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Finally got around to playing the first episode and I am actually surprised at how much I liked it and how much they nailed the feelings and the atmosphere. It's not quite the same thing as the original, it's very different, but that's okay. Just about the only thing I don't like is I can't tell if the drawing mechanic is bugged or if it's just wonky. I couldn't draw the pictures at the river and in Sean's room no matter how hard I tried, I did get manage to get the one in the motel though. I'm also a bit surprised at how much they stab you in the heart in just the first episode. Can't imagine how this thing is going to end...
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Sep 28, 2018 08:19
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| # ? Jun 8, 2024 13:40 |
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Also give Lyla more screentime, her relationship with Sean is very cute
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Sep 28, 2018 08:37
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I think Lyla is almost certainly coming back into the narrative at some point, the last major decision of Episode 1 involves her and I don't think they would have spent all that time establishing her character in the cold open if she was unimportant.
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Sep 28, 2018 09:27
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Finished the episode last night. Felt pretty short compared to season 1 episodes. I enjoyed it a lot. The background details involving Daniel were well done, like the way he would climb on small things and pick stuff off the ground, and the hide and seek part. I also like where I could mess with stuff on Seans desk during the skype call and Lyla would pick up on it. The story itself was decent. Maybe there will be less wilderness exploring in the next episode and we'll get to see some more people to interact with. One thing that annoyed me was the sketching, they didn't really do a good job explaining how to do it and it's hard as hell using a mouse. Other than that I had no issues with the controls and the changes are nice. For the summary of choices at the end, what exactly was the one for "decided to steal in the station parking lot"? I don't remember stealing anything in my playthrough.
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Sep 28, 2018 10:15
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Oxygen Deficiency posted:For the summary of choices at the end, what exactly was the one for "decided to steal in the station parking lot"? I don't remember stealing anything in my playthrough. It's just 'parking lot' rather than 'station parking lot'; it's the parking lot near the river. I assume you get 'decided to steal' if you either took the chocolate bar from the car or broke open the parking donation box.
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Sep 28, 2018 10:23
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Rith posted:It's just 'parking lot' rather than 'station parking lot'; it's the parking lot near the river. I assume you get 'decided to steal' if you either took the chocolate bar from the car or broke open the parking donation box. I wasn't going to steal anything, honest! I just wanted to look! That choice doesn't appear to directly influence whether or not Daniel steals from Brody at the end of the episode since mine didn't. I'm guessing it's some combination of stealing from the parking lot + convenience store.
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Sep 28, 2018 10:39
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Daniel stealing from Brody made me feel like an absolute failure of a brother. 
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Sep 28, 2018 11:23
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One, Lyla needs to be louder, angrier and have access to a time machine. Two, whenever Lyla’s not on screen all the other characters should be asking ‘Where’s Lyla?’
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Sep 28, 2018 12:29
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If Daniel didn't steal from the loving creepy white dude to fuel your fugitive run to the border you didn't do a good enough job of preparing him for the journey ahead.
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Sep 28, 2018 12:48
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Rith posted:It's just 'parking lot' rather than 'station parking lot'; it's the parking lot near the river. I assume you get 'decided to steal' if you either took the chocolate bar from the car or broke open the parking donation box. Ah, okay yep I definitely "opened" the box, but didn't steal the bar.
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Sep 28, 2018 13:11
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exquisite tea posted:I think Lyla is almost certainly coming back into the narrative at some point, the last major decision of Episode 1 involves her and I don't think they would have spent all that time establishing her character in the cold open if she was unimportant. I could definitely see her going rail hopping with Sean along with their two kids, dog, and whoever else they wind up picking up on the journey. Also, based on the weird church guy who calls in Captain Spirit and the fact that almost all of the achievement names for Episode 4 seem to have something to do with religion I'm guessing that the gang is going to be running into a literal cult at some point. We're probably gonna see their mom eventually as well. Speaking of the achievements, as has been mentioned it looks like we might be getting a few more callbacks in Episode 2 as based on the setting of the preview that's about the time we link back up with the plot of Captain Spirit and some of the names and pictures line up with our 3 main girls as well. There's Back in Time (Max) represented by a watch, Teenage Angst (Chloe) represented by the anarchy symbol from BtS (I think it showed up in the original as well) and Free Spirits (Rachel) represented by a dreamcatcher with feathers hanging off it. I don't imagine any Season 1 characters will stick around for long if they do wind up physically showing up but it is interesting none the less. Larryb fucked around with this message at 14:26 on Sep 28, 2018 |
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Sep 28, 2018 13:28
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I took the bar and stole nothing else (if the bar can even be counted as stealing, considering the car seems to have been long-abandoned), and Daniel didn't steal. I already feel like money management in this game is going to be super stressful for me, which I guess is the point. The only complaint I have is an unavoidable one--since I know there's going to be episodes 2 through 5, I have no reason to be desperate enough to do things like beg or steal. But I hope they can figure something out.
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Sep 28, 2018 14:19
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Argue posted:I took the bar and stole nothing else (if the bar can even be counted as stealing, considering the car seems to have been long-abandoned), and Daniel didn't steal. Stunning Episode 2 plot twist: All your money gets stolen and Sean must get a part-time job operating a forklift to make ends meet.
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Sep 28, 2018 14:21
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Argue posted:I already feel like money management in this game is going to be super stressful for me, which I guess is the point. The only complaint I have is an unavoidable one--since I know there's going to be episodes 2 through 5, I have no reason to be desperate enough to do things like beg or steal. But I hope they can figure something out. The money management is incredibly stressful. I must have spent twenty minutes considering what to buy at the petrol station. Honestly, if Sean started doing furry art commissions, a lot of their problems would be solved. I managed to avoid stealing (although I was tempted at points), but I did beg. As you say, the existence of future episodes helps to assure us that the boys aren't actually going to starve to death, but their happiness and comfort are concerns as well as their survival. I could probably have left the shop without getting anything and they'd still have made it to the next episode, but I'm engaged enough with the story to want these kids to have food and warmth. And I want Sean and Daniel to have a good relationship, which is probably going to be tricky if I just leave Daniel to starve.
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Sep 28, 2018 14:41
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I'm pretty sure Daniel only steals if you stole the camping gear at the store (speaking of which, is it actually possible to have enough money to afford that?). Based on the penultimate scene Daniel is basically a living storm now (especially when he gets mad), I can definitely see that coming back into play later (he gets downright frightening if you say the wrong thing during that scene as well). Also do not hurt that dog DontNod, I'm warning you now. Larryb fucked around with this message at 15:17 on Sep 28, 2018 |
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Sep 28, 2018 14:51
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how much money do we even have anymore because apparently we bought bus tickets? for less than 40 dollars?
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Sep 28, 2018 14:57
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I'm curious to see where it goes but most of my impressions were not that good. - The biggest issue is that main character dynamic isn't very compelling. Chloe was an irresponsible fuckup but the contrast between her and the wholesome inhibited Max made their chemistry spark. Daniel isn't nearly as engaging to interact with because he's nine and doesn't have a developed personality and Sean isn't the most colorful of personalities himself so their relationship feels so rote. - The trudging over hiking trails is the most boring segment in the series thus far. The Walking Dead meets Firewatch is not a recipe for a good LIS game, Dontnod. - The couple of days after the intro felt weirdly glossed over. Sean ditches their home on the pretense of a "camping trip" without camping supplies and drags them hungry and cold through the woods without being in touch with their father while acting evasive about it... and Daniel just takes it in stride with some mild grumbling even though he doesn't remember leaving? Any normal kid would quickly intuit that something is very wrong in that situation and freak the hell out. - The lack of a unique gameplay mechanic is really noticeable. The token "Backtalk" in BTS was often cringy and didn't matter but at least it was something. - After one playthrough, the decisions felt like Telltale Choices. Does confronting Brett or Daniel make any difference? It sure didn't seem so. Balancing long-term needs and short-term satisfaction by deciding what to buy or steal could have been a cool ongoing thing but never mind, you lose it all anyway. And if all the Arcadia Bay decision amounts to is which scenic vista you see, what's the point? Taking the series in a new direction instead of rehashing Season 1 was the right choice but this first part doesn't compare to Chrysalis. Hoping it steps up from here.
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Sep 28, 2018 15:29
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Day later and I think I feel worse about the experience. There was so much stuff to look at and read and have max comment on in the first game, so much to discover about all the characters but just looking at their stuff and talking to them using the rewind. I wanted to immediately go out and find all the pictures because it was fun. There just is almost none of that in here. The weird bear carvings and 30 seconds of hawtdawg man were as close to the game got. And I really cannot believe the only acknowledgement of Daniels powers was a single "am I a monster?" that's beyond horrible writing Paul Zuvella fucked around with this message at 15:48 on Sep 28, 2018 |
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Sep 28, 2018 15:45
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I don't think I liked it quite as much as I did Episode One of Life is Strange, but I liked it quite a lot. I only watched one of the trailers, so while I knew the brothers would be on the road for part of the episode I didn't know when or how it would happen, so I spent all of the beginning of the episode thinking that we actually would be going to the party and that the things I was picking would affect what happened there. Which was great, because it meant when things went south I was not expecting it at all. I didn't mind Sean as the player character. He wasn't as interesting as Max was in the first episode, but I think it's worth noting that Sean spends most of the episode in a total state of shock; he's just watched his Dad get shot in front of him, he's lying to his brother about it and he's not on the run and trying not to let his brother freeze or starve to death. I think that's part of the reason why he doesn't really try to deal with his brother's powers right away - he's still in shock about everything else that is currently happening to him. I guess this looks like it'll change in the next episode as he gets more accustomed to his Dad's death and being on the road. It was kind of weird that a lot of the best writing and character development is hidden in the text messages. A lot of it, especially Lyla's messages to Sean after he disappeared, really helped flesh out the characters. While this episode doesn't have a unique gameplay thing like the time powers or the backtalk, I wonder if the way the game highlights the actions you can do with Daniel will eventually turn into that with him using his powers. What happens if you choose to take the beer to the party rather than the Soda? I took the Soda and Sean comments that it was lucky he did because it meant that Daniel could drink it.
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Sep 28, 2018 16:04
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Also, it's only the first episode so maybe hold off on the "choices don't matter" comments until we get a little further in (besides, the other games had choices where the consequences didn't come into play until the later episodes as well). But yeah, I'm pretty confident we're going to get some puzzles going forward based around Daniel's new powers (hell, maybe there will be some sections where we actually play as him directly).
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Sep 28, 2018 16:15
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the kidnapping scene is one of the dumbest thing ever
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Sep 28, 2018 16:36
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I must admit I am having trouble figuring out where they'll squeeze out four more episodes of intrigue since the plot is pretty simple and we're well on our way already I also doubt we'll see Brody again and all of the major characters are gonna get left behind just like him 
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Sep 28, 2018 16:43
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voltcatfish posted:I must admit I am having trouble figuring out where they'll squeeze out four more episodes of intrigue since the plot is pretty simple and we're well on our way already I imagine some kind of major wrench will get thrown into the works around Episode 2 or 3 and things will snowball from there. It would be nice to get some major reoccurring side characters though instead of the current revolving door (for example, we know from the texts that Sean has other friends besides Lyla but I'm almost positive we're never going to actually meet any of them).
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Sep 28, 2018 17:12
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One thing about whether or not you find yourself stealing is that I'm betting it depends a lot on how much money you have. Depending on how you answer Sean's father's question about what you need money for, you either get $20 or $40 from him. This leaves you with either $10 or $30 once you get to the gas station. When you're sitting there with $10 looking at $6 loaves of bread, you're way more likely to steal. When you've got $30, you can actually buy a sleeping bag and multiple items of food, so you're way less likely.
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Sep 28, 2018 18:18
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Though it involves stealing there are two other ways of gaining some extra cash in this game if you're really strapped (the money jar at Sean's house in the beginning and the donation box in the parking lot). Brody also gives you some extra money at the end but with bus fare I'm guessing that at least half of that is going to be gone by the time Episode 2 starts. Adding a sense of resource management to the game is interesting but I'm curious how it's going to effect things later on (we've still got four episodes to go, they're not gonna just suddenly drop dead on the road because they don't have enough food). Also to be fair, what Daniel ends up stealing just looks like a knickknack of some kind, I doubt Brody's going to miss it that much. Larryb fucked around with this message at 18:34 on Sep 28, 2018 |
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Sep 28, 2018 18:26
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Orange Sunshine posted:One thing about whether or not you find yourself stealing is that I'm betting it depends a lot on how much money you have. Not necessarily. I did steal the choco bar because as far as I could tell, that car was abandoned. And it was just a single choco bar. I didn't bust open the cash box, and I didn't steal at all at the gas station. I didn't even beg for food. I of course, had money to afford poo poo, although the bread and mac n cheese were still nonsense prices. However, after the whole confrontation with the racist dude, I loving stole that tent and poo poo with ZERO hesitation. gently caress those assholes, I would've chosen to pick the store clean if that had been an option. I didn't steal cause of money I stole cause gently caress those people. Stealing from them at that point does seem to have an impact on whether Daniel steals later. If I didn't have a lot of money, I still wouldn't have stolen, but I would've stolen stuff regardless later because of the second part of the above spoiler. Looking the percentages, it seems pretty close on whether people stole in that instance or not Macaluso fucked around with this message at 18:30 on Sep 28, 2018 |
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Sep 28, 2018 18:28
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I'm gonna get mad if you start with the same amount of cash in episode 2 (using variable bus fare as an excuse) as everyone else, because I refrained from getting the sleeping bag with the expectation that I'd need the money for other things in later episodes. But also I wonder, what happens if you cheat in lots of money; weren't there some vanity items in the store that cost more than you could possibly have at that point?
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Sep 28, 2018 18:40
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Related to that, is it actually possible to leave the store without buying/stealing anything (or at least just one small thing like the chocolate bar or something)? If so, does it change the scene afterwards with Hank at all (I'm guessing not that much since he said he knew what they did in Seattle and was probably just looking for a convenient excuse)?
Larryb fucked around with this message at 19:02 on Sep 28, 2018 |
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Sep 28, 2018 18:59
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I thought Brody paid for bus fare before he took off? So that wouldn't impact our money situation at all. Presumably we might need it at a later date.
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Sep 28, 2018 19:41
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The confrontation with the gas station owner really felt like a Telltale choice. It's only episode one, but I don't remember any of the previous games really feeling like that.
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Sep 28, 2018 19:42
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Fair, there did seem to be a few non-choices in this game (that is, every option leads you to the same basic endpoint). I don't remember if there was anything like that in the previous entries but I'm guessing not so much to this extent.
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Sep 28, 2018 20:31
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In this type of game, the plot is on rails, and there's no avoiding this. Nobody has the money to make 50 times the content players will see, so that they have lots of choices as to where to go and what to do. If you get arrested for doing X in one of these games, you can guarantee that you were always going to be arrested no matter what you did. These games are about creating the illusion of player choice more than actually having player choice, except on conversation options and treatment of other people and such. The major plot points are going to happen no matter what.
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Sep 28, 2018 20:39
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The gas station confrontation flashpoint lights up for both the big and little wolf, so it's possible that whatever action Sean takes there will leave some impression on Daniel. I think there's probably some hidden counter for many of Sean's decisions that will affect Daniel's responses in future episodes, similar to how Before the Storm had that invisible Rachel Love Meter.
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Sep 28, 2018 20:43
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Hell, there's at least one already present in the episode (if you steal the camping equipment when escaping the store Daniel will steal from Brody later on and will actually call Sean out on this if you talk to him about it). But yeah, I'm guessing that there are some decisions here that won't have consequences until later down the line (which was the case in both previous games as well). Speaking of which, I'm debating going back and doing a Bad Decisions playthrough of the entire series up to the current point (with the LiS 2 one running concurrently in a separate save file as future episodes are released) where I basically make Max/Chloe/Chris/Sean come off as a complete rear end in a top hat (or as much as you can be anyway) to everyone. It's gonna hurt of course but it might be interesting to try. Related to that, does Captain Spirit only have one save file? Larryb fucked around with this message at 21:49 on Sep 28, 2018 |
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Sep 28, 2018 20:59
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voltcatfish posted:I must admit I am having trouble figuring out where they'll squeeze out four more episodes of intrigue since the plot is pretty simple and we're well on our way already We know from Captain Spirit that the Diaz duo is still in Oregon come December, so their pace obviously slows after this. I think other characters will join them on the road at least temporarily (Chris and Lyla are prime candidates), which will alleviate the problem of people just flitting in and out of the story. My concern is that if it really takes place over the better part of a year, it's going to exacerbate the feeling of "a lot of important stuff happens offscreen" that was already apparent in the few days this episode occured during.
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Sep 28, 2018 21:51
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I don't particularly care but I can't believe this hasn't been adressed yet. What is the state of Arcadia Bay if you pick not having played LIS 1? Is Bae or Bay canon?
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Sep 28, 2018 22:14
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Karpaw posted:I don't particularly care but I can't believe this hasn't been adressed yet. What is the state of Arcadia Bay if you pick not having played LIS 1? Is Bae or Bay canon? I haven't tried it yet myself but I imagine it's either randomized or it just defaults to the Bay timeline.
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Sep 28, 2018 22:30
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Wow, that felt like an absolute rollercoaster to me and I'm amazed that people appear to have reacted so negatively. -Firstly, I loved the opening scene. I was actually super interested in at least seeing the party play out a bit. Sean and his dad were really sweet together and they did a bunch of character building (in the short time they had). I was pretty bummed when the "proper" plot kicked off, to be honest. -I like Sean and Daniel's relationship. I've tried to be as nice to him as possible whilst also acting as a responsible parental figure. Some of that works, some of it doesn't. -Walking in the forest felt... empty. Compared to LiS1 where there was plenty of stuff to look at, read etc., the forest didn't really have anything like that. Some graffiti but you couldn't even really interact with the wildlife. Hopefully that changes in the future. -The gas station scene was a bit forced but it didn't seem too outrageous to me. We already knew from the newspaper that they were looking for Sean and Daniel (a cop and man died, a kid was hurt, and the only other adult at the scene has fled? Yeah I can totally see why they're looking at him as a suspect). The rich family seemed important in a "not everyone can help you" kind of way - I don't know what would happen if Daniel begged them but for me it seemed like Sean had to learn a lesson. -I was a bit annoyed I went through the store, picking up the "important" stuff (I got water, bread, a sleeping bag and the chocolate for Daniel) and being super careful with my budget, and then found out I could steal it. -Old racist white dude was and old racist white dude with a superiority complex. I can see someone in backwater Oregon doing that. -The absolute hero Brody. What a dude. I know there's issues with the "liberal hero white man" trope but... it fit the character. -Mushroom is 100% important and she has a lovely bandana.
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Sep 28, 2018 23:07
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I sure hope the game doesn't force me to choose between the lives of Daniel and Mushroom
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Sep 28, 2018 23:46
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| # ? Jun 8, 2024 13:40 |
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I'm almost positive the final choice will involve Daniel somehow (mostly because every other final choice in a LiS game has been related to your partner in some fashion). I'm not sure what that might be but given some of the things that apparently influenced this game's story (Of Mice and Men, Into the Wild) and the fact that it's possible his powers may become a serious threat if they get out of control I do have a few ideas and they're not exactly pleasant to think about. Time will tell of course. Larryb fucked around with this message at 00:09 on Sep 29, 2018 |
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Sep 29, 2018 00:07
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