A thread to discuss IHNMAIMS with others who've played through it, so as not to have to type 'spoiler alert' every post.

This was a game I needed to write about after playing, and so I'm starting this thread for others who've played through to the end of this extremely unique title. I'm not a Harlan Ellison fan and found this game from a discussion of 'most-disturbing' games. I read about a lot of things in this game that were either exaggerated or untrue. Perhaps 'misremembered' is a better word, especially about Nimdok's sequence. Someone described the surgery scenes to me in extreme detail, as if it were an Operation-like mini-game.

I'm still pissed off at this game for Ted's sequence and the bait-and-switch thing it pulls. Solve the mystery of the Room of Dark! Or...err...never mind! Let's all go to Medieval Times!

I really, really liked Gorrister's sequence. It felt like it had the most internal logic, even if it was weird dream logic. Why is there a zeppelin? There just is. Why is there a gaping hole in my chest? Because you're heart's missing, maybe you should look for it. Why do I need to get across the mountains? I don't know, but you just do. Gorrister also has a nice character arc leading to a satisfying 'good' ending. I was also amused by the fact that using the gun at any time before you're supposed to makes you lose immediately.

The endgame and the endings: After using the totems on the Ego, Superego, and Id and listening to their responses, I was kind of amazed there was no 'Convince AM to commit suicide' ending. I thought that would have been a fairly logical ending; you can't defeat AM, but maybe you can get it to defeat itself. For a game that rolls around in nihilism so much I was really expecting an ending where AM decides to destroy the entire universe in order to end its' existence. The good ending for this game is a little too good, is what I'm trying to say. I'd read that Ellison wanted to make a game that you couldn't win, only 'heroically lose,' but the good ending really felt like a win to me, especially considering how bad the other endings are. A neutral 'Everything Explodes' ending would have been a nice option.

I don't know, I enjoyed this game but I can't seem to keep nitpicking it's flaws and thinking about how it could have been better. I know it has fans and I'd love to hear a defense of Ted's sequence other than "Well it helped them make the release date on time."

I agree with you about the "good ending" - it feels out of place, and in a way almost invalidates everything else the game has to say. I read the game as being about how even when you can't make the world better, there is still value in making yourself better - a message that is somewhat undermined if you can, in fact, make the world better. Personally, I just ignore this ending - I file it in the same mental box where I stuck the extra chapter from the "British" version of A Clockwork Orange. Just because it's the "good" ending doesn't mean I have to consider it the "true" ending.

It's been too long since I played for me to discuss the Ted chapter meaningfully, though I don't recall having an issue with it at the time.