Indy/download games that focus on story and human condition

[TEOL]

22 hours ago, ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster said:

I pretty much know what the last major decision I'm about to have to make is going to be.

 

 

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Throughout my plan was to save Chloe and do the best by Chloe in everything I did......But then the final scene with Warren in the diner with the tornado made me have second thoughts. Warren is cool. He could well be an amazing boyfriend and partner and stuff. Also I was kind to all the people I could be (except Nathan, whose voice message was heartbreaking and so amazingly done by the game) so there would be plenty of love and happiness to go around.

So, Chloe or potentially everyone else? Gah.

 

I'll decide as and when I get to that moment I guess.

 

Spoiler

IIRC the way Warren acts in the diner is affected by how you've interacted with him up to that point.

 

[Benji]

On 19/03/2017 at 21:50, Chris2K said:

Wow @ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster, wow. You heartless bastard! 

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I didn't take a second thought in sacrificing Chloe, I found her consistently more annoying as the story developed, perhaps because I was in a similar situation to her regarding fathers and did not act like the complete bitch that she did to anyone who came into contact with her. To be honest I would have sacrificed any one person to save the lives of an entire town, but with her it was just a no-brainer for me. I'm actually stunned that the current stats are so even, so maybe people just interpret the events of the game differently.

You may want to check out the other ending on YouTube as well, having seen both it's much better (and I'd go as far as to say more canonical as well as a lot more effort went into it).

 

Spoiler

The scenes where Chloe is disabled made me really dislike the "real" Chloe more than I already did. Like, she's fun and everything, but she's also a massive dick. She reminded me a lot of the alpha in a clique who talks down to everyone else. The more the story progressed the more it made her being the way she is less and less reasonable, the stuff with her step dad especially. Now if you'd have given me a choice between Kate and the bay, then I'd have gone bae over bay every time.

The explanation I mentally have for the stats is that people fell for the manic pixie dream girl trope with her stupid attitude and "look at me I'm so unique" look, but that's probably just me projecting >_>

 

[Ruki]

I think you'd really enjoy Oxenfree! It's short, can be completed in 1-2 sittings....but the story is neat and the characters are delightful.

[apsham]

On 19/03/2017 at 18:50, Chris2K said:

Wow @ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster, wow. You heartless bastard! 

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I didn't take a second thought in sacrificing Chloe, I found her consistently more annoying as the story developed, perhaps because I was in a similar situation to her regarding fathers and did not act like the complete bitch that she did to anyone who came into contact with her. To be honest I would have sacrificed any one person to save the lives of an entire town, but with her it was just a no-brainer for me. I'm actually stunned that the current stats are so even, so maybe people just interpret the events of the game differently.

You may want to check out the other ending on YouTube as well, having seen both it's much better (and I'd go as far as to say more canonical as well as a lot more effort went into it).

 

I was very much the same way - in fact, a seething hatred for the character of Chloe nearly made me stop playing the game at one point or another. She's just not... written all that well, and I don't think a good chunk of the game is. When it came down to it, a lot of the game felt like "hello, fellow teenagers" but at that point I was in too deep and had to finish it out of pure stubborness, although it did take me a while.

[JasonM]

In a way Chloe is written pretty well. If you see it from a perspective of an abusive relationship between Chloe and Max.

Max lacks real friends, and she remembers Chloe as the reasonable girl who used to be optimistic and friendly to everyone. And throughout the game the theme seems to be Max trying to pull Chloe back to being that girl, rather than the hateful cynical woman she has become. You go through the motions of keeping her alive, out of trouble, and helping her overcome demons by trying to find out the truth behind the murder of the other girl (can't remember her name).

At the same time, Chloe is dragging Max along in her world, projecting her anger and in a way using Max as a lightning rod to everything she hates, many of those things being extremely unreasonable (teen drama on chloe's part, really.) like her hardass stepdad who by all accounts has good reason to be the hardass he is.

You save Chloe's life multiple times just get thrown into the next pit of trouble rather than Chloe learning from all the shit she's bringing upon herself. Max goes along, because Chloe is her only real friend and she keeps idealistically believing that the real Chloe is just within arms reach.

It all culminates with a very simple choice. Do you fully commit to it all, and save Chloe that final time, even if it means forsaking everything else... Or do you finally accept that it's just a never ending prayer, and Chloe's presence in the world, in Max's life is only a perpetual spiral of pain and sorrow.

And in the canon elaborate ending, you accept the bindings of fate and Max has to go through the experience of someone she loves, either romantically or as a dear friend / surrogate sister.

The whole relationship thing is much less elaborate as it really is. And the game is more about a story of not being able to escape fate as it is written, and the more you try the worse the butterfly effect gets. Eventually getting so big it swallows up reality itself...

But it's nice things to speak about, and the fact people have different ideas about the game really tells how much it has an impression on the people it plays, whether a good one or a bad one.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

 

Interestingly both the female character in Firewatch AND Chloe in Life is Strange remind me a lot of someone with BPD. The highs are intoxicating to those who are drawn to them. Unfortunately I kinda am (Although not as the regular "white knight/self-haters that can be drawn), despite reading enough to know that it's a dangerous game to play.

In fact Delilah (Firewatch) is so BPD it's uncanny at times.

I saved Chloe, ultimately, for three reasons. Firstly the game clearly wanted me not to, but I had the choice. So there.

Secondly, if I let her die, EVERY decision I made during the game would have been removed. I didn't save Kate, didn't befriend the Vortex girls and get to know more of their self-doubt, didn't bring the love for Warren, didn't befriend Frank, didn't have that time with Chloe or Joyce, didn't do any of those things. I did those things, I wasn't willing to "lose" them.

Thirdly, Max was obsessed with Chloe. She clearly hadn't had such a serious friendship since she left Chloe the first time around. All her past memories and clues to their past shows they were as close as anything. True, Chloe had been "affected" by things the last few years, but she's a teenager, it's pretty standard writing.

 

Oh and fourthly, I love the film True Romance. Max an Chloe isn't a love story per se but it's as close to one as you can have between two friends.

 

[Chris2K]

Spoiler

That picture reminds me; I was so fed up of Chloe by the second episode that I just stood there and waited for the train to hit to see what happened. Nothing, it turns out, you just had to restart.

 

[MDK]

Spoiler

Made you look

 

[apsham]

16 hours ago, Chris2K said:

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That picture reminds me; I was so fed up of Chloe by the second episode that I just stood there and waited for the train to hit to see what happened. Nothing, it turns out, you just had to restart.

 

No.. but when you're practicing shooting you can rewind time and wing that shot off the car that hits her in the gut as many times as you want. :shifty:

[ROC]

I haven't played it yet, but I've heard good things about Night in the Woods and that kind of ticks the boxes you're going for here, @ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster so that'll probably be a good entry.

[TMM]

I know this is the gaming thread but I feel as though I have to recommend the Netflix series 13 Reasons Why. It's got a similar feel to Life Is Strange and is so, so good

[Skummy]

I think you'd love What Remains Of Edith Finch. I just played through the whole thing in one sitting, took about two hours. Similar in gameplay and presentation to Everybody's Gone To The Rapture, but with some fun little quirks along the way.

It's about a young girl exploring her family tree by returning to her weird old family home, and discovering stories about all of her relatives - that's the most I can really say about it without spoiling the sense of discovering these little bits and stories as you go along. 

[Rocky]

Ether One. Haven't played it for a couple years but I really enjoyed it.

" Ether One is a first person adventure that deals with the fragility of the human mind.
There are two paths in the world you can choose from.
At its core is a story exploration path free from puzzles where you can unfold the story at your own pace."
~ Steam

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

I like these new suggestions.

[Benji]

The Park (someone may have already suggested it but I only just played it the other day). It deals with very disturbing subject matter, but I can't say what it is without spoiling it.

[Benji]

Blackwood Crossing is a good game. Not as deep as some, but still very good.