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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