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AG Community Playthrough #41: Kathy Rain
Just a few more thoughts & a lot of wild ramblings! 
About the Red Man/Crimson One apparently a collector of souls & a prophet for the Church of the Holy Trinity? The bible pages have a note suggesting FB (Father Bill) is one of the worthy but the damned seem to include JC (Jimmy Cochran), LM (Lily Myers) & JR (Joseph Rain)
On Day 3 the Red Man tells Kathy referring to Lily:
“She’s the anomaly, the missing refrain. The convergence point of things past, and events yet to happen.” (That reminded me of Lord of the Rings!) Did he say that because Lily, according to Nathan & told to him by the Red Man, would not take the medicine? Does that mean she wouldn’t inhale the red scythe flower and/or confront her own demons & just went ahead & chose her own fate & doesn’t deserve to be included amongst the damned as she did appear as a spirit guide on Day 5.
Jimmy Cochran referred to her as the Chronicler. Lily seemed to have painted ‘visionary’ pictures of things that happened notably of Nathan drowning her but at her instigation – I believe he didn’t know better. Another picture she’d painted when she was very depressed was of a scene of the 3 lights hovering above the lake with a hand from the water reaching up to them which I believe is hers – the forest in the background is burning & I think this shows the scene many years later after Kathy set fire to the flowers in the woods. The advise to “burn them all” BTW reminded me of Game of Thrones! 
Did the 3 lights just appear to people who were depressed and/or in a personal turmoil (except for Nathan)?
As for the Red Man a thought was that the game has a supernatural element in that he is an actual physical manifestation (& therefore now exists) of a figment of Nathan’s imagination whom he met in the woods at a very young age which at the time was full of the red scythe flowers growing in abundance which made him hallucinate? But because of his innocence he’s unaffected by the range of emotions that can affect others. Interestingly the Red Man also has or had a shadow-self to battle with & chooses to have a colour as he lost his name???????
No, nothing completely clicks at the mo!
NB Don’t get me wrong, I LOVED the game!
EDIT Just one more thing for now: How did Isaac know about Lily’s paintings & which one was he looking for - if the ‘drowning’ why????
This is just wild speculation, but there was a point in the game when the Red Man mentions the powers watching from above. It popped into my mind that he might have been talking about an alien mother ship somewhere above Earth.
“Rainy days should be spent at home with a cup of tea and a good book.” -Bill Watterson
This is just wild speculation, but there was a point in the game when the Red Man mentions the powers watching from above. It popped into my mind that he might have been talking about an alien mother ship somewhere above Earth.
Was it Goober? when Kathy asked him about what he thought happened to her grandfather said that he was abducted by aliens!
Just to add, when I first saw the enhanced photo of the 3 lights I did think aliens? So maybe going down the path of psychological is the wrong one? And an outside influence would make more sense in many if perhaps not all ways.
No, it wasn’t Goober’s comment but something that the Crimson Man said in Day 5. When he mentions the old God, I’m wondering if it could be someone from an alien race who wants to see if humans can be influenced to get rid of their “messy” emotions. I think there’s no reason it couldn’t be psychological with outside influences. I know it’s far-fetched, but I thought I’d throw it out there anyway.
“Rainy days should be spent at home with a cup of tea and a good book.” -Bill Watterson
In my mind the story is also about hatred (including of self), guilt & inner conflict hence an individual having to face their shadow-self who will make or break them. My thought is that Kathy is just one person that the game focuses on who you see actually surviving the ‘mending’ process, with the many missing persons & those gone insane failing?. So naturally all the people & places in Day 5 would be specific to the person undergoing these ‘tests’. My thought is that both Jimmy Cochran & Joseph Rain are amongst those that failed to resolve their inner turmoil. In Joseph’s case failing to gain custody of Kathy leaving her in the care of her disturbed mother (due to the use of the red scythe flower & influence of his son Brian?) & failing to help Jimmy by confronting ‘the lights’ – did that lead him down into the sinkhole?
I wanted to say that this was very convincingly and lucidly argued, chrissie. It definitely expanded my understanding of the symbolism of Day 5. More generally, thank you for the copious and excellent work you put in as the playthrough leader! I thought you did a magnificent job.
No, it wasn’t Goober’s comment but something that the Crimson Man said in Day 5. When he mentions the old God, I’m wondering if it could be someone from an alien race who wants to see if humans can be influenced to get rid of their “messy” emotions.
The Old God mention struck me as a Lovecraft homage but who knows.
Just to add, when I first saw the enhanced photo of the 3 lights I did think aliens? So maybe going down the path of psychological is the wrong one? And an outside influence would make more sense in many if perhaps not all ways.
I must say that I had that thought too. But then I though better of it. While I have no better explanation for the lights other than iridescent swamp gas, I just couldn’t think of a reason an alien race would travel a gazillion light years just to screw with the lives of seven or eight people in a small town in Maine.
For whom the games toll,
they toll for thee.
Yeah, that particular moment could’ve been handled better. We’re planning a language update in a few months, and I’m considering patching something in to adress this. Either Kathy would dispose of the painting automatically, or I’d give the player the option to leave it or destroy it. It wouldn’t require any new assets, and would hopefully lessen the frustration that some have felt there.
I don’t think that’s a bad idea, tying up some loose ends, but I just wanted to say that the reason it mattered to me probably is because you made me care more about the people inhabiting your game than most adventure games do. So, you know, not a bad thing 
Well, finished day 5 and - I must say this day was very, very strange. Overall, a great little adventure game. I do have to agree with published reviews, the end is quite creepy.
Yes, the painting is not a deal breaker, but giving Kathy some options would be a real plus. But - no matter what Kathy does, the family will be hurt by what Kathy does to the painting. It was, after all, the very last painting.
I enjoy playing adventure games on my Alienware M17 r4 and my Nintendo Switch OLED.
This is just wild speculation, but there was a point in the game when the Red Man mentions the powers watching from above. It popped into my mind that he might have been talking about an alien mother ship somewhere above Earth.
Having thought about that & dabbling a little more in the game I discarded the idea of aliens & came back to the idea of a deranged church worshipping a slumbering ‘Old God’ (something that Isaac mentioned) but who was Isaac talking to when Kathy found Eileen in the mausoleum?
Some more random ideas! Sue’s cabin seems to be a ‘hub’ i.e. why are the events in 2 of Kathy’s dreams specifically set there? Lily’s painting is observed as being an early one so that means the painting underneath it of Nathan drowning Lily was painted even earlier. Could Lily’s painting of the lights above the lake have been painted before that, & as she had painted it had to happen, she actually made the ‘conduit’ appear before ‘Father Bill’ & Jimmy who took the ‘unexposed’ photo encountered the lights? Is Lily responsible for the founding of the Church of the Holy Trinity? On making them appear did it give Lily the gift of foresight (or did she already have it?) as Jimmy now seems to have this? (He thinks Kathy visited him several times). Someone described Lily in life as part prophet, part mender (is that why Kathy dreams of her son in the cabin?) & in death, ascended & united with the ‘Holy Conduit’.
According to Jimmy the Red Man was an ally of Joseph along with someone else. The Red Man was re-united with his family & is a spirit guide. Interestingly in the drowning painting Nathan is dressed in red. I can’t help thinking there’s a connection.
Overall my impression of the game is that it concluded with just about enough to satisfy for now but with a few hard to fathom out answers!
There are still many unanswered questions, but it has been fun to speculate. I hope some of these ambiguiities become clearer in the next game.
Thank you for leading this terrific playthough, Chrissie, and to Joel for taking the time to give us some insights about the game. I really enjoyed it!
“Rainy days should be spent at home with a cup of tea and a good book.” -Bill Watterson
Loving all of the discussions and theories, guys!
Sorry if I go a bit off topic here, but if you enjoyed Kathy Rain, I’d highly appreciate your support in the annual AGS Awards!
http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/site/awards/
The voting just opened, and Kathy Rain has been nominated in eleven categories. We’re up against a formidable opponent in Shardlight, so we’ll need all the help we can get!
That link doesn’t seem to quite work Joel (or it doesn’t for me) Never mind, I jumped through all of the (very annoying) hoops on AGS to register & vote for KR (I haven’t played Shardlight yet! ) The only category I didn’t cast a vote for KR in was for the music - I didn’t mind it myself, thought it suited & loved the introductory riff but…....
If you can find it again, please post the link you used to get to the voting booth. I tried everything I could think of, by came up empty. I would surely love to vote for KR in every appropriate category.
For whom the games toll,
they toll for thee.
Loving all of the discussions and theories, guys!
Sorry if I go a bit off topic here, but if you enjoyed Kathy Rain, I’d highly appreciate your support in the annual AGS Awards!
http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/site/awards/
The voting just opened, and Kathy Rain has been nominated in eleven categories. We’re up against a formidable opponent in Shardlight, so we’ll need all the help we can get!
I don’t like this at all. You really should not try to get people to vote for your game. And I’m not going to explain why, you do know.
Butter my buns and call me a biscuit! - Agent A
In addition to Karlok’s comment, I would also point out that the AGS awards asks you to play all the games on the list before voting on a category:
Make sure to play all the games that were nominated and pick your favourite for each category!
Which is, of course, something I’m confident that no one here needs to be told.
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