The Let's Play Archive

The Chzo Mythos

by Quovak

Part 29: Pre- 6 Days Bonus Update




Earlier (the first page), I said that I would post bonus updates when I screwed up. Well, a while ago I said I would post one and didn't, and I just recently screwed up by not judging a contest that ended, so have this bonus update to act as further lead-up to 6 Days.

Pre- 6 Days Bonus Update


One of the Special Edition bonuses is a set of classified files from the Ministry of Occultism, intended to remind you of what happened in the last few games while including a bit more information. They also show off that Cabadath is just a scowling old guy in a balaclava with the gamma turned way up, and that John DeFoe is really just the tenth result from a Google Image Search for "Welding Mask".


There are some other interesting things to be found in these files, however. Buried on one of the pages is this biography of AJ, pointing out that he was actually a member of the Ministry. You might think this is entirely meaningless, and you'd be right, but it serves to retcon more things because that's what Yahtzee does.


Remember way back when this happened? AJ also screamed a bit, and the new explanation is that AJ thought Trilby was the Prince.

However, like all of Yahtzee's throw-away references, this yields some problems. The note succinctly mentions his lack of experience three times in three sentences just to make sure we don't forget, and this is presumably used to explain why he thought an average-sized guy in normal clothing and a black mask was something to be worried about. However, this implies that even a low-level and inexperienced member (who, incidentally, happens to have little experience) knew more about one of the major sources of the occult than Trilby did.

Trilby joined the STP in 1995 and was knowingly sent to a hotbed of occult activity on the Prince's annual murderday a few years later. Despite this, he was told less about the Prince than an entry-level temp (an inexperienced one) going to spend the weekend at a quaint house in Buckinghamshire.

It also implies that A.J. was sent to said house with no way to contact the Ministry if, say, the Prince and John DeFoe were to try murdering him. This is not how government agencies should work.


The other fascinating thing is this, the symbol for the Order of Blessed Agonies. You'll see it a few times in 6 Days, most notably as the title screen, but I guess that Chzo doesn't like good line-work. It's clearly left-of-center, the top triangle is not connected to the points of the left and right ones, there's notable JPEG artifacting in that solid gray line, etc. I don't mean to be an art snob, but it's 12 lines and a circle in the most basic geometric pattern possible, intentionally designed to act as a recurring image. It would have taken 10 seconds to fix. Come on.


Soon, we'll start on 6 Days and I'll do that contest thing. Maybe.