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CapitanGarlic
Feb 29, 2004

Much, much more.
Welcome to Let's Play Deathloop!



Deathloop is a game by Arkane Lyon, who along with their sibling studio in Austin TX have made a great many of my favorite games over the years, all the way back to the charming if frequently baffling Arx Fatalis, to Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, the Dishonored games, and System Shock 3 Prey/Prey Mooncrash. Important elements of all those games come into play in this one, from the incredibly specific (Dark Messiah's MIGHTY BOOT lives strong in our protag's soul. And Boot) to the more conceptual (Loop based narrative puzzle solving and incremental progress like in Mooncrash).

I am going into this as blind as can be; naturally I had read pre-release materials so I know the general concept of the game and setting - there's a time loop involved, it's magical spy fiction, and we're gonna have to find out how to kill a bunch of folks in a single loop. I don't know how story heavy the game intends to be, or if it's mostly going to be setting and gameplay immersion doing the lifting - but it's gorgeous, the combat is immediately visceral and satisfying, and you'll have to take me at my word that it is a tall effort not to binge play ahead. I don't think my capture setup or hard drive would appreciate twelve hours of footage at full resolution.



We'll be shooting for approximately one to two videos per week, with more if I cannot contain my excitement. I am an easily excited kind of fellow, after all. The first video is going to be long, but by and large we're shooting for the 20-30 minute range past that; just want to get through the railroaded section and really start exploring as soon as I'm able.

As it's mostly blind, I do request Spoilers in tags, please! The game is really neat and there's bound to be cool and unexpected approaches to situations that I didn't consider, but as a rule of thumb if you're not sure if something's a spoiler or not, tag it to be safe. Additionally, as it's mostly blind, I apologize that I'm going to miss something glaringly obvious, see it in post, and hope that no one else caught it (someone else will always catch it). It's a learning experience!

So, with no further ado, let's loop some death!


(Episode 1 Post)

- (Episode 2 Post)
- (Episode 3 Post)
- (Episode 4 Post)
- (Episode 5 Post
- (Episode 6 Post)
- (Episode 7 Post)
- (Exploration Karl's Bay Post)
- (Episode 8 Post)
- (Episode 9 Post)
- (Episode 10 Post)
- (Bonus 2 Post)
- (Episode 11 Post)
- (Episode 12 Post)
- (Episode 13 Post)
- (Episode 14 Post)
- (Bonus 3 Post)
- (Bonus 4 Post)
- (Episode 15 Post)
- (Episode 16 Post)
- (Episode 17 Post)
- (Episode 18 Post)
- (Episode 19 Post)
- (Bonus 5 Post)
- (Episode 20 Post)
- (Epidsode 21 Post)
- (Episode 22 Post)
- (Episode 23 Post)
- (Episode 24 Post)
- (Bonus 6 Post)
- (Bonus 7 Post)
- (Finale Post)

Thanks for watching!

CapitanGarlic fucked around with this message at 17:20 on Jun 6, 2023

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CapitanGarlic
Feb 29, 2004

Much, much more.
(Reserved just in case)

CapitanGarlic
Feb 29, 2004

Much, much more.
Episode 1!


As mentioned, this one does run a bit long to get through our intro, tutorials, and on-rails section. As such, it's a lot of soaking in the setting, getting used to the feel of various weapons, combat, sneaking, and trying everything out at least the once.

I'll likely include a list of weapons in the second post and my thoughts on them as I find a few more, but this surprisingly visceral game sure does make killin' weirdos on Time Island a lotta fun.

Documents!
Maps
- Blackreef Island Map
- Tunnel System Map
- Updaam Map

Visionaries
- Aleksis Dorsey
- Charlie Montague
- Egor Serling
- Fia Zborowska
- Frank Spicer (see: 'Ramblin')
- Harriet Morse
- Julianna Blake
- Dr. Wenjie Evans

Misc.
- Colt Watch

SleuthDiplomacy
Sep 25, 2010
Awesome! I hope you enjoy it. I was really excited for this game and found it to be a total blast. I'm going to be following eagerly!

Ceebees
Nov 2, 2011

I'm intentionally being as verbose as possible in negotiations for my own amusement.

CapitanGarlic posted:

(Dark Messiah's MIGHTY BOOT lives on in our protag's soul. And Sole)

Humbug Scoolbus
Apr 25, 2008

The scarlet letter was her passport into regions where other women dared not tread. Shame, Despair, Solitude! These had been her teachers, stern and wild ones, and they had made her strong, but taught her much amiss.
Clapping Larry
This game is so good, and the music is a huge part of it.

CapitanGarlic
Feb 29, 2004

Much, much more.

drat your eyes, I'm undone in the dad jokes department and it's merely the opening post

Humbug Scoolbus posted:

This game is so good, and the music is a huge part of it.

It already is, yeah - a good friend of mine is a composer and I'm looking to loop him in (:smuggo:) for some co-commentary to discuss that once we're into the meat of the game and have given the soundtrack a bit more room to shine.

Sindai
Jan 24, 2007
i want to achieve immortality through not dying
I was so confused about why the nail gun seemed so useless until I tried holding down the trigger...more than halfway through the game.

Humbug Scoolbus
Apr 25, 2008

The scarlet letter was her passport into regions where other women dared not tread. Shame, Despair, Solitude! These had been her teachers, stern and wild ones, and they had made her strong, but taught her much amiss.
Clapping Larry
Here's the entire OST on spotify...

https://open.spotify.com/album/2VNdSDOOqN9f1uFHrZt75y?si=44fZ0Of-REaqOKtCnUT28Q

ally_1986
Apr 3, 2011

Wait...I had something for this...

Humbug Scoolbus posted:

This game is so good, and the music is a huge part of it.

1000x This. I love Colt as well.

My one gripe was that the sniper rifle is not great.

Rubix Squid
Apr 17, 2014
Who even needs guns when you have a perfectly good machete.

Lars
Jul 6, 2004

Better Lucky Than Good.
(since 1994)
Oh! I forgot about this game. I need to go pick this up right now.

EricFate
Aug 31, 2001

Crumpets. Glorious Crumpets.
I remember watching someone stream this game, and how enthusiastic they were. But over the course of the three hours they played, it crashed twice, deleting all their progress each time -- at which point they stopped playing and never streamed it again. I'll be curious to see what an actual playthrough looks like now that it is (hopefully) more stable.

Humbug Scoolbus
Apr 25, 2008

The scarlet letter was her passport into regions where other women dared not tread. Shame, Despair, Solitude! These had been her teachers, stern and wild ones, and they had made her strong, but taught her much amiss.
Clapping Larry

ally_1986 posted:

1000x This. I love Colt as well.

My one gripe was that the sniper rifle is not great.

Which sniper rifle? There are two of them.

anilEhilated
Feb 17, 2014

But I say fuck the rain.

Grimey Drawer

Humbug Scoolbus posted:

Which sniper rifle? There are two of them.
There's only one with a scope.

CapitanGarlic
Feb 29, 2004

Much, much more.
Episode 2!


Let's take a peeky-peek around this side of the complex, try out some new guns, and shake our boot menacingly at one of the villains in their far off lair. I don't mention it in the video, but is dual-wielding a thing? It happens so much in the promo art I have to assume so, coupled with the interface's right hand/left hand system goin' on. Although Colt has no problems using his left hand for a grenade/hackamajig with a two handed weapon, they are listed out in weapon details as "handling: 2-handed". Worth doing more science at!

Document!
- Attention

The "Horizon" is mentioned and conspicuously capitalized here, but I don't believe we've gotten information as to what that is yet.



EricFate posted:

I remember watching someone stream this game, and how enthusiastic they were. But over the course of the three hours they played, it crashed twice, deleting all their progress each time -- at which point they stopped playing and never streamed it again. I'll be curious to see what an actual playthrough looks like now that it is (hopefully) more stable.

It's rock solid for me thus far! There is a way to reset all of Colt's progress, but that's a big shiny button I'm not touching until we get through the meat of the game; there's already a few little experiments I want to run for bonus content. Otherwise, runs smooth, no crashes, no lost progress! Knock on wood.


Rubix Squid posted:

Who even needs guns when you have a perfectly good machete.

So far all my cleanest fights have been when I just went to town on a crowd of partygoers with the machete. Boy, that's a sentence that'll get me on a watch list, whoops

Anyways, smart money says there is a/multiple trinkets for the machete, which excites the imagination. If there are trinkets for the Boot I will subsequently forget I even have arms.

CapitanGarlic fucked around with this message at 19:40 on Feb 18, 2023

Sindai
Jan 24, 2007
i want to achieve immortality through not dying
Video is stuck at 360p only even hours after upload, weird.

edit: fixed itself

Sindai fucked around with this message at 01:36 on Feb 15, 2023

CapitanGarlic
Feb 29, 2004

Much, much more.
YouTube's been having some backend hiccups this week from what I can tell, or at least according to the little notifications it keeps dropping me. I'll still keep an eye on it though, weird

CapitanGarlic
Feb 29, 2004

Much, much more.
Episode 3!



Our objective in Fristad Rock is just a skip away. What say we have a look around a little bit while we're here, soak in the tunes, and beat up some Eternalists?

Documents
Map


Other




Weapons (so far)!

Of note, there are four ammo types that are shared across various guns - Small Caliber, Large Caliber, Shells, and Nails.

Machete

Our melee option. Good damage, fast swing, no block. Satisfying to use with the speed of the game, appropriately messy.

Handguns/one-handed

The Light Infantry Machine Pistol/LIMP
-Small Caliber Ammo
-Automatic
-Feels pretty solid, though I imagine dual-wielding will chew through ammo if you're not careful.


The Tribunàl
-Small Caliber Ammo
-Semi-auto
-I will continue to pronounce this weapon's name as though the grave isn't just sitting over the a there, staring at me. Unremarkable, but it's a spiffy-looking plinking gun; does what it's supposed to.


The Fourpounder
-Large Caliber Ammo
-Semi-auto
-Supposed to be evocative of 'the revolver of the game' I suppose; it's meaty and sends folks flying. It's internally magazine-fed and has a hinged slide that looks a bit luger-like, though. Feels better on hip-shot to me but that is almost assuredly personal preference.


The PT-6 'Spiker'
-Nails
-Charged shot/semi-auto
-Completely silent, great for stealth kills. Hold fire to charge up a shot, release to let a nail flyin'. Doesn't seem to have nail drop but does appear to have projectile time rather than hitscan? Further testing required. Using it in a crowded fight feels like crying while wearing makeup: everyone is looking at you and that just makes it worse

Shotguns

Vopat Trencher
-Shotgun shells
-Pump-action
-A slow-firing, aim-forgiving, room-clearing shotgun. If you're close enough to say hello to someone you're close enough to kill them by waving this in their general direction. Reloads one shell at a time, which can get me in a bit of a pickle!


Strelak 50-50
-Shotgun shells
-Semi/Full Auto
-Kills folks in one shot like a shotgun oughta. Drawbacks include the headache of me, neither a gun nut nor an engineer, trying to imagine how it feeds and fires both barrels. Must be hell on the ammo count if you really go for it.

Rifles

MG-1 'Pepper Mill'
-Small Caliber Ammo
-Full Auto
-Chunky damage, it feels like, compared to our other small-caliber guns. As I mentioned I have some trepidation about this one just with how drat fast it goes through my pockets; some trinkets would likely help that out a lot though.


Rapiér
-Large Caliber Ammo
-Single-shot
-A long-distance, accurate, single-shooting Eternalist eraser. Sounds like a cannon and hits like one too. Like any proud parent from the American Midwest, I am allowed to have a favorite child.

The Lone Badger
Sep 24, 2007

CapitanGarlic posted:

Strelak 50-50
-Shotgun shells
-Semi/Full Auto
-Kills folks in one shot like a shotgun oughta. Drawbacks include the headache of me, neither a gun nut nor an engineer, trying to imagine how it feeds and fires both barrels. Must be hell on the ammo count if you really go for it.

It looks kinda like a turret gun. In which case it doesn't 'feed' at all, just rotates fresh chambers into alignment.

Samovar
Jun 4, 2011

When I want to relax, I read an essay by Engels. When I want something more serious, I read Corto Maltese.


I will say this, they did try to make the guns very distinct from typical representations.

ally_1986
Apr 3, 2011

Wait...I had something for this...

Oh wow I never tried a code on the delivery machine things. Could never find a code for it so thought it was just for show :(

Humbug Scoolbus
Apr 25, 2008

The scarlet letter was her passport into regions where other women dared not tread. Shame, Despair, Solitude! These had been her teachers, stern and wild ones, and they had made her strong, but taught her much amiss.
Clapping Larry

ally_1986 posted:

Oh wow I never tried a code on the delivery machine things. Could never find a code for it so thought it was just for show :(

There are two places you can find the code:

On one of the walls inside Fia's Bunker

or

Inside the secret observation post

CapitanGarlic
Feb 29, 2004

Much, much more.
Episode 4!



Let's try and finish out this day! Updaam certainly looks different in the evening, though I suppose if you never have to worry about cleanup you're allowed to let your parties run a bit wild.

Document!
- Teachable Moment

Samovar posted:

I will say this, they did try to make the guns very distinct from typical representations.

Impressively, none of the guns feel bad to use, so far. I still frequently find myself dashing around with the machete, but broadly speaking the game's done a real good job of imparting the feeling of 'if I have something in my hand at all, I am very dangerous'.

Nekomimi-Maiden
Feb 27, 2011

I'm here to help you.
Rule number one, don't get me killed.
Fun easter egg potentially missed in the intro, not plot-relevant or anything but: If you try the code 0451 on the YOU KNOW THE CODE door, you get the achievement Old Habits Die Hard, and Colt says as much. 0451 is a recurring Looking Glass/Arkane/etc code in System Shock, Deus Ex, Bioshock, Dishonored, Prey, and others

Ah, found in episode 3, hahah. Glad it works elsewhere too.

Nekomimi-Maiden fucked around with this message at 02:34 on Feb 24, 2023

Rubix Squid
Apr 17, 2014
I loved that touch.

CapitanGarlic
Feb 29, 2004

Much, much more.
The good ol' code days. Really, punching that one in is muscle memory anymore.

Ran into a bug recording tomorrow's episode, but good news! It's hilarious and doesn't impact any progress. It will also be staggeringly apparent when the time comes.

CapitanGarlic
Feb 29, 2004

Much, much more.
Episode 5!



We know where our apartment is, let's have a bit more of a thorough look around a few parts of Updaam before we crack that safe. Takes a keen eye, but see if you can spot that bug I was talking about! Look at me, being coy.

Documents!
The Visionaries


Maps
- Updaam, Safe Glyphs

Notes
- The LPP

- Scribbled Notes (Glyph Map)

- Scribbled Invoice

- Welcome to the Program

Ignatius M. Meen
May 26, 2011

Hello yes I heard there was a lovely trainwreck here and...

FYI YT says it's private never mind, never seen Youtube do that before

CapitanGarlic
Feb 29, 2004

Much, much more.

Ignatius M. Meen posted:

FYI YT says it's private

Just toggled it back and forth, working on a test browser on my end now - sorry about that!

e: Yeah, YT has been wonky the last couple weeks. Inconsistent in processing HD, even on videos that have been up for months/years, analytics not working right, all that fun stuff. Lemme know if anything else comes up!

CapitanGarlic fucked around with this message at 19:16 on Feb 25, 2023

Sindai
Jan 24, 2007
i want to achieve immortality through not dying
Basically every time I wanted to clear the armory I hacked a turret in front of a door, made some noise, then shut the door and let nature take its course.

Humbug Scoolbus
Apr 25, 2008

The scarlet letter was her passport into regions where other women dared not tread. Shame, Despair, Solitude! These had been her teachers, stern and wild ones, and they had made her strong, but taught her much amiss.
Clapping Larry
You really want to read the note on the far side of that locked gate in Updaam

CapitanGarlic
Feb 29, 2004

Much, much more.
Episode 6!



This is an important one that unlocks a super important mechanic! Also we go see the Doctor, that happens too.

Documents!
- How well do YOU know
- Gifts from the Anomaly
- Unknown unkowns
- To Reap What You Sow



Is anybody else worried about the 'ravaging' mentioned in the Gifts document? No, just me? Alright, we'll focus on the shiny stuff instead. Anyways, now that I have autonomy - I can choose where we're going, what leads we're following! - I'm of course going to let you all take it away from me. That's right, it's

VOTING TIME!

Where are we going next?

A - We haven't seen Karl's Bay yet, and we should 'meet' Harriet
B - Seems like Frank is the only one of the visionaries that genuinely likes us, let's say hi in Fristad
C - Heck with killin', let's go back to the Complex and figure out that HALPS

As mentioned, this choice will go for a couple videos because I'm going to do a long-form exploration of whichever zone we pick to more thoroughly look for secrets, work on puzzles, that sort of thing! Given the time-period nature of the game of course I won't see everything, but it's worth getting a baseline down and not feeling so lost all the time.

Tenebrais
Sep 2, 2011

Ah, out of tutorial zone! Let's visit Harriet and see a new location.

Never played this game myself but I'm really enjoying its vibe.

Lars
Jul 6, 2004

Better Lucky Than Good.
(since 1994)
I love the setting of Karl's Bay - Let's go there!

hazardousmouse
Dec 17, 2010
The hype you guys have for this made.me go out and download it, I was just going to ignore the thing

ChocolatePancake
Feb 25, 2007
It's a fun game. Definitely worth a go.

Agree with others to visit Karl's Bay next.

Samovar
Jun 4, 2011

When I want to relax, I read an essay by Engels. When I want something more serious, I read Corto Maltese.


I like how the condition of the people on the island isn't immortal, but amortal. I may be wrong with my etymological reasoning, but instead of meaning 'undying', is amortal closer to being 'unalive'?

Nekomimi-Maiden
Feb 27, 2011

I'm here to help you.
Rule number one, don't get me killed.

Samovar posted:

I like how the condition of the people on the island isn't immortal, but amortal. I may be wrong with my etymological reasoning, but instead of meaning 'undying', is amortal closer to being 'unalive'?

I think it's meant in the "not, without" sense, like a-theist [without-god], and mortal in the sense of "susceptible to death"; while they can be killed, they'll come back the next day, and they won't age while in the loop, so they are without mortality. They wanted to distinguish from immortality [which tends to carry connotations of dying not killing you].

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CapitanGarlic
Feb 29, 2004

Much, much more.
I've got a moderately effort-posty theorycraft about that, with the caveat that I haven't played any further than the most recent video yet so I'm free to be ~wildly incorrect~. Still, that's half the fun!

Especially given Harriet's whole "Now we are all Eternalists" spiel that we found in the security office, along with Aleksis introducing himself as the chief financial backer and some Eternalist chatter referencing how rich Egor is, I get the impression that the whole thing is a kickstarter that went...half-right. The goal seems to have been create a stable loop in which one's actions are reset but their memories are not - essentially, what Colt and Julianna are experiencing. Live free, be completely amoral, your actions don't have consequences because all you do is enjoy the experiences! No cleanup! No fuss! Kill Roger, he'll be back! Limited Visionary backer slots available! Buzzwords sell, and Amortality has a certain evocative ring to it.

Wenjie's "unknown unkowns" note confirms that she's experiencing it for the first time each time, however, so stabilizing the loop hasn't occurred for the visionaries yet. Julianna's radio chatter where she asks why we think no one else is talking to us backs this up - they don't know we're rogue, because at the start of the First First Day, Colt wasn't, and their memories aren't consistent. This is fun both as a narrative (It didn't work right, do we just let the few people who get to keep their memories enjoy it/go mad or break it?), as well as some effort beyond "it's just a video game", which I appreciate, to have the visionaries and Eternalists return to patterns and behaviors with each loop.

Time travel is always silly, of course, but it works in fiction so long as it's internally consistent. Within the bounds of the story being told, do the methods, drawbacks, and effects of that time travel behave in the same way? If so, it works as a macguffin, it doesn't require no fancy science-man talk to be enjoyable narratively. Here I get the impression that it's less time travel and more time travel adjacent; we're not getting sent back to the start of the day, our memories are getting sent to a different timeline at the start of that day. Potentially overwriting those of our double in that different timeline? That would mean that in perfect operation it's less a time loop and more a time corkscrew, if the visual simile holds up at all, but it holds up in allowing visitors (We're not the only ones with more "mes") who can collaborate. Then there's the ravaging; if we've seen any of that I've missed it.

I'm reminded of two things - one, of course, (spoilers for another game, Outer Wilds) Where in Outer Wilds, there was absolutely, actually time travel, but just for data, for thoughts. I'm not holding out for a paradox kazoo secret ending in Deathloop, as multiple copies of the same thing have interacted plenty already - but, similar to here, only the player and one other character in OW were part of that particular loop. The second is the short story "The Men Who Murdered Mohammed," by Alfred Bester. In it, a scientist attempts to get revenge via time travel, only to find that it's just fracturing his own personal timeline, rather than having any effect on the 'main' one he started in. It also has one of the greatest, silliest justifications for how the time travel it uses works: "He opened a drawer labelled DODENUM and removed a .45 caliber revolver. He opened other drawers, more interestingly labelled, and assembled apparatus. In exactly seven and one-half minutes (such was his rage) he put together a time machine (such was his genius)."


Anyways, I've rambled. Who's Lila, the pretty gal on Colt's Minicom? She's not had other mention yet, that I've seen. Where's Havrilad? Colt and Ramblin' Frank's dad took part in the Siege there, sounds like a military op. So many questions, I love it!

CapitanGarlic fucked around with this message at 20:58 on Mar 2, 2023

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