Thoroughly enjoying this demo so far. It took me a short while to get used to the updated graphics of the new AGS system, but it's that same old WadjetEye goodness at the core!
By Athanasios 11.06.2022
Most fans of the indie point-and-click adventure scene probably know of Wadjet Eye Games already. For those who don't and are searching for the next neat thing to try out, known that the American studio, founded by Dave Gilbert, has brought forth some great retro-looking titles like the Blackwell series, with their stories leaning towards the more mature side of the scale, usually exploring serious philosophical subjects. The same seems to go on with their upcoming project, Old Skies, which deals with time-traveling - but don't expect much of "When this Baby hits 88 miles per hour, You're gonna see some serious
Fia Quinn's job is… unique. She escorts rich folk to the past, and makes sure they don't mess the time-space continuum while they enjoy their nostalgic meal in their favourite burger joint, visit their neighbourhood, or make a change or two in something they don't like. The full release will include seven distinct time periods in the Big Apple, from the prohibition era, to the morning of September 11th. This short demo follows Fia as she escorts an extremely influential scientist, so she makes sure to not let him affect things that her tech tells her that have high space-time importance, and can thus affect his work, which will save millions of people in the future… in the present… in the customer's past future. Oh, you get the idea.
The "adventure" starts simple enough. She uses her gadgets to "print" the necessary attire and type of currency, and then solve a simple puzzle (unlocking of a door) via a combination of typical point-and-click inventory meddling, and a database search where keywords can be used to gather info about past or "future" machinery, people, events, and so on. After that, Fia and her client walk to the local diner, where he will try to get immersed into the memories of his college years by eating some junk food, and washing it down with a milkshake or two. Simple stuff, really.
As expected, of course, things get a turn for the worse. For reasons unknown, the client escapes, forcing Fia to do some snooping in order to find him, and stop him from making any mistakes. Through that process she finds more about his past, and when she eventually catches him, she is reluctant to follow the rules and punish him for what he has done. That scene is very emotional, and very… human - and that's the beauty of Old Skies. It's not really an adventure about time travel, but a look at how people deal with the past. This client, for example is a super-rich and famous person, but he would give all that just to save who he feels was the most important person in his life. He won't be able to, though. Fia is required to fix paradoxes.
The whole space-time continuum thingy will also be a part of the full release. The demo experienced here didn't offer many chances to do much temporal puzzle-solving, but even this small snippet was promising, to say the least. Typical of the developer, this doesn't try to be a "retro" game. Instead, it offers new mechanics along the more traditional ones. Yes, there are simple inventory puzzles, or clues that are gathered through dialogue, but this is mostly about manipulating time loops and thinking in terms of past and future.
As a final note, this seems to be a product that's highly polished. A neatly structured UI, a piece-of-cake control scheme, and various quality-of-life systems like "fast-traveling" with double clicking, or how pointing at a hotspot instantly gives you some info, whereas in most games of this type the main character would slowly walk there, and then make a comment. The art style is a nice blend of clear-cut and smooth retroscoping animation, and high-res, hand-painted backgrounds that make an exceptionally good use of colour to bring each scene to life. The voice-acting is very good as well, as is usual with the developer. The main protagonist is a bit bland, but hopefully that will change as more moments to shine will appear for her in the future (or the past). Or whatever.
With great voice-acting, great visuals, a great concept revolving around time-travel and how it affects the characters that make the trip, and, finally, great puzzles, Old Skies is bound to be a great point-and-click adventure, so be sure to keep it on your gaming radar.
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Thoroughly enjoying this demo so far. It took me a short while to get used to the updated graphics of the new AGS system, but it's that same old WadjetEye goodness at the core!
I like the Time Shift part when the demo's over - gives a little taster of the different places we'll get to visit in the final build.
Did you choose to tell the old guy the truth or just fire your weapon?
Told him the truth.
Enjoyed this little bit of roleplaying btw.
Yeah, me too - I wonder if there are consequences later on. I quite like that sort of narrative branching in point-and-click adventures. Not too much like The Walking Dead, but a little touch to make your choices actually have some weight.
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