Goodbye Deponia is the final game in Daedalic Entertainment’s adventure trilogy. With that being said, I have not played the first two titles, and am reviewing the game based on this edition alone. I will say however that after playing this game, I am very interested in going back and trying the first two.
Goodbye Deponia is a fun, challenging and smart graphic adventure. You will find much humor, original mini-games and great puzzles while going through the game, leading to a very satisfying end. As stated above I have not played the first 2 games in the trilogy, but even I can say they sent off the series in a amazing way that will make any fan of the series happy.
The music is great. Probably one of the better music soundtracks to a game in recent memory. I found myself humming along to a couple of the songs, which is rare for me. I played the game for around 25 hours, half of it just trying everything on everyone; not for the funny responses, but to get unstuck. The game suffers from the “use the tape on the cat” syndrome: twisted logic actions and denied straight paths. (For example, one task involved creating an imprint, but unless Rufus visited the psychologist before to name a similar imprint, the imprint just dissolved into a blob.) However, that is to be expected with a game in this genre, and the feeling of satisfaction when you finally figure out what to do is a wonderful feeling that keeps you going.
The controls are absolutely as simple as it gets, assigning everything that’s needed to the mouse. It’s a simple and intuitive framework that establishes the core point-and-click gameplay mechanics found throughout the story. Outside the traditional point-and-click mechanics are varied isolated puzzles and mini-games that break away from the norm. These range from hitting the right notes while singing an anthem, to playing Surgeon Simulator by removing and then replacing specific pieces of the human body. To me personally, some of these mini games were hit and miss, but overall made up a great variety.
One thing that I noticed different about this game compared to others like it is how interactive everything on the screen is. Granted the world itself is made of trash, it seems you can pick up almost anything, which while that can lead to some headaches, is nice to see choices instead of the cookie cutter 4 or 5 items in a room.
I can easily recommend this title to anyone who is into the point and click adventures, as well as someone who truly enjoys a humorous story. The relationships you build (Or destroy) with Rufus and his friends is easily one of the selling points of this game. Every character is unique, and you actually want to learn more about them, unlike in most games where there is a cookie cutter hero who says and does nothing, and just seems to waste space.
How did I enjoy the game? I enjoyed it immensely. This title makes me want to go and play through the first 2 in the series, even though I am aware of how the story ends. That is how good the game itself is. It makes you want to keep playing. I cannot say that about a lot of games today.
