Deponia Trilogy (PC)

Deponia recieved a lot of praise from the gaming press and although I usually don't care much about the opinions of the gaming press, I was really hoping for another classic in the adventure genre. So I bought Deponia Trilogy and Deponia Doomsday when it was on sale thinking that I am supporting a rare developer who still makes these types of games and who understands the genre. Unfortunately, after playing the game I was left disappointed and couldn't have even bothered to finish the trilogy, let alone get into Deponia Doomsday. Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad adventure game and there is a lot to like here, but it also has a plethora of problems that drag the experience down. It almost seems like that for every great feature, there is one so horrible that you will wish to pluck your hair out from pure frustration.

The good

From a few things that can be praised, graphics and art style is definitely one of them. The game really looks gorgeous and it has a unique art syle that made me appreciate the world I was exploring. Puzzles are intelligent and some of the best I have ever experienced in the genre. The musical score and voice acting is good, there are many unique mini-games that refresh the gameplay every once in a while, the story concept is interesting and engaging, while the game manages to be genuinly funny at times. Unfortunately for all the praise above, there is an equal number of things that completely ruin the game, so when I say that for every great feature there is a horrible one as well - I am being quite literal. 

The bad

For example - as I already mentioned - the graphics and art style are gorgeous, but animations are just bad. This is especially noticable when comparing the game with classics from the 90s which have unique animations for character's every action. In Deponia, animations very often repeat themselves and sometimes don't even show you the item you are using. In fact, animations become insufferable once you realize that 20 year old games do it much better.

Another example where Deponia does something right and then manages to completely drop the ball is the story. As I said, the story concept is interesting and engaging, but where Deponia drops the ball is the plot. The plot has this nasty tendency to reset itself everytime you get close to achieving your goal. Let me illustrate this point by direct examples from the game. You begin the game by being stuck on a trash planet called Deponia and trying to reach Elysium, which is supposed to be some sort of promised land. You build a contraption to get you there, but things go horribly wrong and you are dropped back to your planet with a girl who gets hurt and falls in a coma. Now you have to help the girl get better and get both of you to Elysium. Just when you get close, things go horribly wrong and you are dropped back to Deponia. This time you need to fix the girl's brain which has been divided into three personalities and then get her to Elysium. Just when you get close to Elysium, things go horribly wrong and you are again dropped to Deponia. And at this point I got bored and stopped playing the game. As you can see, the plot is so repetitive that I couldn't even finish its storyline. Truth be told I did finish two games out of the whole trilogy, but I had no willpower to go through the third part.

The story is also plagued with plot holes and massive "deus ex machina" plot resolutions, where the characters for completely unexplained reasons start behaving contrary to their established personalities and motives. Even the main character's personal growth becomes erased after every part of the trilogy. I actually think that the horrible writing is a product of the developer's desire to keep the series going, but I would much rather have one solid story than 10 chewed up and recycled ones. 

While I am talking about characters, allow me to also address my biggest issue with the game - namely the main protagonist. I understand that he is a cartoonish looney type, but oh my god is he annoying! I have literally never seen a character who was made out of only the worst traits known to mankind! He is stupid, egoistical, lazy, self-absorbed, narcissistic, at times even megalomaniacal and completely emotionless prick! How am I supposed to relate to such a character, let alone play one?! And this wouldn't be a problem if the character went through some form of personal growth, but as I already said, everything gets scrapped at the beggining of the next part, so that's that... What the hell were the developers thinking?!

Conclusion
Deponia is not a bad game. As I said, there is a lot to like here and the puzzles are some of the best in the adventure genre. Unfortunately, the game is also plagued with many problems that drag the whole experience down. I wanted to like this game so much, but in the end I have to be honest and give it the score that I feel it deserves.

Final score: 6/10

Click on the link for more screenshots.