"Dada da dadada..They call him Ru-fus!" "Simpson, Homer Simpson, he's the greatest guy in his-tory!"
You can expect the same kind of anti-hero protagonist and the same level of fun from Deponia. A classic adventure game like Deponia depends a lot on a good story to carry it through; fortunately, Deponia comes through with just the right amount of self-deprecating yet unapologetic humor, thanks in no small part to its pompous protagonist Rufus and a diverse cast of equally energetic supporting characters. The game is short with no shocking plot-twists and little character development. The "hero" is mostly two-dimensional and the heroine speaks little and only toward the end. Yet, it feels inexplicably right to call Deponia a love story, and I could not imagine the game's ending be better in any other way. Think of it like the Simpsons. If you met Homer in real life, he would most likely be the most obnoxious person that you would never want to see. Yet in the whacky world in which he lives, he's somehow likable enough to stay on the air for decades. See Deponia through Rufus's eyes, but don't try to criticize him or identify with him. Then you will feel the magic.
If the story is the soul of an adventure game, the puzzles are undoubtedly its face. We all like attractive people (your definition is your own). Deponia may not be Miss World, but she's sweet. There are two distinct puzzle types in Deponia: the ever so over-used...ahem, classic inventory based puzzles and...others that you see in brain-teaser books or The 7th Guest. Both are well-done. The inventory based puzzles are intuitive, easy, limited, and frequently whacky, as they should be. They more often provoke a laugh (or a smile) than invigorate your mind. The other puzzles represent some of the classic logic-based brain challengers, and provide a decent mental workout. And just so you don't get bogged down too much to enjoy the story, these classic puzzles can be skipped at any time. After all, this an adventure, not a puzzle game.
That leads to one final commendable aspect of Deponia. It's accessible. You can play the whole game exclusively using a two-button, one-wheel mouse (or a touch screen, though I don't know if it's supported; if it isn't, it should be). You never have to pixel hunt when you can see all points of interest by holding down a mouse button. The graphics are clean and sharp so you won't need to make much use of the POI markers anyway. The fact the game is drawn in 2D, cartoon style contributes a lot to that. All dialogues are enunciated in easily understandable, nearly always in-character and often spirited English (for the English version). Anything that's not dialogue is narrated by Rufus, who has superb voice-acting, for which I am most grateful. Everything about Deponia says, "Enjoy!"
That's pretty much the spirit of the game: "Enjoy!" This is not a heroic epic. It's not even about an average guy doing heroic deeds due to circumstance. Gamespot (I forgot who reviewed it) called it a comedy of errors. I call it just plain fun.
Oh, what the heck, one last Simpson connection. "NOBODY ruins my family vacation but ME, and... maybe the boy!" If you wonder what's the point, what's the conflict that drives Deponia's plot, well the quote is how I feel about it. It's kinda relevant... a bit... maybe.