Disappointed with AAMFP

[Janakev]

Nuit, I'm afraid we'll just have to remain in disagreement. I'm not looking for jump scares (I'm not sure if the constant references to that in your post were addressed to me), I genuinely found TDD's story more compelling. There's too many loose ends and parts that just don't work coherently in AMfP for me to really appreciate it.

And yes, I realise Mandus is a well educated man but the needlessly florid language just felt so... well, needless! I can forgive a work written at a time when it was the norm but nowadays it's anachronistic and, to me, feels like a cheap attempt to appeal to the terminally smug brand of person who's in love with their own romanticised intellect. How's that for florid prose, eh?

And if you're going to say Mandus' crimes and sins were his own I'll contend that they were simply born of his own insanity, which is hardly compelling. He doesn't wrestle with his moral choices, he embraces the evil he does all through it. That doesn't feel real, that feels utterly unreal; I could easily imagine him twirling his moustache and cackling maniacally while watching children being fed into the Machine.

You can dress it up as him wishing to teach a lesson but at least TDD's premise--wrangling with the question of how far one would go for self-preservation--while not as profound sounding, is honest.

But I'm getting a sense that this is just going to devolve into both of us disparaging each other's opinions in increasingly acerbic and personal manners. I don't dislike AMfP, I just think the defence it's receiving paints it too idealistically.

Your main bone of contention seems to be that TDD was just a jump scare game (I'm focusing on that because of how much you've been using the phrase), while saying little of its plot and focusing instead on AMfP's plot. I'm not trying to convince you that you're wrong, I just would hope you would understand that some of us are criticising AMfP for its writing, not on the basis of its gameplay.

I'm not expecting you to turn around and declare yourself a convert to my opinions but I'd like if you could at least understand that I'm also not screaming blue murder about it like other people are.