Double Fine Will Be at PAX East this weekend

Double Fine will be coming to PAX East this weekend. They'll be at booth #6123 showing off Day of the Tentacle Remastered and Headlander. They'll also have three Double Fine Presents titles, Gnog, Gang Beasts, and Everything. A new title will be shown at the show as well.

They'll also be selling merchandise at the show, including the Raz and Two Headed Baby Pinny Arcade pins, and a new special edition game bundle box. The bundle contains 10 games, with 10 game cards drawn Jon Magram and Melissa King. The game cards can be seen below (click to see them in a larger size).

I'll also be volunteering at the Double Fine booth at PAX East this weekend, so if you're at the show, come by and say hello. :)

Costume Quest Is Getting a Cartoon Adaptation

Frederator is making a short cartoon based on Costume Quest. The company is known for Adventure Time (it's creator, Pendleton Ward, designed a prototype as part of Double Fine's last Amnesia Fortnight) and Bee and Puppycat (who appeared in cardboard cutout form in Costume Quest 2).

The writer and storyboarder for the project is Zac Gorman, who also wrote the excellent Costume Quest comic book adaptation, Invasion of the Candy Snatchers.  It's set to be a single 11 minute short, but, some Frederator cartoons have been picked up as full series from the initial short, so there's always the possibility of more.

In other Double Fine news, Massive Chalice will get full release and leave early access on June 1st.

Watch the First 12 Minutes of Broken Age Act 2

IGN has just posted a video of the first 12 minutes of Broken Age Act 2 from the PlayStation 4 version of the game. I doubt you're going to be watching this if you haven't played the first act yet, since it's going to be spoiling a bit of Act 2 for you, but just in case, it should be noted that the video does contain spoilers from Act 1.

In other Double Fine news, The Humble PC & Android Bundle 12 is going on now, and the original Costume Quest is in this bundle, which has been released to Android for the first time. If you pay more than the average (currently just over $5) you get Costume Quest and five other games (with more to come soon) for Android, Windows, Mac, and Linux. If you pay $10 or more, you'll also get Shadowrun Returns.

While we're on the subject of Costume Quest, you may remember that a Sackboy costume was advertised to be included in the PlayStation versions of Costume Quest 2. For undisclosed reasons, its release was delayed. It appears that whatever has been causing that delay is no longer an issue, as Costume Quest has finally received an update on PlayStation platforms which makes the Sackboy costume available to purchase in-game from Costume Quest's black market dealer, Shady.

Turn Based RPG DLC Review - Costume Quest: Grubbins on Ice

Grubbins on Ice is downloadable content for Double Fine's role playing game Costume Quest that is a new story to experience with new artwork and locations and new costumes to use.  Since it runs on top of the main game, the gameplay is the same, but it manages to present enough new ideas to make it worth playing.

The game starts months after Costume Quest ended, after winter has arrived.  Lucy and Everett are looking for proof that Repugia actually exists, to prove that their last adventure actually happened. They stumble upon a portal to Repugia, and Lucy is soon kidnapped.  This time the twins Wren and Reynold team up together with Everett to save their friend.  Even though both twins are part of the team this time through, the player still chooses between them to pick who is the leader of the group.  Once the team is assembled, the trio heads through the portal to Repugia to get Lucy back.

This is where the charm of Grubbins on Ice comes into play, as the roles are switched.  Whereas in Costume Quest, the kids went around their neighborhood fighting monsters who had invaded their realm to take their candy, here they are the outsiders who are viewed by the residents as the monsters. Upon arriving, the trio learn that there are Repugians that are part of a revolution to overthrow the tyrant who has kidnapped Lucy.  Joining in on the revolution, the trio now knock on doors soliciting candy to support the revolution.  It plays the same as the original game, with this humorous monstrous twist, with the group fighting monsters in order to get stronger and collecting candy in order to buy battle stamps to increase their abilities in battle.  However, as this uses the same system as the main game, the drawbacks present in that game are still present here.  The turn based combat system with quick time events for increasing damage and dodging attacks are still here, and still do get repetitive after a while.  However, like the main game, the strengths of the game in other areas helps to alleviate this.

The Repugian world is covered in snow, and the charming art style of Costume Quest is put to good use here.  The new world is mysterious, and the white blanket of snow over everything helps to add to that.  As with the main game, the art of the characters and the backgrounds are charmingly whimsical, and really fit with the feeling of childhood that the game world is going for.  The humor is in full force here, as the developers seemed to have had a lot of fun playing around with the concept, as the main thrust of the story is actually slightly more creative and memorable than the main game.

The costumes from the main game are once again used here, both in battle and in some cases in Repugia itself.  But, there are actually three new costumes to be found here, one of which ties right into the winter theme.  Since there are only three to find here, all three of them have powers that can be used outside of battle, and all of them have interesting transformation animations when used in battle.  The new costumes are used well for the new puzzles, and once again there are many hidden things to be found using these new abilities.  There are still no voices in the game, but the humorous dialog once again makes up for it in spades. As with the main game, the excellent musical score adds to the atmosphere and also helps to pull you into the game world in lieu of voice work.

Grubbins on Ice succeeds in all the areas that the main game did, but it still has the same drawbacks as well.  The turn based combat system with quick time events still gets repetitive, and there is no voice acting.  However, the story here is slightly more original and memorable than the main game, and the humor that comes from showing the concept of trick or treating from the Repugian side with the human kids as the monsters is quite entertaining. The art style is still as charming as ever and the new costumes are fun, both in battle and out.  The game's excellent soundtrack and fun puzzles also help to make this game worth playing.  You have to buy it seperately on consoles, but it is free on computer platforms.  No matter what platform you get this for, however, it is well worth getting as it's a fun, but quite short, experience.

Final Verdict:

3½ out of 5

Grim Fandango Remastered To Be Playable At Day of the Devs

Double Fine is going to be holding a free to attend Day of the Devs event again this year, on November 1st at the Old Mint Building in San Francisco from 4PM to 11PM. They'll have lots of recent and upcoming Double Fine games to play, like Costume Quest 2, Massive Chalice, Grim Fandango Remastered, and more. There will also be a lot of games available to play from the other developers that are part of the event. To see the full list of games and to make a reservation for the event if you plan to attend, check out their Facebook event page.

While we're on the subject of Double Fine, the beta for Massive Chalice (which is a near-complete version of the game that can be played from start to finish) is out now for people who pledged $50 or more. If you're one of those people, you should have received your codes from Humble Bundle. If not, contact Humble Bundle support and they'll get you sorted.

News Catch Up

There's been quite a few things that have happened lately that I've missed, mostly related to adventure game developers, but that aren't adventure games themselves, so I'll list them all in this post:

First of all, the actual adventure game news. The Walking Dead Season One and Season Two is going to be coming to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on the 24th of October, both in physical form at retail and digitally.  Additionally, The Wolf Among Us will be coming to retail for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One in North America on the 4th of November and in Europe on the 7th of November.

The Wolf Among Us is also going to be adapted into a graphic novel, titled Fables: The Wolf Among Us. It will appear in digital form first in December of this year, with collected print issues following in early 2015.

Secondly, since this blog was at one point dedicated to Telltale, Double Fine, and Autumn Moon news, I feel like I should mention that there's quite a bit of Double Fine releases going on at the moment:

Costume Quest 2 is now available on Steam.  This sequel to Double Fine's 2010 role playing game Costume Quest and its downloadable content Grubbins on Ice is a time traveling romp to save Halloween.  Fans will be happy to know that it takes place right after the cliffhanger ending of Grubbins on Ice.

Costume Quest: Invasion of the Candy Snatchers is now available as well. In this graphic novel by Zac Gorman, the author of the webcomic Magical Game Time, the usual Costume Quest plot is reversed as it follows three Repugnian children who travel to the human world on Halloween in search of candy.

Brutal Legend: Limited Edition is a limited edition collector's boxset by Double Fine and Indiebox commemorating the 5th anniversary of the heavy metal themed action strategy game Brutal Legend.  Since Indiebox likes to keep its contents a surprise, nothing has been revealed about the contents, but they are said to contain "hand-painted artwork with DRM-free game copies, Steam keys, full color manuals, CD soundtracks, posters, collectibles, and much more".  For an idea of what to expect, check out the contents of September's Indiebox release.

Lastly, The Habitat Preservation Project is a non-profit project to get the world's first graphical massively multiplayer online game, Habitat, back online.  They managed to get a partial server working when they had a coding session in September 2014 with many programmers in attendance, including the original creators of Habitat, Chip Morningstar and Randy Farmer. The original Habitat, which had an interface and graphics similar to the adventure game Labyrinth, was released in beta form by Lucasfilm Games (now LucasArts) for the Quantum Link online service for Commodore 64 from 1986 until it was shut down in 1988. A sized down version was released as Club Caribe on Quantum link in January 1988. Fujitsu later licensed the code and released Fujitsu Habitat in Japan in 1990. Habitat and Club Caribe was highly influential, and it's code still lives on through WorldsAway, which premiered on CompuServe in 1995, and moved to the public internet in 1997. WorldsAway had multiple worlds, two of which survive today and are now known as Dreamscape and NewHorizone. Dreamscape was Fujitsu's first virtual world, and appeared when WorldsAway premiered in 1995. NewHorizone was originally Club Connect when it was launched by Fujitsu in 1998 and New Radio World when the WorldsAway worlds were sold and became part of an online world known as VZones in December 1998. New Radio World was renamed VZConnections in December 1999, and then newHorizone in September 2001. These two worlds are still a part of vZones, and the WorldsAway software has also recently been licensed for use in MetroWorlds.

Turn-Based RPG Review: Costume Quest

Costume Quest is a role playing game by Double Fine, themed around Halloween, that has children's costumes turn into the real versions that they're pretending to be as they go into battles against monsters.  It's usage of turn based battles does make it repetitive after a while, but the game's humor and charm manages to overcome it's shortcomings.

The game follows a set of fraternal twins, a girl named Wren and her brother Reynold, and their two friends.  The beginning of the game has the player choose which sibling will be the leader of the party.  The other sibling then has to wear a candy corn outfit for trick or treating and is kidnapped by monsters from the other dimensional realm of Repugia who have come to our realm to steal our candy.  The three then have to travel throughout the neighborhood battling monsters in order to save their friend.

It's a simple setup for a story, but the real draw of the game comes once the trio venture into the new land.  In Repugia, their costumes have superpowers that allow the kids to become the characters that they are pretending to be.  They can collect pieces to make new costumes along the way, each with their own unique powers, ranging from those with heavy artillery, such as the robot, to those with healing abilities, such as the unicorn.  The game's creator, Tasha Sounart, made a conscious effort to make sure that both boy and girl characters could wear any costume, as she didn't want to limit the imaginations of the kids by focusing on stereotypes.  This actually works out great for the game, as it would have been awkward to have to choose a costume based on the gender of the kids in your party. Instead, you're given free reign to choose costumes for whatever battle you are going into.  The battles are fought by turn based combat, with quick time events that require you to hit a certain button at the right time to give more damage or dodge an attack.  To help in battle, you also can collect battle stamps, which can be traded won in battle, traded with other kids, or purchased with the game's currency, candy.  These stamps offer up abilities that can be used in battle, which offer such help as giving more power to characters, healing characters, or giving more candy after each battle.

The abilities of the costumes are also used to solve puzzles in the game.  Some puzzles might require you to go up a ramp to get to an out of reach area, which would require skates, which are only accessible by the robot.  You might be required to get past areas with hazordous material falling from above.  This would require the use of the shield, which is only accessible by the knight. There are other costumes with abilities that can be used off the battlefield, whose abilities are viewable by an icon in the top right corner of the screen.  The game can't be completed without solving these puzzles, but it also makes exploring the game's world more fun, as there are a lot of hidden secrets to be found by utilizing these abilities.

The game's art style is a huge draw for the game.  It has a charming aesthetic that is reminiscent of the comic strip Peanuts, helping to give the game the sense of the wonder of childhood that the game is trying to convey.  The backgrounds are also equally as detailed, giving the world of Repugia a similar sense of wonder.  The music is also excellent, adding to the marvel of the world while you're exploring, and adding to the tension of combat while you're fighting Repugians.  There is no voice acting, but the humor in the game's dialog makes up for it.  It's a subtle humor that is fun, and works with the tone of the game.

Costume Quest is Double Fine's first foray into the role playing genre, and largely it has succeeded. Turn based combat gets tiresome after a while, and the game's basic plot and quick time events that are required to increase damage or to deflect a blow may not be for everyone.  However, the charming art style, humorous dialog, fun costume based game mechanics, and fun puzzles make this game worth experiencing.

Final Verdict:

3½ out of 5

Amnesia Fortnight 2014 JAM + Humble Weekly Sale

The Amnesia Fortnight 2014 Jam is on now! Pay $1 or more and get to choose which three prototypes will be made between these prototype pitches:

David Ferrell's Cat in a Box, Brandon Dillon's Timagotchi, Levi Ryken's The White Witch's Gnome War, Jeremy Mitchell's Astro Helmet, Matthew Franklin's Scavengers, Duncan Boehle's Project 行, Patrick Hackett's Bad Golf 2, Drew Skillman's Reentry, Derek Brand's Mnemonic, Lydia Choy's Dum Sim, Chad Dawson's Parabolic, Ben Burbank's Jet Girl & Ghost Dog, Paul Owens' Gone Astray, Elliott Roberts' GREAT SPIRITS, Asif Siddiky's ExtraTerrarium, Justin Bailey's Eras of Adventure, Brain Min's The Last Missile Commander, Oliver Franzke's Derelict, Geoffrey Soulis' Breach, Lee Petty's Headlander, Andrew Wood's ether, JP LeBreton's Buried Metropolis, David Gardner's What Could Go Wrong, Kee Chi's Humans: A Study Guide, Ben Peck's Oscillate, Jeremy Natividad's Mega Rad Karate Troopers, Paul Levering's Fathomless, Anna Kipnis' Dear Leader, and John Bernhelm's Steed.

10 finalists will be announced on February 10th. If you pay more than the current average (just over $7 at the time of writing), you also get to choose a prototype to be led by Adventure Time's creator Pendleton Ward (Cupid, You Fat Little Scamp, Damnit Jerry, No More McDonalds, or Little Pink Best Buds).

In addition, the whole thing will once again be documented by 2 Player Productions. Everyone who pays for the Amnesia Fortnight 2014 gets the Amnesia 2012 prototypes. Plus, if you pay $35 or more, you'll get a Blu-Ray Collector's edition of Amnesia Fortnight 2014.

That's not the only Double Fine Humble Bundle that's going on though. The Humble Weekly Sale is all about Double Fine, with Psychonauts, Costume Quest, Stacking, and Brutal Legend up for PC, Mac, and Linux (for Steam or DRM-free) for whatever you wish to pay, including their soundtracks. If you pay more than $16.74, you'll also get Spacebase DF-9 (for PC, Mac, or Linux through Steam Early Access).