Broken Age

I remember Stampy playing this so I wanted to play it through myself. It was quite difficult at some parts but overall I loved it.

good game but whoever invented those wire puzzles that generate different for every player... i hate u

I'm honestly a little biased because this was the first game play-through I experienced so playing it myself was super nostalgic. Still, for anyone who enjoys point and click adventure games I would recommend. Visuals are beautiful, characters are funky & the story line/ twists are relatively good. One of my favourites :)

This game was something i found when i was very little. To find it again and play it made me fall in love with it all over again!!!

(My steamdeckhours do not show?)

A tribute to oldschool adventures.
I felt really at home with the non linear progress and inventory (and not only dull puzzlegame after puzzlegame like in some modern "adventures"). *I miss the days when you could make a mistake and be blasted by a Sarien ;D*

The Story was very good in totally misleading me into believing something that isn't there and then slowly piecing the pieces together just when/or close before they were revealed by the game.
I also liked a lot how the Stories where interlinked and showed different perspectives/consequences.
So the game left me with a good feeling of balance between being predictable (a.k.a. making me feel smart ;D) and surprising.

The Dialogues where fun, varied and thought through and they left a good impression.
Also Voiceactors felt suiting and did a good job (english).

The Graphics were also enjoyable (even if this comicstyle is a kind of artstyle i normally don't like)
It all fits together very well.

Only the ending left me wanting to continue, because it felt like it suddenly skipped to endscene/credits.
I have to admit after watching the credits with some endscenepictures it felt kind of complete.
But still.

So, even if there could be more in there, i can reccomend this largely well rounded package.

Beautiful in every aspect (visuals, animation, story, music, puzzles, characters, the voice acting...)
So glad I avoided any spoilers whatsoever for all those years and went into it completely unaware and ready to be surprised. (The only thing I heard was that people were angry with the game being in two parts when it came out or something. Obviously that is no longer an issue now. )
Some puzzles were hard, but never unfair.
Heartwarming and funny in all the right places. I fell in love with this game after just a few minutes.

Sights & Sounds
Star studded
2D point and clicks are a unique breed when it comes to visual presentation. With each screen being mostly static, the player potentially staying on each one for several minutes if they're working on a difficult puzzle, and the almost universal need to revisit locales, it's easy to get bored of what you're looking at. With its wonderful artistic approach, Broken Age sidesteps this issue
Each colorful setting is imaginative and full of visual interest. Whether you're stumbling around fantasy-themed villages as Vella or knocking about the interior of a spaceship as Shay, your eyes are in for a treat
Although most of the fantastic creatures and robots you encounter look great, I will gripe about the character design a little bit. I know that Tim Schafer and Double Fine love themselves some cartoonish character design, and I'm familiar with the practice of drawing characters with big heads to better convey emotions, but the skinny body/giant head look makes everyone look like a lollipop. It's like every character's most distant biological ancestors were Adam Scott and Jennifer Connelly
Speaking of celebrities, Broken Age's runaway Kickstarter success a decade ago was able to afford some pretty recognizable talent. Elijah Wood, Jack Black, and Wil Wheaton are the most recognizable names, but the cast goes a bit deeper than that. Gamers will be happy that Jennifer Hale gets a major role, and Adventure Time fans will be interested to learn that Pendleton Ward makes a brief appearance
Unfortunately, all that star power doesn't necessarily translate into great voice acting. Elijah Wood, as one of the main characters, has a lot of lines. Unfortunately, the tone of his reads never feel like they match the story's emotional cues. He's consistently muted and sounds like he's about to fall asleep. Even Jack Black's performance feels phoned in. Wil Wheaton sounds like understood the assignment, at least
Music in Double Fine games is usually stellar, and Broken Age is no different. The full orchestral backing does a lot of work in setting the tone for the story, and pairing it with a Hollywood cast adds a cinematic air to the proceedings
Story & Vibes
Haves and have nots
Loading into the game is an interesting experience. I thought I was on a title screen until I realized that I was supposed to pick one of the two protagonists to start with. I opted for Vella, a teen girl living in the peaceful country village of Sugar Bunting
Unfortunately, the idyllic land isn't as serene as it seems. It turns out that the land is plagued by a giant flying monster called The Mog. Appeasing The Mog and keeping it from destroying everyone's homes takes quite a bit of sacrifice. And I mean that literally. Every time The Mog shows up, each town must offer up a quartet of maidens as The Mog's dinner
Vella's adventure begins when she decides that the whole "let myself be eaten" concept is a bit of a raw deal and opts to book it instead. Unfortunately, she gets swept away into the sky before she can attempt to save her family from the now very angry Mog
Shay's start is a bit more calm, if confining. He's afloat on a spaceship and apparently has been since he was a baby. In the absence of his parents, the ship's helpful AI keeps him fed, bathed, and surrounded by toys that are a little too young for him. It also directs an army of robot helpers there to cater to any other whim Shay may have
Of course, as a teen boy, the ship seems like a prison to him. He winds up meeting Marek, a wolf-like stowaway who offers him a chance at freedom and adventure. Unfortunately, as Shay tries to escape, he triggers a massive explosion and wakes up on a strange land
Here, he and Vella finally meet up for the first time, but it's a less than friendly first encounter. I won't spoil why exactly that's the case, because it's a fairly important story detail
As you continue the story (swapping between Vella and Shay freely), you'll help and be helped by various colorful NPCs along the way. You'll also learn of the land's social dynamics arising from its dark history, the origins of The Mog, who Shay's parents are, and why the world is the way it is
It wouldn't feel like a Double Fine game if there weren't a few jokes, and Broken Age does manage to be pretty funny at times. I especially liked the running gags involving Shay's talking spoon. Like most P&C adventures, you can attempt to use any of the items in your inventory on various interactable objects in the environment. I highly encourage using the spoon on various things to hear the dialogue
Playability & Replayability
The usual shtick
If you're somehow unfamiliar with P&C titles, the basic rules are 1) click on things to either add them to your inventory or interact with them, 2) use the items you picked up to solve puzzles in the environment, and 3) sometimes combine items in your inventory to make new items
With Tim Schafer's name in the credits roll for a point-and-click, you already know what you're in for in terms of the puzzles. I'm happy to report that the moon logic, while present, is not as outlandish as some of the puzzles in titles like Full Throttle or Grim Fandango
That doesn't mean that there aren't a few puzzles with baffling solutions, but they're the exception rather than the rule
Instead, the main problem with the puzzles is how far you have to travel in the course of solving some of them. If you find a big stupid knotted rope that you need to untie to make cult leader Jack Black quit being so smug, don't put the knot-untying expert you need to consult 5 screens away. Especially don't make the puzzle reset if the player makes a mistake
Broken Age also likes to occasionally go completely mum on the topic of where the hell it is you're supposed to go next. There were times where I'd get stuck with both protagonists and had to consult a guide. Because of that sort of obtuseness, it feels like Broken Age doesn't live up to the pedigree of LucasArts classics. I may not have always known what I was doing in Grim Fandango, but I at least knew where to go to be confused
One playthrough is enough. There's not anything like unlockables or multiple endings to invite you back. The story wasn't good enough to motivate a retread either. And, really, if you already know how to solve the puzzles, why bother?
Overall Impressions & Performance
This thing got $3.5M on Kickstarter?!
I vaguely recall some drama during the release of this game. After smashing Kickstarter records, Broken Age does feel a little disappointing. Part of that is probably due to unrealistic expectations; how the hell do you spend that much 2010s money on a point & click without throwing piles of cash at Elijah Wood to pull him away from (checks notes) Wilfred and phone in a performance?
In a vacuum, though? This is an okay point-and-click. It's got pretty art. The puzzle logic isn't that bad. The story, while not amazing, doesn't do anything too stupid. But I guess for $3,000,000+, you'd at least expect something better than merely "passable"
Final Verdict
5.0/10. While I appreciate Tim Schafer beating the drum for this genre at a time when everyone thought it was dead, it is a bit disappointing that this was the result of all that crowdfunding. Worth checking out if you want to satisfy your curiosity when it's on sale, but it's not likely to become your favorite adventure game (or even bear mentioning in your top 10 for the genre)