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Completed Let's become daemon cops in Unavowed (Finished)

baud

Arcane
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Joined
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Messages
3,992
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Septentrion
RPG Wokedex Strap Yourselves In Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. Pathfinder: Wrath I helped put crap in Monomyth
all the choices we made up until this point were completely, utterly, absolutely, shamelessly pointless

it doesn't matter if we accrue favours or not cuz their "use" is fake and in line with what party members can do anyway

it doesn't matter if any party members are left behind because they get insta-KO'd

it doesn't matter if we spare favours because summoning is disabled

No you get an achievement by arriving with either a full party or no party.:prosper:

Also, for choice, jump!
 

Kabas

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Feb 10, 2018
Messages
1,258
Back into the darkness means returning to the square one, aka Melkireza has no intelligence and can be summoned with the human sacrifice in the future.
Meaning that we're still a potential problem for the unavowed and Codexia doesn't get what she wants - all of that so we could be free from anyone's bullshit for a short time.
I like that, I choose DARKNESS!
 

MRY

Wormwood Studios
Developer
Joined
Aug 15, 2012
Messages
5,703
Location
California
So, I finally read the showdown text. A few random thoughts:

(1) It does feel a little Primordia-ish, but then Primordia was just PS:T-ish, so probably this is common root.

(2) I haven't really followed the story that closely, but one aspect that feels a little different from what I intended with Primordia is that the mental illness's motivations (I'm not sure if I should say "Codexia's" motivations or what) are a little hard to fathom. Like, I didn't get the sense from the snippets I read from earlier interactions that the mental illness was motivated by feeling out of sync with the world. That might have been an interesting angle to take, which would then make the "I just want my own place away from everything else" aspect perhaps more powerful. When I wrote Inifere for TTON, I was inspired by the Piecemeal/Proteus comic book arc I read as a kid, and that was sort of the gist of it, a miserable human being intersects with super-psychic powered being and the goal is to make a new plane of existence away from the pain and misery. But the mental illness/Codexia doesn't seem particularly unhappy with the world, and the pocket dimension seems like a weird replacement for it. I wonder whether it might've been more powerful to take cues from Psychonauts and have the pocket dimension reflect what kind of existence the mental illness might construct. I tried "reading" it like that -- that she feels vulnerable and has basically made her home a keep surrounded by a series of concentric walls -- but I'm not sure that fits with the dialogue or what she said. :/

(3) Said concentric walls seem a bit at odds with "I put up a big light for you to find me." What if you couldn't get past the lava river? :/
 

Darth Roxor

Royal Dongsmith
Staff Member
Joined
May 29, 2008
Messages
1,878,405
Location
Djibouti
Hey, remember all those people that got slaughtered at the very beginning.

What was up with that?

This is very conveniently never, ever mentioned again :lol:

Is it explained why the pocket dimension is just a series of locked doors/barred paths?

Of course it isn't.
 

lightbane

Arcane
Joined
Dec 27, 2008
Messages
10,158
Well, you could argue the four choices could be rephrased as:

- Merge with MetroMind
- Retrieve your stuff and go back home
- Explode MetroMind's tower (more appropriate than drop off the tower since it also kills Codexia)
- Fight back against scraper

Hey, to be fair, some of the best endings in both Tormient and Primordia (as well as The Shiva, ironically), required doing a certain number of actions from the start of the game to be available, which is better than what Unabowie does.


y, remember all those people that got slaughtered at the very beginning.

Pure shock value I would guess (as well as letting the boss call you out).

Speaking of: the scene where the bad gurl calls you out for the "atrocities" you commited reminds me of that grimderp scene in The Line, where you're called out for playing the game since you don't have any choice but pull the trigger.

(2) I haven't really followed the story that closely, but one aspect that feels a little different from what I intended with Primordia is that the mental illness's motivations (I'm not sure if I should say "Codexia's" motivations or what) are a little hard to fathom...

I know you're trying your best to get something positive of this mess, but it isn't there. Let it die already.
 

Alpan

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Mar 4, 2018
Messages
1,340
Grab the Codex by the pussy Pathfinder: Wrath
... is that the mental illness's motivations (I'm not sure if I should say "Codexia's" motivations or what) ...

I know you're doing your best to represent Unavowed more positively, but in this particular instance you're actually doing the game (and Dave Gilbert) a disservice. In any other situation the marriage of serial murder and a desire to the God of one's own universe could easily be written off as delusion and as such be a marker of mental illness. In this world, however, all sorts of magical phenomena clearly exist. Why not just acknowledge that we have a fundamentally malevolent, power-hungry antagonist here? If there's one thing Gilbert did right here, it is that he ascribes no other motivation to Codexia than this, and in so doing leaves no room for salvation, redemption, or any other possibility of rehabilitation a (presumably liberal-leaning, centrist) Californian would entertain.
 

Alpan

Arcane
Patron
Joined
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Messages
1,340
Grab the Codex by the pussy Pathfinder: Wrath
The impression I got from the game was that these things, they take time the pocket dimension is an intermediate, incremental step towards the main course.
 

MRY

Wormwood Studios
Developer
Joined
Aug 15, 2012
Messages
5,703
Location
California
Oh.

So just for clarification, Codexia is also a demon, so this was like when in The Big Lebowski they threw out a ringer for a ringer?
 

Alpan

Arcane
Patron
Joined
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Messages
1,340
Grab the Codex by the pussy Pathfinder: Wrath
I haven't watched The Big Lebowski :oops:, so cannot comment on that. I do think your questioning of who Codexia actually is, is valid and it's one of the things that kind of muddies the feeling associated with the main twist.
 

MRY

Wormwood Studios
Developer
Joined
Aug 15, 2012
Messages
5,703
Location
California
It's a good movie.

I had taken the point of Codexia to be that even in a world of magical mischief, human malice is still terrible. It seems like the "it's demons all the way down" is a little less interesting, but ah well. I don't think a redemption arc was ever going to be in the cards given the way the game starts. If anything, I'm surprised there isn't more of a "player character becomes a bad ass" aspect to the finale. Seems like it would lead nicely into the whole super hero moment of like, "All this time, Codexia, you've been playing a demon and I've been playing a human. But now that it's just the two of us, let's take off the masks." Etc. etc. If you're going to do a power-fantasy, you might as well have some power at the end. It would seem like in the plane of magic, if nowhere else, Melkhiresa would be able to outshine a ~ghost.
 

Alpan

Arcane
Patron
Joined
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Messages
1,340
Grab the Codex by the pussy Pathfinder: Wrath
I had taken the point of Codexia to be that even in a world of magical mischief, human malice is still terrible. It seems like the "it's demons all the way down" is a little less interesting, but ah well.

I actually agree completely, but the way the game is set up makes both interpretations equally feasible. The "human malice" aspect would have more weight to it had Codexia remained unable to form a pocket universe or whatever, but humans appear so readily capable of supernatural acts that the distinction blurs. And it is not restricted to her: Take Eli, your friendly neighborhood Fire Mage and loving grandparent -- with a "demonic", yet still human great-grandfather in Aldin.
 

Koschey

Arcane
Joined
Jan 14, 2013
Messages
615
Location
Germany
Yep, endgame sucks as much as I remember it sucking. All this buildup for the moral quandaries and choices and what is the payoff? A big fat nothingburger.


Since the ending is solely determined by the last 30 seconds of 'gameplay', I'd like to see all 4 endings to see how much (or rather little?) they differ. For non-Codexia's canonical choice though I vote
yOAqeyY.jpg
 

CappenVarra

phase-based phantasmist
Patron
Joined
Mar 14, 2011
Messages
2,912
Location
Ardamai
well if Mel wasn't a measly nu-demonling but an actual power worthy of a Lesser Key of Solomon entry, the pre-occupying concern would be delicious revenge on this shitstain mortal...

how do we get that? drop off the edge and return to the void while in flight? or merge and take over? this particular sprite of autistic derpness hardly seems capable enough.

do what thou wilt
 

Darth Roxor

Royal Dongsmith
Staff Member
Joined
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Messages
1,878,405
Location
Djibouti
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Imperial thought of the day: A mind without purpose will wander in dark places.

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Taking the retardo option and merging willingly won with 5 votes. Returning to the darkness and jumping had 3 each, fighting back had 1.

Enjoy the canon ending!

:whiteknight: Fine, I'll merge willingly. Just don't hurt my friends.

codexia1.png
Now that's what I've been waiting to hear.

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:lol:

This spell is known as Codexia's Auspicious Bukkake

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Melcodexia performs a quick allahu akbar genuflection to thank Muhammad (PBUH) for this reunification.

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That's... better. Much better than before. How do you feel, Melkhiresa?

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:neveraskedforthis: I feel... sharper. More alert.

codexia1.png
Naturally. We are stronger together than we ever were apart.

:codexisfor: I'm... beginning to remember. Everything.

codexia1.png
We're merged now, Melkhiresa. There are no more secrets between us.

:whiteknight: What about my friends in the Unavowed? You promised they wouldn't be hurt.

codexia1.png
That's... true. I find that I don't want to kill them anymore. Perhaps that's your influence. But we still have work to do in the mundane world. We don't want them getting in our way. Trying to stop us. I know. We'll keep them asleep until we're finished. This is our world. Nothing bad will happen to them unless we wish it. Satisfied? Good.

Frankly, Melcodexia are probably doing New York a community service by keeping these idiots locked up :lol:

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codexia1.png
So. We have a lot of work to do, don't we? Where should we begin?

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Seriously? These have to be the lamest choices for "I AM NOW A GOD" that I've ever seen.

:prosper: Prosper trees. Trees that grow fruit and flowers.

codexia1.png
You might be right. And... yes, I see how we can create that, too. It won't be easy, it won't be quick. But it WILL require power, and lots of it. Let's go get some, shall we?

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Roll credits.

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Nice narrative consultants :avatard:

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"Hey, Logan, you'll be voicing Logan!"

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Nice touch to put "Codexia" here.

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Who the hell is "Sammy"? Or "Markus"?

I assume people from origin stories different than copper.

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Abe was a very obvious Goodfellow, but I'd never tell he also voiced Morino.

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Oh great, there were even more muses somewhere :neveraskedforthis:

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Pretty surprised not to find the gal who voiced Rosa in Blackwell in this list.

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Special thanks list includes cannibals.

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The pleasure is all yours.

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And so we're kicked back to the main menu, which now only includes Melcodexia.

guess that's it

:neveraskedforthis:





but wait, there's more!

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:bunkertime: No. I won't do it. Fight me if you have to.

codexia1.png
Are you... sure? You won't reconsider?

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:buildawall: I said no.

codexia1.png
Remember. I can and WILL take that body back by force. Are. You. Sure?

I like this very obvious "you are heading towards bad end" indicator.

:buildawall: Read your lips: No way.

codexia1.png
You think you can resist me? Well, I'm warning you again. You can't. Last chance, Melkhiresa.

:bunkertime: I will not merge with you.

codexia1.png
*Sigh* I really, REALLY hoped it wouldn't come to this.

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Here we go again.

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:popamole: Codexia! I banish you!

codexia2.png
SLEEP, Melkhiresa. I'll call you when I need you.

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Eid mubarak.

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codexia1.png
Oh, man, I'm STARVING. When's the last time you fed me? But first...

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here comes the pain

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whoa

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Nice disintegration.

codexia2.png
Bye, bye, Logan. Six years of meetings led you HERE, huh? Was it worth it. Whatever, I don't care.

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:hero:

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codexia2.png
Goodbye, Eli. Your self-indulgent introspection will be missed by nobody.

:lol:

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codexia2.png
So long, Mandana. Say hi to your dad for me.

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vicious

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Reinhardt-approved ending

codexia1.png
Wake up, Melkhiresa. I have a question. I was thinking of heading to Queens. Anything there I should keep an eye out for?

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trapped.png
Go to hell. There's a dormant portal to a fey realm in Flushing Meadows.

codexia1.png
Huh. Now THAT is interesting. Yeah, I can work with this.

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Exit Codexia.

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Roll credits.

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But there's more where that came from.

:greatjob: Thank you, Codexia.

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@_@

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Fadeout.

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Awkward silence.

codexia1.png
Oh. It's YOU people.

mandy5.png
What happened? I... no longer sense Melkhiresa's presence.

codexia2.png
Melkhiresa's gone. Now get out of my way.

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Ruh-roh.

codexia1.png
Ah.

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Vicki takes out her phone.

vicky2.png
Have I got a collar for you.

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Fade to black.

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woo ending slides

vicky1.png
The evidence was overwhelming. The trial took weeks. The press had a field day. But in the end? The jury took ten minutes. Multiple life sentences with no possibility of parole.

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vicky1.png
The kid deserves it. And I get to lord it over him. Which is what being a big sister is all about.

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vicky1.png
Based on the position and angle of the bullet wound, her death was ruled a suicide. There were a lot of questions, but nobody seemed all that keen to find the answers.

Because sudden disappearance and death of a police kaptin is all fine and dandy rite

Eli begins to speak as Vicki's slide fades

eli1.png
So we finally got a computer. Although Logan and KayKay use it to play their game most of the time. But it turns out Travis and Winnie Cook have a very active social media profile.

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eli1.png
And speaking of pictures, they post lots of Elijah. Sometimes a dozen every day. It hurts, being away from family. But this... makes it better. Somehow. I suppose I can live with that.

Eli the creepy internet stalker.

Logan takes over.

logan1.png
Went to a meeting in Chinatown not long ago. Decided to stop at the Dragon Tree. Turns out it's a drug store now. One of those national chain things. Kevin moved upstate. Rented himself a place with the money he got from his lottery winnings.

20181108172406_1.jpg


logan1.png
From what I heard, he's made the joint pretty popular. Might be running the place before too long. I hope it works out for him.

Hope is the first step on the road to disappointment.

Finally, Mandana.

mandy1.png
Calliope is... well. By all accounts, she is happy. She has sampled all this city has to offer, and then some. The last we heard, she was travelling to Paris for a fashion show. I do wish her the best.

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mandy1.png
It is tempting to use the summoning ritual. But to perform it requires a death, and that is a line we will not cross. And regardless. Melkhiresa is free now. Taking away that freedom would be... wrong.

GIVE ME LIBERTY OR GIVE ME DEFF

mandy1.png
So we venture on. Enemies are defeated. Wrongs are righted. And the wall against the darkness holds for yet another day.

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Fade to black.

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wut

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Bandana walks in from the right.

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vicky1.png
No kidding. They ate the RADIATOR. Who eats a radiator?

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Hue.

vicky1.png
All I know is Mitch'll never let me borrow his car again.

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eli3.png
Is it spicy?

logan1.png
Probably. Why?

mandy1.png
Eli has... trouble digesting spicy food.

:neveraskedforthis:

vicky2.png
Seriously? Beckett, I've seen you drink LAVA.

eli4.png
Believe it or not, Lava isn't that spicy.

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WHEN SUDDENLY

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one ugly mofo

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Assume combat stances!

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The thing looks around to examine its chances.

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And decides to leg it :hero:

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Yeah, the Unavowed rock!

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Exeunt. Roll credits.

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But there's still one more thing left to check.

:neveraskedforthis: On second thought, no. This is the only way to stop you.

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:hero:

codexia1.png
NO! You've ruined everything! It could have been so PERFECT!

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codexia1.png
Was it all worth DYING over?

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:npc: Funny. I'm not scared of dying at all.

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:badnews:Eli. Vicki. Logan. Mandana... Goodbye, my friends. Forgive me.

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Not even a thud, just a lame fadeout.

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mandy5.png
But where is Melkhiresa?

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What? Slow down, KayKay.

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... oh.

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What did she say?

eli2.png
Logan. What did she say?

Awkward silence followed by fade to black.

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They found the body in midtown. Right by the Empire State Building. Nobody knows how she got there. She just... appeared.

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Then the slides proceed as normal.

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mandy1.png
It is tempting to use the summoning ritual. But to perform it requires a death, and that is a line we will not cross. Melkhiresa sacrificed enough saving us all. Honoring that sacrifice is literally the least we can do. So we venture on. Enemies are defeated. Wrongs are righted. And the wall against the darkness holds for yet another day.

Then there's the same comic relief scene with ugly demon.

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And a final boot to credits.

Thanks for readung. And thank God this LP is finally over.
 

Storyfag

Perfidious Pole
Patron
Joined
Feb 17, 2011
Messages
15,899
Location
Stealth Orbital Nuke Control Centre
20181108171603_1.jpg


Nice narrative consultants :avatard:

Fucking. Called. It.

At a general level, it seems like Unavowed distills two mechanics from late-Bioware games (resolving social problems through snap dialogue choices and exploring companions backstory through check-the-box non-branching dialogue that is slowly unlocked over the game) in a way that removes the grinding combat, economy, and minmaxing that happens in between those interactions. (It also seems to reduce the walking around a fair bit.) Further, it distills some aspects of 90s-era adventure games (the visual perspective, unlocking closed areas and closed treasure chests, looking for hotspots) while in a way that removes the tricky puzzles, inventory management, possibility of death, etc. In short, it got rid of all the friction and gave people a certain set of highlights. Apparently, some significant contingent of players really just wanted those highlights.

It's almost... like that thing Cleve Hepler was talking about.
 

lightbane

Arcane
Joined
Dec 27, 2008
Messages
10,158
This spell is known as Codexia's Auspicious Bukkake

Awkward, aging graphics engine strikes again!

Frankly, Melcodexia are probably doing New York a community service by keeping these idiots locked up :lol:

Yep, I should be worried about these guys, but... Man, that was a weaksauce ending. A poor copy of Primordia's Merge ending.

Nice narrative consultants :avatard:

HAMBURGER HELPER!! This explains a lot. :decline:
Sandra Espinoza looks hot, too bad her char is so lame. Also, Sungwon Cho? I saw a few videos of him!

Special thanks list includes cannibals.

Elaborate, please?
Also, thanking the cafés? Okay?

I like this very obvious "you are heading towards bad end" indicator.

THREE TIMES!!! Because Evildexia is more of a demon than the actual demon.

Nice disintegration

I should be feeling sad or something but...

Goodbye, Eli. Your self-indulgent introspection will be missed by nobody.

What she said. :lol:

e evidence was overwhelming. The trial took weeks. The press had a field day. But in the end? The jury took ten minutes. Multiple life sentences with no possibility of parole.

MULTIPLE LIFE SENTENCES? Is that a thing? Was she made immortal to get that extra long imprisonment?

Because sudden disappearance and death of a police kaptin is all fine and dandy rite

You saw how NY police are here.

From what I heard, he's made the joint pretty popular. Might be running the place before too long. I hope it works out for him.

Good ending overall considering his situation. By the way, what happened with the maddened autist artists?

one ugly mofo

Where was it when we were playing?

So, it seems having Codexia die made the local branch reconsider and become actually competent because they cannot rely on the awesome PC to do everything. Still, the relatively best endings require your character to die, to kill yourself and in a way undo everything your went through.

Not sure I like this way of thought.

Overall, the game is probably more enjoyable with voice-acting and shit, it's like the Nolan's Batman movies: They look fine until you start paying attention and notice the countless cracks.

Meanwhile, there are other movies that are SO BAD that you cannot stop yourself but realize what's going on is offensively retarded, breaking the flow. Examples are Prometheus and Black Panther.

Which one is Unavowed depends on the player, I guess. IMO it's a wasted opportunity.

Anyways, the dev better remembers what happened to Telltale, this path invariably leads to ruin.
 

Erebus

Arcane
Joined
Jul 12, 2008
Messages
4,763
Well, the Merge ending is clearly the most interesting one, but it could have been more developed.
 

Kabas

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Feb 10, 2018
Messages
1,258
Does that means that our choice didn't matter? You simply showed us all the endings anyway. Is that what the codex calls decline?

On a bit more serious note, i think it wasn't that bad. I liked a few little moments here and there, also kinda liked the main twist.
It feels incredibly generic for an urban fantasy. Antagonist's villainy wasn't that fun to watch or unravel. The most interesting bits are not being developed or eleborated enough to be truly interesting, like the bioware treatment of the fact that our hero is the DEMONS.
If i played this game, i would definitely drop it the halfway. Not because of the plot, but 'cause of all this backtracking. All this constant going back and forth between characters holy shit.

Nah, i will finish it here. Most of the people commenting here already described the game with the better words than me.
 

orcinator

Liturgist
Joined
Jan 23, 2016
Messages
1,704
Location
Republic of Kongou
I do wonder which ending the devs wanted you to pick.

(it was the one with skeletons)
 

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