Goodbye Deponia

It’s unfair to acknowledge Daedalic Entertainment as an indie developer anymore, especially after their consecutive deliveries of some of the most outstanding adventure games. Among these games, the Deponia series not only flaunts Daedalic's development strength, but their precise understanding of what gamers expect. With the third installment in the Deponia series, Goodbye Deponia brings an end to Rufus’s heroic journeys, with many unpredicted twists. Captive gameplay, along with impressive graphics, make Goodbye Deponia a remarkable conclusion for the series, but a complex story for newcomers can be a letdown for some.

For those unfamiliar with the series, Deponia is the story of Rufus, a rather egoistic protagonist, who journeys from the trash-covered city of Deponia, to the elite floating city of Elysium. Rufus always believed that he deserved a better life, and during the process of making his life more comfortable he often makes others feel uneasy. Ironically, he never realizes so, or perhaps doesn't care. Rufus becomes aware that the Elysiums are about to demolish Deponia, and he and his Elysium girlfriend, Goal, begin an adventure to save the city. What they end up doing is a matter that remains to be explored, but I can assure you that the adventure is quite exciting and comedic.

Mechanisms of Goodbye Deponia stay the same as the previous titles - a point-and-click adventure with beautiful hand-drawn graphics and animation. Similar to any point-and-click game, players can interact with characters and objects using their mouse. There’s an inventory where Rufus can store items and can combine to create new items. A brief sequence-driven tutorial does enough to familiarize players with the gameplay. Thanks to Rufus's recklessness, there are puzzles in roughly every step of the game. Above all, the game’s hilarious story, and sudden twists and turns, make it stand out in the crowd of point-and-click adventure games.

The past two Deponia episodes had some cracking puzzles, and the finale doesn’t disappoint either, with even more challenging ones. In Goodbye Deponia, puzzles are pretty knotty, but not so that they are uncrackable. Anyone familiar with similar adventure games should make their way through most of these puzzles quickly and without difficulty. It’s the situations, however, that make solving the puzzles entertaining. For instance, imagine Goal tied up with a large rolling machine. Rufus must evade a guard to rescue her, and during this intense moment decides to pose for a fan photo. At the last moment Goal is freed, just as she is about to be sucked up by a machine, that nearly disrobes her. Such hilarious incidents are random things throughout the whole game. Puzzles in Goodbye Deponia though, are never repetitive, making each scenario unique and never dreary.

While a significant part of the series includes puzzles, characters too have major roles to play. Deponia may be focused on the stories of Rufus and Goal, but every single character has a big part to play, constructing the game. Each character is exceptionally well designed and each has its place in the storyline. Even though some of the characters from the first episode didn’t make it to the finale, there aren't any fewer dilemmas to come across. Goal’s personality is split into three, and Rufus figured out how to clone himself which double the nuisance. Those who played Deponia from the beginning understand that Rufus’s personality is something that can be intolerable but still fun. In Goodbye Deponia his personality shines even more, matching the storyline. Each scenario of the story is surprisingly more intelligent than the other, and each is carried out with a well thought comical script. Neither the gameplay nor the scenarios will have gamers feeling tedious for a single moment while playing Goodbye Deponia.

The entire Deponia series is visually delightful, and Goodbye Deponia gets even better. The graphics look more sharp and polished. 2D style hand-drawn backgrounds, and animations with extensive detail, look truly brilliant. Adding to that, voice-acting and background music blend pretty well making the game feel more realistic, even with all the strange happenings.

It’s understandable that every finale contains a few dramatic moments, but Goodbye Deponia seems to have a little too many. This makes the story bump a little, while some scenarios had too many dramatic situations and some didn’t. A rather mystifying end to the story makes the game lighten a bit. Though this doesn’t, by any means, make it less enjoyable. There is way too much anonymity to discover in Deponia, and in the end it leaves you satisfied. Playing through all of the episodes will have players expressively attached to Rufus, Goal and their journeys. It truly is incredible how Daedalic Entertainment delivered all three episodes within a year, not compromising the quality a single bit. Deponia starts a spectacular journey that no adventure fan would want to miss, and Goodbye Deponia concludes it in a more spectacular manner.

Sarwar Ron, NoobFeed @SarwarRon