And again, I watched Duke die.Īt that point I figured that Duke's death was unavoidable.
Without considering any other option, I again saved Gretchen. Eventually, there's Bertie, and Duke, and the moment with the flashlight on the ground and Gretchen about to slip away. The journey through the woods progressed much the same, though I did enjoy seeing how my different choices got different reactions out of Stella. They unlocked some new fun options, and without Mystical I lacked my premonition that someone would die, but I figured bad stuff was still coming. Skipping over the rest of the chapter, when I started a second playthrough I selected the Street Smart and Keen Eye traits. I had to secure Gretchen, dammit! I caught Gretchen, held her close to me, and Duke tried to fire a shot at one of the creatures, but fumbled and shot himself instead. So it didn't occur to me to grab the flashlight. Me being me, if there's an animal in my care I am all about protecting that animal. Duke tells you to grab the flashlight, but Gretchen is about to get away if you don't do something, and while you don't know what has you surrounded, it's clear they're bad news. This is the big dramatic moment for Chapter One: Stella dropped her flashlight, there's a mutilated chicken, Gretchen is threatening to slip from her harness, and Duke is trying to aim his gun at the mysterious creatures that are surrounding you. The story continued, Stella and I searched for Skunk Ape, we got deeper into the woods, and eventually ran into Duke's chicken, Bertie, and then into Duke himself again. Additionally (at least on that playthrough), I told him that someone would die that night. When I first encountered Duke and he tried to convince me to stay out of the woods, the Mystical trait unlocked a dialogue option that (paraphrased because my memory definitely isn't perfect) warned him this night would go badly. On my very first playthrough, I chose the Mystical and Book Smart traits, because they appealed to me the most. Over my first two playthroughs I developed some assumptions about the game and about certain outcomes being inevitable, only to have those assumptions come crashing down on playthrough number three. Episode 2, on the other hand, introduces a variety of new townspeople into the narrative, from the chief librarian to the disgruntled teenagers of the town.Huge spoilers for Chapter 1 incoming. Even the ‘talk to animals’ trait added only a few more interesting detours from the main plot, leaving the central story mostly devoid of other meaningful interactions.
Stella was really the only character of significance to the story in terms of progression. For all the flair and depth Episode 1 offered in its dialogue, it mostly amounted to little more than fluff. The biggest improvement Episode 2 makes over Episode 1 is the cast. It’s crunch time for everyone and, unless you’re able to find answers soon, the nasty stares from the locals are going to be the least of your concerns. It appears to be no coincidence that the Ditchlings appeared right before your aunt’s funeral, and the sheer number of them seems to suggest an approaching catastrophe of untold proportions. Fortunately, Scarlet Hollow – Episode 2 manages to be quite the satisfying continuation of the story.īeginning immediately after the dire encounter with the Ditchlings, freakish creatures that herald oncoming disasters, you and the group find yourselves in a race against time. But an introduction can only get you so far, and with an ambitiously planned length of seven total episodes, the follow-up is just as, if not more, important than the introduction. Bold and adventurous, Episode 1 truly captured the essence of a remarkable visual novel opening, elevating itself far above its contemporaries. Episode 1 of Scarlet Hollow managed to wow me not only with concise yet rich writing but also in the seamless incorporation of unorthodox gameplay mechanics (for visual novels) without detracting from its narrative substance.
0 kommentar(er)
