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AG Community Playthrough #76 - The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow
I enjoyed the puzzles of the last chapter. They werent that easy but because you have limited items and not many things to interact you can just try everything. Rest of the puzzles are hinted pretty good on the journal.
I didnt get the feeling that this is a walking simulator. I wouldnt even consider it to be very easy as a game, just easy. There were some parts that you needed to explore a lot and try diferent things to progress.
See i found it all pretty obvious minus 1 or 2 puzzles.
For me, the last chaoter was part beautiful: it ties many loose threads together.
On the other hand, it was quite a difference in atmosphere from the reest of the story. I have mixed feelings about it.
On the whole, I think this is a beautiful game. The last chapter, I am not so sure about it.
To be honest, I’m not a fan of the direction HB took in the last chapter. So they switched from a character-driven open-world adventure to a claustrophobic dream-like Myst. Ok, it’s not unusual for the genre, the developer was obviously inspired by Indiana Jones games, and we were hinted during the game that facing our subconsciousness is part of the mystery. Solving puzzles is still better than watching barely interactive scenes, although I would have much preferred something in the vein of the earlier village chapters.
Regarding puzzles, I had little problem figuring them out. The limited number of rooms and obvious instructions made them easy to solve, I even felt sorry for the engineers who wasted time constructing the barrow and all the moving statues just to leave hints and necessary objects within hand’s reach. Unless everything happened in Thomasina’s head? Some bits (like the evil goat or the cats — man, I HATED the whole mewing puzzle and what followed, very irritating to listen to) were obviously unreal. But then we had dad’s diary which described every puzzle we encountered.
Anyway, I could live with that (not the mewing though!). But sacrificing the slow-burning folk horror for the sake of shock content and a questionable twist is something that really bother me. This is another trick overused in modern horror media, along with dreams and visions. And to add to the frustration, just a month ago I played a small RPG Maker adventure The Witch’s House (a 2018 remake of the 2012 free game) which had the same story twist (minus the cult thing or any other spoiler).
In fact I still don’t understand Thomasina’s motivation to explore the barrow. Yes, she wanted to help her father (because some goblin from her dreams told her that would work somehow). But after what she had discovered, what Tillet had told her and the way everyone acted during day 3 climbing in that barrow felt like a very stupid decision right from the start. If only we had real choices in this game, I would’ve showed middle finger to Shoulders and Panswyck, burned down their houses using my trusty oil lamp, stole that horse from stables and left the village, for good or bad.
PC means personal computer
To be honest, I’m not a fan of the direction HB took in the last chapter. So they switched from a character-driven open-world adventure to a claustrophobic dream-like Myst. Ok, it’s not unusual for the genre, the developer was obviously inspired by Indiana Jones games, and we were hinted during the game that facing our subconsciousness is part of the mystery. Solving puzzles is still better than watching barely interactive scenes, although I would have much preferred something in the vein of the earlier village chapters.
Regarding puzzles, I had little problem figuring them out. The limited number of rooms and obvious instructions made them easy to solve, I even felt sorry for the engineers who wasted time constructing the barrow and all the moving statues just to leave hints and necessary objects within hand’s reach. Unless everything happened in Thomasina’s head? Some bits (like the evil goat or the cats — man, I HATED the whole mewing puzzle and what followed, very irritating to listen to) were obviously unreal. But then we had dad’s diary which described every puzzle we encountered.
Anyway, I could live with that (not the mewing though!). But sacrificing the slow-burning folk horror for the sake of shock content and a questionable twist is something that really bother me. This is another trick overused in modern horror media, along with dreams and visions. And to add to the frustration, just a month ago I played a small RPG Maker adventure The Witch’s House (a 2018 remake of the 2012 free game) which had the same story twist (minus the cult thing or any other spoiler).
In fact I still don’t understand Thomasina’s motivation to explore the barrow. Yes, she wanted to help her father (because some goblin from her dreams told her that would work somehow). But after what she had discovered, what Tillet had told her and the way everyone acted during day 3 climbing in that barrow felt like a very stupid decision right from the start. If only we had real choices in this game, I would’ve showed middle finger to Shoulders and Panswyck, burned down their houses using my trusty oil lamp, stole that horse from stables and left the village, for good or bad.
tillet, never actually told her anything, that was kind of confusing in the game, the game shows the players something that Thomasina had no idea had happened. I personally love the ending other than the fact that the game presents players with dialogue choice. which makes the player think there could almost be multiple endings. when there is no alternate path whatsoever. I think that’s why the devs hammered home the flashback so much even though they were boring that was the drive for her and her goal. It was to save her father at all costs, even if it really made no reasonable sense, that it would actually work. Which is a fine story telling device other than the fact, that they give the players agency by being able to select dialogue choices, but yet not the actual ability to stop her from doing this incredibly dumb thing. Like I don’t think any of these Illusions are in her head, there really was a demon god, not the “GOD” but a lesser God that had planned and strategized how to escape from the barrow for many decades, and get his revenge on the guy that trapped him.
So all that personally worked for me.
The puzzles as you pointed out Doom we’re not hard in this final chapter but at least it felt more involved. than hey let me go pick up this herb and deliver it to this person. like in an RPG where the player needs 10 stacks of wood to give to the lumber guy as a side quest.
I think the ending was fitting to the rest of the game. There was a serious note from the start to the end. Yes there was a change in atmosphere but i think that is for good. I mean you solve puzzles for the most part to be able to excavate the barrow in the end. And when that happens it feels good. Its claustrophobic, it has dark colours, it has myst like puzzles. The ending itself and what happens with thomasina i also think it goes pretty well with the mood of the game. For me this game was a nice surprise. At the start i didnt think i would enjoyed as much but i ended it up liking it a lot. 4/5 stars from me.
Thanks for the community playthrough. The pace was perfect with this one.
I think the ending was fitting to the rest of the game. There was a serious note from the start to the end. Yes there was a change in atmosphere but i think that is for good. I mean you solve puzzles for the most part to be able to excavate the barrow in the end. And when that happens it feels good. Its claustrophobic, it has dark colours, it has myst like puzzles. The ending itself and what happens with thomasina i also think it goes pretty well with the mood of the game. For me this game was a nice surprise. At the start i didnt think i would enjoyed as much but i ended it up liking it a lot. 4/5 stars from me.
Thanks for the community playthrough. The pace was perfect with this one.
I agree Nico it’s one of those games that I liked when I completed it, but the more I thought about it, the more I liked it. Which is usually the opposite for me, usually the more I think about a piece of entertainment the less I like it. so this was a nice change of pace LOL.
tillet, never actually told her anything, that was kind of confusing in the game, the game shows the players something that Thomasina had no idea had happened.
So it was in fact the case of dramatic irony? Then I did miss that, although I still consider it unfair. It works as a movie trope, but with interactive fiction I expect to act based on the knowledge I received rather than to wait for my protagonist to catch up, or to remain in the dark as is in this case.
Same with the ending. Which wasn’t half bad even if I saw it coming, certainly in style of Lovecraft or witch legends, instilling despair and hopelessness in you. It’s the sudden switch of mood and character, the brutality of scenes, and the lack of choice as you mentioned with no control over the character’s final actions. At the very least they could’ve written it like Thomasina had been slowly going mad since her arrival, so that her final decision was both a matter of insanity and god/demon possession. Or allowed her not to perform the ritual and commit suicide instead, also in Lovecraft’s traditions. Or let the cat interfere and use its cat powers to distract her from waking gods. Strange, one would expect something like that in a game like this. Maybe they went over budget and decided not to add extra content.
Anyway, I agree it was an enjoyable playthrough of a nice game. Thanks everyone!
PC means personal computer
tillet, never actually told her anything, that was kind of confusing in the game, the game shows the players something that Thomasina had no idea had happened.
So it was in fact the case of dramatic irony? Then I did miss that, although I still consider it unfair. It works as a movie trope, but with interactive fiction I expect to act based on the knowledge I received rather than to wait for my protagonist to catch up, or to remain in the dark as is in this case.
Same with the ending. Which wasn’t half bad even if I saw it coming, certainly in style of Lovecraft or witch legends, instilling despair and hopelessness in you. It’s the sudden switch of mood and character, the brutality of scenes, and the lack of choice as you mentioned with no control over the character’s final actions. At the very least they could’ve written it like Thomasina had been slowly going mad since her arrival, so that her final decision was both a matter of insanity and god/demon possession. Or allowed her not to perform the ritual and commit suicide instead, also in Lovecraft’s traditions. Or let the cat interfere and use its cat powers to distract her from waking gods. Strange, one would expect something like that in a game like this. Maybe they went over budget and decided not to add extra content.
Anyway, I agree it was an enjoyable playthrough of a nice game. Thanks everyone!
I agree and that’s why I keep bringing up dialog choices, don’t give the illusion that a player has outcome over the game if they don’t. that needs to die in All genres. Telltale started that BS in mass production.
tillet, never actually told her anything, that was kind of confusing in the game, the game shows the players something that Thomasina had no idea had happened.
Are you sure? Is it in the developer’s commentary or something? If true it’s more than a little confusing for this player. Why would the game do that without any hint that we now know more than Thomasina? It’s a flashback, but we’ve seen many flashbacks and this one makes perfect sense. I watched the scene again after reading your post and I still don’t see how I should have interpreted the flashback differently.
Sometimes, when I clean the rooms, I get a little curious and… erm… you know… snoop through our guests’s stuff. - This Bed We Made
Like I said before, I had a good time playing this game. The atmosphere, the writing, voice acting and the general creepiness were great. I quite liked the ending too, didn’t see it coming and that’s always good. I had no problem with the different mood of the last chapter, which was exactly what we should expect after those foreboding dreams. It’s a pity the puzzles could have been much better.
Miscellaneous:
- milkman. What on earth was that all about? Why was he tied up? If they wanted to scare him off for some unknown reason they could have saved themselves the trouble, he was eloping with his bride anyway. And how did his attackers come by flowers from the barrow that we haven’t seen anywhere else?
- pub owner. Those 7 plates on the wall prove that he must have known all about the barrow and its contents. So he must also been the person who let in the cat and delivered the diary. Or allowed Panswyck to do that. He’s an accomplished liar and weak. Afraid of Panswyck.
- father Roache throwing up at the sight of Thomasina. Did he recognize her father in her, did he have a premonition of Evil in Thomasina or did the devs just want to scare us.
- chapel. All the people who’d said the trainstation was good because it would bring tourists are also devotees of Abraxas. 
- close-ups. Loved them. That stupid drunken Tillet asking for a kiss. The sheep. The cat. Saxton. Father Roache. The milkman. The badger was great too. I wish there had been more.
Sometimes, when I clean the rooms, I get a little curious and… erm… you know… snoop through our guests’s stuff. - This Bed We Made
Like I said before, I had a good time playing this game. The atmosphere, the writing, voice acting and the general creepiness were great. I quite liked the ending too, didn’t see it coming and that’s always good. I had no problem with the different mood of the last chapter, which was exactly what we should expect after those foreboding dreams. It’s a pity the puzzles could have been much better.
Miscellaneous:
- milkman. What on earth was that all about? Why was he tied up? If they wanted to scare him off for some unknown reason they could have saved themselves the trouble, he was eloping with his bride anyway. And how did his attackers come by flowers from the barrow that we haven’t seen anywhere else?
- pub owner. Those 7 plates on the wall prove that he must have known all about the barrow and its contents. So he must also been the person who let in the cat and delivered the diary. Or allowed Panswyck to do that. He’s an accomplished liar and weak. Afraid of Panswyck.
- father Roache throwing up at the sight of Thomasina. Did he recognize her father in her, did he have a premonition of Evil in Thomasina or did the devs just want to scare us.
- chapel. All the people who’d said the trainstation was good because it would bring tourists are also devotees of Abraxas.
- close-ups. Loved them. That stupid drunken Tillet asking for a kiss. The sheep. The cat. Saxton. Father Roache. The milkman. The badger was great too. I wish there had been more.
I’m 90% sure that the player is more in the know than Thomasina.
As far as the Milkman goes, if you remember in the bar, the same night where there was a bunch of people, two guys were talking about him, but when Thomasina came up they hushed about it. and told her to mind her business
I’m 90% sure that the player is more in the know than Thomasina.
Maybe, I’m not saying you’re wrong. I’m saying the player doesn’t have a clue. And if you are right I hold it against the devs. Bad decision. That could have been handled much better.
As far as the Milkman goes, if you remember in the bar, the same night where there was a bunch of people, two guys were talking about him, but when Thomasina came up they hushed about it. and told her to mind her business
I only remember T. interrupting people talking about something or someone. Another scene for me to check.
Sometimes, when I clean the rooms, I get a little curious and… erm… you know… snoop through our guests’s stuff. - This Bed We Made
I’m 90% sure that the player is more in the know than Thomasina.
Maybe, I’m not saying you’re wrong. I’m saying the player doesn’t have a clue. And if you are right I hold it against the devs. Bad decision. That could have been handled much better.
As far as the Milkman goes, if you remember in the bar, the same night where there was a bunch of people, two guys were talking about him, but when Thomasina came up they hushed about it. and told her to mind her business
I only remember T. interrupting people talking about something or someone. Another scene for me to check.
Go to the 2 hr and 23 min mark.
I’ve finished the game too. I did like it, but the major impression I have is that it is a game of two parts which jars slightly. As others have said, this fourth part is markedly different to the first three and I’m not saying that’s necessarily a problem, but I can’t quite shake the feeling that the last part in the Barrow makes the first three parts feel a bit pointless or unnecessarily drawn out.
Obviously, it is only in this fourth part that we get to the real point of the game, i.e. the actual excavation of Hob’s Barrow. That’s similar enough to the Broken Sword (and other) type games in that the game builds up to the final confrontation in a final location which we strive to get to and to learn about in the rest of the game.
But in this game we know from the beginning where we’re trying to get to, and with only a few casual questions we find out where it is. Only an indecisive farmer and lack of a shovel stand in our way to getting in.
In short, I suppose I’m saying that:
(1) The obstacles in the first three parts don’t really seem like 3 days worth of trouble;
(2) I’m not completely convinced that the puzzles we solve and situations we go through do all that much to advance the plot, except the fade to black and unconnected flashback parts;
(3) The tonal shift between intriguing and vaguely creepy (first 3 sections) and dire, life threatening and slightly more Lovecraftian horror in section 4 is more of an abrupt one than eased into.
To be honest, it’s only a small criticism and I am making a bigger thing of it than it deserves, but I think it adds to the slight jarring between the first three sections and the last one. As I say, on the whole I enjoyed the game.
Puzzles wise, I didn’t have too much trouble with the puzzles in the last section, although I have to admit that I trial and errored which way around the 3 stone plates went at the first door. Not saying that there wasn’t a clue somewhere, but… well… there were only three of them!
It’s been an enjoyable playthrough, thanks Sylv for leading!
3.5 time winner of the “Really Annoying Caption Contest Saboteur” Award!
Go to the 2 hr and 23 min mark.
Thanks. I was thinking of another scene with a man and a woman. Easy to forget small details that don’t make sense at the time. I may be making too much of this but I don’t find it a very satisfactory explanation. To me the milkman event feels weird and tagged on.
Sometimes, when I clean the rooms, I get a little curious and… erm… you know… snoop through our guests’s stuff. - This Bed We Made
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