Thoughts on Deadly Premonition

[brunoafh]

I really hope to see some Swery directed games in the future. It's great that RSP was able to expose Access Games and get them developing games for Square I guess, but at the same time I feel like it's wasted talent as they're not making creative games they want to, but instead random Monster Hunter knock-offs.

Speaking of Access Games and Swery, has anyone played Extermination or Spy Fiction?

[noiseredux]

Speaking of Access Games and Swery, has anyone played Extermination or Spy Fiction?

no I was just reading about Spy Fiction last night and interested in trying it. But I wasn't aware of Extermination. What's that one?

[brunoafh]

To be honest I don't know all that much about either of them, other than Swery was the main creative force behind both. Extermination wasn't developed by Access Games, but the team that developed it went on to form Access Games (Swery most likely among them) according to Wiki. It's a survival horror game and it seems to have mostly positive reviews, so it seems pretty interesting.

I'm looking on Amazon right now and both can be had for dirt cheap, think I'm gonna go ahead and order them actually.

[noiseredux]

nice. I think I may look into both myself.

Actually I'm pretty sure Ack blogged positively about Extinction now that I think about it. But RFGen is down right now.

[Ack]

You would be correct. Extermination was the first survival horror title released for the PS2. It had some great ideas, but in execution it doesn't always work out. Still, for the price...

[Opa Opa]

Beat this today.

I did not expect some of the plot twists at all.

spoilers:

And Thomas' death?! Did that seriously happen!? Terrible way to die.

[Ack]

So Opa, would you say that it becomes infinitely sick, twisted, and bizarre? And what is your stance on whether fellow horror enthusiasts should play it?

[brunoafh]

Yeah, I'd like to hear your thoughts as well, Opa. The ending threw me for quite the loop as well, but oh man was it great. Definitely one of the best video game endings I've ever seen, despite some general silliness (trying to avoid spoilers for noiseredux's sake).

[noiseredux]

(trying to avoid spoilers for noiseredux's sake).

thank you. I know I'm playing it super slow in between other games, so it's been tough to not find out any of the plot twists by accident. So far so good, though!

[Opa Opa]

Noise, get on the ball! Beat this game already so we can talk about spoilers!

So Opa, would you say that it becomes infinitely sick, twisted, and bizarre? And what is your stance on whether fellow horror enthusiasts should play it?

Spoilers within:

I might ramble a little. You've been warned.

"Infinitely sick, twisted, and bizarre."

Not a good way to describe the game as a whole but a great way to describe the Other World/Ghost World. I found the enemies and environment to be genuinely creepy and disturbing. Seeing the same five ghost enemy models made the encounters seem a little repetitive but then again what video game doesn't use the same models over and over again?

---
What I liked the most about the entire plot was the ending. I didn't like Emily's death but I felt such an overwhelming sense of closure and finality about everything. It was as if the game tells the player "Even though all these crazy things happened, everything will be all right. You can go on now. We can get along just fine." Which I cannot say the same thing about the plot of the show Twin Peaks. Cliffhangers, cliffhangers...

---
And speaking of Twin Peaks, I like the nod to the show when York makes the change from the York personality to Zach; his hair turns white. Right after Leland Palmer kills that man in the hospital his hair changes from brown to white; a symbol of change and removing of burdens.

---
Those ceiling monsters. They were not difficult but they could soak up bullets like the ship in Ikaruga. How many times must you shoot those things??

---
I like to see cigarettes in games. Seriously, you're looking for a serial killer. You need something to take the edge off!

---
I enjoyed how random the soundtrack can be. One minute a dark-toned song is playing right after a murder has been witnessed and in less than 15 seconds later that Whistle/Guitar song plays. Amazing. It really alters the mood of the game. It's as if the game doesn't take itself seriously sometimes... which I kind of like.

---
And should fellow horror enthusiasts play it?

Yes, most definitely. Especially if you enjoy watching Twin Peaks. The memorable story makes up for the games faults.

If you're willing to be a little forgiving on the not so tight controls and the graphics* you'll find it's a worthwhile experience. And the 360 version is normally less than $20 BRAND NEW. A steal for one of the most unique games of this console generation.


(*Personally, I had no problems with the graphics but I've seen a lot of complaints on other sites...)