Lost Souls (18): Endgame and REVIEW

[First published October 14, 2010]
Sigh. I finished. Got both endings too.

I should have been able to play this entire game in about a week, and would have done that but for responsibility, and frankly, fear. I let the game get to me. Normally I would have played my heart out in the evenings, but I really didn't want to play this game unless it was daylight.

Well, also, I did want to drag it out. I love Jonathan's games. I'm really hoping that the next TLC game will be every bit as long as the first (sorry Jonathan!)

Plus, it's true that for over a month I had other things that pulled me away from the game. Dad had some problems. I had my first vacation in two years. Kirkus, thankfully, tripled the number of books they sent me. Also, when you stop for awhile, inertia sets in: hey, I really want to get back to my game--tomorrow, absolutely! Nope.

But, sigh, it's done now.

Actually I did get some playing time in on Tuesday, just for about a half an hour before my sister arrived. I did find an item in Matilda's room, but there was no message from Echo.

So, where to go? I never could figure out how to get into Room 2F, which is boarded up (but not crossed out on the map, so I thought there might be a way). Absent that, though, I figured I was finished with the second floor. Tried to get up to "my" room on the third floor and got killed again.

OK, where else do I have unfinished business? Back out to the fire, and at last I learned that I had acquired the item that the fire wanted (not saying where or when I got it). Also, I acquired the last doll (not saying where I got that either).

Back to the owl's hunting ground, and when I got there, wow! Are the ghosts taking over? That's where I saved, and returned to the game today, after I got my Kirkus book done.

At last, the doll puzzle. Clearly, it was time for the endgame. Really, after all this time thinking about the items and clues I have, it was a cinch. Got the last bit of the ringed thingy, and figured out how to work that. The TV movie helped lots, although the same information is available in the book of symbols.

Got a message from Echo about hiding "here." Looked everywhere in the area, but nope, nothing there. Also, tried the ladies room again, but no, there was nothing different in the script there. Dunno why that scissors stash is there by the fire.

Nowhere else to go but back to the third floor. And indeed, Echo tells me to go there. I figure that the ringed thingy would get me up the stairs, and yup, this was a nice effect. Also, when you first get to the third-floor hallway, I swear it tilted back and forth. Very nice indeed.

Leading me to the final major puzzle. Simple, really, Creepy, absolutely. The real problem was figuring out what the dratted puzzle was. However, there really aren't too many possibilities. All you can do is touch stuff, and listen. Eventually it becomes fairly clear what you have to do. It does take a bit of thinking, but that's a well-designed puzzle.

At last, I faced Room 3F. I've got the key. I enter.

Dunno what other players would think of Room 3F, but I loved it. Especially as I happened to pick the more optimistic ending. I remembered a brief episode from much earlier in the game that referred to the optimistic ending, so it all fit together and made sense. Plus, I got to do one more lock pick puzzle.

Went back to see if the other choice was any different, and it sure was! It's probably the choice the Inspector himself would have made, but then, we've already decided that he's a bit mad. Nicely done ending, also. Really didn't expect this game to have a happy ending.


REVIEW

My verdict on the game: A-minus. It would be a straight A except for the moth and "shiny packages" puzzles, which were lame, and a few technical glitches. I thought it was a bit too creepy, but that's just my taste. I try not to fault games that don't fit my taste--that's not the game's problem. For folks who want horror games (actually my favorite genre, despite my squeamishness in this game), they won't find a scarier one anywhere.

The graphics were absolutely marvelous. Way too much gore, I thought, but damn, it was well done gore. Just being in that derelict building was enough to keep you on edge, which is the main reason I mostly stuck to my vow to play only in the daylight (although I finished the game well after dark tonight). The mannequins really worked to raise the creepy level. Still don't know why they were there in the hotel, but the effect was splendid. The trash in the hallways, the graffiti on the walls, the excellent eerie sounds (always a major feature in Boakes' games), everything works to grab you in your reptilian brain, and squeeze.

With the two notable exceptions, the puzzles were really well done and extremely well integrated into the storyline. My favorite episodes, of course, were the flashbacks to 1947 and saving the three Lost Souls (would that we could have saved the rest of 'em!) but actually, those really didn't fit this particular storyline.

I very much wish that I'd just gone ahead and sat down and played the thing in about a week, even if it meant playing at night. I allowed myself to get dragged away, although some of it was unavoidable, but lots of it was just, frankly, because I was scared of this game. Well, that's a tribute to the game.

One of the reasons I started this blog was to give myself another incentive to get back to gaming. There are some long-awaited games coming up soon: Bracken Tor, The Last Crown, Gray Matter. I also want to play the last two Carol Reed games (started one and lost it when my hard disk crashed). I want to get back to playing every day, as I used to do.

I will play Lost Souls again, absolutely! I wound up with a few items in the inventory that were never used, such as the vodka and pills, and a light bulb. Did I miss something? Although I was mad at myself for going to the WT so often--some of that was because I stayed away from playing for such long periods--next time I think I might just print the WT out and follow it. I'll undoubtedly find more stuff, and I really want to get everything that's in there!

Too long, too short? Nope. Quite a nice length for the story it wanted to tell. I'd love to see a prequel to this series. My fave part of both the first and third games were the 1947 bits. It would be great to go back to 1947 and watch the whole saga begin. I'd like to see the old hotel as it was meant to be, and really meet Gloria and Andrew, Matilda, Edith and Betty and all the rest. They're like old friends by this time.

Lost Souls really sets a standard for the horror genre. Let's just see someone try to come up with a game that's creepier and downright more frightening than this one. Go ahead and try.

Lost Souls (17): The Last Time Travel?

[First published October 11, 2010]
Well, I have saved Matilda Fly. My last time travel in the game, I would guess. Actually, Matilda's episode was a lead-pipe cinch. Once I found that I could discern her lines, I was able to get everything right.

Didn't take very long either.

I was responsible. I finished the doorstopper from Kirkus before I allowed myself back into the game. Still have to write the review, but I can knock that out once I finish this blog post.

Won't be able to get to the game tomorrow, as I'm due to get a couple more books from Kirkus (they were scheduled to arrive today, but it's the official celebration of Columbus Day so there were no mail or UPS deliveries). No doubt they'll arrive tomorrow, and I know one has a due date for this coming Sunday, so I'll have to really glom that one.

But tomorrow also is my day out. My sister drives down from L.A. to Dad-sit, and I get to do the shopping. Also, I eat lunch out.

So it may not be until the end of the week before I get back to the game.

I'm determined, though, not to allow days and weeks to pass before I get back to playing my games. By playing hooky yesterday I found that I could relax and have fun and still get my work done in plenty of time. No reason to deprive myself just because I have books to get out.

I intend to finish the game before Friday, unless that new Kirkus book is just impossible.

The fun time is over, though. I most enjoyed the trips back in time to free the hotel guests. Now I have to confront Amy, no doubt. However, I haven't yet found the third doll (maybe it's still in Matilda's room--I haven't left it) so there must still be some things to do before the final battle.

I imagine Echo will contact me as soon as I leave Room 2B.

I will find out before Friday!


Next Entry

Lost Souls (16): Finding Matilda

[First published October 11, 2010]
Just a brief update, 'cause I really do have to finish that Kirkus book before I get back to the game.

Still, I wanted to get to Matilda! First, I went places I hadn't been able to solve previously, because now I have lockpicks. One never knows where a coin might lurk. I tried the lockpicks on the metal toolbox by the fire outside the ladies room and found only another scissors stash. That means, I'm sure, that eventually I'll be killing the Throbbing Thing in the ladies room (as these are simply enormous moth pupae, does that mean that Amy will turn into a giant moth? Doubt that).

But still no coins. Alas, the Station Master's chair turned out not to be a coin-dispensing chair after all.

Reluctantly, I went to the WT. Yes, I was right about what the item was and where to get it, but the WT said, "use the two coins you took from Mr. Bones."

Huh?

By that I knew I'd missed something. However, I've never actually encountered Mr. Bones personally. I only met him through his game in the buffet, and during the TV interview. Nowhere else.

Pondering upon the problem, I realized that I must have missed something in Amy's latest cache, out in the owl hunting grounds. The timing made sense. It's about the right time to find those coins. I figured that the skeletion must be Mr. Bones himself, in person. Amy must have bumped him off. Went there, examined the place more thoroughly, found Mr. Bone's ID card (apparently I had that earlier, but didn't examine it--thought it was Amy's latest party invitation, which I'd read and acted upon), and finally, found the two coins. There. That's a good use of a WT. It didn't give me the actual answer, but jogged my thinking so that I could figure it out.

At last, I got the elusive item, placed everything, and have had my initial conversation with Matilda. I'm now outside her door with the proper glowing symbol, and am ready to enter.

I saved there. Now I have a good incentive to finish that damned book before I reward myself with my Matilda Adventure.

But alas, I note that this was pretty near the bottom of the walkthrough. I gather then, that Matilda is the last ghost I'll be dealing with, besides Amy. Must mean that I'm approaching the endgame.

Will there be no episodes with dear Edith, Betty and George? No saving poor little Timmy or even Tom? Guess not. Damn.

Anyway, must hit the book.


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Lost Souls (15): On the Hunt!

[First published October 20, 2010]
I had a fantastic, fun time today with our game! Whoosh! I only had to go to the WT one time, and that was because I was stupid.

So, after games with Amy, I found my way into Andrew Verney's 1947 room. Now this was an excellent puzzle. It was so good that it just about made up for the moth room and the "shiny packages," et al.

Also, I like Andrew. He was a sweet guy even in the first game. It's nice to help him out of Hell.

Had fun looking around his room and found abundant clues, but couldn't find an actual puzzle. After quite enough frustration I hit the WT and learned that I needed to get a photograph. There was a perfectly good clue for that, but I didn't tumble. Once I had that, I was able to proceed very nicely.

I really enjoyed going out into the hall in 1947, and seeing how the hotel was supposed to look during its lifetime. It was a nice little hotel run by nice people, and it didn't deserve what happened to it. Poor hotel.

Found Andrew's next object easily, and clues in his desk told me that I'd be getting into the safe this time. Goody. I couldn't understand why I was unable to open that safe earlier. Had the clue to the "numbers" on it, but not the combination. Clearly, I would get the combination in this episode.

However, I couldn't do much at all, so I went back to the awful "present." Decided I had to explore some more. Bingo! Found my way into another room, this time during the war. An odd thing happened. There's the baby's crib, there's the sound of the baby crying, and I was able to find three items to put in the crib. It wanted a fourth, but I was blasted back into the present before I found it. Still, the next object I needed for Andrew was in the crib. Was it a glitch, or was the game just forgiving? No matter. I got what I needed.

Plus, almost had the game crash while I was putting together the latest torn up letter. Again, the game froze when my cursor was pulled to the left. Fortunately after lots of trying, I got free and all was well after that. Jonathan really does need to get a patch for these jigsaw puzzles.

Found my way into the present-day awful bathroom, and pretty clearly Andrew's items are to be placed in there. Frankly, I don't know why we have to kill these Throbbing Things. I suppose it adds yet another gruesome element to the game, but the atmosphere is creepy enough without that stuff, I think. That's my own taste, of course. If it were more difficult to kill the things--but it's easy. Oh well. A task that has to be done.

Got all three items placed and had a nice conversation with dear Andrew. This time the items are placed during the episode, not at the end. Fine. Andrew gives me the code I've been looking for. I know what it is instantly, and off I go to get the telescope, I think. And I do find it, I think.

But it still wouldn't fit on Andrew's tripod in 1947. Hmmm.

There's his case sitting on the bed, but I need a key. How will I find the key?

Idiot. I have lock picks.

So that worked. After that the puzzle is a cinch. Got all six constellations (similar to Andrew's telescope puzzle in the first game--I like that). Andrew is free! And what's this? Look! If I can manipulate time, so can Andrew! His story gets a happy ending after all.

Good. Andrew deserves it.

So the whole Andrew Verney episode is a really great puzzle. Plenty of layers, some good clues, a little bit of exploration and you can find your way home. Nicely done.

However, Amy really is a little skank, isn't she? Yes, I found my way to the "owl's hunting ground" and used my lock picks again. I found her little stash and her three little boxes. Probably coffins, knowing Amy. I have two dolls now. A third is coming soon, no doubt. Amy is one ghost I'd rather not free. She's quite happy right where she is, and she deserves to be there.

Maybe I'll get to stab her with scissors.

Gad, but the Inspector is an idiot. Or nuts.

However, the order of the symbols in the TV movie is correct, as I suspected. It matches the order in the book. I now have five rings, and at least I know how to line them up when the time comes to do it.

And, I'm off to find Matilda Fly! Easy to get into her room, easy to find two of the objects she wants. I note that we did the object placing at the end of Gloria's episode, in the middle of Andrew's, and now we're placing objects at the beginning of Matilda's. OK.

I know what the third object is. There have been huge clues to that. I know where to get it too, but I need a coin. So I stopped there. Dunno where to find the coin, but if I get playing time tomorrow (might not--more Kirkus books are coming) I'm going to check the place I where found the first coin. Maybe there's another one. Or maybe Echo will give me another clue.

What fun it was just to grab several hours and spend them playing an absorbing adventure game. Dad was watching his Nascar race, so I had the time free. Yes, I should have finished that damned book, but I can whiz through most of that tonight.

So, I'm on the hunt and making sense of things at last!


Next Entry

Lost Souls (14): Being Irresponsible

[First published October 14, 2010]
Today I threw responsibility out the window and went back to my game!

First, we had The Week from Hell, with Dad in the emergency room twice, and then doctors' visits, with our transportation abandoning us at one point. Humph. And then I got a load of books from Kirkus to get done ASAP.

Well, I'm working on a 400-pager that I don't much like, and I'm halfway through, and Dad was sleeping, so I grabbed some time and I played Lost Souls! Completely irresponsible behavior. Hah.

So I was still trapped in the second TV room. I took some good notes on the TV movie regarding the ordering of symbols (if that's even the clue at all), found another missive from Amy regarding angels, and got outta the room. Found lots more eyes. Figured out a cryptic message from Echo that took me back to old haunts. Did have to go to the WT at one point just to get going in the right direction, but after that I was fine.

And at last I have saved a Lost Soul! Got the key to Room 1E, Gloria Grable. At last I went back in time! And woo hoo, now here's a revelation: I had always thought that Matilda Fly was the Sly Fox, in cahoots with Gloria.

It was nostalgic listening to Gloria--my old friend Nanny Noah from Lost Crown. She was my favorite character. Love this actress--she does a nicely subtle job and is completely convincing.

Anyway, I had a good old time sorting through Gloria's stuff, and opening her puzzle box (which was easy peasy--sometimes I do get lucky). Also I killed a Throbbing Thing, just like the one in the ladies room sink, so I know what to do with that when it comes up again.

I did encounter one game glitch. We need three items to help Gloria get released. I got two of them, but suddenly, at one point a bloody bank note just appeared--and I hadn't picked one up. The game seemed to want one more item, so I went back and found Gloria's journal again, and this time I was able to pick up the bank note. After that the game ran fine.

But the stuff in this room is just fun, old-fashioned adventure find-the-item, puzzley stuff, which I like. Gloria has been released, and she gave me lock-picking tools and a clue about bad Amy.

So after that I had to go find a lock to pick. I think I'm finished with all the first floor rooms, so it made sense to go upstairs another flight. And there was a nice padlock. Took me awhile to figure out the sound clues (good thing I played Lost Crown) and I opened it. Ta-Da!

However, by that time it was night, so I just saved. I'll go exploring down the second-floor hallway when I'm feeling irresponsible again. But now that I'm into saving souls, which is the heart of the game, I think, I should be more motivated. Going back in time is not as scary as wandering these decrepit halls.

So today, I had fun! Yay!


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Lost Souls (13): I'm Baaaaack!

[First published September 27, 2010]
Who knew that "tomorrow" would mean September 27th? This happens to me sometimes. I just get pulled away from my games. I come back, though!

Explanations:

Stuff happens. My first duty is to my Dad, and that interfered. I can't remember what tore me away from the game. Also, I had a vacation and several more deliveries of Kirkus books (far more than usual but it paid for the vacation).

After the vacation (said goodbye to my beloved pandas at the San Diego Zoo, Su Lin and my special Zhen Zhen, who just returned to China on Saturday), I had a whirlwind of doctors' appointments with Dad.

And then, well, to be honest, I was kinda scared of the game. Really, this is the scariest game I've ever played. That, of course, is a major reason to play it, but I also want to figure it out!

However, at last I decided that today was the day! So . . .

I unashamedly went to the WT, after having been off for so long. In fact, I've had to consult the dratted thing three times today, because again I ran into, shall we say, excessive difficulties. First problem: when I found the blue eye, the scissors kept breaking even when I finally switched the controls to "easy." Turns out, champs, that they will break if you let go at all. You have to keep on manipulating the scissors until the eye pops out. This process takes a long time.

Second, the next "clue" from Echo I figured out (shiny packages), but once again we had the moth problem. You have to grab far, far too many of the things before you find what you don't know you're looking for. I grabbed several, found either nothing or cockroaches, and figured that it was just local color in the game. There either needs to be fewer grabs, or some clue that you have to keep going.

As it now stands, the only clue to keep going is that your progress in the game will halt, and you won't know why. You'll have to go back over everything, and even then, will you grab enough "packages?" Not unless you're just lucky or to keep going and going and going far beyond reason.

This isn't a good way to add difficulty or playing time to a game. Once someone figures out the clue, there ought to be a reward for it. Normally Jonathan is great at that, but now three times (chrysalises, scissors manipulation, and shiny "packages") the player is expected to simply get lucky.

Humph.

Anyway, I am making real progress now. I have found the third sisters book, three eyes of three different colors, lots of mannequins, the last door on this floor that I can't enter yet, and it has a glowing symbol on it (!), and abundant trash. Amy is playing games with me. Echo communicates. I have found my way to the second TV room, and found the knob to run the "program" on the TV. (After my experience with the other three "puzzles" I just kept grabbing things until something popped up. That worked.)

Haven't yet figured out what the movie means. I'll watch it again when I return, and explore the room more. Well, I'll have to explore it more, because Amy has locked me in it.

I really would like to make more progress in this game. I know you kinda go back in time to 1947 and help out our old friends, the ghosts from the first game. I want to do that.

But sheesh. Doesn't look as though I'll get there anytime soon!

Still, I persevere.


Next Entry

Lost Souls (12): ZOOM!

[First published July 14, 2010]
Finally! Progress, real, unadulterated, actual progress has occurred.

I figured during my time off that those glow-in-the-dark chrysalises were too prominent to ignore. I thought, hey, if I grab enough of them something will happen. I grabbed and grabbed. Nope.

I went to the walkthough. Yes, it was time to do that. The puzzle? Just pick the correct glowing chrysalis.

Dumb puzzle.

Why it's dumb: There are way too many chrysalises. Nothing happens when you grab the first 20. Ergo, you just have to get lucky in order to solve the "puzzle." You have to be facing in the right direction. If you start in the opposite direction, as I did, you will be grabbing chrysalises for quite a while. You will become frustrated with the game. You will stop grabbing chrysalises eventually and look up the solution in a walkthrough.

I think my idea of grabbing the pictures in the right order is a better puzzle.

However! I am now zooming along in the game. Not only do I have scissors, I have already used them twice to break into new areas. I have broken one pair and grabbed another one. I found three more pages in the library book, with more symbols. I've encountered Echo and Amy again. I've died again (can't figure out why that happened). I've also made it outside again and can now re-enter through the outside door to the train platform (very nice).

I would happily have continued but I don't have as much playing time today (especially after wasting all that time grabbing useless chrysalises). I think I might visit the unformed giant moth in the ladies room sink and stab it with the scissors. Maybe that's the object the fire wants.

Till tomorrow . . .


Next Entry

Lost Souls (11): Zoom . . . not

[First published July 13, 2010]
After all that anticipation I find myself in the moth room . . . stuck again. My progress in the game is at about the rate of the two creatures pictured above.

There is a puzzle here. I know there is a puzzle here. I know there is a clue. The question is, what is the puzzle, which clue, and what does it mean? I've learned that Boakes leaves clues--usually pretty good ones, but you have to interpret them properly. I find them. I just don't seem to interpret them properly. The can 'n bones puzzle is a good example, and the TV puzzle and the video puzzle. The clues on the walls in that room now are gone--so they must have been clues to the video puzzle which I just sort of stumbled through.

But, I went through the freakin' huge hole in the freakin' wall and now I find myself in a room filled with moth chrysalises dangling from the ceiling and some pictures of moths in various stages of mothic life. To get through the door I need another inventory item. No doubt I will receive it once I solve the moth puzzle (or, I will blow another freakin' huge hole in the freakin' wall). But what is the moth puzzle?

I think this puzzle must be like the video puzzle--just choose the different pictures in the right order. One of the pictures must be the clue--two of them are possibilities for that role. Of added interest is that when I turn off the lights the chrysalises glow. When I grab one it opens up and I find an undeveloped, red, pulsating thing that matches the thing in the sink in the ladies room outside the station. So now I know what that thing is. I went back there, but there's no change in that location.

I have looked at those pictures dozens of times in different sequences. It makes sense that I should follow the development of the moth--but so far nothing has worked. I've scoured the room. I'm confident that I haven't missed anything. I had lots more time for playing today, but have made essentially zero progress.

It just doesn't work. Probably I haven't tumbled to what the real puzzle is.

Well, I'll be gone shopping tomorrow. Maybe by Wednesday some possible solution will pop into my head.


Next Entry

Lost Souls (10): Proceeding!

[First published July 11, 2010]
Progress! And anticipation.

I have examined each and every node that appears to be possible in the hotel. I did find one new thing: I hadn't viewed all of the TV interview between the inspector and Mr. Bones. Their shadows are different. By clicking on the shadows you get more dialogue. Not from the inspector, but Mr. Bones gives more information about where Amy went at her own choosing. She called her "angels" by a dark light, and her angels now live in the hallways.

Nice! However, that new discovery did not advance me any further in the game, at first.

I found the scissors by looking through the keyhole in room 1B, but can't get into the room at all.

Trying to get up to the top floor keeps getting me killed.

To sustain suspense, I'll write today about my impressions so far. First, the graphics are spectacular. My only quibble is that they don't follow the decor of the first game very well. Yes, the layout is mostly the same, but the pictures on the walls are different. The dining room is now a buffet, and that does appear to have a different layout. The door into the kitchen is gone. The reception area is very nicely done and does look like the old one, but where's the restroom at the end of that hallway?

And what, pray tell, are these freakin' mannequins doing here?

Still, the graphics are completely creepy and the building is such a mess that I worry about the state of Mr. Boake's mind. The wall decorations, absent the pictures, really make the difference in turning the decor from creepy into something really frightening.

And of course the sound will scare the casual gamer if the artwork doesn't. Boakes has always done background sounds better than anyone else. The music is enough to keep you permanently on edge--just the right attitude for this game.

Also, I found an old interview with Boakes during my time off the game in which he talked of the attention he pays to camera angles. As a professional photographer with some experience in TV, he knows about such things. I never before realized it, but those camera angles indeed make his games much more interesting. These don't seem like just static shots in what still essentially is a slideshow presentation even if the transitions are smoother than the old-style slideshow in the first game. You just don't notice, really, that it's still a node-to-node slideshow because of the interest the camera angles lends to the scenes. Pretty impressive work. I especially like the shot from the top of the first flight of stairs looking down to the reception area.

And, are these hallways sometimes tilted? The camera angles often make the atmosphere even more uneasy.

Also, I must add that I indeed did find a clue that should have led me to the solution to the can n' bones puzzle. There is a graphic drawn into a book in Amy's overhead cache in the dining room that almost spells it out. Yes, I found that graphic and even copied it down, but I didn't tumble to what it was telling me.

So that's my own fault. I must remember that Boakes plays fair. Next time I'm stuck on a puzzle I must remember to look around. Somewhere there will be a clue.

Still, without consulting the WT I wouldn't have found the coin that I'd missed. I was right to look that up. Otherwise finding that coin would have been pure tedium, and that's not what we play games to experience.

So, back to the present:

There I was, stuck again.

At first, I thought the next step would be to retrace all my steps outside in the hope that I missed something else. Tedious. However, then I thought that I might still be missing something in the video. Went back to that and . . .

BLASTED A FREAKIN' HUGE HOLE IN THE FREAKIN' WALL!

So I can proceed.

But not tonight, because I didn't have enough time. Had cleaning to do, had to cook Dad's Sunday (very nice) dinner, and his friend, who visits us most nights, arrived early.

Ergo, I will have to wait until tomorrow to find out what terrors await me through the hole in the wall.

Doom must wait.

Next Entry

Lost Souls (9): Proceed!

[First published July 10, 2010]
At last I've managed to make some progress in the game! Found the old safe and its "combination," but alas, it won't open. Read some interesting notes in the pigeonholes back of the registration desk. Hmmm. "A.V." must be Andrew Verney. Had he received his note on time he perhaps would have been saved, but we know he's a ghost from the first game. Anyway, the note's still in the pigeonhole. Poor Andy.

I love seeing reminders of the first game. The ink-stained blotter is still there. The safe is an old friend. Gave me fits the first time, too.

Also, I have a largish round metal ring with symbols on it. One of them matches up with the first page of the library book. The book now has two more pages, but those symbols aren't on this disc. From that I bet I'll be finding more metal rings. Perhaps they'll all fit together? Presumably I got these from the game with Amy, but I quit right after that and don't really remember.

Wandered up to the 1st floor but couldn't get into the rooms (I must remember that there is the ground floor, then the 1st, 2nd, etc.). Tried the 2nd floor but don't have the key needed. Tried the 3rd floor and got killed.

Couldn't do anything more in the hotel, so I decided to go wandering. Aha! Echo makes contact! Echo seems to be not a very nice little ghost. She (I think of Echo as female) tried to get me killed.

Anyway, somehow I finished the TV puzzle in Room 1A, after Echo unlocked the door for me, although not before getting killed a couple of times. Very nice, very scary effect. Really don't know how I solved that puzzle. It just worked an instant before the monster got me for the third time. Interesting video of, apparently, me and Mr. Bones (who looks awfully young in the video--doesn't match the voice on the tape).

Also, I've spotted some definate clues on the walls of room 1A. There are eyes with numbers in them and different objects associated with them: a magnifying glass (the inspector?), bones (Mr. Bones, obviously), and birds. I thought at first that might lead me to a different combination for the safe (substitute number three for number four, etc.), but if so I haven't figured it out yet and I think that idea isn't right. Either I'm screwing up the safe puzzle as I screwed up the can 'n bones puzzle, or I need something else.

But for now, even with all my nice shiny new clues, I'm stuck again. I went wandering to all my old haunts (heh) hoping that Echo would come for me again, but nope.

So, tomorrow, I go over every inch of the hotel and click on stuff. There has to be something I've missed. I'm pretty confident that I've found everything outside.

I still need scissors. They have to be close.

And then I will . . . Proceed!


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Lost Souls (8): I'm Finally In!

[First published July 9, 2010]
At last I'm in the hotel, and have turned on the power in there.

It seems I was expected.

Alas, however, I did have to go to a walkthrough, for two things. First, I would never have figured out that Mr. Bones' game was a sound puzzle. True, I might accidentally have noticed the change in the sound if I'd ever accidentally moved the can, but after many tries that didn't happen and I was ready to quit. Second, although I realized that the clue I got once I'd done Mr. Bones' game correctly was a telephone number, I couldn't operate the phone. Duh. Needed a coin that I'd missed, and I already had looked everywhere (including where the coin was several times--I just missed it).

When you reach the point in a game where it just isn't fun or intriguing any more, when you know you've done all you can think of, when you're ready to quit the whole thing unless you find one simple thing that you can't find, then it's time to go to a walkthrough. My favorite site for these is Gameboomers, where they have just about every game you've ever heard of and get WTs for them pretty quickly.

So, I skim down, seeing that I've done things in a different order from the WT, but am at the same spot, and I learn that Mr. Bones' game actually is a sound puzzle. I glimpse that I need to move the can around the screen. Great. I do that, and get it right pretty quickly. I get the four-digit number. That stays on the table, so obviously the can puzzle is solved.

I realize that this is the phone number of the hotel because that number is crossed out on the little cards by the door into the hotel. I go back to the waiting room, but can't get the phone to work at all.

Now by this time I know I've found everything, and I'm still stumped. Back to the WT and I see that indeed I have missed the coin in the Station Master's office. I get that, and figure out how to work the phone. From there it's all a cinch.

So now I'm in the hotel, and I figure out on my own how to get the power on. I play an extremely unnerving game with Amy's ghost. Blast, but the inspector is either actively stupid or he is himself dead. He can't tell that this kid is a ghost? As many times as she's flashed on and off right before his eyes? The evidence against him being dead is that he breathes out mist in the cold.

Perhaps he's just unhinged by this time. Either that or he is himself a ghost stuck in Hell. The newspaper, after all, did say that the hotel is Hell.

Anyway, night is falling here in California. After this last encounter, I really don't want to go on into Hell until tomorrow.

No apologies for the walkthrough, although I greatly had hoped that I wouldn't need to use one in this game. I recall that I did have to peek at one once or twice during Lost Crown (although I made it through Barrow Hill without one). I would have given up, especially after having been away from the game for three whole weeks. The frustration had peaked. That's what WTs are for, to keep you going. Yes, they also can ruin a game if you're weak, but by this time I know when to peek at a small hint, and when to keep plodding on by myself. Peak frustration time is peeking time.

Finally, tomorrow, I can start the adventure in the hotel. (I do hope I find some scissors soon.)


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Lost Souls (7): Back to the Game!

[First published July 8, 2010]
Oh dear. I thought I was in.

Alas, I'm only in the highly unpleasant dining room. This appears to be Mr. Bones' domain. It has his revised Station Hotel menus all around. Mostly these are unreadable, but I'll have to take a closer look.

Yes, it's taken me far longer to get back to the game than I thought. I finished my Kirkus job (for now) but then got distracted by an absorbing book I found for my Kindle. Read that for several days. Finished another I'd started and made progress in one other (am doing a sort of unit on Saxon England, reading about King Alfred. All of this was inspired by Bernard Cornwell's Saxon Series that I've been reading to Dad. Well, it least it fits in a bit with the Lost Crown.)

I think, though, that I was just scared to start again.
Moving through the dining room we get to the door into the hotel, which yields nothing (except another book inventory item, and Station Hotel cards with the phone number obliterated). Bash on the door and it doesn't open. Next puzzle--getting that door open. Do I have to call the ghosts with Mr. Bone's game to get in?

Also, I've yet to find a sissors cache. In one sense I'm optimistic about that: perhaps nothing will attack me until I find a weapon.

I did find a nice cache of Amy's things above in the rafters. There's a clue there for a puzzle having to do with shaking the bones. It's can #15, on a table right there in the dining room, and I'm playing the tape recording before shaking, as appears to be indicated by Amy's clue. So far I come up with three patterns of bones: a seemingly random, straight pattern, a circular pattern, and the pattern we see all over the walls--the Darkfall symbol from the first game. I surmise that solving this puzzle will get me into the hotel proper, but so far, no go. I now have a total of five bones in my inventory and have tried to place them, both before and after, into the bones on the table. So far the game won't let me. I also have four cards from Amy that I can pick up on occasion, but so far can't fit them into the puzzle.

Hmmm. The number 15. Do I need 15 bones in all to make the puzzle work? I must count them.

I learned one thing about the game while I was out, so to speak. No, it wasn't my Mac that was the cause of the technical glitch in piecing together the newspaper jigsaw puzzles. A review of the game mentions that glitch. So it's something that Jonathan needs to fix with a patch. I've found three of these puzzles so far, and this has happened on all three. I'm being more careful now, and trying not to allow my cursor to get over to the left-hand side of the screen.

Also, as it happens, It was easily possible to get into the dining room, at least, right after turning on the lights. The only needful thing was to go into the Ladies room, confront the "ghost" in the stall, and put together the newspaper. However, Jonathan distracts us with that ringing telephone, which takes us into the waiting room and gets us involved in that Station Master's office puzzle.

Well, at least we have that done.

Clearly, however, I'm not done with the turn-on-the-lights-and-get-in puzzle.

Yet.

I must think.


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