Goodbye Deponia

Goodbye Deponia completes the trilogy, although Daedelic did make a fourth game. Rufus still aims to prevent the Organon destroying Deponia, and make his way to Elysium with his love interest called Goal.

A criticism I have had with the series is how unlikeable the lead character Rufus is. Rufus is dumb and much of the comedy was based around this, with many of the side characters reacting negatively towards him, mocking his low IQ and clumsy behaviour. With this instalment, Rufus is actually more likeable and you do see some character development. He mainly shows more selflessness, and makes smarter decisions (although there's definitely some exceptions). Other characters do react negatively towards him, but there are times where they do 'cut him some slack' and actually side with him.

The game is a point-and-click adventure, so it's the usual gameplay of talking to people, finding items, and using items to progress through the game. The series has had many silly puzzles and poor mini-games that have also hindered my enjoyment. For the most part, the puzzles are actually more logical, especially in the first part of the game, and I found that I made fast progress. The mini-games are still clunky and frustrating though.

As part of the story, Rufus ends up cloning himself which then gives you a large section where you can switch back-and-forth between characters. Although you can do a large part without switching, there are times where you need to exchange items which can make the puzzles less obvious. It was at this point where I was reaching for a walk-through and was annoyed at the lack of hints. Some of the solutions just seemed random. I knew I needed to throw a paper aeroplane up to another Rufus but couldn't work out how that would happen. It turns out you needed to throw the paper aeroplane at another character and a random gust of wind would blow it up to the other Rufus.

It seemed strange how the game's pace felt right, with many enjoyable puzzles... then there was a point where it just grind to a halt. Also, at this point there were a couple of scenarios in a short space of time that were really controversial and really jarring; a paedophile joke and a racist situation that left me befuddled.

There were some parts that really annoyed me too. I needed to take a crank but the owner refused to let me pick it up. It turns out that if you picked up his Fez, then he would stop you taking the crank, and would only give you it if you handed his Fez back. This wasn't obvious since his dialogue stated he wanted you to find someone to work for him, but that can only happen at a later point when you have used the crank.

These sections of the game really feel like they were written and designed by a different group of people and it really detracts from the game's enjoyment.

However, I do still think Goodbye Deponia is the best game in the series. There are moments where you probably have to reach for a walk-through, but, for the most part; the game was well paced and had decent puzzles. Rufus was a much more enjoyable character and his character development was pleasing to see.