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Oh man... this is the best game. I love this game!
There's this character that you play as and he's all made entirely out of clay (or "klay" in the game's parlance), and you fight clay monsters and solve clay puzzles and at least part of what I wrote is true, but... no... that's not this game. That's what this game was supposed to be. This game tried to be The Neverhood. I love The Neverhood. Armikrog. is not The Neverhood. I'm sorry. I really wish it was, and it's got the same creators and the same style, and even the same musician behind it, but it just doesn't have the same feel, the same production value, or the same insane style of comedy. The Neverhood had some amazing characters telling a very (bible-rip-off-y) involved story with simply perfect puzzles (...except for that mouse puzzle!... I mapped that one out on paper though...).

A friend, his younger brother, and I played through the game over the course of a couple of days in Jr. High and had the absolute best time. Another friend was playing it at the same time and helped out with the solution for a puzzle involving test tubes of various liquids that was frustrating us. Adventure gaming with friends is one of my happiest gaming memories. :)

The Neverhood was actually the very first game that Dreamworks ever released. The sequel, Skullmonkeys, was a Playstation-exclusive platforming game. I played that a little at the same friend's house, but... it wasn't The Neverhood.

Also, attached is a printout of what the Neverhood website looked like in 1998 when I ordered the soundtrack album through snail mail. (I think I still have the CD case, but sadly, I think someone else has the CD... grr... but I still have my high quality mp3 rip of it, so I'm okay). And since I played the game at a friend's house... I've sadly never actually owned the game itself.

Anyway... this is Armikrog. Armikrog is not the Neverhood. If you win this, play The Neverhood instead somehow! :)

View attached image.
View attached image.

This is not only one of my favourite parts of The Neverhood, but also one of my favouite moments in video games in general.

I played The Neverhood slightly before the time Armikorg was gaining hype, so it was exciting to see a spiritual succesor to an old game I had just enjoyed. It always made me sad it seemed to have mixed reviews and I'm still curious what exactly it's like.

5 years ago
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I love how perfect the comedic timing is in that video. :)
(For those who want to avoid spoilers, do avoid watching -- it's a later-game video.)

Armikrog isn't that bad, really -- it's just not The Neverhood. On the budget they had from the Kickstarter, they did the best they could, but it could have definitely used additional time for cinematic timing, world-building, and even for extra development of some of the puzzles. It definitely looks like The Neverhood though, so that's nice. :)

Also, on release, there were bugs all over the place... sometimes game-breaking bugs. So that's where a lot of negative posts come from. Most of those have been ironed out, but I believe a few still exist -- it's been a while since I've played.

5 years ago
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OK, you talked me into it. Enters

5 years ago
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Yaaay! Wait... talked you into Armikrog or The Neverhood? :D

5 years ago
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Yes!

View attached image.
5 years ago
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Thank you for the game godprobe! :)

It's funny to me how I didn't win any of the Cake Factory's < 30 entry GAs but did win a kinda public one listed directly in the discussion thread xD

I'll probably try watching a let's play of The Neverhood before playing this one since I'm not familiar with the original and I'm also against pirating/emulating games I don't own ;)

5 years ago*
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You can, I believe, still get the demo of The Neverhood, although running it may present a challenge (it's from the Windows 95 era).
I'd recommend at least trying that first. It's a game better experienced than simply watched... and the very short Neverhood demo... might still be better than Armikrog. :P
:D

(Congrats on the win, and thanks again for going on the factory tour! :) )

5 years ago
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Ok, thanks. I'll try running the demo first :)

5 years ago
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fwiw, Win7 64-bit here, just tried it, and it crashed on launch, after looking like it was going to be okay for a bit (fullscreen black) :(

5 years ago
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:(

5 years ago
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