Second one is really short but I really liked it in some insane that game.

Maybe try some VNs?

Like Higurashi or Umineko if the art and lack of interactivity doesn't bother you.

First off, +1.
Secondly, not in.
Thirdly, I'm going to promote three of my favorite AGS adventure games - two of them are going to cost you nth and one may or may not.

1. The Journey Down - first chapter in a four-part series.
Here's a review on . There's also a free low-res version you can get from the official site or from the [url=http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/site/games/game/1344/]AGS site.
It's rather short, but totally worth it.

2. The Marionette
Here's a review on and here's the link to the [url=http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/site/games/game/1228/]AGS site.
It's also rather short, but the story and atmoshere will make it up to you.

3. A Second Face - The Eye of Geltz
I should warn you from the start that this one has sex scenes and violence.
Here's a and the link to the [url=http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/site/games/game/1115/]AGS site.

And while trying to find a review for #3, I stumbled upon an article on RPS recommending a number of noteworthy AGS adventure games.


Have fun what ever games you pick - and I don't mean necessarily from mine ;)

Myth: The Fallen Lords -- Between being a real-time tactical game and the fact that the story is told through journal entries between battles, characters are not he focus here. The entries themselves, however, are written extremely well and bring to mind the Black Company novels. The unidentified journal keeper conveys the bleak situation the army faces, clinging to any chance of hope, while trying to push back the armies of darkness. Further, the in-game banter of your units never seemed as grating as it can in other games, and at times, even induces a smile. It is a shame that this level of writing did not persist in future Bungie titles and that they'll always best be known for the Halo series.

Myth II: Soulblighter -- See above.

The Bard's Tale (2005) -- Taken as a satire and deconstruction of the cliches that are found in RPGs, this game is apt, indeed. The snarky back and forth between the main character and narrator (or between the main character and... well, anyone), the chuckle-inducing songs, or just about any given NPC's dialogue (I found myself listening to the shopkeeper's descriptions of all of his wares or combing the villages for NPCs)--this game was written by someone who enjoyed what s/he was doing, in my opinion. I usually don't find games to be a humorous but this one had me snickering, chortling, and actually laughing out loud. For the most part, it is not hard to imagine Mel Brooks writing this, while the narrator could easily have been penned by Terry Pratchett. I can't recommend it enough.

Try out:
Amnesia: The Dark Descent
Stalker shadow of Chernobyl
Fahrenheit (Indigo Prophecy)

PISS by Ben Chandler, a planescapetormenty adventure game with a nice vibrant art style.

You play a mercenary who drinks to forget... something. Your last client cheated you out of your payment and you are going to hunt him down and get it from him. The only problem is that he cheated you by dying.

You can currently get the game as freeware here: http://projectorgames.net/PISS.zip



Donna: Avenger of Blood by Błażej Dzikowski, a lengthy adventure game done in a photographic style.

You play a vampire and, after being assaulted in a hotel room, you find yourself alone and naked in an unknown and hostile city. You will have to rely on your vampiric abilities to track down and punish your assailants.

You can get the game as freeware here: http://donnathegame.wordpress.com/downloads/


I've included screenshots to show the art styles of the games.

Jade Empire (action, RPG)
Vampire the Masquerade: Redemption (action, RPG)
Broken Sword: Shadow of The Templars (adventure, point and click)

Thanks Aver for the giveway and +1

This suggestion is more 'character-driven' than 'story-driven', actually, but if you want interesting characters and conversations it might be worth a look: The Starship Titanic. (I seem to keep mentioning this one, somehow...) It has some terrible puzzle logic in places, but the conversations you can have with the ship's robots - it has a parser to (try to) interpret what you type, and selects the least hopelessly unsuitable response from a large set of pre-recorded lines - ensure an indefinite supply of dialogues. The characters... Well, it was written by Douglas Adams. The weakness, given your criteria, might be the way the story is handled: it's a piece-together-what-off-Earth-happened kind of game, so the story is pretty simple once you know what it actually is.

I'm not sure how difficult it is to obtain nowadays...

Superbrothers: Swords and Sworcery is an interesting example. The dialogue is simple and the story isn't much, but the way it's told through actions and the spritework is remarkable. Even if you don't care for its brand of storytelling, the music is great :)

Thanks for the giveaway, and count me in!

+1 for your generosity.

1. Drakensang all the games
2. Sid Meiers Alpha Centauri series. (Read the story as the game advances.)
3. Warhammer Fantasy Mark of Chaos (in fact all the Warhammer fantasy games but only the Mark of Chaos series is up for modern computers.)

thanks for letting me play

I enjoyed both Syberia games, and have heard very good things about the Laxius Force trilogy. If you want to try something older, then Might and Magic VI: The Mandate of Heaven is a fine choice.

Escape Velocity Nova

A bit pricy, especially because it is older, but a wonderful, very replayable game with lots of different storylines to follow. Also, with EVN you can play the two previous EV games as free mods. That helps to lower the price per game as both previous games were a lot of fun too.

*edit* you can also try the free demo to see if you like it.

Also Waking Mars has a rocking story. Lots of fun

Second Sight
An interesting story told through an interesting perpective. I really enjoyed my time with this game.

Tales of Monkey Island
The story is odd (of course) but the character interaction and dialogue is fantastic. Plus, you can play this on just about any device.

Enslaved: Odyssey to the West
More action than story; kind of the "poor man's Uncharted" but I still enjoyed it. The ending was a surprise.

I know, not the most hidden of gems. Guess I stay fairly mainstream!

I like good stories, so this giveaway is deliciously frying my brains. I can't really decide, so I'm just going to list the ones I played recently and found to be particularly good in no particular order:

- Bastion
- Geneforge 1
- The Walking Dead

If you've already played the listed games, please accept this as an obscure entry:

MARDEK RPG Chapters 1, 2 & 3
This is done in the style of Final Fantasy 2/4, 3/6 and the amount of work the author has put into them is pretty incredible. It's a flash game and completely free, but you can support the developer on the page:

http://www.kongregate.com/games/Pseudolonewolf/mardek-rpg-chapter-1

Cheers and thanks for the giveaway!

- Mass Effect
- Bioshock Infinite
- The Walking Dead

3 "big games", and often quoted, but they are my best choices based on your criteria. I've an other, but you asked to don't said Deus Ex, so... :-D

Thanks for the chance Aver :-)