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Let’s Play: Paradise aka Last King of Africa   ***SPOILERS***

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While waiting to see how Malkia gets out of the current jam, here is another little thought.

Malkia started her journey on an airplane - which crashed.

She continued her journey in an old truck - which crashed.

A cart pulled by a gazeline - which crashed.

And finally an elephant - which lead her into an ambush.


Do you see a pattern here?
And no, I’m not talking about her many mishaps here, that is just a repetitive plot element to make sure that she stops and stays for a while at the different locations, kind of like the rewinding of the springs in the train at the different stations in Syberia.

What I’m talking about is how her means of transportation becomes increasingly more primitive, the further into the story we get. I’m sure there is an allegorical meaning to this, that it mirrors that Malkia is becoming more and more .. primitive is not the right word .. but loosing her layers of civilization and getting back to basics in her way of thinking. Becoming more and more a princess of Maurania and less and less a European university student.

It could of course also symbolize that the story itself is becoming more and more primitive and brutal, but I think it mainly relates to Malkia. Either way, regardless of the actual meaning, the symbolism is rather obvious.

     

You have to play the game, to find out why you are playing the game! - eXistenZ

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Do you see a pattern here?

Now that U point it out, yes.

However, like Syberia it is a tolerable plot devise to march the game forward and allow us time to solve puzzles!

Smile

 

     

I enjoy playing adventure games on my Alienware M17 r4 and my Nintendo Switch OLED.

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Chapter 4 - The Black Vault

So Malkia has been caught by the rebels and has been put in a cage.

He does, but he doesn’t care one bit.
I guess we have to persuade him a bit.
Hmm… a beehive hanging right over his head and a cage that we can swing from side to side

*Mwahaahaaa*

So it turns out that Malkia is in fact one of the leaders of the revolution!

Well perhaps not one of the actual leaders, but at least she helped inspire Conrad to start the revolution, and agreed with him about how to solve all the problems in Maurania, while they were both sitting safely in Geneva studying their books.

***
This kind of reminds of a quote from Graham Green’s brilliant book The Quiet American:

Perhaps only ten days ago he had been walking back across the Common in Boston, his arms full of the books he had been reading in advance on the Far East and the problems of China. He didn’t even hear what I said; he was absorbed already in the dilemmas of Democracy and the responsibilities of the West; he was determined — I learnt that very soon — to do good, not to any individual person but to a country, a continent, a world. Well, he was in his element now with the whole universe to improve.

And we all know how that turned out, don’t we?
***

It also raises the question of why Malkia came to Maurania in the first place?
Apparently her father was expecting her and looking forward to seeing her again, but if she was supporting the revolution, then there would most likely had been more to this then simply a long lost daughter wanting to reunite with her father. We also know that Conrad had told her to stay in Geneva, so she obviously also didn’t come to see her father on behalf of the rebels. Her motives for coming here is still somewhat unclear to me.

Either way, just because she supported the revolution while she was at university in Geneva, then things have changed now. Not just because of her amnesia, but more because of the whole journey she has made through the country, which have changed her perspective on things - At least I assume it has .. it ought to have changed her perspective on things.

So he wants Malkia to storm the boat like a one man women commando team, stop the drums that are scaring his soldiers, so he can get them to storm the boat, and if possible persuade King Rodan to surrender himself without a fight! Anything else I can do for you?

We might as well take a peak at the documents on his desk, now that we are here.

It doesn’t seem like he has as much control over his soldiers as he would like to have, nor that the rebels are much better than the kings soldiers, despite of Siri’s best intentions.

I hope that Aicha and her brother are okay?!

Lets explore the place.

And perhaps pick up a few useful items here and there.

I also find it unrealistic that Rodan should just surrender himself.

Easy enough.
Luckily the guard isn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer, otherwise I don’t think he would just let us give the items to the prisoner.

And a few blow-darts later.

The guard is down (I hope he is just unconscious and not dead), and we can steal his knife and release the sorcerer.

And after a little climbing puzzle…

     

You have to play the game, to find out why you are playing the game! - eXistenZ

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Hmm… a beehive hanging right over his head and a cage that we can swing from side to side

This is where the PC version I played encountered a bug and froze. Good thing I’m playing the game on the Nintendo DS. Although latter PC versions of the game may not encounter this bug.

For me, the game gets much more interesting from this point on.

Smile

     

I enjoy playing adventure games on my Alienware M17 r4 and my Nintendo Switch OLED.

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Mikekelly - 15 March 2015 09:27 AM

This is where the PC version I played encountered a bug and froze. Good thing I’m playing the game on the Nintendo DS. Although latter PC versions of the game may not encounter this bug.

I haven’t encountered a single bug in the game so far, a small glitch here and there perhaps, but not any outright bugs.

Mikekelly - 15 March 2015 09:27 AM

For me, the game gets much more interesting from this point on.

Since we are reaching the climax of the game, then that is hardly surprising Wink But for me, the strength of this game lays just as much in all the small details, like the letters on Siri’s desk, and the whole journey leading up to the climax.

     

You have to play the game, to find out why you are playing the game! - eXistenZ

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... we finally get onboard the Black Vault.

A flare grenade in case of an emergency.

A dead end - hmmm

5 minutes later I finally found an easy to miss exit.

Where there is an active guntower firing shells at the rebels.
I thought they said that all the soldiers had left, and that Rodan was alone on the ship - I guess not!

Monkeys

I guess monkeys playing with a loaded cannon counts as an emergency, so time to put our flare grenade to good use.

But perhaps we can use the cannon to remove some of the obstacles in our way - without sinking the ship at the same time.

One ventilations shaft blasted away, gives us access to the inside.
Okay, we could probably have accomplished the same by simply removing the grating with a screwdriver, but this is much more fun.

Lets explore the place.

Some machinery that can be operated, lets get back to this later.

More machinery.

That’s the second biggest monkey head I’ve ever seen Wink

And there is some kind of feeder system attached to it, I bet this is the boiler for the steam engine.

Uh-Oh we are taking in water.

So I guess we have to get the engine up and running, so we can pump out the water, before we can continue - or perhaps simply cut the electricity?

That seems to be what parts of the ship we have access to right now. Time to figure out how to pump that water out.

     

You have to play the game, to find out why you are playing the game! - eXistenZ

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I haven’t encountered a single bug in the game so far, a small glitch here and there perhaps, but not any outright bugs.

That’s amazing - and very good news.

Here’s one quote from a review:

“Even with the patches stil bugs. Bad bugs. A real disappointment if you compare it with the other Sokal games.”

Heart Eyes

     

I enjoy playing adventure games on my Alienware M17 r4 and my Nintendo Switch OLED.

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Tingle a bit with the controls.

And we fill a cart with coal.

Tingle a bit more, and the coal is feed to the monkey.

Add gasoline and fire to the automaton.

And he turns into a fire breather.

And lights the boiler for us.

Thereby turning on the engines.

A bit more tingling, this time with the pump controls.

And the water is drained, and we can continue our journey through this gigantic ship.

Ahhh… that explains everything.
As a sorcerer you can just magically teleport yourself, and you didn’t actually need my help to get out of the cage .. or perhaps you just knew a shortcut in here, but want to keep an aura of mystery around you.

I guess it was too much to expect, that he would just help us without asking for anything in return.

Sounds ominous.

So Malkia’s mother is French and is still alive.
I was already fairly certain that she was European, but I kind of suspected that her mother might have been dead, and that had something to do with Malkia wanting to visit her father, but that is not the case.

Not exactly a cargo hold filled to the brim with emeralds and other treasure, like the rumours say, but I’m sure this is just or perhaps even more valuable, and probably far more useful in the long run.

Sounds like the old king is loosing his mind and going more and more mad.

So Mr. Gretzelburg doesn’t like it here in Maurania, and would much rather be any place that is not here! Surely that is some information that we can use to our advantage, especially since he won’t let us touch or look at anything.

A telephone.

And a number, better write it down, we might need it later.

Hmmm that telephone gives me an idea. Lets give Siri a call on the walkie-talkie.

So now Malkia is giving Siri orders!
A nice change from everything leading up to this, and perhaps a sign that she is becoming more assertive.

A phone call later, out plan works and we have the place all to ourself.

Take the medallion from the statue of Rodan.

And use it on the door to the treasure room.

Creepy perhaps but brilliant.
Everybody expected Rodan to all sorts of treasure in the form of emeralds and gold, but he is much smarter than that. Instead we first find an archive with records of everything, to keep the population in control and rule the country through modern means, and then a collection of voodoo paraphernalia to control the population through more.. eh.. traditional means. You can say a lot of things about Rodan, but he is not a fool.

The voodoo doll that Wamganga wanted, plus several other dolls most like representing other tribes, a bond certificate and a small safe formed as a voodoo doll.

Unfortunately our little trick only fooled Mr. Gretzelburg for a short while, and now he is pointing a gun at us.

Hmm.. that voodoo doll shaped as a safe, I wonder who that represents?

A bit of pyromania Tongue

And Mr. Gretzelburg runs away screaming in pain Naughty

Give the doll to Wamganga - he didn’t even thank us!
I think we are done here, so lets take the elevator to the next level and explore more of the ship.

     

You have to play the game, to find out why you are playing the game! - eXistenZ

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TimovieMan - 23 February 2015 06:42 AM

The game is certainly beautiful, like Syberia, but boy did I find it dull.

That’s exactly my thoughts for the game! Couldn’t have put it better!

     
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scorp18 - 16 March 2015 03:35 PM
TimovieMan - 23 February 2015 06:42 AM

The game is certainly beautiful, like Syberia, but boy did I find it dull.

That’s exactly my thoughts for the game! Couldn’t have put it better!

I only played the beginning (the first couple of hours) until I hit a game-breaking bug.

I think this ‘Let’s Play’ is proving that the game picks up after the earlier parts…




This ship makes it *very* obvious that this is a Sokal game. That boiler ignition system looks like it was designed by Hans Voralberg… Tongue

     

The truth can’t hurt you, it’s just like the dark: it scares you witless but in time you see things clear and stark. - Elvis Costello
Maybe this time I can be strong, but since I know who I am, I’m probably wrong. Maybe this time I can go far, but thinking about where I’ve been ain’t helping me start. - Michael Kiwanuka

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Well, I’ve finished the game (had a couple of bugs too) but the story never got interesting for me. It was just nicely painted backgrounds (very Syberi-ish indeed) and riddles. But the story? I’m sorry, just not my type. The only reason I finished the game (me and my wife actually) is that I don’t like leaving games unfinished.

     
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@scorp18: You don’t like the story or the way the Sokal tells it, fair enough, taste differs. But reduce it to “It was just nicely painted backgrounds and riddles”, that is like saying that “The Longest Journey has a lot of dialogue but little else” or that “Grim Fandango has some interesting characters but no story or humour”.

Also everybody including me, already knows that this is not the most popular game, and as I said in the opening post, I don’t want this Let’s Play to turn into a discussion about how much people dislike it, so please respect that.

     

You have to play the game, to find out why you are playing the game! - eXistenZ

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Iznogood - 16 March 2015 07:56 PM

@scorp18: You don’t like the story or the way the Sokal tells it, fair enough, taste differs. But reduce it to “It was just nicely painted backgrounds and riddles”, that is like saying that “The Longest Journey has a lot of dialogue but little else” or that “Grim Fandango has some interesting characters but no story or humour”.

Also everybody including me, already knows that this is not the most popular game, and as I said in the opening post, I don’t want this Let’s Play to turn into a discussion about how much people dislike it, so please respect that.

Funny thing is that I’m playing The Longest Journey these days. It has some looooong dialogues indeed but I wouldn’t consider them among the game’s pluses.
Don’t get me wrong though. I don’t dislike the game. I just didn’t find its story very interesting. But I’ll stop right now so the topic will go on as you intended it to do. No hard feelings I hope! Pan  Laughing

     
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scorp18 - 16 March 2015 08:23 PM

No hard feelings I hope!

Not at all, and I probably overreacted a bit. I do welcome comments, but I just don’t want it to turn into a good game / bad game discussion.

     

You have to play the game, to find out why you are playing the game! - eXistenZ

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Next deck.

So her father left it exactly like it was when she left as a 6 year old. I guess he can’t be all bad then.

Locked of course, and no one can hear her knocking with all the noise from the drums.

Lets leave that for now, and explore other areas of this deck.

More monkeys blocking our path.

I guess they didn’t like a steam bath Naughty

And our old friend the snake is back, or perhaps it is a different snake, either way once again our path is blocked - Lets try a different door.

OH NO - Somebody has shot our leopard!

And wasn’t Wamganga just on the other deck a few seconds ago, how did he get here so fast? Yeah I know he is a sorcerer, but this is never the less starting to feel like Creepy Watson.

Not that I’m not glad he is here, I am, he can probably help the leopard, and he has already prepared something with the candles and everything.

Under Wamganga’s guidance we start the voodoo ritual.

Luckily I already raided the treasure room for voodoo paraphernalia, so I’m well prepared.

Our childhood doll of course.

Don’t they always Shifty Eyed
Not that I’m accusing Wamganga of pocketing the money for himself, I’m sure it’s an important part of the ritual.

Oh - So it’s not all voodoo.
Still I’m sure medicine alone wouldn’t have been enough, now we just need to find it.

He kindly takes care of the snake for us, again.

And we are off to find some medicine.

A key card, even though I don’t know what it is for yet, then I’m sure it will come in handy.

Except one of those pesky monkeys immediately steals it from us.

Well I haven’t got time to chase down a kleptomaniac monkey right not, there is more pressing matters.

There is also a first aid kit here, with everything that we need.

And now that the crisis has been averted, it is time to explore the rest of this deck.

Okay I admit it, I didn’t went straight for first aid kid, I had to tumble around quite a bit before I found it. But that is one of the advantage of pictures instead of video, it is easier to edit so that it looks like I know exactly what I’m doing Wink

     

You have to play the game, to find out why you are playing the game! - eXistenZ

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