This was a very slow year for adventure games that sadly would continue on as a trend. There were only 7 games. Let’s go!

#3 – Journeyman Project 3 – Legacy of Time

I was never that big of a fan of the Journeyman Project games. They were…alright…but little else. JP3, however, was absolutely amazing (and yes mostly because of the graphics). See, they utilized the ability to use panorama a la Quicktime, so not only did you have these really awesomely rendered environments, you could pan all around them!

Besides that, they also had FMVs from where you were moving that were actually really well done…no real grainyness or anything. Nevermind that the voice acting, puzzles, and plot in general were pretty solid. All in all, it might not be the best game ever, but it was juuuuuuuuuuuust right.

#2 – Sanitarium

If you haven’t figured it out by now, I love strange titles. And it doesn’t get much stranger than this. You’re involved in a car accident, then you have extreme amnesia. The worst part is the world around you seems to be conspiring against you…provided this is really the real world. This game is ripe with symbolism, tragedy, and all kinds of crazy stuff. There are a few questionable parts to it, but overall it’s an amazing story and chock full of crazyness.

#1 – Grim Fandango

This was the last REALLY good adventure game from Lucasarts. It was also one of the few adventure titles that actually WORKED with 3D characters in a pre-rendered environment. When I first started playing, I wasn’t really sure what to think. I mean, it looked impressive enough, but my first thought was to compare it to Alone in the Dark…which I quickly dismissed as it won me over.

I guess it’s mostly because I grew up with the point and click adventure games. I’ve never been a big fan of text parsers, though I understand why they were around initially. When I started playing this, I was worried that beyond graphically, the industry was taking a step back. To be honest, though, given the nature of the game, it actually works really well. This is yet another “can’t die” adventure game from Lucasarts…with grim reapers!

Absolutely everything in this game is top notch, which shouldn’t be a surprise because it’s the exact same team that worked on Full Throttle. I guess the only thing left to say is if you haven’t played it, you’re really missing out.

Runner Ups

The top 3 this year were pretty obvious, but that doesn’t mean the runner ups suck! You should check all of these out when you get a chance.

Ankh – The Tales of Mystery
Hopkins FBI
Nightlong – Union City Conspiracy
Secrets Can Kill