Part 8: Scenario Two: Vincent

Scenario Two: Vincent

(Black Screen)


On the note of that ominous blackmail letter, hinting at something sinister, we begin playing as Vincent. Vincent is given a gun with a maximum of 10 total bullets, and a first aid kit. We also get a brief refresher on how the gun works, and the sloppy "vulnerable" system that works even less now that we have a gun than it did with the lead pipe.



As you can see, we're started off pretty much with nothing to show for ourselves. If we turn to the right, we find the map on the wall (which we take, natch) and find out we're standing in front of the waiting room door. Fair enough, let's start our exploration right at the start.

Weird... It seems like someone is blocking the door from the other side.

So you came...

Who is this? Identify yourself!

I'll play with you first.

Say what?

...

Fine then, if you won't cooperate, then let's just go in anyway.

It still won't open. It's not locked or anything but it feels like someone is pushing the door from the other side. Maybe if I come back here at a later time...?

Video game design, everybody! But seriously, this game at least wants to try to guide us gently through things. And to its credit due to such low flavor text now, the only effect that going outside its ropes has is a few instances where you find Vincent doing things without rhyme or reasons. And in any case, there's a couple spots where I'd argue that that's happening regardless. So this time I'll just go ahead and play ball and try to move things along the most sensible trail. So with that in mind, let's pretend we wandered down to the basement on our own, and ended up in the Real World version of Karen's office. There's not anything interesting on the ground floor to Vinnie anyways.



According to the nameplate, her name is Karen. Was this the woman who contacted me? Who did this?

So Vincent was the man that Karen was waiting on I guess. And apparently she wrote the blackmail letter that brought Vincent to the hospital? Hmm. Well in any case she's dead now, so let's instead snoop around her stuff. That conspicuous key hanging on the wall can be taken, and it's labeled for the surgery. Also, if we look in the desk we'll find a prescription written out.


I'm sure that means nothing. Well that's it for now on the ground floor, time to head upstairs.



It's got a sticker on it that says "1 dollar". I need to put money in the machine in order to get something out.

Yeah, that's a little new, now we at least know how much the wallet inside costs. Gee, I wonder if that'll be a puzzle? In any case, let's use our surgery key and see what's in there.



Oh.

Death Count: 15

It has been dead for a long time. I can't even make out if it's male of female.

Well I could think of a real easy way to solve that but uh, you know what, nevermind. Is there anything we can take in the room?

A scapel is stuck in the body's thigh.

Right, well let's take that. You never know, another weapon could come in handy. Anyways, something else new is that the other two patient rooms are now unlocked and able to be looked at.



Anti-climactically, there's not really anything to do in this room. Though the monitor flickering off and on did initially give me a startle.



Ho hum, pretty much the same here in room two and-wait a second.

It's an ordinary hospital bed. The mattress looks a bit torn up though.

Yes, yes it does. Luckily we have a tool on hand to let us investigate a bit more, that we just added to our inventory. If we use the scalpel on the bed...

A coin fell from the mattress. Someone has been saving up in there.

And just like that, we're twenty-five cents richer! The scalpel is a very handy tool, and we're far from done with it yet. Meanwhile, I think it's time to re-check the waiting room and see if our friend will let us in now.



Hmm, nothing different here than the last time we saw it. What do you think Vincent, see anything worth noting?

Fruit is also candy? Okay...

Yeah, I thought that poster was a little silly too. Anyways, something still seems weird about this place. I mean, what was holding the door closed? Maybe one of the chairs?

It looks unstable... One of the legs is not fitted properly maybe I can...

Oh, whoops. Now look, it came off in our hands. Oh well, let's just hang on to that. I'm sure it'll come in handy later, and is not at all some arbitrary puzzle piece we'd normally miss on our own. Anyways, let's go ahead and do what we all know we were going to do, and cross over to the Otherworld.



Vincent joins the ranks of the great Silent Hill protagonists in that he doesn't seem to think very much is odd with the world around him, despite being faced with increasing horror. I honestly think he's more mystified by the wallet in the vending machine than by the dead dude in the operating room. Before we move the plot forward, let's take a couple detours while we're here in the Otherworld...



Are these fetuses? Who could have done such a thing?

I think we know Vincent.

It's dead fetuses... Looks like they have been here a long time.

Well that's a...new way of describing them. OLD dead fetuses? I think I'm creeped out all over again. I think we need a breather with some comedy, Vincent style.



Works as a desk I think.

Sure it does buddy. Kinda weird that Karen's only in the real world considering she was killed in the Otherworld. But what about the cage?

I don't need a doll... Or a birdcage.

Vincent, everybody. Anyways, let's go upstairs and check out things on the top level.



These are the same as last time. Room 2 has the regenerating first aid kit on the chair, and now room 3 has a regenerating box of ammo in it, as we now have a firearm. Room one still has the sticky green goop with the quarter stuck in it on the chair. Luckily we now have a tool to pry the quarter loose. That's right, our scalpel comes to the rescue again! Also, because we're ten years old, let's try poking the goop with a stick. We end up with the sticky stuff staying on the chair leg end because reasons. But regardless, we're now done upstairs, and there's a couple things to do downstairs. As we move through the hall, you may remember the painting from before.

It's skin with some dried blood on it. It's pretty soft... Maybe if I had something sharp, I could carve in it.

wait, what? What's wrong with you Vincent? You see a creepy canvas made of skin and blood, and your first instinct is to cut it open?? This game puts you in control of madmen, I swear. Alright fine, let's pull out the scalpel and get to work.



As you can see if you look close, the first notch has already been made. Now you can use the arrows to decide the next direction of cut as you go. If you paid attention to the painting in the Real World, you might have an idea of what to do next.


The painting is a stairway to heaven. Carve an upward zig-zag to completion.

A staircase leading to God, huh? Wonder if it will lead me to anything...?

I think I heard a click coming from somewhere. Like a distant door unlocked itself...



And right after that, we have to fight a monster. As I said earlier, the combat in this game is kinda sucky. The gun is even worse than the pipe for hitting this little buggers. They move a lot, and the "vulnerable" spots seem to move around them even more. It's hard to get a bead on them. It's a good thing the consumables are refillable, and there's very few fights. But, we have one more stop to go here in the Otherworld.



What is this...? It looks like it's ready to fall down any moment. I wonder if there's a way to bring it down. I don't want to touch that. It's disgusting.

Oh, I can think of something that will take it down without touching it. It's a moment of real thinking outside the box actually. See, one thing they mention but you never instinctually try is that you don't have to be in a monster encounter to draw your weapon in these games. Guess what you have to use your gun for as well here?



It's not moving anymore.

Well of course not, you shot it. Now, there's one more step to this anti-logical puzzle. What's become our most valuble item? That's right, let's use the scalpel and take a look inside the meat. Doing so finds us a filing cabinet key. I'm sure that will be handy later. But for now let's go back to the real world. If you recall, the painting made an unlocking sound, and there was a locked office door next to the painting.

So the staircase did the trick?



Well, there's nothing much exciting going on here, so let's just loot the place and be done with it. If we look in the desk, we find a third quarter. Meanwhile, if we use the filing cabinet key we just got on the files to the left, we find an x-ray plate.

It's an x-ray plate of a torso. It looks like there's something there but the image is too dark to see what it is.

Now, before we go and solve that little puzzle, I confess I lied about there being nothing interesting in any of the other rooms.



Notice that vent in the middle of the room? Lucas didn't.

Something's shiny in there. Looks like a coin.

And here's why we got a sticky stick.

It passed the grate and... There! It stuck.

Now we have our dollar. Let's spend them.



There that should do it. A wallet came out.

Told you there was a wallet in there.

It's a wallet made of good leather. There's something in it...


Um, okay. Well before we worry about that, we had a different puzzle to worry about. Namely trying to see what was on the X-ray. Sure would be easier if we had one of those lightboards they use for reading them...



Oh yeah, I guess we do.

Hmm... There's something in there. Has it something to do with this body lying here?

Have you ever seen the "Saw" movies? Would you like to play a game? The game we're playing today is "Operation"...

According to the X-ray late, it shoudl be located somewhere around here... It's a key...

And so, we get the bronze key. I seem to recall a big bronze lock somewhere...



Yup, the key fits one of the locks for the door. Also, we have the information for the keypad now, in the form of our story:

quote:

A pair of raindrops fell from the sky. As they landed on the ground, a child was born. Half a decade later, he spoke his first words and said: "Let me go". Six weeks later, he died."

Did you figure out the numbers? 2 raindrops, 1 child, 5 years, 3 words, 6 weeks. 21536

Come and you will find what you're looking for.

Who is this? Are you the one who wrote this letter?

Downstairs

Okay, that's ominous. Yes, something's waiting for us downstairs, in the Otherworld. I would advise making sure you're stocked up, just in case. Anyways, we go downstairs in the Otherworld, round the corner and-



Uh, what?

Father... You've never been so close before. Come here... I have something to say...



Finally...

Who are you?

She called me Lucas.

She? Do you mean that woman in the office?

Yes.

But... Why?

Her stories... lies... But the pain...

What stories? What are you talking about!

The pain... I can still feel it... it burns... She said you are the one to blame!

Why... How can you know?

Uh guys? What are you two talking about here??

So maybe she was right after all...

You don't understand! I was only trying to help!

There's only one way to end this...

It's boss fight time. If anything, I'd say that Lucas is an easier fight than the knife kids. Lucas doesn't move around, and he's pretty compact so the vulnerable area doesn't move much. While you fight him, he spits out blood or whatever at you, and it hurts a lot. It'll do two bars of damage on contact, so you want to be quick here, and defeat Lucas.

Death Count: 16

Anyways, after Lucas is gone, he leaves behind an iron key, which is as you would expect, the last part of the heavily locked door.



With no further delay, let's see what's behind that last door.



It's not obvious from the screenshot, but there's some ghostly shape floating around the chair here.

It's all dark in here, but it feels strange... I better get out quick.

Did you really think you would get away with all this?

What? No... NO!

(Black Screen)

TO BE CONTINUED...