I mean I'd also look at someone that just took my vision out with fear u know. Just because time passed doesn't mean I gain my eye back.
And I personally don't like everything being laid out for me. Too many games do that, so I'm glad this one allows me to ponder.
Coding flaw.. hmm maybe.. It's a small game but I also enjoy options and secret endings. Takes me back to Undertale's demo, building Toriel's trust only to.. you know.
I get why you'd want a full polished experience, but focusing on the most important aspects should come in first.
I apologize for not being able to honour your request. I simply wouldn't feel right not replying to some of the points you've raised, but if you're not up to discussing, feel free to ignore this response then, that's completely fine
Spettro
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I would agree with the most of what you've said, however, I feel the need to point out that torture porn is made with exactly this in mind, and dare I say, only that in mind, so routes like using only first four objects wouldn't even exist in here, if that was all this game was supposed to be about. That, and the game would rely on pure shock value if it were just that, giving us scissors right after the feather, for example.
We were given too many warnings (needle, his anxious comments, then the pain he expressed with hammer...) and enough rewards (raise in dollars for each click, making it easy to finish even without getting that tired), we could have pushed the morbid curiosity aside knowing it could hurt someone, but a lot of people simply couldn't. Is it really on author that they gave us the choice, when it was us that took it, when we didn't have to, when we had a perfectly good way to, maybe with more hassle, get what we need without hurting someone?
Why did we push Harvey still? Because he's fictional? But why do we dehumanize someone so easily, even if they share so many similar characteristics? Dehumanisation is the first measure you take to protect your psyche from the dissonance of hurting someone of your kind. So I'm pretty sure this game's meaning is to show our choices reflect us, the player. It means to make you ponder: he's not real, so I'm not a terrible person, right? It's just fiction, and if he wasn't real, I wouldn't have done that... But that takes us back to the setting. We are told we are desperate. We need the money for our operation. That gives us a sense of urgency, yes, but should urgency be used to justify going as far as seriously hurting someone?
I personally finished the game with the needle first. Tried to get back to the feather. Couldn't. Well just like Harvey tried to play it off as, acupuncture was the most I gave him. In my book, a person that tries to just spread good in the world shouldn't be punished for it, or taken advantage of.
And when it comes to your stance on fiction vs reality, I'll share my mindset as well: I think fiction reflects reality, and when fiction touches you deeply enough, it can impact you as a human being, forever altering your reality (after all, because of cognition, we all have our little separate realities. You can't say a blind person's way of perceiving the world is the same as someone with sight sense, no?)
Btw, have you ever heard of "Can your pet?" Somehow, because I read your comment, i remembered this experience... Giving this for me to play was the worst prank my friend could have ever played on me, especially since I was a kid then. At least here we had an outline that scissors are, well, scissors :/
Pointing out bugs is always cool, but instead of assuming game doesn't make sense and has plot flaws, you could relate it to the psychology of the human mind and try to find reasons on why it does, because contrary to your initial assumption, it very well does make sense. You just need to find a proper angle to see the picture.
This game is clearly made in mind with testing human psyche and the bouundaries. That much is adamant from it's description. He doesn't block the gun, with some magicey power, he just speaks to us before we pull the trigger, because he well knows what we want to do. He is giving us chances to reconsider taking a life. He might have been hurt terribly, but as long as he didn't die, he could get justice, as mauled as he was, and it was the right thing to do.
It wouldn't make sense to assume he's the god of the game just because he abides by the rules. Besides, rules have been set in place, and following the most likely path author envisioned the game will give you a better clarity on why it's this way. Think of it like that: life's rules are also set in place and you can only ponder them. That's why scientists exist. Humans too can't change some rules: try to change how biology works on the molecular level. Most people can't tap into the potential of altering this world's rules alone or without accidentally disrupting the delicate balance and causing a tragedy instead.
To put it shortly, your assumption that Harvey could do more than he actually could, makes little sense in the whole context. He was the biggest victim of this system. He got into it hoping he will never meet someone that will hurt him this deeply, wanting to simply help people with the simple: you spend time with him, you get money. You get more extreme in this social experiment, you get more money. As you could see from a lack of any scarring or wounds before, *you* are potentially the first person to show him how horrible a person can become if they are desperate enough. This is an amazing take and a fresh replication study of the milgram experiment, but put into a cutesy little game to gather attention.
To put it shortly, the person behind it is a genius. The game is great as it is. Fixing bugs is cool, but it did what it intended to do: prove a point of how following rules and maximizing efficiency may, even if tempting, result in terrible human suffering.