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Old 03-11-2007, 10:13 PM   #1
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Default AG Community Game Playthrough #5: Faust — Seven Games of the Soul


Faust - Seven Games of the Soul is a haunting game developed by Arxel Tribe and published by Cryo in 1999. You play Marcellus Faust, an elderly black man who has been summoned to investigate the lives and choices of a group of peculiar people. Each of the seven episodes revolves around a pact offered by the demon Mephistopheles to one of the chracters; your task is to discover what that pact was, whether the character accepted, and what were the consequences -- and also to try to understand the links between the events and see the larger picture. While the game has its fair share of puzzles, the real puzzle is the characters and the sad and dramatic events that unfolded in that disturbing amusement park.


What we do

We play the game, together, one episode at a time. Then we talk about it here. Anything from the current episode can be discussed: the atmosphere, the puzzles, the characters, the moral questions raised by the game, etc.

If you've already played the game, please refrain from posting about episodes we haven't reached yet; if you really must do so, please use [SPOILER] tags. Also please bear in mind that the game's structure can be confusing at first, and that it was done on purpose. So don't spoil the discovery for newcomers.


Technical help

Faust is a pre-XP game, but should run reasonably well on modern computers. A few things of note:
  • For the CD version (only!) there exists a patch; I'm not sure what it does, but it can't hurt to try it.
  • If you're using the multilingual DVD version, you must follow the instructions in that post, or you're in for a nasty surprise at the end (and a smaller one before).
  • If you encounter audio problems (stuttering sound...), lower the hardware acceleration (Start > Run... > dxdiag > Sound > move the slider to basic).
  • If you encounter big slowdowns with items overlaid on the screen (such as close-ups of items, Theodore's notebook, etc.), lower the graphics acceleration. Go to Display > Settings > Advanced > Troubleshooting and move the slider 3 notches down from full (disable all DirectDraw and Direct3D acceleration).
  • For some reason, my anti-virus decides to screw everything up every time I try to save my game. So disable yours if you have the same problem.
Don't hesitate to ask if you have trouble getting the game to work well.
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Old 03-11-2007, 10:13 PM   #2
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Introduction




followed by


Episode One: Twice As Bad



Starring Lily and Jody Whittle
as well as Hannibal Red Narcissus, Marcellus Faust and Mephistopheles
(November 1935)


Play until you're sent back to the main menu with Episode Two unlocked. Then, return to the Episode One page and read the conclusion of this episode's story in Theodore's notebook (which should have appeared at the bottom-right of the main menu). You can also review the pact you've discovered, and watch again this episode's videos. Then exit the game (you can't save here, the game just remembers that you've unlocked Episode Two) and wait until we start the next episode.

This is a short and easy episode, perfect to get used to how the game works (and allowing late-comers to catch up). The next ones are longer and harder. I'm not sure how people are going to take part in the playthrough, so for the moment let's say we'll spend one week on this episode. That may be shortened (or made longer) depending on how things go. I'll post my thoughts on this episode later this week.

We'll move on to Episode Two on Monday 19th.
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Old 03-11-2007, 11:29 PM   #3
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Any idea where I can pick this up quick?
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Old 03-12-2007, 01:06 AM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by QFG View Post
Any idea where I can pick this up quick?
There were some suggestions in that post (CDAccess, Amazon US/UK/DE).
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Old 03-12-2007, 03:46 AM   #5
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Permit me to sulk.
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Old 03-12-2007, 10:13 AM   #6
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I love this game and Mephistopheles is my all-time favorite adv game character! He is deliciously charming in his malevolence! I'll try to play along, but we're doing another tourney in two weeks at MM, so I probably won't be able to keep up with you all. Keep an open mind and enjoy this creative game!

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Old 03-12-2007, 10:26 AM   #7
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When you can, drop by FGM. I definitely would love to hear your thoughts on the game when you have the time.
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Old 03-12-2007, 09:45 PM   #8
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Wait for meeeeeeeee.... I'm expecting the game to arrive any day now!
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Old 03-13-2007, 01:41 AM   #9
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Oh good, I have bought this game secondhand a while ago, but haven't gotten around to actually playing it. This sounds like a good time to get started.
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Old 03-13-2007, 03:35 AM   #10
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I loaded it up last night. It plays much better on my XP than my Win98. I'm looking forward to playing it. I'd forgotten how wonderful the voice acting is.
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Old 03-13-2007, 08:08 AM   #11
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I'm going to play through too, this is my first community playthrough

I'm currently trying to get the CD files from streamload/mediamax and they don't seem to want to download I think it's a problem with the site but I shall resurrect the original thread just in case. I can't believe this game was released with these problems.
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Old 03-13-2007, 08:41 AM   #12
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Im in!
Just going to pick it up first...

Great. This acually gives me a reson to play a game
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Old 03-13-2007, 07:22 PM   #13
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I just reinstalled it on my computer tonight. I never really played around with all the buttons on the main menu:


Bye, bye, baaabyyy...

You can see what track will be playing, look at the characters, etc. Just some extra goodies.

Edit: Rats, I'm having a CD problem (it's working now).

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Old 03-13-2007, 09:24 PM   #14
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argh.

I can't find my copy.
I'm not sure whether I still have it here at college...
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Old 03-14-2007, 02:21 AM   #15
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Wow... neat game. I am totally intrigued. I love the fact that I have no clue what's going on. I also hate the fact that I have no clue what's going on.

I've never done one of these playthrough things before, so I'll wait to see other people check in before I offer more detailed comments, but I am definitely interested in hearing about people's experiences with this one so far.
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Old 03-14-2007, 02:25 AM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by buddi View Post
I've never done one of these playthrough things before, so I'll wait to see other people check in before I offer more detailed comments, but I am definitely interested in hearing about people's experiences with this one so far.
Yes, we usually discuss things in a rather detailed fashion (see the links to the previous playthroughs there). So feel free to post more comments (as long as they're on the current episode, of course).
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Old 03-14-2007, 03:27 AM   #17
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Quote:
I just reinstalled it on my computer tonight. I never really played around with all the buttons on the main menu:
Me too. Either that, or I don't remember . Anyhow, I think it is a nice touch. I also like the comments you get when you use the menu options.
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Old 03-14-2007, 03:45 AM   #18
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It will take weeks for our Faust to arrive, but then we'll have our own playthrough and none of you are invited, and we'll have chocolate cake and balloons and a clown dunking tank and a visit from Dolf Lundgren and play with our Trolls TM collection and you'll all be jealous.
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Old 03-14-2007, 03:53 AM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jacog View Post
It will take weeks for our Faust to arrive, but then we'll have our own playthrough and none of you are invited, and we'll have chocolate cake and balloons and a clown dunking tank and a visit from Dolf Lundgren and play with our Trolls TM collection and you'll all be jealous.
At the rate this is going (there hasn't really been much discussion on episode 1, and I'll probably postpone the start of episode 2 by a few days), you'll probably catch up with us before we reach episode 3.
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Old 03-14-2007, 10:49 AM   #20
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I finished episode 1.
What I like: clicking on things and seeing (or hearing) clips of the characters that give you insight as to their personalities. I also like the 360 degree rotation at each node, and the details put into the background. Mephisto's voice is pure delight; I've yet to tire of "Come here, Pussycat" .
What's not so great: I'm having issues with interpreting the cursor, since a solid hand can mean use an inventory item or an action.
Spoiler:
as in placing the strainer

Also some cut scenes flash by so quickly, I need to go back to get a decent look. There isn't a really good explanation of how to look at Theodore's journal page. I went to UHS hints to find out you click at the top right hand corner of the page to read further.
So far I'm following the story ok, except for a few things.
Spoiler:
Mephisto offers the girls wealth in exchange for giving up their love interest, Hannibal. He comes to them in a dream, and at the end of the cut scene you see a 'saw-like' apparition separate the girls. I thought it was metaphorical, since they each chose differently. Apparently, they really were physically separated. The other thing was the lottery ticket in the safe. Did they gamble their savings or was the ticket left by Mephisto representing the wealth they wre promised?
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