Let us languish in Sanitarium (completed)

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I'm looking for excuses not to do the ton of stuff I actually have to get to, so what better for that than a Let's Play?

Chapter 1: The Tower Cell
- Part I: This post
Chapter 2: The Innocent Abandoned
- Part II: Midnight's Children
- Part III: The Grapes of Wrath
Chapter 3: The Courtyard and Chapel
- Part IV: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Chapter 4: The Circus of Fools
- Part V: The Tin Drum
- Part VI: A Modest Proposal
- Part VII: Moby Dick
- Part VIII: Everything Was Forever Until It Was No More
Chapter 5: The Laboratory
- Part IX: Slaughterhouse-Five
Chapter 6: The Hive
- Part X: Naked Lunch
- Part XI: Lord of the Flies
Chapter 7: The Morgue and the Cemetary
- Part XII: Dead Souls
Chapter 8: The Lost Village
- Part XIII: The Lost World
- Part XIV: The Old Man and the Sea
- Part XV: Through the Looking-Glass
Chapter 9: The Gauntlet
- Part XVI: A Vision Unfulfilled

So...Sanitarium. The "Planescape: Torment of adventure games". No idea why it's never had a Let's Play (as far as I can see), guess it's about time.

This is pretty much my first playthrough of Sanitarium, at least with the intent of finishing it (I've fiddled around with it before). To whit: This game is serious fuck up man. Also, the controls are kind of stiff, but so far it's your typical point-and-click adventure game. Can't wait 'till the puzzles become truly fucked up.

I am aware it gets harder as it goes in (something about chapter 9). I'm also aware the ending doesn't have the best reputation. Still, I've never been spoiled the plot so let's please keep it that way, eh chaps?



Alright, there we go, shit yeah. Let's get to the main menu and get this shit started.



Oh, ok, opening cutscene? Cool. Dude walks to car, gets in, calls wife...

Hon, you're not going to believe it ... I've found the answer!! All those years ... I should have seen it! There's more...I'll tell you when I get home.

Certainly sounds like a conspiracy a-brewin'...



... Oh shit, a closeup of the Speedometer...





Yeah...this is not going to end well...



FFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU -


- uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu -



Unidentified voices can be heard in the ensuing darkness...

Move it! The generator's out, the fire's going to spread!

What about this one?

Eh, leave him, that's the bastard that wrecked my car.

What a douche.



And...the opening of the game. I was still kind of waiting for a menu or opening narrative. At this point, I'm roughly as confused as my character...That...that's just all kinds of awesome...

Also this game is pretty fucking beautiful.

My character is not - as I initially assumed - the dude banging his brainbox against the wall up there. No, it's the dude just crawling out of bed to the left there. He is unnamed as of yet, so we shall ingeniously call him The Bandaged One (no worries, he will be named eventually, so you won't have to put up with this too long)

TBO is an astute observer, as one can tell when he walks out the door.

How horrible! What kind of place is this?

A monotone and very annoying alarm is sounding in the background. Luckily, there's a switch nearby



In Sanitarium, you click items once to have TBO inspect them and only then can you interact. TBO's comments are fully voice-acted, unlike the dialogue.



And despite incessant notes on how filthy the beds are, TBO has no problem picking up a used towel. Might be useful. I guess?





Below crazy brain-bash guy is our first dialogue opportunity. Dialogue is keyword-based, and is mostly just clicking all the options and soaking up knowledge.



D- da- da- Don! I haven't heard you before. Wh- who are you?

I wish I knew. I- I can't remember my name. I was hoping you might know me.

Stupid voice. Are you a sp- sp- spirit?

(Spirit) I'm no spirit, just a man. Like you.

Like me! Th- th- then you c- c- an hear the voices too!? C- can't you?

I'm not sure ... These voices, spirits, ghosts, whatever they are ... Who are they?

The fallen warriors!! They demand vengeance!

(Vengeance) What is it they're demanding vengeance for?

T-t-temples, the fallen temples! C-c-can't you hear them? C-c-crying out!

Is this the temple? Is this place one of the fallen temples?

N-n-n-n-no! If you don't k-know-know that, you're not the w-w-w-warrior I thought you to be.

(Where) Something here is familiar. I keep thinking I'll get it .. .. Where are we?

I know something that you don't. Th-this is the-the v-village. S-stupid voice.

What village? Doesn't this place have a real name?



(Dr. Morgan) How can I find this Dr. Morgan? I need to talk to him.

He'll find you. The b-b-b-best witch doctor in the land, he is. He'll save us!

(Anyone) Can you tell me where anyone is, Dr. Morgan ... anyone?

Here we see the alternate portrait for TBO, which for reasons of brevity we'll call his Shepard face. Imagine him grabbing collars whenever lines are uttered with this face.

They f-fled. Cowards, n-n-not-not great warriors like us. Oh, but not Morgan. He'll f- find us.

(Why) Why are you in this place? What brought you here?

Isn't it obvious? Hid-d-d-ding from Him!

Him? I don't -

Sh-sh-shut up, or He'll hear you! Stupid voice.

(Goodbye)

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you: one of the saner members of this asylum. Promising.



The candles around the angel statue light up as if by magic as we pass by. Looks pretty cool, and so far the statue is the sanest person I've met, so let's keep on her good side.

Further down we find an interesting fellow wrapped in a blanket...

He seems familiar, but I can't quite .... remember.

Useful as always, TBO. Also, do you ... really ... need ... all those ... ellipses ....

Anyway, let's see if this fellow might know us then.



Lenny. I'm Lenny. Lenny's my name.

Well then. You must be Lenny. You wouldn't happen to know my name, would you?

Nope. Mom says not to talk to strangers



(Where) Do you know where we are?

My bedroom.

Bedroom? No, I mean the building. What's this place we're in; what's it called?

My house.

(House) This isn't you house!

Fuck yeah, TBO, you grab some collar and get some answers!

Yes it is!

Oh... I guess that's the end of that then.

(Why) Why are you here, Lenny? Can you tell me that?

I was very, very bad.

Bad? I can't believe that of you, Lenny. What did you do?

Yeah, don't worry about it Lenny. We all know how it is. One minute you're just trimming the hedges and the next thing you know three kids are lying there whining about their ears being snipped off or something asinine like that. Tchyuh. Kids...

I, uh ... I ate some pumpkin pie.

...

(Pie) Pie? How could you get in trouble for that?

It came from the patch.

A pumpkin patch? Where is it? Where--

Aaaiiiiieee!!!!

Ugh, obviously a hard kid to talk to. Anyway, the options screen:



(Everyone) Where is everyone, Lenny?

Where you should be. You should listen. Mother made them all go away.

I must not have heard her. Lenny, where did she tell them to go?

To school. Yeah, she made them go to school.

(Away) Since I didn't hear your mom, can you tell me how to get to school?

Eeeeeee!!

Frith on a Stick! Ok then, let's let Lenny be.



TBO even comments on people he's going to talk to. Right to their faces. Harsh.

Excuse me. Do I know you? Your name is ...

Martin. Martin I said.

Shit, Martin, you look awful.

Do you know ... Do you know who ... can you tell me my name?

How the hell should I know. How can you stand all of them, buzzing, constantly buzzing!

(Where) What is this place?



Thank you! Jeesh, I can't believe TBO hadn't figured that one out yet.

A nuthouse? It looks so old ... What do you mean?

Nuthouse. Loony bin. Funny farm. What don't you understand?

(Why) Well. There's a lot I don't understand ... For starters, why are you here?

Damned bugs are driving me crazy. But I'll find their hive one day. Doc Morgan's a great help. We'll squash 'em, and that'll be that.

(Bugs) What bugs, Martin? I don't see any. Maybe they're not real ...

The Bandaged One: Amateur Psychologist.

Are you serious? These blood sucking insects are bent on destroying the world!

Martin, think about it. How are some bugs going to destroy the world?

Snap out of it, man, we need to get to da choppa!

Well look at them! These aren't normal bugs. These is robots! Little, eeeny, teeny robots!

Internal coherency in paranoid delusion. This game is more carefully written than a casual glance would give credit.

(Dr. Morgan) There's a Doctor around here, Doc Morgan?

Ex-ter-min-a-tor! That's what he is, the best there is. He kills bugs dead. But they always come back. They always come back.

Doc Morgan sounds like an hero. Can't wait to meet him.

(Everyone) Where is everyone?

Cowards, all of them. When the alarm went off, they left us behind. Probably in on it with the bugs. Wait 'til Doc Morgan finds out! It's a conspiracy.

Yho-kay. Man, I hope future NPCs can be of more help than these looneys, though I don't know about you guys, but I get the feeling a lot of this "mother" stuff is foreshadowing, as well as Doc Morgan obviously.



Ahahaha! A fat person with his pants down! I feel some zany slapstick a-comin'

He's startled by our presence. Get you hi-yucks ready.

Oh my God! Don't ...



My God ...

...

That'll be the last time I make fun of fat guys with their slacks down. Even The Bandaged One's mighty ellipses could not save the man. We shall mourn you, Fat-Slacks-Down-Guy, and fight on in your name!



Poor taste, that man.



Ah hell. I almost forgot. Well, let's look for a way out of here. We probably need to get to that tower-esque thing with the withdrawn drawbridge in front of it. Can't jump it or nothing, and all we got is a towel...

Hrrrmmmz...What do you think, TBO?



What? No...



Oh c'mon...



...Yes, he uses the towel to slide down the line.

This is why I don't really like adventure games all that much. They always rely on this...diagonal logic that really only makes sense to adventure gamers.



Fuck it. Let's extend the bridge and head in...



Oh really now? That smells like possible phat loot to me! There's a safe right above the drawers, also locked electronically.



And a nearby VCR. I hope the tape is Backdoor Sluts 9.



First puzzle isn't much. Match the colors!



Oooh, atmospheric...



The lamp swings crazily above this desolate interrogation scene. If TBO isn't nuts already, he should be after this little bit of therapy.

My face, it's in bandages. Where am I? Who ... am ... I?

You must have thought you had somewhere important to go when you stole that car.

Oh, no ...

You did a lot of damage to that face of yours in the crash.

"That face of yours"? What is your major malfunction, doc?

I'm sorry ... I ... I can't believe ...





Fucker explodes on me right as the tape ends. It shows an eerie silhouette before shutting down, but I didn't snap a shot of it.



Plot-convenient!

Let's rifle through the sanitarium's confidential files.

A memo regarding the tower bridge. 'Due to recent problems with the generator, all employees are asked to keep the tower bridge extened at all times ... It will be extremely difficult to extend the bridge from the outer ring should the power go out ...'

Difficult? Try impossible. Jeesh, who designed this place, MC Escher?

A letter for Doctor Morgan from Professor Cunningham ... Something about an ancient key, found here in the asylum ... 'The key you describe must be very old indeed ... I have found documentation that may link it to Aztec culture, though we'd have to examine the object carefully here at the institute in order to confirm this theory.'

Memo from the chief of security. It gives some details about a patient escape, number 227. The memo says the west wing is 'inadequately contained' and all of the patients have been transferred to ... the tower cells, here. But where are they now?

Good question. Also, the whole tower cell design with the guardhouse in the middle kind of reminds me of the Panopticon. Which is hella cool.



The Aztec key. We takeses it, yes we do.

A key. Have we seen anything apropos of this, TBO?

(Inspecting the statue base) There's a locking mechanism in the base ... but what for?

Hell yeah, The Bandaged One is starting to become useful. We put our key in the lil' slothole.





Oh wow this is Freudian.

The cutscenes are exceedingly well-done with obviously limited tech, by the way.



Holy crap, the statue springs to life!



Sorry ma'am, 't wasn't me.



Listen! Hear the cries of the children! The innocent are dying and you only think of yourself? Can you not see that the light heaven has dimmed?

Sorry ma'am, I'll try to do better next ti...



Oh what the he...heck, TBO? This is an angel, man, show some godda...goshdarned respect.



Made her cry.



Oh shiiiii...





...iiit?



Chapter 2!




It's about this point I realize this game is pretty special.

Anyway, more to follow soon. Dunno if I'll keep transcribing all the dialogue, suggestions are welcome.

Moar like grabbing bandages, amirite?

Also, good choice, sir. Do continue. Lenny's dialogue is pretty cool, I must say, I don't actually remember it, probably because I took it for unimportant jammerings of a madman when I played...

Oh man, this game seriously rocks, is so fucked up that you will wrack your brain trying to understand what happens (hell, even the main menu is creepy). I would recommend you to post the cutscenes in video format if possible, and/or try to link the game's songs, that are equally awesome.


PS: And when I said fucked up it's in every sense, wait for the children that are to appear (in other words: Lovecraftian).

PPS: And the voice-acting is pretty good: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-j4hDsg ... re=related

PPPS: Angel's cutscene: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IDqio37 ... re=related

Lenny's obviously portentous, yeah. Curious to see if the whole Pumpkin thing leads anywhere.

Yeah, the other times I played this game I did get that far. I remember the first time I didn't even notice the first kid's...facial malfunction, and then when he turned around at the end of the cutscene I was all WHAT THE FUCK MAN WHAT THE FUCK.

The limited voice-acting is top notch.

Ooh, then you didn't really get far in this game before, I thought '(I've fiddled around with it before)' would mean you got to chapter 4 or something.

You're in a one-way superexpress to madness, then, because chapter 2 is pretty much one of the most fuck up man in the game.

I have to advice however: the game features some combat scenes, fortunately, they're only a few, maybe only two areas (the one you're going and in another level, both are short sections), but they're more like "active" puzzles than anything because if you're killed you simply respawn as nothing.


PS: And it's strange, I recall that some dialogues were completely voice-acted, maybe depends of your version/the character's importance in the plot.

FUCK YEAH!

I dunno man, it's no Rick Dangerous.

*SPOILER* All of the madmen in the tower refers to some of the future chapters, if I recall correctly.

*END (Rather weak) SPOILER*


Please keep going. This is one of the greatest games ever conceived, one of the only ones to really capture that spirit of complete insanity.

Ahh, that insane village with the children... Excellent choice BN, sanitarium is definitely in my top-5 favorite adventure games.

As for the dialog, don't skip on any characters because, as Insane Psychic said, they may be tied in some way to the plot, but feel free to skip some lines if you think they don't add anything to the LP.

I've been planning to play this game. And now I will be spoiled by this LP and will never play it... That mean: good stuff, hope you will finish it.

EDIT:

Yeah, I love that kind of game's beginning that makes you so eager to find more about the surrounding world.

Oh wow, just when I was thinking whether to buy it or not (saw it at some store). Thanks, this might finally make me play the game!

When I first started the game, saw the intro, played the prologue, angel grabbed me with its wings and transported me to the eerie town I was thrilled... It's a GREAT adventure game, too bad that game deteriorates towards the end, so, Aztec village and endlevel is pretty boring and shitty...

very nice...

Chapter 2: The Innocent Abandoned



As mentioned, even the main menu is creepy. The eyes in the center follow your cursor, and children's souls whisper your options as you scroll over them. Brrrrr.

We open with a cutscene.





Kids playing. Awesome, it's good to get back to a nice place, y'know?





AAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!

Come on, Billy. Let's play! You're not s'posed to -

AAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!

OK, OK.

AAAAAAARRRRR...ok, better now...Let's try talking to the two-mouthed kid...



Here we see TBO's charming face, which he uses when he needs something from kids. Creepy.

My name's Billy. What's yours?



The question triggers a cutscene, in which we see a lady's feet as she heads down the hall, and hear her muffled voice calling out...a name? Could it be?

I ... I can't remember my name.

Well, mother won't let me talk to strangers so you'd better leave.



Mother only talks to us kids, not a big poophead like you.

What a little shit. Let's talk to the little girl with the deformed face and arms.

Who are you, young lady?

My name's Jessie Hatcher. What's yours?



The same vision with the same muffled voice, but it goes on longer now, showing us a child reading a Grimwall comic. Oh my!

I ... I can't remember my name.

Well, mother won't let me talk to strangers so you'd better leave.

(Mom) Where's your mother? I'd really like to speak to her.

Mother is everywhere.

*shudders* This place is giving me the creeps. And I just got here...



Jumprope with two wooden legs? What is wrong with this place?

Also notice the boarded up school. The clock is spinning like crazy. Let's talk to the girl.

Who are you?



That's mean! I would never call you that.

Thanks mister. You're nice. What's your name?

An apropos question, if only I knew...





My name is Max.

Fuck yeah, I have a name!

That's a nice name ... Hey! Now you aren't a stranger!

FACT: when you know someone's name, he's no longer a stranger. Keep that one in mind, kids.

(Where) Where are we? What town is this?

This is home, silly!

I realize that this is your home, Meg, but where am I? I mean, doesn't this town have a name?

Holy shit, Max! No need to go off on the kid like that. Restrict your collargrabbing to the non-crippled kids, please.

Oh! Didn't you see the sign?

Considering I came by angel-teleportation, I saw no sign. We'll look around for it, tho'.

(Parents) I haven't seen any adults in this town. Where are your parents? Where are all of the adults?

Sorry, Max, but Mother won't let us talk about that.

Why is that?

Mother says that all adults 'cept her are bad, and we shouldn't talk to 'em.

(Bad) Adults are bad? I don't understand. Why does your mother distrust all other adults so much?

She says that 'pride leads to their destruction' or somethin' like that.

Pride leads to envy, envy leads to hate, hate...leads to suffering. Cool, I've identified Mother. It's Yoda!

What does that mean?

I ... Oh! I prob'ly said too much already!

(Rope) You really like to skip rope, huh Meg. I'm sorry, but ... doesn't that hurt, with your false legs?



The more I hear about mother the less I like it.

Let's head up to the church. The sign says:
Today's Sermon
Psalm 4:51
The Gates of Heaven

Huh *rifles through one of his bibles* There's no such thing as Psalm 4:51. Psalm 4 just runs from 1 to 9. What the heck? Psalm 4 is an evensong. Psalm 51 is the penance...oh well.



As we enter the church we are attacked by a cutscene! Max always does this "oh no my head" animation whenever a cutscene starts. Must have played too much MGS 4 to have that kind of Pavlov reaction.





The veil lifts to reveal a skull. What the heck does that mean? Did the woman die? Did the marriage doom her to die? What? What? WHAT?!

Oh well, let's just read the Church's files, 'coz I love doing that.

'Local man question in wife's death'. Says that Marilyn Driscoll was found in her bathtub, both wrists cut. The police questioned the husband, Jeddah, as a matter of standard procedure.

This is a piece about the local preacher, a Reverend O'Toole. The reverend claimed that the comet was the 'Eye of God', a sign of heavenly anger towards the townspeople.

Interesting stu...wait, comet? No way. No fucking way. HE'S COMING. Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn!!!

Ahem. Moving on, maybe the whole "name equals no stranger" thing will work on the other kids too!

You're Billy, right?

Uh huh, I told you that a zillion times already! Gees! Haven't you figured out your name yet, Mister No-Name?

I fucking hate this kid. Go Shepard on his as all you want, Max.

(Max) My name is Max.



That's disgusting! Do your parents know you tell stories like that?

Yeah, but they don't say anything. Orange poop! Orange poop!

(Parents) Where are your parents?

That's right, Max! Just imagine he's doing the Batman voice too for that line.

I'm not s'posed to tell, says Mother.

You can tell me. I'm your friend, right?

Max: good cop/bad cop in one person.

No.

(Statue) Billy, that angel statue over there ... Does it ... I mean, have you ever seen it move, very often?

Stupid Mister Orange-poop. You must have boogers for brains! Statues don't move!



Another expression for Max! We'll call this one his O-Face, because this game isn't creepy enough as it is.

Stop it mister, you're givin' me the creeps!

Hate to say it, Max, but the kid's right, that was pretty creepy.

(Game) What game are you playing?

Tic-tac-toe. Jessie's the best there is. Except when she cheats.

(Best) She's the best, huh? Maybe I could play, too. Got any tips for me?

Yeah, stupid-head. Don't lose.

I don't have much patience for games but I've got less patience for smart-mouth kids like you.

Man, this kid is going to drive Max right over the edge.

(Face) I don't mean to be rude, but ... What happened to your face?

Me? Nuthin'! Mother says I'm handysome. What's wrong with your face, mister? Is Mother making you handysome, too?

Um, no Billy. I was hurt in an accident. These bandages help me get better.

Your name is Jessie, right?

Whenever you go into conversation a second time, Max opens by reaffirming the person's name. But I guess a chronic fear of amnesia is understandable given his past.

Mmm hmmmm. The tic-tac-toe champion! What's your name?

(Max) My name is Max.

Oh. That's a dumb name.

That's a rude thing to say! What would your parents say if they heard you talk like that?

Hmph! They're not here, and you're not my dad. I don't have to listen to you!

(Parents) Where are your parents?

Max seems to go into Shepard mode whenever he asks about parents. Issues much?



Jessie! Shut up! He's a grownup! You know Mother's rule!

Dang! Almost got to the secret there, if that little shit Billy hadn't interrupted. Curse you, Billy!

(Rule) What's mother's rule?

We ... we aren't s'posed to talk about our folks. If we do, we'll be put in ... in ... the patch.

(Patch) Tell me about the pumpkin patch, Jessie. What's so special about it?

No one goes in there ... unless they were bad, like Maria! It's a bad, bad place!

(Game) What game are you playing?

Tic-tac-toe. Wanna play? I'm the best there is!

(Rules) Can't you tell me how to play?

Well, you put an X and I put down an O. In the boxes here. The idea is to get three across, or up and down, or diag'nal. If you do that, you win.

(Face) I don't mean to be rude, but ... What happened to your face?

Huh? Oh that! Mother did this! Aren't I pretty? I hope to be as pretty as Mother when I grow up! Dont't you think I'm pretty?

Oh sweet Frith and Inlè, Mother *did* that? If I ever meet that bitch I'm going all Bruce Campbell on that she-bitch.

Sure, um, yes. You're very, very pretty, Jessie. My God, what's going on here?

(Game) Let's play a game. Then we'll see if you're as good as you say.

Ha! You prob'ly think you're smart, but you're just a big, stupid boy.

A simple kid's game. Shouldn't be too hard.



I employed my old tactics from when I was a kid. Grab the middle, go for the upper right, go for top. She responded with right and lower left, meaning I can put a cross in the top and give myself two outs, hence winning!

I guess you're not as good as you thought, Jessie.

Fuck yeah, I beat a kid at a kid's game. My #1 accomplishment!



Nuh-uh! Girls is stupider!

Shut up Billy, you little retard!

I like this girl.

(Girls) Which girls have beaten you?

Meg and Eileen ... they're her bestest friends.

We go back to Meggan (the pegleg girl) to brag about our Grate Acomplisment!

(Tic-tac-toe) Hey Meg, I beat Jessie at Tic-tac-toe. She said that you beat her once, too.

Hah! I beat her more than once. I beat her 4 times!

4 times! You must be pretty good.

Thanks!

Little braggart. Who cares if you beat her 4 times?! There!

Moving on, we find the sign Meggan mentioned. Seems the town is called "Genet".

Huh, really? Wonder if we'll see any Ramets too. SUBTLE HINT.



And, perhaps because the kids on the swings seem happy (and, oddly enough, perfectly normal) you can't talk to them. We head further up the path and find an abandoned house with a newspaper clipping.

It's an obituary ... 'Marilyn Lee Driscoll, age 32, died Saturday ... Husband Jeddah ... daughter Carol ... and son Lawrence.'

Yeah, the Driscoll suspect-death was mentioned before.



The abandoned town hall. The clown poster just gives this location it's final requisite drop of creepiness.

There's also more notes to read here.

An article about a 'new star in the sky'. Many people saw the star ... but an astronomer claims that the star is actually a comet.

Article about the annual town pumpkin fair. Supposed to be the 'biggest yet'. Let me know when it starts.

Interesting news. Seems that a comet altered its path and head for Earth. 'The eye of God lights up the Night Sky'

The actual newspaper avatar (I'm just recycling the same clipping) says 'The Eye of God stares down on Genet'. Creepy.

Heading down the path leads us to some more kids. First is one sitting alone aside from the rest, and according to Max his face "looks like it is melting". Ewwww.

Hi. What's your name?

Marty Johns ... what's your name?

(Max) My name is Max.



(Adults) I haven't seen any adults in town. Where are your parents? Where are all of the adults?

Um ... I have a ball. I can bounce it.

(Ball) That sure is a nice ball. I used to have one just like it.

Really? This one's mine.

(Others) Why aren't you playing with the others?

I like my ball ... and rides. Be careful, mister pig is almost broke.

Those rides do look fun. Let's try 'em out!



Teeheee! The sickly horse is also fun! The pig...



...breaks on the first go. Oh well. Let's pick it up and keep it because that's what adventure gamers do! They break kiddy rides and then take 'em, fuck yeah!

Heading down, entering the cemetery opens up another cutscene.





An old news broadcast flickers in. Looks like they're burying a kid there. Wonder if the kiddy deaths have to do with the comet. So many implications!



The headstones are marked. Troika-style, it seems.



Yes, an open mausoleum with a rotting corpse in it. Seems like a great place to have kids play.



Shit yeah now we're talking. Whatever alien armies come out of that comet I'll be ready, Freeman-style!

Time to talk to all these kids. The first one is a three-armed specimen, near the gate.

What's your name?

What's it to ya, dumbass?

Nothing. Certainly nothing worth getting dunked in the river over, don't you think?

:shock: Holy shit. Max Shepard is pretty Xtreme.

Jeez, mister, don't get all bent out of shape. I was just kiddin'. My name's Dennis O'Toole. What's yours?

(Max) My name is Max.

Hmph! That figures! What a stupid name.

(Reverend) The newspapers mentioned a Reverend O'Toole. Are you related to him?

Yeah, he's my old man.

I'd like to speak to your father. Is he close by?

Oh he's really close, but you can't talk to him.

Jeesh, enough with the ominous foreshadowing already!

Why not?

Because only Mother is allowed to.

(Allowed) Only mother? You mean you're not allowed to see your own father?

Yup. Mother says that they got to learn about raisin' us kids, so we should leave 'em alone.

Alone where?

Hmph! How dumb do you think I am? I ain't no squealer!



(Church) Is that your father's church across town?

Uh-huh, that's St. Michael's church.

(Parents) I haven't seen any any adults in this town. Where are your parents? Where are all of the adults?

Mother took care of them. In fact, I'd watch my step if I were you. After all, you're the only adult in town, and Mother don't like adults.

(Watch) 'Watch my step'? I've had enough of you and your little threads, kid.

Whoa! Calm down, mister. I was just tellin' ya to be careful, that's all.

Max should try to keep his Shepard side in check a bit more. Next kid is the one sitting on the ground, "little more than a baby".

Hi there. What's your name, kid?

Derek. What's yours?

See? He's holding a lollipop. It's just a toddler. Just a normal toddler. Aha. Ahahahaa. AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAH!!!


This place is starting to get to me.

(Max) My name is Max.

Hi Max. I'm Derek.



What? What the heck's he talking about? That screen follows just on the "I'm Derek" reply, I have no idea what it's referring to.

(Adults) I haven't seen any adults in this town. Where are your parents? Where are all of the adults?

I dunno.

(Cemetery) Why are all you kids here in the cemetery?

'Cause Dennis says so.

'k. Next is the...Hunchback of Notre Dame running around.

What's your name?

Well, since all the adults went away, everyone calls me Lumpy ...

(Real name) Do you have another name? A real name?



Lumpy suits him, though.

(Max) My name is Max.

It isn't as cool as my name, but it's OK. I guess that means you ain't a stranger no more ... so I can talk to you, right?

Uh, right.

Even Max is beginning to question the whole logic of identification being equal to familiarization.

(Adults) I haven't seen any adults in this town. Where are your parents? Where are all of the adults?

Mother says we're not s'posed to talk to anyone 'bout that. 'Specially you big people. Sorry.

(Driscoll) I read the town newspapers and saw some articles about a man named Jeddah Driscoll. Was he your father?

Yeah.

(Mom) I'm sorry to hear about your mom. But if she's dead, who is this 'Mother' that you keep talking about?

She's my new mom ... and she promised me that she won't ever go away.

(Promise) How can she promise that? I mean, we all ... uh ... 'go away'.

Nuh-uh! Mother said we'll live forever after she's finished with us!

Right. Continuing down the line we move to the girl on the bench, whose legs are "like tree roots".

Helly, young lady, What's your name?

Eileen Daily. What's yours?

(Max) My name is Max.

That's a nice name.

Awwww geee. What a nice kid, even if she's got the whole glowing-eyes thing going on.

(Adults) I haven't seen any adults in this town. Where are your parents? Where are all of the adults?

They just sort of, well, they just went away.

Away to where? They left you kids all alone?

Oh, we're not alone! Mother is here to take care of us!

(Mom) Where is your mother? I'd really like to talk to her.

Gee, I'm sorry mister Max, but we're not supposed to tell no one.

Why not?

'Cause Mother doesn't want to be disturbed while she's resting.

(Cemetery) Why are all you kids here in the cemetery?

Our leader Dennis likes to play hide-and-go-seek here.

(Play) Can I play a game of hide-and-seek with you?

You'd have to ask Dennis, but I'd rather not play right now. I was just going to plant my pretty pumpkins.

You like pumpkins, huh?

Mm-hmm. I like the pretty orange color.

(Orange) Orange, huh? That reminds me of a story that Billy told me.

Oh yuck! Did he tell you that awful cat story?

That's gross, huh?

Yeah! Just like Billy!

Hah, Billy's luck with the ladies is at absolute zero. I love it.

(Jessie) Do you play tic-tac-toe with Jessie?



Shit, all these kids whooped Jessie good. Guess my accomplishment wasn't that special.

Only one kid left in the cemetery, and it's a mottled and leafy-faced one.

Hi there. What's your name, kid?

My name's Marcus ... Marcus Williams. What's yours?

(Max) My name is Max.

Hi Max. I guess you're not a stranger anymore.

(Adults) I haven't seen any adults in this town. Where are your parents? Where are all of the adults?

Mother made 'em go away.

Away to where?

Sorry, mister, but I'm not allowed to tell you!

(Cemetery) Why are all you kids here in the cemetery?

'Cause Dennis likes it here.

Not much help there. Time to confront Dennis about his cemetery-dwelling ways.

(Cemetery) Why are all you kids here in the cemetery?

'Cause we like it here. The other little kids are too chicken to play here!

Why? What do you play?

They play kid games like tic-tac-toe. We play hide-and-go-seek! And we're the best! Heck, we even have a prize you can win!

phat loot?

(Best) What makes you think you're the best?

Because we have a secret weapon!

Really? What is it?

If I told you, then it wouldn't be a secret!

(Prize) A prize for winning, huh? What is it?

They keys to the town store! There's a lot of cool stuff inside! Our fort ... our candy ... everything!

phat loot!

(Rules) Um, it's been a while since I played this game. Could you tell me the rules?



Well that sounds pretty easy.

Hah! You say that now, but just wait until you try to find us!

(Play) Can I play a game of hide-and-seek with you?

Yeah, if you really want to show everyone what a big, fat loser you are!

That's it, big mouth. You better pray that I don't find you. Let's go!

Fuck yeah, Max, time to beat even more kids at kid's games! We rock!





And the place is empty. Time to sniff out them darned kids.



While doing so I happen upon spots I had heretofore skipped. Like these kids dancing around the pumpkin and singing. Continued clicking on 'em gets you more comments from Max.

Their singing ... so haunting ...

Shut up! Shut up! I can't take it anymore!

No response, tho'. And Max does not go crazy enough to take the hedge clippers to their ears.



Ohohohoh, what's that? A tub of lard hiding in a tub of wood?



And he runs off.

A path down leads to a beach with a kid we missed earlier. Let's hear him out.

Hi there. What's your name, kid?



Timmy O'Toole? Really?

(Max) My name is Max.

That's a good name. Now you're not a stranger.



(Adults) I haven't seen any adults in this town. Where are your parents? Where are all of the adults?

Mother said God made them all go away, 'cause we're his special children.

Special children? What does your mother mean by that?

Mother said that God wanted her to protect His special children, so he sent her to save us.

(Save) Save you from what?

From the disease, of course.

Disease?

Mm-hm, the disease of meat.

At first I thought he said "disease of the meat", which considering their...status would make sense. But no, he means disease of meat, period.

(Meat) Meat? Is she a vegetarian?

What's a vegiteareeyon?

It's someone who eats plants, not animals.

Well, I think that's what she is.

Yeah, I think so too SUBTLE HINT.

(Fishing) How are the fish biting today?

Not so good ... but I could sit here all day, so I don't care.

You mean you never go into town?

Well, only to go to church. But I haven't heard the call to mass in a long time.

(Mass) The call to mass? What's that?

Father would ring the bell. But since all the adults went away, no one's been able to ring it.

Really? How come?

Dennis cut the rope, so no one can reach it.

(O'Toole) I've read some newspapers and they mention a Reverend O'Toole. Is he a relative of yours?

Yes. He's my father.

I'd like to speak with your father. Is he close by?

Sort of, but Mother said never speak about it.

Why?

I'm sorry, I just can't talk about it or I'll get in trouble.

(Trouble) What kind of trouble?

I'll be punished like Maria was! I don't wanna go to the patch!

Punished? You mean in that pumpkin patch on the other side of town?

Wait what? Max knows something I don't, I haven't seen no pumpkin patch.

Yes! Can we talk about something else? I'm getting scared.

Okay, okay. I didn't mean to upset you.

(Dennis) Isn't Dennis your brother?

Yes, but I don't like him. He's mean to me!

Mean? How is he mean to you?

He won't let me play hide-and-go-seek with him and his friends. He says I'm just a stupid little kid.

The bastard!



Inspecting this nearby wrecked car reveals it still has a full tank, but it doesn't seem like there's anything we can do about it. If I only still had my towel I could soak it in the fuel, 'coz that's what adventure gamers do!

We go on looking for the kids...



Derek's in the church.



Eileen's in the tree.



Marcus is hiding under the bed in the abandoned shack.

That leaves Dennis, who is nowhere to be found. Then again, there are a few closed houses in the town...



...and a little creative use of tools should help fix that.



Hells yeah. It makes sense if he's in here I guess, kids can easily just crawl through a window, so let's search this dusty old school...



...

Now that is just seriously fucked up...

Decayed bodies! Are these the parents? If I ask the kids directly, it might upset them.

What? No offense, Max, but you just found one of the kids hiding amongst the corpses. I think they're beyond the mental shock already.

There you are. My God, what kind of hiding place is this?

Ugh. So, that's that, let's go collect our prize.

(Found) Hah! That wasn't so tough. I found everyone and won fair and square. Now give me the key to the store.

Hmph! You big dolt! You forgot about our secret weapon!

(Forgot) I should have known you would cheat! What kind of crap are you trying to pull?

Hey, don't get upset, mister. I told you the rules, I told you about the secret weapon, and you didn't win.

What are you talking about? I found all of you!

Heh heh heh! You didn't find all of us!



What?!



Hhhmph. So, if the "loooong time" hint isn't obvious enough, you'll notice lil' Eileen up there spading away at her pumpkin patch (I guess), and as the conversation ends she finishes up and drops her shovel.



Go ahead! I'm all done! Mother will be so proud of me when she wakes up!

This game better be pulling my chain.



This game is not pulling my chain.

Missed by mother indeed.

Remember we read about Carol before, she's Larry's sister, her mother died under suspicious circumstances and I think she's the one we saw buried in the cutscene.



Sanitarium: Digging up kiddy corpses.



The moment we finish Larry comes in and picks up his sister's body. A touching moment?



...This game is seriously fucked up man...

Let's hear out Larry about his little wheelcart escapades.

(Wagon) I see that you and Carol are ... um, very close.

Yeah, I'm so happy she's back! Thanks for helpin' me find her!

Uhh, sure ... I guess.



Fuck it, let's claim our prize. Like me, Max is not happy about this little bit of fucked-uppery.

(Secret weapon) All right, you twisted little freak. I dug up your 'secret weapon'. Satisfied? Now hand over the keys.



Thanks, Dennis.

I need a break. And this update is a bit big (sorry about that). More adventure game-isms later! This is the farthest I got in this game, so far, we'll see what the future holds.

I was thinking about this game just the other day, upon seeing it on GOG.

I played it when it first came out, but I've forgotten lots of stuff about it. Incredible, how time goes by. I've forgotten most of the dialogue as well.

I know rite.

It's been ages since a game disturbed me like this. Probably since Pathologic.

But ever since I spent half a year volunteering at an orphanage in Russia I've been way more sensitive to stories involving kids, especially orphan kids. This stuff...this stuff is seriously fuck up man

And that's awesome.

This is seriously fuck up game, man. Disturbing just from the screenshots. Good thing I didn't actually buy it way back when it was new and I was more impressionable.

Looking forward to more.

Re: Let us languish in Sanitarium

At least it wasn't a rubber chicken.

That was no ordinary rubber chicken. That one had a pulley.

Great stuff. been wanting to see how the rest of the game went, my copy crashed and burned when i tryed to juice up momma.

How many bibles do you own ?

That's probably Max's car

You should give a try to Silent Hill 1. It's definitely the most disturbing game I've played. I've thought about making an LP but it wouldn't do it justice, it's a game that must be experienced.


Also, excellent LP , keep up the disturbance.