|
I like the touch that Fran is the Keeper of the Key, and the younger Fran we saw earlier actually collects keys. Also fitting that this whole area, actually the whole game, has been about getting keys. I stated earlier that I was worried we wouldn't get an answer on whether or not this is real. And as it looks we won't get a definitive answer, it feels like there's enough evidence to say that there is. Multi-universe theory and all. Or, multi-reality theory in this case.
|
#
?
Sep 3, 2016 15:56
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 6, 2024 01:47 |
|
|
Ramos posted:Nice to know that the heart of darkness is a waiting room and bureaucracy. It's kind of funny to me that Mabuka is actually somewhat reasonable, because it means that her kid isn't some sort of intrinsic evil force, he is just a huge dick
|
|
#
?
Sep 3, 2016 17:15
|
|
|
Whenever I see that waiting room, I can't help but think of Beetlejuice.
|
|
#
?
Sep 3, 2016 17:30
|
|
|
At last, we finish this story. Episode 17: Return This has a short podcasting over the ending, with some of my thoughts. So what does everyone think of the ending? What's next? I will be continuing to put up regular videos, but not necessarily SA threads. However, I plan on starting a thread for an LP of American McGee's Alice, possibly with some co-commentators within a couple weeks. I hope that you guys will enjoy that as much as this one. I'll also be throwing things in the VR LP thread as I get them. If you want to keep up with the rest of things, that is awesome too! I encourage people to subscribe to my channel and follow my Twitter so I can keep you informed. Until then, it's been fun, and thanks for following the story with me!
|
|
#
?
Sep 4, 2016 02:26
|
|
|
Well, that certainly was an ending. It really feels rushed and half-formed in a lot of ways, like what was up with the cat in the cage? Was it there just to make Fran think Mr. Midnight couldn't speak? Why didn't we see Dr. Oswald at all? Why was Dr. Deern there? What purpose did he serve? What the hell is Remer's deal, and why don't we get a conclusion with him? Oh well, it was a fun ride, and thanks for showing it to us. I've been interested in Fran Bow since it was announced, but I always get stuck in adventure games when I try to play them. Looking forward to Alice!
|
|
#
?
Sep 4, 2016 08:23
|
|
|
I had quite a bit of fun with this LP. Note that Frans obituary gives an exact date for this game It's set in 1944. I kinda feel bad for the psychiatrist. He only wanted to do his job and help children. One day a girl reacts really badly to a new medicine. Shortly afterwards she runs away and dies in a forest. He investigates how that happened and finds out that the asylum is doing some shady experiments. This knowledge gets him fired. Then after I presume a few glasses of whiskey, he decides to dig up a grave. On the way he drives past the home of the alleged dead girl and finds her standing there. After she spouts some nonsense about flying fuzzy doctors and skeleton men they go over to the grave and next thing he knows, a goat spirit grabs him and he wakes up in some hell dimension without a clue what happens. Fran may have had a wonky trip, but at least it was sort of gradual and somewhat guided.
|
|
#
?
Sep 4, 2016 11:07
|
|
|
Istara Confounds me, when you posted the updates, me initial belief was that it was real, in the sense that everything could be a metaphor for things that "really happened" When she fell down she broke her arms and legs, and was in a coma. (was a vegetable) The wizard, the king, and Polontras was a psychologist, a psychiatrist and a Medical Doctor, respestably. Polontras I imagined as this 7 feet tall, wideset man with a big fluffy beard and so on. and the "gaining her arms and legs" was polontras removing the cast. The "seasons watch" was because she spendt 1 or 2 years there... and then somehow none of it happened?
|
|
#
?
Sep 4, 2016 14:58
|
|
|
Yeah, that ending just kind of... ends. That said, I'm going to take the story at face value for the most part since otherwise it involves accepting a lot of coincidences. Dr. Deerne's only able to start seeing stuff after taking a shot to the neck, Itward gets mentioned by multiple children in the same experiment, and all of the children in the ward are suffering from similar shadows that are rather accurate to their problems. It's probably a case of the insane running the asylum since Oswald and Grace are behind everything and we at least know Oswald's able to see other worldly stuff. I wouldn't be surprised if he was heavily on similar medicine earlier in his life and it never actually helped cure him of whatever issues he had since he still thinks unethical experimentation on children is one hundred percent okay. The forest bit is also a bit too similar to old tales of fey folk and such. I think Itward's whole "You imagined me, I must be real" is just how he says, "Things perceived exist on some level" which would make sense with the multiple levels of reality going on.
|
|
#
?
Sep 4, 2016 16:24
|
|
|
I feel the game both excels and suffers because of the ambiguity. Like Dream said in the credits, a lot of the things Fran knows and does would have been impossible if the other realities don't exist. But without a clear explanation or enough hints to piece it all together, it leaves an unsatisfactory feeling. The above comment from SniHjen is really reasonable for Isthersta, but the rest of the game leaves little for metaphor. Not to mention we didn't even really find out what Fran being the holder of the key really meant. For not, to my understanding, I think it's all real. Oswald and Leon were studying the power of twins, and in the process stitched two young girls together and then threw them in a well. We saw other kids being experimented on and he for some reason wanted Fran's brain so this is pretty easy to believe. Grace and Fran's mother were another set of twins so he wanted to study their power as well. Leon started to see visions of the other realities and they began studying these together with the power of twins and the mind until Leon is just gone one day. Oswald continues to study the twins without killing them for some reason and eventually Fran is born. Perhaps the tests that Grace and Fran's mother went through had to do with the red duotine while the stitched twins only had the yellow. So when Fran was born she was already in tune with the other realities. She's I guess really important because of this? Everything seems to go wrong when Mr. Midnight came into play. Itward gave the twins a prophecy of a black cat in a cage, and I wonder if perhaps they actually jumped the gun. Creating their own cage when in truth they were meant to help Fran at the very end. Then they all could have had their happy ending rather than being killed(?). But I digress. With a prophecy perhaps being fulfilled Grace and Oswald team up with Remor to get things rolling. Using his powers of manipulation he does get Fran to kill her parents. I feel we can know that it was her rather than Grace because in the opening her eyes start crying blood. Just like Mabuka. Even in the end, Dr Deen's eyes do the same thing and they say he is under hew power. As Remor is her son, I'd say he causes a similar effect. If Grace had been the one to do it, she'd most likely end up in jail as even in the 40's she probably wouldn't be able to get away with it without leaving some evidence. So it's the girl who died in the woods and vanished to an asylum. Remor is just playing along for shits a giggles maybe? Or perhaps he has a stake in it since Fran is so powerful in the other realities. Able to make friends and allies no matter where she goes. And as everyone is saying she's too young and not ready. Down the line she may even over take the darkness. It's with his power that she is able to have the strength to dismember her mom and dad. And then it's the events of the game. All leading up to get Fran's brain. That's at least my take on it.
|
|
#
?
Sep 4, 2016 16:38
|
|
|
Hm, true, I didn't consider that Oswald did succeed (partially anyway) in what he was doing. I guess Itward was right about dualism being a special and powerful thing after all. Did the journal ever hint at what Oswald really was aiming to do though?
|
|
#
?
Sep 4, 2016 17:26
|
|
|
He wanted to be able to traverse dimensions so he wanted to capture Fran and harness her powers.
|
|
#
?
Sep 4, 2016 20:20
|
|
|
No matter what conclusion you draw it unfortunately is based off a lot of conjecture, just by the nature of everything. I think most people will be disappointed by the ending just because there is no catharsis in it. Stuff just...happens. The game got more unglued as we got closer to the end, in a good way, but it also got more nonsensical and not necessarily for the best. As I said, ultimately we all have to make our own conclusions because the devs certainly aren't giving any.
|
|
#
?
Sep 4, 2016 21:11
|
|
|
At least until the sequel, Fran Bow 2: Bow Hunter, that will lead directly into Fran Bow 3: Francy Dress Party. Finally, all threads will be tied up in the end of the quadrilogy in Fr4n Bow.
|
|
#
?
Sep 4, 2016 23:13
|
|
|
Is her name Fran Bow, or is it Fran Bow? Like the archery weapon (or more likely the accessory) or the concept of bowing down? It's probably the former. Why does your language put so many different meanings on those three letters?
|
|
#
?
Sep 4, 2016 23:32
|
|
|
It's actually "bow", as in the front of a ship, since she is constantly running headlong into weird poo poo.
|
|
#
?
Sep 4, 2016 23:38
|
|
|
Warmal posted:Not to mention we didn't even really find out what Fran being the holder of the key really meant. Oh yeah, this bit. I think it was more descriptive than a destiny, honestly. By the end of the game, Fran is really, really good at opening doors.
|
|
#
?
Sep 5, 2016 00:20
|
|
|
I like the ambiguity personally but the ending definitely feels rushed. Unlike Total Recall there's no perfectly fitting cap that wraps up the story whether you believe it's all real or not which does hurt things; it's still fun but there's no satisfying closure. fake edit: This is an article on Fran Bow that discusses the choices involved in making the ending the way it is with one of the creators, which, uh, seems to point to this being intentional rather than poorly planned. Haven't finished reading the whole thing but I kinda wish they'd erred a bit closer to unambiguous.
|
|
|
#
?
Sep 5, 2016 06:12
|
|
|
Ignatius M. Meen posted:I like the ambiguity personally but the ending definitely feels rushed. Unlike Total Recall there's no perfectly fitting cap that wraps up the story whether you believe it's all real or not which does hurt things; it's still fun but there's no satisfying closure. Oh, the ending is certainly intentional, there's no doubt of that. They meant to leave it wide open, it wasn't just an unfortunate accident.
|
|
#
?
Sep 5, 2016 06:15
|
|
|
One of the general ways we derive fun from games is from being disoriented. To me, Fran Bow commits to that fully from start to finish, and the ending is no exception. Not everyone will like that, but I think it fits the general theme of the game.
|
|
#
?
Sep 5, 2016 13:34
|
|
|
Dear DreamShipWrecked, thank you for this LP! Stumbled upon it a week ago and devoured it in 2 sittings  A fascinating game that made me think about the role of psychiatry/psychology in video games. Looking at various games, psychological therapy can only end in boredom or maltreatment/lobotomy. Also: KITTEN / SKELE HUGS in this game are the most adorable thing.
|
|
#
?
Sep 7, 2016 14:22
|
|
|
SavageGentleman posted:Dear DreamShipWrecked, thank you for this LP! Stumbled upon it a week ago and devoured it in 2 sittings Dear SavageGentleman, glad you liked it! Hopefully you will enjoy Alice as well, which follows similar (slightly more gory) themes. Apparently I have a trend going of ladies with mental issues. I wouldn't say that these games are a commentary on psych treatment as a whole, in fact the world would be a lot better of people had it more often imo. It's more of a commentary on what lengths we used to go to in The Old Days, both due to malice and ignorance. There were/are plenty of people who think of the mentally insane as non-people, and back in the day a lobotomy was considered a legitimate practice alongside things like trepanning, frequent electroshock therapy, and other extreme things. Luckily we have greatly evolved from those times but it's still important to remember what happens when research isn't mixed with ethics.
|
|
#
?
Sep 7, 2016 14:40
|
|
|
Thank you for this - It was a very entertaining Let's Play. Weird and disturbing as well. I am not surprised that the company is Swedish - Some of the art had really old-small-town Swedish feel, the Finnish terms were used for some things (Kamala and Valokas, "horrible" and "light-having") and some of the art (particularly that annoying jumping minigame) reminded me of this guys art:  ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Bauer_%28illustrator%29 )
|
|
#
?
Sep 7, 2016 21:00
|
|
|
Very interesting, I figured that the troll in the jumping game was some sort of Troll but I had no idea that the names were actual words. I'll have to include that in the video notes! I wonder if the vegetable language has some significance in some pidgin Finnish then, it would make a lot more sense. CuddleCryptid fucked around with this message at 21:11 on Sep 7, 2016 |
|
#
?
Sep 7, 2016 21:07
|
|
|
So I got a response from one of the developers about the language. We were partially right, the names of the creatures was based off Finnish but the rest of it was made up.
|
|
#
?
Sep 10, 2016 22:49
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 6, 2024 01:47 |
|
|
All right guys, now that this LP has been archived I am going to close this thread. If you want to discuss more about Fran Bow please feel free to hit me up on Youtube or Twitter. If you want to continue watching my series, the Alice thread is live. Thanks again for watching!
|
|
#
?
Sep 15, 2016 01:58
|
|