I personally think that far too much emphasis is placed on graphics when it comes to adventure games. As soon as you put any kind of graphic in front of the player you have taken away the greatest tool they have for immersing themselves in a story - their own imagination.
Don't get me wrong, 3d graphics are without doubt the way to go for most of todays games - people simply wont accept anything less. But when it comes to telling a story you want the player to use their own imagination as much as possible.
I've often thought that an adventure game that was totally narrated with atmospheric audio could be interesting - ie you wouldn't even need to read the screen. Instead as you type 'Open the door' the audio starts narrating what happens next as you hear the door creaking. Instead of dictating to the player what the game should look like the sound embelishes their imagination. Kind of like an interactive radio play I guess.
I've you've ever watch a great movie - try turning the sound off - you suddenly realise how much of an influence audio has - the little background noises, the music etc - all these things make the overall impact of the movie so much greater.
Don't get me wrong, 3d graphics are without doubt the way to go for most of todays games - people simply wont accept anything less. But when it comes to telling a story you want the player to use their own imagination as much as possible.
I've often thought that an adventure game that was totally narrated with atmospheric audio could be interesting - ie you wouldn't even need to read the screen. Instead as you type 'Open the door' the audio starts narrating what happens next as you hear the door creaking. Instead of dictating to the player what the game should look like the sound embelishes their imagination. Kind of like an interactive radio play I guess.
I've you've ever watch a great movie - try turning the sound off - you suddenly realise how much of an influence audio has - the little background noises, the music etc - all these things make the overall impact of the movie so much greater.