Part 20

Right! I'm back!

I didn't get a chance to learn Gimp yet, so I haven't gone through the post adding random stupid shit to the screenshots. Which is probably for the best.

So. We've seen endings E and D, and endings A, B, and C required a different branch way back in chapter five. This means, unfortunately, starting over. Still, after you've seen a given scene, you can skip over it (with O or esc) making later playthroughs of the game much more bareable. You only need two saves to see all the endings, anyway, one for each choice in chapter five, because all the other branch points are in chapter eight.

Playing through, I futzed about with the order a little, to keep from falling asleep. In Chapter One, I went ahead and got the scribner's egg from Dr. Wagner juggling in the park.



Instead of farting arround until after 2:45 in the present, however, I warped back to the past as soon as I could in the fire, which landed me outside the bar, instead of inside with the owner.




You get a third of a second worth of glimpse of the arsonist... which is all you need if you're taking screenshots. Incidentally, this is why I chose to solve this chapter the other way the first playthrough... that screenshot just spoils too much of the plot.




Eike fails to catch anyone, as is his way.



I'm a bit confused as to how a tiny bit of newspaper lit by a cigarette butt about a half foot away from a stout wooden barrel would burn anything down.



The eyes!



I changed what I wanted the tree replaced with in Chapter Two as well.



That is clearly a brass statue of Eike. Why doesn't anyone notice this? Why doesn't Eike?

Anyway, I skipped chapter four entirely (grabbing a frying pan in chapter three from the bar) and tried to see if chapter five could be solved without meeting the Eckarts in 1902 earlier. Sadly, you just have the introduction to them in chapter five instead, and when you leave the photoshoot, there's the museum owner talking with the photographer seconds after the picture. The only thing that changes is you don't go forward in time with the jugglery outfit, which makes the entire thing all the more confusing.

Lame!



Anyway, here we are, chapter five. Eike is telling Margarete his horrible suspicions. Let's watch!




Play it smoove, and she'll take it well.






See? She's taking that remarkably well.







Well, maybe not.





Yes. You are destined to be in the past, forever. Enjoy the plague, bitch.





You know what would break the ice here? Another colorful anecdote about Mr. Eckart's hair!



Actually, it would be kinda cool if there was a picture of Dr. Wagner's parents somewhere. Instead, we remain as much in the dark about Eike's heritage as Eike is.



She's gonna hang herself the moment you go out that door, you just know it.





Yeah, soon. I mean, it's been two years since the last time you dropped in. I'm pretty sure you don't show up for at least another two.

Anyway, the next part of the scene is the same as last time, so back to fast forwarding.






Hugo knows everything, loves his mom, hates his sister, blah blah blah.



And bam, he demonstrates his amazing ability to kick a chair across a room. This is embarresingly poorly animated, by the way... it just kind of flies accross the floor spinning wildly in place, then stops abruptly and wiggles a bit on the floor before coming to a rest.



Yeah, fuck that family, they're creepy.




Hugo's insulted enough by the events to refuse to talk to anyone, but not so insulted as to stop trying to get his sister laid. Which is the opposite of most brothers, but you know, whatever.




And also a hint. Your hair is all over the place, man. Get it out of your face already!



All this is new to this storyline, by the way.







Yeah, almost as if you're remembering someone. I'm sure it's just the dreams of a girl brought up around too much mercury.





Seriously, the more I think about Hugo cheering for some stranger he's seen twice and his sister to get it on, the less comfortable I am with the whole situation.



Margarete gave Eike the antidote so...



...the chapter comes to a close in the present. Hurrah!

I'll see what I can do about getting up to chapter eight tonight.