Spindley Q Frog
Figured I'd give Gobliiins 4 another shot since I've been on a "kind of shitty adventure game" kick.
Turns out I bought it in 2009 from a website called, fuckin', gamersgate.com, and it still has Starforce activation and probably shitty DRM, and I am apparently over my activation limit besides only ever installing it maybe twice in my life.
I can't even pirate it because who the fuck is seeding a Gobliiins 4 torrent?? Nobody!
Spindley Q Frog
I wish the level that takes place inside a newspaper comic had more interesting puzzles, because the overall idea is great! A rare case where Gobliiins 4 has a fresh new idea.
It should have gone all-in - you can light firecrackers that make sound effects appear on the page, but then you can't interact with the sound effects, which is a massive missed opportunity if you ask me. It's not at all clear what the purpose of the firecrackers even _is_.
Look at this, though!
https://www.mobygames.com/game/windows/gobliiins-4/screenshots/gameShotId,372479/
Spindley Q Frog
Credit where due: The level taking place inside the mouth of the lettuce monster is a solid Gobliiins-ass Gobliiins level, front to back. Exactly as goofy and exactly as obnoxious as it should be. Would have fit right in in Gobliins 2.
Its biggest flaw was not giving the wizard anything to do, because apparently the only thing he's good for is making plants grow and levitating rocks. Should have made him turn a tooth into a golf club or something.
Anatoly Shashkin💾
@SpindleyQ I don't even like the CD version of 3 tbh. The only CD Gobliiins I recognize is the first one. The 256 color upgrade, while very Deluxe Paint-y, is fine, and the music also adds to the experience. But what they did to the 2nd one is indeed shameful
Spindley Q Frog
Man, the Gobliiins series has always kind of delighted in being exhausting and making you redo tedious shit until you get things exactly right, but usually it's some bizarre Rube Goldberg contraption that's at least kind of satisfying to pull off. Like, spicing the demon's meatballs in Gobliins 2 is MISERABLE if you mess up any of the steps, but the eventual solution is also kind of hilarious, so there's a payoff.
Gobliiins 4 is, like... that, except every level, except also boring.
Spindley Q Frog
I also tried the CD-ROM versions of Gobliiins and Gobliins 2 for the first time. Those are the versions you get with GOG. Except, unlike Gobliiins and Goblins 3, the Gobliins 2 talkie replaces all the charming gibberish speech with terrible voice acting! Utterly destroys the experience IMO.
Spindley Q Frog
There are still good off-the-wall ideas here and there - the solution to the ticket-punching puzzle delighted me. Mechanically there’s nothing particularly special about it, but the solution feels like the punchline to a joke.
Spindley Q Frog
The goal at any given point could not possibly be made any less clear. At one point you return to the starting screen for the third time and there is a sleeping dog. There is a box of sugar and a random hunk of meat. You have to pick up the meat and use it anywhere but on the dog. Then the level is over.
IIRC you encounter the dog again later and have to get past it, but, what??
Spindley Q Frog
I'm about halfway through Gobliins 4. It's a little better than I remember it being, but still way less imaginative than a Gobliiins game ought to be.
Lots of repeated ideas - I must have planted a seed and had the wizard make it grow to make a tall flower that punchy-guy can climb four times already.
Lots of hotspot-hunting - several times I have gone to a walkthrough only to find my hangup was just that I literally just didn't know a particular area was clickable.
Spindley Q Frog
Booted up the old Gobliiins games to sample some weird vocal noises for ringtones and such.
I hadn't played the original Gobliiins in forever. The life bar is just absolutely unforgivable design. I still remember the basic solution for every screen but that's not enough to not run down my life bar and eventually make the game unplayable.
Spindley Q Frog
ok cool gamecopyworld had a working crack, amazingly
Spindley Q Frog
(though there is one GLOWING review of Gobliiins 4 that says Goblins 3 got off track from what made Gobliiins special, and felt like King's Quest, which... I am completely unable to wrap my head around that)
Spindley Q Frog
Reading some reviews of Gobliiins 4 that say pretty much the exact opposite - the early game is fun and accessible but the later levels are too hard and arbitrary - and I realize I should qualify my recommendation with "if you are already a Gobliiins fan who wants more Gobliiins-y stuff"
if you are not already a Gobliiins fan, play Goblins 3, which is by far the best of the series
Spindley Q Frog
I've finished Gobliiins 4, including the bonus level (which I just used a password to reach). Final verdict: The second half of this game is actually pretty good!
Like, there is much room for improvement, but Gobliiins lives and dies on delightful weird surprises, and towards the end it actually starts to deliver.
I'd recommend a player who is curious start by using a password for The Mole Station. Skip the first 7 levels, they're dire.
Anatoly Shashkin💾
@SpindleyQ Doesn't it also remove AdLib music like the rest? It's been so long since I've played it. The cutscenes also feel... off somehow.
Spindley Q Frog
@dosnostalgic The CD version of 3 is the one I first owned, so I'm used to it, but I can't argue that the voice acting adds anything of value. There are definitely a few spots where I sure missed having subtitles, as well!
Anatoly Shashkin💾
@SpindleyQ Pretty sure cutscenes were done last minute to appease Sierra, or something like that. You HAVE TO check out the floppy version of Gob3. It has some of the best music Charles Callet (RIP) has ever made.
Spindley Q Frog
@dosnostalgic Yes, that's true, I don't think I've ever heard the AdLib music for Goblins 3. And many of the cutscenes are indeed _extremely_ jank, to the point where even as a kid I was like "well I guess this guy is only good at sprite art and just can't draw at bigger scales". (Which isn't actually true, so now I kind of wonder how much involvement the original team actually had at all.)
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