Leeet's Plaaay the Gobliiins Serieees

Cross-posting from SA with permission from the moderators.

Way back when I first started doing LPs on Something Awful, I started with an LP of Gobliiins, a quirky, nonsensical, and very difficult game, intending to go through all three games in the series. Technical limitations got in the way, and I burned out at the end of the second game. I didn’t have it in me to do a bonus video for that LP, let alone take on the third game. Now that technology has caught up to my needs and I’ve got a lot more experience at making videos of games, what say we take it from the top and revisit the games, doing them a bit more justice this time?

Welcome to the Gobliiins series by Coktel Vision Software, the French developer who brought us Woodruff and the Schnibble, Lost in Time, and Urban Runner, among many other adventure games. Coktel’s games all share a similar type of logic which can be summed up thus: Whatever you think makes sense, fuhgeddaboutit. The correct answer is always the last thing you try, and even when you’ve solved a puzzle, it’s not always obvious what you’ve accomplished or why you’ve done it. At least this series doesn’t have us wearing a Poohsmurgl and eating Boozouioli while chanting around a Chprotznog in the center of Vlrxtrznbnaxl. (A sentence that actually makes sense in another context.) Instead, we go to a variety of distant places and do equally strange things.

The Gobliiins series features a somewhat unique gameplay element, at least for its time - multiple controllable characters, each with his own skills and abilities that will be needed to complete the game’s objectives. Sometimes, that adds to the complexity of the puzzles by forcing you to think about which character is best suited for a particular action. At other times, it just means they had to shoehorn in more reasons for punching to be the solution to life’s problems. Not that I mind, exactly.

So, in the spirit of sharing puzzle-solving duties between two or more characters, I’ve decided to do this LP in two distinct styles, concurrently. In one set of videos, I’ll be going through the CD versions of the games in my usual style, which will be familiar to anyone who’s watched any of my adventure game LPs before. (If you haven’t, my biased opinion is that you should, but you don’t need to do that before starting this one.) In the other set, a guest commentator will be trying to solve the puzzles in the floppy versions with me as their mostly benevolent but also aloof guide, keeping them on track without providing more direction than they need, so you can get the proper outsider’s perspective on how difficult the games are when you don’t know what you’re doing. You can watch either set of videos, or both, or even neither, although if you don’t watch any of the videos, you’re probably just wasting your time even reading this thread at this point.

Updates are likely to be pretty slow because I’ll need to coordinate with my guest to record the guest videos, but I’ll try to keep on top of things enough to keep a steady pace and post the videos for future updates as I finish them rather than waiting to release a batch all at once. I’ll also correlate the videos in each set so you can switch back and forth if you want without missing any of the game content. There will almost always be more videos with a guest to cover the same amount of the game, since I know the quickest way to get through everything while the guest will have to figure them out as they go. You’ll see what I mean. So sit back, grab a can of Kindness Elixir, pull on your shaded sunglasses, and watch us present all four - yes, FOUR - Gobliiins games.

Gobliiins
Guest videos with Leavemywife:
Part 1-1: “I know I shouldn’t, but I feel so stupid right now.” Polsy Youtube
Part 1-2: “So were there certain puzzles you were thinking, ‘He’s never gonna figure this shit out’?” Polsy Youtube
Part 2-1: “There’s gotta be some poor fuck out there who understands this. He’s sitting in a cave, eating his own feces, works at Wal-Mart, and he’s got cicada husks for shoes, and I am not that level of batshit crazy.” Polsy Youtube
Part 2-2: “You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me. How the he- oh, all right, whatever.” Polsy Youtube
Part 3-1: “Okay, we found a buttplug.” Polsy Youtube
Part 3-2: “Can we, like, light his pants on fire to wake him up?” Polsy Youtube
Part 3-3: “I feel so accomplished… What the friggedy-fuck is this?” Polsy Youtube
Part 4-1: “You have no idea how badly I just want to Google these puzzle solutions.” Polsy Youtube
Part 4-2: “What is this, the final boss fight? What the hell’s going on?” Polsy Youtube

Solo videos:
Part 1: Helping the wrong side Polsy Youtube
Part 2: A surprising number of skeletons Polsy Youtube
Part 3: Rip van Shadwinkle Polsy Youtube
Part 4: I’ve had tacos more supreme than this weapon Polsy Youtube

Gobliins 2
Guest videos with Leavemywife:
Part 1-1: “All right, this is gonna sound strange, but stick your sausage in the hole.” Polsy Youtube
Part 1-2: “I fucking quit.” Polsy Youtube
Part 2-1: “It looks like he’s got that string coming out of his ass. I don’t know if I’m comfortable with that.” Polsy Youtube
Part 2-2: “Hey! Are you always nekkid? Fantastic.” Polsy Youtube
Part 2-3: “I should’ve guessed we were using the mushroom to make drugs.” Polsy Youtube
Part 3-1: “Let’s go offer Focus some mayonnaise for his meat. I really wish I had that phrased better.” Polsy Youtube
Part 3-2: “I will kill your family.” Polsy Youtube
Part 4: “All right, go through that convoluted series of events again.” Polsy Youtube
Guest videos with The Splash:
Part 5-1: “We were gonna get salty at some point, I’m sure.” Polsy Youtube
Part 5-2: “So now we can stick our head freely into orifices without fear.” Polsy Youtube
Part 5-3: “C’mon Winkle! I always cheer him on because I expect him to do the worst possible thing.” Polsy Youtube
Part 6-1: “I’m getting P.E. flashbacks.” Polsy Youtube
Part 6-2: “So we’ve got a bowl, and we need mushrooms… is this California?” Polsy Youtube
Part 6-3: “I’m gonna turn this into a drinking game.” Polsy Youtube
Part 7-1: “Attack the demon with a projectile Winkle. Can you think of anything scarier than that?” Polsy Youtube
Part 7-2: “This level’s going to be the DEATH of me.” Polsy Youtube

Solo videos:
Part 1: Okay, EVERYBODY gets to starve but the giant Polsy Youtube
Part 2: Trenches and Trees, Music and Mushrooms Polsy Youtube
Part 3: The Key to the Chest with the Carved Fish Polsy Youtube
Part 4: Fools of Ships Polsy Youtube
Part 5: Some Kind of Elixir Polsy Youtube
Part 6: Two and a Half Kidnappings Polsy Youtube
Bonus video: The Epic Quest for Water Polsy Youtube
Part 7: The Land of Gloom and Doom Polsy Youtube

Goblins 3
Guest videos with The Splash:
Part 1-1: “Even with a coin, there’s no change.” Polsy Youtube
Part 1-2: “Of all things I expect to be a thing, I expect that thing to still be a thing.” Polsy Youtube
Part 2-1: “Finally, something goes the way I was thinking it should go!” Polsy Youtube
Part 2-2: “I need to look through these videos and take a tally on how many seesaws have been made or utilized in some way in this series.” Polsy Youtube
Part 2-3: “What am I gonna put my ukulele on now?” Polsy Youtube
Part 3-1: “That’s not a doinamoite! THIS is a doinamoite!” Polsy Youtube
Part 3-2: “There are limits to curiosity. Spaghetti on the ground? Don’t do it.” Polsy Youtube
Part 3-3: “It’s like cooking with Rayman.” Polsy Youtube
Part 4-1: “It’s the father of Master Hand from Super Smash Bros! In that case, I’m glad we’re on Normal difficulty.” Polsy Youtube
Part 4-2: “Don’t drop the soap! Trust me.” Polsy Youtube
Part 5-1: “Can we give the giant a growth elixir?” Polsy Youtube
Part 5-2: “I can’t stop looking at the absurdity of the whole thing. It’s hard to make a comment. Everything is silly. It’s great. We knocked out a goat.” Polsy Youtube
Part 5-3: “I want this exact screen, subtitle and everything, just plastered on the side of a van.” Polsy Youtube
Part 6-1: “I’m never entirely sure when we’re talking about a group of eight pixels.” Polsy Youtube
Part 6-2: “Should we shoot the kid?” Polsy Youtube
Part 6-3: “This is why you don’t let QA do a Let’s Play.” Polsy Youtube
Part 7-1: “I think tiny books are the epitome. Just really obscenely tiny books are probably the most ridiculous things in existence.” Polsy Youtube
Part 7-2: “If you tell me I can’t shove a horse into things, the first thing I want to do is shove a horse into things.” Polsy Youtube
Part 7-3: “Am I making this too exciting?” Polsy Youtube
Part 8-1: “I’m getting some Twin Peaks flashbacks.” Polsy Youtube
Part 8-2: “If I was stuck on a cliff because I rode a magical flying crygoldfish across a castle and the only thing I could do was either hop off, jump down into, I’m guessing, a giant orifice in the corner there, or grab a dragon pickle, I would grab the dragon pickle.” Polsy Youtube
Part 8-3: “I can’t imagine what playing this game would be like if I had to drink every time I made a wrong decision.” Polsy Youtube
Part 9: “Everything is quacking in this last level. Stage. Area.” Polsy Youtube

Solo videos:
Part 1: Blount’s covering a war, you know Polsy Youtube
Part 2: Bat and Dragon and Mouse Polsy Youtube
Part 3: Consequences always come back to bite someone Polsy Youtube
Part 4: Faster than a speeding bullet, yet unable to leap small gaps between buildings Polsy Youtube
Part 5: Blount and Ooya’s Magical Adventure Polsy Youtube
Part 5-2: The Shadow of Colossus Polsy Youtube
Part 6: Headgear and Footwear Polsy Youtube
Part 7: How about a messed-up game of chess? Polsy Youtube
Part 8: Scrambled Egg Polsy Youtube
Part 9: Hate to spring this ending on you Polsy Youtube

Gobliiins 4
Guest videos with The Splash:
Part 1-1: “Please don’t make me take the gherkin out of the bird.” Polsy Youtube
Part 1-2: “Take that, game! I’ve solved your second-screen mystery puzzle!” Polsy Youtube
Part 1-3: “Man, I love that this level is just making skeletons vomit. That’s the whole level.” Polsy Youtube
Part 2-1: “So the one thing we haven’t figured out is how to also get Stucco to the other side. And also everything else.” Polsy Youtube
Part 2-2: “I apologize to any feet people that may be watching this video.” Polsy Youtube
Part 2-3: “Use stick plus bear’s navel is probably the way that somebody has died in the past.” Polsy Youtube
Part 2-4: “Don’t worry. At this pace, we’ll have this done… probably by about four in the morning.” Polsy Youtube
Part 3-1: “There’s something wrong with this old man. I’m sending him back. Get a new one.” Polsy Youtube
Part 3-2: “Get in there. Get in your hell pit.” Polsy Youtube
Part 3-3: “All right, let’s do it! Let’s put - let’s just… pea everywhere.” Polsy Youtube
Bonus video: “If I ever die, make sure no one eats my sandwiches.” Polsy Youtube
Part 4-1: “This has to be the only game where I want to do something, but I don’t actually know if I want it to work or not.” Polsy Youtube
Part 4-2: “(unintelligible whining)” Polsy Youtube
Part 4-3: “Is this the level?” Polsy Youtube
Interlude: “It doesn’t even have a line to it! It’s just a bump!” Polsy Youtube
Part 5-1: “Did I just kill a vegetable?” Polsy Youtube
Part 5-2: “If you ever want to introduce someone to this game, just show them the last five seconds.” Polsy Youtube
Part 5-3: “I’m saying all kinds of sentences for the first time in my life, every time we do a recording.” Polsy Youtube
Part 5-4: “It just hit me, these guys have some serious thigh gap.” Polsy Youtube
Part 6-1: “Man, this reminds me of back when I did tech support.” Polsy Youtube
Part 6-2: “Probably should do something besides trying to grab everything in space.” Polsy Youtube
Part 6-3: “Oh, this is a piece of cake.” Polsy Youtube

Solo videos:
Part 1: Detective Tchoup gathers his friends Polsy Youtube
Part 2: Riri ranran Polsy Youtube
Part 3: Hey, Vern! It’s Gobliiins! Polsy Youtube
Part 4: It’s about this point when I realized that we could probably just keep riding these animals and never stop Polsy Youtube
Part 5: I’ve Found the Weed; You Can’t Fool Me Polsy Youtube
Part 6: Well, that takes the cake. Polsy Youtube

8 Likes

For those just joining the thread from its former forum, here’s the new video posted since the hiatus, with new guest The Splash taking over for Leavemywife. I’m also using a new version of ScummVM that allows us to hear the game while we record, which wasn’t possible before.

Part 5-1: “We were gonna get salty at some point, I’m sure.” Polsy Youtube

2 Likes

I grew up with these games, great to see them get some attention.

Oh wow, I completely forgot about this series—might need to snag the series 3 pack off GOG.

The art style’s really charming and particularly the latter two seem to hold up pretty well. There’s also something hypnotic and a little unnerving about some of the NPC repetitive animations—like that green guy making a million meatballs. It’s off kilter in a way that really works for the series.

Good find! I’ll be sure to watch from the beginning!

I was too busy this week to post the new video any earlier, but here it is at last. We’re so close to rescuing the Prince!

Part 5-2: “So now we can stick our head freely into orifices without fear.” Polsy Youtube

3 Likes

Oh huh I…I guess I never got this far! I could have sworn I beat it :x

In the first game, we broke the curse on the king about three-fourths of the way through the game, then had to deal with the evil wizard, so it may not be a surprise that rescuing the Prince is not the end of this game either. Once we have him, we still need to escape the castle and return to town. Fortunately, there’s a bit of a shortcut. Unfortunately, there are still a lot of puzzles to solve along the way.

Part 5-3: “C’mon Winkle! I always cheer him on because I expect him to do the worst possible thing.” Polsy Youtube

1 Like

Thank you for showing the Gobliiins game series.

As a child I only knew of Gobliins, and I only had the demo. Since I never got the full games I somehow managed to create a sense of nostalgia for the series with only four screens worth of puzzles.

I hope that seeing the full games isn’t ruining your nostalgia.

Not at all, I’m enjoying trying to figure the adventure game “logic” alongside with the blind guests.

And now I’ll just go save the Prince in the parallel timeline where I’m on my own. If you’ve just been watching the guest videos, this one might be worth checking out if only to see a character that The Splash didn’t encounter.

Part 5: Some Kind of Elixir Polsy Youtube

I firmly believe that chapter 6 of this game is the low point of the series. It brings back reminders of some of the worst mechanics and logical leaps in the series so far, all within a short couple of screens. Before that, though, we need to get the Buffoon down from that beanstalk, which is itself a task and a half. (Pretty literally - this is one of those rare times when the solution requires one character to get an item and the other to use it, when that’s considerably less convenient.)

Part 6-1: “I’m getting P.E. flashbacks.” Polsy Youtube

2 Likes

In spite of the audio glitches I think I prefer the version without voice acting, if only because subtitles can’t be drowned out by incidental sound effects.
These games are charming as heck but that overly-loud whistling will be the death of me.

Definitely agree. I’ll take subs vs dubs just about any day.

Gobliiins is a weird series. I don’t think anyone will argue that at this point. But sometimes, it gets even weirder than even its usual. We’ve seen a few of those moments, and this is another one. I don’t think this is even the weirdest part of the series, but I’ll let you judge that for yourselves as we progress.

Part 6-2: The Prince Bubblefoon Polsy Youtube

1 Like

I mentioned previously that I got stuck on a puzzle for several years, this screen is the culprit. Specifically it’s the timing of the open-lid-while-riding-bubble sequence that was the problem, since I kept trying to preempt it so that the lid would open just as the landing occurred, not knowing how the game’s scripts are set up because I was like, seven.

each new screen I become happier that I never got this far wow. I would have lost my mind here

Can you even imagine some of these puzzles with the first game’s energy system.

At last, it is time for the other candidate for worst part of the Gobliiins series. (Not counting Gobliiins 4. That game is also a candidate, but since the publisher has removed it from the market, it might be ineligible.) It’s a room with repetitive puzzles like Shadwin the Wise’s Cannon House, but there is no point at which your progress is saved until the end. Mess up once after about the halfway point, and everything resets to its initial state. The good news is that it’s possible to save in this game, assuming you can grasp the difference between progress and having the wrong character do something.

Part 6-3: “I’m gonna turn this into a drinking game.” Polsy Youtube

2 Likes

How much longer is this game?! I can’t believe I got blocked so early…