For a refresher, the core concept of the game is that a husband and wife are divorcing for a variety of reasons. Their daughter finds out and cries over a book asking her parents to get back together. The self help relationship book then comes to life, turns the parents into dolls, and guides them on a quest to be better for each other so they don’t split up. The parents aren’t happy with this and just look for ways to get back into their normal bodies. When they realize that their kid cried over the book, the dad assumes that tears are the answer based off of the books he reads with said kid. So they go into the kids bedroom, find the kids favorite stuffed animal (an elephant) and proceed to literally tear it apart while it begs for its life. Like screams and pleads for the parents to not tear it apart. I cannot emphasize enough that the toy came to life and started begging to not be killed but they do it anyway. You as the two players RIP IT APART. You tear off a leg and an ear (I believe) in the process. The kid finds the toy and is mortified and proceeds to start crying. It obviously doesn’t work and they’re still stuck as dolls. Parents feel bad but frankly not remotely bad enough.
I remember reading a review, i think from Ars Technica, that said that the dad was by far the worst parent and, as a character, someone who didn’t evolve or learn anything. Is that right?
I never ended up finishing the game from what I remember, although I came close. I was playing with my ex as well lol
I don’t really remember him learning anything but honestly? I think the wife is worse. They’re both awful people in different regards but the wife is just so fucking cold. The dad is a dope. Stay at home dad that clearly has ADHD that he can’t manage and isn’t really in the best position to be a good parent but is an excellent dad, if that makes sense. He takes care of his child and spends absurd amounts of time with her but the lessons that he should be teaching her are often just left on the wayside. He just wants to have fun with her and be a good dad, not a good parent. He will go out of his way to set things up for his wife to try and be kind to her. The wife on the other hand works all the time and doesn’t have much time for the family. That would be one thing but the time she does have she just refuses to use to engage with said family. She ignores the husband and the kid and just runs off to be on her own. The dad keeps mentioning this throughout the game, that she doesn’t spend any time with them. She will just go into her shed and start tinkering on things, actively ignoring her family.
From what I could tell, neither one learned a single fucking thing during the (majority) portion of the game I played. The self help book keeps trying to teach them lessons and both of them ignore it but the husband is often more receptive. He’ll question what’s being said and try to bring it up with his wife who just refuses to engage.
They both suck but the dad tries and spends time with his kid. The mom seems to just hate her husband and her kid.
my ex partner really liked this game. we broke up before we finished it. can someone fill me in?
Sure. Very very spoiler heavy below.
spoiler
For a refresher, the core concept of the game is that a husband and wife are divorcing for a variety of reasons. Their daughter finds out and cries over a book asking her parents to get back together. The self help relationship book then comes to life, turns the parents into dolls, and guides them on a quest to be better for each other so they don’t split up. The parents aren’t happy with this and just look for ways to get back into their normal bodies. When they realize that their kid cried over the book, the dad assumes that tears are the answer based off of the books he reads with said kid. So they go into the kids bedroom, find the kids favorite stuffed animal (an elephant) and proceed to literally tear it apart while it begs for its life. Like screams and pleads for the parents to not tear it apart. I cannot emphasize enough that the toy came to life and started begging to not be killed but they do it anyway. You as the two players RIP IT APART. You tear off a leg and an ear (I believe) in the process. The kid finds the toy and is mortified and proceeds to start crying. It obviously doesn’t work and they’re still stuck as dolls. Parents feel bad but frankly not remotely bad enough.
I remember reading a review, i think from Ars Technica, that said that the dad was by far the worst parent and, as a character, someone who didn’t evolve or learn anything. Is that right?
I never ended up finishing the game from what I remember, although I came close. I was playing with my ex as well lol
I don’t really remember him learning anything but honestly? I think the wife is worse. They’re both awful people in different regards but the wife is just so fucking cold. The dad is a dope. Stay at home dad that clearly has ADHD that he can’t manage and isn’t really in the best position to be a good parent but is an excellent dad, if that makes sense. He takes care of his child and spends absurd amounts of time with her but the lessons that he should be teaching her are often just left on the wayside. He just wants to have fun with her and be a good dad, not a good parent. He will go out of his way to set things up for his wife to try and be kind to her. The wife on the other hand works all the time and doesn’t have much time for the family. That would be one thing but the time she does have she just refuses to use to engage with said family. She ignores the husband and the kid and just runs off to be on her own. The dad keeps mentioning this throughout the game, that she doesn’t spend any time with them. She will just go into her shed and start tinkering on things, actively ignoring her family.
From what I could tell, neither one learned a single fucking thing during the (majority) portion of the game I played. The self help book keeps trying to teach them lessons and both of them ignore it but the husband is often more receptive. He’ll question what’s being said and try to bring it up with his wife who just refuses to engage.
They both suck but the dad tries and spends time with his kid. The mom seems to just hate her husband and her kid.
Yeah… the game is definitely a bit special.
Well… To put it lightly and relatively spoiler free: They made their daughter cry doing something quite awful.