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Motherfucker posted:The family seemed genuinely loving and non dysfunctional, it seemed like the sister bailing out with a complete stranger who she has a teenage boner for was romanticized when in my mind that doesn't seem right at all. Although possibly I just don't understand because I'm not gay and don't live in America. Or that I didn't pick up on something key, or perhaps the sister is older than I thought... But yeah... Lonnie is hardly a complete stranger to Sam. They've been dating for something like seven months before the story takes place. It's young love sure, but it's hardly as rash as you make it out to be. I loved the game. When the lights went out in the secret passage I quit to the desktop and couldn't turn it on until I found some kind of assurance that it wasn't a horror game.
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Aug 18, 2013 11:22
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When I first bought the game I had the sneaking suspicion that I was actually dead and visiting my family home one last time. I thought the talk about putting the ghost of the uncle to rest and the book on poltergeists was a red herring to make you think the ghostly disturbance was his, when in fact it was you, much like the movie "The Others". Of course, this was wrong, but not in an unpleasant way.
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Aug 18, 2013 11:33
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Motherfucker posted:I felt pretty nonplussed throughout the game, the feelings of fear or worry never really hitting me, I didn't know anyone in this game before I arrived at the house, how am I supposed to care that the house is empty if it was never really full in my mind at any stage? 17 year olds don't make emotionally appropriate or reasonable responses. Especially not with their first love, a love that her parents outright denied was even happening when they learned about it. The time period plays into it as well, queerness was much less accepted and visible back then than it is now, much more of a 'dirty secret'. I'm interested though. Out of the people here who really enjoyed it, how many are queer? The story strongly reflects the personal experiences of a lot of queer people, which is why I think it's hitting some people much harder than others. Flashing Twelve fucked around with this message at 12:32 on Aug 18, 2013 |
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Aug 18, 2013 12:26
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Flashing Twelve posted:I'm interested though. Out of the people here who really enjoyed it, how many are queer? The story strongly reflects the personal experiences of a lot of queer people, which is why I think it's hitting some people much harder than others. Spoiler, I guess? I'm not queer, nor did anything directly like this happen with my siblings when we were in school. But I did have a sister who felt very isolated and ostracized with some of the family with her lifestyle and decision making. She was in the back of my mind as I thought my way through my personal reactions to the game. I also was thinking how I would react if I had a child/daughter (I have no kids, so this is even more speculative) come out and be in emotional straits like this.
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Aug 18, 2013 12:47
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Flashing Twelve posted:I'm interested though. Out of the people here who really enjoyed it, how many are queer? The story strongly reflects the personal experiences of a lot of queer people, which is why I think it's hitting some people much harder than others. I am not LGBTQQ++ Omega Gayngster Edition, but I do work very closely with urban high school students who are and it's their perspectives combined with memories of my own childhood that really made Gone Home resonate with me. I get to see my students figure out things like school, first love, and rebelling against their parents on a daily basis. I thought about how closely some of Sam's audio logs were to conversations I've had with my own kids.
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Aug 18, 2013 12:56
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Just finished the game, what a great game. Besides all the great things that others have pointed out, I love how the objects in the house made sense for the most part, I esp. appreciated the note on the bulletin board that suggested how Katie likes to keep all the lights on in the house which is exactly what I did. :P A question about the bells is there any secrets about them? Is there any significance in the fact that some of them don't really ring and the bell for the "library" is missing?
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Aug 18, 2013 13:01
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Flashing Twelve posted:I'm interested though. Out of the people here who really enjoyed it, how many are queer? The story strongly reflects the personal experiences of a lot of queer people, which is why I think it's hitting some people much harder than others. I loved it, but am neither gay nor female -- I did go to high school only a couple years ahead of Sam, and definitely related to the early-90s setting, the awkwardness of dealing with parents who don't understand, being a bit of an outcast at school and having some jerk screw up my locker to mess with me, etc. Overall, even if it didn't exactly match my experiences, it felt reasonably authentic (certainly I know a number of people who experienced some of the other facets of this story that don't directly relate to me), and besides that I enjoyed piecing together exactly what was up here (especially some of the more subtle secondary stories), and appreciated the overall atmosphere. Something I love is storytelling through the environment -- Dishonored was a good example of this, in that there was a lot of stuff going on in the background if you took your time to poke through the books, listen to conversations, just explore the city a bit -- Gone Home dispenses with the foreground action, combat, and cutscenes, and just directly goes to environmental storytelling, and I'm completely cool with that.
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Aug 18, 2013 14:01
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lethial posted:A question about the bells is there any secrets about them? Is there any significance in the fact that some of them don't really ring and the bell for the "library" is missing? They are found in the servant's quarters, so I assume it's some "Assist me, I'm in the Library" calling system. Alternatively, it could be an alarm system connected to the fact that they were smuggling booze.
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Aug 18, 2013 14:30
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The room with the bells in it would have been the butler's room for the house. If the butler was in that room and someone in the lounge wanted a cup of tea and a biscuit, the bell would be rung by wire all the way to that room. The butler would know where to look to appear and take orders. Servant's quarters were in the least desirable part of the house such as the attic or basement. The Groundsman would have lived in a little cottage or locally and the stable-boy would have lived in the stables themselves. I would love to live in a house that big.
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Aug 18, 2013 15:42
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Flashing Twelve posted:I'm interested though. Out of the people here who really enjoyed it, how many are queer? The story strongly reflects the personal experiences of a lot of queer people, which is why I think it's hitting some people much harder than others. I have a transgender brother named Sam, so the game really resonated with me in that regard. My parents both for a while insisted it was a phase. They got over it, just as I hope Jan and Terry did.
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Aug 18, 2013 17:14
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I have a 1,4 Ghz laptop, but plenty of ram, do you think I would be able to run this game? It not being an action game means that I could live with some lag.
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Aug 18, 2013 17:16
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So i assume that all the VCR's were missing because Sam took them to sell for quick cash
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Aug 18, 2013 17:18
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This is the first videogame I have ever played that I would feel comfortable defending as a legitimate artistic piece to other adults in real life. As someone who's been obsessively wasting my time on this garbage since I was 5 years old, it's really cheering. Also, the ending was the single most emotionally affective set piece I have ever come across in a videogame. Seriously, this game has made me a happy man in so many ways.
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Aug 18, 2013 17:19
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Calico Noose posted:So i assume that all the VCR's were missing because Sam took them to sell for quick cash Yes, and also the dad writes electronic product reviews for a living, so it's possible a lot of the ones are just rentals that they have to mail back.
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Aug 18, 2013 17:20
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So where now for The Fullbright company? I'd be happy to play another similar game with a different story, maybe given the huge critical success of this and hopefully financially as well they could maybe broaden the idea to a whole area, maybe even a small street? The idea of having a multitude of houses to rummage through is making me moist.
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Aug 18, 2013 17:24
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The sequel to Gone Home will take place a decade later, wherein the events of June 7th 1995 have turned Katie into a meticulous burglar who breaks into homes and extorts the residents within for their family secrets.
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Aug 18, 2013 17:28
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exquisite tea posted:The sequel to Gone Home will take place a decade later, wherein the events of June 7th 1995 have turned Katie into a meticulous burglar who breaks into homes and extorts the residents within for their family secrets.
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Aug 18, 2013 17:29
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Mr_Wolf posted:So where now for The Fullbright company? It would be stunningly depressing if a company with this much ability just proceeded to pump out identikit sequels. I desperately hope they do something totally new instead.
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Aug 18, 2013 17:30
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The last thing most people involved in Fullbright did was work on Bioshock games. This kind of environmental storytelling can work across a whole range of settings and character stories and themes and atmospheres. It's not going to be another spooky house and a mystery. Kevin isn't going to get forgotten a second year in a row. On the "are you a gay" question: yes, but I can't really relate to Sam very much. I came out super early in a very supportive community, didn't really have to rebel against anything. I had I guess a three month period in which I fretted about my sexual orientation, but it was fine afterwards. Obviously I cared about Sam a lot, and on some level I recognise that in another environment or time I could have been her, but her story wasn't one I lived. Terry's career disappointment and depression hit me viscerally much harder than Sam's story.
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Aug 18, 2013 17:43
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I find it rather interesting how a lot of people thought there were some form of horror element in the game (even though there isn't really any danger in the mansion). It kinda made me appreciate that it was done intentionally since you're on your own in a house you aren't familiar with, and the house has a few quirks with it (e.g. creaky floorboards, lights in certain places etc) according to a certain document found in the office. I find it great that the fear/unease the player is experiencing is supposed to convey the feelings that Kaitlin is going through while walking through the house in the dark. Great stuff.
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Aug 18, 2013 17:50
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Flashing Twelve posted:I'm interested though. Out of the people here who really enjoyed it, how many are queer? The story strongly reflects the personal experiences of a lot of queer people, which is why I think it's hitting some people much harder than others. I am male and queer, but from my point of view the whole "lesbian" deal plays a secondary role to a story of self-discovery, regardless of what *kind* of discovery and it is a mistake to focus *too* heavily on it. It's less a feeling of "Queer people can feel for the girl coming to grips with it and having to explore it" and more "growing up as a teen and dealing with people that don't understand you or care to understand you". Although the first part is certainly there, it resonates with straight people as well because we were all kind of hosed up as high school kids and can empathize with her feelings of just wanting to be understood and loved, whether she's queer or just unpopular.
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Aug 18, 2013 17:54
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Calico Noose posted:So i assume that all the VCR's were missing because Sam took them to sell for quick cash 
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Aug 18, 2013 18:01
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Gone Home Infinite. Every door leads to another house. There is always a girl, an empty house, and a Christmas Duck. EDIT: Actually, no, it's the same Christmas Duck, you can bring him with you.
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Aug 18, 2013 18:04
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drat it Sam, put yr cassettes back in their cases.  Speaking about the tapes, I keep seeing people talking about mixtapes, I didn't see any mixtapes--just dubbed versions of whole albums like this one:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pottymouth It would have been even cooler if it actually contained the whole album and you could leave it blaring on the stereo while you explored the rest of the house. e: They really did a great job capturing the whole riot grrrl thing, from the music to the zines, to the hair color. I was roughly the same age in 1995 as Katie is, so some nostalgia for my misspent youth probably played a huge factor in how much I loved this game. a kitten fucked around with this message at 18:26 on Aug 18, 2013 |
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Aug 18, 2013 18:21
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Just wondering, did anyone find the secret passages on your own? I only found them because they were clearly marked on the maps. I feel like it would have been a really cool (creepy) experience to naturally find them.
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Aug 18, 2013 18:34
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I played through the whole thing in one sitting last night, the story and presentation were really well done, but it was pretty easy to see what the ending was about half way through. I kept expecting some sort of huge plot twist or something, but I guess the twist was that there was no twist. Once I did realize that the game was actually about a girl coming home and finding out about her sister running away while the parents were out, I did have a bit of an "oh poo poo" moment... Because I had been taking every single thing I could grab and throwing it on the floor after looking at it. EVERYTHING. I didn't stop after that realization though, I just kept at it. "Hey Mom and Dad, welcome home! By the way, Sam ran away with her girlfriend to god knows where, I loving demolished your house, and I also carefully examined all of your personal belongings and correspondance." They could have made the game really amazing if they kept track of how much stuff you put back and how many lights you left on, then followed up by an epilogue with your folks throwing a poo poo fit on you if you wrecked the place. greatBigJerk fucked around with this message at 18:40 on Aug 18, 2013 |
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Aug 18, 2013 18:38
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I need some help. The only place I haven't explored is the attic, but it's locked. Timeline-wise, the parents are gone for their anniversary and Lonnie wants to defile their bed with some scissoring action. In the basement, I opened the safe and found Oscar's letter to his sister. I think he killed himself? There's a dark room with a light that won't turn on Any hints on where I should go next?
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Aug 18, 2013 18:45
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Secx posted:I need some help. The only place I haven't explored is the attic, but it's locked. The key to the attic is in a secret room. There's a map to that room somewhere in Jan's wing of the house - the kitchen/greenhouse area. Pinterest Mom fucked around with this message at 19:11 on Aug 18, 2013 |
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Aug 18, 2013 18:53
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Secx posted:I need some help. The only place I haven't explored is the attic, but it's locked. Look for the Greenhouse in the east wing of the house.
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Aug 18, 2013 18:53
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So, uh I own this game, and I'm playing it, and I don't want to use pansy mode because i like the idea of slowly creeping through a house, exploring it an turning on lights But I gotta know, is there an impending popscare? Or not even a popscare, just please tell me there isn't somebody following me, or waiting for me in the house or something. If it's just me in a big empty dark place, I can handle it, but this paranoia is destroying me
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Aug 18, 2013 18:58
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It's not a horror game.
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Aug 18, 2013 19:00
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Relax. It's just a house. (Yeah the atmosphere is thick, but don't worry about it.)
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Aug 18, 2013 19:00
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death .cab for qt posted:So, uh To answer your question, there is one thing that could be considered a jump scare, and there's a lot of foreboding, but no, there's nothing trying to kill you or anything supernatural going on. That doesn't mean it isn't kinda atmosphericly scary, like how even though you know there's no such thing as monsters, you still get a little scared walking around in the dark.
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Aug 18, 2013 19:01
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Hey wait a minute, in this video you can clearly see the (not quite)SNES in Sam's room in this video! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqSbYsUalMQ&hd=1 She must have snuck back in and taken it while I was downstairs.  I wonder if they took it out because Nintendo got bitchy, or if they figured that having it gone would just mean that Sam took it with her to play SFII with Lonnie.
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Aug 18, 2013 20:08
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Probably took it out just in case Nintendo might have had a problem with it. Plus it adds to the idea that Sam took it along with the VCRs and such to pawn-off on the road for cash
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Aug 18, 2013 20:18
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There is a note by the locked basement door, on the dresser with the pair of dice, that says something to the effect of 'tell mom and dad sorry for the things that are missing' from Sam. Explains what happened to the VCR/game console and junk.
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Aug 18, 2013 20:33
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But in the case of the SNES in particular, isn't there a note in the kitchen that says the friend who lent it to her took it back?
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Aug 18, 2013 20:42
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Cicadalek posted:But in the case of the SNES in particular, isn't there a note in the kitchen that says the friend who lent it to her took it back? That was just the Street Fighter cartridge.
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Aug 18, 2013 20:44
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I thought I read that they wanted to make it functional but didn't have the time/effort to implement it. Then again, it's probably better to avoid depicting real brands i.e VCRs, TVs, all the other junk.
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Aug 18, 2013 21:05
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I think it would have definitely taken away from the sense of urgency if you could totally ignore what happened to your family and just play SNES in your missing sister's room until Mom and Dad got back. It was pretty awesome playing Space Harrier on your Sega Master System in Shenmue though. I feel like Gone Home is the spiritual successor to Shemue in many ways.
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Aug 18, 2013 21:11
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