Peril in Pleasantville was the worst game I ever loved. The writing sucks balls -- there's no better way of saying it. But it has tons of pictures and bucketloads of girls to sleep with to make up for it. Peril in Pleasantville, after all, was the game where you could go out on dates with two girls -- neither of which was your girlfriend, and sleep through a plentiful cast. It was awesome.
...And then there was the weird alien subplot I don't think anyone cared about.
But it was RtP that finally made me learn what PiP was trying to be. The awkward horror elements, wanton shamelessness and terrible writing makes RtP the AIF equivalent of an awesomely bad B-movie. For this reason, I was excited when the cult randomly appeared out of nowhere, thinking to myself "ah, this is where the game really starts!"
As it turns out, that's where RtP would end.
We were all well-warned that RtP was going to be smaller than PiP. Despite that, you can't help but wish sequels to be bigger and better than their predecessors, and so RtP's relatively compact size was a disappointment. I can't help but wish RtP was a different game. For instance, why even return to Pleasantville? Why not set the entire game in the cabin by the lake, bring more of PiP's old characters into it and make them a bit more central? I found myself wishing I could interact with some of the established characters a bit more, like Emily, Katie and Maggie, in different combinations, too. In particular Emily, who was my favorite character in PiP, shortly following Katie. (Lamont, there needs to be a Katie/Emily threesome, make it happen) As it is, the important girls get only fractionally more screentime as the numerous random girls you encounter throughout the game.The ending cult sequence could have been foreshadowed a bit more too.
Speaking of girls, there's a lot of them in RtP, and they range from super-hot (Becky and Ms. Weaver) to scary-looking (Ms. Johnson, crazy old lady). It was especially nice to get with Ms. Weaver, who for some reason has become ultra-sexy between games. If women had the same sex drive as men, they might be in a Pleasantville game. After nearly every sex scene the woman has had a reason to bolt out with nary a word about cuddling or even a second date. One girl even said "Thanks for the dick," as she kicked me out of her home post-coitus. Talk about a male fantasy. I found it all a bit funny, really.
RtP uses a peculiar "flirt" mechanic to seduce strangers. Every time you flirt with someone, you either succeed or fail. If you fail too many times in a row, you ruin your chances. If you succeed enough times, you unlock their sex scene. It's as simple as that, and it's the kind of system I might imagine someone writing an AIF parody would devise. Honestly, it's pretty lazy even for a Pleasantville game, and I think it would have bugged me if I could seduce a major character with it. As it was, I didn't mind it as much as I thought I would, knowing that the alternative probably wasn't going to be much more inspired.
Technically, RtP is more stable than PiP, which isn't saying much. The game doesn't bug out as much, and there are just some niggling errors that I just feel could have been fixed pretty easily.
I really feel that Return to Pleasantville would have been much, much better if it had just merged the first part of the game with the second part. The part where you're moping around town and the part where you're camping just don't fit together. Sure, it's pretty cool to be able to cruise around town picking up strangers, but I think I would have liked to have seen more variety with fewer characters. I would sort of love to see an expansion which fleshes out the second part of the game.
...And then there was the weird alien subplot I don't think anyone cared about.
But it was RtP that finally made me learn what PiP was trying to be. The awkward horror elements, wanton shamelessness and terrible writing makes RtP the AIF equivalent of an awesomely bad B-movie. For this reason, I was excited when the cult randomly appeared out of nowhere, thinking to myself "ah, this is where the game really starts!"
As it turns out, that's where RtP would end.
We were all well-warned that RtP was going to be smaller than PiP. Despite that, you can't help but wish sequels to be bigger and better than their predecessors, and so RtP's relatively compact size was a disappointment. I can't help but wish RtP was a different game. For instance, why even return to Pleasantville? Why not set the entire game in the cabin by the lake, bring more of PiP's old characters into it and make them a bit more central? I found myself wishing I could interact with some of the established characters a bit more, like Emily, Katie and Maggie, in different combinations, too. In particular Emily, who was my favorite character in PiP, shortly following Katie. (Lamont, there needs to be a Katie/Emily threesome, make it happen) As it is, the important girls get only fractionally more screentime as the numerous random girls you encounter throughout the game.The ending cult sequence could have been foreshadowed a bit more too.
Speaking of girls, there's a lot of them in RtP, and they range from super-hot (Becky and Ms. Weaver) to scary-looking (Ms. Johnson, crazy old lady). It was especially nice to get with Ms. Weaver, who for some reason has become ultra-sexy between games. If women had the same sex drive as men, they might be in a Pleasantville game. After nearly every sex scene the woman has had a reason to bolt out with nary a word about cuddling or even a second date. One girl even said "Thanks for the dick," as she kicked me out of her home post-coitus. Talk about a male fantasy. I found it all a bit funny, really.
RtP uses a peculiar "flirt" mechanic to seduce strangers. Every time you flirt with someone, you either succeed or fail. If you fail too many times in a row, you ruin your chances. If you succeed enough times, you unlock their sex scene. It's as simple as that, and it's the kind of system I might imagine someone writing an AIF parody would devise. Honestly, it's pretty lazy even for a Pleasantville game, and I think it would have bugged me if I could seduce a major character with it. As it was, I didn't mind it as much as I thought I would, knowing that the alternative probably wasn't going to be much more inspired.
Technically, RtP is more stable than PiP, which isn't saying much. The game doesn't bug out as much, and there are just some niggling errors that I just feel could have been fixed pretty easily.
I really feel that Return to Pleasantville would have been much, much better if it had just merged the first part of the game with the second part. The part where you're moping around town and the part where you're camping just don't fit together. Sure, it's pretty cool to be able to cruise around town picking up strangers, but I think I would have liked to have seen more variety with fewer characters. I would sort of love to see an expansion which fleshes out the second part of the game.
I was going to disagree with you after reading about half way. But now i sort of agree, since he was going for a smaller game then a game centered around the cabin over say 2-3 days with 4 characters from the first game would of been a pretty decent follow up.
ReplyDeleteThe first day felt like he was making pip2, and it could of been decent if it was longer.
Each day felt like a fraction of 2 totally different games, if he had focused on one of the two styles then maybe a good follow up could of happened.
Yeah, I feel exactly the same way. I like the sex rompiness of Pleasantville games, but I think there was too much content with random strangers and not enough with the core girls. I would have loved to have seen a game that takes place entirely within the cabin.
ReplyDeleteI think he fell into the trap of trying to do too much, just like he did with PiP. By trying to create a sequel to PiP and a homage to Camping Trip in one (smaller) game he spread himself too thin and ended up doing neither very well. It's a pity, because even as jaded as I am, I can still see the appeal of both ideas.
ReplyDeleteIt's also a shame because a real AIF/horror game hasn't often -- or ever? I'm not recalling one at the moment, unless you count the first British Fox game's prison scenes ;-) -- been done. Because of PiP, I think the natural inclination is to wonder why the second half exists (it was my first reaction), but here I agree that the game would have been more interesting if the first day didn't exist.
ReplyDeleteStart at the cabin, another typical AIF premise, see if you can sneak off for a quickie with the other guy's girl...and then, boom, chaos ensues. A lot more could have been done, in terms of both sex and horror, in that dungeon. A lot more could have been done in its aftermath.
In fact, it's not entirely out of the question that a reversal of the days' events could have led to a much more sensible game...turning what feels like a rather pointless romp into a mystery. Maybe one or more of those women you can have sex with actually turns out to have the answers to what happened yesterday. (Hopefully not the Crazy Old Lady), and maybe all the replayability that Lamont imposed on the game is about figuring out the right series of "interactions" to move toward a resolution. (Otherwise, the demons kill you that night, and game over.)
Alas, that's not the game we got.
I'd like to write something about erotic horror at some point, because I think it's amazingly difficult and fascinating at the same. Honestly, I admire anyone who even attempts erotic horror in a way that isn't completely cheesy.
DeleteIt would have been interesting to have the first part turn into a bit a mystery. Makes it all seem a bit less pointless, and it would actually be a good way of crafting a sex romp into some semblance of a story.
"It's also a shame because a real AIF/horror game hasn't often -- or ever? I'm not recalling one at the moment,"
DeleteThe second Camp Windy Lake game turned into a (Friday the 13th-style) horror at the end. Pervert Action Crisis had some horror elements, as did the fourth Crossworlds game. And Ghost had a classic horror ending (ditto In Darkness, to a slightly lesser extent). Honorable mention to Aquila Station (although it's not a horror) for best dramatic use of death.
You'd think vampires would be a natural for AIF, since they combine the two major Victorian obsessions (sex and death) into one package, but that's never been done. I've had a few stabs myself, but wasn't able to come up with a decent story that lasted past the first act.
It's encouraging that even after 15-odd years, there's still undiscovered country for an author to explore.
...and there's also Lost Horizon. And SS Whore, I suppose.
DeleteBut I think you know that I meant something more focused. In most of the games you've mentioned, the horror is either tacked on, or somewhat cartoonish. Even in In Darkness, the horror is the context rather than the gameplay. That's why I mentioned British Fox, because those (thoroughly optional) scenes in the dungeon are pretty classic erotic horror...supernatural creatures, decided non-consensuality, etc.
I'm not saying it would be easy. It would have to be someone, like Lucilla, with a taste for this type of content. Which will never be for everyone; I'm reasonably certain I'd be wary of it, for example. And it would take better writing than is typical for AIF (which is, again, why I think Lucilla was able to pull it off).
But when RtP showed me that series of pictures of the women tied up, followed by the whole blood/sex magick ritual, I couldn't help but think that there was -- for a sufficiently interested author -- a much more interesting game being suggested there. Certainly more interesting than "wait until 3:42, then get a blowjob through the fence"-type gameplay.
It's pretty clear that Lamont has an interest in this sort of material. Why he doesn't follow through on that interest is what I don't quite understand.