Wow! What a ride. This was such a fun game to revisit ! Your let's play of it was great ! I'm so glad you played it since it's so underated ! Thanks for the wild ride ! I can't wait to see what game you play next !
So here's my long ass comment rewritten again and I hope it doesn't randomly die off... 👀 It's long since Pedestal is one of THE most inspiring games to me, ever. The way we feel what Aoi does and (illogically) repress any feelings that Akari is evil despite mounting evidence is done just perfectly. Stage 1 was basically ending bittersweetly, it was only an accident, many people get closure and their situation does improve or at least doesn't deteriorate: Hahakigi has her attempt but then backs down (and Stage 2 proves she didn't try again), Sakura finds out the truth and stops feeling guilty, we get some praise for finding it all out, etc. And then Stage 2 is just pure evil, unless you care for 'The Truth' it's ALL bad, there is not a single good thing happening or being revealed there. Akari being evil, Sakura thinking she is good, Aoi losing her friend, the cat story, the Miyuki story, Hahakigi quitting school, it's all purely bad. Only person who's situation is a bit improved is Kana (she doesn't fear Abe anymore after Aoi tells her the truth). I agree it's set up masterfully and even though just the letters should make us very suspicious, but everyone who plays this represses that feeling like you did. In Stage 1 any time you two are separate it's due to some peril: sneaking around principal's, teachers' or Natsume's room, each of them being kidnapped and threatened, Abe being followed and choked, Abe trying to get Sakura to help after the investigation truly died, Aoi getting lightly assaulted by Miyuki, etc. And then in Stage 2 you feel sad/alone/weak without her help there (even though it's kickstarted by us suspecting her), and then you get worried Abe might find out once she is back. And then it turns out she orchestrated whole Stage 2, to observe how you do. Both endings there are just bad, one with the truth ruins Aoi mentally, and one with them staying friends is so damn creepy. It'd paradoxically be 'better' if Akari was evil towards us too, but she just isn't, so it's such a bad vibe. Stage 2 also reframes all that Abe did manipulating people so effortlessly: Bottles, Principal, Janitor, Sakura, Kana (the threat), Natsume's mom, Hahakigi (this one especially when trying to pull her back and threatening to slander Natsume), even you to a degree. And the fact whole Stage 2 wasn't really you finding out but her own experiment set up by her leaving those letters there, yikes. And her care for Aoi seems to be same kind of care someone has for a pet, she has no empathy for someone's humanity in itself. Final questioning round being about Abe gave me mild creeps since it's such an uncomfortable thing to imagine, asking someone about your best friend from a distance and finding out some bad things. Sadly Uri's horror games seem to have way more following (probably due to entire genre of RPG Maker Horrors being so popular), plus Pedestal is quite long and has some overly long sections. After the start of the game has many different mechanics (sneaking, boy's gate, school at night with HP) it's down to non-stop talking for almost half the game and an occasional jigsaw or time limit. I always look for LPs of Pedestal and sit there being like Aoi was when the lovers question came up, =v= faced, giggling about how people love Akari then turn to fear and/or hate her. I also made that Aoi's =v= face into my icon for Pedestal exe. It's even worse that she wasn't jealous or anything 'normal', just bored and poking at things, in a sociopathic way normal people can't understand. Sometimes I also find it funny that people think this game is a few hour one and then it's easily up to 10+. It's not often you get a game that just refuses to end. Another game I really liked and that's decently unique in its main gimmic was Blight Dream (not Blank Dream, that one is more usual style). The screenshots on vgperson's website are a bit off putting but I did enjoy it. That, Pedestal and Project Kat might be my three top inspiring games in this RPG Maker Horror/Mystery genre, ever (and ironically none of the three are made in RPG Maker). And yeah, pedestal in the menu was Natsume's purple one at the start and Aoi's was at one point just her gesturing right and Akari was holding an apple, then Akari is gone, Natsume is back, and Aoi has a snake around her... I think Akari's phone has a different and pink wallpaper too if you open it when playing as her.
Thank you soooo much for leaving such a long comment omg. I 100% agree stage 2 is just there to absolutely emotionally destroy you but it’s set up so masterfully. Honestly banger game I regret putting it off for so long but I really wanted to do a blind LP of it. And I loooooove Blank Dream sooo much. I was actually thinking today that I would start a LP of that game soon too lol. The icons in Pedestal actually have me in a chokehold and I wish more people were talking about this game. The funny thing with Akari is that I literally can’t bring myself to hate her. I am just like Aoi in that I have to think of Akari as ‘dead’ because I just feel such a deep sense of hurt and betrayal when I think of her even weeks after I finished the game. Anyways, thank you for the ramble and for watching!!
I left a very long comment but it seems deleted, but TLDR: I agree, Stage 2 is just pure misery, nothing good or positive is done or revealed in it, except finding out the truth™.
Wow! What a ride. This was such a fun game to revisit ! Your let's play of it was great ! I'm so glad you played it since it's so underated ! Thanks for the wild ride ! I can't wait to see what game you play next !
So here's my long ass comment rewritten again and I hope it doesn't randomly die off... 👀 It's long since Pedestal is one of THE most inspiring games to me, ever. The way we feel what Aoi does and (illogically) repress any feelings that Akari is evil despite mounting evidence is done just perfectly.
Stage 1 was basically ending bittersweetly, it was only an accident, many people get closure and their situation does improve or at least doesn't deteriorate: Hahakigi has her attempt but then backs down (and Stage 2 proves she didn't try again), Sakura finds out the truth and stops feeling guilty, we get some praise for finding it all out, etc.
And then Stage 2 is just pure evil, unless you care for 'The Truth' it's ALL bad, there is not a single good thing happening or being revealed there. Akari being evil, Sakura thinking she is good, Aoi losing her friend, the cat story, the Miyuki story, Hahakigi quitting school, it's all purely bad. Only person who's situation is a bit improved is Kana (she doesn't fear Abe anymore after Aoi tells her the truth).
I agree it's set up masterfully and even though just the letters should make us very suspicious, but everyone who plays this represses that feeling like you did. In Stage 1 any time you two are separate it's due to some peril: sneaking around principal's, teachers' or Natsume's room, each of them being kidnapped and threatened, Abe being followed and choked, Abe trying to get Sakura to help after the investigation truly died, Aoi getting lightly assaulted by Miyuki, etc. And then in Stage 2 you feel sad/alone/weak without her help there (even though it's kickstarted by us suspecting her), and then you get worried Abe might find out once she is back. And then it turns out she orchestrated whole Stage 2, to observe how you do. Both endings there are just bad, one with the truth ruins Aoi mentally, and one with them staying friends is so damn creepy. It'd paradoxically be 'better' if Akari was evil towards us too, but she just isn't, so it's such a bad vibe.
Stage 2 also reframes all that Abe did manipulating people so effortlessly: Bottles, Principal, Janitor, Sakura, Kana (the threat), Natsume's mom, Hahakigi (this one especially when trying to pull her back and threatening to slander Natsume), even you to a degree. And the fact whole Stage 2 wasn't really you finding out but her own experiment set up by her leaving those letters there, yikes. And her care for Aoi seems to be same kind of care someone has for a pet, she has no empathy for someone's humanity in itself. Final questioning round being about Abe gave me mild creeps since it's such an uncomfortable thing to imagine, asking someone about your best friend from a distance and finding out some bad things.
Sadly Uri's horror games seem to have way more following (probably due to entire genre of RPG Maker Horrors being so popular), plus Pedestal is quite long and has some overly long sections. After the start of the game has many different mechanics (sneaking, boy's gate, school at night with HP) it's down to non-stop talking for almost half the game and an occasional jigsaw or time limit.
I always look for LPs of Pedestal and sit there being like Aoi was when the lovers question came up, =v= faced, giggling about how people love Akari then turn to fear and/or hate her. I also made that Aoi's =v= face into my icon for Pedestal exe. It's even worse that she wasn't jealous or anything 'normal', just bored and poking at things, in a sociopathic way normal people can't understand. Sometimes I also find it funny that people think this game is a few hour one and then it's easily up to 10+. It's not often you get a game that just refuses to end.
Another game I really liked and that's decently unique in its main gimmic was Blight Dream (not Blank Dream, that one is more usual style). The screenshots on vgperson's website are a bit off putting but I did enjoy it. That, Pedestal and Project Kat might be my three top inspiring games in this RPG Maker Horror/Mystery genre, ever (and ironically none of the three are made in RPG Maker).
And yeah, pedestal in the menu was Natsume's purple one at the start and Aoi's was at one point just her gesturing right and Akari was holding an apple, then Akari is gone, Natsume is back, and Aoi has a snake around her... I think Akari's phone has a different and pink wallpaper too if you open it when playing as her.
Thank you soooo much for leaving such a long comment omg. I 100% agree stage 2 is just there to absolutely emotionally destroy you but it’s set up so masterfully. Honestly banger game I regret putting it off for so long but I really wanted to do a blind LP of it.
And I loooooove Blank Dream sooo much. I was actually thinking today that I would start a LP of that game soon too lol.
The icons in Pedestal actually have me in a chokehold and I wish more people were talking about this game. The funny thing with Akari is that I literally can’t bring myself to hate her. I am just like Aoi in that I have to think of Akari as ‘dead’ because I just feel such a deep sense of hurt and betrayal when I think of her even weeks after I finished the game.
Anyways, thank you for the ramble and for watching!!
@@SillyGooseGamer Blight Dream not Blank Dream, they're related but very vaguely and neither spoils the other. 👀
I left a very long comment but it seems deleted, but TLDR: I agree, Stage 2 is just pure misery, nothing good or positive is done or revealed in it, except finding out the truth™.