It seems like the old school graphic adventure is making a small comeback. With old LucasArts franchises like Monkey Island and Sam & Max being updated for a new generation and games like Phoenix Wright doing well for the DS, things are looking pretty good for adventure game fans. For every Professor Layton that performs well enough to warrant sequels is a Zack & Wiki, a game that was critically acclaimed but that people just did not buy. It’s unfortunate because although it is not without its faults, I feel Zack & Wiki is a solidly entertaining point & click adventure game with some of the most fiendish puzzles I’ve seen in quite some time.
The plot is pretty inconsequential, involving a ghost pirate that requests that you scour various worlds for his body parts so he can reward you with his awesome pirate ship. The visual design of the game is very animé-influenced with a very kiddy-oriented appearance. This is highly deceptive given the very high difficulty of the game as it progresses closer to the end. I would also like to point out that the monkey, Wiki, was highly irritating. But what’s an animé without an annoying creature to torment the main character?
The puzzles in general are very clever and require a lot of lateral thinking skills. Some, particularly toward the end, can get very frustrating due to what I refer to Sierra Adventure Syndrome, the practice of a game forcing you to restart to a much earlier point in the game due to a random object you didn’t collect that you need much later in the game. With Zack & Wiki being divided into different worlds with each puzzle area being self-contained, it isn’t quite as bad as having to restart the game. But some levels are very long and missing a crucial switch or item can lead to replaying through thirty minutes of game over and over again to get it right through trial and error. This sort of situation doesn’t become a real nuisance until fairly late in the game when the time to play through the levels grows to 45 minutes or longer. Also, this game more than many requires a LOT of trial and error to getting some of the puzzles since there are hidden traps and murderous enemies scattered about randomly.
I think a key issue with the game though is the control scheme. Wii Waggle is ok in moderation if it isn’t broken, but when a game such as this one is highly dependent on the motion controls and they just plain don’t work, particularly in timed puzzles, it can be very irritating. And this game does indeed have its fair share of unnecessarily irritating moments due to bad controls. But I don’t feel they are frequent enough to not recommend the game.
Overall, I think Capcom has done a fine job of creating a fun and challenging puzzle adventure albeit one with questionable controls. Adventure game fans take note.
