The ABC Murders Continue!
Mar. 18th, 2024 04:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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I'm continuing to have a fairly good time, though a few things have bothered me here and there, especially times when I had to click around a lot before the game recognised that I'd clicked in JUST the right spot.
Content note: Iffy handling of domestic violence, more for the game than my posts. A character is painfully dying of cancer. Also, you know. Death. And spoilers!
Ok I'm not going to bother cutting spoilers any more since if you just want a sense of the game you can read my previous post.
And so, a major revelation: The victim's ex husband... was a CABINET MAKER. Could the puzzle boxes be a clue after all??
Neighbour: It was definitely her no good husband who did it. He's a foreigner! Uh, sorry sir. He's a German, which is worse.
Poirot cheerfully offers to have her sent to prison unless she gives some useful evidence which seems a bit harsh.
Terrible German ex-husband happily did not have a terrible German accent.
I got nearly to the end of the first crime scene before getting stuck and needing to use the help system, which had Poirot take the next action required to advance the plot. Turned out I'd just forgotten to click on something.
There was a reconstruct the murder timeline puzzle which was pretty easy and simple, I still managed to screw up one bit but the game made it clear which part that was and didn't penalise me for having to do it again.
Hastings: So what have you figured out about the murderer?
Poirot: He is a red headed man of medium height, with a limp on his right side, and a mole on his shoulder blade.
Hastings: ...Poirot?
Poirot: Well what do you expect of me, mon cher? You look at me with such expectation, like I am your Sherlock Holmes. But I do not know anything about this murderer yet, nor about his motives.
Aw. Since Hastings isn't the POV character he hasn't had much to do so far but they're still cute together. There's subtitles but no dialogue log so this is all my vague recollection.
A murder in Bexhill of a Betty!
After playing for a bit I'm at 29% completion and 115/600 ego points. So I guess I made some OOC decisions, but the game isn't punishing me for it too much. Every time I click on a mirror Poirot checks his moustache and I get ego points, heehee.
Betty does not own an intricate puzzle box! She owns an intricate puzzle clock.
Like the previous victim she also has a violently abusive male partner, and the narrative around both is kind of... ehh... in a very 1930s way. *adds trigger warning* Like, everyone thinks domestic violence is bad, but there's also a general vibe that it's not that big of a deal if the partner is otherwise ok.
I spent some time staring at her fiance trying to decide if he was the guy we saw with an ABC train guide at the start of the game and sure enough I can't remember.
Since he has a history of violent jealousy about Betty frequently cheating on him, and has no alibi, Poirot etc all agree that if it wasn't for the serial killing context he'd absolutely be arrested as the obvious killer.
Haha I forgot Poirot doesn't like tea and always refuses it.
Next victim is a Dr Carmichael who treats throats. The first two victims both had throat conditions and saw throat doctors and noone has brought it up yet.
Dr Carmichael's widow is dying of cancer offscreen. His assistant Thora is having an affair with Dr Carmichael's younger brother Franklin and I'm not sure I like how that's written.
It's the ABC guy again, now splashed with blood and holding an ABC book and a knife. He is NOT Betty's fiance, also his name turns out to be, like, ALBERT BONAPARTE CARSON or something. Amazing. So obviously he didn't do it. He ALSO mentions having a sore throat. Is a twist that everyone hasCovid tuberculosis or something.
Even knowing that One Big Twist I'm still not sure who did it. Betty's fiance is clever and unpleasant enough, but Franklin Carmichael is about to inherit a mansion of fancy Chinese antiques.
51% through!
Bleh, meeting with all connected parties where Poirot boils two women down into a "blondes vs brunettes which is hotter" question.
Poirot: So we can conclude that the killer is self confident, generous, a seducer, and likes trains. At our next meeting perhaps we will discover more!
Woman: Oh, I can't afford the fare...
Franklin Carmichael, self confidently: I will pay your train ticket! I am about to inherit a fortune after all.
HMM.
Poirot finally made the throat connection!! Which led to zero useful insights since noone involved in the case was a patient of Dr Carmichael.
The voice acting has a weirdness to the cadence and pronunciation sometimes, like the speakers are ESL and reading from a script they don't entirely understand, though to my ear everyone but Poirot has a standard English accent.
I have had a number of typical point and click puzzle game frustrating moments where it took a few tries for the game to recognise that I'd clicked at the right spot etc, but it's not too bad overall for the genre.
This marks the point where I got sick of the music and replaced it with the radio.
A sequence where Poirot has to access and administer morphine to Dr Carmichael's wife, who is literally shaking with pain from the cancer that is killing her. Fun! I thought this wasn't actually handled super badly for what it is, any time you try to do anything else he testily says he obviously has to help her first, but it was still a bit confronting.
When she wakes up she thanks him and then accuses Thora of being a manipulative lying slut lol.
Hastings: She's a lovely girl who wouldn't hurt a fly!
Poirot: To each their own. For you, the pretty orphans, for me, the old ladies with maladies.
Hastings: You're making fun of me!
Poirot: Not at all, mon amie.
When Poirot teased Hastings about his weakness for pretty girls earlier, he said "I'm a married man!", and this has thus far been the only mention of his wife. I guess she's just sitting at home waiting for him to be done with detectiving?
Both Carmichael brothers collect Chinese antiques, hopefully the story isn't going to get Weird About China beyond some Intricate Chinese Puzzle Boxes (guess the fad is global!). In a modern story, Franklin being so much the stereotype of a Manly British Gentleman who goes to foreign countries to murder their wildlife and bring back their antiques would be a massive villain red flag, but in this story the main red flag in his room is a childhood copy of The RAILWAY Children.
Ok for the first time I am legit stuck on a puzzle with no clue what to do next, and clicking the in-game help just told me the one thing I had already figured out. Time for a walkthrough, hopefully I can avoid spoilers!
Ah ok I forgot to do a different puzzle I needed to solve first. And then I had to locate all the places on a map Franklin's animal head trophies came from lol.
I'm actually having a little bit of feels about the complex emotional relationships between the Carmichaels and Thora, who Dr Carmichael saw as a daughter figure. He didn't tell his wife she was dying, and even now she knows she's still convinced she is being poisoned by Thora.
I looked it up and the creators are French, which explains the voice actors being ok at passable (to my ears) English accents but the cadence being a bit off. I assume Poirot also has a relatively good Belgian accent but honestly wouldn't know the difference.
And since this is getting long and there's a fair bit of game to go, I'll stop here for now.
I'm continuing to have a fairly good time, though a few things have bothered me here and there, especially times when I had to click around a lot before the game recognised that I'd clicked in JUST the right spot.
Content note: Iffy handling of domestic violence, more for the game than my posts. A character is painfully dying of cancer. Also, you know. Death. And spoilers!
Ok I'm not going to bother cutting spoilers any more since if you just want a sense of the game you can read my previous post.
And so, a major revelation: The victim's ex husband... was a CABINET MAKER. Could the puzzle boxes be a clue after all??
Neighbour: It was definitely her no good husband who did it. He's a foreigner! Uh, sorry sir. He's a German, which is worse.
Poirot cheerfully offers to have her sent to prison unless she gives some useful evidence which seems a bit harsh.
Terrible German ex-husband happily did not have a terrible German accent.
I got nearly to the end of the first crime scene before getting stuck and needing to use the help system, which had Poirot take the next action required to advance the plot. Turned out I'd just forgotten to click on something.
There was a reconstruct the murder timeline puzzle which was pretty easy and simple, I still managed to screw up one bit but the game made it clear which part that was and didn't penalise me for having to do it again.
Hastings: So what have you figured out about the murderer?
Poirot: He is a red headed man of medium height, with a limp on his right side, and a mole on his shoulder blade.
Hastings: ...Poirot?
Poirot: Well what do you expect of me, mon cher? You look at me with such expectation, like I am your Sherlock Holmes. But I do not know anything about this murderer yet, nor about his motives.
Aw. Since Hastings isn't the POV character he hasn't had much to do so far but they're still cute together. There's subtitles but no dialogue log so this is all my vague recollection.
A murder in Bexhill of a Betty!
After playing for a bit I'm at 29% completion and 115/600 ego points. So I guess I made some OOC decisions, but the game isn't punishing me for it too much. Every time I click on a mirror Poirot checks his moustache and I get ego points, heehee.
Betty does not own an intricate puzzle box! She owns an intricate puzzle clock.
Like the previous victim she also has a violently abusive male partner, and the narrative around both is kind of... ehh... in a very 1930s way. *adds trigger warning* Like, everyone thinks domestic violence is bad, but there's also a general vibe that it's not that big of a deal if the partner is otherwise ok.
I spent some time staring at her fiance trying to decide if he was the guy we saw with an ABC train guide at the start of the game and sure enough I can't remember.
Since he has a history of violent jealousy about Betty frequently cheating on him, and has no alibi, Poirot etc all agree that if it wasn't for the serial killing context he'd absolutely be arrested as the obvious killer.
Haha I forgot Poirot doesn't like tea and always refuses it.
Next victim is a Dr Carmichael who treats throats. The first two victims both had throat conditions and saw throat doctors and noone has brought it up yet.
Dr Carmichael's widow is dying of cancer offscreen. His assistant Thora is having an affair with Dr Carmichael's younger brother Franklin and I'm not sure I like how that's written.
It's the ABC guy again, now splashed with blood and holding an ABC book and a knife. He is NOT Betty's fiance, also his name turns out to be, like, ALBERT BONAPARTE CARSON or something. Amazing. So obviously he didn't do it. He ALSO mentions having a sore throat. Is a twist that everyone has
Even knowing that One Big Twist I'm still not sure who did it. Betty's fiance is clever and unpleasant enough, but Franklin Carmichael is about to inherit a mansion of fancy Chinese antiques.
51% through!
Bleh, meeting with all connected parties where Poirot boils two women down into a "blondes vs brunettes which is hotter" question.
Poirot: So we can conclude that the killer is self confident, generous, a seducer, and likes trains. At our next meeting perhaps we will discover more!
Woman: Oh, I can't afford the fare...
Franklin Carmichael, self confidently: I will pay your train ticket! I am about to inherit a fortune after all.
HMM.
Poirot finally made the throat connection!! Which led to zero useful insights since noone involved in the case was a patient of Dr Carmichael.
The voice acting has a weirdness to the cadence and pronunciation sometimes, like the speakers are ESL and reading from a script they don't entirely understand, though to my ear everyone but Poirot has a standard English accent.
I have had a number of typical point and click puzzle game frustrating moments where it took a few tries for the game to recognise that I'd clicked at the right spot etc, but it's not too bad overall for the genre.
This marks the point where I got sick of the music and replaced it with the radio.
A sequence where Poirot has to access and administer morphine to Dr Carmichael's wife, who is literally shaking with pain from the cancer that is killing her. Fun! I thought this wasn't actually handled super badly for what it is, any time you try to do anything else he testily says he obviously has to help her first, but it was still a bit confronting.
When she wakes up she thanks him and then accuses Thora of being a manipulative lying slut lol.
Hastings: She's a lovely girl who wouldn't hurt a fly!
Poirot: To each their own. For you, the pretty orphans, for me, the old ladies with maladies.
Hastings: You're making fun of me!
Poirot: Not at all, mon amie.
When Poirot teased Hastings about his weakness for pretty girls earlier, he said "I'm a married man!", and this has thus far been the only mention of his wife. I guess she's just sitting at home waiting for him to be done with detectiving?
Both Carmichael brothers collect Chinese antiques, hopefully the story isn't going to get Weird About China beyond some Intricate Chinese Puzzle Boxes (guess the fad is global!). In a modern story, Franklin being so much the stereotype of a Manly British Gentleman who goes to foreign countries to murder their wildlife and bring back their antiques would be a massive villain red flag, but in this story the main red flag in his room is a childhood copy of The RAILWAY Children.
Ok for the first time I am legit stuck on a puzzle with no clue what to do next, and clicking the in-game help just told me the one thing I had already figured out. Time for a walkthrough, hopefully I can avoid spoilers!
Ah ok I forgot to do a different puzzle I needed to solve first. And then I had to locate all the places on a map Franklin's animal head trophies came from lol.
I'm actually having a little bit of feels about the complex emotional relationships between the Carmichaels and Thora, who Dr Carmichael saw as a daughter figure. He didn't tell his wife she was dying, and even now she knows she's still convinced she is being poisoned by Thora.
I looked it up and the creators are French, which explains the voice actors being ok at passable (to my ears) English accents but the cadence being a bit off. I assume Poirot also has a relatively good Belgian accent but honestly wouldn't know the difference.
And since this is getting long and there's a fair bit of game to go, I'll stop here for now.
no subject
Date: 2024-03-18 12:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-03-18 12:48 pm (UTC)Just that it's about railways, and the murderer is a railway enthusiast. It's a very benign children's novel otherwise haha, and not usually a red flag for murder.