Yesterday I also watched all the Doublefine Amenesia Fortnight vids and voted while also playing all their prototypes from the previous year that I never got around to trying. I mainly voted based on realistic expectations of Doublefine being a so-so gameplay developer with low budgets so which of these ideas could actually prove to be enjoyable experiences. Went with the Dear Leader sim game, Steed, the horse simulator by the guy who did the horse riding in Uncharted 3 (which was great there), and something else that I forgot.
Playing the prototypes of their old stuff...yeah, not so good. Autonomous was a neat concept, though it was just one area to mess around with and I dunno how long the concept would hold for a full game as I was pretty bored by 10 mins in, Black Lake was the best "game" imo and was actually a decent little polished title that wasn't particularly fun, but it was a working game. White Birch was holy shit bad Psychonauts platforming and makes me NEVER want a Doublefine platforming-only game. Hack n' Slash was kind of polished and a neat gimmick but also got boring after about 15 mins. Brazen was actually pretty solid as a budget Monster Hunter clone. The kind of game you'd buy for like $1 on a cd at walmart. Costume Quest prototype makes me see why they made it into a full game as the Prototype is pretty cool and shows the potential for a neat rpg game (which unfortunately the full game didn't capitalize on), Happy Monsters was a cool tech demo, and Space Station DF-9 seemed interesting and I'm actually curious about the early alpha version now, looks like Sim Space Station? I don't know if Doublefine has the talent to actually make anything near a Sid Meier quality simulation game, but if they do, that concept is engaging.
So basically, the feeling I got from all their stuff is that Doublefine, like always, is great at coming out with creative original ideas for games. Unfortunately, like always, they don't know how to make them FUN games to play. It's kind of been the problem the studio has struggled with for years and I really wish they'd hire some pure gameplay/fun game designer leads who could work with the creative staff at turning the concepts into something that would actually make for a good game. Because really, out of all the prototypes from last year, the only one that seemed like it could be fun is this Space Station Sim that they're pushing forward with, and that's only if they do it really well in the gameplay department which, since it's doublefine, I will be pretty skeptical about until it's done and out and has positive word of mouth.
