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[Mongrel]

Haha, my favourite story about Skies of Arcadia isn't really to my credit, but it is funny.

So, in the last days of a foundering, previously-long-term relationship, I hunkered down and ignored pretty much all the nonsense hurled at me, while I strove for one goal and one goal only: To beat Skies of Arcadia on her Dreamcast before she kicked me out of her house (sadly, I failed. I think I made it to the Imperial sewers? Can't remember anymore). That was like 12 years ago.

@ Brent: The other places I posted this are American, except for the one that has a dedicated subforum for it. That place is European. :dunno:

[peabody]

Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders can be infuriating, but it's fun and pulpy and a tiny bit archaeological. Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis is, too, with more straight archaeology, and travel is a little more trivialized, though it's flying in nearly all cases. No need to play the earlier Indy game if you don't want to; the combat system never really worked out for me, but maybe you'd like it. Basically you just punch Nazis and Nazi sympathizers in the stomach/face/nuts until they fall down. It's tough to get the rhythm down. Both games are easily obtainable through abandonware sites & playable through ScummVM.

As for more recent games... I don't know. Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth is pretty whackadoo and 1920s, but certainly not with a wink or grin, and it came out probably 10 years ago.

Are you looking for something more like open world jungle bushwhacking/site surveying where you find a portal to the Maya underworld + maybe a daring biplane escape + dumb The Phantom-level plot on top? That made-up game sounds excellent.

[Mongrel]

Are you looking for something more like open world jungle bushwhacking/site surveying where you find a portal to the Maya underworld + maybe a daring biplane escape + dumb The Phantom-level plot on top? That made-up game sounds excellent.

That would be pretty sweet. Like I said, I'm really surprised there's no games like this. If anything would lend itself well to video games, it's that sort of story and action. Plus, using the historical version instead of a made-up fantasy adventure game) just makes it easier to create visual assets and references.

[Bongo Bill]

Was the GC version better?  I never tried it but I hear it reduced the encounter rate, which was my biggest gripe about the DC version.

The Gamecube version did substantially reduce the encounter rate (it's still high but it's nowhere near as high). It also added two very substantial new sidequests: one in which you claim bounties on a number of notorious pirates (some of whom existed in the original version), and one in which you collect hidden objects from around the world and face a new character with a mysterious grudge against the main character. Supposedly the latter was originally intended to culminate in the inclusion of a new party member, but that didn't pan out.

The quality of the audio is slightly diminished, however.

[Brentai]

I ask this not to be a dick, but because I'm intensely curious about the supposed mechanics of this game: If it's an open world, and takes place in locations as diverse as "deep jungle" and "desert", how are you supposed to get around if voyage between locations still takes several days?  I suppose the answer would naturally be "it takes several days", but it always bothers me when a game implies that I've spent several years shitting around looking for hidden characters while Alma's trapped in Hell.

[Niku]

I ask this not to be a dick, but because I'm intensely curious about the supposed mechanics of this game: If it's an open world, and takes place in locations as diverse as "deep jungle" and "desert", how are you supposed to get around if voyage between locations still takes several days?  I suppose the answer would naturally be "it takes several days", but it always bothers me when a game implies that I've spent several years shitting around looking for hidden characters while Alma's trapped in Hell.

How to travel oversea without flying

[peabody]

Well, nowadays it's less than a day's drive from the Atacama Desert to the Amazon Rainforest. Tack on some extra time for going off paved roads at the beginning and end, and it's still not that far. Also, keep in mind that this kind of story tends to be a fairly slow race following some glossed-over research until you find some item of unspeakable power & save it from poor, weak humanity, so while there's reason to hurry, the timeline is pretty flexible. But you can speed up travel time & condense an open world without making it feel trivial. Even a 20 minute journey is pretty long in game time.

Also, I'd like to see a let's-play-at-archaeology game where you don't have to collect identical urns and idols and stuff them into your knapsack like cute knick-knacks. Without a collection aspect at all, even. The new Tomb Raider at least has you steal unique items with accompanying short audio lectures, right?

Are you looking for something more like open world jungle bushwhacking/site surveying where you find a portal to the Maya underworld + maybe a daring biplane escape + dumb The Phantom-level plot on top? That made-up game sounds excellent.

That would be pretty sweet. Like I said, I'm really surprised there's no games like this. If anything would lend itself well to video games, it's that sort of story and action. Plus, using the historical version instead of a made-up fantasy adventure game) just makes it easier to create visual assets and references.

Yeah, this is the best lesson of Grim Fandango, combining character design & mythology for something new & familiar. Doesn't so much work with Classical Greek art, but you could do some cool stuff with earlier, more stylized art styles. You could also do an interesting puzzle/adventure-type game with Classical tromp l'oeil murals. Geez, look at all this human culture that people aren't repackaging into video games and selling

[Mongrel]

That's one of the things I always liked about FF games (and some other jrpgs). They start you off small, making a local area feel fleshed out and large, then later on you get access to faster long range transportation ("you get the airship") putting that small area in perspective. Sometimes things get mixed up a bit, like when you get "the airship", but can only go to one location first (due to plot, mechanical reasons, whatever) and then go open format, or else there's an intermediate stage (you get regional access through railway access, a car, horses, whatever).

It's a very old and very basic mechanic, but I think it works well. What's neat in modern times is that now there's the capacity to make the open world portion really wide open, as opposed to the older games where it can be like "You have a starship, but can only go to five planets in all the galaxy."

[Brentai]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0042X9M0K/ref=s9_al_ft_g367_ir012?t=slicinc-20&tag=slicinc-20&ascsubtag=uc8hMuq9EeKBTf70KdAAXg0_cSDd3_q4O_0_0&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-3&pf_rd_r=1DQDKXVZ6MYRKQ1AA9PD&pf_rd_t=1401&pf_rd_p=1578610662&pf_rd_i=1000716161

[Mongrel]

Well that certainly fits the bill. Too bad it's a point-and-click (imagine Francis from L4D saying "I hate point and click games"). I might pick it up anyway though.

[Brentai]

Yeah, I was dismayed to see it was a twee puzzler too, but the box art and description are just so spot-on.