Unlike the last game where Goal’s personality had been split into three, Rufus has found a way to clone himself and cause even more mischief. Rufus still sticks out like a sore thumb among the group as the self-indulged, egotistical hero we’ve come to love, but his character in general has evolved into a much deeper individual, so much so that the story cannot contain just one of him. The cast goes all the way back to the first game, although don’t expect to see anyone who wasn’t in Chaos on Deponia, and each one has their own distinct personality that contributes to the story greatly. While puzzle constructs are a significant aspect to any adventure game, the story and characters are just as important. Outside literally one lackluster and overly simplistic design, the puzzles here are well constructed and never repeat themselves. It’s almost a shame that there’s an option to skip any of these as they are the highlight of the gameplay department. The series has always had its share of unique puzzles, but Goodbye Deponia has some of the best just the fact there’s no longer a mini-game based around rock-paper-scissors fighting controls is a blessing. These range from hitting the right notes while singing an anthem, to playing Surgeon Simulator by removing and then replacing specific pieces of the human body. Outside the traditional point-and-click mechanics are varied isolated puzzles and mini-games that break away from the norm. It’s one of those games where even if someone comes to an impasse, they can clearly see the flow of events following. There are only two instances in the ten to twelve hour campaign that had me scratching my head, but they were confined cases that usually involved forgetting to click on a specific object. This is where Goodbye Deponia shines as, while there are some questionable scenarios, for the most part the puzzles are sensibly designed. Finding items around the world and mixing them together is the key pillar to how the gameplay is structured as there are obstacles in the world Rufus needs to get past, and the only way to do so is finding rather a creative solution. It’s a simple and intuitive framework that establishes the core point-and-click gameplay mechanics found throughout the story. Goodbye Deponia continues forth with the easy to navigate control scheme, assigning everything that’s needed to the mouse. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end as Goodbye Deponia signals the conclusion of the short running trilogy. Forget about annualizing a franchise, within the course of just over a year, the German-based developer has somehow released three installments into the comical series. Daedalic Entertainment has made a name for themselves as one of the leading modern adventure game developers, and it’s titles such as Deponia that highlight their success.
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