Distraint (Deluxe Edition) & Distraint 2

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Leisher
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Distraint (Deluxe Edition) & Distraint 2

Post by Leisher »

I think I got these as part of a HB.

D:DE first:
You are Conan O'Brien. Ok, not really, but the avatar absolutely reminds me of Conan with the hair. Anyway, you're some dude whose job it is to go to people about to be evicted and ensure they get out. You're a nice enough guy and do favors for these folks, but the job is eating away at your soul.

The game is billed as a horror, and yeah, there are some creepy images. However, I don't think it's possible to be horrified by the artwork here because your guy looks like Conan O'Brien and everything is too abstract enough already. It's hard to be immersed in a side scrolling game as it is, but everything being odd as well makes it more difficult.

The gameplay is exploration and puzzles. No location is large at all and the puzzles are fairly easy. I think I beat the game in 2 hours or so.

Still the story is solid and by the end I was pretty impressed with where it took the player. I really don't think the game is giving an anti-capitalism message because while the first character is someone you will feel pity for, the second is getting paid, while the third is someone who intentionally doesn't pay their debts. So the job is shown to be necessary, but soul eroding. I can accept that. The story does lose a bit of steam in the later stage when you're being told about stuff that happened off screen to get you to where you are now. But the ending does work pretty well.

I would genuinely recommend it if anything about it appeals to you. Except for Stranger. He hates story in games, and this one is all about the story. That's the experience.

Now for the sequel:
You're Conan O'Brien again and this time the controls are a bit different. They're fine, but they were more streamlined in the first game.

This game actually picks up in the moments of the last game. Literally, within the story, but separate from the story, but still involving the main character. Odd, I know. It's a deep dive into the main character and the emotions within that guide him and what/where he's gone wrong.

This game uses a lot of the art and levels from the prior game, so I'm guessing it was slapped together pretty quickly.

The story isn't as solid because we're dealing with more subjective material here, so stuff might be more of a hit or miss based on your own beliefs. It's still fine though. Again, another 2 or so hours.

It's fine to play as a sequel to the first one, but it does undo some of the prior game a bit, which sucks, but because it's not someone else coming in and changing things, like Rian Johnson, I have to accept that this could have been the vision all along. I will say it stays true to the character.

I liked the first one better, but this is fine unless you never played the original. If that's the case, you won't have a fucking clue what's going on.
“Every record been destroyed or falsified, books rewritten, pictures repainted, statues, street building renamed, every date altered. The process is continuing day by day. History stops. Nothing exists except endless present in which the Party is right.”
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