So, bored out of my mind and looking for a thread to necro yesterday I came across this thread and it occurred to me that I had never played through Day of the Tentacle.
So I did. I *cough* found *cough* a copy yesterday and decided to play through it. And I enjoyed it, but in no way did I feel like it lived up to Maniac Mansion. I know that it is often lauded as a fantastic game, one of the first great adventure games, and generally preferred over Maniac Mansion. But for me it really fell short. I enjoyed the puzzles, and the humor, but compared to Maniac Mansion and it's openness I didn't enjoy it as much.
With Maniac Mansion you have a great number of characters to choose from, and with that choice you have a great many different possible options of how to complete the game. With Day of the Tentacle you may be able to solve puzzles in a different order, but you only have one path to solving the game, and that's those same puzzles. Different Puzzles in Maniac Mansion can be solved in different methods by different kids giving a whole different game play, which I felt gives it a much more open and pleasurable feel. Not to mention replay value. Even after all these years I still love that game.
Plus, in Maniac Mansion you can die. Your game can end incomplete. With Day of the Tentacle the closest you can come to that is just getting stuck and giving up in frustration. But it doesn't give that same feel to the game. I can't lose unless I quit, which is a safety net that I myself don't love.
But those are my thoughts, and I am curious to hear others.
So I did. I *cough* found *cough* a copy yesterday and decided to play through it. And I enjoyed it, but in no way did I feel like it lived up to Maniac Mansion. I know that it is often lauded as a fantastic game, one of the first great adventure games, and generally preferred over Maniac Mansion. But for me it really fell short. I enjoyed the puzzles, and the humor, but compared to Maniac Mansion and it's openness I didn't enjoy it as much.
With Maniac Mansion you have a great number of characters to choose from, and with that choice you have a great many different possible options of how to complete the game. With Day of the Tentacle you may be able to solve puzzles in a different order, but you only have one path to solving the game, and that's those same puzzles. Different Puzzles in Maniac Mansion can be solved in different methods by different kids giving a whole different game play, which I felt gives it a much more open and pleasurable feel. Not to mention replay value. Even after all these years I still love that game.
Plus, in Maniac Mansion you can die. Your game can end incomplete. With Day of the Tentacle the closest you can come to that is just getting stuck and giving up in frustration. But it doesn't give that same feel to the game. I can't lose unless I quit, which is a safety net that I myself don't love.
But those are my thoughts, and I am curious to hear others.
