Zach, I was thinking earlier about what we were discussing. Movies that are "so bad they're good." I don't think I can place exactly what people mean by this. If something is good, well then it can't be bad. Perhaps what people mean by this is they enjoyed something they feel guilty of enjoying... a "guilty pleasure". Zach, I think people are, in some way, afraid to enjoy things that are too earnest or too raw in their emotions without putting up a veneer of irony. Do you remember when we played Pathologic, from 2005 and developed by Ice Pick Lodge? Oh, that was a great game.
It's often heralded as "janky" a term usually used to describe systems of gameplay that are either nonfunctional or obfuscated, purposefully or not, by the developers. It's a great game, Artemy Burakh's best performance. Its systems are often difficult to understand or directly averse to the player, which many disdained but I think makes it one of the best games of its release year and even the entire generation. The mere act of moving through a town and engaging with its many denizens allowed the player to become more deeply immersed in the narrative. It's even better with the map, which helps you become more easily acquainted with the landmarks and points of interest around town.
Zach, do you remember when we played Deadly Premonition, developed in 2010? What an amazing game, one that as soon as I finished it I knew was going to stick with me. All the details, the lovingly rendered town evoking memories David Lynch's telelvision series Twin Peaks. But there was another nostalgic aspect when I played it on my Nintendo Switch, Zach. Do you know what that is?
Exactly Zach, the early HD era of Japanese game development! The plasticine textures and oversaturated lighting were derided in their time, but I've come to appreciate the artificiality of it all. Zach, all of that was derided when this game was released, on top of myriad performance issues. But those performance issues are hard to fault the developers for in such a tumultuous environment for game development, and luckily the rerelease irons out the worst of them. I've never felt so immersed playing a game that looked so artificial! Even the occasional stuttering served as an almost Brechtian reminder that the world of the game was a false world with layers upon layers of detail building up to create a world that feels so real but loves to remind you that it is false. This veneer is furthered by the narrative, about a town's dark secrets being forced into the light by an outsider. In the narrative, it's not just you and I, Zach, it's the player.
And how does the player play, Zach? A lot of the game's critics would compare it to something like the survival horror titles of the time, but I don't fully agree. The overpowered weapons doled out by completing the real meat of the game, the sidequests, serve to trivialize the combat sections only a few chapters into the game. It's almost as if the shooting is only a further device of alienation. The shooting only serves to divide up the narrative segments, whereas most games do the opposite. It's almost as if the gameplay systems here are all serving the narrative, in lieu of classical gameplay wisdom that it should be the opposite. Zach, do you know what game I'm thinking of that also does that?
That's right, Zach, Pathologic. I can't speak for the director, Swery, but I believe at least a part of him was inspired to build a similarly plagued town falling apart at its seams. The big difference being the unshakable optimism of the denizens until the eleventh hour. Zach, I can't help but smile remembering the twins, or Emily, or any number of side characters who refused to let the world break them, even as it broke around them.
Zach, am I boring you? I'll stop now.
It's often heralded as "janky" a term usually used to describe systems of gameplay that are either nonfunctional or obfuscated, purposefully or not, by the developers. It's a great game, Artemy Burakh's best performance. Its systems are often difficult to understand or directly averse to the player, which many disdained but I think makes it one of the best games of its release year and even the entire generation. The mere act of moving through a town and engaging with its many denizens allowed the player to become more deeply immersed in the narrative. It's even better with the map, which helps you become more easily acquainted with the landmarks and points of interest around town.
Zach, do you remember when we played Deadly Premonition, developed in 2010? What an amazing game, one that as soon as I finished it I knew was going to stick with me. All the details, the lovingly rendered town evoking memories David Lynch's telelvision series Twin Peaks. But there was another nostalgic aspect when I played it on my Nintendo Switch, Zach. Do you know what that is?
Exactly Zach, the early HD era of Japanese game development! The plasticine textures and oversaturated lighting were derided in their time, but I've come to appreciate the artificiality of it all. Zach, all of that was derided when this game was released, on top of myriad performance issues. But those performance issues are hard to fault the developers for in such a tumultuous environment for game development, and luckily the rerelease irons out the worst of them. I've never felt so immersed playing a game that looked so artificial! Even the occasional stuttering served as an almost Brechtian reminder that the world of the game was a false world with layers upon layers of detail building up to create a world that feels so real but loves to remind you that it is false. This veneer is furthered by the narrative, about a town's dark secrets being forced into the light by an outsider. In the narrative, it's not just you and I, Zach, it's the player.
And how does the player play, Zach? A lot of the game's critics would compare it to something like the survival horror titles of the time, but I don't fully agree. The overpowered weapons doled out by completing the real meat of the game, the sidequests, serve to trivialize the combat sections only a few chapters into the game. It's almost as if the shooting is only a further device of alienation. The shooting only serves to divide up the narrative segments, whereas most games do the opposite. It's almost as if the gameplay systems here are all serving the narrative, in lieu of classical gameplay wisdom that it should be the opposite. Zach, do you know what game I'm thinking of that also does that?
That's right, Zach, Pathologic. I can't speak for the director, Swery, but I believe at least a part of him was inspired to build a similarly plagued town falling apart at its seams. The big difference being the unshakable optimism of the denizens until the eleventh hour. Zach, I can't help but smile remembering the twins, or Emily, or any number of side characters who refused to let the world break them, even as it broke around them.
Zach, am I boring you? I'll stop now.
Em outros momentos da minha vida eu não conseguiria absorver todas as intenções de Deadly Premonition, que é genuinamente cheio de problemas, tipo, cheios mesmo, coisas como atuação de voz estranha, animações travadas, travamentos e até eventuais crashes. Porém é daquele tipo de jogo que consegue tomar pra sua essência todos esses problemas e fazer que seja uma experiência única, não existe NADA comparado a Deadly Premonition.
Acho fenomenal o uso que é feito da linguagem de televisão, já que o jogo claramente usa Twin Peaks de referencia, que menos que existam tantas semelhanças, tenho pra mim que o titulo faz com que até mesmo as referencias mais diretas a serie sejam suas, sejam de seu modo. E isso se refere até mesmo a tropos da historia, tendo em vista que mesmo que você possa descobrir o assassino no começo do jogo por causa da rotina muito bem definida dos NPCs a escrita de Kenji Goda e SWERY conseguem te manter preso dentro do vórtex que é essa historia.
No mais, acho o combate muito fofinho, foi uma das melhores experiências que tive com um jogo todo fudido.
Acho fenomenal o uso que é feito da linguagem de televisão, já que o jogo claramente usa Twin Peaks de referencia, que menos que existam tantas semelhanças, tenho pra mim que o titulo faz com que até mesmo as referencias mais diretas a serie sejam suas, sejam de seu modo. E isso se refere até mesmo a tropos da historia, tendo em vista que mesmo que você possa descobrir o assassino no começo do jogo por causa da rotina muito bem definida dos NPCs a escrita de Kenji Goda e SWERY conseguem te manter preso dentro do vórtex que é essa historia.
No mais, acho o combate muito fofinho, foi uma das melhores experiências que tive com um jogo todo fudido.
So much ambition that you could tell the director had a vision they put on the screen and didn't care about following industry conventions on what makes a game "good". It's refreshing.
It is a completely unfathomable piece of art, but hey, it's also immensely entertaining and composed with passion, so that's fine.
It is a completely unfathomable piece of art, but hey, it's also immensely entertaining and composed with passion, so that's fine.
This runs and looks like utter shit but Swery's writing is straight up magic even if it's discount Lynch here. Greenvale feels like a real town and every character is interesting. The plot's genuinely intriguing while holding charm despite it's farcical nature.
You can tell a lot of care went into this, and it's not a so-bad-it's-good; it's good despite the bad. The technical jank and awful shooting stages are worth playing through for everything else. I want York to read my wedding vows.
You can tell a lot of care went into this, and it's not a so-bad-it's-good; it's good despite the bad. The technical jank and awful shooting stages are worth playing through for everything else. I want York to read my wedding vows.
This 3/5 doesn't at all describe the batshit insane genius of Deadly Premonition's story, featuring one of gaming's most interesting protags, Francis York Morgan (who's basically if Dale Cooper from Twin Peaks was a psychopath). Temper your expectations about the awful, boring 3rd person horror-shooter gameplay segments, and you might grow to appreciate exploring the town of Greenvale, learning about the quirky folks who live there, listening to that stupid whistling song for the 15th time in a row, and experiencing the rollercoaster that is this game's mystery plot.
(Find a different version to play though, the game suffers from some large performance issues on Switch.)
(Find a different version to play though, the game suffers from some large performance issues on Switch.)
Gameplay wise this is genuinely quite awful but I think it is perfect for this thing! Feels weird calling it a game because it feels like it isn't one. All 5 stars are for the characters and the crazy story. And the music. The music is reallly good. Good game can't recommend it
Feio, bugado, mal polido, quebrado, um jogo que parece do início do PS2, e ainda sim, é lindo. Lindo, lindo, lindo. Esse é um jogo especial.
I don't even know, just play it lmao
ToyBox really showing their competency with how godawful this port is and somehow adds MORE bugs than the previous Director's Cut that was already fucked, do yourself a service and avoid this shit, get the 360 one instead or play it on the Xbone through backwards compability or smth
If you want to play this game definitely get this version the other versions function like a bootyhole held together with scotch tape
no no no, the director didn't watch twin peaks .. they watched twin speak, like zach to york!
but okay that was a perfect game. like. made for me. so many twists & turns, a great story with no questions left at the end. absolutely amazing.
finally gave up trying to fix the pc port for over a year.. got it on switch & it still crashed. but, if you save a lot it's not too bad. just warning that every port is ass. & the controls are really bad.. i used the auto aim & shot everyone's butt until the final episodes .. no sensitivity changing in settings :(
but okay that was a perfect game. like. made for me. so many twists & turns, a great story with no questions left at the end. absolutely amazing.
finally gave up trying to fix the pc port for over a year.. got it on switch & it still crashed. but, if you save a lot it's not too bad. just warning that every port is ass. & the controls are really bad.. i used the auto aim & shot everyone's butt until the final episodes .. no sensitivity changing in settings :(
Deadly Premonition is perfect. Isn't that right, Zach?
At times we must purge things from this world because they should not exist. Even if it means losing someone that you love.
This port is terrible from the audio issues to the driving, it runs better than ps3 but the cutscenes now look like they were downloaded from youtube and then recompressed 8 more times. It also removes all the added content from directors cut. I love this game but this port should not exist in this state.
This port is terrible from the audio issues to the driving, it runs better than ps3 but the cutscenes now look like they were downloaded from youtube and then recompressed 8 more times. It also removes all the added content from directors cut. I love this game but this port should not exist in this state.
This review contains spoilers
I softlocked myself by dodging through an invisible wall while fighting a crossdresser inside a clock tower and I'd have to replay the whole game to actually finish it. That statement sums up most of my time with the game TBH.
A true marvel.
have you ever shit your pants zach
Goddamn this game is good. All the characters are believable, the voice acting is pretty stellar, the pacing is immaculate. Some of the eccentricities of the game, like how it doesn’t run super well and the character models don’t look greeeaaat, can be easily ignored nowadays, as it’s a game from 15 years ago and really it’s not too far behind other games of the time. Overall, it’s a game with an unmatched eye for atmosphere and story, and I loved it
Rare glimpses of real weirdness can't redeem an otherwise drab and conventional open-world detective game. SWERY saw one episode of Twin Peaks and decided it was his personality; although it is never directly mentioned in the game one gets the distinct impression the man is an Invader Zim fan, just on how he seems to consume media. Yes, driving around and wasting time in town is pretty great, but you gotta counterbalance that with a few super-questionable reveals and how shitty everything looks and feels. The shittiness borders on charm, but never crosses over. Some good drone tracks though.
Speaking of horror games, a specific one comes to mind. "Deadly Premonition". Do you remember that one, Zach? Released in 2010, directed by Swery65. A murder mystery thriller set in a small town, filled with 7th generation jank, I loved it. I remember if you didn't shave regularly, your character would start to grow a beard - isn't that right, Zach?
Francis York Morgan is maybe one of the most likable characters in any piece of fiction like...ever. Deadly Premonition succeeds and has such a prominent cult following because the aspects of the game that function and work are the same aspects that enhance the immersion in role playing York. You have to shave in the morning, eat breakfest, turn your headlights and wipers on in the rain. The story is engaging, the NPCs feel alive and interesting, and the roads always feel just a little to real to life in their length.
I want to be York and the game gives me a world and narrative where I can do just that. It does it so well that everything that should be "bad" comes off as charming and just adds to the experience.
The NPC facial expressions, the bad framerate, the standstill 3rd person shooting. I thought it was all really delightful. The switch port crashed on me like 8 times and it always brought a smile to my face.
I want to be York and the game gives me a world and narrative where I can do just that. It does it so well that everything that should be "bad" comes off as charming and just adds to the experience.
The NPC facial expressions, the bad framerate, the standstill 3rd person shooting. I thought it was all really delightful. The switch port crashed on me like 8 times and it always brought a smile to my face.
I sat this without a hint of irony - this is one of the best games I have ever played.
what the.... the room?
This review contains spoilers
this review is going to have spoilers for Twin Peaks, Persona 4, and Deadly Premonition.
lets get the obvious stuff out of the way first. the gameplay sucks. even fans of this game recognise that there isnt a single piece of this that works on a gameplay level. navigating greenvale is a nightmare because of the moving mini-map, but even the whole town map rotates without having an explicit north point. the most you can zoom out of the map shows you less than 1/8 of it, so its borderline impossible to work out where you're supposed to go using it. worst map in a game? might be! game shat the bed on nintendo switch too. driving through any of the populated areas plummeted the framerate to like 10fps at best, which is funny because despite them being the "populated" areas, theres absolutely no one there. the levels and combat encounters were incredibly boring. lame combat that doesnt evolve or do anything more interesting than literally the first time you get there. endless ugly corridors with the same pointless zombie enemies doing nothing. melee weapons break too often, guns are slow and clunky and have no weight too them, getting hit by an enemy takes so long to recover from. there are items galore that dont make managing the stats of hunger and sleep anymore interesting, theyre just tedious and dont contribute to any sense of atmosphere or vibe. they just clog up your tiny inventory. driving is slow and boring because there's nothing in town worth looking at, so the town isnt fun to explore in the car. theres no actual collision mechanics either so you can slam into another car at 90mph and nothing happens? its just boring! whatever, i think we're all in agreement of the gameplay being ass. unfortunately, the story is too, and here's where the real review begins...
we're looking at a story inspired by twin peaks, silent hill, and resident evil here i think. a murder mystery in a quaint but scary town, with gun action on the side. (thats the resident evil influence on the side). for most of my time playing the game i was actually complimentary of how it took twin peaks as an influence because i felt like it wasnt just lifting the black lodge and lynchian aesthetic the way that soul eater and gravity falls have. i felt like it was trying to understand the relationship because the quaint and the creepy, and trying to paint its own path to that. by the end of the game i changed my mind on this. for one, greenvale never succeeds to be quaint. twin peaks the town is charming and fun because of its colour pallette, because it's like a soap opera. we spend time with lots of characters, even outside of the detective's perspective. those characters and their lives and their oddities become intimate to us. in greenvale, theres no real sense of location because the town is absolutely huge and none of the areas outside actually stand out at all. furthermore, these areas arent populated, so our experiences there dont do anything for us. greenvales roads are eerily quiet, its street void of life. for a game that wanted to be about the quaint and familiar life of small countryside life, it felt incredibly lonely, something which i felt never went away. secondly, the horror of twin peaks works because we understand what the evil is. in short, BOB is the evil that men do, and the lodge entities represent aspects of human cruelty. almost all of the horror imagery in deadly premonition ends up being shallow and pointless.
both of these problems contribute to my problems with the plot. i'll admit i didn't necessarily think george was going to be the killer, but it doesnt work at all! for one, the main cast is actually incredibly small. it has george, thomas, emily, forrest, nick briefly, and diane briefly. its quite clear that its not nick who's the killer, so it only really leaves thomas and george left from the photos? forrest's involvement is abaundantely clear if you have eyes and brain because he's literally carrying around the red plant that seems to be found with evey crime? but george is the problem, not kaysen. the town is filled with lots of characters, but almost all of them are relegated to side content. what that means is if you only do the main story you know the characters who are and aren't going to be involved in the main plot. makes the whole thing fall apart when you realised that none of the other suspects actually turn up in the story whatsoever. again, the town is lonely and small, and our cast of suspects is too narrow to create a compelling mystery. secondly, george fails to have a motive. the george we spend most the of the game talking to isnt the same man that we have a (horrible) boss encounter with. is this inherently bad? kind of. in persona 4, the killer (or at least, man responsible for everything happening in inaba) is adachi, the goofy cop sidekick. its surprising because the time we spend with him he seems so nice, so this reveal that he's an evil nasty man makes him seem like he was faking it all along... but the fact is, he wasnt! if you spent time in persona 4 getting to know adachi, then you realised he was actually kind of a fucked up dude with some twisted beliefs on people. its clever subtle writing that makes you feel slightly weird about him. then when its revealed he's the killer, those worldviews he showed you suddenly make more sense. the character is consistent in his inconsistency, and a whole picture can be understood. the same is true of leland as the killer in twin peaks. even after its revealed he killed laura and maddie, or when cooper speaks to him in the prison, its clear that the leland we saw grieving or dancing was still the same man as the killer. its consistent in its inconsistency! george in deadly premonition doesnt fit this. it just falls into the same tired trap that people who were abused as children turn into fucked up killers. his world view about him being some kind of silly chosen one because of magic seeds isnt present in his character writing anywhere. his desire to sacrifice people has absolutely no meaning or merit outside of the plot needing there to be murder victims. he just kind of says to york "and then i decided to kill anna" and thats it for his motive i guess? it doesnt even make sense that he's the raincoat killer. the first time we encounter the killer in gameplay york says "he's here!" which implies the killer is actually in the building with you... but almost always when these sections happen, we know that george is outside with emily. the game essentially just lies to you about whats happening when the raincoat killer is chasing us. also, why does york run from the killer? he's literally pursuing him, and fighting all these zombies. why is he suddenly scared of a guy with an axe? theres a story/gameplay disconnect that that i found quite frustrating. at the start of the game i almost enjoyed this supernatural facet of wherever the killer was could conjure these hallucinogenic worlds of zombies for york, but then it becomes clear that they are artificial padding to keep the game lasting longer, and they have no meaningful impact on the story whatsoever. when i was fighting them in harry's mansion that's when i realised they were totally pointless. i liked kaysen more as a villain i think because his performance was good, but again in terms of motivation he's just like "Yeah i'm evil i guess" and it just doesnt mean anything at all! horror aesthetic for no reason. these are not characters you can get invested in. this is a story with no flavour beyond the immediate feeling its trying to provoke, and it doesnt do anything to justify wondering about what has happened or what will happen. it all just feels so pointless and hollow.
the only thing i'll give the game credit for is some of the music (limited as it was) and York. his performance is so good that it does really endear the player to him. i like that he gets everyones back up at first because he is just an insane man. spoilers, he is literally insane and that's why he talks to someone called zach! further spoilers, the reveal about who zach is literally changes nothing abuot the game. its genuinely a pointless bit of drama. i dont think i minded it too much because i already liked york, but i do think its ultimately meaningless. york is a charming protagnosit because of how confident he is in everything. its just a shame that literally everything surrounding him is superficial and doesnt work on basically any level.
sorry eveyone! thought i was going to have some fun with this one, but it just isnt good.
lets get the obvious stuff out of the way first. the gameplay sucks. even fans of this game recognise that there isnt a single piece of this that works on a gameplay level. navigating greenvale is a nightmare because of the moving mini-map, but even the whole town map rotates without having an explicit north point. the most you can zoom out of the map shows you less than 1/8 of it, so its borderline impossible to work out where you're supposed to go using it. worst map in a game? might be! game shat the bed on nintendo switch too. driving through any of the populated areas plummeted the framerate to like 10fps at best, which is funny because despite them being the "populated" areas, theres absolutely no one there. the levels and combat encounters were incredibly boring. lame combat that doesnt evolve or do anything more interesting than literally the first time you get there. endless ugly corridors with the same pointless zombie enemies doing nothing. melee weapons break too often, guns are slow and clunky and have no weight too them, getting hit by an enemy takes so long to recover from. there are items galore that dont make managing the stats of hunger and sleep anymore interesting, theyre just tedious and dont contribute to any sense of atmosphere or vibe. they just clog up your tiny inventory. driving is slow and boring because there's nothing in town worth looking at, so the town isnt fun to explore in the car. theres no actual collision mechanics either so you can slam into another car at 90mph and nothing happens? its just boring! whatever, i think we're all in agreement of the gameplay being ass. unfortunately, the story is too, and here's where the real review begins...
we're looking at a story inspired by twin peaks, silent hill, and resident evil here i think. a murder mystery in a quaint but scary town, with gun action on the side. (thats the resident evil influence on the side). for most of my time playing the game i was actually complimentary of how it took twin peaks as an influence because i felt like it wasnt just lifting the black lodge and lynchian aesthetic the way that soul eater and gravity falls have. i felt like it was trying to understand the relationship because the quaint and the creepy, and trying to paint its own path to that. by the end of the game i changed my mind on this. for one, greenvale never succeeds to be quaint. twin peaks the town is charming and fun because of its colour pallette, because it's like a soap opera. we spend time with lots of characters, even outside of the detective's perspective. those characters and their lives and their oddities become intimate to us. in greenvale, theres no real sense of location because the town is absolutely huge and none of the areas outside actually stand out at all. furthermore, these areas arent populated, so our experiences there dont do anything for us. greenvales roads are eerily quiet, its street void of life. for a game that wanted to be about the quaint and familiar life of small countryside life, it felt incredibly lonely, something which i felt never went away. secondly, the horror of twin peaks works because we understand what the evil is. in short, BOB is the evil that men do, and the lodge entities represent aspects of human cruelty. almost all of the horror imagery in deadly premonition ends up being shallow and pointless.
both of these problems contribute to my problems with the plot. i'll admit i didn't necessarily think george was going to be the killer, but it doesnt work at all! for one, the main cast is actually incredibly small. it has george, thomas, emily, forrest, nick briefly, and diane briefly. its quite clear that its not nick who's the killer, so it only really leaves thomas and george left from the photos? forrest's involvement is abaundantely clear if you have eyes and brain because he's literally carrying around the red plant that seems to be found with evey crime? but george is the problem, not kaysen. the town is filled with lots of characters, but almost all of them are relegated to side content. what that means is if you only do the main story you know the characters who are and aren't going to be involved in the main plot. makes the whole thing fall apart when you realised that none of the other suspects actually turn up in the story whatsoever. again, the town is lonely and small, and our cast of suspects is too narrow to create a compelling mystery. secondly, george fails to have a motive. the george we spend most the of the game talking to isnt the same man that we have a (horrible) boss encounter with. is this inherently bad? kind of. in persona 4, the killer (or at least, man responsible for everything happening in inaba) is adachi, the goofy cop sidekick. its surprising because the time we spend with him he seems so nice, so this reveal that he's an evil nasty man makes him seem like he was faking it all along... but the fact is, he wasnt! if you spent time in persona 4 getting to know adachi, then you realised he was actually kind of a fucked up dude with some twisted beliefs on people. its clever subtle writing that makes you feel slightly weird about him. then when its revealed he's the killer, those worldviews he showed you suddenly make more sense. the character is consistent in his inconsistency, and a whole picture can be understood. the same is true of leland as the killer in twin peaks. even after its revealed he killed laura and maddie, or when cooper speaks to him in the prison, its clear that the leland we saw grieving or dancing was still the same man as the killer. its consistent in its inconsistency! george in deadly premonition doesnt fit this. it just falls into the same tired trap that people who were abused as children turn into fucked up killers. his world view about him being some kind of silly chosen one because of magic seeds isnt present in his character writing anywhere. his desire to sacrifice people has absolutely no meaning or merit outside of the plot needing there to be murder victims. he just kind of says to york "and then i decided to kill anna" and thats it for his motive i guess? it doesnt even make sense that he's the raincoat killer. the first time we encounter the killer in gameplay york says "he's here!" which implies the killer is actually in the building with you... but almost always when these sections happen, we know that george is outside with emily. the game essentially just lies to you about whats happening when the raincoat killer is chasing us. also, why does york run from the killer? he's literally pursuing him, and fighting all these zombies. why is he suddenly scared of a guy with an axe? theres a story/gameplay disconnect that that i found quite frustrating. at the start of the game i almost enjoyed this supernatural facet of wherever the killer was could conjure these hallucinogenic worlds of zombies for york, but then it becomes clear that they are artificial padding to keep the game lasting longer, and they have no meaningful impact on the story whatsoever. when i was fighting them in harry's mansion that's when i realised they were totally pointless. i liked kaysen more as a villain i think because his performance was good, but again in terms of motivation he's just like "Yeah i'm evil i guess" and it just doesnt mean anything at all! horror aesthetic for no reason. these are not characters you can get invested in. this is a story with no flavour beyond the immediate feeling its trying to provoke, and it doesnt do anything to justify wondering about what has happened or what will happen. it all just feels so pointless and hollow.
the only thing i'll give the game credit for is some of the music (limited as it was) and York. his performance is so good that it does really endear the player to him. i like that he gets everyones back up at first because he is just an insane man. spoilers, he is literally insane and that's why he talks to someone called zach! further spoilers, the reveal about who zach is literally changes nothing abuot the game. its genuinely a pointless bit of drama. i dont think i minded it too much because i already liked york, but i do think its ultimately meaningless. york is a charming protagnosit because of how confident he is in everything. its just a shame that literally everything surrounding him is superficial and doesnt work on basically any level.
sorry eveyone! thought i was going to have some fun with this one, but it just isnt good.
This review contains spoilers
An unacceptable level of padding that made the game a pain to finish. I was able to deal with routine combat and bland environments with minor diversions (running away and hiding from killer), but they showed up so frequently and were intentionally bloated.
The puzzles weren’t even really puzzles (besides the side quest convenience store box push puzzle). People had built up how weird this game was, but it honestly wasn’t that bad for the most part. I’ve been exposed to extremely weird entertainment, which isn’t the norm so that’s why there’s a disconnect.
I started to care for a few of the characters by the end (Emily and Thomas). Even arrogant York, who wanted to do the right thing. Also the side quests were kinda bland fetch quests that build up supporting characters’ backstories. Some were interesting. Some were painful. I really liked the endgame fetch quest for the adopted son of the tycoon, where he acknowledges that he’s someone he can be proud of.
Too many plot twists that it became annoying. Didn’t expect Emily to die. Some cool boss fights at the end (thomas swinging around on the gears and FK different stages floating, chasing you, and giant where you climb his shoulder). There is a charm to the game.
Navigating the town was a pain. Constant frame drops, slippery car controls, the worst game map I’ve ever encountered (too zoomed in!), businesses open at random times not written anywhere in the game (you just have to know their hours), characters move around making completing side quests a pain, the map rotates depending on your direction, etc. The sound effects were very bad. Worst menu sfx I’ve heard. Terrible menu design that took forever to load. Constant loading screens that took around 10 secs each. The padding got inexcusable near the end with the dog running montage (19 mins long).
Thomas was a satisfying bad guy, George was boring and the lamest of the three enemies, FK was one note sadistic creep.
Cool sequence playing as the killer. A trading card spoiled that Thomas’s sister would be killed. Darts game was fun. Game relies on stereotypes to poke fun at different characters. Emily is a bad driver and can’t cook. Thomas is a great cook but acts shy and effeminate.
The puzzles weren’t even really puzzles (besides the side quest convenience store box push puzzle). People had built up how weird this game was, but it honestly wasn’t that bad for the most part. I’ve been exposed to extremely weird entertainment, which isn’t the norm so that’s why there’s a disconnect.
I started to care for a few of the characters by the end (Emily and Thomas). Even arrogant York, who wanted to do the right thing. Also the side quests were kinda bland fetch quests that build up supporting characters’ backstories. Some were interesting. Some were painful. I really liked the endgame fetch quest for the adopted son of the tycoon, where he acknowledges that he’s someone he can be proud of.
Too many plot twists that it became annoying. Didn’t expect Emily to die. Some cool boss fights at the end (thomas swinging around on the gears and FK different stages floating, chasing you, and giant where you climb his shoulder). There is a charm to the game.
Navigating the town was a pain. Constant frame drops, slippery car controls, the worst game map I’ve ever encountered (too zoomed in!), businesses open at random times not written anywhere in the game (you just have to know their hours), characters move around making completing side quests a pain, the map rotates depending on your direction, etc. The sound effects were very bad. Worst menu sfx I’ve heard. Terrible menu design that took forever to load. Constant loading screens that took around 10 secs each. The padding got inexcusable near the end with the dog running montage (19 mins long).
Thomas was a satisfying bad guy, George was boring and the lamest of the three enemies, FK was one note sadistic creep.
Cool sequence playing as the killer. A trading card spoiled that Thomas’s sister would be killed. Darts game was fun. Game relies on stereotypes to poke fun at different characters. Emily is a bad driver and can’t cook. Thomas is a great cook but acts shy and effeminate.
I was pondering what game to write about for my 100th review on this website, and it recently occurred to me that I haven't discussed this title yet. Feels like a good time.
Lets open with this: I have never, in all the games I have played, felt anything like the way I did with this one: it strings you along thinking the entire game is utter nonsense: the tone is all over the place, it has almost no cohesion or flow. The dialogue is hard to follow. It feels like a parody at times.
Then you get to the ending. Those final few hours. After you're 95% done with the game. And it explains EVERYTHING. You realize every singular moment that didn't make sense was all building to the last few moments. And what's even more, the actual explanation you're given is impactful and heavy.
This is a special game. One that took a really special kind of craft to make. And it's a game that rewards patience more than others. You have to be willing to put up with all the tedious moments. The bugs, the jank, the poor performance.
Because on a technical level it is a rough game, even with this version being one of the better ones. But in this one instance it dosent matter. The story and characters are what keep you playing.
We really need to do emphasize characters. York is so zany, so wacky, so out there that you can't help but like how quirky and odd he is. He's probably one of my favorite gaming characters next to Travis Touchdown.
But the other characters are great too. Thomas, George, Emily, and the other odd ball residents. It's a very lived in kind of game and setting. And this feeling is magnified with the schedule system. You can follow characters on their daily routine around the map and the conversations can differ depending on where you are. It is not polished or done well at all, but the concept still works anyways. It's a detail that most games wouldn't bother with
And that's the key: attention to detail. If you stop and observe everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, and you're really paying attention, the story and the twists it take are actually in front of you the entire time. It's hard to believe but the game is subtle: it dosent draw attention to any of it and just leaves it to the player to see if they can spot it early.
Let's discuss it as a game briefly because the actual mechanics are pretty surface level: you run around, you pick things up, you shoot. Etc. it's a very basic game in terms of combat. But it's serviceable and it keeps your attention.
Normally a game like this should be scored lower, like a 2.5 or a 3. But the experience is unlike any other. It transcends any issues it has.
It's been burned in my mind for the past 4 years since I've played it and it's not going away anytime soon.
Lets open with this: I have never, in all the games I have played, felt anything like the way I did with this one: it strings you along thinking the entire game is utter nonsense: the tone is all over the place, it has almost no cohesion or flow. The dialogue is hard to follow. It feels like a parody at times.
Then you get to the ending. Those final few hours. After you're 95% done with the game. And it explains EVERYTHING. You realize every singular moment that didn't make sense was all building to the last few moments. And what's even more, the actual explanation you're given is impactful and heavy.
This is a special game. One that took a really special kind of craft to make. And it's a game that rewards patience more than others. You have to be willing to put up with all the tedious moments. The bugs, the jank, the poor performance.
Because on a technical level it is a rough game, even with this version being one of the better ones. But in this one instance it dosent matter. The story and characters are what keep you playing.
We really need to do emphasize characters. York is so zany, so wacky, so out there that you can't help but like how quirky and odd he is. He's probably one of my favorite gaming characters next to Travis Touchdown.
But the other characters are great too. Thomas, George, Emily, and the other odd ball residents. It's a very lived in kind of game and setting. And this feeling is magnified with the schedule system. You can follow characters on their daily routine around the map and the conversations can differ depending on where you are. It is not polished or done well at all, but the concept still works anyways. It's a detail that most games wouldn't bother with
And that's the key: attention to detail. If you stop and observe everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, and you're really paying attention, the story and the twists it take are actually in front of you the entire time. It's hard to believe but the game is subtle: it dosent draw attention to any of it and just leaves it to the player to see if they can spot it early.
Let's discuss it as a game briefly because the actual mechanics are pretty surface level: you run around, you pick things up, you shoot. Etc. it's a very basic game in terms of combat. But it's serviceable and it keeps your attention.
Normally a game like this should be scored lower, like a 2.5 or a 3. But the experience is unlike any other. It transcends any issues it has.
It's been burned in my mind for the past 4 years since I've played it and it's not going away anytime soon.
Forgot to review this! It's incredible stuff, my dream game in every aspect! While I haven't heard good things about it's sequel, it's got me curious.
York, I love you so much, I love all these crazy characters, I even love most of your games SWERY but jesus christ when even the remaster is this broken you don't know how to make these types of games. J.J. Macfield came out fine, stick to that kind of stuff maybe? Or just write a TV show, I'd be on your television career like glue.
Re-play 100% achievements.
This game has some problems, it runs pretty bad, and the gameplay can get really repetitive. But it somehow pulls it all together with a genuinely intresting mystery and memorable cast. I’d still recommend something like AI the somnium files over this if you want an overall better mystery game. But for what it’s trying to be this does a nice job overall
80 morbilhões de versões e nenhuma funciona de forma minimamente decente, jogo que nem mesmo consegue abrir sem mods não deveria ser vendido.
Extremamente bizarro o quão tolerante são com os problemas técnicos desse jogo, eu sinceramente acho que foi uma das piores experiências que tive com video jogos, e uma história legalzinha e tentativa pessimamente executada de criação de rotinas com NPCs e bla bla blas que parecem até mesmo incompletas, não salvou a minha experiência com esse jogo, um combate que me lembra o RE4 de Zeebo e não consegue fazer o básico de ao menos deixar a mira visível a todo momento (a cabeça do personagem frequentemente tampa o ponteiro das armas), áudio cortando, jogo crashando em todas as 3 versões que tentei jogar, é aquilo que todo mundo diz mesmo "a experiência com esse jogo é única" até pq é difícil encontrar um jogo que o remaster tenha mais problemas que sua versão origial kkk
Sla mano, esse jogo me pareceu um experimento social, todo mundo fica falando no seu ouvido que algo é bom, masterpiece, underrated e tu passa a pensar que o jogo de fato é isso. Se ele ao menos funcionasse eu provavelmente teria achado "legalzinho", mas repito, foi apenas uma experiência tecnicamente frustrante em um jogo que mesmo sendo tolerante (ao máximo que me permito ser) não alcançou o "medíocre", e eu realmente tentei gostar desse jogo, principalmente por ser do mesmo mano de The Missing J.J (Um dos meus jogos favs) e D4.
Extremamente bizarro o quão tolerante são com os problemas técnicos desse jogo, eu sinceramente acho que foi uma das piores experiências que tive com video jogos, e uma história legalzinha e tentativa pessimamente executada de criação de rotinas com NPCs e bla bla blas que parecem até mesmo incompletas, não salvou a minha experiência com esse jogo, um combate que me lembra o RE4 de Zeebo e não consegue fazer o básico de ao menos deixar a mira visível a todo momento (a cabeça do personagem frequentemente tampa o ponteiro das armas), áudio cortando, jogo crashando em todas as 3 versões que tentei jogar, é aquilo que todo mundo diz mesmo "a experiência com esse jogo é única" até pq é difícil encontrar um jogo que o remaster tenha mais problemas que sua versão origial kkk
Sla mano, esse jogo me pareceu um experimento social, todo mundo fica falando no seu ouvido que algo é bom, masterpiece, underrated e tu passa a pensar que o jogo de fato é isso. Se ele ao menos funcionasse eu provavelmente teria achado "legalzinho", mas repito, foi apenas uma experiência tecnicamente frustrante em um jogo que mesmo sendo tolerante (ao máximo que me permito ser) não alcançou o "medíocre", e eu realmente tentei gostar desse jogo, principalmente por ser do mesmo mano de The Missing J.J (Um dos meus jogos favs) e D4.