Posted March 23, 2009
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TheCheese33
Saves The Day
Registered: Sep 2008
From United States
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DanSavi
Flip-Flop
Registered: Sep 2008
From Mexico
Posted March 24, 2009
I was tracking this game for like 3 or 4 months before its realese but now I cant play it because my gaming laptop video card its currently broken so I will have to wait 2 months ._.
So can anyone that has already played the game post his opinion?
So can anyone that has already played the game post his opinion?
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Weclock
The Creeper
Registered: Sep 2008
From United States
Posted March 24, 2009
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So can anyone that has already played the game post his opinion?
i trust these guys
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Dr Gustav
GoG Veteran
Registered: Sep 2008
From Romania
Posted March 24, 2009
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Got the game yesterday, have been waiting for it for a long time.
I can tell you that it does not have any pop-out shit, and neither does it hit you with "RUN!" segments.
The game is all about leaving the safety of the straight path, exploring the forest, finding some items or situations that trigger a written response from the girls, then (if you wish) meeting the wolf and finally reaching grandma's house. Every item collected in the forest has some effect on the final visit to grandma's house.
The comparisons with Silent Hill are indeed well justified, as it seems that Tale of Tales just had a healthy Silent Hill sandwich prior to working on the art direction for grandma's house.
Up to now (haven't finished it yet) I like the game and the themes, but it remains to be seen whether all the artsy-fartsy pretentiousness of it doesn't come back rolling and kicks you in the teeth at the end. The game does not really explain much to the player, most of the incidents and the environments require personal interpretation, and up to this point, it works pretty well.
Now, if you're thinking of getting it, you should know this: the game is slow. Events don't rush up to you nor away from you. The girls walk slowly, loadings are slow (it's not really the most optimised piece of software out there) and after meeting the (personal) wolf, it takes ages for the girls to reach grandma's house. Sometimes you will have to not touch the controls for 2-3 minutes at a time in order to get back to the path.
This is all judged on a personal basis, but if you're attention span is not capable of handling something really slow-paced, you shouldn't lunge to grab The Path. It is deliberately slow.
Then again, it's also very atmospheric (this being it's flag-waving high point). I wouldn't call it horror, because it's not. It's just very creepy, and if you buy into its themes, it really works. And I have to say I've never seen (in a game, obviously) a soundtrack that is so well implemented and synchronised with what is taking place on the screen at a certain moment. The game's audio is a highlight, and the way the music/ambient steps in and out to emphasise what you see is truly gorgeous.
The Path is really meant to hit you directly in your "feeling gut", but in the end, I can't say it does that as well as it could have. What actually surprised me is that I got the most feeling-punch not from the events that were clearly meant to deliver exactly that, but rather from other circumstances (sometimes just walking through the forest, listening to the shifts of the music, seeing the girl in white run around and hearing "the wolf"). The sensation is there to be had, and the game will hurl some of it at you directly, but in the end it's all about the sum of its parts, and my opinion is that it is indeed an experience worth having (as long as you're ok with walking slowly :P).
/opinion
Post edited March 24, 2009 by Phoboss
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TheCheese33
Saves The Day
Registered: Sep 2008
From United States
Posted March 24, 2009
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The Path is really meant to hit you directly in your "feeling gut", but in the end, I can't say it does that as well as it could have. What actually surprised me is that I got the most feeling-punch not from the events that were clearly meant to deliver exactly that, but rather from other circumstances (sometimes just walking through the forest, listening to the shifts of the music, seeing the girl in white run around and hearing "the wolf"). The sensation is there to be had, and the game will hurl some of it at you directly, but in the end it's all about the sum of its parts, and my opinion is that it is indeed an experience worth having (as long as you're ok with walking slowly :P).
/opinion
Yeah, I just played the little girl's part (the one that actually looks like Little Red Riding Hood), and I have to say you're right about most of it (except about it not being a horror game, as it truly scares me like no other game has). It's a very exploratory game, sitting around to trigger events. I like how some of the "memories" you collect translate into things you see at Grandmother's House when you get there. Grandmother's House is one of the most tense moments in a video game, because it switches into first person, attaches to a rail and makes you walk forward. Everytime I got to a door and it swung open, I almost s***t my pants. The worst came when I actually got to the bed, saw what was waiting for me, and the game still made me walk right into it. Once I did, seeing the flashes of the attack was absolutely horrifying, and I wanted to beat myself up for leading an innocent, naive little girl to her death.
I'm not sure if I can stand to do this five more times, but I'll try. Most reviewers talk about Ruby being the most disturbing of the three to play (one even described her section as "like laughing in a movie when no one else is, only that movie is Schindler's List"), so I'm not sure how far I'll actually make it. The forest itself is wonderfully creepy, and each part makes me think the forest knows these girls and has created a paradise for them to lure them further. Reading the little one's thoughts about how she wanted "something big and cuddly to play with" fills you with fear.
This small indie studio has done what countless others who have huge budgets and limitless resources have failed to do; create a genuinely frightening game. It's not perfect, with the speed of your character being slowed to a crawl after you interact with the wolf, and several optimization issues, but other than that I can find nothing wrong. Worth every penny.
Post edited March 24, 2009 by TheCheese33
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bansama
bansama.com
Registered: Oct 2008
From Japan
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Dr Gustav
GoG Veteran
Registered: Sep 2008
From Romania