Second session of me playing Pathologic (1)! New insights, findings and shenanigans to come!
For some reason I found myself unable to even try skipping the theatre dialogue. I heard it all once, and I focused on it, too, because it feels important to understanding the game (especially with what I've heard about it), but I just couldn't bring myself to try and walk through the door.
Also I will now spam the save button. Thank you, kind people behind my screen, for telling me it exists.
I forgot to add this to my previous notes, silly me. The music in this game is amazing. I am writing this as the game is paused and I'm listening to the menu music - love it.
For Science, I checked if Daniil gets hurt by fire (I managed not to piss off the sick Worm (?) and his buddy this time). He doesn't. That's incredible, mister Bachelor.
I talked to a woman NPC on the street for the first time, they were running from me before? Or just running in general. Also, I have left Eva's house before 8am this time, and I Will take my time to explore.
The Bachelor can jump over the counters in shops and receive no reaction. That is hilarious. (I monitor my Reputation bar in panic because I don't yet know what can affect it, and it has been unaffected by this so far.)
I had Daniil jump on the Cathedral throne again, just to repeat my previous choices.
Daniil's walk feels faster when he's going downstairs. I'd like to imagine he's going two steps at a time.
I am thinking about the narrative difference between being Daniil and controlling Daniil/being the player in this game, and considering how that affects my reading on having Daniil do stupid things like punch walls or jump on random things. I will let everyone know if I come to any interesting conclusions.
Going up the stairs of the Polyhedron, trying not to die this time, and Daniil is definitely going one step at a time when he goes upwards. The animation shows it very clearly. It is also incredibly annoying to look at, with how rapid it is.
... I can climb on the small spikes that are around the stairs to Polyhedron. Why must this game tempt me so. I want to test how far I can go before...
The Polyhedron spike (sting? The one near where the staircase ends) looks a bit like a bird's head, or a plague doctor's mask, or the Executioner's mask (I think that was the name of one of the guys by the first gate) (photo evidence at the end of the post)
This is an addition to point 8: the step sounds make me think he's not going two steps at a time. That's a shame, but also, his steps are so quick, I also think him walking on stairs must look fairly hilarious.
I try to check many dialogue options when talking to NPCs, but I honestly feel stupid clicking some of them. A woman is complaining to you about her hardships and you go "a man's share is harder"? I know, I know, insight on the character, and I want to see what would happen if he said that, but I don't want to be responsible for him saying that.
A mark shows up on my screen every full hour. This makes me think of how in China, each traditional hour (the day had 12 hours, traditionally) had a zodiac animal assigned-
I try my best to be nice to everyone, but damn, Daniil is absolutely ready to be an asshole to anyone and everyone he talks to.
... I can climb way higher up the final segments of the Polyhedron than I'd expected.
... It's way more difficult to climb down than I'd expected. I must thank the kind people behind my screen again for telling me I can save. I will now consider it canon that Daniil Dankovsky is a little bit schizophrenic and just remembers he went to the very top of the Polyhedron without ever actually being there.
It is EXCEEDINGLY funny that I can just sleep in anyone's home. Hi Maria, I just took an hour long nap in your bed, I hope you don't mind?
And with that, my second session is over, saved at Maria's residence. Once again, I hope this was amusing, or, I don't know, interesting? I find it funny to take those notes, and keep them in this specific tone, so I will probably continue doing it until I get bored.
This is the spot at the Polyhedron that looks like a beak to me: