Mini-Update 2: Developer Commentary Run Part 1
So after playing through this game a second time and realizing how the writing is kinda.. weak.. I remembered that there’s a developer commentary mode that I never really touched the first time through. I think I had enough of the game by that point and I just kinda uninstalled it. What follows will basically be a text version of my reaction to seeing commentary mode for the first time.
Okay so the dev sounds like a nerd but I understand where he’s coming from - passion project and all that. I will say that Wadjet Eye was a poor choice of publisher (given they had a hard enough time making the Blackwell series playable) but this game came out before Kickstarter so I kinda understand. Also for a second I was like “Wait, the Monkey Island guy?” before realizing that’s Ron Gilbert. Speaking of which, I kind of wish I had done Thimbleweed Park instead.
Commentary mode puts these giant, unmissable film reels all over that indicate commentary nodes. I’m pretty sure Josh Nuernberger saw the way Valve did this in Team Fortress 2 and just kinda ran with it. He even gives out his email at one point (which I won’t post here) the same way as the now-infamous “gaben” clip.
I really don’t have any disagreements with this - the mindwipe scene was actually pretty good and didn’t wreck the game’s pacing. Honestly, at this point Gemini Rue is still a good, well thought out game. I can’t say as much for the later parts.
I haven’t mentioned it, but it should be fairly obvious going back that the mindwipe scene happens chronologically after the escape sequence from Update 9.
Fast-forward to the start of the actual game. I highly doubt the dev/writer thought about this game this much. The other two things are “blooper reels” but let’s be honest when I say 70% of this game is a blooper reel. One of the things I honestly kind of hate about the writing is the fact that the dialogue just kinda sucks - 90% of Delta Six’s lines are one word, and Azriel is only slightly better. By the way, most of the “bloopers” are really.. not.
Ignore the numbers, I’m not entirely sure why they’re totally out of order. The kick action I was fine with, but I think it was kinda superfluous.
Just gonna go out on a limb here. The entire terminal thing was kinda dumb - and let me explain why. Clearly, the dev was trying to make Azriel seem competent - but at the same time, he has to stop and ask for directions when Matthius literally lives straight down the goddamn street. There’s also a reason that this entire exchange will not make any sense when the next update hits. I’ll give you a hint: it has to do with the fact that a certain someone could not be certain Azriel would even be able to find Matthius in the first place (assuming the shopkeep didn’t let him borrow the ID card).
Objection! You actually CAN’T explore that route at this point in the game! You literally can’t go anywhere but straight to the apartment building at this point! In fact, you can’t go down the side streets until after the chase sequence has already happened!
So I was wrong about one thing here when I did this the first time. You can also tell the guy you’re with the Boryokudan and he’ll just immediately give you the room number.
On my way up to the escape sequence, I realized something that also shows the developer really stopped paying attention around this point. If you try to pick the door to Matthius’s apartment, Azriel will go “I should really just knock first.” He will, however, pick the door to the apartment next door without asking the same question. Small, I know, but still.
Also, I like how the developer never ONCE mentions why the shit I had to click like ten times to get through this godawful screen. I kinda figured it was to build suspense, but then you realize that the Boryokudan guys stop chasing you the second you get up that ladder. There’s no real suspense there. Also, I don’t quite understand why opening that door has to be five different clicks - it would’ve made way more sense for Azriel to swing the thing like a baseball bat and shatter the whole door.
I had no idea you could even hide behind the door. That just seems so.. stupid.. when there’s an open door to the balcony outside. Like, I get that the Boryokudan are laughably incompetent but it seems like hiding behind the door would be impossible if the goons come into the room at all.
Moving on. There’s a giant fucking wall of text in the first room Delta Six wakes up in (the scanning room right before the firing range). The developer at no point explains the aborted plot arc with the rogue facility member trying to help Delta Six escape or why all those lines of dialogue in the opening cutscene about “I’m going to try and help you get out of here” were even there in the first place. Interestingly, this part was originally the first part to have Delta Six in it before they decided to put in the mindwipe sequence.
Also, given the dev’s track record of PACING! I’m fucking amazed he didn’t leave those logic puzzles in. However…
Wait, this game was at freaking E3? Do they mean the actual E3, or the way that a bunch of crappy devs have booths outside of the venue? Anyway, I have the feeling that someone at E3 played this, said basically what I did, and then the dev redesigned this part to be slightly less PACING! than before. Still, the fact that he thought that idea was okay at any point makes me wonder what the actual good parts of this game would’ve been like if stuff hadn’t been changed.
That’s about all for this commentary update. I’ll try to finish the rest of commentary mode after I do the final update, as the rest of this kind of spells out the plot twist for those who haven’t already guessed it.