The Bartender

[PIE!!!]

What was the point in her being there? She seemed like a throwaway character with no contribution to the plot. Maybe there's something I'm missing?

[clips]

I'm not sure what here relevance was in the bar...maybe it's a bar that Cybil or Harry visited...and maybe it affects one of the variations of Harry....i haven't played the game in a while, but i do remember him commenting on some of the sports material that was on the wall in the bar...

[SHF]

Cheryl probably visited the bar, as the game is centered around cheryl's broken psyche.

[AuraTwilight]

She only exists as a variation so you don't meet Cybil. Cops don't tend to be in bars like that.

[SHF]

The bartender. not cybil.

[jeremyjh]

She could be a simple memory, as Cheryl (you) likes to have a drink in a bar and went to a bar now and then.

I would have to agree with that considering that Cherryl's ghost was in the park right next to there.

[lain of the wired]

Like Aura said, she really fills no more symbolic role and purpose than Cybil did. She exists because Cheryl (you) went to a bar (for whatever your psychological reason), and in a bar, there is logically a bartender. And stools, and a bar, and liquor, and glasses, and coasters, and, and, and... It would have been weirder for there not to have been a bartender.

It's like in dreams, your mind puts in the things that make sense to the circumstances. It's the things that DON'T fit (like flying or not having your clothes on at school) that have significance.

[jeremyjh]

Subject: The Bartender

What does she represent in Cheryl's delusion? I was always confused about her, but I think that she is basically the same as Cybil-there to help Harry. However, why wasn't she used later on in the game? To me, I always thought that they didn't have time to insert her like they did with Cybil.

I think that by getting this sequence it gets you a step closer to the Bad Dad or "Drunk Dad" ending it would make since but one thing that has always made me curious is I have played this through with 3 different friends and counting myself that's 4 play through with 4 different people none of us ever got the bartender but on my 2 play through I did.

[LSSJGamer]

I have gotten the bar about as many times as the Cafe. Not sure what really makes you get the bar. I have been inside of it (lame joke if you get it) enough to notice that sometimes the bar has Tvs and others it does not. Though it might be a glitch the the psp version as i still hear the sfx of the TV even when it is missing. The bartenders attitude changes as well. As for why she is in the game, I have no idea. Maybe Cheryl frequented the bar and had an impression of the bartender enough to have her meet Harry. Or the Bartender is a Clown in disguise. I swear they never leave me alone!

[SHF]

Cheryl probably visited the bar, as the game is centered around cheryl's broken psyche.

^

This is why the bartender is relevant

[Ravager]

I never got the bar and I think I've finished the game 5 times. I never even knew there was a bar!

[leftshoe18]

It's right across from the diner near the start of the game. I think the diner is always unlocked (unless you go to the bar first) but the bar is only unlocked sometimes.

[mikefile]

^ Not really. Either it's the bar or it's the diner.. As soon as you get to the street, you can observe that the lights of only one place are on.

[clips]

For some reason i cannot get to the diner at all....everytime i play this game i always have the bar open. I'm not sure what you have to do to get the diner open...

[Typographenia]

I would suggest avoiding most things at the start, but examine the calendar, beer, or anything kind of along those lines. I think that's what I did to end up there.
Maybe even just the alcohol?

fake edit:
This person on gamefaqs made a list of things they found to help them get into the bar.

In order to be able to enter the Good Old Days bar, you must:
- Answer "True" to making friends easily - All other questions are irrelevant
- Inspect binder in junkyard - DO NOT step on it or inspect the bear (either will make Harry not comment on the binder and prevent entrance to the bar)
- Go through Theresa's - Dress choice irrelevant

The question about whether or not having a drink relaxes you is relative to the appearance of the bar. If you answer "true" it will be an Irish pub. If you answer "false" it will be a sports bar. The conversation with the woman inside is the same no matter what you choose. The only difference is she will either initially be wiping the counter or stacking cups.

All other choices have no impact on the bar.

Seems the most common thing between what people said was "makes friends easily" on the survey.

[Harrys_Girl]

^I've done both of those and it doesn't seem to matter. I always get the Irish Pub and it is always closed.

I just played again for the first time in like a yr. and was trying to get the pub opened but it is nearly impossible, even after I answered "yes" to whatever that question was. The game just demands of me to go hang out w/ sexy Ima-wear-my-sunglasses-inside-during-a-blizzard, Cybil. *shrug* I don't know...

[SHF]

You can only get the Bar once you have already played the game.

[AuraTwilight]

That's not true at all, I got the bar my very first playthrough.

[NemesisFY]

I never finished the SM nor played it deeply as I already said on somewhere else in this forum, BUT I do remember I entered this Irish Pub in the first time i played the game, so it is not locked until you finish the game once.

[mikefile]

I also achieved the bar on my first playthrough, and later, after long, futile attempts- on my 6th one. Both times, I replied that I don't make friends easily, that drinking doesn't help me relax and both times I went through Theresa's dress shop.