As usual, my commentary is in italics, except for dialogue.
Watts now has two kids following him. They directed him to the study, so that's where he's going.
As soon as Watts enters, the kids move to the side and begin talking.
Tommy: This is da' book room!
Sarah: (excitedly) The key to the funny room is in the thickest book on the upper shelf!
Talking to them again:
Tommy: Just a bunch of books in here.
Tommy: They've nothing I don't know about, though!!
Tommy: Me and Sarah used to have book fights until one of us needed a bandaid.
Tommy: Ma told us to stop, but we do it anyway!
Sarah: Tommy used to throw books at me and call it a book fight.
Sarah: ... Until one day, I threw one back and he needed a bandaid. Heehee!
Sarah: I wonder if Johnny has actually read all these books!
Tommy: This is da' book room!
Sarah: (excitedly) The key to the funny room is in the thickest book on the upper shelf!
Talking to them again:
Tommy: Just a bunch of books in here.
Tommy: They've nothing I don't know about, though!!
Tommy: Me and Sarah used to have book fights until one of us needed a bandaid.
Tommy: Ma told us to stop, but we do it anyway!
Sarah: Tommy used to throw books at me and call it a book fight.
Sarah: ... Until one day, I threw one back and he needed a bandaid. Heehee!
Sarah: I wonder if Johnny has actually read all these books!
Kids being kids...
Looking through the study, we find the key inside Dusklight.
Dr. Watts: (thinking) ... The man sure knows where to hide things.
Dr. Watts: (thinking) ... The man sure knows where to hide things.
Going outside the study makes Sarah exclaim that Watts can open the "funny room" now, so we head into the basement.
Sarah: This is the basement. We play hide and seek here!
Tommy: Turn on the light before you trip over somethin'.
Again, we can talk to Tommy and Sarah here for a few bits of dialogue.
Sarah: Once we were down here and the lights were out, and Tommy fell down those stairs.
Sarah: He chipped a tooth, but that's ok because he's ugly to begin with.
Sarah: The door to the funny room is right there!
Tommy: We used to find all kinds of cool junks here!
Tommy: Mouldy books, mouldy buckets, mouldy cheese ... You name it!
Tommy: (sniff sniff)
Watts opens the door and enters a really dark room.
Dr. Watts: (thinking) It's like a cave in here ...
He turns on the lights to reveal a bunch of paper rabbits, a music box and a toy platypus around.
Again, we can talk to Tommy and Sarah here for a few bits of dialogue.
Sarah: Once we were down here and the lights were out, and Tommy fell down those stairs.
Sarah: He chipped a tooth, but that's ok because he's ugly to begin with.
Sarah: The door to the funny room is right there!
Tommy: We used to find all kinds of cool junks here!
Tommy: Mouldy books, mouldy buckets, mouldy cheese ... You name it!
Tommy: (sniff sniff)
Watts opens the door and enters a really dark room.
Dr. Watts: (thinking) It's like a cave in here ...
He turns on the lights to reveal a bunch of paper rabbits, a music box and a toy platypus around.
We can examine some of these objects for token descriptions, but only the toy platypus has Watts react.
Dr. Watts: (thinking) What a hideous little creature ...
1. Poke it.
2. Take it.
Poking it just changes its posture from standing to lying down, and vice versa.
2. Take it
There's nothing left to do, so Watts walks out of the room and is greeted by the kids.
Sarah: Did you see it??
Dr. Watts: ... What do you kids know about all those rabbits?
Tommy: Nothing!
Tommy: The old man didn't want anyone to go inside, so we never told him.
- Dr. Watts is stunned for a moment.
Sarah: (exclaiming excitedly) There's more of them, actually!
Dr. Watts: (sounding curious) Where?
Tommy: Inside the abandoned lighthouse! It's just beneath this cliff.
Sarah: (exclaiming again) Wanna go see? I got the keys!
Dr. Watts: ... Let me guess: You aren't supposed to go in there either.
Sarah: (sounding quite cheery) Heehee!
Dr. Watts: (sternly speaking) Remind me to never keep any locked cabinets around you two.
Tommy: So, ya wanna go see the lighthouse?
Dr. Watts: (turning to the staircase) Well, it's rather windy outside, but...
1. Go see the lighthouse.
2. Stay and wait for machine.
Not sure why you would pick option 2, but even if you do so, you can still head outside through the main doors, where you are prompted whether you have changed your mind or not. If you say yes, you can then go to the lighthouse as usual. Saying no at that point will lock you into the house however.
1. Go see the lighthouse.
Dr. Watts: Oh to heck with it, I'm Dr. Watts, mere wind can't stop me!
Dr. Watts: (turning sharply towards the kids) C'mon, let's go kick some butts!
This set of scenes is fairly competent at setting up a mystery, it reveals just enough to get the viewer hooked without outright spoiling the surprise. The kids continue to be mischievous, but for the most part their dialogue actually adds details and provides a decent background to the plot hooks presented here.
Anyway, we get more details on why the basement is so bizarre. Turns out Johnny used it as his personal vault, with the locked room reserved for his most secret possessions. While they are strange, it is clear at this point that they are hooks against which more plot will be delivered later.
Watts heads upstairs, and the exploration music changes to something far more mysterious and eerie. Going outside, a bird flies towards the left, prompting us to go there. Going further upwards on the path makes another bird follow us, and we eventually reach the bench overlooking the lighthouse.
Dr. Watts: (thinking) What a hideous little creature ...
1. Poke it.
2. Take it.
Poking it just changes its posture from standing to lying down, and vice versa.
2. Take it
There's nothing left to do, so Watts walks out of the room and is greeted by the kids.
Sarah: Did you see it??
Dr. Watts: ... What do you kids know about all those rabbits?
Tommy: Nothing!
Tommy: The old man didn't want anyone to go inside, so we never told him.
- Dr. Watts is stunned for a moment.
Sarah: (exclaiming excitedly) There's more of them, actually!
Dr. Watts: (sounding curious) Where?
Tommy: Inside the abandoned lighthouse! It's just beneath this cliff.
Sarah: (exclaiming again) Wanna go see? I got the keys!
Dr. Watts: ... Let me guess: You aren't supposed to go in there either.
Sarah: (sounding quite cheery) Heehee!
Dr. Watts: (sternly speaking) Remind me to never keep any locked cabinets around you two.
Tommy: So, ya wanna go see the lighthouse?
Dr. Watts: (turning to the staircase) Well, it's rather windy outside, but...
1. Go see the lighthouse.
2. Stay and wait for machine.
Not sure why you would pick option 2, but even if you do so, you can still head outside through the main doors, where you are prompted whether you have changed your mind or not. If you say yes, you can then go to the lighthouse as usual. Saying no at that point will lock you into the house however.
1. Go see the lighthouse.
Dr. Watts: Oh to heck with it, I'm Dr. Watts, mere wind can't stop me!
Dr. Watts: (turning sharply towards the kids) C'mon, let's go kick some butts!
This set of scenes is fairly competent at setting up a mystery, it reveals just enough to get the viewer hooked without outright spoiling the surprise. The kids continue to be mischievous, but for the most part their dialogue actually adds details and provides a decent background to the plot hooks presented here.
Anyway, we get more details on why the basement is so bizarre. Turns out Johnny used it as his personal vault, with the locked room reserved for his most secret possessions. While they are strange, it is clear at this point that they are hooks against which more plot will be delivered later.
Watts heads upstairs, and the exploration music changes to something far more mysterious and eerie. Going outside, a bird flies towards the left, prompting us to go there. Going further upwards on the path makes another bird follow us, and we eventually reach the bench overlooking the lighthouse.
Tommy: There it is!
- Camera pans upwards to show the light chamber of the lighthouse.
Sarah: We need to head south to the street and take the other path to get down to it, though.
Tommy: (exclaiming excitedly) Yah, I forgot my parachute.
We leave, and the bird keeps following us, eventually flying away to the lower right. Watts keeps walking down the cliff, but is stopped by Tommy noticing the strange boulder from earlier.
Tommy: (practically shouting) IT'S HERE!!
Dr. Watts: (turning to Tommy) Er... ?
Tommy: (running towards the boulder) My novelty beach ball ... I thought I lost it!
Dr. Watts: ... Oh.
Sarah: It's stupid anyway.
Tommy: Oh, I'll never lose it again!
Tommy: I'm gonna hide it. Don't look!
Dr. Watts: Uh, we don't have time for this--
- The screen cuts clockwise to black and back.
Tommy: (exclaiming) Okey, done!
Dr. Watts: Riiight, now let's just head to the lighthouse.
Remember the gag with the boulder ball? This scene exists mostly to justify it. It's adequate on its own, but the gag itself was too drawn out, tarnishing this somewhat.
Oh, and I described how the options provided for the boulder lead to minor changes? If you chose to pick up a branch to push it aside, it would deflate, causing Tommy to cry here and Watts to promise that Rosalene would buy a new boulder ball.
Watts continues, passing past the crashed car.
Sarah: (exclaiming) It's smoking!
Tommy: Who's da dummy that crashed da car?
Dr. Watts: That was, er ... Dr. Rosalene. Yeah.
Dr. Watts: (remarking smugly) Oh Dr. Rosalene, tsk tsk tsk!
Watts pushes along, reaching the left path for the first time. The music fades out. Sarah interrupts him again after a few steps, but all she does is exclaim about the squirrel sleeping on the log.
We can ignore it, but triggering it leads to a mildly amusing scene, so let us show it off.
Watts goes ahead and wakes up the squirrel. The squirrel is annoyed, and suddenly the screen cuts to it and Watts' team taking up battle formation!
Dr. Watts: Don't worry kids, I got this!
- Tommy and Sarah look at each other, shrugging. Watts turns back to the squirrel.
- A battle UI pops up!
I'll show off what the options do, since they're all fairly ridiculous. By the by, just look at how disinterested Sarah and Tommy are. Neil is also missing some HP, foreshadowing some minor details waaayyyy later.
1. Attack
2. Defend
2. Defend
Dr. Watts: The best defense is a good offense!
- Switch to Attack screen.
1.Tsunami Kick
2. Tornado Punch
3. shoe
4. other shoe
All four options lead to the same dialogue.
Yelling volume:
1. Loud
2. Louder
3. Loudest
Again, all three options lead to the same dialogue. The only thing that changes is that some or all of the letters in Watts' battle cry get capitalized based on how loud you picked.
Dr. Watts: This ends here!
- Watts turns to the screen, holding his hand high.
Dr. Watts: Hyaaa....
Sarah: (exclaiming) Stop iiit! Or we tell ma you animal abuse!
Tommy: (exclaiming too) Ya! She call the cops on you!
Dr. Watts: (putting down his hands and turning his head to the kids) Aw c'mon, I wasn't actually gonna...
Dr. Watts: (turning the rest of his body) ... Don't you like role-playing?
- Watts turns back to the squirrel, who runs off to the woods. A very short fanfare plays.
Sarah: Yoo shoulda be ashamed of yooself!!
- Watts turns his head back to her.
Sarah: (exclaiming) Let's name it Teddy.
Tommy: (exclaiming too) Okie!
Dr. Watts: (turning towards the left path) ... Let's just go. My whole night is ruined.
- A bird nearby chirps as they prepare to move on.
A pretty brilliant take on both turn based battle systems, as well as the exaggeration present in most of them. Most importantly, the author made this gag optional, because he realized that it had little relevance to the plot and so shouldn't be required viewing. It can stand on its own, no problem.
Watts continues down the path. The creepy music kicks back in on the next screen.
1. Attack
2. Defend
2. Defend
Dr. Watts: The best defense is a good offense!
- Switch to Attack screen.
1.Tsunami Kick
2. Tornado Punch
3. shoe
4. other shoe
All four options lead to the same dialogue.
Yelling volume:
1. Loud
2. Louder
3. Loudest
Again, all three options lead to the same dialogue. The only thing that changes is that some or all of the letters in Watts' battle cry get capitalized based on how loud you picked.
Dr. Watts: This ends here!
- Watts turns to the screen, holding his hand high.
Dr. Watts: Hyaaa....
Sarah: (exclaiming) Stop iiit! Or we tell ma you animal abuse!
Tommy: (exclaiming too) Ya! She call the cops on you!
Dr. Watts: (putting down his hands and turning his head to the kids) Aw c'mon, I wasn't actually gonna...
Dr. Watts: (turning the rest of his body) ... Don't you like role-playing?
- Watts turns back to the squirrel, who runs off to the woods. A very short fanfare plays.
Sarah: Yoo shoulda be ashamed of yooself!!
- Watts turns his head back to her.
Sarah: (exclaiming) Let's name it Teddy.
Tommy: (exclaiming too) Okie!
Dr. Watts: (turning towards the left path) ... Let's just go. My whole night is ruined.
- A bird nearby chirps as they prepare to move on.
A pretty brilliant take on both turn based battle systems, as well as the exaggeration present in most of them. Most importantly, the author made this gag optional, because he realized that it had little relevance to the plot and so shouldn't be required viewing. It can stand on its own, no problem.
Watts continues down the path. The creepy music kicks back in on the next screen.
We're at the base of the lighthouse now. We can examine the gravestone for a brief scene.
Dr. Watts: River Wyles', huh.
Dr. Watts: Was she John's wife?
Sarah: Dunno.
Sarah: (exclaiming impatiently) C'mon, the lighthouse's right there!
- Dr. Watts is stunned for a moment.
We enter the lighthouse and climb it. Thankfully the game automates climbing up the steps.
Sarah: (exclaiming) This is it!
Dr. Watts: River Wyles', huh.
Dr. Watts: Was she John's wife?
Sarah: Dunno.
Sarah: (exclaiming impatiently) C'mon, the lighthouse's right there!
- Dr. Watts is stunned for a moment.
We enter the lighthouse and climb it. Thankfully the game automates climbing up the steps.
Sarah: (exclaiming) This is it!
- Watts is stunned for a moment.
We can examine the lighthouse lamp and the yellow and blue rabbit propped up on a small table.
Lighthouse lamp:
Dr. Watts: Seems like this thing hasn't been functioning for quite a while now.
Paper rabbit:
Tommy: Hey, this wasn't here when we came last week!
Sarah: Oh ya, Johnny must've came here before he fell ill again.
Dr. Watts: Two colours, huh?
Dr. Watts: Am I the only one who's a little creeped out by these, though?
Tommy: Yah you are.
Sarah: Yep.
- Watts' phone rings with a short snippet of To Realize, the main theme of Quintessence.
Dr. Watts: What the-- ... Someone's calling me.
- Watts turns towards the rabbit, looking at his phone.
Dr. Watts: ... Ack, I should've guessed.
- Watts answers the call.
Dr. Watts: Yeah yeah, we're coming!
Dr. Watts: Blah blah blah.
- Watts cuts the phone and turns around.
Dr. Watts: Alright, let's head back.
- Watts turns back to the rabbit again.
Dr. Watts: As for this ...
- Watts picks it up. The scene fades out, and cuts back to the second floor of the house. Watts walks into Johnny's room.
Dr. Rosalene: (angrily speaking) What the cactus were you doing?!
Dr. Watts: Burning ants with a magnifying glass.
Dr. Rosalene: Using moonlight?
Dr. Watts: (surprised) ... Okay, I was taking a nap then!
Dr. Watts: (turns to the screen, facepalming) God, it's so hard to be a smartass nowadays.
Dr. Rosalene: You're pretty good at being half of it.
- Rosalene moves towards the machine, Watts turns to face her.
Dr. Rosalene: Your helmet's on the couch. Get it on, we're going in.
All in all, a decent exploratory trip. There were some bits and pieces of gags but they never took too much time off the main plot, and in the one place where they did, they were made completely optional. We learnt a decent bit of background and got more plot hooks, in the form of Johnny's wife's grave and a yellow and purple rabbit.
Next time, we actually use the machine. Let's get to know what that entails, and if any of our established plot hooks get used next time!
Next: In Which We Use a Miracle Machine.
We can examine the lighthouse lamp and the yellow and blue rabbit propped up on a small table.
Lighthouse lamp:
Dr. Watts: Seems like this thing hasn't been functioning for quite a while now.
Paper rabbit:
Tommy: Hey, this wasn't here when we came last week!
Sarah: Oh ya, Johnny must've came here before he fell ill again.
Dr. Watts: Two colours, huh?
Dr. Watts: Am I the only one who's a little creeped out by these, though?
Tommy: Yah you are.
Sarah: Yep.
- Watts' phone rings with a short snippet of To Realize, the main theme of Quintessence.
Dr. Watts: What the-- ... Someone's calling me.
- Watts turns towards the rabbit, looking at his phone.
Dr. Watts: ... Ack, I should've guessed.
- Watts answers the call.
Dr. Watts: Yeah yeah, we're coming!
Dr. Watts: Blah blah blah.
- Watts cuts the phone and turns around.
Dr. Watts: Alright, let's head back.
- Watts turns back to the rabbit again.
Dr. Watts: As for this ...
- Watts picks it up. The scene fades out, and cuts back to the second floor of the house. Watts walks into Johnny's room.
Dr. Rosalene: (angrily speaking) What the cactus were you doing?!
Dr. Watts: Burning ants with a magnifying glass.
Dr. Rosalene: Using moonlight?
Dr. Watts: (surprised) ... Okay, I was taking a nap then!
Dr. Watts: (turns to the screen, facepalming) God, it's so hard to be a smartass nowadays.
Dr. Rosalene: You're pretty good at being half of it.
- Rosalene moves towards the machine, Watts turns to face her.
Dr. Rosalene: Your helmet's on the couch. Get it on, we're going in.
All in all, a decent exploratory trip. There were some bits and pieces of gags but they never took too much time off the main plot, and in the one place where they did, they were made completely optional. We learnt a decent bit of background and got more plot hooks, in the form of Johnny's wife's grave and a yellow and purple rabbit.
Next time, we actually use the machine. Let's get to know what that entails, and if any of our established plot hooks get used next time!
Next: In Which We Use a Miracle Machine.
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