#shta diary

[hey-sherry]

Act VIII Ending this... SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS

Let's save the world \o/

(acting chipper, but I am writing this after finishing the game and haha I AM NOT OKAY)

Puzzle solving with Watson, weee! The PoV switching was fun, I loved their banter, I wish Watson had actually kicked me, poking fun at all of the tomb raiding from two British men was fun fun fun.

The cave labyrinth - so creepy. We got so much distressed Sherlock in this one, poor guy! And yeah, he died once because I insisted on exploring... as I said, we ignore the main objective in this house.

This was such a haunting moment, and we could maybe stretch it into Sherlock's disdain for the solar system...

I was so distraught in the moment, I didn't even notice the SHOULDER GRAB we've all been waiting for. Well! We love a good parallel, yes good good.

My beautiful mad boy. I had to laugh out loud when he chastised Watson for killing the man - after I watched Sherlock die three times in a row because I can't aim to save my life.

Big "For me, it's always like this" moment imo, especially after looking at the Void painting. (Will I ever stop drawing parallels between Silent Hill 2 and every other game I see? No. It's good!!)

This happened BACK TO BACK, what perfect timing! My beautiful pure perfect boy. I miss him so much. :'(

UM!!! Screaming inside.

Nothing like a gritty, bloody Holmes and a complete madman having a dialogue battle in a raging storm. I selected the wrong answers a few times just to see what happens, which brings us to... a problem:

This. This, a QTE in the year of the Lord two thousand and twenty-three, dampened SO much of my feelings and enjoyment for the final moments of this game. It wasn't fun, it didn't make me feel smart or scared for Sherlock or... anything. It took me out of the whole thing and reminded me that, yeah, I am playing a videogame. Introducing a new gaming mechanic (a widely disliked one at that) at the very end of the game is the real insanity here. I'm really disappointed by this.

The beam puzzle itself was fine and I had fun figuring out where to point the beams. Just not the crowd part.

I will not mention that other game I love to draw parallels to, but I did think of it. A bit too on the nose this time, mayhaps!

This poor man :'(

I could be posting screenshots of the dialogue all day, really - so many famous quotes, references, all the while making it very clear about a cycle that repeats itself, ha.

OOF.

Yeah, so.

We have to talk.

About being lulled into a sense of safety.

Before everything you think you know and believe about people gets flipped upside down.

Because...

WHAT THE FUUUUUUCKKKKKKKK

????????????????????

My friends, the way my jaw fucking dropped. I-- Watson-- WHAT????

This game was dark enough as it is, well - expectedly. This, however, I did not expect in the slightest (I don't think ANY of us did). This is so bloody dark?!

So, I half expected Sherlock's addiction to be mentioned in the beginning of TA - in the 2008 game he is just kinda melancholy, in Chapter One the 7% solution is presented by Vogel, so I think most of us assumed he used it at some point after Cordona to cope with all the stuff - but then it just wasn't. Instead he used Watson's syringes as pins. If this is meant to be how the addiction actually starts, then I really don't know what to think of it.

The implications are really dark.

I need another game.

[hey-sherry]

Act I Thinky thoughts on all of the things, includes screenshots!

I really love these title screens.

I did not expect such snappy dialogue right off the bat, but it's sooo good. Sherlock is his insane self right away and Watson has the patience of a saint. I went D: at the syringes until I realised what they're for lol. I like their dynamic so far, it's pretty much what I thought it would be like and it's good.

Took a moment to ignore the main objective and explored looking for CO references. There's Goliath (I assume), also the Holmes family portrait is so small now lol?, also Sherlock complains about Vogel harassing him but he kept Vogel's mask? Errrrm!

Honestly this game has more Vogel mentions than I ever thought it would. Interesting.

A moment to appreciate the Ukrainian outfits and the accompanying text!

Game time.

This is such an October game.

London is lovely, but I can't help but find it empty, much like Cordona. I really don't know if having open spaces with little to no use is a good choice for story/case focused games like this. I think I would like it more if there were more cases to solve.

So I ran around for a bit, grabbed the really sad side-case (I wonder if it's about their experiences with the war, even though it's framed as child labor issues? The final letter is a little... too sad and personal, and the ruined house with all the childhood stuff made me shudder.)

:'(

Tiny Toby!!!

I squealed happily the moment I could get Watson out of that tweed suit. I like to pretend Sherlock gave him Mycroft's old suit and he just swapped out the tie, ha.

Not much to say about the main story, it follows the og nicely and all the weirdness is ironed out. I love how Watson jumps in to smooth things over when Sherlock fails to read the room and just goes IN on someone. I'm looking forward to replaying to check out how the other dialogues options go!

This was a great moment, the way he goes :DDD when Watson presents him with a new case. QUALITY BONDING TIME

I took this with @deerfests in mind :P

Onwards!

[hey-sherry]

I will write a longer entry with OPINIONS tomorrow, but for now I just wanna say that I'm obsessed with this lil ribbon on the new outfit

[hey-sherry]

Matchy matchy keyboard and nails, let's goooo

[hey-sherry]

Act II Mini spoiler regarding a cosmetic item

When I said "Sherlock needs more glasses" I did not mean VERNER VOGEL'S GLASSES

[hey-sherry]

WHAT THE FUCK

[hey-sherry]

Act VI Screenshots and OPINIONS and spoilers and yeah yeah

Here we go! The place from all of those trailers! :D

(Some screenshots have been brightened up to look better on Tumblr)

The pre-rendered cut-scenes are gorgeous in this game, I wish there was more because I want to look at all the art in its beautiful glory.

I was quite happy with the white lilies as a guide, as I use them a lot in my own art because they remind me of a canal where I grew up... quite similar to this swamp, actually! So this area felt a little bit like home. A dreary home, but nevertheless! I thought that the choice to either follow the instructions or just explore the swamp a bit more felt really organic. We don't follow the main quest in this house, so I had fun getting lost and looking at the sunken cabins and getting eaten by the alligators. I wish there had been a side-quest or perhaps a special secret area to find, but it's also not really a time for that, so that's fine.

For Frogwares, the water lilies may be a subtle reference for Water Lily Games that released the SH hidden object games? Not sure, but it fits!

I got "lost" in precisely one place, and that is right after Watson shot down the bodies to feed the alligators. For some reason, it took me about a dozen deaths to realise I need to go back to the boat, and not continue forward. lol. Sherlock Holmes I am not!

This is as good as place as any for a mini-rant, but here goes (and yes, you have heard this one before): I am so annoyed with how random the beard thing is. They both have it, then in the cut-scene they don't, then Watson randomly gets a stubble, then then... I was never a fan of it, but the inconsistency made it worse. It made a lot more sense towards the end of the chapter and I'm okay with that.

The outfits, too! I love changing outfits in TA and CO, it's half the fun for me. But TA snaps the outfits back so often (or prevents me from picking a new one entirely!) that it's just not really fun. I completely understand that a certain outfit may be needed so you don't look like a complete clown in a serious cut-scene, but yeah... it's been kind of frustrating in the last few chapters.

Rant over, onwards! :D

I didn't take a cap of The Void (just gonna use the Dishonored term here), but I loved that puzzle SO much!!! It was just the right amount of challenging, the mirror puzzle was super cool in concept, and Sherlock having to kill himself as he calls out for Jon and Watson was just *chef's kiss* the manpain and agony I've been hoping for. Yes, I like to suffer, and I like to see my blorbos suffer. Very normal!

Watson taking the reins at the end of chapter was so great, I love to see him more confident and assertive.

The weird trance... then the exact moment from the CO ending (apologies for the derpy screenshot)... yes yesssss very gooooddddd

I enjoyed this chapter IMMENSELY!

You don't say 💀

And what a way to end the chapter! LOVED it. Oh, the redesign for Champagne and Lucy is really neat, and I really liked both of them as characters.

Now I'm ready for some quality drama, weee!

[hey-sherry]

Act IV Opinions, spoilers, screenshots per usual!

and what an intro it is

It's so nice to see them slowly get to know each other. All of these "Jon" subtitles are killing me...

...and it also reminds me of this classmate in high school, who was cheating on her long-term boyfriend with a guy from our class who had the same name. She would giggle and tell me she's happy she doesn't have to worry about saying the wrong name and that made it easier! Erm, anyway-!

Dear fanfic writers... *points up*

Well, indeed, it is some handcuffs and a skull. His "father's" skull from Cordona, perhaps? What's more interesting is the other suitcase, which contains a tiny boot and tiny shirts. What are these two even doing :D

Some Holmes-verse references!

But here's my biggest complaint: THIS. Yes, yes, there's a "story" reason we cannot change the clothes. But for real?? We got a whole gorgeous wardrobe, I keep getting bonus outfits and stuff from the cases, and yet I haven't been able to change any of my clothes for TWO CHAPTERS. I really, really don't like this.

But you know what I do like? One, New Orleans. It is such a chill area and Sherlock is right, it's very Cordona! Two, the banter between these two as they explore the streets. It's all really fun! And Watson bringing up Sherlock's one rolled up sleeve, looool. It looked good, Watson, don't pretend it didn't.

GNU Terry Pratchett

It's the little details... I really like these tiny horse figurines!

My favourite side-case so far. It's really good, and I enjoyed the narration as you reconstruct the events. Such a bleak story, too.

I travel for a bit and... all of my wardrobe is available? Make it make sense! Here's a tip: if you hate the stubble, give Sherlock some bruises. Stubble magically gone!

Oh, that's Act V. Have this post, then. :D

[hey-sherry]

Act II Spoilers! Screenshots! Thoughts!

This is soooo cool

Unexpected Watson's backstory time but it was neat! Talking about superstitions, so shortly before the everything happens - nice one.

It's interesting that the game changed their outfits for the cut-scene, but the glasses I'd put on Sherlock stayed.

There we go... I expected a reference to that one Russian ship and was not disappointed.

And boyyy did I scream at this, and immediately thought of the Consulting Artist crew over here :'D They're REALLY sending mixed messages in this game. Sherlock, maybe you need to open those letters from Vogel, perhaps he just wants all of his shit back?

The lone Mycroft reference </3

Well, so far, so good! I had fun running around the docks and helping people, I totally misjudged both the barmaid and the young doctor, but in the end everything was alright.

At this point I was starting to miss Creepy Watson, because this Lively Watson keeps getting into doorways and narrow passages and he cannot be pushed away. I actually really like the way he moves around, I just wish he wasn't in my way so much. :D

Oh, and please shut up about the meat pie. Please.

Desire to draw Dishonored crossover fanart INTENSIFIES!!!

Loving these puzzles, they're fresh and new. I didn't have too much trouble with the first one, but we'll see how they get later on!

No clue what's going on, but NOW it's starting to pick up. The creepiness, the horror! It was a bit strange that Sherlock's sudden beard went completely ignored by everyone, but alright?

FANSERVICE. YES. SCREAMING!

I didn't catch a screenshot, but he very clearly yells "Jon" before Watson comes rushing in :D

Anime moment because we can't stay serious

Poor, sweet Watson. This was very touching.

I really appreciate both TA and CO for simply letting men cry it out and it's no big deal.

[hey-sherry]

Act VII You know the drill x)

Back to London~

WHAT. AN. INTRO.

SHERLOCK!!!!!!!!! Bruh.

THE NOISE I MADE AT THIS LINE HOLLLYYY

End the game, end me, kflsjfkdjfkjfg

So good, so much whiplash! Mycroft's new suit looks nice.

This is fine I am fine 🥲

So much Vogel in this place dkasldkalsda

And so much Cordona in general! There's the map, the Grand Saray soil jar... probably a few more, but I didn't look for too long. Either way, it must be difficult looking at all of those memories all of the time. It's so much.

The "Oh, shit!" moment... so none of those are real.

(And I let Barnes keep the grimoire... F)

Man, all of this... mannnnn. Mycroft, man. And 'M', man. I don't know why I'm typing 'man', I suppose I'm just speechless. :D

:'(

It's okay, Sherlock, you're not mad... or we all are. :D

I like how they've been increasingly using first names since the last Act, ehe.

Now it's time to end this~

[hey-sherry]

Here we go, babes! WEEEEEEEEE!!!

& please have this Sherlock emote from the Steam points shop because I CANNOT

[hey-sherry]

Good morning babes, guess who got no sleep and had weird TA dreams? Gonna do Act VI before taking a break to be an adult wheeeee

[hey-sherry]

Act III The demo area + more!

I am not sure why I was a little surprised that Act III is exactly the same as in the demo, but oh well. I played this pretty late just to beeline it through the areas that I already know.

My mouth fell open when Gerda and Heidi straight-up disappeared. What in the world!

I took no screenshots of the 'demo' bits because, well... I have more than enough. XD

The little side-quest with the "boiling frogs" was very chilling, and I think those names are some of the Kickstarter backers? At least they sounded very... real. I feel like the killer's identity should be a reference to something, but I can't place it.

Posting this because what the fuck is that face angle

This was such a funny cut-scene, they're both a little mad.

Ah yes, the Chapter One smile 'w'

A lil ~INTERLUDE~ here because I forgot to prattle about this earlier, and I had more time to think about random stuff while running around the demo area brainlessly. So, Jon...

I've been thinking about whether Watson knows about Jon, and at this point I don't think he does? He mentions both Vogel and Sherlock's tales of Cordona, but nothing about Jon. Surely he would've said something when he heard Sherlock call out for him. (And it's better storytelling if they let that unravel 'on screen' :D)

& there was a scene when Sherlock realises he misjudged Barnes' behaviour and says "I see things that aren't there" and boy was that an OOF.mp3 moment. I think there's more scattered around, just little things he says that make it clear he's still thinking about Jon. Sigh.

Ooooohhh how I loved that I had a choice to call Sherlock out on his shit! FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT

Dawww ♥ The look on Watson's face!

At this point, the Mementos that I unlock are a bit ahead of the game story (this happened with the ornate dagger that you find at the end of Act II as well). I have no clue what this is, but I sure can look at it! I guess I'll find out soon.

Let's pick the boring answer.

Watson is growing on me!

Snowpiercer reference?

Yes, I did try to run into the pumpkins and kick them around.

Is this what Sherlock sounded like to people :)

There's the Otto letter but can't pick it up :(

CUTE

also WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU JUST SAY. WHO WROTE THIS So maybe he's aware of Jon after all, loool

Honestly, same.

I picked all the bottom options for the letter, by the way, I figured Watson would still want to sound classy. Not sure if there's a difference if you choose differently, or just flavour.

This is very cool! Reminds me of the time I went to one of those human body exhibitions.

Birds are my favourite animals and I'm not ok with this :/ Can I free them please? That's too many birds per cage...

I'll take a moment to appreciate the achievements being mostly optional/rewarding exploration. Yes, I gazed into the abyss... yuck. :(

Psychonauts 2 moment PROPERLY CREEPY I LOVE IT

My poor dude needs a hug :c

hot ngl

The beard is back, boooo

Okay, thank you

I love assertive Watson!

I DID NOT EXPECT THIS HOLY SHIT! Revenge for what she did to Heidi, I guess...

Well... to New Orleans!

[hey-sherry]

Ran back for one achievement in Act II, it was a matter of one missed clue. Certified mad, now.

[hey-sherry]

Act V More of the same!

"No way in" you could literally vault over that gate, Sherry!

I love me a massive crime scene ♥ And a ridiculous wallpaper!

Honestly - short entry and no notes! It's just a very good, all murder mystery chapter that I enjoyed A LOT. :D

I did miss the very silly Lucy and the lady who calls Sherlock handsome, but we can't have it all.

Time to take a break, I don't know how people are speedrunning this entire game. I'm KNACKERED. :)

[hey-sherry]

Aaaand it crashed my whole laptop, ha ha that has never happened actually. Pray for me :)