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[L.A Noire] - Phelps, you didn't use spoiler tags! You're a loose cannon!

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Posts

  • mxmarksmxmarks Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    Do you get the intuition points for leveling up in Free Roam in the main game?

    Im going into Vice case 3, and Im out of intuition points. I was just about to level 14 and I figured I could load up free roam and do some street crimes to level up and get some points for the next case.

    I loaded up free roam, did one crime, and leveled up to level 14 and nothing at all happened.

    Do you just get nothing for level 14, or does leveling up in free roam actually screw you out of intuition points?

    mxmarks on
    PSN: mxmarks - WiiU: mxmarks - twitter: @ MikesPS4 - twitch.tv/mxmarks - "Yes, mxmarks is the King of Queens" - Unbreakable Vow
  • OptimusZedOptimusZed Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    mxmarks wrote: »
    Do you get the intuition points for leveling up in Free Roam in the main game?

    Im going into Vice case 3, and Im out of intuition points. I was just about to level 14 and I figured I could load up free roam and do some street crimes to level up and get some points for the next case.

    I loaded up free roam, did one crime, and leveled up to level 14 and nothing at all happened.

    Do you just get nothing for level 14, or does leveling up in free roam actually screw you out of intuition points?
    I think there are a couple levels where you just don't get anything. And I know there are some where instead of Intuition points you get car locations or new suits.

    That's probably what happened.

    OptimusZed on
    We're reading Rifts. You should too. You know you want to. Now With Ninjas!

    They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
  • mxmarksmxmarks Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    yeah, just ended up shutting it off without saving and leveled up in the main game on a street crime - nothing.

    And next rank is 5 hidden cars. greeeeat.

    Looks like its just me and my gut for awhile...

    mxmarks on
    PSN: mxmarks - WiiU: mxmarks - twitter: @ MikesPS4 - twitch.tv/mxmarks - "Yes, mxmarks is the King of Queens" - Unbreakable Vow
  • Frosty the Snow PlowFrosty the Snow Plow Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    Random Fact: Even if you delete your saves after completing the game (except for User Preferences), a New Game will replenish all 5 of your Intuition Points after ever case.

    My roommate and I shared the same profile for DLC reasons, and when I learned that he was cashing in all those points EVERY CASE, I got rather envious.

    Frosty the Snow Plow on
  • mxmarksmxmarks Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    Well, the final vice case just made this game go from good but flawed to fucking GREAT but flawed.

    mxmarks on
    PSN: mxmarks - WiiU: mxmarks - twitter: @ MikesPS4 - twitch.tv/mxmarks - "Yes, mxmarks is the King of Queens" - Unbreakable Vow
  • apotheosapotheos Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited June 2011
    mspencer wrote: »
    You'll have to pass a pretty high bar if you want to successfully argue that the plot of the game -- the sequence of events -- was objectively bad. That's more than just having an opinion -- that's persuasively arguing your opinion in an attempt to influence others. That's harder to do and requires more effort.
    This is very true, but its also debating the entirely wrong thing. Love it, or hate it, the worst thing about this game is how terribly poorly the story was integrated with the interactive elements. Some people are more tolerant of movies-as-games, but this title clearly wanted to redefine some boundaries here. But in the end it didn't just play out as a cliche, it played out as a cliche interpreted by a drunkard who probably had a different first language than the audience.

    apotheos on


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  • apotheosapotheos Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited June 2011
    I never used intuition. It was pointless in exploration, and always told you the obvious in interrogations.

    But I guess there was some influence on the match-the-evidence-to-the-lie mechanic that I didn't quite understand how to use.

    apotheos on


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  • ProhassProhass Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    I love using the "community" option and seeing that like 80% of people got it wrong. I really think that the interrogation mechanic is poorly explained and half the time its a fucking wild guess whats going to happen with any of the button presses. Which I guess would be fun if intentional but its clear its just poorly connected. Also phelps should be a "wait for the evidence to come in" guy, but he fucking flies off in random directions with every wrong question. I feel like if I doubt someone and im wrong it should still be in character for phelps.

    Also the WALLS of fucking text that pop up during an action sequence to tell you what to do. Im a little fucking busy rockstar, this is why other games integrate tutorials into the gameplay. I fucking hate this in rockstar games, the text isnt event animated or in a cool font. Just hey HAVE SOME TEXT AND DEAL WITH IT.

    The way some cases just end without any explanation or elaboration and the clue finding itself is also really bad.

    I think this is the last straw for me with rockstar games, they pick these fantastic settings and polish the shit out of it, then have half-baked awkward minigames and poor writing and pacing. Im so confused.

    Prohass on
  • ED!ED! Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    Lucascraft wrote: »
    I just fucked up my first case. I have been a four star detective right across the board up until the Golden Butterfly where I get one star - "Unbecoming" and I have no fucking idea how it happened.

    Did anyone else have a problem with this case?
    I charged the guy from Heroes with the murder of his wife. The tire iron was from his car ..... but apparently that's not good enough. Fuck.

    I don't remember the correct solution to that case, but the good news for you is that you can replay any case from the main menu and try again.
    You charged the family man over the pedo - that's not the way the LAPD is run son!

    ED! on
    "Get the hell out of me" - [ex]girlfriend
  • DarkPrimusDarkPrimus Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    Prohass wrote: »
    I love using the "community" option and seeing that like 80% of people got it wrong.

    That means the correct answer is lie and you'd better think hard about what the evidence you need to present it.

    DarkPrimus on
  • TeeManTeeMan BrainSpoon Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    ED! wrote: »
    Lucascraft wrote: »
    I just fucked up my first case. I have been a four star detective right across the board up until the Golden Butterfly where I get one star - "Unbecoming" and I have no fucking idea how it happened.

    Did anyone else have a problem with this case?
    I charged the guy from Heroes with the murder of his wife. The tire iron was from his car ..... but apparently that's not good enough. Fuck.

    I don't remember the correct solution to that case, but the good news for you is that you can replay any case from the main menu and try again.
    You charged the family man over the pedo - that's not the way the LAPD is run son!
    Remember this. It is a reoccurring theme.

    TeeMan on
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  • Bacon-BuTTyBacon-BuTTy Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    TeeMan wrote: »
    ED! wrote: »
    Lucascraft wrote: »
    I just fucked up my first case. I have been a four star detective right across the board up until the Golden Butterfly where I get one star - "Unbecoming" and I have no fucking idea how it happened.

    Did anyone else have a problem with this case?
    I charged the guy from Heroes with the murder of his wife. The tire iron was from his car ..... but apparently that's not good enough. Fuck.

    I don't remember the correct solution to that case, but the good news for you is that you can replay any case from the main menu and try again.
    You charged the family man over the pedo - that's not the way the LAPD is run son!
    Remember this. It is a reoccurring theme.

    Is it really a reoccuring theme?
    Charging the bigger asshole over the guy who actually did it?

    I thought Phelps was a straight cop. I wanted to charge the pedo but it felt wrong.

    Guess I should listen to my partner more, and think more grey instead of black and white?

    Please don't spoil anything with responses :lol:

    Bacon-BuTTy on
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  • OptimusZedOptimusZed Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    TeeMan wrote: »
    ED! wrote: »
    Lucascraft wrote: »
    I just fucked up my first case. I have been a four star detective right across the board up until the Golden Butterfly where I get one star - "Unbecoming" and I have no fucking idea how it happened.

    Did anyone else have a problem with this case?
    I charged the guy from Heroes with the murder of his wife. The tire iron was from his car ..... but apparently that's not good enough. Fuck.

    I don't remember the correct solution to that case, but the good news for you is that you can replay any case from the main menu and try again.
    You charged the family man over the pedo - that's not the way the LAPD is run son!
    Remember this. It is a reoccurring theme.

    Is it really a reoccuring theme?
    Charging the bigger asshole over the guy who actually did it?

    I thought Phelps was a straight cop. I wanted to charge the pedo but it felt wrong.

    Guess I should listen to my partner more, and think more grey instead of black and white?

    Please don't spoil anything with responses :lol:
    There's a theme of putting the wrong guy away.

    But it doesn't necessarily have anything to do with your choices.

    OptimusZed on
    We're reading Rifts. You should too. You know you want to. Now With Ninjas!

    They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
  • TeeManTeeMan BrainSpoon Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    Excellent response :lol:

    TeeMan on
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  • Bacon-BuTTyBacon-BuTTy Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    Early homicide spoilers.
    So the serial killer is real. He must be. These murders are all too similar.

    I knew Rusty's razor was unreliable!

    Bacon-BuTTy on
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  • mythagomythago Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    He's very Jimmy McNulty in that the cases and secrets he knows are wearing him down and he needs an escape. What he said to his wife hinted at that.

    Sure, but the problem is
    that all comes later on. When Elsa is talking to Fontaine she talks about how he's helping her break her heroin addiction and she's helping him get away from his issues about the war. Up until that point we have no idea why Phelps is interested in Elsa, or how they got together or what he's getting from her that he's not getting from his wife such that he's willing to risk his wife AND kids for her. It wouldn't have been that hard to drop in a few lines of dialogue or a scene showing that Phelps's home life was not working out. I mean, for half the game I was expecting to find out that the "Jap-lover" had married a war bride. There's a throwaway line in one of the DLCs where Phelps says something about how his wife wouldn't agree that he's keeping her in an appropriate lifestyle, but that's really the only hint we get that maybe the Phelps marriage isn't as perfect as he would like his partner to think it is.

    I do agree that overall the game has a good noir storyline, and I actually like Phelps. Look at any of the great noir characters (Sam Spade, or Phillip Marlowe) and they're not flawless heroes either. But they're basically good people, or trying to be, even though they don't always do the right thing or resist weakness.
    I have to admit I also really dug Roy's deadpan line about "we don't all have your ability to resist temptation". OMG FORESHADOWING.

    mythago on
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  • mythagomythago Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    Early homicide spoilers.
    So the serial killer is real. He must be. These murders are all too similar.

    I knew Rusty's razor was unreliable!

    Well, no theory is perfect. But you have to admit it's a *hilarious* theory.

    mythago on
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  • mxmarksmxmarks Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    Just 3 starred the gas man, and the moment I hit "charge" I knew I was dead wrong. Ugh, i deserved the verbal thrashing.

    mxmarks on
    PSN: mxmarks - WiiU: mxmarks - twitter: @ MikesPS4 - twitch.tv/mxmarks - "Yes, mxmarks is the King of Queens" - Unbreakable Vow
  • OptimusZedOptimusZed Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    Finished 5 starring Traffic and Homicide. And finished all the street crime cases.

    Not looking forward to finding those 62 cars I'm still missing, though.

    OptimusZed on
    We're reading Rifts. You should too. You know you want to. Now With Ninjas!

    They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
  • klemmingklemming Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    I just finished finding all the cars.
    It's managed to make me never want to play the game again, so good job Team Bondi.

    klemming on
    Nobody remembers the singer. The song remains.
  • mxmarksmxmarks Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    Wow. John Noble just single handedly gave me my first 2 star case. WOW. I feel so defeated.

    mxmarks on
    PSN: mxmarks - WiiU: mxmarks - twitter: @ MikesPS4 - twitch.tv/mxmarks - "Yes, mxmarks is the King of Queens" - Unbreakable Vow
  • LucascraftLucascraft Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    I've been stopping and getting inside of any "rare" cars I see as I play. I'm not talking about the ones they show you on your map. I'm talking about rare-spawns as in cars that don't show up very often. Not sure in the long term if this method will work for me, but its what I've been doing.

    Also when I find myself near a parking lot with like 5 or 6 cars in it, I'll just go and sit in all of them.
    Phelps is kind of a creepy dude, sitting in other people's cars. "I like the way the leather seats feel on my skin."

    Lucascraft on
  • mythagomythago Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    If you have the "Slip of the Tongue" DLC
    you get a hilarious reaction if you drive off one of the cars in the used-car lot.

    mythago on
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  • IceyIcey Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    Finally finished the game. I found everying thing minus the face technology really lackluster. It's basically a very lightly interactive FMV game. I wish it had required any "detective thinking" from the player at all.

    Yet, I still find myself wanting a sequel. The overwhelmingly positive response doesn't give me much hope that they'll fix the problems with the gameplay and writing, though.

    Icey on
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  • AkilaeAkilae Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    Alright, so I loved Police Quest back in the day. Should I get this?

    Akilae on
  • HedgethornHedgethorn Associate Professor of Historical Hobby Horses In the Lions' DenRegistered User regular
    edited June 2011
    mythago wrote: »
    If you have the "Slip of the Tongue" DLC
    you get a hilarious reaction if you drive off one of the cars in the used-car lot.

    :^:
    I like it Phelps! We'll call it evidence.

    Hedgethorn on
  • mxmarksmxmarks Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    I don't know how bad the ending must be for people to dislike it, because right now its ramping up to be pretty awesome.

    mxmarks on
    PSN: mxmarks - WiiU: mxmarks - twitter: @ MikesPS4 - twitch.tv/mxmarks - "Yes, mxmarks is the King of Queens" - Unbreakable Vow
  • mxmarksmxmarks Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    Ugh I just typed a whole thing but my computer ate it.

    Long short of it - loved the game, just finished, will buy the sequel day 1 and all DLC.

    Only major complaint
    The Elsa thing did come out of nowhere. I too fully expected Phelps to have some sort of plan to get Earle and just couldnt even tell his wife about it. I was shocked when I actually saw him being affectionate with her, because it made no sense to me. It wasnt even really hinted at.

    Other than that, I also had typed a huge thing about how great it was to play as Kelso, and how great a sequel that has Kelso rising through the ranks, working with Phelps' parteners who all kind of dislike him would be.

    I also wish that somehow Mal got in a word at the funeral. Mal seemed to be the only one who really stuck with Cole every case, and Cole really liked him. He was my favorite as well.

    The post credits scene was great.

    I also missed one damn newspaper and its driving me insane. I loved the backstory.

    And Earle speaking at the funeral bothered me to no end. Fuck him.

    Am I supposed to have figured out what the chief's deal with the future DA was? The mention it in the tunnel and then the game ends.

    Oh, also would have liked
    Some sort of payoff for Mickey Cohen. No jail, not dead - what the hell!

    mxmarks on
    PSN: mxmarks - WiiU: mxmarks - twitter: @ MikesPS4 - twitch.tv/mxmarks - "Yes, mxmarks is the King of Queens" - Unbreakable Vow
  • SenshiSenshi BALLING OUT OF CONTROL WavefrontRegistered User regular
    edited June 2011
    Zoidberg, you've been waiting to use the phrase in the OP since we played the APB beta haven't you

    Senshi on
  • DarkPrimusDarkPrimus Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    mxmarks wrote: »
    Oh, also would have liked
    Some sort of payoff for Mickey Cohen. No jail, not dead - what the hell!
    Mickey Cohen was a real LA gangster during that period. He eventually got nailed for tax evasion, I believe.

    DarkPrimus on
  • CygnusZCygnusZ Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    For a sequel I just want to play as a PI, but in a different city with a completely different cast.

    CygnusZ on
  • Casual EddyCasual Eddy The Astral PlaneRegistered User regular
    edited June 2011
    Finished homicide, not sure what everyone was complaining about.

    I did bring this game on vacation when I was hanging out with a friend of mine who doesn't play video games at all, and he got really into it. He was really impressed by the writing and while he had some (fairly common) complaints about the game (gameplay was somewhat repetitive, it was quite easy for a lot of it) he was overall quite into the game.

    Casual Eddy on
  • MrDelishMrDelish Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    mxmarks wrote: »
    Am I supposed to have figured out what the chief's deal with the future DA was? The mention it in the tunnel and then the game ends.
    Earle shaking hands with the new DA implies that the new DA is also corrupt now

    the rest of the ending made me feel somewhat unsettled but I yelled at my TV at that part

    MrDelish on
  • Fatboy RobertsFatboy Roberts Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    Ah, LA Noire, I have completed you. Well, most of you. A lot of your driving/footchase elements are fuckin dogshit so I didn't do those if I didn't have to. ANYWAY:
    Ending was okay-ish. As with most videogame writing, it's barely above fanfiction. It's obvious there's an honest appreciation for the Noir genre, and a general understanding of why the genre works, and what its conventions are, but like most fan-fiction, the implementation is done so hamfistedly, so artlessly, that you don't feel the impact of the story, just the exertion in their trying to tell it.

    For me, personally - it sorta came alive when Kelso took over. Yeah, he doesn't have an arc like Phelps', but it felt more authentically Noir: Dude gets pulled into some bullshit thanks to a "friend," finds himself in way over his head, plunges ahead anyway like a sap, finds himself being pulled towards a troubled woman, up against powers he can't possibly even kneecap, much less take down, and has to scramble for some semblance of a way out. Had that particular kernel been the whole game, and not just the last 4-5 chapters, maybe it would have been closer to real Noir as opposed to Noir pantomime.

    That's probably my only other suggestion: Either LA Noire is a succession of unrelated 20-30 minute cases that wrap up in their own sad, fucked up ways, or it's one 15 hour case that just keeps building on itself in an insane spiral of depravity and heartless behavior. Attempting to string together a bunch of individual cases into a larger narrative felt clumsy most of the time.

    I did appreciate the attempt to hammer home the gut-punch futility that good Noir leaves you with. And I like that it fucked with a lot of gamers expectations of reward for playing the game "right." If gaming's storytelling abilities are ever going to evolve beyond fanfiction levels (with a few exceptions) those sorts of attempts need to continue. I just wish it had been implemented better.

    But yeah - Earle up there at the podium was the kind of salty, bitter flavor the game should get credit for nailing.

    Fatboy Roberts on
  • GoodOmensGoodOmens Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    OK, I'm stuck on Manifest Destiny, and the search function doesn't seem to be working. Any ideas?
    I've investigated the crime scene, talked to Elsa, talked to Mickey Cohen. At this point, the only location I have left is the police station, and I have no objectives. I've done the manifest, tapped on all the weapons. I've read online that there's supposed to be a bus shooting that triggers at the station, but it's not happening. I'm thinking that I may have done things out of order; I went to the police station to look at the manifest before talking to Mickey.

    I'm enjoying the game so far but the shine is rapidly fading. I think this will be a quick sell once I finish Arson.

    GoodOmens on
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  • Chrono PaladinChrono Paladin Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    mythago wrote: »
    He's very Jimmy McNulty in that the cases and secrets he knows are wearing him down and he needs an escape. What he said to his wife hinted at that.

    Sure, but the problem is
    that all comes later on. When Elsa is talking to Fontaine she talks about how he's helping her break her heroin addiction and she's helping him get away from his issues about the war. Up until that point we have no idea why Phelps is interested in Elsa, or how they got together or what he's getting from her that he's not getting from his wife such that he's willing to risk his wife AND kids for her. It wouldn't have been that hard to drop in a few lines of dialogue or a scene showing that Phelps's home life was not working out. I mean, for half the game I was expecting to find out that the "Jap-lover" had married a war bride. There's a throwaway line in one of the DLCs where Phelps says something about how his wife wouldn't agree that he's keeping her in an appropriate lifestyle, but that's really the only hint we get that maybe the Phelps marriage isn't as perfect as he would like his partner to think it is.

    I do agree that overall the game has a good noir storyline, and I actually like Phelps. Look at any of the great noir characters (Sam Spade, or Phillip Marlowe) and they're not flawless heroes either. But they're basically good people, or trying to be, even though they don't always do the right thing or resist weakness.
    I have to admit I also really dug Roy's deadpan line about "we don't all have your ability to resist temptation". OMG FORESHADOWING.
    I've seen you or somebody else mention this warbride thing several times and I'm not entirely sure how you came to that conclusion. The game shows his wife in the opening cutscene and she is very Caucasian. Plus, Phelps already has two kids and if he came back from the war within the last two years, it's possible that he married after returning from the war, but more likely that they were married and had at least one of the children before he joined the Corps. I didn't see them, but apparently at the end his daughters are at the funeral, so I think they should be older than two or so years.

    (Following tirade isn't directed at you, but just in general how I feel about the reaction to the Elsa affair)

    Honestly, I didn't mind the way they handled the reveal. There are enough hints during in the dialogue with your partners throughout the cases that subtly point towards the Phelps/Elsa relationship without beating you over the head with "HEY, COLE'S HAVING MARITAL PROBLEMS, MORE AT 11!"

    The most overt example was in the Slip of the Tongue case (paraphrased):
    Bekowsky: "So, what kind of woman IS your type, Cole?"
    Phelps: "Uh...I dunno...blondes I guess."

    In fact, there's probably more evidence in what he doesn't say. What are the two things Cole steers the conversation away from when they're brought up? The war and his family life. Cole definitely tries to play a straight-arrow type, but that's likely more because he fits the model of a workaholic and is trying to redeem himself for what happened in the war, rather than being infallible. The fact that he starts seeing a number of his war buddies again during the cases where he begins to see the darker, more political side of police work at the same time he starts going to see Elsa probably isn't a coincidence, either.

    I mean, really, it's a game about detective work and there are people that are angry that the reveal wasn't telegraphed more. The only problem, that a number of people have pointed out already, is that the family doesn't have enough emotional connection with the player and are literally set pieces. In that vein, I generally like to think that the game's presentation is itself to show the priorities in Phelps' life. The fact that you only see him when he's on the job for most of the game is important to show that his sole focus is burying himself in his work. We see the war cutscenes because he's still haunted by them. And the only time we see Cole not on the job is when he's with Elsa, which can be extrapolated as the time he spends with her being the only salve equal to his work as a detective. And when we move to controlling Kelso, the game has taken the control right out of Phelps' hands (quite literally, in fact).
    Whether or not this is the interpretation Team Bondi was going for or I'm just romanticizing a game with poor writing, I dunno. Likely I'm just taking clues after the fact to explain the reveal that I didn't even see coming. But I got enough satisfaction out of the flow of the game that being blindsided with the Elsa affair just meant a new mystery for to solve

    Chrono Paladin on
  • NaturalNarcissistNaturalNarcissist Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    I could see all this "Cole is pretending to be a straight arrow because he fucked up in the war" perspective if that was what the cutscenes portrayed.

    But here's the thing - Cole is even more of a by-the-books prick before and during the war. I thought we were heading for a reveal that Cole was almost a washout before mounting a heroic moment or two in the Pacific.

    Instead he was a prick who decided that because he was a prick to be even more of a prick.

    I actually enjoyed playing as Phelps. Say what you will about Rockstars plotting and pacing issues (and lord how many of them there are), but Rockstar does a damned fine job with protagonists.

    Eastern european slaver looking for redemption? A Jewish biker? Puerto Rican womanizer? Mr. Marston? All the very best parts of their games.

    NaturalNarcissist on
  • mythagomythago Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    I've seen you or somebody else mention this warbride thing several times and I'm not entirely sure how you came to that conclusion. The game shows his wife in the opening cutscene and she is very Caucasian. Plus, Phelps already has two kids and if he came back from the war within the last two years, it's possible that he married after returning from the war, but more likely that they were married and had at least one of the children before he joined the Corps. I didn't see them, but apparently at the end his daughters are at the funeral, so I think they should be older than two or so years.

    (Following tirade isn't directed at you, but just in general how I feel about the reaction to the Elsa affair)

    Honestly, I didn't mind the way they handled the reveal. There are enough hints during in the dialogue with your partners throughout the cases that subtly point towards the Phelps/Elsa relationship without beating you over the head with "HEY, COLE'S HAVING MARITAL PROBLEMS, MORE AT 11!"

    The most overt example was in the Slip of the Tongue case (paraphrased):
    Bekowsky: "So, what kind of woman IS your type, Cole?"
    Phelps: "Uh...I dunno...blondes I guess."

    In fact, there's probably more evidence in what he doesn't say. What are the two things Cole steers the conversation away from when they're brought up? The war and his family life. Cole definitely tries to play a straight-arrow type, but that's likely more because he fits the model of a workaholic and is trying to redeem himself for what happened in the war, rather than being infallible. The fact that he starts seeing a number of his war buddies again during the cases where he begins to see the darker, more political side of police work at the same time he starts going to see Elsa probably isn't a coincidence, either.

    I mean, really, it's a game about detective work and there are people that are angry that the reveal wasn't telegraphed more. The only problem, that a number of people have pointed out already, is that the family doesn't have enough emotional connection with the player and are literally set pieces. In that vein, I generally like to think that the game's presentation is itself to show the priorities in Phelps' life. The fact that you only see him when he's on the job for most of the game is important to show that his sole focus is burying himself in his work. We see the war cutscenes because he's still haunted by them. And the only time we see Cole not on the job is when he's with Elsa, which can be extrapolated as the time he spends with her being the only salve equal to his work as a detective. And when we move to controlling Kelso, the game has taken the control right out of Phelps' hands (quite literally, in fact).
    Whether or not this is the interpretation Team Bondi was going for or I'm just romanticizing a game with poor writing, I dunno. Likely I'm just taking clues after the fact to explain the reveal that I didn't even see coming. But I got enough satisfaction out of the flow of the game that being blindsided with the Elsa affair just meant a new mystery for to solve
    But it's not just "a game about detective work", it's a game firmly set in the noir genre (hence the name), and there's a lot more to the storyline than just detective work and corrupt cops. I would have been fine with the reveal if, looking back, there had been a lot of hints that I just totally missed ("oh NOW I get why Phelps said that") but it wasn't that; it was completely abrupt. The closest thing to a hint that Phelps is not happy at home is his comment in A Slip of the Tongue. He seems genuinely angry when his partner asks him if he looks at other women - and of course he hasn't met Elsa then.

    I think you're misunderstanding the war-bride thing. Early in the game we don't know a thing about his family life except that he has a ring on, then we find out he has a "beautiful" wife and kids (!), but we don't really learn anything at all about them until he gets thrown out. The game mentions furlough marriages, which were common around that time - so were war brides, and with his soldiers calling him a "Jap-lover" I (and apparently some others) were starting to wonder if maybe that was what the deal was, why we never saw nor heard of them and perhaps that was somehow going to blow up later.

    TL;DR, it wouldn't have been hard at all for the writers to throw in a few more hints earlier that maybe Mr. Straight Arrow isn't as happy with his beautiful wife and children as he wants everyone to think, and that there's some reason he turns to Elsa. I mean, up until she meets with Fontaine we have absolutely no idea what either of them see in each other. As far as we know to that point, Phelps has a sudden case of wandering penis disease and Elsa is a heroin whore who's sleeping with him because he's a vice cop.

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  • DomhnallDomhnall Minty D. Vision! ScotlandRegistered User regular
    edited June 2011
    Plus a Slip of the Tongue is DLC. Most people wouldn't have it.

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  • PemulisPemulis Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    So my partner (Galloway) won't get in the car with me any more. He just says "I'm busy here Phelps" if I try to make him drive. When I show up at a location he's there, but it's kind of annoying.

    Any ideas?

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