A New Beginning - Final Cut

Great story, great puzzles and great visuals, Daedalics does it again after the excellent The Whispered World and manage to create another great graphic adventure. Too bad the English voices and some weird translations from German undermine it a bit.

A serious, committed and engaging adventure: A New Beginning is easily one of the best adventure of the year.

Featuring a highly interesting story, a tremendous setting, great characters and an overwhelming soundtrack, A New Beginning easily can be regarded as the adventure of the year.

I am glad to finally see an adventure game that uses its narrative potential to address some important ecological themes and ideas. Even though the conclusion of the sci-fi story seems a little unrewarding, I always had a good time playing the game. Puzzles are generally solid, the hand painted graphics are beautiful and most of the (German) voice acting is well done. A New Beginning may not be perfect, but it's mature, surprising and quite simply fun to play.

A solid and mature adventure, with nice graphics and a solid gameplay. In any case, the game is recommended for fans of the genre, as it tells one of the most interesting and mature stories of recent times.

A New Beginning leaves a mixed feeling: While it is a great adventure game, it lacks in the technical department and the speakers could be better than they are.

A very engaging and deep adventure for anyone who loves the genre and can forgive a few technical flaws. [Sept 2011, p.95]

A New Beginning is an excellent adventure game for two reasons; one for its basic theme, so actual and so real that everyone should play it. Two, for its good feeling that keeps adventure game still alive.

A catchy and nostalgic epic adventure which takes us back to a time when the gaming world was enchanted by the original Broken Sword series. [June 2011]

A few technical failings aside, A New Beginning comes highly recommended. It's not often that I consider a game hard to put down, but I found myself getting deeply invested in the plot as it unravelled thanks to its convincing characterisation and an increasingly gripping storyline. Although there's an obvious environmental focus, there's also a strong heart to the story and it's this that powers your desire to play on. Any minor problems that arise are quickly overshadowed by the stunning artwork and the inventive, well-integrated puzzles, so whatever your view on global warming, do yourself a favour and shell out the green for A New Beginning.

Lengthy, clever, and gripping. It's nice to have a decent point and click adventure around. It's been too long. [Oct 2011, p.105]

It's a back and forth battle, as it's an enjoyable experience, but one that falls short of the adventure game and technological standards many have come to expect. If there was only a little bit more polish, A New Beginning – Final Cut could have been a unforgettable adventure.

Overall, A New Beginning is a good game that will appeal to fans of "old school" adventure games.

While A New Beginning shines in the inspired art-style, the clever puzzles and the interesting story, it fails without hope in the crackling and weird sound, the lack of support for widescreen and the persistent crash-bugs that leads to utter frustration.

It's a modern fairytale with a muddled story, flawed logic and ho-hum graphics. Sometimes the entire thing feels hollow-hearted, but, thankfully, it's not as disappointing as was The Whispered World.

A New Beginning's fantastic visuals and enjoyable story offset its glaring translation and voice-over flaws.

A mildly diverting and inadvertently funny curiosity. [Issue#111, p.123]

If you are truly desperate for good puzzles and sumptuous art, then you could do worse than play A New Beginning, but I found it impossible to look past the many issues and really enjoy the few things it manages to do right.