Part 26: Blackwell Convergence - Update 1

Time to get Convergence started!

Update 1

Inside Office



We're greeted to another beautiful day in New York. Immediately it is clear that the graphical quality has significantly improved, with finer pixels and more detailed textures.

Unlike Legacy and Unbound, Convergence doesn't start with a scripted scene to set the mood. Instead, it launches directly into a short case. This was a deliberate design decision, so Gilbert could introduce some of the puzzle mechanics and the characters in a small space where new players wouldn't be overwhelmed.



A knock on the door is heard, before Rosa's voice pipes up. As you can see, portraits are back in Convergence, which will make these dialogue sequences a bit easier for us to read.

You really expecting an answer?
I was just checking.
Well, you checked. Now open the door and let's see what's in there.

As much as I enjoyed Lauren and Joey's back and forth, it is fun to get back to Rosa and Joey's bickering



Jiggling the door handle, a grumpy Rosa encounters the first puzzle of the game.

Joey, the door is locked.
Yeah, I can see that. Looks like it's up to me.

Before we turn things over to Joey, however, Rosa checks out her inventory.



This is the news article that lead our team to this abandoned office. Will something turn up?



Well? What do you see?
Nothing. Yet.

Joey peeks his head into the office to see what he can see. Notice the fancy rippling effect as he warps through the door, rather than the simple clipping effect in the previous two games. Nice touch.



Let's head inside properly then.

I'll see if there's a way to open that door.



Joey isn't particularly impressed with the abandoned office.

Convergence has probably my favourite version of the Joey portrait. It strikes a perfect balance between a hardened detective, and being a sarcastic, fun-loving ghost.



What's this glinting away on the ground?

Looks like a paperclip. Hey, dollface. I got a present for you.



Joey uses his "power to command light breezes" to blow the paperclip under the door.

Joey. A paperclip just blew past my shoe.
It's all yours, darling.
What do I do with this?
Try opening the door with it.

Haha, Rosa is totally unconvinced about this.

Does that actually work?
Sure. Why not?

There's our first introduction to a new portrait staple - the smug smirk. We'll be seeing a lot of that



Rosa tries inserting the paperclip and poking around, but doesn't have much luck initially.

I have no idea how to do this.
Just keep trying, darling. It's an old door. It shouldn't be any trouble.

Seriously, Joey didn't continuously egg Lauren on to commit crimes all the damn time like he does with Rosa, did he? Maybe I just missed it. Though I guess Lauren was perfectly happy to just commit crimes without provocation.

It keeps slipping. This isn't going to...



...work.
Oh ye of little faith.

Nice work, Rosa



Rosa gazes around the room in that stiff, awkward fashion I've missed so much

No ghosts.
Not yet.
You think something's coming?
Not sure. I feel... something. Might as well take a look around, first. Just in case.

Rosa looks mostly the same this time around, still wearing her green cardigan and jeans, though she now wears the cardigan open and has her hair tied in a ponytail. I guess that qualifies as character development for an introvert like Rosa.



Rosa looks at her now-familiar companion.

Joey's been around for almost six months now. Maybe someday I'll actually get used to this.



Let's see what's around here. Rosa notices the draped sheets, and decides to tell one of her trademark awkward jokes

Relatives of yours, Joey?
Huh?
You know. The spooky sheet.
I don't get it.
Never mind.

Complete with a delightfully dorky smug smirk for Rosa as well, and an angry Joey portrait! I really have missed the portraits, they're so charming

You know what, while we're here, let's just catch up with Joey first up.



Uh huh?
Why are we here, again?
You feeling okay? You read the article, same as me. Read it again, if you can't remember.

There's a bit of a clue to look in your inventory.

It's dark in here.
Yeah. I noticed. Nobody's around to pay the bills, I guess.

It's not all that dark, to be honest. The sun looks to be shining directly in the windows. I think Rosa is just in a mood to whinge.

It's freezing in here.
Hey, you want some cheese with that whine?
Yeah yeah. I'm soaking wet. I have the right to complain.



Hahahaha, Joey's an asshole.

It's fine for YOU. You can't even feel the rain.
Lucky for me I'm dead, then.

Good to see these two haven't run out of things to argue about in the six months that have passed. See if you can keep count of the number of times an angry Rosa portrait and an angry Joey portrait appear next to each other in this game

I don't think there's a ghost here, Joey. Whatever made the renovations stop, it wasn't supernatural.
I dunno, dear. I've developed a good sense for this sort of things. There's something here. We just gotta look.

We'll see what we can do about that.



A compliment? How rare.
I'm being sincere. You've got a real knack for breaking and entering.
Great.

The positive reinforcement is short-lived, however.

You just going to stand there? Do something productive, why don't you?
I'm doing the best I can. What else can I do?
Investigate. Move stuff around. Use those hands and arms. I gotta think of everything?



There really isn't that much in this office. This shouldn't take long to scope out.

All I could find was a newspaper clipping. Looks like an obituary.



I guess if there is going to be a ghost around here, this guy will be our man. Allen Reiken.



As I mentioned yesterday, the notebook system is still in effect, though Rosa can't combine clues anymore.

A man jumped out of a window in this building.
Suicide?
Seems so. I wonder if it was one of these windows.
I wouldn't be surprised if it was. It's a long way down from here. If you want to jelly up the pacement, this is a good way to make sure it's done right.
That's kind of tasteless.
Just saying.



Let's check out the windows then. Nothing behind this one, though Rosa remarks on the view.

I wonder how much a view like this costs? Probably worth millions, even if it IS haunted.

Joey, meanwhile, is more concerned about the rain, which apparently does actually bother him after all.

Man, I hate the rain. The raindrops go right through me.

Now that we see the rippling effect, along with a warpy sound effect, whenever Joey passes through a physical body, I guess I can see why rain would be annoying.



Behind the middle window on the back wall, Rosa makes a discovery.

Yeah?
I think I found it.
Well, will ya look at that.

The arm of a ghost is visible on the left side of the window.

What's he doing out there?
There's only one way to find out.
...
... I am NOT climbing out onto the window ledge.

Joey's smile while Rosa squirms is fantastic here

What are you, kidding? Leave the dangerous stuff to the dead guy.



Yeah, I know the drill. I'll wait here.

This still feels more like Joey's operation with Rosa acting as understudy, as opposed to Lauren and Joey where the dynamic felt more in Lauren's favour. Rosa is starting to come out of her shell though, and will continue to grow in confidence as we progress.



On the outside, we find our ghost. Joey was right, there was one here.

He's a balding, middle-aged guy. He looks kind of scared.

Though Joey is more impressed with the view.

Man, what a view. I can even see the Hudson River from here.

Joey is kind of obsessed with views, actually. He'll comment on the view from various vantage points something like twenty times over the next two games.



Joey charm: engaged!

Stay back! I mean it! I'll do it!

Great. We've got a suicidal ghost on our hands. This should be awkward. Mind you, it's not as though he can actually jump.

Joey can either try to get the ghost to relax:

All right, pal. Take a deep breath and relax.
Relax? Relax! You think I can relax? If I could relax, you think I'd be out here?
I don't know. Why don't you tell me about it?

He can offer to help the ghost:

I'm here to help.
Help? Hah. Why would you want to help ME?
You just seem like a guy who could use some.
You don't know anything about me.
Well, let's change that. Why don't you tell me about yourself?

Or he can ask what the ghost is doing:

What are you doing out here?
I.. I don't know! There's no place left for me to go.
There's gotta be a better place than this. Come on inside.

Either way, the ghost is not at all interested in Joey's help.

Don't come any closer! I swear I'll jump.
Jump? You're here to... kill yourself?



I don't know. I... can't think of anything else to do.

Haunting a window sill and eternally contemplating suicide doesn't sound like a very pleasant existence. We'll have to deal with him.

Um... I think this might be too little too late.
What do you mean?
I mean, you can't kill yourself. You're already dead.
What?
I said you're already dead.

This goes pretty much as well as it always does.



You're insane. Get off my ledge.

Joey tries the calmer approach.

Hey, let's get out of this rain.
What rain?
Um... this rain? Take a look around. It's pouring cats and dogs out here.
I don't feel any rain.
That's because- Aw. Forget it.

The ghost stops speaking to us at this point.



Let's try talking to this guy again.

What's your name?
Why should you care?
Does it matter?
You don't know me. You don't know anything about me.
I want to help you. Give me something to work with, here.
You don't know me at all. Nobody knows me at all.
Look... I'll be back. Don't do anything stupid.

Joey quickly ducks inside to confer with Rosa.



Why's that?
The guy's threatening to jump.
Jump?
Yeah.
... Well, how can he...?
Yeah. It's an odd one. Our friend on the ledge seems more scared than confused.
How so?
He's aware of his surroundings at least, and when he talks he actually makes sense. That's more than you can say for most spooks.

It seems fairly obvious that the ghost is Allen Reiken, given his suicidal thoughts. Perhaps we can figure out why he wanted to commit suicide in the first place? Joey floats back outside to talk with the ghost.



It's been a while. You might not remember.

Since we found the obituary, we can now guess the ghost's name.

No. I don't remember at all. Although, I've had a lot on my mind...
Yeah, that's why I'm here. I thought you could use someone to talk to.
Did my wife put you up to this?
Wife? No. No. Just here for an old friend.
Okaay. I'm not sure who you are, but you seem to know ME. What do you want to talk about?

At least he's receptive to listening. Joey tries to prod him in the right direction.



Concentrate and take a look around. Doesn't anything seem... strange? Out of place or off-kilter?
No...
You don't remember... falling?
Falling? No! Course not. I came out here and STAYED. I haven't jumped yet.
Right. Right. Nevermind.

As usual, the ghost refuses to accept any thought that will force him to confront his own death.



Oh, surely they can. Do you know what it's like to lose everything? To have everything you loved and struggled for just vanish?
I know something about that, yeah.
Then you know what I'm going through.

I guess Joey is referring to Lauren here He changes the subject.

Nice view, huh?
Is it? Yeah, I guess it is.
Makes you feel like you're king of the world.
I used to feel that way. Now, I'm not sure.



Let's see if we can figure out what went wrong for Allen.

What brought you to... this?
A fire destroyed my entire stock. The resulting lawsuits bankrupted me.
That's no reason to kill yourself.
You don't understand. I spent my LIFE building this business. When it happened, I lost everything. Everyone deserted me. People I THOUGHT were friends. Even Sandra.
Sandra?
My wife.

Ouch. His wife leaving him is understandably a sore point for Allen. We'll have to work through that.



We now reach the main meat of this case. As I said earlier, this is just a short case designed to show off the basic mechanics of Convergence. Similar to the Deacon back in Legacy, there are two ways to deal with Allen, and one is clearly "better" than the other. I'll show one off today, and we'll look at the other tomorrow.

Where is your wife?
She LEFT. She won't even talk to me. I just get phone calls from her lawyer. I thought she'd stick by me. That's what you're supposed to do, right?

Suddenly, Joey is struck by a brainwave.

Hey, your wife's inside.
Really?
Yeah. She wants to talk to you.

Hahaha, Rosa is in for a treat

I don't believe you.
Come on. Now's your chance to win her back.
Well... all right.



Joey is enjoying this way too much

That's my wife? That's Sandra?
Wife?
Sure. Don't you recognise her?

Hahahahaha Of course, Allen wants to believe that Rosa is his wife, but if he actually looks at her he'll know it isn't. So in his typical ghostly way, he simply finds himself unable to focus on her.

It's hard to see clearly, for some reason. Is that red hair?
She dyed it.

I love how Joey gets angry that his obvious deception has been immediately detected

Go on. Talk to her.
Sandra? Is that really you?



No wonder poor Rosa is out of her comfort zone so often, with Joey pulling shit like this out of the blue.

Sure it's me. I'm Sandra.
...

"I'm Sandra," hahahaha. Joey wasn't kidding in that cartoon about Rosa's smile making her look like a serial killer

Why are you here, Sandra?
Well, uh...



Here we come to the puzzle, such as it is. Rosa will attempt to help Allen to confront his demons and overcome them, and will either be successful, or unsuccessful. Her being successful is the "good" solution. If she is unsuccessful three times (over three different problems), we'll have no choice but to take the "bad" approach.

Here's one of the unsuccessful choices.

I, uh, made a mistake, Allen. I shouldn't have left you.
A mistake? Why should I trust you now, Sandra. After you left and sicced lawyers on me. Taking what little I had left.
You destroyed me, Sandra. If I jump, it'll be your fault!



Allen floats moodily back outside, while Joey calls after him.

She was trying to be NICE.



I've never been a wife before.

I love how these two immediately leap to blame each other



Since Rosa was unable to sort out this point of contention, it's time for hardass Joey to take matters into his own hands.

Yeah.
Figures.
What?
Look at yourself. Everyone knows that if a ship is sinking, you abandon it. I can't blame her for leaving. Anybody would.

Ouch. Obviously Joey feels Allen needs a bit of tough love. Funnily enough, it works.

That's... that's...



Completely true.

That's one of Allen's issues "dealt with", but in a bad way. He has two more issues for us to try to work with.

The world's full of pretty broads, Allen. You shouldn't get all weepy over just one.
Come on.
Look at me. I'm pushing fifty, overweight, and not to mention BROKE.
What woman would want me?



Since we're looking at the bad outcome today, let's jump straight to another tongue-lashing from Joey.

I can't think of any woman who would be attracted to you.
You... really think so?
Sorry, pal. That's the way I see it.
I always thought that. But to hear someone else say it... It hits very close to home.



Allen's final problem, and the one which seems to hurt him the most, is his failure as a businessman. Even Joey has cold feet about pushing him too hard on this one.

Ah... Man, this is cruel. Even for me. One more blow to his ego and he's bound to go over the edge. Do I really want to save him THIS way?

Hell yeah. Shoot the works, Joey!!



Well, yeah. I guess.
And I thought you were a businessman.

That gets Allen fired up...

I AM a businessman!
Not anymore, you're not.
No, I'm not.

...but only momentarily. He is a seriously defeated man.

You're just a little man with a big office and a view he doesn't deserve. And you're way too old and tired to start over.
Yeah... what's the point. I don't know what to do anymore.
Oh, I think you do.
I do?



This seems a fairly cruel way of dealing with the situation, and I guess it is. It should work though - Allen can't kill himself. Forcing him to try should make him aware of that.

You're right. You're so right. It's over. It's... This is it.



Sure enough, as he takes the leap off the building, he finds himself floating through the Manhattan skyline.

The realisation hits him almost immediately, and the familiar sound of wind blowing accompanies the fading in and out of Allen's ghostly form.

I've been here before.
I'm sorry.
But it was an accident! I wasn't really going to jump! I was going to go back in!
It's too late now.
I slipped and fell! I didn't want to jump! I remember.

Ahh, geez. He didn't even want to kill himself



That sucks

But, maybe... maybe it's for the best. I didn't have much to live for anymore.
I'm sorry, pal.
So what now? I haunt this ledge forever?
No. I'm here to help you move on. Just come inside with me.



I guess. Let's get this over with.

Not the most sensitive way to deal with things, but effective nonetheless.



In Convergence, the act of pulling a ghost into Nodespace seems to cause an electrifying effect rather than an implosion in the brain.

Hm. I can't help but think we could have handled that better.

Joey isn't wrong - tomorrow we'll take a look at how to work Allen through his difficulties more satisfyingly, and then get started on the game proper!


Welcome to Convergence everybody Hope you enjoy the ride!