Post
by Sly Boots » Thu Apr 23, 2020 9:43 am
Did any of you guys ever finish it? Thoughts?
I played it last week, and have been mulling on what to say about it since. I think it's one of the most unique RPGs I've ever played. I love the fact that it's as much about discovering things about who you are as much as it is solving the murder.
And judges you for a lot of it. At the beginning, when it was clear how epic was the bender my character had previously embarked on, I set about trying to make it up to people, apologising for my behaviour and generally trying to be nice... only to be informed my archetype was 'Sorry Cop', with a fairly unflattering description. I began to be a bit bolder and gradually shifted onto other archetypes, and shied away from the political extremes to try to find the moral centre of every situation, all of which was reflected in my character. By the end I'd lost the 'Expression' and shaved off my distinctive mutton chops, and looked like a rather sad, shabby old man, but at the same time felt that through my actions I'd helped him reach an inner peace he'd not had before, and I was satisfied with my ending.
It's also a surprising game. No combat, but it's still possible to 'die', the first time came as a shock. I went to see the union boss, and after he said something about my gun my character's morale started dropping. 'That's interesting', I thought... then it hit zero, my character had a mental breakdown and quit the force, game over. 'Huh', I thought, discovering I'd been lazy with saving and had to replay about an hour of the game. It's to its credit that it didn't bother me that much. I did learn to save more regularly though.
And the ending. That was a bolt from the blue. No specifics, but when a seemingly innocuous side quest I'd followed to its lengthy conclusion suddenly came to the fore just as you solve your case, and immediately overshadows everything... that was a proper wow moment for me, that I rarely get from games these days when everything is usually so tropey. And that it managed to tie into everything else you'd been doing, amazing.
It's a game that makes you feel like a cop. But, more than that, if I had to compare it to something it would be Douglas Adams' Dirk Gently books, where weird, unconnected things happen until at the end you see the interconnectedness of everything and it's a moment of revelation.
I loved it. I'm not sure whether I'll replay it as my first run seemed perfect and I kind of want to keep it the way I had it. It's a game that has stuck in my head over the week since I finished it, and keeps recurring in my thoughts in quiet moments.
It's a wonderful, weird, unique, unsettling, uncomfortable, surprising, joyous experience.