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I don't know if this has been mentioned yet but the pest control guy was voiced by David Firth, creator of Salad Fingers and many other surreal British cartoons. I wouldn't be suprised if the creator was heavily influenced by Firth's work. Also chiming in to say that you're doing a great job on this LP, this is the sort of game I'd love to play but my laptop is a piece of poo poo so I'm glad you're presenting it in this style.
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# ? Jun 29, 2014 18:01 |
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# ? Jun 10, 2024 13:19 |
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Moving past the police call, I'm unsure why CookingMama treated the corpses with noxious chemicals when she was planning to subsequently eat them? That whole setpiece would make a lot more sense for TaxidermistShrink who might hope to cure the corpses for the sake of his artwork.
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# ? Jun 29, 2014 19:06 |
Kytrarewn posted:Moving past the police call, I'm unsure why CookingMama treated the corpses with noxious chemicals when she was planning to subsequently eat them? That whole setpiece would make a lot more sense for TaxidermistShrink who might hope to cure the corpses for the sake of his artwork. I assume that they are cutting the larger parts of the people out to dine on then dissolving the rest in the bathtubs. Can't get much meat out of a face, after all
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# ? Jun 29, 2014 19:19 |
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For disposing of the bones and excess, maybe? She can't eat the whole body before it rots, and then you have a body to get rid of. As an aside, I will assume things like not being able to get home and the police call can, but the game would be slightly better if they were, explained by one simple fact: Susan Ashworth is now a pawn of higher powers. This might even explain how she keeps finding all these serial killers, anyway: she is pulled to them inexorably, and things are subtly tweaked so that escaping them is impossible. The only way out is through them.
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# ? Jun 29, 2014 19:37 |
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Oh, I was expecting us to have limited lives, but I suppose you can't really only die when the plot demands it and get game overs other times.
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# ? Jun 30, 2014 00:51 |
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I too ended up picking up this game due to this thread. Thanks for introducing me to it. I couldn't wait for the thread to end to conclude the game though.
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# ? Jul 3, 2014 19:19 |
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This is the kind of game I'd never pick up for myself, but I'm glad to be able to experience it in LP format. You do good work. ... I would buy the hell out of a Robbie the Rat Man sequel, though.
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# ? Jul 4, 2014 07:37 |
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Not to put pressure on anybody, but I am ing this thread every day hoping for an update...
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# ? Jul 7, 2014 14:03 |
Sigh, I know. I really only have time on the weekends and this past holiday weekend was hectic. I think I have a full night free tonight, however, so I am at least going to get footage and hopefully all the post-processing done
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# ? Jul 7, 2014 16:03 |
Update! Episode 10: How Did She Make It To 40? This one is because of boobs, which is hilariously puritanical with all the gore and murder going on. But them's the rules.
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# ? Jul 10, 2014 23:16 |
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She does have quite some luck with these things, doesn't she? A shame, as I thought this episode was a nice little breather at first; the scenes with Mitzi and Susan just hanging out together were really kinda adorable. Pancakes! But then it remembered it was supposed to be a horror game... Although I have to say, I kinda dug the trip to the Otherworld/Land of the Dead/Wherever It is; there was some really awesome/creepy imagery there, particularly in the use of reflections (the fact you actually had to trap and kill one of your reflections...brr!). How Susan gets out is really striking too; I'm something of a claustrophobe, so that.. Yeah. Really looking forward to the next update!
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# ? Jul 11, 2014 01:09 |
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I'm really liking the way the Mitzi character and her relationship with Susan develops. The flowers out of nowhere was a bit strange, but as said, the otherworld sequence was nice. Not too long, nice visuals and all that stuff.
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# ? Jul 11, 2014 11:57 |
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Seem to be some sound and video skipping issues.
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# ? Jul 11, 2014 12:02 |
AJ_Impy posted:Seem to be some sound and video skipping issues. Those are just part of the game, I suspect from the scrappy game engine. I left them in because cutting them out would have been just as disruptive. Arelon posted:I'm really liking the way the Mitzi character and her relationship with Susan develops. The flowers thing does have some meaning, it'll be explained in the next video
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# ? Jul 11, 2014 14:40 |
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So... duct-taped to a corpse. The killer either thought he was knocking Susan out, is in touch with the Otherworld and knows she can come back from the dead, or is just that messed up in the head.
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# ? Jul 17, 2014 19:36 |
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Arelon posted:The flowers out of nowhere was a bit strange, but as said, the otherworld sequence was nice. Not too long, nice visuals and all that stuff. They're symbolic. They remind Susan of her problems and failures. The appear so often as a way to show that she cannot escape her problems and the world is constantly reminding her of them. Also ties nicely to the theme of depression.
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# ? Jul 18, 2014 10:07 |
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DreamShipWrecked posted:Update! Pancakes are important enough to warrant barging into the bathroom when another person is bathing? Who knew.
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# ? Jul 19, 2014 04:47 |
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I think it's less the pancakes and more the "I'm at a step where I need the person's input, and I have to have that input before stuff starts burning." We can only guess at how the actual lead up to that situation went though.
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# ? Jul 19, 2014 05:18 |
THIS UPDATE INVOLVES A LOT OF YELLING AND ALSO MURDER AAAHHHHHHHHH Episode 11: The Terrorists Did It It does make me laugh somewhat that I started this thread treating the game like some kind of ascot-wearing arthouse film critic and now it's all joke titles and sweary comments. But seriously, here we learn a lot of backstory about Susan while she's duct taped to Mitzi in the tub. It's a pretty cool segment at the start, with all the shifting landscapes and the cool "inner thought" walls. Kinda gets a bit tedious in the middle when it gets into relationship drama zone and screaming. And frankly, a terrorist attack? Really? That's our inciting event? Still, a decent chapter. E. And I know the music is very loud at the start compared to the voice, it's just like that. CuddleCryptid fucked around with this message at 04:58 on Jul 21, 2014 |
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# ? Jul 21, 2014 04:47 |
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DreamShipWrecked posted:It does make me laugh somewhat that I started this thread treating the game like some kind of ascot-wearing arthouse film critic and now it's all joke titles and sweary comments. These things happen after goofy zoom-ins and cats that eat human flesh.
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# ? Jul 21, 2014 05:22 |
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Susan would be the worst Justice League member ever. She'd have to lug a piano around everywhere. But...drat. That guy's death was brutal. Reminds me of a body pickup I was on back in my EMT days.
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# ? Jul 21, 2014 05:35 |
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwaD9tb1P50
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# ? Jul 21, 2014 05:51 |
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I like the family dynamic with the husband, but I don't like the husband's character himself. He's way too far over-the-top (possibly because it's just Susan telling Mitzi about it from a memory) but you know, from what we know of Susan, that he almost certainly has a point that she could, possibly, be doing more. On the other hand, he's a gigantic rear end in a top hat, and so the fact that he has a point about one thing makes him all the harder to argue with/calm down. Any possible response just goads him on in his tirade, and an admission of (partial) guilt just makes him feel more justified. Despite being a terribly written, unrealistic character, it's a realistic type of situation. I do like that they describe pollen allergies as rare, though. They could have done something much more interesting with the mechanic of "Flowers cause allergy cause dead baby", like a beesting, or the stalker putting poison ivy into them, or... just about anything.
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# ? Jul 21, 2014 08:08 |
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Really, game? "And then the cats ate him"? OK, then. This game is really good at shooting itself in the foot, isn't it? I was enjoying the first part, when we actually got into the specifics of Susan's depression. Susan's unhappy marriage (from some of the things Eric was saying, I think it might have been anything that set him off, and then there was the writing on the walls saying "LIAR" as susan rebuffed her admirer...), the accident with the flowers, and Eric's body being found, all in quick succession... yeah, that would do it. But then the flashback ended, and we're back to silly horror. Oh well. I suppose I should be thankful the game doesn't take itself too seriously.
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# ? Jul 21, 2014 14:40 |
Kytrarewn posted:I like the family dynamic with the husband, but I don't like the husband's character himself. He's way too far over-the-top (possibly because it's just Susan telling Mitzi about it from a memory) but you know, from what we know of Susan, that he almost certainly has a point that she could, possibly, be doing more. On the other hand, he's a gigantic rear end in a top hat, and so the fact that he has a point about one thing makes him all the harder to argue with/calm down. I attribute the husband's angry attitude less to him being an rear end and more that he's still reeling from almost getting blown up in a terrorist attack and hasn't really had a chance to mentally unpack that yet. Combine it with Susan not knowing about it and being unable to actually do anything about it and you get a screaming match that is somewhat nonsensical but makes sense in that context. As for the flowers, I think that's probably the best thing that would cause Susan to live like she does: It would have to be something her fault, but at the same time something completely innocuous and harmless. She feels guilty about something that isn't essentially her fault, but it really just taught her that fate is randomly cruel.
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# ? Jul 22, 2014 23:41 |
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As a genuine bonafide British Lady, we pride ourselves on our ability to take anything with the appropriate amount of stiff upper lip. Held hostage by a roaring man who is eaten by cats you summoned using your piano? Pft, merely a trifle. As if any true Brit worth her salt would react with anything more than mild, but gentile, discomfort. Don't be silly now.
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# ? Jul 23, 2014 01:22 |
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Man, I thought we'd be doing investigations with way less murders under our belt than this.
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# ? Jul 28, 2014 04:58 |
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The game seems to be looking for excuses to kill Susan at this point.
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# ? Jul 30, 2014 03:56 |
Glazius posted:Man, I thought we'd be doing investigations with way less murders under our belt than this. Glazius posted:Man, I thought we'd be doing investigations with way less murders under our belt than this. We actually are largely done with the murder for a bit, since we're managed to brutally murder 4/5 of the Parasites. Now we have to just find the Eye Of Adam and end it.
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# ? Aug 4, 2014 05:04 |
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Thoroughly enjoying this, I was considering picking the game up previously but decided against it, but I have to say you've sold me on it.
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# ? Aug 4, 2014 19:35 |
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My favorite horror games are those that put you in the role of victim. Almost especially when the victimization seems arbitrary (at least at first) or senseless. It's why I enjoyed the Cat Lady, despite a pretty disjointed plot and amateurish design. I compare it to like the Clocktower series most strongly in theme and design. A lot of games that explore victimization, like this one, subvert it to the point where you get a cathartic return. The Cat Lady is unique, to me at least, in forcing you to be killed and relive that. While I think the setup is poorly handled at points, I like the thrust of what they are trying to do at least. Unlike a lot of the thread I felt the hospital sequence was the strongest point (other than the Chapter coming up next but I don't want to spoil it) because it spent the most time establishing a sort of scenario and exploring it. This game needs room to breathe in and I feel the hospital setting, the plot thread of the dead nurse/ghost?/hallucination and the bookending of the doctor sessions all work together for really drawing you in. Maniac Mansion is probably the low point of the game for me. It just doesn't really gel with the rest of the themes or really explore anything interesting for me. Even the Fourth Parasite has a senseless nature that makes him compelling despite zero story weight, to me. I haven't seen it mentioned, I don't think it's been mentioned, but I did enjoy the cameo performance of David Firth (Saladfingers) for the Maniac Mansion couple, so that's something.
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# ? Aug 4, 2014 23:29 |
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DreamShipWrecked posted:We actually are largely done with the murder for a bit, since we're managed to brutally murder 4/5 of the Parasites. Now we have to just find the Eye Of Adam and end it. Well, yeah, but I figured we'd space out the investigation in between moments of being stalked and murdered, rather than doing it all at the end. I mean, how many murders ago did Mitzi tell us about the Eye of Adam?
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# ? Aug 5, 2014 22:53 |
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Kytrarewn posted:I like the family dynamic with the husband, but I don't like the husband's character himself. He's way too far over-the-top (possibly because it's just Susan telling Mitzi about it from a memory) but you know, from what we know of Susan, that he almost certainly has a point that she could, possibly, be doing more. On the other hand, he's a gigantic rear end in a top hat, and so the fact that he has a point about one thing makes him all the harder to argue with/calm down. Kytrarewn posted:I do like that they describe pollen allergies as rare, though. They could have done something much more interesting with the mechanic of "Flowers cause allergy cause dead baby", like a beesting, or the stalker putting poison ivy into them, or... just about anything. Narratively, the kill had to be reasonably quick, but have warning signs that the argument would cover up and be entirely the main character's "fault" while leaving her legally blameless. Author wrote himself into a corner really.
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# ? Aug 5, 2014 23:53 |
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I still really do like this game, though I think when I made my early posts it was filtered though playing this late at night my first time. I, uh, kinda laughed at the cat piano killer the second time through.
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# ? Aug 9, 2014 01:18 |
Update! Episode 12: Stairs! I hate this part of the game, I really do. It is the setup for a neat bait-and-switch later, and the stuff with Joe is kind of neat, but the entire slow process of combing the apartment just made me want to tear out my hair the first time through. Bear in mind that I streamlined the process as much as possible, with prior knowledge, and the sleuthing isn't even half done yet. And the video is still an hour long. Imagine if you didn't know the proper order of things. Augh.
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# ? Aug 9, 2014 02:07 |
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For anyone else who played the game, did you break out a walkthrough here too?
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# ? Aug 9, 2014 04:20 |
SystemLogoff posted:For anyone else who played the game, did you break out a walkthrough here too? I didn't use one the first time I played it, but drat do I wish I did. I missed the rag on the radiator on my first sweep through so I ended up going up and down the stairs mixed with "Jesus, I don't know, could I drip the extract on the bike pedal or something? AUGH"
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# ? Aug 9, 2014 04:23 |
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Noo, don't mess with that guy's bike, he needs that even if he is premature-Animal-Control-calling scum.
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# ? Aug 9, 2014 05:18 |
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Let's be honest, if Susan was not blessed by the cat gods, this is how things would have went.
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# ? Aug 10, 2014 06:19 |
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# ? Jun 10, 2024 13:19 |
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So this episode was, what, doubly not a murder?
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# ? Aug 14, 2014 20:26 |