[Intense Degree]

That's far too kind Luna, better be careful now or none of my hats will fit anymore .

I think you're right about the character development here. Oliver is really a hollow shell of a character and did not come accross as likeable to me. I know that sometimes the protagonist will be left intentionally vague as a blank canvas for the player to project themselves onto, but this cannot be the case here as he is a definite person (son, father and husband) and there is clearly some pretty serious backstory to him, which I don't doubt is spelt out in the books.

On the one hand I feel that a lot more could have been made about the relationship between Oliver and Malcolm but on the whole I think that Oliver doesn't really matter in the story of the game (this is probably completely untrue for the books ). Even the rescue of his son is a side point really, just giving a reason for Oliver (the player) to be in the asylum and the arbitrary time limit of "by dawn". We don't meet his son (excluding the visions) and any sympathy we have with him stems from the fact he is a child in danger rather than because of who he is and what he is like or from any great love for Oliver etc. As has been said above, it is really Malcolm who is the main character here and, for me, the main story of the game is about Malcolm and what he did to the patients etc. in the past, rather than what he was doing to Oliver and Joshua in the present (although that is still a fair size part of it of course). I'd be interested to hear what other people think about this?

[harald]

I agree with you, ID and Luna. It's obvious that the game was not made to tell the story of Oliver rescuing his son, but rather the one about Malcolm, his asylum and his patients.

I did sympathise with Oliver though. Especially at the beginning of the game, where Malcolm would tease him about Josh and how time was passing etc. The first person view helped make things feel urgent too, especially since you could imagine Malcolm "hovering" right behind you during the whole game, just out of sight. And the images of Josh, appearing as though Oliver had a projector behind his eyes, made me imagine what they would look like in a few hours time. Was I going to see Josh's dead body appearing on the screen? Would I see him tortured by Malcolm? Or Malcolm possessing him?

I can understand how many people thought this was a cheap way of simply reminding us of Josh, but it worked for (on?) me. I couldn't help feeling a tiny bit of relief every time I got a new status report from him, telling me he was (probably) still alive. And I don't think I was the only one emotionally affected by the last timed puzzle, where Malcolm finally did start "training" Josh?

[Fantasysci5]

Hey all! I agree completely, Oliver is more of something on the side for me; the main character was Malcolm for me, and the most interesting stories that drive it the patients' stories.

The ending where he starts to train Josh really made me want to hurry and get there, and did a great job at suspense. When he started going for the balde, I thought I have to get there soon, or else something bad would happen, like a timed puzzle.

[3rdFloor]

Un-stickied already?

Even though the playthrough is over, I feel the thread should get some prominent exposure for a little while longer, perhaps for a few more weeks or so. I mean, this thread is a treasure chest of goodies for any fans of the game!

[AFGNCAAP]

Hello all. I finished the game along with everyone else but simply haven't been able to find the time to post till now. Hope the thread is not dead yet. (Although the dead can still be very interesting to hang out with, as Blackstone Chronicles proves. )

The almost-final location of torture dungeon was -- again, in a morbid way -- great. And a logical conclusion to gradually revealed Malcolm's monstrosity. (Interestingly how we all avoid calling him crazy, perhaps out of respect for all the inmates and what they suffered because of being labelled that way?) Paul is yet another memorable character -- somewhat cliche, but chilling nonetheless. And he could almost be Jack's evil twin, no? They have similar ways of talking and share the same anarchistic disregard for "the system" - only where Jack opposed the truly oppressive staff and rules of Blackstone, Paul seems to be against any kind of rules whatsoever.

I, like harald, fully expected Oliver to go along with the finger-cutting plan; it wouldn't be particularly shocking considering what we had already seen, heard and read by this point. (BTW, how was the Japanese box thingy supposed to work exactly? How can I touch the object inside without a finger?)

Any theories on what "killing" a ghost means and why did that happen to Paul?

I wasn't blown away by the very endgame in the basement. It was good, fitting, yet somehow underwhelming. I had expected something more surprising (some revelation about Oliver, or the asylum, or a previously undisclosed part of Malcom's plan, etc.), or more dramatic (when the familar ghosts started to appear I was sure, like Luna, that they'll play much more active role in the closing events), or at least more interesting puzzlewise. As is, it was a bit too simple, a bit too artificial (was there any in-game reason given not to start destroying the nutcracker and other objects much earlier?) and over way too quickly.

Still, despite slightly disappointing finale and an odd puzzle here and there, I really appreciated the game. This was an adventure with a focus on exploration in more ways than one: discovering the new areas of the asylum, learning about patients' backstories, and, in the most ingenuous moments, puzzle-solving were all connected in a very organic way. And the grim and mature subject matter was handled for the most part gracefully enough that I can easily forgive it getting perhaps too sensationalist for my tastes later on, in Abe's story. As far as I am concerned, another thumbs-up work from Legend Entertainment. Thanks for playing, everyone, and making it even better with your comments.

Oh, and I agree that the ending was supposed to be read as falsely-reassuring-Josh rather than twas-all-a-dream. Though even if it was the latter, the setup had been so vague about how Oliver got to the asylum and how much of everything around is real, that such an ending wouldn't be much of a cop-out anyway.

[Fantasysci5]

I believe "killing a ghost" is what happens when the object they are tied to in this world is destroyed, case in point with Paul and his stereoscope breaking. I guess they do not go along with the object, since they were in their rooms and not with their objects. We could not talk to them through their objects, only through their "death machine" (like Jane and Jack), or through their pictures.

[Luna Sevithiainen]

Originally Posted by AFGNCAAP

was there any in-game reason given not to start destroying the nutcracker and other objects much earlier?)

I did try to carve up the nutcracker with the knife before the finale, but then Malcolm only says something along the lines of "Are you really that mad at me, Oliver?" So Oliver obeys his daddy again. Which makes it rather interesting...In the end-game, you can't go to your house because Malcolm forbids you, and you can't break the glass case because he forbids you (although when he is weak,you can). In fact, you always end up obeying him, apart from the nutcracker. Malcolm is not weakened yet, he forbade you, you always obeyed, until you come in the dungeon. "Are you really that mad at me?" Appearently, now Oliver is. So that would make sense. The only odd part is that Oliver appearently is not mad enough to disobey Malcolm further and rush to his own home to save his wife and Josh.

As for the journal: no in-game reason, but I can imagine you wanting to keep it just in case there are more clues in there, so maybe that's why Oliver never thought of that before?

On the subject of killing a ghost: I guess it means that they are no longer bound to the earth, so no longer connected to the living or something. But...why would that be bad for the ghosts? The ghosts in the finale seemed rather scared by the thought of Malcolm wanting to destroy them all... Maybe it means that apart from the body being dead (the killing part as we humans know it) the soul is also killed, causing the being to completely cease to exist. Not even in some afterlife or here on this earth as ghosts, just completely vanished. But I don't quite get then why destroying a physical object could destroy something as non-physical as a soul. So I am not quite sure.

One other thing: the ghosts were always bound to their rooms, but once you have killed Paul, Marylin tells you that all of a sudden she could leave. Any theories about why they all were more free all of a sudden? My only thought about that right now is Paul being too dominant and keeping them all in their rooms, but I don't quite like the theory because most, or even all, of the inmates you meet seem to have had nothing to do with Paul...

[Fantasysci5]

You have a good point there, Luna. They certainly would have mentioned if Paul had tortured them, so I don't think they knew him. I'm not sure why all of the sudden, they could leave their rooms.