Five Tried and Tested Tips For Mastering Adventure Video Games
Is anything more thrilling than setting off on an epic video game adventure? Adventure games offer an unrivaled journey into fantastical worlds crammed full of awe-inspiring quests, challenging puzzles, and incredible storytelling. Each adventure game demands a unique approach, from the hilarious Monkey Island series to the recent Baldur's Gate III masterpiece. However, despite adventure games coming in all shapes and sizes, there are at least five tips that you can employ across the genre to help make your journey memorable.
Talk to Everyone
Non-playable characters (NPC) are not there merely to make up the numbers; they are part of an all-star cast tasked with assisting or hindering your progress. Although many NPCs may seem insignificant at first glance, and while some will only have a few lines of basic dialogue, others play an integral part in how your journey progresses.
Make it a habit to talk to every NPC you encounter. Listen to their dialogue because they may drop hints like getting your hands on a 100 sign up bonus, offer side quests, or provide essential backstory and lore that could hold the key to progressing in the game. Revisiting NPCs later in the game is often worthwhile, as their dialogue might change based on your actions in the story.
Explore Every Nook and Cranny
Although it is possible to complete an adventure game by plowing through the main story in record time, you are doing yourself and the developers an injustice by doing so. Adventure games are meant to be explored to the nth degree, and such games usually reward the adventurer who dares step off the beaten track. Rewards vary from special weapons to hidden characters and Easter Eggs.
Keep an eye out for interactive objects, unusual patterns on walls, or anything else that looks out of place. Every seasoned adventurer knows to always look behind every waterfall! You may discover new areas to explore or solve a puzzle; leave no stone unturned. Always remember that the journey is as important as the destination in adventure games.
Think Outside the Box
Every adventure game worth its salt emphasizes creative problem-solving. During your adventure, you will encounter puzzles of varying complexity and creativity, each requiring a different approach to progress and success. Basic puzzles like setting a torch alight will not pose any problems, but more creative puzzles require you to think outside the box to solve them.
Pay close attention to the items you have collected throughout your journey and consider how they might be used to overcome obstacles, such as locked doors or blocked paths. Many items can be used on the environment or combined to create a new item required to progress. Is there an item in your inventory that seems useless? It may be vital to solving the puzzle. Developers rarely put useless junk in the game; everything has a purpose.
If your items are not solving the puzzle, look around for anything unusual. Handholds on a wall suggest climbing to an elevated level to solve the puzzle. Look at the issue from a different angle or try lining up elements with other scenery parts. Do you remember those NPCs from early? Did any of them hint at a way to solve puzzles?
Often, there is more than one way to solve a puzzle in an adventure game, meaning your creativity is rewarded, so get thinking outside the confines of conventional logic.
Manage Your Inventory Wisely
Inventory management is a crucial aspect of many adventure games and is often the bane of an adventurer's existence. This is particularly true if the game has a weight limit because such games require continuous management of the items you carry. Titles like Skyrim are infamous for their weight limit and associated inventory management. Hit your character's weight limit, and you will be heavily penalized, usually by becoming "encumbered," meaning you will move slowly or be unable to move.
Refrain from hoarding items unnecessarily, especially those with an associated weight. Food and other healing items do not usually have a weight. If this is the case, and they stack in your inventory, keep as many on your person as possible. However, if they have weights and take up separate inventory slots, ask yourself if you need to carry 125 potions!
Free up crucial inventory space by dropping or selling unwanted items. You may have leveled up your character to Level 20 but are still carrying around a Level 5 sword, which means it is probably useless at this stage. Sell the sword if it cannot be upgraded and improved and is just sitting in your inventory doing nothing but taking up space.
Save Early and Save Often!
Modern-day adventure titles are incredibly complex and often take over 100-150 hours to complete. It goes without saying that you will need to save your progress at some point! You should create several save game slots because adventure games are notorious for their unexpected twists, hidden traps, and unforgiving challenges.
Furthermore, many adventure games' narratives change based on your decisions and actions. Sometimes, these alterations are minor, changing only the dialogue of NPCs. However, some are game-changing, locking you out of quests or making NPCs hostile. Again, Skyrim is the perfect example of this. Head to Whiterun early in the game, kill a chicken, and see what happens!
Your saved game files are a safety net to protect you from the unexpected. Don't rely on the auto-save feature because these sometimes only trigger after a significant period or before critical encounters. They also have a habit of saving at inopportune moments!
Create several manual saves to give yourself more control over your progress and prevent having to replay large sections of the game if something goes wrong. Pure adventurists will continue on their journey regardless of the results of their decision and actions. Still, others prefer to reload when something goes wrong to achieve the perfect ending. Save early, and save often regardless of the type of adventurer you are.
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