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That was certainly... an ending. I'd like to think that if Rosa could go back in time after the good ending, she'd let Joey punch the Deacon into Nodespace and then just stand in the corner and let the devil take him. The biggest problem with the deacon is that his solution to nobody listening to him is to act like a four-year-old, which is ludicrous.
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Oct 11, 2013 13:01
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Cardiovorax posted:Well, that was random. You get a bunch of vaguely spiritistic handwaving and then bam, giant demon out of nowhere. That's certainly the last thing I was expecting at that moment. Yes, the length of the game is definitely an issue. The third and fourth games are a little better, but overall I prefer to think of the four Blackwell games together as one good-length adventure game, rather than four individual games. Honestly, if the four were linked together in-game it would probably seem quite reasonable to sell it for $20. As I mentioned earlier, it is painfully obvious in places that Legacy was little more than a indie project that Gilbert tried his hand at selling. And yes, the ending is a massive non-sequitur in the middle of nowhere. It's not even an isolated incident for the series - I would say two of the next three games have massive  moments in their ending sequences. But this is probably the biggest.Glad to hear you picked up the bundle though - despite the short length, I think you'll get good enjoyment out of the games. Just try not to get too far ahead of me!  JamieTheD posted:I actually really liked Blackwell Legacy, for all its flaws. Especially Rosa, who definitely grows as a character as the series progresses. Still, the second game gave me a mild disconnect, for reasons which will become clear very quickly. You're definitely right that a disconnect is on it's way, though I'll say up-front that I really like the second game. But I'll get into that tomorrow! Assoonasitits posted:That was certainly... an ending. I'd like to think that if Rosa could go back in time after the good ending, she'd let Joey punch the Deacon into Nodespace and then just stand in the corner and let the devil take him. The biggest problem with the deacon is that his solution to nobody listening to him is to act like a four-year-old, which is ludicrous. Judging by Alli, and from what Joey tells us, it seems that ghosts in general (Joey excluded) are completely out of their minds. Alli just talks complete gibberish until Moti snaps her out of her stupor, and even the Deacon stops and recognises what he's done after the devil vanishes. As far as we can see, the ghosts simply cannot be held responsible for their actions before Rosa and Joey show up to set things right. Which makes the whole devil thing kind of creepy. He comes along and accuses the Deacon of not "renouncing" his sins, which apparently refers to throwing away his flask (and then destroying it!), but it's 100% clear that the Deacon has no idea whatsoever that the flask represents his sins, or even why the devil is after him at all. He probably should have known, since he eventually singles out alcohol as his primary vice, but again, he's completely out of his mind and doesn't know how to do anything other than just beg and whine. So the devil was giving him a shot at redemption which he had absolutely no way of taking, and then proceeded to punish him for not taking it. Seems like a raw deal to me. cmndstab fucked around with this message at 13:15 on Oct 11, 2013 |
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Oct 11, 2013 13:13
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I got the bundle as well - the games are quite uneven, but well worth playing on strength of the writing. Two things about Legacy: why didn't JoAnn haunt the place considering that her suicide was at least as traumatic as Allie's, and how did Rosa get out of the hospital without being discovered after sending the Deacon off?
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Oct 11, 2013 13:24
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Kopijeger posted:I got the bundle as well - the games are quite uneven, but well worth playing on strength of the writing. Two things about Legacy: why didn't JoAnn haunt the place considering that her suicide was at least as traumatic as Allie's, and how did Rosa get out of the hospital without being discovered after sending the Deacon off? Both excellent questions - I already mentioned the first one from memory, and I don't think there is a good answer. Presumably JoAnn was just more "spiritually ready" to move on. As for the second one, at this point I'm willing to bet she just tried to chat up the security guard and then dorkily grinned at him again 
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Oct 11, 2013 13:52
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Why didn't she save some diuretics and get the guard a coffee and put some in it? Then she could rig up an elaborate trap with more diuretics and a sheet of paper when the guard is in the toilet before slipping into Susan's room. When she needs to leave, she has Joey trigger the trap and then slinks out while the guard is, again, in the toilet. Perhaps this is too adventure-gamey?
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Oct 11, 2013 14:03
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The Diuretic Legacy does sound like a worthwhile spin-off title!
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Oct 11, 2013 15:53
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cmndstab posted:The Diuretic Legacy does sound like a worthwhile spin-off title! Paul Gilbert, you have on your hands a new money maker. I didn't have a problem with a devil popping out of nowhere to claim the Deacon's soul. All this time, the Deacon was begging people to save him. What could a ghost (responsible for ruining lives) need saving from? Damnation, of course. I'm not going to say this game was flawless, but I enjoyed it very much. I appreciate very much how small and self-contained the story was. You could tell that this was made to be a one-off game just in case it wasn't successful. The final scene with Joey speaking sets up the idea of future adventures in a 'and so this is this is our life and we're going to be tackling it' way. That sort of ending allows for the audience to assume that unresolved issues with the story will be resolved even if they can't see it. I really appreciate the Blackwell Legacy.  As the first game in the series, it does a lovely job at setting the atmosphere. Dark, lonely, mysterious, a little melancholy with subject of death, etc. Neither Rosa nor Joey are in this business because they want to, but because of mysteries that they need to solve themselves. Cool, protagonists who have an ever-present sense of helplessness are always interesting. Now it's time to see if the future games keep up that lovely mood. EagerSleeper fucked around with this message at 18:14 on Oct 11, 2013 |
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Oct 11, 2013 18:03
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I'm interested to see what's going to happen in the next games as well. I enjoy adventure games, but find I don't have the patience for them anymore. I'm impressed by the artwork if nothing else; pixel art's not easy and this is done pretty well especially for an indie title. I hope we get a little more information eventually about why there's only one medium for a city as large as New York, or what exactly causes a ghost to be formed. Like why would Alli have been made a ghost, but JoAnn wouldn't have?
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Oct 11, 2013 18:18
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I don't think that question of what causes ghosts ever gets directly answered, but you can infer a reasonable guess from the other ghosts in the series, or at least I think so. And yeah, there were a few dumb puzzles and a few off moments, particularly the dog drugging--it would've sat better with me if Rosa'd simply offered to walk Moti. But like I said, I really liked the characterization. Kaja Rainbow fucked around with this message at 18:50 on Oct 11, 2013 |
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Oct 11, 2013 18:48
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Glad you two have enjoyed the thread so far Geomancing and EagerSleeper  I can't promise the games will answer all of the questions you have, though it will give little "interpret this how you like" kind of hints throughout. Some of the larger questions will also go unanswered, but only because this series is not yet complete and something has to be left for later games.And it sounds like we're all in agreeance - Legacy succeeds almost entirely on the strength of its characters and writing. And really, that's how an indie title should be. You can't really compete with the big companies in terms of production value, but a creative individual is more than capable of building an enthralling setting, and Dave Gilbert gets the tick of approval on that front. Kaja - I was wondering why Rosa didn't simply offer to walk Moti too. I guess Nishanthi would likely have turned it down, since she apparently walked him herself only an hour ago, but I mean.... Rosa didn't even offer. She just went straight to the diuretic solution. I guess we could deduce that Rosa is so drat awkward that she'd rather induce Moti to whine and scratch at the door so Nishanthi asks for it, rather than offering it herself. After all, it wouldn't be the first time in the game Rosa has been willing to take advantage of Moti in order to trick Nishanthi into initiating conversation with her. I'll get the update for the second game going later on today. The story of how it came to be, and the differences between it and Legacy, are interesting and detailed enough that I will mostly just talk about the game in the first update and will leave the actual content until tomorrow. But I guess having one day of in-game content off between games is reasonable
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Oct 12, 2013 01:25
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  Blackwell Unbound Intro Theme Blackwell Unbound The second game in the Blackwell series, Unbound is probably the most unique of the four games for a number of reasons. Principal among these is that we have a different protagonist this time around, namely Rosa's auntie Lauren. That's right, Blackwell Unbound is a prequel, set in 1970s, the decade where Lauren and Joey were busy doing their medium business before she went insane. Specifically it is set around three years into their time together, while Lauren was still estranged from her brother Jack. The change of protagonist makes for some subtle but powerful changes in the interaction with Joey. Unlike in Legacy, where our protagonist had only just met Joey, in Unbound the two leads have known each other for several years and have developed a greater understanding of each other in that time. Lauren herself is a very different character than Rosa, less awkward and more aggressive, but also has her own emotional issues which I will leave for the game itself. Unlike Rosa, who to this stage had been acted by Sande Chen (who is famous in her own right, most notably as the lead writer for The Witcher, but is not a reknowned voice actress), Lauren is voiced by actress Dani Marco, who has credits ranging from Law & Order, to The Sopranos, to Saturday Night Live. I think she does an excellent job of playing Lauren, and provides sufficient strength and conviction to allow Lauren's character stand up alongside that of Joey's. The story of how Unbound came to be produced is interesting by itself. After Legacy was modestly successful, Gilbert found himself doing interviews and speaking engagements for several months, and when that died down he noticed the sales were starting to die down as well. He had a grand plan for the sequel, to be called Blackwell Convergence, during which Rosa and Joey would have an encounter which would remind Joey of a case he had worked on with Lauren. It was planned for there was to be an extended flashback sequence where the player would take control of Lauren, and the sequence would serve to fill in the gaps for Rosa. The only real problem was that the game was at least a year away from being completed, and Gilbert's fledgling company had no income sources other than The Shivah and The Blackwell Legacy. His solution was to take the flashback sequence, embellish it into a full game, and develop it on a shoestring budget. I'm not kidding when I say a shoestring budget either - Gilbert has claimed in interviews that Unbound was produced on a pre-release budget of less than a thousand dollars. In the end, the game he turned out ended up being very good, and in my opinion sits much better as a stand-alone than it would have as a flashback sequence. There are a couple of other noteworthy changes in Unbound. The first, which you may have already noticed if you opened the intro theme link above, is a different composer. Professional musician Thomas Regin was brought on board for Unbound and has remained a mainstay in the Blackwell series since. With apologies to Peter Gresser, the composer for Legacy, Regin was a marked improvement. His technique of blending midi music with a live saxophone is extremely effective for keeping with a retro-style game, while making for a very attractive listening experience. The soft, low saxophone also sets a wonderfully melancholy atmosphere throughout the game. Although there are a few low points, for the most part the next three Blackwell games contain fantastic soundtracks, and in many cases the pieces that didn't end up being used for various reasons are even better than the ones that were. Whereever possible, I will show off the unused themes throughout this thread. It's also worth noting that the melody used in the intro theme for Unbound is rehashed for both subsequent games, making the song you're currently listening to a kind of main theme for the whole series, though in the later games it's more up-tempo. The next change worth mentioning is that of the graphics. One thing Gilbert has done in the Blackwell series has been to use different primary artists for each game. Typically, Gilbert has used one artist for background art, and a second for spritework, with regular artist Eyal Jammer doing additional artwork whenever required. In the case of Unbound, which was being produced on a practically non-existent budget, Gilbert brought on one artist to do both the background art and spritework. That artist was Erin Robinson, who has since gone on to minor repute as the lead designer of Puzzle Bots, also released under the Wadjet Eye Games banner. Shortly after Puzzle Bots' release, she was named as one of the most influential women in technology by Fast Company, which is presumably a moderately high honour. So how does Robinson's pixel art go? Pretty well, for the most part. It's noticably "low budget", and in some places looks inferior even to Legacy, but in other places is quite beautiful. Certainly it's more than effective for what it's made for, and doesn't feel out of place after having played Legacy. The final stylistic change that was made, again for budget reasons, was the removal of portraits from Unbound. The strength of the voice acting meant that this choice worked, but this being an SSLP makes it difficult to convey the emotions and subtleties in the dialogue. I will still provide the majority of the dialogue outside of screenshots, but will have to simply give a name in text rather than a picture. The portraits will return for the next two games. Anyway, that's enough text - let's get started! Today we will just look at the (very short) introduction, but tomorrow we'll get into Unbound proper.  We open Unbound with an image of Lauren standing in Nodespace, smoking a cigarette, presumably having just sent a ghost on its way. It was mentioned in Legacy that Lauren was a smoker, and as we'll see throughout Unbound, that was an understatement. Lauren: Infinity. I've been told it's beautiful, but I don't think it's anything special. But when you live like me, most things become quite ordinary. Life. Death. Tormented souls. It's all the same to me. Sometimes I wonder if anything will ever surprise me again. Despite Lauren's indifference, I think Nodespace is really quite beautiful here. The stylistic choice of having the path spiral off haphazardly was made deliberately. Since Nodespace is literally contained within a medium's head, Gilbert felt that it should somehow represent the medium. Rosa's Nodespace is quite ordered and understated (and in the future games will become quite square), while Lauren's is colourful and chaotic.  Finishing her cigarette and casting the ashes out towards infinity, Lauren leaves us with one final world-weary remark before heading back to reality.  The intro movie scrolls on past...   And finally we settle on scenic Manhattan, circa 40 years ago. Join me again tomorrow as we get Unbound underway! The game is relatively short, probably a touch shorter than Legacy, but still one of my favourites. Hopefully you'll all enjoy it as well! cmndstab fucked around with this message at 09:30 on Jun 27, 2014 |
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Oct 12, 2013 11:24
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Y'know... sometimes I like to believe that all the crazy in the series comes from Lauren throwing her butts into the ether, but sadly, there are much better explanations. Still, it's a theory I'm fond of, however wrong it is.
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Oct 12, 2013 11:54
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Even if it doesn't signify anything, I still love the image of some dude chilling out in heaven and suddenly getting smacked on the head with a cigarette butt, while Petrus is all "who threw that!?"
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Oct 12, 2013 12:26
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Personally I'm wondering if the autopsy on Lauren's body showed a decade's worth of stray ash floating around inside her skull  I mean, Nodespace is supposed to be literally inside her head, right?
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Oct 12, 2013 14:39
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cmndstab posted:Personally I'm wondering if the autopsy on Lauren's body showed a decade's worth of stray ash floating around inside her skull Yeah, but it's more a "dimensional gateway" than an actual space in her head. Either way, super awkward for the guy doing the dissection, but you can fob that whole thing off with "blah blah dimensional gates aren't physically visible because blah blah quantum blah blah spiritualistic sight blah blah the animists were actually right etc blah blah etc." EDIT: I could actually come up with a long ol' pseudo-sciency explanation, but really, it's 3PM on a saturday, and I can still taste the toothpaste
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Oct 12, 2013 14:44
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"Cause of death: extra-dimensional universe complete with windy, ash-laden cobblestone path contained within cerebral cortex" would make for a pretty awesome autopsy report.
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Oct 13, 2013 02:22
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All this time I thought that the nodespaces were different each time because of evolution of art. I never knew it was tied to medium's style. 
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Oct 13, 2013 05:51
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You've been mentioning the pluses and minuses of the screenshot format, cmndstab, but let me say that the current implementation is just perfect in my opinion. Having most of the story in screenshots is good but those GIFs really bring the LP alive. You've been keeping them just short enough to add to the flow of reading and not breaking it!
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Oct 13, 2013 06:58
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I might as well mention this: as a deaf person, I've been really appreciating your including descriptions of the voice acting's emotions and such. While a lot of it I've been able to surmise from reading the dialogue and seeing the expressions (which were pretty well done), seeing a transcription that includes that kind of thing really adds an extra dimension to my understanding of the dialogue. And I enjoy seeing discussions about things I've enjoyed, because they often go into things I'd missed.
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Oct 13, 2013 09:36
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Could you do something abou the incredibly blurry screenshots?
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Oct 13, 2013 10:13
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Valiantman posted:You've been mentioning the pluses and minuses of the screenshot format, cmndstab, but let me say that the current implementation is just perfect in my opinion. Having most of the story in screenshots is good but those GIFs really bring the LP alive. You've been keeping them just short enough to add to the flow of reading and not breaking it! Kaja Rainbow posted:I might as well mention this: as a deaf person, I've been really appreciating your including descriptions of the voice acting's emotions and such. While a lot of it I've been able to surmise from reading the dialogue and seeing the expressions (which were pretty well done), seeing a transcription that includes that kind of thing really adds an extra dimension to my understanding of the dialogue. Thanks Regarding the description of voice actors, it will become more necessary in Unbound as the portraits are gone altogether, so emotions can only really be deduced from the writing, and the acting. I'll do my best!KATY PERRY posted:Could you do something abou the incredibly blurry screenshots? Short of keeping them small, probably not much I'm afraid. The game is played at a very low resolution, and I've blown up the images to make them a reasonable size. Sorry about that! I hope they're not too blurry for you to read them. First (proper) update for Unbound is just uploading now...
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Oct 13, 2013 15:49
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Let's get this show on the road! Update 1 Lauren's Theme  Unbound starts off in Lauren's apartment, which is unfortunately one of the least attractive rooms in the game, a pity since we'll return here fairly often. Lauren storms home yelling at Joey, and slams the door on him. I don't believe this scene is intended to follow the introduction from the previous update, since as we will soon see, Lauren and Joey have not succeeded in sending any ghosts on their way this evening.  Joey, in his usual frustrating manner, simply floats through the door and completely disregards Lauren's anger. Lauren: I am NOT talking to you. Joey: Oh, promises promises. So what's next on the list? Lauren: What's next?  Lauren refuses to even look at Joey in this scene. She's very clearly pissed off at him, but Joey doesn't let that stop his sharp tongue. Joey: Why? Going to throw yourself over and join me? Lauren: No. I'm having a cigarette. Joey: Great. You want a cigarette. What am I supposed to do? Lauren: You can do whatever the hell you like.  Sure enough, Lauren marches out to her tiny New York balcony and lights up a cigarette. It's very clear early on that she is a serious addict, and uses cigarettes as a way of dealing with her copious levels of anger and frustration.  Lauren has a few inventory items early on, as well as access to a notepad similar to the one Rosa used in Legacy. Notably, three of her inventory items are her cigarettes, lighter, and a lit cigarette. The only item not tobacco related is the case list, which presumably is the list Joey was referring to earlier. Lauren is not interested in looking at it. Lauren: No. The case list doesn't EXIST. Nothing exists until I finish this cigarette. I am not moving from this spot until I've finished my cigarette. In fact, trying to get Lauren to do anything, from moving, to looking at objects, doesn't really work. Lauren: Absolutely not. Right now, nothing exists except for me and this cigarette.  Lauren: This will probably be my last cigarette of the day. Lauren is pretty much in denial about her smoking habits. If you leave her standing around during the game for any length of time, she automatically lights a cigarette and smokes it, only dousing it (and scattering the ashes at her feet) when you ask her to interact with an object. It doesn't have any effect on the game, but Unbound will actually keep track of how many cigarettes Lauren smokes in the game just for fun. I'd comment about how serious Lauren's smoking issues were, but given that she went insane and then fell into a coma at 40, I guess it was the least of her issues.  This scene is fairly effective at introducing Lauren as a much more emotional, stubborn character than Rosa - however, it's not done entirely for the sake of the writing. By refusing to have Lauren move anywhere or do anything, it clues the player in that a new option has been added to Unbound. We can now switch between controlling Lauren and Joey at any time, other than a few scripted sequences where only one character is available.  Switching over to Joey, we see him trying to continue reasoning with Lauren in his wonderfully annoying manner. Joey: This place is boresville central. Lauren: In a minute, Joey.  With not much else to do, Joey looks around Lauren's apartment. This picture should be familiar, as Rosa had it in Legacy. Unlike in Legacy, we can individually look at each of the four people/ghosts in the photo. From left to right: Joey: If I'd known I could be photographed, I would have shown my good side. Joey: That's Jack, her kid brother. He's all right, I guess. Joey: Oh, look. It's HER. Good old Patricia Blackwell. Also known as Cleopatra, Queen of Denial. Spent seven months bonded to that woman. She never spoke to me once. Joey: Look how young she was. She's gotta be 18? 19? It's been over ten years. Time flies. As was hinted at in Legacy, Joey has some fairly strong feelings for Lauren. It's never really addressed overtly in Unbound, but it is a little creepy since Joey was effectively watching Lauren as a teenager long before they ever truly "met". On the other hand, Lauren was mostly away at college during that time, so I guess it's not all that bad. Joey also reiterates here that he spent seven months bonded to Patricia, which I had assumed was a mistake when he said it in Legacy. It doesn't really line up with Jack's letters, so I guess Joey was just floating around in the ether for a while until Patricia died, or something.  Joey continues looking around the apartment. Joey: Oh look, another ashtray. I REALLY want to blow on this and make a mess. But there'd be no point. It's not like she'd clean it up. Joey isn't kidding when he says "another" ashtray. I think there are five scattered throughout this place.  Joey: Every night, I get to watch her snore on that thing. The couch looks way to small for Lauren, and unlike in Rosa's apartment there isn't exactly a lot of privacy from Joey. I guess Lauren just doesn't care? Anyway, Joey decides to not spend forever looking around here, and continues arguing with Lauren instead.  Lauren: What? Joey: Why the heck are you so mad? Lauren: You honestly don't know? Joey: I have no idea. Lauren: Typical. If you don't know, I'm sure as hell not going to tell you. Joey and Lauren work fairly well as characters because they're both as stubborn as each other, and in many ways, as flawed as each other. Having a ghost, from who the protagonist can't escape, refusing to back off and continuing to argue with her could be creepy, but Lauren has enough fire herself to make the power dynamic feel equitable. Joey: You done moping? Or do you want to grind your teeth some more? Lauren: Christ, Joey. Can't you leave it for just one minute? Of course, that doesn't mean Joey won't frustrate Lauren from time to time. Joey: Look, I'm sorry. Lauren: Sorry for what? Joey: ... Um... Lauren: Exactly. Finally, Joey pushes things one step too far. Joey: Take another drag of that cigarette, darling. You get real ugly when you stop smoking. Lauren: Oh? Is that right? Joey: Well...  I love the way Lauren actually intimidates Joey further and further backwards, even though Joey is a ghost and she couldn't touch him if she wanted to. I'll say this up-front - I really like the character of Lauren. We are seeing a fairly harsh introduction to her here, but I think her character is great, and really suits the mood this game sets. The distinction between her and Rosa is quite profound, and the fact that both characters manage to be likeable and believable in their own ways despite being so different to one another is a credit to Gilbert's writing. Lauren: Like today, when those pipes burst? Joey: Oh. Hehe. Wait. Is that what's got you in such a guff? Lauren: I got SOAKED. And you just laughed. As I mentioned in the final update for Legacy, the "choose one of three options" mode of dialogue is less common in the subsequent games, but it does still happen. Here Joey can choose to either play innocent: Joey: What was I supposed to do? Give you a towel? Tell the truth: Joey: Well, it WAS funny. Or to simply give in: Joey: All right. I'll try and hold it in next time. Of course, none of the three options placate Lauren, and it is very clear that Joey still finds it funny. Lauren: It was cold. And wet. And slimey. Joey: *snrk* Lauren: It wasn't FUNNY. At this point, Joey is cracking up. Joey: You should have seen the look on your face. The way you jumped up and down and ran in circles squealing. Lauren: Hmph. Still wasn't funny. Joey: If you say so.  Unlike Rosa, who tends to stew for a while after an argument with Joey, Lauren seems to use these arguments as a way of blowing off steam. She takes one last puff of her cigarette and disposes of the stub in a pot that serves as yet another ashtray. Lauren: Okay. I'm finished. Let's get on with this. Joey: There's a few things we haven't checked, right? Lauren: Yes. I've got the list right here. Joey: Well, let's check it. Every other case today has been a false alarm. Maybe this will be an easy night. As I mentioned before, no ghosts have been sent on their way so far this evening. Lauren and Joey seem to get their cases by reading through local newspapers and listening to news reports, looking for anything out of the ordinary, and simply following it up. Sometimes it turns up ghosts, but most of the time it just leads to dead ends. Lauren's Theme (Alternative) The actual in-game theme doesn't change here, but I wanted to show off the original theme that was designed for Lauren's apartment, which is actually quite a lovely piece of music. I personally prefer it to Lauren's actual theme. However, as beta testers pointed out, it's quite a happy little ditty, which contrasts fairly sharply with Lauren's character who could never really be described as happy. In the end it was taken out altogether and replaced with Lauren's main theme that I linked above. I will try to show off all the alternative themes (there are six of them) throughout the game, and if we revisit locations I will link to both so you can choose which you want to listen to.  Before looking at the case list, Lauren decides to have a brief chat with Joey. Lauren: I want to talk to you, Joey. Joey: Uh huh? Lauren: I have no idea where we're supposed to go. Joey: You're asking me? You're the one carrying the list. Why don't you take a closer look at it? It should refresh your memory. Of course, we can just as easily switch over to Joey and have him speak with Lauren as well. Joey: I got something to say. Lauren: Yeah? Joey: Hey, have you done something different with your hair? Lauren: What do you mean? Joey: I dunno. Something's different. Lauren: I washed it this morning. Joey: With shampoo? Lauren: Yeah. Joey: That's what threw me. So are we going to futz around here all night? We got stuff to do. Lauren: Yeah. Whenever both have something interesting to say, I will try to merge the two conversations together in a natural way. Again, we see here that Joey and Lauren are much more comfortable teasing each other or just shooting the poo poo than Rosa and Joey were, primarily because of the amount of time they've spent together. In the later games, Rosa and Joey will have developed their own chemistry in the time that passes between the games.  This tiny little blob of pixels is a dictophone. Of course, Unbound being set in the early 70s, technology is a little outdated. There are no computers, the TV is ancient, and the camera is huge. Lauren: It's a dictator machine. I've been trying to keep a record of my dreams by recording what I remember. I guess I could take this along.  Lauren: Does my voice really sound like that? Gotta cut back on the cigarettes. Anyway. I've been having some extreme dreams lately, but I don't remember any of them. I get the strangest feeling that they are important, but I can't put my finger on why. I'm keeping this recorder next to my pillow, so I can record what I remember as soon as I wake up. The dictophone is a required object for a later puzzle, but we can also hear about Lauren's dreams, which are fairly intense and seem more like premonitions than dreams. There are eleven dreams in all. Lauren: First entry, February... 21st? Is it? God, my head. I dreamed tonight. It's already fading away. I saw my mother. She was calling out to me and waving. She was smiling. Her face was bright. So bright. Presumably Lauren still struggles emotionally with what happened to her mother, and how similar a path her own life has taken. Lauren: I see a child. Seven or eight years old. She's surrounded by other children, but she's all alone. I call out to her, but she doesn't hear. Something is wrong. With me? With her? It's fading. I guess this could refer to Rosa, but it's hard to say. Some of the dreams are just kind of mysterious. Lauren: I see a man in tattered clothes. He looks at me, and screams. I look in a mirror, and see a huge, horned demon. For some reason, I'm not surprised. While others are kind of creepy Lauren: I'm on the Brooklyn Bridge, staring at the seaport. I'm all alone. Strangely at peace. The water, it looks so cool and inviting. Suddenly, I'm in the water. Floating. Lauren: I dreamt I was in a strange room. The walls are a deep pink, and there are books and papers everywhere. Joey is behind me. Trying to get my attention. I ignore him. I feel strangely good about it. Lauren: I see Jack and Maria. They are far away, but I know it's them. I see his glasses, and her bright red hair. I want to join them. I run to catch up. I almost get there, but I trip and fall. Maria turns to help me up, but it's not Maria. She's got red hair like Maria, but it's someone else. She says she is sorry. Then I wake up. Most of these just add flavour, though the occasional dream references future events from Rosa's experiences (both in Legacy, and in the later games). The next dream should sound familiar. Lauren: I'm in a hospital room. There's a chinese girl lying on the bed. I want to help her, but she doesn't want to be helped. Suddenly, I say a magic word, and her eyes widen with trust. I've made a friend, and yet I don't want her friendship. I run away. Lauren: I'm on a fire escape. I'm talking with a man who wants to be my friend. Suddenly, his face turns blue. He can't breathe. He dies. It's my fault. I could have stopped it. Lauren: I'm in a huge house. I see gas lamps, and electric lights. I look into a mirror and see an old woman. She reaches out of the mirror to grab me. I take her hand, and hold it tight. Then I wake up. Lauren: I'm on a train. Speeding away into the night. Next to me is a man. I know nothing about him, yet I trust him. I think I love him. Then he disappears. What did I do wrong? The final dream is very eerie. Lauren: I'm trapped. Trapped somewhere bright. I see my mother, and a woman I don't recognize. I see Joey, far away. Calling out for me. We are fighting for our lives, but it's too late. The world goes dark.  This is the last dream on the dictophone. I'm not sure whether to assume that Lauren had this dream recently, or if the dream bothered her so much that she stopped recording her thoughts altogether. I assume this dream refers to Lauren's eventual passing away at Bellevue.  Continuing the theme of lack of technology, Lauren uses a phonebook to look up numbers throughout the game. In the later games, Rosa will use her computer, and eventually a mobile phone for this task.  There are a couple of minor easter eggs if you search for developer names, and you can even search for Rosa, who of course is yet to be born at this point in time. Lauren: Nope. No entry. Joey: Who the heck is Rosa Blackwell? Lauren: I have no idea. Normally Lauren will simply say there is no entry, but here Joey adds a tiny bit extra.  Lauren: Move away a bit, will you Joey? Joey: What, you wanna watch TV now? Lauren: Just for a minute. Joey: You can relax later, sweetheart. Let's finish up these cases, first. Lauren: Yeah, you're right. Again we see that Joey blocks airborne signals. This is handled a little bit strangely throughout the series. It seems that Joey blocks TV signals from afar, only sometimes blocks phone signals, and to block radio (or later, wireless modem) signals he has to be right up next to the transmitter or antenna.  Lauren: I put some money in here whenever I think of it. It's a trick I learned from my mother. There's around 60 dollars in here now. Of course, any good Adventure Game player knows that you must take any money you possibly can from your starting location, but apparently somebody forgot to pass the message onto Lauren. Lauren: I'll save it for when I really need it. Sure enough, we'll get that $60 later, but for now it's staying in the jar.  Joey: Right behind you. Tired of hanging around her apartment, Lauren decides to head outside to focus on some more cases.  However, since we haven't looked at the case list yet, there is nowhere to go other than back home again. This screen functions as the world map in Unbound. Gilbert decided to scrap the street map style world-map in this game in favour of a generic skyline. Note that the twin towers still hover above everything else, this game being set well before 2001. Apparently Gilbert really debated with himself whether he should include them, since they are still an emotional topic for many people, particularly as 2007 wasn't that long after 2001. In the end he decided to put them in, and I think some dialogue even refers to them at one point.  With nowhere else to go, Lauren and Joey return back home.  One last thing to grab before we get to the case list, Lauren has a big clunky camera. Again, much like the dictophone, it is a required object for a puzzle, but it also serves a separate purpose.  Specifically, it can be used to unlock hidden content. There are four characters you can photograph in the game, Joey being the first, and each unlocks a separate section of the hidden features in the game. The most interesting of the hidden features are the alternative themes, but there is some other good stuff in there as well.  Alright, let's get to the case list. I can't help but notice that Lauren's handwriting is different here from the gorgeous script we saw in Legacy, though it's still very nice. Lauren: Ugh. Every one of these leads has been a dead end. Just two more to go and we can call it a night. Let's check these out.  Lauren: I read about a grocer who was complaining about his stock mysteriously disappearing. Turned out to be a bunch of rats. Joey scared them half to death. Joey: Most fun I've had all year. Hahaha, beautiful. The series is very consistent with it's "animals can see Joey" thing.  Lauren: Now THAT was a waste of time. Didn't find any ghosts, and I got soaked. I guess these were the exploding water pipes Lauren and Joey were arguing about earlier.  Lauren: That woman was old, drunk and senile. A total waste of time. Lauren doesn't even try to hide the distaste in her voice here.  Now we arrive at the two cases Lauren and Joey have yet to investigate. As you would probably expect, both will lead to ghosts. Lauren: This one looks promising. Residents have reported strange music on the promenade late at night. Nobody knows where it comes from.  Lauren: A development corporation has halted construction after a series of accidents. Probably nothing, but worth checking out.  With the case list perused, two new locations have opened up on the world map. We'll get started investigating these cases tomorrow! Welcome to Blackwell Unbound, guys Strap yourselves in, it's going to be a bumpy ride!
cmndstab fucked around with this message at 09:31 on Jun 27, 2014 |
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Oct 13, 2013 16:25
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You know, I didn't notice before, but the screenshots really are pretty blurry. You need to use Nearest Neighbour resizing for pixel games like this, or you get an awful-looking mess.
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Oct 13, 2013 16:48
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I guess I must have an untrained graphical eye I didn't really notice much difference, though I know how frustrating that kind of thing can be (low quality audio compression is a bugbear of mine). If anyone can recommend a good bulk image converter/resizer that will produce better quality images I'll see what I can do.
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Oct 13, 2013 17:10
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IrfanView does pretty good batch resizing/resampling, you can download it for free on their website. It's fairly easy to use, but when in doubt the Tech Support Fort can help you along.
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Oct 13, 2013 17:17
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cmndstab posted:Now we arrive at the two cases Lauren and Joey have yet to investigate. As you would probably expect, both will lead to ghosts. Bah, these aren't ghosts. The strange music is the newfangled thing the kids call "Disco" and the halted construction is probably just an OSHA thing for failure to follow safety protocols. Also, when you mentioned that they get their leads from the papers, I couldn't help but think of Men in Black. Go ahead, read the New York Times, they get lucky sometimes.
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Oct 13, 2013 19:56
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Dark Id's LP of Legacy made me buy the series when they first came out on Steam and I've been wanting the rest of the games to be LPed ever since because they deserve it. You've been doing a great job and now I'm wanting the fifth game to come out soon.
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Oct 13, 2013 22:06
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Can I offer some advice too, besides the graphics? You don't need to tell us what's coming up so much. I don't need to know that both leads go to ghosts, nor about the wireless modem puzzle I guess that will be coming up in one of the next games (you've mentioned that twice.)
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Oct 13, 2013 22:28
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MagusofStars posted:Bah, these aren't ghosts. The strange music is the newfangled thing the kids call "Disco" and the halted construction is probably just an OSHA thing for failure to follow safety protocols. Unfortunately, Lauren can't exactly erase your memory, but she can blind you with her enormous flash camera and then record your voice at 16kbs! Accordion Man posted:Dark Id's LP of Legacy made me buy the series when they first came out on Steam and I've been wanting the rest of the games to be LPed ever since because they deserve it. You've been doing a great job and now I'm wanting the fifth game to come out soon. At the start of the thread I mentioned that the fifth game (apparently to be called Blackwell Epiphany) was due out any time, but I've since gone and read further and it's already been delayed until at least February 2014. So I guess this thread will finish well before it comes out! I'm looking forward to it as well! Slowbeef posted:Can I offer some advice too, besides the graphics? Yeah, bad habit, sorry. I'm keen to try to describe the continuity (and occasionally lack thereof) between the games and saying "you probably don't remember but 25 updates ago, this happened" is less effective than cluing the reader in advance. It's a tough line to straddle without giving too much away, of course. Mentioning that both leads go to ghosts was probably unnecessary I'll see what I can do.I'm about to head interstate for work over the next few days. I still intend to update daily, but we'll see how well that goes when I'm there! Next update should arrive later today once I've touched down!
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Oct 14, 2013 00:47
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Is this a sufficiently improved quality of image? By comparison to the old:
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Oct 14, 2013 01:05
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I'd say it's an improvement.
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Oct 14, 2013 01:58
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Oh! Yeah, that's much sharper. Wonder if Joey's going to be as much of a bruiser as he is in the modern day.
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Oct 14, 2013 03:38
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Update 2 Last time, Lauren and Joey were looking to investigate a couple of possible leads for ghost cases. Both cases can actually be investigated entirely separately, with no crossover required. Of course, there's nothing stopping you from swapping to the other when you get stuck in one, but effectively both cases function as stand-alones. This is in sharp contrast to, say, Day of the Tentacle where the individual characters require objects and actions from the other characters to proceed. We'll focus on the two cases separately in this LP. First up, we'll head to the Roosevelt Island Promenade, where reports of strange music have been heard at night.  Lauren and Joey arrive at the promenade, but don't immediately notice anything. Lauren: Looks like another bust, Joey. Joey: Yeah, maybe. Or maybe not. Isaac's Lament Suddenly, the soft drone of a saxophone floats through the night. Joey: Wait, you hear that? Lauren: I think so. Joey: Let's get closer.  Lauren and Joey walk out onto the promenade as a ghostly saxophone becomes visible. Soon enough, a full ghost is revealed. Taking a closer look: Lauren: He's playing a saxophone, totally enraptured. I don't think he knows we're even here.  Joey, meanwhile, is busy looking closer at Lauren instead Before engaging the jazz playing ghost, Joey and Lauren decide to talk things over first. Lauren: This is one of thse "don't know they're dead" spirits, huh? Joey: Yeah. Another dead guy that's brain dead. We have to convince him that he's dead. He won't move on, otherwise. Lauren: I don't think he even knows we're here. Joey: Yeah. I don't like being ignored. There's gotta be some way to get his attention. Unbound is pretty good at clueing the playing in whenever something needs to be done, usually by continuing to talk with Joey. In this case, if we chat further: Lauren: This guy is totally oblivious. Joey: Lost in his own little world. Lauren: We've got to get through to him. Joey: Don't worry. I'll crack him. I just gotta figure out how. The clue here is for Joey to be the one to talk to him, but we'll get to that later. Joey: So what do you think of our guy? Lauren: Him? I don't think he wants to be saved. Joey: Really? Lauren: Look at him. He seems peaceful enough. I say we just leave him. One other thing that happens from Unbound forward is that Joey and Lauren/Rosa have a lot more to say to one another. If you enjoy their dynamic it's an enjoyable change, though it will mean this thread will be fairly text-heavy. I'll usually summarise anything important said if you want to skip their conversations, though obviously I recommend that you don't since the writing is usually of a high standard. Joey: You know we can't do that, sweetheart. Lauren: Yeah, I know. I'm just cranky and tired. Joey: Is that right? It's hard to tell, with you. Lauren: Be quiet. I really love how Lauren and Joey just tease each other the whole time Mostly it is Joey teasing Lauren, though she gets in a few good ones along the way.Joey: If you got to haunt a place, I can't think of a more perfect spot. Lauren: I don't think he's paying attention to the view. Joey: Hm. What a waste. As I said before, these two have a lot to say. Joey: Looks like our night won't be so easy after all. Lauren: Disappointed? Joey: Nah.  Finally, Lauren and Joey run out of conversational topics. Most rooms won't have quite this much dialogue, but I guess Gilbert wanted to show off in the first few locations.  Lauren decides to approach the ghost, but he's not very responsive. Lauren: Hey. Mister? Yoo hoo! I'm talking to you. Hello? Joey: He's not hearing you, kid. Lauren: Nice tune. You write it yourself? Lauren: I'm Lauren Blackwell. What's your name? The ghost never even looks up, and just continues puffing on his saxophone. Lauren: What're you doing here? Kind of late to be out, don't you think? Joey: The dead don't keep normal hours, dear. Lauren: I think I've forgotten what normal hours ARE. Aw... forget it. This is going nowhere. Joey decides to step in.  However, the ghost is no more responsive to Joey. Joey: Ah. The talkative sort, are we? Well, we'll soon sort THAT out. Joey: Pay attention, you fat chump. I'm TALKING. Lauren: That's your idea of intimidating? Joey: Quiet, will ya? Hahahaha, this is so perfect because Joey's voice strikes that perfect balance between kind of intimidating but not really Joey is really drat stubborn, and will just keep trying to get the ghost's attention. Joey: Sooo. Nice night, huh? Joey: That's a pretty nice instrument you got there. Mind if I have a look? Joey: Hey, do you feel... restless? Like you've got somewhere to go, but don't know where?  Even Joey is starting to get annoyed by this point. Joey: Can you even hear me? Joey: Hey, you got a cigarette? I could sure use one. He'll even bring Lauren into the conversation. Joey: Hey, d'ya know where the Guggenheim museum is? The wife and I have been trying to find it all day. Lauren: The wife? Joey: Shh.  Ghost: You let go! The solution is for Joey to grab the saxophone and literally snatch it out of the ghost's mouth. Note that Lauren is unable to do this, because the saxophone is part of the ghost so she can't touch it. Joey: I'm Joey. Pleasure to meet you. Ghost: I don't care WHO you are! Nobody interupts my set. Joey absolutely drips with false politeness here. Joey: I need to ask you a few questions, first. Ghost: Not NOW, man. Can't you see I'm in the middle of something? Get off the stage! Joey: Stage?  Furious at Joey's interruption, the ghost smacks him upside the chin with his saxophone, much to Joey's dismay. Ghost: THAT's how we treat your kind at Johnny Ivory's! Joey: Johnny Ivory's? What are you talking about?  Joey: Oh, we're dealing with a REAL sharp tack, here. But the ghost has already returned to playing his saxophone, oblivious to Joey's questions. The pained, frustrated sarcasm in Joey's voice is glorious here  Not one to take a beating lying down, Joey grabs the saxophone again. Ghost: I said let go of that! Joey: I'm gonna talk to you, and you're gonna listen. Or so help me I'll take this sax and shove it right up your- Ghost: GIMME THAT! Joey: Just what are you doing here? Ghost: What am I doing-? What do you THINK I'm doin'? Get AWAY from me, man? The ghost will once again belt Joey with the saxophone here. Joey actually has about ten different "ouch!" reactions to this scene, as Gilbert apparently really enjoyed the animation of Joey getting smacked upside the face. I think the game will also keep track of how many times Joey gets hit with the saxophone and report it to us at the end, hahaha. Joey: Who or what is Johnny Ivory's? Ghost: What're you, kidding me? You're crazier than you seem! Sure enough, Joey gets hit with the saxophone again. So, to answer Glazius' question, Joey is looking less like a bruiser and more like a bruisee every minute. Finally, he decides that he's had enough and floats off.  Joey: Who knows, with spooks like that? Probably doesn't even know where he is, half the time. Is "Johnny Ivory" a name? Never heard of a name like that. Lauren: Dunno. There's always the phone book. So we have a ghost, and we have a lead, such as it is. Johnny Ivory's sounds like the name of a club or something. Time to head back to the apartment to look it up. Lauren's Theme (Alternative)  Upon arriving home, however, Lauren finds the phone already ringing. Answering it, she hears the voice of her brother Jack on the other end. Jack: Lauren. Lauren. It's Jack. Lauren, I KNOW you're there. I'm your brother. For God's sake, talk to me.  Not knowing what to say, Lauren eventually slams the receiver down and immediately takes a big puff of her cigarette to calm herself down. Joey is smart enough not to comment about it at all.  Lauren can actually call Jack back, though she still won't speak to him if she does. Jack: Hello? Hello? Lauren, is that you? Sis?  Just as quickly, Lauren slams the receiver back down. Lauren: Jesus. Joey: Now why'd you go and do that for? Lauren: Just back off, okay? Joey: All right. All right. This is me. Backing off. Lauren: Good. Lauren is really forceful with her "Just back off" line. It's very clear that she struggles greatly with not wanting to burden her brother with another family member going crazy, but is also tortured emotionally by ignoring him. Even Joey is quick to bite his tongue on this topic. It's a subtly powerful scene because it shows Lauren as being both very determined, but also very vulnerable. She's a very flawed character for a number of reasons.  Alright, let's do what we're here to do. Lauren: Johnny Ivory's Jazz and Cabaret. It's on Bleeker and Seventh Avenue. You up for some jazz, Joey? Joey: You mean we finally get to listen to some real music? Lauren: Call it my special treat. Joey's love for the music of his era (and distaste for other music) is nice little character bit.  With that, a new location has opened up, allowing Joey and Lauren to continue following the leads of this case to see where they end up. Tomorrow we'll head off to Johnny Ivory's and see if we can figure out what the deal is with the jazz-playing ghost on the promenade. Join me then! Bonus Easter Egg Lauren can look up Russell Stone, the protagonist in The Shivah, and finds an entry for him.  Russell: Hello? Lauren: Ah. Yes. Hello? Russell: What can I do for you? Lauren: Ahh. You know, I'm not sure. Russell: Gevalt. Then call back when you DO.  Lauren: I don't know. His voice sounded kind of familiar though. This last line is a reference to fact that Abe Goldfarb was the voice actor for Rabbi Russell Stone, as well as Joey Mallone. Doing this in the Steam version unlocks the achievement "Shivah Call". cmndstab fucked around with this message at 09:33 on Jun 27, 2014 |
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Oct 14, 2013 12:41
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Ahhh, Isaac's Lament, possibly one of my favourite tunes in the entire series so far. I can definitely understand Joey's frustration, I haven't had any good sax in ages either... please don't hurt me.
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Oct 14, 2013 12:51
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Just think, Joey has had to live (haw!) through the rise of rock and roll, the British Invasion, and the emergence of disco. For someone who lived in ... when WAS Joey alive? How long has he been dead? He looks like a private eye from the 20's-30's. Anyway, he's been aware of a great deal of change in pop music, and he doesn't even have the power to turn off the radio. I suppose he could just sit on top of it if it's playing something he doesn't like, though.
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Oct 14, 2013 17:03
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quote:The dictophone is a required object for a later puzzle, but we can also hear about Lauren's dreams, which are fairly intense and seem more like premonitions than dreams. There are eleven dreams in all. Lauren is Satan 
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Oct 14, 2013 20:34
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Shazaminator posted:Lauren is Satan And those cigarettes aren't really cigarettes, but brimstone! 
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Oct 14, 2013 21:59
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EagerSleeper posted:And those cigarettes aren't really cigarettes, but brimstone! Suddenly the theory of Lauren causing all the weird ship in Rosa's time by scattering the butts throughout the cosmos makes more sense Joey joined Patricia in the early 60s, but it's not obvious whether he immediately became bonded to her after dying, or if he was dead a while first.
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Oct 15, 2013 05:02
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The stuff with Jack is... painful. Especially the part where they let you call Jack, but then Lauren truly can't say anything. Sometimes the impulse to do something like that can help, but here it just highlights the problem. Makes me cringe. Very well written there.
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Oct 15, 2013 09:14
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Poor Joey. I guess when you're laid up for 25 years there's nothing to do but strength training, specter style. Ghosts can harbor pretty powerful delusions, can't they? We never really saw that in the previous game.
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Oct 15, 2013 09:24
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