Being Inconsistent- Ending Spoilers

Ten years after the original game and Harry's still searching for his daughter.

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FiliusMartis
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Being Inconsistent- Ending Spoilers

Post by FiliusMartis »

I recently replayed Shattered Memories with my mom, and, having seen all the endings, wanted to get Love Lost since its the most positive. I was very Cheryl-centric, always tried to be friendly and keep eye contact, didn't focus on sexual or alcohol things, and participated actively in the therapy. I tried to answer the questions the same way I did when I first got Love Lost, marriage can last and all that happy family goodness.

However, as the game progressed, I noticed many of my voice mails and such were ones with a very hostile mother; I was going toward the Wicked and Weak ending. I find this ending the worst imaginable, so I tried to change course. I remembered that Wicked and Weak can result from being 'snobbish' and 'antisocial' so I made sure to call more phone numbers (none of the blatantly sexual ones) and so on. I made sure to look around, again avoiding sex and alcohol images but otherwise taking in surroundings more carefully. At the end, the damn game threw out Sleaze and Sirens.

What? Yeah, exactly. I never did anything that would have upped the sexual points. I didn't have sexual monsters at all. So my question is... was this just some oddity, or is it possible that the game thought I was bullshitting it so it did it right back? I intend to try a similar thing again to see if I can repeat it, but I'm wondering if anyone had something similar happen?

On a side note, my mom's reaction of "Oh my god son, you're a man whore!" was so totally worth it.
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Post by ashatteredmemory »

the marriage questions, school, guilt may influence them in a way you don't really now it, it happened with me too, i was going for Sleaze and Sirens, but i still got Wicked and Weak. Something changed radically after the marriage questions although i was fully Sleaze and Sirens untill then (the Raw Shocks, conversations and the echo messages)
"Grown-ups tell kids there's no such thing as monsters, that the Bogeyman is just make-believe, and there's nothing hiding under their beds, but that's a lie. Because I've seen 'em." - Murphy Pendleton
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AuraTwilight
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Post by AuraTwilight »

It's been generally observed that trying to go for a specific ending ends in failure, lol. Apparently the psyche profile isn't as simple to crack as people make it out to be.
[quote="BlackFire2"]I thought he meant the special powers of her vagina.[/quote]
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FiliusMartis
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Post by FiliusMartis »

I would be much more willing to accept that if I had not played the game through so many times and gotten all the endings. The sex and alcohol things are often of a somewhat more obvious nature. Besides, my point was not so much oh noes I didn't get the right ending as it was that my ending shift made little sense.

It's been generally observed that the game gives you plenty of indicators as to what road you're going down. None of my monsters were sexualized, none of my messages were the sexy versions, none of my characters and conversations were of the typical sexual variety. Everything was pointing towards Wicked and Weak until that very last second when the tape played. It sort of made the game make absolutely no sense, as if that was the tape she saw then her delusion or whatever was not based upon it at all.
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AuraTwilight
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Post by AuraTwilight »

It's not like the game is random or anything. Most likely you just messed up in steering yourself. Literally everything matters, including whether or not you make eye contact in conversations.
[quote="BlackFire2"]I thought he meant the special powers of her vagina.[/quote]
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Post by Yuki »

AuraTwilight wrote:It's not like the game is random or anything. Most likely you just messed up in steering yourself. Literally everything matters, including whether or not you make eye contact in conversations.
I'm interested in what areas of the face and body determine what ending you would be more likely to get. Like, on Kaufmann, for instance... would the chest be sexual or just antisocial?
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Post by FiliusMartis »

The first time I played, I didn't even get an ending. It messed up and only played the "I love my daddy" tape before cutting to the psych analysis. My point is- glitches happen.

And again, my point is not that I ended up in the wrong place, my point is I had no warning. When the echoes, photos, characters, etc. don't synch up with the ending, it cheapens the game. The final conversation with Dahlia on the boat is typically a great indicator of what you're going to get in the tape since there's little left to do which can alter it. This is what I'm trying to get across.

I know someone, may have been on here, claiming that they stared at Kauffman's crotch the whole time and never got any hint of going down the sexual path. Found that pretty funny.
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Post by Harrys_Girl »

Yuki wrote:I'm interested in what areas of the face and body determine what ending you would be more likely to get. Like, on Kaufmann, for instance... would the chest be sexual or just antisocial?
Good question.

When I was trying for the Wicked and Weak ending, I tended to avoid looking at people all together. When in Kaufmann's office, I tended to stare off at the plant in the corner. When talking to the couple on Levin St, I held eye contact w/ the man, never looking at the woman. When talking to Cybil, Lisa and Michelle I stared at the ground or as close to it as possible.




But, honestly when you think the game is going in a specific direction, don't over-think or over-correct. I was trying for the Drunk Dad ending and just happened to look at the condoms in the Orion Lodge (?) and the picture of the singer in the back hallway of Annie's Bar. That was it and I still ended up w/ the Siren and Sleeze ending. The next game, I concentrated on avoid those specific areas and STARED at the alcohol bottles in Kaufmann's office. Anyway, the point is if you fear the game is moving in once direction, just let it. More than likely the game is testing you and you will show an inconsistency which will lead to the game deducing that you are trying to fool it and it will change around you. The Psych Profile is a lot more complex than many people give it credit. After 30 played and probably another 15 plays of other people playing the game w/ me just watching them, I am still observing and learning how the game works.
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Post by FiliusMartis »

More than likely the game is testing you and you will show an inconsistency which will lead to the game deducing that you are trying to fool it and it will change around you.
Thank you- That is EXACTLY what I was asking. Not is the game an inconsistent failure but is the game seeing my inconsistency, my trying to fool it, and fooling me back in a completely unexpected manner? The first time I played, I wandered into the bathroom in the beginning and saw the graffiti- I lingered there too long or something, because my monsters developed high heels pretty early on.

Anyway, yeah, I was trying to avoid Wicked and Weak because I find it to be the most depressing ending ever. I probably overshot my correction, I'm not arguing that I didn't, I was just surprised that the game didn't reflect this until the very last second. It tricked me, which speaks to its credit.
The next game, I concentrated on avoid those specific areas and STARED at the alcohol bottles in Kaufmann's office.
And were you successful getting the ending you wanted?
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Post by AuraTwilight »

I know someone, may have been on here, claiming that they stared at Kauffman's crotch the whole time and never got any hint of going down the sexual path. Found that pretty funny.
Because Harry's a dude.
[quote="BlackFire2"]I thought he meant the special powers of her vagina.[/quote]
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Post by FiliusMartis »

Technically, the person in therapy is Cheryl, who is not a dude. And there are gay dudes. Anyway- that was just in response to...
Like, on Kaufmann, for instance... would the chest be sexual or just antisocial?
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Post by AuraTwilight »

But the psyche profile is to control Harry's sexuality and personality, so...
[quote="BlackFire2"]I thought he meant the special powers of her vagina.[/quote]
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Post by Harrys_Girl »

FiliusMartis wrote:And were you successful getting the ending you wanted?
Yes, eventually. I had to be extremely careful what I did and did not look at. Basically, I though like I imagined an alcoholic would. I tried examining everything I though my hold alcohol, stared at the bottles of liquor in Kaufmann's office and in the bar w/ Michelle. And the funny thing was, that I got a drunk version of Dahlia, yet everything else seemed to be veering back toward the Sleeze and Sirens ending I seemed to always get, but I just let the game test me, held to my path and ended up getting the Drunk Dad ending.
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Post by clips »

I don't think the psyche profile is as complicated as some make it....you'll get the ending based on how you answer questions and your reactions in the game....it's kinda impossible to go for a specific ending if you're intentionally looking down or away at certain characters.

In trying to fool it, it most likely will give you the ending based on your answers with kaufman....if you're talking to a character...i think the game records if you're staring at the eyes, their chest...etc..and records the data....looking off into the air or doing something crazy will probably just cause the system to give you it's defaut outcome.

I've heard alot of stories of folks going for a specific outcome only to be surprised by the outcome they actually received,...which leads me to beleive that if you try to fool it, it might actually give you a random ending or the ending that closely resembles the ending based on your actions in the game...
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Post by FiliusMartis »

It doesn't seem to do anything, but there's no reason that it shouldn't or couldn't. There are gay men. There are bisexual men. There are female players who would not be so inclined to stare at the women unless they were trying for a particular scenario. The developers could have anticipated all of this.
And the funny thing was, that I got a drunk version of Dahlia, yet everything else seemed to be veering back toward the Sleeze and Sirens ending I seemed to always get, but I just let the game test me, held to my path and ended up getting the Drunk Dad ending.
That's what I mean- echoes and all that not matching your ending. He told me I was 'obsessed with not having sex' and yet at the end Harry's in bed with two chicks. Confusion. Out of curiosity, do you recall what sort of voice mail you got at the tunnel of love or your final conversation with Dahlia?
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Post by Yuki »

AuraTwilight wrote:But the psyche profile is to control Harry's sexuality and personality, so...
Yes, but didn't Tomm once mention that it would work for gay guys as well?
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Post by AuraTwilight »

Yea, but Harry's not a gay guy.
[quote="BlackFire2"]I thought he meant the special powers of her vagina.[/quote]
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Post by FiliusMartis »

Harry is what Cheryl and the player make him. That aside, the game is supposed to be profiling the player, so it should have incorporated something for heterosexual females and homosexual men to respond to sexually.
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Post by Yuki »

AuraTwilight wrote:Yea, but Harry's not a gay guy.
Yeah, but that's not the point; the point was, if I'm not mistaken, "what would the game take into account as sexual?". In the case of a gay player (and taking into account that Tomm said it would indeed work for gay players), I should think that, for instance, staring at Kaufmann's crotch would count as sexual.
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Post by AuraTwilight »

This conversation just makes me even more angry that there's no Gay Harry ending.
[quote="BlackFire2"]I thought he meant the special powers of her vagina.[/quote]
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