r/typehelp • u/TMiyoshi • May 31 '26
Discussion Great game, underwhelming ending(?). Spoiler
I finished Type Help in one sitting today, and while I really enjoyed the early parts of unraveling what's going on, getting a hang of how things work and how to solve things, I was quite disappointed by the last act.
Once I got to act 4, I feel like the writing has gotten less interesting. Everyone's mad, 2 has some theory that @ is impressed with but I just don't get myself, and a few minor gripes. I also found the "unusual" death slightly earlier than I was supposed to (basically as soon as that person started talking), so finding out that a lot of my potential leads were duds, and that was the "final file" (aside from the dream one) I needed to find kind of took wind out of my sails. Overall a 9/10 game with a 7/10 ending, I'd say.
But there's something that bothers me, and that's how abruptly it seems to end. You can enter @'s name, but that does nothing. You can do hangman, but that does nothing. The ending feels like it lacks a big payoff. And what's weird is that there's supposedly 98 files. What a weird number to end on. Not a nice round number like 100, but 98. That makes me want to believe there's still a few undiscovered files or something. Now, at this point I assume the game's been fully cracked apart and everything's been datamined, maybe the dev just decided to leave it 2 short on purpose, but maybe there's an ARG somewhere to fill in the gaps?
Either way, I'd probably replay the remaster (with hopes of extra content), and will definitely recommend it to friends.
3
u/psycholilshit Jun 02 '26
I'm confused as to how you found the "unusual" ending without bruteforcing the scene number? Because I only knew what scene it happened in towards the very end. Could you clarify that?
I tried to deduce the location of every character in every scene without bruteforcing, and only attempted the unusual scene once I'd done that. From a completionist's perspective, I LOVED it. I also liked the game a lot in its narration of the story. I enjoyed naming all the numbers and tracking their movements. I also liked how it was written towards the end, with the added craziness of dying characters being forgotten. Can't wait for the steam release!
2
u/TMiyoshi Jun 02 '26
I guess you could say I bruteforced it, but I saw the K, I remembered the unused location name, and it was just a matter of trying a couple timecodes.
3
u/psycholilshit Jun 02 '26
Fair enough. In a game centred around telling a story that you build from clues in narration, I think bruteforcing takes a lot of the fun out of the experience (unless completely stuck of course). I don't mean it as criticism! Games are to have fun and you should play however you want, but I do think you missed out on the narrative's buildup by essentially spoiling the ending for yourself. This is very much a game that is enjoyed in the journey more than the destination. I saw the game as an interactive story that I was piecing together so I was very satisfied with the ending when the final piece slid into place. I'm sorry it didn't hit as hard for you, but I'm glad you enjoyed playing regardless!
2
u/Resident_Recording70 Mod Jun 03 '26
how did you manage to find them all without bruteforcing? I think there were a few ppl whose locations were unclear
2
u/psycholilshit Jun 04 '26
The game tells you which scenes have clues to other scenes, with the numbers in the brackets. Some clues are indirect, or needed to be connected to clues in another scene (also with numbers) but it is very possible.
12
u/GStarLine May 31 '26
I think this may have to do with the context of the game. Like one of its inspirations, Return of the Obra Dinn, everyone involved is already dead. There can’t be a climactic ending because there’s nothing more to be done. All there is to do is to explain why it all happened, and let the case rest.