Penumbra's Plot

[VaeVictis]

@Abraxas

What do you mean "Penumbra's surrealism"? In which way was Penumbra surreal? I think Penumbra was more realistic than Amnesia.

I was referring to the Lovecraftian aspects of the game.

[i3670]

@Abraxas

What do you mean "Penumbra's surrealism"? In which way was Penumbra surreal? I think Penumbra was more realistic than Amnesia.

I was referring to the Lovecraftian aspects of the game.

On the subject of Lovecraft. I found the Necronomicon and At the mountains of madness in the library.

[Bridge]

I'm not saying these things weren't sad, but moments like those tend to show a person's character in real life, and I just felt like Philip could have had more of an emotional range at these times.

To be fair that's hard to do with a silent protagonist. Phillip isn't silent in the same way Gordon Freeman is, but they could only write what he was thinking in first person. Still, I found these moments to be quite effective, speaking about my experience of course. I didn't get a "whoops" vibe from it, although to say they were perfectly executed would be silly.

@BAndrew:

Spoiler below!

Dream sequence, all of the times Clarence gives you false stimuli (which account for most of the surrealism) and the Tuurngait trials you mentioned.

[Googolplex]

Penumbra Overture is realistic, but things got changed in Penumbra Black Plague. The delusional mind was strange and ripped the player a bit out of the experience. The worst part of the game is where you get teleported to the top of a mountain and hear the strange voices of the infected (wasn't it something like a ritual for clarence?). The infected were like aliens there and the game really lost its credibility that was build up with Overture. I really like the building complex of the shelter, but the mental parts really affect the game to a worse part. The end of Black Plague feels surreal and out of the typical Penumbra plot.

[VaeVictis]

I'm not saying these things weren't sad, but moments like those tend to show a person's character in real life, and I just felt like Philip could have had more of an emotional range at these times.

To be fair that's hard to do with a silent protagonist. Phillip isn't silent in the same way Gordon Freeman is, but they could only write what he was thinking in first person. Still, I found these moments to be quite effective, speaking about my experience of course. I didn't get a "whoops" vibe from it, although to say they were perfectly executed would be silly.

@BAndrew:

Spoiler below!

Dream sequence, all of the times Clarence gives you false stimuli (which account for most of the surrealism) and the Tuurngait trials you mentioned.

Yeah, I'll give you that. The silent protagonist is a limitation, but at the same time I feel like flashbacks/memories/voices from the past could've have helped. Or even some feedback from Philip in the form of gasping and such would have been more effective then nothing. I can only speak to my experience with it, though, and it broke the immersion effect for me.