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For a while there I thought they were establishing that Abe was transgender which would have been real depressing but also actually make the game rather ahead of its time when it comes to a game having a sympathetic protrayal of such a character. Even though he isn't its still bleak as poo poo especially because he was just a kid.
Accordion Man fucked around with this message at 17:46 on Jun 10, 2016 |
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Jun 10, 2016 17:40
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Skippy Granola posted:Aaaah, THERE'S the cartoonish supervillainy No no no. I'm sure he has a reasonable explanation. He's not as evil as he seems. Metcalf: Ah. It's Hell then, is it? Obviously there was a mix up. I've done my part to help society and the field of medicine. Devil: You dismembered a little boy because you thought he was gay. Metcalf: Well, it was for his own good. After all, in the end, the treatment was a success. Devil: You dismembered a little boy because you thought he was gay, and then he died. Metcalf: Clearly he was suffering. I cured him. Now he suffers no more. Devil: And also his ghost suffers forever in the place where you slowly cut him to peices. Metcalf: I don't suppose there's some sort of appeal process? Yyeeeeaaaaah this one's gonna be tough to defend.
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Jun 10, 2016 23:38
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As I said I really like how Metcalf is as nutty as a squirrel convention but he genuinely believes all he did was for the best for everyone and that he takes the idea of suffering builds character to its insane conclusion.
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Jun 11, 2016 19:52
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Plus, the whole "brainwashing his son to become a serial murderer by I guess driving people insane" thing that was brought up at the beginning but was overridden by smug self-justification of medical atrocities
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Jun 11, 2016 20:52
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Hey man Malcolm just wants his son to continue the family business of "helping" the mentally ill through the healing powers of horrific vivisection.
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Jun 11, 2016 21:47
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Grimwit posted:No no no. I'm sure he has a reasonable explanation. He didn't even think he was gay, he just thought that the kid thought he was a woman. And he was wrong about that too. But yeah, one of the things I've learned GMing RPGs is that no matter how hard I try, I'm never going to out-nasty history.
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Jun 11, 2016 22:02
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Welp, those are some nightmares I'll be having tonight. Also, that article about the reporter who got herself committed that was linked earlier in the thread was horrifying and sad. Those poor people.
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Jun 12, 2016 18:13
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Blackstone shows its humorous side. 06.  The Pain.
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Jun 14, 2016 20:34
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You know, I'm quite disappointed with that cage. That's not even remotely fitting in with the other predicaments our intrepid hero got himself into - he didn't even do anything himself except pick the doll up! The juxtaposition of dry humor with horrifying subject matter never really fails to throw me for a loop when it comes out of nowhere like that. The one-two punch of "heh, I got a chuckle out of that one" and "oh god, I got a chuckle out of that one" works really well. The nutcracker comment ended up making me wince. Also, would the game have accepted "Eye + RE + N + Maiden" for that iron maiden puzzle? If you sound it out, that should give the same result.
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Jun 14, 2016 21:47
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Still have some catching up to do as I've only watched the first episode, but this is fantastically disturbing. Or disturbingly fantastic. Or something. Thanks for this game!
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Jun 15, 2016 00:54
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I think the earnest delivery is the high point of this game. This scene wouldn't work nearly as well if Paul's VA were acting evil or menacing. Instead he's talking about this subject matter as if he's a car salesman explaining the perks of a new minivan, casual and calm, which makes the dread and tension work. I have to admit, I've never seen this approach to horror before. The monstrosity is right there, in front of you, frank and unblinking. And it's wondering why you're so upset at all of this.
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Jun 15, 2016 01:56
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John Liver posted:I think the earnest delivery is the high point of this game. This scene wouldn't work nearly as well if Paul's VA were acting evil or menacing. Instead he's talking about this subject matter as if he's a car salesman explaining the perks of a new minivan, casual and calm, which makes the dread and tension work. The really scary thing is that when it comes to horror, this is the closest we've come to real-life horrors like the Holocaust, if you'll forgive my  Paul has the same feel of an SS officer ending lives with no more care than another man would record his golf scores. In know it's been said before, but people should really watch the movie Conspiracy; it's easily one of the most chilling movies out there, and it does so by simply having the monsters be all-too human.
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Jun 15, 2016 12:55
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CommissarMega posted:The really scary thing is that when it comes to horror, this is the closest we've come to real-life horrors like the Holocaust, if you'll forgive my Well, the doctors administrating these so called cures were also convinced they were doing the right thing.
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Jun 16, 2016 00:03
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The end... of voice acting. 07.  The Secret.
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Jun 18, 2016 17:57
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Okay, catching up and the stuff with Abe is upsetting.
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Jun 18, 2016 20:47
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Thanks for the LP, SelenicMartian! Only wish I could have played it back when it came out, but this was a more than sufficient substitute 
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Jun 18, 2016 21:03
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Thanks very much for the LP, it was a really good game just as I've always heard and its a shame that its become obscure and hard to run because it definitely deserves more love even though the ending seems rather rushed. (But that's a sadly common thing with good video games.) The LP convinced me to buy a boxed copy off Amazon, even if I end up not being able to play it, I still want to own it. Also some another games that are somewhat similar are Scratches, another great horror adventure game (It's puzzles are much worse than Blackstone's but everything else about Scratches is really good.) that was on GOG and Steam but it got pulled so you have to find a hard copy or  . Also AMBER: Journeys from Beyond is another first person FMV adventure game that has you putting ghosts to rest. I've always heard its really good and I actually got a hard copy that runs thanks to a fanpatch. I started it, but I need to get back to it.Accordion Man fucked around with this message at 21:59 on Jun 18, 2016 |
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Jun 18, 2016 21:13
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Accordion Man posted:Thanks very much for the LP, it was a really good game just as I've always heard and its a shame that its become obscure and hard to run because it definitely deserves more love even though the ending seems rather rushed. (But that's a sadly common thing with good video games.) Agreed; hopefully, with adventure games undergoing somewhat of a minor resurgence, we could see more stuff like Blackstone Chronicles once again, though part of me hopes we get more uplifting stuff before we delve back into the realms of all too-human horrors again.
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Jun 18, 2016 21:58
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Also another interesting tidbit by looking around Google, all the patients' items showcased at the end of the game/the ones that put you in deathtraps were actually what Malcolm used to mark his targets for Oliver to kill in the books. Explains why Oliver just blanks out and loses control of his body when he first gets them.CommissarMega posted:Agreed; hopefully, with adventure games undergoing somewhat of a minor resurgence, we could see more stuff like Blackstone Chronicles once again, though part of me hopes we get more uplifting stuff before we delve back into the realms of all too-human horrors again. Accordion Man fucked around with this message at 22:07 on Jun 18, 2016 |
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Jun 18, 2016 21:59
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Quote is not edit, I messed up.
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Jun 18, 2016 22:06
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Accordion Man posted:That reminds that there is The Town of Light, a game that came out a few months back which recreated an actual asylum in Italy and deals with some of the stuff Blackstone does. Unfortunately I don't think its nearly as good as Blackstone now that I've seen Blackstone, its not bad persay, but the writing isn't as good and its gameplay feels rather tacked on and really obtuse at times. I think that's the game that Kamoc uninstalled and refunded live on stream because he hated it so much.
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Jun 18, 2016 22:07
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gschmidl posted:I think that's the game that Kamoc uninstalled and refunded live on stream because he hated it so much.
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Jun 18, 2016 22:12
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The ending not quite being up to snuff is more easy to stomach when the rest was really good - the overall ride was a wonderfully thrilling experience. Thanks a lot for giving us this LP.
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Jun 18, 2016 22:59
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Thanks for showing this off. There was a lot of interesting stuff in it. I also want to say that the portrayal of the schizophrenic woman was fantastic; probably the best I've seen in a game. There was a really freaky moment for me at the end when he says "Raymond Wong... we never got him". In 1999 (which is after this game was made) a man named Raymond Wong was charged in the murder of someone I knew. He wasn't indicted due to a lack of evidence, later fled the country and turned out to have been living under an assumed name almost his whole time in the US. I'd add Dark Fall (at least the first one) for another similarly styled game — an adventure game where a bunch of friendly spirits try to help you defeat an evil entity that has them all trapped in a Cornish hotel.
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Jun 19, 2016 03:23
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I enjoyed this LP. The game was a good look into a more subtle kind of horror, and you did a good job of showing off the game. Although I do think the overall story came off as weak, I liked the individual patients and their little stories.Grimwit posted:Yyeeeeaaaaah this one's gonna be tough to defend. Let me try: Someone could say a lot about how the medical procedures, although gruesome now, were the medically acceptable means at the time, and it has been said that Malcolm, in his delusion, believes he is doing good, that he is not torturing people for the purposes of torturing them. However, I find that boring. I won't try to defend Malcolm as a person. I will defend him as a victim to the role he performs in the game. Since the subject material of the game is horrifying on its own we need to wonder what Malcolm's purpose is in the game. This game, I think, adheres to the problem that the protagonist needs an antagonist. This coupled with the general practice of needing extremes make Malcolm such a bad person. Oliver's search for Joshua could have provided enough reason to explore the asylum and meet the patients, which constitutes the main body of the game. Malcolm doesn't need to be so bad for that reason, or, in other words, the game doesn't need to spend so much time on the terrible outcome of the psychiatric procedures. Malcolm could have not been so prideful about his practices, maybe show a little remorse, and Joshua could have still been taken. However, room for debate still exists, and since it exists, the game makes Malcolm as bad as possible so that the player does not entertain the other side of the debate. If Malcolm is just so unquestionably accepting of his torture and murder of patients along the wrong avenue to proper medicine, players will not doubt that they should feel the outdated practices, in hindsight, were horrible. With Malcolm acting as a symbol of all of bad medical practices, the game can present a seemingly unbiased and correct view of the subject. The practices turned out to be bad, therefore Malcolm is bad, therefore any action Malcolm performs must be bad. Essentially, he's a bad guy so that we know the practices were bad.
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Jun 19, 2016 03:51
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It's hamstrung a bit by being a sequel to a book series that its better than it seems so that's why Malcolm isn't as nuanced as he could be. But I think the game did a good job making him an effective villain. People that commit atrocites thinking that they are doing the right thing is all too real. Paul was done well too mainly through his VA, as John Liver said, he sounds just utterly casual and friendly that he gives this amiable neighbor vibe until he mentions in passing that he mutilated his best friend and shoved his corpse in the closet.
Accordion Man fucked around with this message at 04:42 on Jun 19, 2016 |
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Jun 19, 2016 04:39
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Oh, early use of pharmaceutica wasn't very nice either. Chlorpromazine was initially seen as a wonder drug and used on anyone who acted up in Asylums, schizophrenic or not. In Swedish and it's original French it is called Hibernal, because of its sedative qualities. Patients talked of a "prison in their chest", outwardly they were calm but on the inside they felt as bad as ever, they were just unable to express it. I would source this but I can only find accounts in Swedish unfortunately. Oh, and of course, thank you for the LP! Very happy to see this game and well presented by you! Thesaya fucked around with this message at 07:52 on Jun 19, 2016 |
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Jun 19, 2016 07:49
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As an added fun fact, Malcolm's VA also narrates the series Too Cute on Animal Planet. Coming straight from his casual sadism in the Blackstone Chronicles, to hearing him fawn over puppies, was the most amazing kind of jarring.
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Jun 19, 2016 17:06
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inscrutable horse posted:As an added fun fact, Malcolm's VA also narrates the series Too Cute on Animal Planet. Coming straight from his casual sadism in the Blackstone Chronicles, to hearing him fawn over puppies, was the most amazing kind of jarring. You're telling me! I just looked up clips of the series the series on YouTube and not even Malcolm Metcalf can stop my  Honestly, it's that kindly old man voice of his that makes him so terrifying in the game, and so suited for the series.
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Jun 19, 2016 17:20
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CommissarMega posted:You're telling me! I just looked up clips of the series the series on YouTube and not even Malcolm Metcalf can stop my "You're going to need to hurt your mother, Josh. It's the only way to help her. Also look at this sharpei!" Fantastic LP, man. I'm grateful to have gotten to experience it.
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Jun 21, 2016 00:04
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CommissarMega posted:You're telling me! I just looked up clips of the series the series on YouTube and not even Malcolm Metcalf can stop my This is the best. I can't stop thinking something terrible is about to happen to those kittens. Also, Thanks, Martian, for the LP. This was wonderful.
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Jun 22, 2016 05:04
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I just got my boxed copy in the mail today and I can actually play it on Windows 10! The game actually recognizes the newest Quicktime. The only problem I'm running into is the walking transitions can be laggy and all pixellated looking but its not game-breaking or anything like that. Kind of sucks I couldn't go into the game blind, but if it wasn't for this LP I probably would never have bought it to find out. Thanks again for the LP, Martian. Accordion Man fucked around with this message at 20:21 on Jun 22, 2016 |
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Jun 22, 2016 18:27
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