Broken Age

I can't believe it took me as long as it did for me to hear about this game. It's absolutely gorgeous! I don't even know where to begin, but I'll address what I loved most about it and end with the one complaint I had.
For starters, the voice acting is incredible. Everyone delivers an outstanding performance, and the cast includes everyone from popular cartoon VA's (Grey DeLisle Griffin, Richard Horvitz) to famous celebrities (Jack Black, Elijah Wood, Wil Wheaton). They all bring their characters to life and I enjoyed listening to them deliver their dialogue.
The story is beautiful and mysterious. With each new development in the plot, I was on the edge of my seat. On the surface, it appears to be an adventure story, but beneath it lies a coming-of-age story. On one half, a young woman struggles with her expectations to please her family and village and how it contradicts her desire to help others and end a brutal tradition. Meanwhile, a young man yearns for freedom from his overprotective mother and distant father, but finds out that the adventure he craves isn't quite what he expected.
The animation is fantastic and it looks exactly like a living storybook. I couldn't get enough of the visuals!
I have one complaint, and it's one that other players seem to share: the ending is a bit weak. I didn't mind it too much, as most issues were addressed and resolved, but at the same time, I think that there should be a sequel game. By this, I mean: I WANT there to be a sequel game.
This is a game that I strongly recommend to all gamers. It's too good to be ignored or overlooked!

Broken Age is the attempt of DoubleFine and its founder Tim Schafer to return to point and click adventure games. It began as a Kickstarter campaign and eventually was released as a full fledged game. Besides from being a pretty run of the mill adventure game the real notable quality is it's interwoven story-lines. You play as two characters, a boy and girl, from vastly different backgrounds that end up having their "worlds" collide. Playing through this game is definitely enjoyable if you are a fan of the traditional hallmark point and click adventure games like Day of the Tentacle and Grim Fandango from Schafer's time at LucasArts before he founded DoubleFine studios. Outside of that I wouldn't necessarily say it has universal appeal as point and click adventure games are more about the worlds, numerous character interactions, and problem solving than action or flashiness that is prevalent in most games today. It's no doubt a great game but due to it's niche nature is not one I would recommend to adventure game newbies without caveat.
7.5/10

Pros:
Beautiful art style
Interesting Characters
Good Voice acting
Fantastic Music
Cons:
The second half is not nearly as good as the first half.
In the first half, the puzzles feel so rewarding when you figure them out. They are challenging, but not so hard that you need a walkthrough.
In the second half, that rewarding feeling is gone. The puzzles just feel like something to get through instead of part of the actual game. They feel like a chore. I used a walkthrough a lot because i just didn't feel bothered to think through the puzzles.
However, the first half is so good, I still recomend that everyone should play this. I give it a 7/10

If you love Point & clicks you can't miss this story!
+Art style is great
+Lovely characters
+Really decent voice acting
+Music
-Some puzzles can be a little bit annoying
-Honestly, you'll feel the second part not that interesting

I bought this game as part of the COVID-19 Humble Bundle.
I've completed the game and I've really enjoyed it. Many people say that the puzzles are too hard and the ending was unsatisfying, but to me specifically I thought it was great, the puzzles were amazing and once you have that epiphany it makes the puzzles way more satisfying. The ending was short and hopeful, and not bittersweet in my opinion, wish they had a short epilogue clip or something.
The only problem is that there are many questions that are left unanswered. How come Shay suffocates outside the "spaceship" but Vella tells us there is air outside? Why did Shay's parents only interact with him through a computer interface instead of just face to face? Why did the Overmother say she was a sacrifice girl (she says her backstory was about how she was sacrificed)? What happened to Alex's Overmother? Why does Shay (and every other 14 year old Lorunan boy) have instincts that detect... the best genetic material (IDK I'm still confused why they needed Maidens and why Vella was special, just seemed like a cheap way to explain things) If Alex and Shay are from Loruna, why do they not look like Marekai? Of course, some of these questions are OK unanswered, some questions are probably just me missing things, just some questions feel like a loose end and breaks some immersion. I wish they would expand on the "bad guys" stories some more and the backstory of Loruna. I also agree with people who say it was a missed opportunity to have Vella and Shay interact more, but in my opinion the way they handled it was amazing and I don't think having them interact in game would make the game better.
Those criticisms are small for the amount of love I have for this game. It was very well done. Both of the main characters are likeable and the side characters were amusing. The puzzles were engaging and most importantly, the story was incredible. This is usually not the type of story I like but I cannot deny that it engaged me all the way through. At first I was about to quit the game because I didn't like to read a lot of diaglogue, but instead I spent my whole Saturday playing through this. Go play it.

“Broken Age” is one of those games that make me wish I could pick a horizontal thumbs symbol for my review. I loved the first act, but had many problems with the second one, not the least of which was a disastrous finale experience. I still recommend it though, because at its heart the game is a beautifully made homage to the golden age of point-and-click adventures, and has many of the elements of a typical LucasArts adventure classic (thanks to the involvement of writer/director Tim Schafer and composer Peter McConnell among others). Humor, gameplay, sets and music all feel somewhat familiar if you’ve already played certain older adventure titles, although I suppose cynical types won’t like the more cutesy aspects of “Broken Age.” Although tarnished by the counter-intuitive decision-making requirements at the end, the story turned out to be quite touching and made the whole experience worthwhile for me.

Decent little point and click with a reasonably interesting story. Nothing about it stuck out as particularly bad or good.
Pros:
- Some cute characters
- Some funny moments
- Good voice acting
Cons:
- I found some of the puzzles more difficult and ended up using a walkthrough for parts
- Has a speedrun achievement
Verdict: 7/10