[Leonard Shelby]

I would like to know who has played this game about "sex and perversion" (ditto Miss Emily ) starring John Hurt and three other actors (two women and a guy) .

It seems to be a mix between FMV and adventure game with multiple paths and endings and the game is looking at your answers to some intimate questions .

So is this "game" (or movie or both) that good and worth playing it ?

Thanks for anyone who will answer

[Titan]

This is billed as an 'interactive movie' and is not really an adventure game. The psychological question part that happens after each of what I think was about 8 to 12 episodes, is called the TAT, and deals mainly with erotic art. There is also a short question and answer session concerning what has happened in the just completed episode and your opinion of the characters actions. This part supposedly drives varying conclusions to the story endings. You do get to search around a rendered setting finding various reading materials, etc between each episode. I was able to achieve an er... err ... different ending 3 times. There may be up to six or seven variations of endings.

This film is low on believability but high on titillation. I enjoyed it myself. If you play it and like it you might also want to play another game of this type which had a better story and music and less eroticism, Point of View.

I have... I also finished Point of View recently, by the same company.
There's more openly sexual stuff in TLC but also more cruelty. I liked TLC a bit better than POV, am not crazy about either of them.

Wouldn't call it an adventure. It's an interactive movie with a lot of psychological tests. I guess I did what most people do: I answered truthfully the first time, watched the ending, read my test results, and decided to give radically different answers the next time. So I got a new ending and a few scenes were slighty different. Problem is, there's no feedback, you don't know how your answers influence the movie. I prefer interactive movies where I can change the story with a single mouse click.

[fov]

I played it, and found it fascinating. I agree it's not much of a game, but it's definitely an experience. I played it over three evenings while my boyfriend was out of town (so I was alone in the house) and it affected me emotionally like few games do... it really made me *feel* involved in the game, in a creepy and very emotionally invested way.

As far as the graphic nature goes... there's really only one sex scene (that I came across, at least) and even that is of the softcore variety. It's more the suggestions (and the situations) that make the game mature.

If you're not easily offended and you like FMV, I say try it. As long as you know going into it that it's not going to be your traditional adventure game experience, you have nothing to lose.

I did start playing a second time with very different answers, and saw a few different scenes and, in general, how the game was going in a different direction. Never finished it that time through because my boyfriend came home again [grin] but I will at some point, and I'd like to see a variety of endings.

My only complaint is that once you've finished the game, you can't go back to some point in the middle to try to change your ending. So the only way to try for a new ending is to start again from the beginning. (Apparently the DVD version allows you to type in a code to see different endings. I played the CD version because my DVD player didn't like the DVD version of the game.)

-emily

[Ronnnl]

I was quite enthousiastic when I started playing the game. The idea of implementing psychological tests in a game is great, but in a FMV-game it's very difficult to implement it. After a while the questions in the tests became boring and started to repeat themselves...

I got the feeling that only the 'extreme' answers I gave to questions contributed to the ending of the game. And that violent, ending didn't seem to be in line with the rest of the story...

I would like to see the psychological test implemented in less obvious way in non-FMV-games. Are there any games in which, for example, choices out of dialogue-trees influence the psychological aspects of the rest of the game?

Originally Posted by Ronnnl

I would like to see the psychological test implemented in less obvious way in non-FMV-games. Are there any games in which, for example, choices out of dialogue-trees influence the psychological aspects of the rest of the game?

I can't think of any non-FMV games. But there's Good Old Tex Murphy in the Pandora Directive. You've got 3 options throughout the game. Be a thoroughly nice guy, act indifferent or treat other people including your girlfriend like shit and see what happens... Then there's Mode, which has a mood bar by way of dialogue tree. The entire game is psychology, if you ask me. :

[Titan]

The best-implemented FMV game I know of that involved dialogue-tree driven action leading to different scenes and results was In the First Degree. One plays as the prosecutor in a murder case and must deal with not only witnesses, but also the press.

[fov]

Hey Ronnnl, welcome to the forum!

I just acquired In the First Degree recently. I'm looking forward to trying it out.

-emily

[LauraMac]

This is interesting. I have all three games mentioned. "In the 1st" didn't appeal much at all - but probably because as an attorney, it reminded me too much of work at the time I played it. And most of that is actually pushing paper and talking on the phone. So at the same time it felt unrealistic in some of the aspects of trial work. Also the rules it applied in terms of procedure and stuff was short handed and in some cases wrong. So I was irritated by limits in the game play that shouldn't have been there.

TLC was a very different game than any I had played at that time. I enjoyed it, thought the psychological edginess was very good. However, I wasn't able to get more than one varied ending and it was a lengthy game for me to push through again.

However Point of View, I enjoyed the most of the three. I really liked the music. It was at least more up to date than most adventure games are in their musical orientation. The whole voyeur aspect was creepy and intriguing at the same time. I also thought the story line had more twists and turns than TLC. The save system was a pain, as you had to write down the code to access your new save point in the game. It isn't that long that you can't play it at close to one sitting - but you still need the better part of a day or two long evenings. I just didn't have that sort of time available then. I also think if you don't like FMV - the appeal would be less.

Still if I had to pick between the three - POV would be highest on my list.

Originally Posted by Titan

The best-implemented FMV game I know of that involved dialogue-tree driven action leading to different scenes and results was In the First Degree. One plays as the prosecutor in a murder case and must deal with not only witnesses, but also the press.

I enjoyed In the First Degree. Unlike PoV and TLC, it's a real game. Good acting. Once you've chosen an option in a dialogue tree, the other options disappear and new ones appear. Just like real life - antagonize someone and they'll refuse to cooperate. They did the same thing in Blue Heat. I wish more games would, it makes gameplay much more interesting.

[fov]

Still if I had to pick between the three - POV would be highest on my list.

Since I enjoyed TLC so much, I definitely want to try this one too. I haven't come across it yet and have sooo many games to play that I haven't sought it out, but it's definitely on my radar.

This is getting off topic, but Laura, have you played the Law & Order games? Did you feel the same way about the legal aspect that you did in In the First Degree? Just curious.

-emily

[LauraMac]

Hmmmm good question. It is possible that I might be more forgiving of In the 1st - if I played it again. It has been a long time.

But, I wasn't as attentive to "real life" differences while playing the Law & Order game. The story lines were better, so I wasn't as aware or bothered about more practical details. The focus was on more than just the prosecution of crime, so the games weren't as procedurally dependent on the "lawyering" side of things.

Finally, they were more "gamelike" especially the most recent release. Meaning, puzzles - plot - mobility all traditional "game" elements. Which makes some sense because "In the 1st" was really more of a simulation/strategy game than the Law & Order games. Funny, since that is what Legacy Interactive is known for - rather than Broderbund.

I wonder if doctors, medical people feel the same way about the Emergency room and Code Blue games?

[Ronnnl]

Originally Posted by fov

Hey Ronnnl, welcome to the forum!

Well, it's more like a 'welcome back'. I've been on this forum before, but wasn't that active. For some reason my post-count is set to zero in the meantime. (Not that it's a problem, these counters should be removed from all fora immediately...)

I've been looking at the JustAdventure-forum much more, but I get the feeling that even though both JA and AG'rs are all about adventuregames, the kind of subjects that pop up are slightly different. Since I don't see it happening that the two fora merge, I'll just check both of them out...

[fov]

The site was hacked into last summer and the forums had to be redone. That may be why your post count was reset.

In any case, welcome back then.