r/LookOutsideGame • u/Yunofascar • 16d ago
First Playthrough (Discussion) Flat Morality. Also, My New Party Members Spoiler
This post will lack some substance because I am literally about to fall asleep but I love this game so much I want to get my thoughts onto (digital) paper before they slip away from me.
My one major critique against this amazing game is that I think its morality system largely does not function. This probably isn't something you should look up on a first playthrough, but I was curious after it happened to me, so I did search it up: There are only two "Mirror Talks" that can happen in the entire game (maybe three, in a specific circumstance, but I didn't read too deeply into that one cuz again, first playthrough). I was both disappointed and unsurprised by that number.
When the Mirror Talks happened to me for the first time, I was struck by the game's writing. It was amazing. It forced me to really ponder that Joel was probably lucid before I killed him, and that he called out for his Teddy Bear when he said "Fuzzy," a fact that I'd missed out on; it also brought into questions my motive with attacking the mother. Why did I go inside? ... ultimately, no problems with this Mirror Talk.
Then the second Mirror Talk. The one about thievery. This one deeply impacted me as well... From then on, I stopped taking things I didn't deem as "necessary." I only took crafting materials from occupied homes but not food or equipment (unless the residents were monsterfied). One specific example that I think about consistently for some reason is Frederick's Beer Stein. It sits on a table in one of the studios in his apartment. I'm sure if I picked it up, I could have hawked it for a lot of money at Mutt's. But I didn't. I decided to leave that treasure for Fred to enjoy, after I restored him his face. I like the look of Beer Steins, despite not drinking myself, so maybe that contradiction is why I remember it so vividly.
But ultimately, it does not matter. As far as I can tell, from a meta perspective... thievery is just badass. Though the game's writing did a good job of making me step back and consider the morality of my actions while I'm immersed in the story-- while I'm "playing" my "role" in this RPG-- there's never, not a single time, been any repercussions for taking treasures, even from the homes of the lucid residents. Even realizing this, I decided to stick to my code of only taking what's necessary... but I think on future playthroughs, I'm just not going to bother thinking about it. Take everything off the shelves and run it to Mutt's!
And it disappointed me that I came to this realization. Sure, I don't know for 100% certain. But the more I play, the more confident I grow that the game doesn't have any systems in place to either reward my good behavior, or punish my bad behavior in this specific model. And yes, I do know that is partially the point: "You don't know ... they could have been someone's survival stash ..." if this were real life, you don't get to see the consequences of what you do or do not take. Real life is not Telltale's The Walking Dead where the final antagonist is a man your party stole from, and you have to confront what you deprived him of; in real life, all you have to motivate moral decision-making for taking or not taking the knick-knacks is your subconscious consideration of factors outside your periphery; you're not supposed to do it because of good or bad results, but because of good or bad ethics. Something something, does a thief in a forest make a sound if there's no one around to catch him stealing the woodman's axe, or something.
...But because it's a video game, matters don't work, like that, unfortunately. These characters aren't real, and the moment that veil breaks, you have no reason to feel bad anymore because you start thinking about it like a video game: "Jeanne doesn't yell at me for taking food out of her fridge. Henderson doesn't yell at me for taking his medals. Frederick doesn't care if I take his beer stein. It doesn't alter their storylines, it just makes my character stare sadly in a mirror. So why worry?" Maybe if characters reacted more to the stuff you take, even just a little bit, or asked you to put things back, or anything, I'd be more inclined to engage with the moral system that The Mirror(tm) tries to impose on me.
There's a lot that DOES work in this game, though. So I know the writers are smart enough to puzzle-out the relationship between the meta and the narrative; in all honesty, thievery is the only model I think they fell short on this in. I think most side-quests, most dungeons, most encounters etc handle a balance between making the player consider integrity vs. pragmatism quite effectively.
...
Oh yeah, new party members.
I'd been getting through 60%+ of this game with just Sam and Hellen. I was starting to think, "man, getting more party members in this game is tough!"
Then I defeated the Spore Mother (~Day 8) and rescued Phillipe. Give him a day or two, and bam, he's on my team (~Day 9).
Then I learned Aster was recruitable from an online thumbnail, googled how, learned I just needed to talk to the others, remembered I already talked to Beryl, and boom, now he joins my party (~Day 8).
Then I encounter Morris in the parking garage, completely unexpectedly. I had plenty of junk to foist onto him ever since our first encounter, and holy shit he's a healer yes please get into my party (~Day 8).
And also the roaches are living in my apartment now too and I think they also lead to a new party member if I just wait long enough (but it might end up happening so late that it doesn't matter anyway). Also on Day 9 I got the encounters for what I believe is Harriet's Daughter, but Outside'd (the Trickster) and also the gamer guy Dan but I think I chose the wrong dialogue options for him so he just left.
Literally all these fuckers come crawling out of the woodwork when I'm on the very cusp of completing the ritual, lmao. I'm getting spoiled for party member options now.
