Argonus and the Gods of Stone

I've given up, and I've given way worse longer. Like many others, I'm a huge SG fan, and this has all the wonderful hallmarks of what a cool 3D experience with a mythology paint job could've been, but it's not that. As many others have said, it's more a walking simulator with a half-baked adventure game slapped on top. It feels like a pitch or early design document was the inspiration for this, as there's nice narrative elements with identifiable characters from mythology that would've charmed any early participants. However, the "keys" for these gameplay "locks" are usually no more than two rooms away, and most of the time puzzles solve themselves because you already have a key to a lock before you even knew it existed. When they don't just fall into place, it's because there's some fantastical idea, like "burying dragons' eggs in order to grow a tree," that can only be reasonably solved by throwing the (nifty) inventory menu open and just trying everything with everything. So if you're someone who enjoys puzzles, and not just "find fish" and "give to pelican" type puzzles, don't expect the gods to ask much more from you. Throw in the fact that potential enemies, towering creatures, and environmental fears are removed and nullified, where some classic SG grit could've made this game charming to at least die in, or maybe just kicked back from. The visuals are nice, but the levels lack any kind of direction, and at some points, the game is needlessly extended through not allowing an action on a particular branch, requiring you to pass it to activate a sequence that seems unrelated, and then not directing you back to the original branch which is now inexplicably active. The narrative is okay, but honestly, it's nothing I could explain further than "gods be backstabbing other gods," which if you know them, you know. There's a pretty good VO that narrates the game to you, which at first, I was enjoying, but after she explains the 30th statue of some "great person" who "met their untimely fate," you start to feel like you're reading Styrofoam gravestones at the boy scout retreat. It's also kind of awkward when a god is talking to you- because everyone else isn't a statue and would be hard to animate- and the narrator just chimes in with "and then the statue said this." Narrators can be fun in a game, but less is sometimes more, and I would've preferred the diagetic sound over the VO a lot of the time. I would love to see the new Shadowgate take this design philosophy, but provide more diverse paths with a stronger emphasis on the collection of useful (and even hazardous) items, as well as the implementation of risk, punishment, spells, and additional lore in the world (the temples should've been a dumping ground for lore). Shadowgate was exciting because you could get torn apart by a werewolf- but there was literally nothing dangerous too it, or damaging to the player's experience, and is one of the most memorable things about the game. Standing under harpies who refuse to murder you feels dumb, and while I appreciate the point and click approach to events in the game, waving a sword at any of these creatures would surely get a wimpy protagonist killed. This is a good build, but the gameplay just isn't there. It isn't fun to play.

I loved this game, Basic but decent graphics, good puzzles, awesome setting and story really enjoyed, people should watch a game play video to see if it is a style they like 1st.

As a longtime fan of the Shadowgate series and similar games, I was naturally drawn to this game. Overall, I enjoyed it. The main quest was fairly straightforward. A couple of the achievements were a little tricky to accomplish, but they can all be done without a guide. I do have a few gripes, though. First, the graphics constantly went through these stuttering moments. At 2560x1440p, I could typically get 80-110fps at the highest settings. However, at certain times and areas, the game would suddenly get choppy, and the fps would drop to around 40. I could not figure out the problem initially. I tried disabling depth of field and overwriting anti-aliasing with my graphics drive (as suggested in general discussion). It still didn't solve the stuttering. I always had to play with the texture setting to stop the stuttering during the first 2-3 books. Finally, I noticed that the stuttering would often happen when looking at the clouds. I started wondering if it had to do with my HDR settings on my monitor. So, I turned it off, and the stuttering magically stopped! The game was fine the rest of the way. Secondly, the sound. The music was alright (I could do without Athena's theme). The selections for the voices were generally okay. However, the volume setting for the voices was awful. This game really needs to normalize the volume for the voices (it's not hard!). Sometimes the narrator's voice was too low; at other times, too loud. Too much inconsistency.

Увлекательное приключение с прекрасным мифологическим сюжетом.

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Argonus was an enjoyable and relaxing puzzle adventure game that I do recommend. There is no combat in the game. All interactions are done through hot spots that appear when something can be interacted with. All the puzzles are based on using an inventory item with a thing to make something happen. Most of the times I got stuck in the game were when I missed seeing an item laying in the environment. It's beneficial to take time to really peruse the environments because it's easy to miss things. There no timed or quick reflex events, so the only rushing through things is self-imposed. Beating the game wasn't too difficult, but for added difficulty one can complete all the challenges that require finding every item on the map. The achievement hunting was done very well because there is a section that gives you the current state on how much of each achievement has been attained. The game took me 7 hours to finish while completing or near completing most achievements. The graphics are functional. They're what's to be expected from a modestly priced indie game. They're like the best PS3 game you ever saw. The game world is a decent place to spend time in. A major part of the plot revolves around most living things being turned into stone by gorgons so there aren't a lot of animated living creatures, but what is there is interesting. The ending was bittersweet and somewhat confusing. But, whatever, it was all about the journey and puzzle solving as opposed to getting immersed into a standard mythological story.