinks that it needed working on, at the end this was a good, fun game. Machinarium\The Whispered World - those 2 recent games represent the same idea for me, of a good atmospheric game, that starts off amazing with great premise, then loses its pace near the end. But both definitely worth the time. |
11-20-2010, 08:46 PM | #403 |
Senior Member
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Location: The Netherlands
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A quick listing:
Note beforehand; I am a man of narration, atmosphere and music. My fav books are whodunnit/locked-room murder mysteries from the golden age. Don't be shocked if your fav AG is missing from the list. Great chances are I haven't played it. I did play my share of AG's but I am probably beat in numbers by the majority here. Which I am glad about by the way as I have yet to discover some beautiful AG gems.(The Last Express being a prime example) 1) Grim Fandango My all-time favourite adventure game. A mixture of two amazaing atmospheric styles; Mexican folkculture, film-noir. I love the outside festival in year 1 with the mexican music and I love the Rubacava night-life in year 2 with bebop, jazz and swing. The characters,voice-acting and dialog is one of the best. Puzzles are pretty logical and fun with a good balance of difficulty. 2) The Last Express For almost the same reasons mentioned above except for the puzzles. Great captivating atmosphere with great characters(Robert Cath being one of my fav protagonists) Love the historical background. Owh and the story and flow is wonderful. Great partial murder-mystery with the game having an amazing climax and ending and a surprising awesome twist in the identity of murderer. 3) Indiana Jones Fate of Atlantis I love a good mystery and I love a good treasure hunt. Most is already known about Indiana Jones. Great characters, great style with the good amount of comedy, great theme and I love the global-trotting and visiting exotic locations. 4) Shadow of Memories Although the game has flaws it makes more than up in gameplay, atmosphere and plot. I love time-travel narratives and imo this game is the best game to incoporate time traveling(I haven't played Journeyman Project and Lost in Time yet). It has some nice twists at the end. 5)Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Serrated Scalpel I am a fan of Sherlock Holmes(I know, by know you must think I am a fan of anything lol) and this was the first SH game for me but still holds as my favourite one. Why? Because, contrary to the new Frogware titles, it has lush vivid colourful detailed environments which captivates Victorian London so well. And that's why I have always preferred 2D adventure over 3D. 3D rendered games always fail to capture that detailism to sell authentic environments. Most 3D rendered games end up in patterned and rehashment in environments to speed up development. A franchise that avoided that despite being 3D is Uncharted. But I am side-tracking. These are stories for another time =D Anyway I am done for now. Will post 6-10 later.
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11-21-2010, 01:37 AM | #404 |
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11-21-2010, 03:03 AM | #405 |
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Posts: 182
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Riven
The Longest Journey Rhem 3 Dreamfall The Secret of Monkey Island Culpa Innata Loom Broken Sword IV Portal Gabriel Knight III In no particular order |
11-21-2010, 03:52 AM | #406 |
Senior Member
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Location: Lund, Sweden
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I wanted to give this a try too, since all the cool people seem to be doing it all of a sudden. Eventually, I had to split the list in two because I ranked the games for slightly different reasons:
There are games that I just love because they appeal to me in a special kind of way (for example because of their unique graphic style or especially interesting story). I'm guessing those are the ones who truly belong in the list. But there are also some titles that are very, very good, but for some reason I didn't enjoy them as much as they deserve. I still wanted to acknowledge their brilliance and the talent used to make them, so I created one "personal" list and one "objective" list. Both are, of course, very subjective. Objective list These games are just superb, but if I give my personal feelings free reins, some games will be replaced or moved down the list. Because I simply like others more, even if I don't consider them to be as good. Also, most of these are here because they have great story, graphics, characters, voice acting, music and puzzles. Unless I mention something else, that's the "only" reason. 1. Pandora Directive Multiple paths and endings. Big plus if executed well. And they are. 2. Grim Fandango 3. Day of the Tentacle I'm also impressed with the design here, how well they made everything work despite the complicated nature of the time-travelling. 4. Curse of Monkey Island Close between this one and the first two. I'm not sure I made the right decision here, actually, but I didn't want to put them all in. 5. The Longest Journey 6. Riven Possibly the best puzzle in an adventure game ever? Yes, I also think this game is mostly just one huge puzzle. No, I haven't played every adventure game ever. But it IS a great puzzle. It's just a shame that it wasn't designed to be solved by human beings with normal brains. If I were a hyper-intelligent space alien this game would be my top favourite ever. 7. King's Quest VI You may have noticed I'm a sucker for alternate puzzle solutions and endings. It doesn't work as well here due to some stilted design, but still very cool. 8. Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis Again, I love multiple paths. Although in this one, it's more like three different games with the same story and ending. 9. Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist 10. Discworld Noir The first game to use the amazingly clever clue-inventory? Mix with a nice story and so-so graphics, but a wonderful atmosphere, and you've got this one. <snip> Yeah, this post is already too long, and I want at least some people to read it. Maybe I'll post my "personal" list later. It's not radically different, but there are a few games in there that are very dear to me. |
11-21-2010, 12:59 PM | #407 |
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In no particular order, my top ten :
Broken sword series (except 4) Longest journey Runaway The Dig Monkey island series Day of the tentacle Syberia Secret files Tunguska Indiana Jones and the fate of Atlantis Indigo prophecy (farenheit) I usually prefer 2d games over 3d ones...but I got used to them.. |
11-21-2010, 02:28 PM | #408 |
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This is starting to become a treasure trove of finding titles I haven't played yet, and at least one's worthy to make SOMEONE's top ten. Woo! Now all I need is time to play them...
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11-21-2010, 03:36 PM | #409 |
Cateia Games
Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 10
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1. Kaptain Brawe: A Brawe New World
2. Monkey Island series 3. Grim Fandango 4. Broken Sword 5. Maniac Mansion & Day of the tentacle --- My first choice is a bit subjective, but I can't help it |
11-23-2010, 02:25 PM | #410 |
It's Hard To Be Humble
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
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I'm sure I've done a top ten list at least once before, but it's been a long time, and I can't remember which thread it was in. So I guess I'll shake the magic eight ball and see what we get this time. These are not actually in order of preference, though it might seem so if you know me at all. These are all fantastic games and I don't rank any of them better or worse than the others.
1) The Longest Journey - I think that pretty much sets the tone for this list and what I like about adventure games, and video games in general. This game redefined for me what was possible in interactive storytelling. I'm going to tack Dreamfall onto the end here, because I really do see them as part of the same piece, and am not nearly as bothered by the controversial ending as many were. Plus, I won't be taking up an extra slot with the sequel. Ultimately, though, I have to say that there have been very few protagonists that I cared more about than April Ryan. She really got under my skin, even if she was a bit irritating and pointless to some. And honestly, that was the first time I'd ever laughed at a panty joke in a video game. Pure genius. 2) Still Life - This game set the standard against which other games of the last decade were measured in terms of mood and immersion. Very few female protagonists achieved the level of credibility that Victoria MacPherson did, and she wasn't even in every chapter of the game. I'm not including the sequel because I still haven't played it. 3) Myst - I'll just get this out of the way and say I'm including the sequels (including Uru) here, too, because really, the only one that disappointed me was End of Ages, and even it was a noble failure in my books. These games were and are hands down the finest puzzle games I've ever encountered, bar none, and I still refer to first person puzzle adventures of this stripe as Myst Clones because I have yet to play better. 4) Shivers - I'll politely include the sequel to this, though it never grabbed me as completely as the first did. They were both freaky scary for this horror-phobe, but the second story and environments just didn't quite take me all the way there, which is odd given that the second story was about a missing rock band. Nothing has ever quite hit me the way that music in the museum's planetarium did as you entered from the back stairs. Just... magic. I would cover that track live, if I could. 5) The Journeyman Project II: Buried In Time - I would include the first and third games in t Last edited by Lee in Limbo; 11-25-2010 at 05:12 AM. |
11-23-2010, 02:48 PM | #411 |
Spoonbeaks say Ahoy!
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What bug is that?
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11-23-2010, 02:59 PM | #412 | |
The Quiet One
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Quote:
1. Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars 2. The Beast Within - A Gabriel Knight Mystery 3. Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers 4. The Secret of Monkey Island/Special Edition 5. Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge/Special Edition 6. Day of the Tentacle 7. Simon the Sorcerer 8. The Curse of Monkey Island 9. Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis 10. Broken Sword II: Smoking Mirror Honourable Mentions: 1. Gabriel Knight 3: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned 2. Simon the Sorcerer II: The Lion, the Wizard and the Wardrobe 3. The Longest Journey 4. Grim Fandango 5. The Pandora Directive - A Tex Murphy Adventure 6. Discworld Noir 7. Beneath a Steel Sky 8. Dreamfall: The Longest Journey 9. Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon 10. Still Life ...Roughly.
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11-23-2010, 03:21 PM | #413 |
It's Hard To Be Humble
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Location: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
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There used to be this performance bug that caused the game to crash shortly before the climactic decision. I'm not sure what that was about, but it seemed to be linked to the coding on the final disc. A girlfriend of mine and I tried getting around it for days, weeks, even, but I never did see the ending played out. Wendy told me that she did eventually find some sort of patch which corrected it, and she did indeed see the end of the game, but the only patches I've ever seen for the game mention nothing about this bug.
As such, I never really ventured to find out if it had been corrected, even though I do have the game in my possession these days. I'm thinking of using the v3 patch that I came across and just giving the game a test run. I suspect it won't live up to my memory of it, but still, it would be nice to see if it's at all playable. |
11-23-2010, 04:27 PM | #414 | |
Spoonbeaks say Ahoy!
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Quote:
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11-24-2010, 09:23 PM | #415 |
Off to Room no.99
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Location: Melbourne
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Not in order or my brain would implode and then explode.
1. GK series 2. Leisure Suit Larry 1 3. King's Quest 6 4. King's Quest 5 5. Runaway 1 6. Runaway 3 7. Secret of Monkey Island 8. Goldrush 9. Transylvania 10. I have no idea if I'm allowed to include this because you guys seem to be talking PC but I'm going to say Secret of Mana (I still haven't clocked it though after 17 years of owning it). Edit I'm moving Toonstruck out and putting Goldrush in. Sorry Toonstruck. I still love you. Last edited by needlefeast; 11-25-2010 at 03:58 PM. Reason: Changed my mind |
11-25-2010, 11:13 AM | #416 |
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It's hard to come up with the list and be objective, and everyone prefers different games for various reasons. Beside the quality of games, loving a game can also be on a more emotional note - it may be the very first adventure you played, adventure game you've played in a specific time period, game that made you cry and laugh the most...
But it's not coincidence that some games are often mentioned and they are not classics without a reason. Also, it's hard to come up with definite number of top 5, 10... since you'll always left out some which could easily be in place of those who are mentioned. In no particular order: 1. The Curse of Monkey Island What had always impressed me the most about this game is that three masterminds of Monkey Island (Gilbert, Schafer and Grossman) weren't involved but it still came up to be one of the best adventure game of all time. I can understand those who grew up on MI 1 and 2 and that they are not too fond of this title but it's hard to object that it's a very well crafted game, with some unforgettable music numbers and dialogs that we haven't seen since, along with incredible and vivid Tiller's art. El Pollo Diablo, A Pirate I Was Meant To Be, Ventriloquism Book - that's... classic. 2. Monkey Island 2 This is probably even better than the third one, and one of all-around best adventure game. One of many strong sides of this game is the unique art between cartoon and realism and choice of different locations, along with the puzzles design. You start on dark island, then go to to more brighter locations... and on the way you have a sense of the wide Caribbean area with the possibility to travel between the islands. They don't make like them anymore. 3. Gabriel Knight 2 As for me, i'll go with the second one although every one in the series could be in the list. Gabriel Knight 2 is a rare gem that turned FMV trend into favor of pure adventure gaming and stands now as classic. No, i was never bothered by Ericson's acting, but then again, it's just a matter of taste and if you played GK1 before GK2 you would probably mind the change. Since i played GK2 first, later when i played GK1 i imagined Gabriel as i know him from The Beast Within. "Out of sight, out of mind" i guess. Anyway, GK2 is strong in it's production on Sierra's peak and has everything that good adventure game needs to have. 4. The Longest Journey This is a game out of radars and time. It was released after the golden age and at the dawn of "new age" and combines everything best that we've seen before and after it. I think it's one of those games that showed that you won't be able to kill adventure games - you can't beat interactive storytelling as long as there is one man who will make it and one who will play it. 5. Journeyman Project 2 and 3 I'm sorry to all JP fans but i've never played the first one. What is unique about this series is that it took the best elements of the Myst-like games (paradox to say it since JP was released before Myst) and classic 3rd person adventures since it doesn't rely blindly on "unknown person doing strange puzzles" ground, but also included characters, sidekicks and tounge-in-cheek humor. Cheesy sci-fi story and acting couldn't hurt it. It also introduced the concept of travelling to different geographically and historically exotic locations that many will follow later. 6. Phantasmagoria In all it's deja-vu and cheesy glory, this is classic horror adventure. It finaly proved that an adventure game can pull you in, chew out and spit you like you'were watching Hollywood movie. It's not the great writing, acting... which is important here - it was the pure intention to make something "big" using classic adventure game elements. Phantasmagoria never fell into trap of being movie first, game second, regardless of lot of in-game movies and easier difficulty. 7. Day of the Tentacle One of the best adventure games of all time. If someone asked me about cartoony graphics i would tell Day of the Tentacle, if their question is about ingenious puzzles i'd tell Day of the Tentacle, if it's about original idea and design - Day of the Tentacle. I play this game over and over asking what happened to game designers and when will someone try do something similar - something... fun. 8. The Whispered World If someone told me i'd get to play "Curse" in 2010. i'd think he is crazy. Indeed, TWW lacks polishing and general quality of Curse of the Monkey Island, but it tried to do something "epic" in a "golden-age" style and one must respect that. It introduced one of the most beatiful graphics in history of 2D adventure gaming, and wasn't scare to take the road of "harder puzzles" just like those classics did despite the winds of making games slightly easier on which games sail nowadays. Add to that two memorable main characters in style of classics with protagonists and their sidekicks. 9. Al Emmo and The Lost Dutchman's Mine Yes, main character's voice is the worst since the dawn of video games, animations are awful... but this game has a lot going for it. Al Emmo is tip of the iceberg that started in post-golden age era with the boom of independent and AGS production. I've never witnessed such "freedom" with interaction with the game-world like here, but still it looked like a classic adventure. If you look at sky you'll get different response on each screen, you'll even get different responses when you try too look at the same thing more than once. But the most important thing - it didn't feel "forced", it's just that i enjoyed the settings. Narrator making jokes of you along the game is not ground-breaking idea, story is so-so, humor might not be everyone's cup of tea... but Al Emmo is just a simple tribute to classics, and somehow looking fresh and original on the way. 10. The Last Express You get to listen different natively spoken languages throughout the game in order of authenticity and that player feels more immersed into game. I'll repeat - you get to listen different spoken languages. That alone might give you an idea with what care authors did the game, and it shows. Also, i'm the biggest puzzle lover but The Last Express managed to work without them - "what the hell is going on" is the biggest puzzle here, and many mystery and detective games should had taken note from here, when it comes to suspense, figuring characters and their motives, trying to tie things up... Add to that romance and movie-like experience and not even rewinds and dead-ends can spoil it. I knew i'll run out of space. Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, Toonstruck, Keepsake, Ankh... - i promise to put you in next top 10 list. Last edited by diego; 11-25-2010 at 01:29 PM. |
11-26-2010, 09:09 PM | #417 |
Member
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I'm surprised so many mentioned Zak McKracken, one of two LA games I haven't played.
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11-30-2010, 04:30 PM | #418 |
Codger
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To Diego: This should not be a debate, but I loved your selection of Phantasmagoria (providing you were talking about 1). Al Emmo: Spot on! Longest Journey? Not so much. But a good and unusual list.
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12-12-2010, 04:34 AM | #419 |
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So although I don't remember all the adventure games I've played,I'll say who are my top 10 of those I do remember in no particular order really XD :
The Longest Journey Ahh, it is just an awesome game everyone should play. I fell in love with adventure games even more when I played it and then there was Dreamfall which came to emotionally complete everyone that has played The Longest Journey...although I still hope there will be another one. It was such a good story,I totally loved it. Well I should have started with Indigo Prophecy/Fahreneit since I think it was the first adventure game I played and I do consider it an adventure game. It just has those awesome times where you can also fight and that is a postive feature of the game, it took adventure gaming into another modern level and not in a bad way in my opinion.Also, the storyline was really good and I like the fact that there were alternative endings. I absolutely loved that game and it has a special place in my...heart?Ok then there was Agatha Christie: And Then There Were None it is a classic adventure game that I enjoyed a lot cause it contained people dying so that says it all XD.Well ok it had an incredible ambiance and come on it's Agatha Christie after all. Moreover,The Shadow Of Destiny/The Shadow Of Memories,that was one of my first too. It's a very good game that is kinda creepy sometimes,I think, but I want to play it again so badly...It was perfect. Hmm Oh I cannot forget the absolutely hilarious Grim Fandango that game is a revolution,I loved it.Hmmm I also liked Dracula:Origins and I want to play the sequels also.Ok so I also liked Gray Matter can't say it is my favorite,but it was quite interesting. I liked The Lost Crown which was a very nice adventure a little problem at the ending though...And yea I also liked the Art Of Murder sequels. |
12-13-2010, 11:23 PM | #420 |
Senior Member
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Location: Croatia
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Well, let's see...
Generally, I don't like making top lists when it comes to music, movies and adventure games, as I treat each title seperately. But here are my favourites (in no particular order). 1. Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars 2. Broken Sword: The Smoking Mirror 3. The Curse of Monkey Island 4. The Secret of Monkey Island SE 5. Monkey Island: Le Chuck's Revenge SE 6. Runaway: A Road Adventure 7. Runaway: The Twist of Fate 8. Still Life 9. Fahrenheit 10. Lost Crown: A Ghost-hunting Adventure I could also mention "Gray Matter", "Lost Horizon", "The Black Mirror", "Dark Fall", "Syberia" and "The Longest Journey" as the titles that left lasting impression on me.
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