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Casual Game Playthrough #12 - Surface: The Noise She Couldn’t Make

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rtrooney - 03 September 2015 07:42 PM

I managed to squeeze in some time today and finished the current part. Actually I think I went past the stop point by one move. I put the key in the flying machine, and was taken to a new location with a blank map.

Most of the puzzles were fairly simple. But the “Diamond” puzzle in the Hall of Wind drove me nuts!

This seems to be the last episode. Post the finish date for this one if you have a chance. Not sure when I’ll be able to get back to it. Certainly not before late Saturday non-AG time.

Did you finish the Diamond puzzle or skip it? I only tried until the skip button came up and then I skipped it immediately because I knew I was getting no where.

     
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rtrooney - 03 September 2015 07:42 PM

Most of the puzzles were fairly simple. But the “Diamond” puzzle in the Hall of Wind drove me nuts!

Me too!

No matter how much I tried, then I simply couldn’t get that very last piece in the right position

But I found the rest of the puzzles to be fairly easy and fast to solve.

rtrooney - 03 September 2015 07:42 PM

Actually I think I went past the stop point by one move. I put the key in the flying machine, and was taken to a new location with a blank map.

Me too Meh It felt like the natural thing to do, and it was only when I checked that I realised I had gone a bit too far.

Story wise there isn’t much to add, we get a little bit more information on noise and what is happening, or rather what the psychic thinks noise is and his interpretation of what is happening, but nothing new. Visually it is however still beautiful, and the whole concept where things are more a representation of something else, than the actual things we see, is still an interesting concept.

I however can’t help wishing that they had gone a bit further, and made the whole place like a Salvador Dali painting, or perhaps a like an M.C. Escher drawing. I’m probably asking for too much now, but it would have been a nice touch, and given it that extra something to emphasize that we are messing around inside somebody’s head.

     

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

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Finished the third section. Like Tim and Izno, I’ve also played a tiny bit further than the ending point because I only stopped when I reached the next section.


It’s looking more and more psychological instead of supernatural, so we may indeed have a case of dissociative identity disorder where the secondary personality tries to take over the main one. How the medical conditions work exactly is a mystery, though, as is what really happened with the dog. Is he still alive, or is our Jane Doe’s memory of him strong enough for the dog to act as some sort of guide for us?


I’m really liking the game so far. If this is kept up, it’ll be among my favourite casuals yet. Possibly my second-favourite after Enigmatis: Mists of Ravenwood. Cool

Iznogood - 04 September 2015 05:16 AM

No matter how much I tried, then I simply couldn’t get that very last piece in the right position

You left the wrong piece for last. Wink

I think the trick is to leave one of the middle ones for last, so you can take the one next to it out, and then circumnavigate the diamond to flip the piece. A full tour around the diamond leaves you in the same direction, but with the piece next to it out, you make an additional turn. And with the middle ones being interchangeable, you have an additional position that’ll fit as well (so it’ll take less tries to align the last piece correctly).

That’s how I solved it, anyway.

Still haven’t skipped a single puzzle in ANY of the CPTs. Cool

I however can’t help wishing that they had gone a bit further, and made the whole place like a Salvador Dali painting, or perhaps a like an M.C. Escher drawing. I’m probably asking for too much now, but it would have been a nice touch, and given it that extra something to emphasize that we are messing around inside somebody’s head.

Ooh, I like this idea! Thumbs Up

     

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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I skipped the diamond puzzle as well. Congrats to Timm for figuring it out!

I think this level was my favorite. I loved the sand river environment, and also the idea of finding instruments to be played in an ensemble.

I resisted picking up the key at the end. It was tough. But I resisted.  Innocent

     
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TimovieMan - 04 September 2015 06:34 AM

I however can’t help wishing that they had gone a bit further, and made the whole place like a Salvador Dali painting, or perhaps a like an M.C. Escher drawing. I’m probably asking for too much now, but it would have been a nice touch, and given it that extra something to emphasize that we are messing around inside somebody’s head.

Ooh, I like this idea! Thumbs Up

Me too!

Becky - 04 September 2015 08:40 AM

I skipped the diamond puzzle as well. Congrats to Timm for figuring it out!

I think this level was my favorite. I loved the sand river environment, and also the idea of finding instruments to be played in an ensemble.

I resisted picking up the key at the end. It was tough. But I resisted.  Innocent

I couldn’t be bothered with the diamond puzzle either!

Yes, this is my favourite chapter so far also with some lovely & unusual scenes less reminiscent of those graphically beautiful ones in the earlier chapters that are so typical of the style in many casual games. I also loved adding to the musicians’ ensemble!

I felt that the chapter had a very serene feel to it containing a little more symbolism than previous chapters including as well as Lady Kestrel’s wonderful comment about the “parched landscape of the poor girl’s mind”, needing to pull out the nails from the suffering tree, & the presence of the dead soldier who fell victim to the power of Noise. Also the sand-river with the cute cat & the lovely sand-dolphins along with the structures seem to represent a scene so fragile that could easily be destroyed. 


Chapter 4:  Nightmares

Sorry I’m a little late! but please now feel free to complete the game over the next few days! NB It really doesn’t matter if you over-shot a little!  Laughing

     
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I really liked the music as I found each of the instruments.  Most of the scenes just had ambient noise, so the music stood out more. 

I solved the diamond puzzle, too.

     

Carpe chocolate.

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Lady Kestrel - 04 September 2015 03:29 PM

I solved the diamond puzzle, too.

Same method as I used?

     

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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TimovieMan - 04 September 2015 04:48 PM

Same method as I used?

Yes, I remember thinking an odd number of flips would do it, so I moved a piece out and it worked.

I just finished the game (standard edition).  I don’t remember the ending being so abrupt.  I solved the last puzzle and then the credits started.  I’ll be anxious to hear if this happens to anyone else or if it’s just a glitch in my game.

     

Carpe chocolate.

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Lady Kestrel - 04 September 2015 07:06 PM
TimovieMan - 04 September 2015 04:48 PM

Same method as I used?

Yes, I remember thinking an odd number of flips would do it, so I moved a piece out and it worked.

I just finished the game (standard edition).  I don’t remember the ending being so abrupt.  I solved the last puzzle and then the credits started.  I’ll be anxious to hear if this happens to anyone else or if it’s just a glitch in my game.


Kudos to you and Timovieman for solving it by thinking it through first. That one drove me nuts.

It sounds like you had a glitch in the game. I had the SE as well and after the puzzle there was a fairly lengthy cutscene. At least one.

I had a bit of a problem with the death of Noise. It seems to me Liza could use a smidgin of Noise in her, just not that much.

     
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I thought there was a final cut scene.  Unfortunately, I’d have to replay the whole game to see it unless it’s on Youtube. Meh

     

Carpe chocolate.

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Lady Kestrel - 04 September 2015 09:17 PM

I thought there was a final cut scene.  Unfortunately, I’d have to replay the whole game to see it unless it’s on Youtube. Meh

Maybe this’ll help?

I haven’t checked the vid, since I want to avoid spoilers, but it’s the final part of a let’s play so it should contain the ending cutscene.

     

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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I have just finished it, and I have to say I’m a bit disappointed with how everything turned out Meh

It seemed that it was a classical case of split personality. Liza/Jane had some trouble in her life that she herself was too goodhearted or cowardly to deal with, so an alternate more aggressive and violent personality is created to deal with those problem and to protect her (similar to Sméagol/Gollum). So far so good - but this doesn’t explain why she ends up in a coma, or all the other medical symptoms she goes through during the game, in fact the game offers no explanation whatsoever for this. Pan
You don’t simply end up in a coma because one of your two personalities are mad at the other, in a catatonic state, perhaps, at least that would have been plausible, but this simply isn’t plausible at all.

Also and more importantly, I found the whole ending to be very .. eh .. tame, I think tame is the right word.
She has an uncle, that is apparently treating her badly and is a monster - BUT we are never told what he has actually done that is so terrible, it only mentions something about an inheritance that he wants to put his greedy hands on.
She is found in the woods with a bloody knife in her hand, and Noise indeed tried to make her kill her uncle - BUT despite Noise, she couldn’t go through with it, and she only gave him a small scratch.
Her uncle had to get rid of her dog - BUT he didn’t kill it, he only gave it some tranquillizer and chained it up.
In the end the dog attacks her uncle - BUT it doesn’t rip out his throat, just bites him in the arm.

It is like they had originally planned for something much darker, and then they chickened out and decided to make it more kid friendly instead - or perhaps it is just me that was hoping for something darker?
Either way, I’m not a big fan of the ending. I still think that it had an interesting concept, and that it isn’t a bad game overall, but it could have been more than what it was.

     

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

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I just finished too.

I think it’s okay to leave the uncle’s evil deeds up to the player’s imagination. It’s enough to see what he did to the dog to give an indication of what he’s capable of. As for Liza (and they really ought to get straight how to pronounce her name), this conflict was going on for a long time—Noise was just the latest manifestation. She was emotionally and psychologically exhausted, and had reached the point where she was capable of injuring herself. She thought she deserved to burn, etc., and her mind was strong enough to force her body to cooperate. She had just attacked her uncle with a knife—there was a lot of blood on the blade for “just a scratch”—and she realized that she was fully capable of killing him the next time she saw him—if he didn’t kill her first. If the psychic hadn’t rescued her, she probably would have “disappeared.”

I agree the ending was abrupt. 

Re: puzzles in this section—I thought the discovery of the name would involve some sort of alphabet puzzle. I was surprised when it didn’t. I think it would have been fun if the psychic had been able to use what he learned in the girl’s mind to draw a map to find the hut.

It was nice to finally see the nurse’s face.  Cool

     
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TimovieMan - 05 September 2015 02:19 AM

Maybe this’ll help?

I haven’t checked the vid, since I want to avoid spoilers, but it’s the final part of a let’s play so it should contain the ending cutscene.

Thanks, Timo!  I do remember the video now that I’ve viewed it.  Byron to the rescue! Thumbs Up

By the way, I liked the guy who did the playthrough for this one.  So often they’re such jerks, but his delivery was just right.

     

Carpe chocolate.

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Lady Kestrel - 04 September 2015 09:17 PM

I thought there was a final cut scene.  Unfortunately, I’d have to replay the whole game to see it unless it’s on Youtube. Meh

You got off light there Lady Kestrel ! because I tried to replay Chapter 4 earlier, it froze & on getting the game back I was thrown back to the beginning of the game on all of the profiles I’d set up bar one which just took me to the end of the bonus chapter (aaaaaagh!)  Luckily I’d captured some screenshots on previous playthroughs which I will post in a few days when everyone seems to be finished. 

There are some interesting thoughts so far:

Iznogood - 05 September 2015 07:43 AM

It seemed that it was a classical case of split personality. Liza/Jane had some trouble in her life that she herself was too goodhearted or cowardly to deal with, so an alternate more aggressive and violent personality is created to deal with those problem and to protect her (similar to Sméagol/Gollum). So far so good - but this doesn’t explain why she ends up in a coma, or all the other medical symptoms she goes through during the game, in fact the game offers no explanation whatsoever for this. Pan
You don’t simply end up in a coma because one of your two personalities are mad at the other, in a catatonic state, perhaps, at least that would have been plausible, but this simply isn’t plausible at all.

Becky - 05 September 2015 09:49 AM

I think it’s okay to leave the uncle’s evil deeds up to the player’s imagination. It’s enough to see what he did to the dog to give an indication of what he’s capable of. As for Liza (and they really ought to get straight how to pronounce her name), this conflict was going on for a long time—Noise was just the latest manifestation. She was emotionally and psychologically exhausted, and had reached the point where she was capable of injuring herself. She thought she deserved to burn, etc., and her mind was strong enough to force her body to cooperate. She had just attacked her uncle with a knife—there was a lot of blood on the blade for “just a scratch”—and she realized that she was fully capable of killing him the next time she saw him—if he didn’t kill her first. If the psychic hadn’t rescued her, she probably would have “disappeared.”

Liza’s guardian from a young age has been her uncle, described as a monster so I agree with Becky that you don’t need to know the details, but obviously Liza has lived in abject fear of him for a number of years aware that he is only interested in her inheritance that she feels puts her in danger before she’s due to receive it when she reaches 21!
That’s a lot of duress for anyone to endure for so many years (let alone someone so young & from childhood) so it’s not surprising that Liza developed mental problems,  got to the point where she felt weak & conjured up a stronger manifestation of herself in the form of Noise but didn’t like that other side of her & battles with it. As for the coma – I think it’s possible for the body of someone in psychological conflict,  living with abuse & terror for so long to eventually shut down – there’s also the possibility that this only happened after Liza was shocked at the attempt to kill her uncle & only scratched him, also that Noise only manifested after this event?
 

Sorry Izno but I can’t find any comparison to Smeagol/ Gollum as to me they’re not really alter egos/split personalities & an example of non-reversible transformation, like the Dark Riders, in a fantasy world.  

Yes, I did find the ending a little abrupt but a good one!    

 

     

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