Adventure Gamers - Forums

I did a replay already and now I get what the deal with “needing replays” means. It is not needed per se, but yeah, just playing it once might result in an unsatisfying ending in more ways than one.

I was quite underwhelmed by my first ending. I didn’t think it really fit. My second one was definitely better but it lacked the confrontation with the killer which I had on my first playthrough.

I’m still holding back some things and waiting until people are finished, and one big revelation about the game will probably present itself here. I don’t want to spoil it.

millenia - 11 April 2022 09:09 AM

I did a replay already and now I get what the deal with “needing replays” means. It is not needed per se, but yeah, just playing it once might result in an unsatisfying ending in more ways than one.

I was quite underwhelmed by my first ending. I didn’t think it really fit. My second one was definitely better but it lacked the confrontation with the killer which I had on my first playthrough.

I’m still holding back some things and waiting until people are finished, and one big revelation about the game will probably present itself here. I don’t want to spoil it.

This is one of my favorite FMV games, but I also think the ending could be stronger. All my FMV games I replay, as this is part of the fun of these games.

Anyway, mods feel free to unhook this game. As usual, please continue to play and post your thoughts, good or bad.

The nice part of these CPTs is the variety, we do classics as well as new releases.

Finally, this game is a bargain at 5 bucks.

Yes, I’d like to read some final thoughts. I got my first ending, I’m giving it another go later this week.

One thing that made me feel a bit underwhelmed about the ending was (vague spoilers)how much they built up the whole traveler thing, and in the end, I think no matter what ending you get, the theories are a bit off. I think some endings fit much better than others, but I don’t see anything happening that would make it fit nicely.

Certainly everything doesn’t need to fit nicely, but it creates even more confusion in the first playthrough.

There are still some things I want to try out, and probably will, while waiting for others to finish.

I just finished the game.

I clocked over 6 hours, but more than one hour of that was listening to the “Dark Nights with Poe and Munro” show.

I correctly picked the killer, it was Rayne in this playthrough, but unfortunately Ellis died. I did get augmented at the end, though.

Despite the fact that the entire gameplay feels underwhelming - it was just me going through the motions of shapeshifting into everybody and talking to everybody about everything each time - and that the ending feels rushed (no explanation about the traveller? Or about us for that matter?), I do feel like the game deserves a replay where I try a few things differently, just to see what changes, and if I get a bit more out of it or not.

Overall it’s not a bad game. The acting is solid enough, the camera work is good (except for a few shots when people aren’t there - Rayne’s couch is *very* out of focus), but I kinda wish there was a little more to the gameplay. Or at least that I felt like I had a slightly better handle on things. Like I said: most of the game I was just going through the motions…

But, hey, I’ll definitely be giving this a replay, so who knows?

Was not playing this CPT, but am curious how long until it concludes. One week? Two weeks?

rtrooney - 11 April 2022 09:53 PM

Was not playing this CPT, but am curious how long until it concludes. One week? Two weeks?

I’d say one week should do it.

TimovieMan - 11 April 2022 06:31 PM

I just finished the game.

I clocked over 6 hours, but more than one hour of that was listening to the “Dark Nights with Poe and Munro” show.

I correctly picked the killer, it was Rayne in this playthrough, but unfortunately Ellis died. I did get augmented at the end, though.

Despite the fact that the entire gameplay feels underwhelming - it was just me going through the motions of shapeshifting into everybody and talking to everybody about everything each time - and that the ending feels rushed (no explanation about the traveller? Or about us for that matter?), I do feel like the game deserves a replay where I try a few things differently, just to see what changes, and if I get a bit more out of it or not.

Overall it’s not a bad game. The acting is solid enough, the camera work is good (except for a few shots when people aren’t there - Rayne’s couch is *very* out of focus), but I kinda wish there was a little more to the gameplay. Or at least that I felt like I had a slightly better handle on things. Like I said: most of the game I was just going through the motions…

But, hey, I’ll definitely be giving this a replay, so who knows?

I think this is a fair review. I liked the game, a lot actually, I might say. But your assessment is on point.

MAJOR SPOILERS HERE:

About the ending, first time I didn’t pick the right killer. I had no idea there could be different killers in different playthroughs, that actually blew my mind a bit. So I felt it was actually kind of cool to be caught by them. And I didn’t even die.

But my killer was Zak, who was super duper creepy but I didn’t feel like he fit in the traveler theory at all.

With all the shadiness with Violet, I though Zak was the red herring and Violet the real killer. Zak being the actual killer seemed to me, that he started seeing things in photos and went off the rails, being quite a misogynist bastard in the begin with. After knowing about multiple possible killers and how the travelers are not really the main plotline, it was obvious that it was Zak.

edit. I forgot one thing, added it here because it’s about the paragraph above.
One more reason I didn’t pick Zak as the killer was that I thought Lexie had him handled. I asked Lexie to investigate him, and talked about restraining the traveler. When Zak disappeared, I though Lexie had tied him up somewhere.
/edit

The second time I got the killer right, and while the story seemed to fit better, it was quite anticlimatic that the killer being jailed just disappeared and that was it.

Btw, I liked how after two female characters come on to Sam really strong, it’s actually possible to show interest towards Rayne in the end.

chrissie - 12 April 2022 06:21 AM

It seems that towards the end of the game Sam always becomes either the second or 3rd victim so is Sam a redhead too?

Haha, I didn’t think of that. But I don’t think the whole red head motive is actually proven.

chrissie - 12 April 2022 06:21 AM

Is it that the perpetrators who seem to be either Zak, Rayne or Violet each time are not responsible as they are just the host bodies & they are in particular used due to strong emotions perceived by the travellers such as misogyny. hatred, previous conviction used as faux motives along with the gold coins to hide their identity from perhaps Sam as I’m convinced that they are the real reason Sam is there & a reason why he/she may choose to go with them?

Personally I don’t buy that Zak was a traveler. They should be hiding their identity, and he’s revealing the whole “pictures move” thing, and seems to be genuinely upset about it. Also, in my ending he seemed to really freak out about Sam’s shifting. I mean, it’s not completely impossible that he’s acting for some reason, but it just doesn’t fit.

Violet on the other hand could be a traveler. There’s the same problem about “why raise suspicions with the alien abduction story”, but I think that’s easily explained with the Rayne’s theory that traveler was “window shopping”. Violet told others about the experience before she became the traveler fully, so she couldn’t pretend nothing had ever happened.

The bigger issue thinking that if Zak and Violet were travelers in their respective attempted killing sprees is their emotional state. If the travelers are sneaky things with plans - as hiding their identity would suggest - why are they acting so emotionally? If it’s a cover of some sort, wouldn’t a better cover be to remain cool in the begin with? Do they actually want to get caught? To me, it felt more like maybe the travelers were messing with their heads but never actually took over completely.

Both Zak and Violet had real personal motives for choosing their victims too. Maybe that’s how travelers work though, they pick a person that has the desire to hurt the intended victims?

I wasn’t a big fan of the victims either, to be honest
Nothing wrong with active sex lives, but both were intentionally misleading their partners, and it seems, actively hunting opportunities to cheat. And then “oh no, I can’t possibly think of any reason why anyone would have wanted to hurt me “.

I have not yet played a route with the third killer, so I’m not sure how it will fit with everything I wrote here. I think I’ll check it out too, just to see if I can still hit on him .

chrissie - 12 April 2022 01:03 PM

No, perhaps not proven exactly but in my second playthrough Ellis Munroe was the second redhead to be murdered & Victoria, if I recall correctly, was concerned about herself.
This combined with the revelations of the tarot readers about the power of number 3 & events in Birmingham if you believe in the story about the travellers makes sense otherwise it could also make sense if you believe it’s the work of a serial killer. I think it depends on what information you glean & that does seem to vary on subsequent playthroughs for different players depending on choices although I think that the details are the same regardless of who the perpetrator is in each case.

Oh I believe there would be 3 victims, and the whole red head thing is heavily implied in several places (at one point speaking with Rayne if I remember correctly, there is a small debate where the player - as who I don’t recall - can doubt the whole red head thing and Rayne disagrees.) The whole red head motive is so spoonfed to the player, I just started to doubt it myself. When something is treated as obvious, it might not be. And in the end, there is no actual confirmation than it would be the reason for picking the victims. Dorota and Ellis have a lot in common otherwise too.

chrissie - 12 April 2022 01:03 PM

millenia - 12 April 2022 10:18 AM

Both Zak and Violet had real personal motives for choosing their victims too. Maybe that’s how travelers work though, they pick a person that has the desire to hurt the intended victims?

Yes!!!! (But they wouldn’t actually do any serious harm if it wasn’t for the travellers ‘infesting’ them)

I agree, they dislike the victims or even hold a grudge, but they needed to be influenced to pass the barrier of killing.

chrissie - 12 April 2022 01:03 PM

Poe doesn’t get off too lightly there either! 

Yeah, another douche there, but no one tried to kill him. And he’s really trying to paint it nicely, with the most usual and lamest excuses of all cheaters everywhere.

chrissie - 12 April 2022 01:03 PM

I’ve enjoyed reading your thoughts millenia & I’m sorry as I realise I didn’t express myself too well in the first place! We do seem to be more or less on the same page.

Good to have a partner for theorizing. And I’m at least presenting many ideas here that even contradict each other, so it’s no wonder if something gets miscommunicated.

Another long discussion would be the guilty pleasure and ethics about pretending to be someone else and prying confidential information from others. There are many places in the game where the player can behave rather horribly and/or silly. Several playthroughs work well with this one, one can try out all the stupid things like introducing yourself to Oscar as a shapeshifting detective or sleazeballing as Zak so that you get punched in the face.