Game announcement: “Day of the Tentacle: Remastered” (PC, PS4, PS Vita)

After surprising the adventure game community with its Grim Fandango: Remastered, Double Fine‘s announcement of the upcoming Day of the Tentacle: Remastered is even more satisfying to hear.

For those who haven’t heard of Day of the Tentacle (or short: DOTT), it’s the sequel to LucasArts classic Maniac Mansion (being hidden in the original and also made available in the new version) which tread new ground in the genre due to the addition of verbs to choose from instead of a text-interface. Its sequel, co-directed by Tim Schafer, got rid of these verbs and used graphic buttons, e.g. a hand or an eye to interact with the world.

Technical advances aside, what impressed the most was the character and puzzle design. The former included mad scientist family Edison, the three playable characters Laverne (who’s into animal care/activism and some substances), Hoagie (who’s into heavy metal), and Bernard (who’s into geeky science stuff), the latter the feature of time traveling, so that these three characters had to exchange items and influence the past/present/future in order to prevent the evil plan of Purple Tentacle to take over the world.

The game was as crazy and original as it sounds. Even if the puzzles could be mindbendingly difficult, they still stand the test of time, with the cartoony graphics still looking great. But just like Grim Fandango: Remastered, the newest version of the game will include higher resolution artwork, and remastered audio, music and sound effects. It remains to be seen how much the latter will be changed, as one couldn’t really tell the difference with Grim Fandango. But the new graphics just look fantastic. They’re not only smoother, they’re actually more vibrant and colorful. As the controls were perfect in the original, it will be interesting to see what changes are applied as well. For purists or those interested in how the two versions compare, there will be an on-the-fly switching feature, while an audio commentary with the original creators is also a great addition.

There’s still some time until the release in 2016, or maybe not, because New Year’s Eve is only over a month away. However, with the inclusion of the PS4 and PS Vita versions (including Cross-Buy/Cross-Save), this edition will hopefully be as well received as back in the 90ies and also introduce a new audience of gamers to one of the best adventure games of all time (and that’s coming from me who usually doesn’t like these big words). There’s no trailer available at the moment, but this “Tim Schafer Plays” video will give you a good idea of what the original game is all about.

Official Website

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