kaputt

Her Story

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PSA to anyone who hasn't played it yet: there are a ton of reviews out there that are super spoilery, some without warning even.

 

In some forms of media (novels for instance), I am somewhat sympathetic to the notion that anything that was made worse by being spoilered maybe wasn't that good to begin with, but Her Story is good and it matters here IMO.

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I haven't bought this game, but I've seen a bit of gameplay footage, and I'm left very curious about something. How does the game end? Not narratively, I want to know what game-mechanical action you take which causes the credits to roll. Is there a particular clip or set of clips that end the game? Is there an "I figured it out, the butler did it" button?

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I think there's several key clips that it checks whether you have seen. I don't _think_ a single clip is sufficient, although if it is a single clip I have a pretty good candidate which one it would be and know a search that will take you right to it, so it wouldn't take much effort to test that hypothesis.

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First, I want to say this game was a lot of fun playing with a second person. I was the notetaker, which meant I had the fun job of keeping track of the proper nouns and trying to piece together what happened during each interview. It was a lot of fun to puzzle out this mystery with two people, so if you can play in pairs, I really recommend it.

 

Now for spoilers of the entire game:

This game feels like the classic example of the mystery being more satisfying than its conclusion. I felt mildly deflated after finally learning what happened to Simon, because that knowledge is no where near as interesting as the haphazard search for information the game has you fall into for the first few hours. The mystery of Eve and Hannah both being two people or the same person didn't hold up for me at the end, so I don't even get to enjoy that post-game thrill of trying to tease out what is really going on with this woman (these women). Even though the game seems to really push you in this direction (most notably with the fingerprints), I find the "she was a twin all along" conclusion to be a bit of a letdown, because it's so contrived. This fantastical story of an eight-year-old hidden in an attic for years unnoticed is too much for me to accept. The fantasy of this game is more interesting if it's not taken so literally, so I choose to believe the women are one person. Maybe Hannah intentionally created this second identity to try and escape a murder conviction or maybe it's a personality disorder born out of a childhood guilt over her twin sister dying in utero. Either answer leaves room for much more exciting interpretations than what the game leaves you with.

 

I'm sorry if I sound really harsh about the ending, but everything that leads up to the conclusion of this game is so masterful that I am disappointed the game couldn't stick its landing. Criticism aside, I hope this game gets a lot of press attention. It really deserves recognition for trying such a unique method of deploying a narrative. I don't think the game is entirely successful, but I don't regret the several hours of my Sunday evening that I spent playing this game.

 

Now, can someone please explain the significance of it Sarah who is viewing the clips? I read in a review that originally it was meant to be Hannah who is reflected in the computer screen and that it was later changed to Sarah. What conclusion are we meant to draw from this revelation?

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Regarding the Sarah bit I believe that is supposed to be Eve's daughter.  The name is interesting because that is what Hannah and Simon were going to name their baby before the miscarriage.  Don't know if that clears things up for you or not but I have seen folks hypothesize that whole "do you understand why your mother did this?" bit was to show she was either mentally ill or possiblyEve took the fall so Hannah could raise Sarah?  Not totally sure there.

 

Regarding the credits though how is that achieved?  I got the Chit Chat message to pop up asking if I was done and I kept playing for about a half hour.  Still have never had credits roll and I couldn't type anything in response of the Chit Chat.  Don't know if this is something I'm missing or possibly a game issue.  For example, when I opened the clock, in order to close it I had to click all around the X and not on it to actually get that to function.

 

And I totally agree about the pairs bit.  My wife was great about pulling terms out of the air and I was a little more focused on pulling bits from the interviews, definitely improved the experience.  Now to play that two player tile game in the recycle bin.

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First, I want to say this game was a lot of fun playing with a second person. I was the notetaker, which meant I had the fun job of keeping track of the proper nouns and trying to piece together what happened during each interview. It was a lot of fun to puzzle out this mystery with two people, so if you can play in pairs, I really recommend it.

 

Now for spoilers of the entire game:

This game feels like the classic example of the mystery being more satisfying than its conclusion. I felt mildly deflated after finally learning what happened to Simon, because that knowledge is no where near as interesting as the haphazard search for information the game has you fall into for the first few hours. The mystery of Eve and Hannah both being two people or the same person didn't hold up for me at the end, so I don't even get to enjoy that post-game thrill of trying to tease out what is really going on with this woman (these women). Even though the game seems to really push you in this direction (most notably with the fingerprints), I find the "she was a twin all along" conclusion to be a bit of a letdown, because it's so contrived. This fantastical story of an eight-year-old hidden in an attic for years unnoticed is too much for me to accept. The fantasy of this game is more interesting if it's not taken so literally, so I choose to believe the women are one person. Maybe Hannah intentionally created this second identity to try and escape a murder conviction or maybe it's a personality disorder born out of a childhood guilt over her twin sister dying in utero. Either answer leaves room for much more exciting interpretations than what the game leaves you with.

 

I'm sorry if I sound really harsh about the ending, but everything that leads up to the conclusion of this game is so masterful that I am disappointed the game couldn't stick its landing. Criticism aside, I hope this game gets a lot of press attention. It really deserves recognition for trying such a unique method of deploying a narrative. I don't think the game is entirely successful, but I don't regret the several hours of my Sunday evening that I spent playing this game.

 

Now, can someone please explain the significance of it Sarah who is viewing the clips? I read in a review that originally it was meant to be Hannah who is reflected in the computer screen and that it was later changed to Sarah. What conclusion are we meant to draw from this revelation?

 

I sat down to play this with my wife on Saturday afternoon. By the time we thought to ask what time it was, it was later in the evening and we were late for the movie we had meant to go to. Strong second for playing with another person. It made teasing out the details far more enjoyable.

 

Around the time we noticed the tattoo, we looked at each other and said "Oh no...is this going to be an evil twin thing?" And then we were slowly let down as we realized it was either a twin or a multiple personality story. That doesn't take away from how interesting the game is formally, but it does make it harder to recommend unreservedly.

For me, it wasn't even that the twist was silly, but that the silly twist coupled with the game's purposeful ambiguity made it hard to care too much about putting all the pieces together. If it was just a bit of over the top storytelling, I could get behind that (as I am someone who loves a good bit of melodrama). Or if it was more grounded but ambiguous. Either way, I really enjoyed it and am glad that I made it through it. I just found it a bit of a let down at the end.

 

Regarding the Sarah bit I believe that is supposed to be Eve's daughter.  The name is interesting because that is what Hannah and Simon were going to name their baby before the miscarriage.  Don't know if that clears things up for you or not but I have seen folks hypothesize that whole "do you understand why your mother did this?" bit was to show she was either mentally ill or possiblyEve took the fall so Hannah could raise Sarah?  Not totally sure there.

 

Regarding the credits though how is that achieved?  I got the Chit Chat message to pop up asking if I was done and I kept playing for about a half hour.  Still have never had credits roll and I couldn't type anything in response of the Chit Chat.  Don't know if this is something I'm missing or possibly a game issue.  For example, when I opened the clock, in order to close it I had to click all around the X and not on it to actually get that to function.

 

And I totally agree about the pairs bit.  My wife was great about pulling terms out of the air and I was a little more focused on pulling bits from the interviews, definitely improved the experience.  Now to play that two player tile game in the recycle bin.

 

You get credits by opening up the ChitChat window, hitting "Call" and then saying "yes" when the person on the other end asks if you're done. I think you're limited to writing "yes" or "no" in the chat window so they wouldn't have to include a natural language parser for such a small part of the game. Then you get a cheat code that lets you view videos at random, which is great for filling out the remainder of your video library.

By the way, am I correct in remembering the person on the other end of the chat being identified as "S.B."? If so, that's probably meant to be Sam Barlow, the game's creator, which is kind of cute to the point of excess for me.

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Now, can someone please explain the significance of it Sarah who is viewing the clips? I read in a review that originally it was meant to be Hannah who is reflected in the computer screen and that it was later changed to Sarah. What conclusion are we meant to draw from this revelation?

 

Austin Walker asked this question of the designer in an interview over at Giant Bomb. My memory of his answer is vague, but:

 

essentially, he thought it was an easy way to explain why you were looking at the files and provide some sort of ending with the chat stuff as well. This seems like a bad answer though, but let's chalk that up to me misremembering.

 

 

By the way, am I correct in remembering the person on the other end of the chat being identified as "S.B."? If so, that's probably meant to be Sam Barlow, the game's creator, which is kind of cute to the point of excess for me.

 

It is 'S.B.' and I completely agree.

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I've only been skimming this thread to avoid spoilers.  How long would you guys say this takes to play through?  I'm assuming it's not terribly long (which I consider a big plus if that's the case). 

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I've seen every single clip there is and it took me about 4h.

 

That sounds about perfect, able to get through it in just one or two evenings. 

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I feel like saying it has to be twins or a split personality is overlooking the possibility of it being a single personality that is trying to make it look like it is twins, but is not itself a split personality. edit: in such a case, the motive doesn't hold up but its easy enough to imagine a potential motive that isn't disclosed to us.

 

BUT, I think it is crafted in such a way as to defy resolution. Every "gotcha" no matter which way you side has an escape clause built in. Tattoo? we never see the detective get up close to examine it..if the actress can put on a temporary tattoo that is convincing from that distance, so can the character. Lie detector? Inadmissible in court because they're known to be unreliable (or if you're on the split personality side, maybe it is enough for the personality to believe it to be true to pass). Bruise? She already mentions a high metabolism, but on the flip side she also explains that they hit each other to make their bruises match up. It's absence/presence means nothing.

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I feel like saying it has to be twins or a split personality is overlooking the possibility of it being a single personality that is trying to make it look like it is twins, but is not itself a split personality. edit: in such a case, the motive doesn't hold up but its easy enough to imagine a potential motive that isn't disclosed to us.

 

BUT, I think it is crafted in such a way as to defy resolution. Every "gotcha" no matter which way you side has an escape clause built in. Tattoo? we never see the detective get up close to examine it..if the actress can put on a temporary tattoo that is convincing from that distance, so can the character. Lie detector? Inadmissible in court because they're known to be unreliable (or if you're on the split personality side, maybe it is enough for the personality to believe it to be true to pass). Bruise? She already mentions a high metabolism, but on the flip side she also explains that they hit each other to make their bruises match up. It's absence/presence means nothing.

 

How do you explain

the fingerprints?

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How do you explain

the fingerprints?

 

I'm actually pretty hazy on the details regarding the fingerprints. I remember the scene where she claims to have burnt her hand, but not any context of where prints were found nor whether they actually managed to get two sets and compare them. I guess they would've been able to dig through the rubbish and get prints off the cups as soon as they suspected something, but I don't recall a clip where it looks like they'd confronted her with that?

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I'm actually pretty hazy on the details regarding the fingerprints. I remember the scene where she claims to have burnt her hand, but not any context of where prints were found nor whether they actually managed to get two sets and compare them. I guess they would've been able to dig through the rubbish and get prints off the cups as soon as they suspected something, but I don't recall a clip where it looks like they'd confronted her with that?

Try the search FINGERPRINTS CUP...which takes place immediately after TWINS MIND.

You don't hear the detective's question, but it sounded to me like they've already run the prints on her cup from the day before and concluded that she wasn't the person who they'd taken fingerprints from.  This time she dares them to run the prints, because (I think) this is Hannah, from whom they'd taken the prints earlier. 

 

The day before they'd became suspicious when she gave a too-similar story (search WHILST), asked the detective if he had children for a second day in a row (try MANY KIDS and HAVE CHILDREN, and answered the same question 3 or so times in a row before noticing (search YESTERDAY).

 

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By the way, am I correct in remembering the person on the other end of the chat being identified as "S.B."? If so, that's probably meant to be Sam Barlow, the game's creator, which is kind of cute to the point of excess for me.

You get credits by opening up the ChitChat window, hitting "Call" and then saying "yes" when the person on the other end asks if you're done. I think you're limited to writing "yes" or "no" in the chat window so they wouldn't have to include a natural language parser for such a small part of the game. Then you get a cheat code that lets you view videos at random, which is great for filling out the remainder of your video library.

 

In addition to that, it also mentions

 

"the unlock command".  If you haven't figured that out, try searching "ADMIN_UNLOCK".  It increases the search limit from 5 to 15.  It's actually interesting to see on a mechanical level, because it made me run back through my search history and see the items with more than 5 matches, and how that 5 item limit is used to hide some of the confession stuff from you on what would be pretty early search terms.

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okay so if this is true (and I haven't checked, but have no reason to believe it is made up), then i guess I'm definitively wrong: http://therealicepotato.tumblr.com/post/122827642936/her-story-spoilers

 

Having now watched all the videos, I kinda think this is it.

 

This is the timeline that makes sense.  Hannah and Eve are two different people.  It's why the alibi of being in Glasgow exists.  After a fight in which Eve inflicts the bruise on Hannah and Hannah has taken Eve's wig, Eve has taken Hannah's car and driven it to Glasgow.  It looks like Hannah is in Glasgow because Eve is not wearing the blonde wig.  Eve gets checked out at the hospital after the accident because she actually is pregnant.  Meanwhile, Hannah is at home stewing over the betrayal that her sister and husband have put her through.  When Simon returns home, Hannah puts on the wig and pretends to be Eve.  Simon confesses his love to "Eve", and so Hannah kills him in a blind rage at the same time the real Eve is (inadvertently) giving Hannah an alibi with the Glasgow situation.

 

I think it's a lot harder to make that timeline work if it's a split personality thing. 

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okay so if this is true (and I haven't checked, but have no reason to believe it is made up), then i guess I'm definitively wrong: http://therealicepotato.tumblr.com/post/122827642936/her-story-spoilers

 

 

I can't figure this out.  Are there two clips that take place at the same time on 7/1?  I watched the 7/1 clips sequentially and they all seemed to be the same person in the same interview.

 

I don't think this is right.

 

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I can't figure this out. Are there two clips that take place at the same time on 7/1? I watched the 7/1 clips sequentially and they all seemed to be the same person in the same interview.

I don't think this is right.

They may have been confused.

On 7/1 is the day where you first see the tattoo. In that interview, Eve starts out wearing a long sleeve shirt, covering the tattoo. However, she spills her coffee on the shirt and removes it, revealing the tattoo. I think someone might be reading white shirt and blue shirt as two separate interviews, not getting that she changes to blue shirt as a result of the spill.

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Been playing this for the past two days and I'm loving it. I'm at at impasse right now, though. I've triggered what seems to be the end game, but I've only seen about 80% of the clips and it feels like there's still part of the mystery I haven't answered. I wonder if anybody who's finished could help me out?

 

Basically, I still don't know how Hannah died. I'm assuming it's either July 1 or July 2, but I'm not sure. The biggest chunk of clips I'm missing seem to be the lie detector questions, so I'm guessing that's where the answer is, but I'm not sure. It feels like I've tried everything to get to them, but clearly not.

 

I don't want a clear answer here or anything, but basically just an indication of whether I'll reasonably be able to find what I'm looking for.

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Okay, then I'm confused. 

 

I guess I based this mostly off the fact that I decoded the tap code that they use in a couple of the clips. In the later one, Eve taps out "BYD HANNAN" which I assumed was just a mistake meant to say "Bye Hannah" (in the code, "D" is just one tap off from "E", likewise with "H" and "N". I assume that meant she was dead. Also, it feels like Eve talks about Hannah in the past tense. Maybe I'm just reading too much into this though?

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Okay, then I'm confused. 

 

I guess I based this mostly off the fact that I decoded the tap code that they use in a couple of the clips. In the later one, Eve taps out "BYD HANNAN" which I assumed was just a mistake meant to say "Bye Hannah" (in the code, "D" is just one tap off from "E", likewise with "H" and "N". I assume that meant she was dead. Also, it feels like Eve talks about Hannah in the past tense. Maybe I'm just reading too much into this though?

 

Eve says that Hannah is "gone now", which probably means she took off when the suspicion started falling more strongly over her (provided you subscribe to the twins theory)

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Well, if there doesn't seem to be much more information, then I guess I'll watch the credits roll and enter the discussion.

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