The International House of Mojo

Christmas Quest was a big highlight for me. It's nothing revolutionary, but it's an incredibly charming casual mini Zelda/FinalFantasy.

Now I'm waiting even more eagerly for Stacking.

While it wasn't the best of years (it's hard to top the Monkey Island-filled 2009), I wouldn't say that I was really disappointed by the games released so far. While I certainly prefer ToMI and Sam & Max to their more recent titles, I still found a lot to enjoy in both BttF and Jurassic Park. There's still a love and care for the franchises in those games that you can't find with other developers. I always had a good time playing them. I know a lot of people disagree though, and I can see where they're coming from, but I also really hate the violent reaction Telltale has gotten in certain parts of the internet (their own forums, for one). That said, there are certainly elements that Telltale can improve upon. They've been hinting rather heavily (as in: Christopher Lloyd sort of confirmed it) that there will be a second BttF-season. I honestly can't wait for that.

Meanwhile Double Fine is going strong. I don't own a console myself, so I've had to limit myself to the demo's I got to play while visiting some friends and the pc-version of Costume Quest. I'm impatiently waiting for the other pc-releases and their upcoming games. To be honest, I'm more excited about the new Gilbert-game because it's a Double Fine game, not because of the Gilbert-connection. It's been a long, long time since Maniac Mansion and the first two Monkey Island (and, as everyone here knows, one could argue how big Ron's role was in making those games as well-written as they are), and I thought Deathspank was so horribly, depressingly unfunny that I couldn't even play the first one for more than 10 minutes at a time. Still, it's Double Fine, so it'll probably work out.

And Lucasarts is full of jerks.

Happy holidays everyone!

"Back to the Future" was awful. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. ¬¬

Good article.

2011: could have been worse, could have definitely been better. I did get to round it all up with the rather lovely Costume Quest, *and* I finished TDP - Mojo-wise, not bad!

Telltale, we love you. Reallyyyyy. But you need to get back in the game, man. You need to not settle for your current quality. You need to get LucasArts and show them what's what. Live up to your legacy, and then throttle its brains out.

Fables and The Walking Dead should prove interesting. I am looking forward to seeing them get the awesome reception you want them to get. Don't let us down, TTG. Or yourself down. Up up and away! :)

Good luck!

While I won't argue that they could have stood to have considerably more "polish," I think the reactions to the Universal games are more about toppled assumptions than anything else. I'm reminded of the release of Out from Boneville, whose super streamlined gameplay and sparse, simplistic puzzles (sound familiar?) were a kick in the ass to a community who had invested a great deal of hope in what they they were fantasizing to be LEC 2.0. Why do we need to learn the same lesson twice?

I predict Back to the Future will accrete a favorable, cult adventure game status over time. I found the series to be surprisingly low-key yet quite satisfying, with a reverence to the universe and a kind of Fate of Atlantis tone. It's a good yarn and will hold up.

Jurassic Park did precisely what it said on the tin. Technical problems aside, just about everything that reviewers have excoriated it for were things that were clearly never part of the vision. Despise the vision if it doesn't gun your engine, but let's not be so naive as to think that "interactive movie" was anything other than conscious intent. I don't know how big its audience is - that's Telltale's problem - but there's no question that audience was served.