Last Window thoughts

[Going for Miles]

As the HD sequel, it's hard not to compare the two, especially with them being so alike in terms of style and gameplay. In that sense, Last Window is a successful sequel in that it not only gives the player more of what they came for while solving some problems of the previous installment in the process, but is also a great title on its own merits. It was also a plus to me that it remained unintrusive to the story of HD even if I did miss some characters and

Spoiler: HD and LW

the way they mentioned Bradley I honestly thought for a while we might get to see him or at least know more about him but alas my hopes were crushed.

The puzzles are a bit more meaningful this time around, and I like how they kind of expect us to know some tricks like double-tapping and closing the DS by now and utilize it in new ways. Although that damn music box was the bane of my existence and almost my DS's, too. Something else I appreciated with the gameplay was that it was not as easy to get stuck wondering what to do next as in HD. The two times I had to look up a walkthrough for that purpose it was entirely on me for not having paid enough attention to the hints that were given, so in that sense the gameplay felt more intuitive. Roaming around the environment was quite fun too.

The music was nice, not a lot that really stood out to me except for Sharp blade which is frikkin' awesome.

I was a bit worried with the story because when a sequel to something decides to take an established main character and give them a backstory and/or make the story center around them and their past, it's quite easy to screw it up in my opinion. Here it worked well though and didn't seem unnecessarily tacked on, and the overall story was intriguing, and admittedly more polished and pulled together than HD's, although I found that to be a lot of HD's charm and what made it special. This one did have the human, almost sometimes mundane type of complexity that I associate with these games and Cing overall.

I didn't feel as connected to the characters as I did in HD, nor did I get as attached to the place, but it might be because HD focused a lot on the other characters stories while LW focused more on Hyde himself. Tony was such an expy of Louie but didn't have half his charm or depth. At least I wasn't stuck playing billiards with him for an eternity like with the hallway bowling in HD.

Spoiler: LW

One of the best moments for me though was when we had the opportunity to give the price money to him because it was something I'd been wanting to do and I was glad the game let it happen.

I kind of liked everyone though, especially Claire and Mags, other than Kyle of course.

And speaking of Hyde, I think I liked him much more this time around. He was still the blunt smartass from HD, but seemed to have softened up a little and it did him well. I didn't know he was so well-versed in coffee either, which earns my eternal love and respect. Eating and drinking at the café was always a nice change of pace. The secret files in the novel did a good job to further flesh him and his life out, too. Otherwise the novel was pretty bad, but in a pretty delightful way nonetheless. Getting a bit more to the ending and some epilogues was nice too.

All in all it was great. If I have to choose, I think I like HD a bit better because of its atmosphere, immersion and characters, but it really comes down to marginal preferences and they are both equally good as games, with Last Window having some improvements in the gameplay department especially.

(Also I'm glad Kyle kept his habit of going "Huh?" everytime something happens so we could say it in unision throughout this game too)

[Southern Corn]

As the HD sequel, it's hard not to compare the two, especially with them being so alike in terms of style and gameplay. In that sense, Last Window is a successful sequel in that it not only gives the player more of what they came for while solving some problems of the previous installment in the process, but is also a great title on its own merits. It was also a plus to me that it remained unintrusive to the story of HD even if I did miss some characters and

Spoiler: HD and LW

the way they mentioned Bradley I honestly thought for a while we might get to see him or at least know more about him but alas my hopes were crushed.

I agree, yeah. I think that LW really did well with the main subplot around Kyle's father, especially considering it was mentioned in HD making it less out of nowhere and more fitting with the universe. Seeing Mila again was nice though.

The puzzles are a bit more meaningful this time around, and I like how they kind of expect us to know some tricks like double-tapping and closing the DS by now and utilize it in new ways. Although that damn music box was the bane of my existence and almost my DS's, too. Something else I appreciated with the gameplay was that it was not as easy to get stuck wondering what to do next as in HD. The two times I had to look up a walkthrough for that purpose it was entirely on me for not having paid enough attention to the hints that were given, so in that sense the gameplay felt more intuitive. Roaming around the environment was quite fun too.

The music was nice, not a lot that really stood out to me except for Sharp blade which is frikkin' awesome.

Yeah, puzzles were nice and I did like how you couldn't get stuck as easily as in HD. Much easier to navigate too.

And yes, Sharp Blade is amazing. One of the best themes from this game.

I was a bit worried with the story because when a sequel to something decides to take an established main character and give them a backstory and/or make the story center around them and their past, it's quite easy to screw it up in my opinion. Here it worked well though and didn't seem unnecessarily tacked on, and the overall story was intriguing, and admittedly more polished and pulled together than HD's, although I found that to be a lot of HD's charm and what made it special. This one did have the human, almost sometimes mundane type of complexity that I associate with these games and Cing overall.

Spoiler:

Yeah, I loved the plot about his father's death, it felt very cohesive and the ending to it felt very satisfying. Frank's arc was very well done in that regard and it was interesting hearing him finally spill the beans. It felt very tragic to me. The whole game has that melancholy feeling with these events of the past. Very well written for sure.

I didn't feel as connected to the characters as I did in HD, nor did I get as attached to the place, but it might be because HD focused a lot on the other characters stories while LW focused more on Hyde himself. Tony was such an expy of Louie but didn't have half his charm or depth. At least I wasn't stuck playing billiards with him for an eternity like with the hallway bowling in HD.

Spoiler: LW

One of the best moments for me though was when we had the opportunity to give the price money to him because it was something I'd been wanting to do and I was glad the game let it happen.

I kind of liked everyone though, especially Claire and Mags, other than Kyle of course.

Sure, I can get behind that. Characters like Charles and Betty were kind of there for the most part and were only tangentially involved to everything. I really like Sidney, Claire, Will and Mags myself too. Tony was kind of disappointing but I did like how he actually did mature thanks to us, that was cool. I liked Dylan for a lot of the game, till the end anyway.

Spoiler:

Will was kind of weird too because he appears halfway through the game, turns out to be super plot important and then disappears again. Felt strangely placed.

And speaking of Hyde, I think I liked him much more this time around. He was still the blunt smartass from HD, but seemed to have softened up a little and it did him well. I didn't know he was so well-versed in coffee either, which earns my eternal love and respect. Eating and drinking at the café was always a nice change of pace. The secret files in the novel did a good job to further flesh him and his life out, too. Otherwise the novel was pretty bad, but in a pretty delightful way nonetheless. Getting a bit more to the ending and some epilogues was nice too.

Given the writer, it's to be expected But yeah, hearing about his escapades were super amusing.

All in all it was great. If I have to choose, I think I like HD a bit better because of its atmosphere, immersion and characters, but it really comes down to marginal preferences and they are both equally good as games, with Last Window having some improvements in the gameplay department especially.

(Also I'm glad Kyle kept his habit of going "Huh?" everytime something happens so we could say it in unision throughout this game too)

Huh?

But yeah, I don't blame you. They're both close in my opinion and I mostly just prefer LW because I prefer how it ended things and made it feel more complete, as it were. Pretty great stuff.

[Going for Miles]

I agree, yeah. I think that LW really did well with the main subplot around Kyle's father, especially considering it was mentioned in HD making it less out of nowhere and more fitting with the universe. Seeing Mila again was nice though.

Yes precisely. It was good, from the short time we had with her it felt like she had started coming into her own but to a beliavable degree.

Spoiler:

Yeah, I loved the plot about his father's death, it felt very cohesive and the ending to it felt very satisfying. Frank's arc was very well done in that regard and it was interesting hearing him finally spill the beans. It felt very tragic to me. The whole game has that melancholy feeling with these events of the past. Very well written for sure.

Spoiler:

Definitely, with his feelings of guilt about having left the scene because of the note. The thing with Kyle holding the Scarlet Star and thinking of his father having held it too was really nice as well.

Spoiler:

Will was kind of weird too because he appears halfway through the game, turns out to be super plot important and then disappears again. Felt strangely placed.

Spoiler:

Counting the neighbours we'd met compared to how many people they said were living there I kept waiting for this last mystery person to show up. And he was generally suspicious. And then they kind of squeezed in what complexity and interesting story he had in such a short time.