Thank you for watching everyone! Parts 8, 9, and 10 are up on the archive through patreon if you'd like to check them out early. I will also have another standalone analysis video coming sometime this week about why we don't always listen to Volition in real life and the psychology behind that. Stay tuned!
I love Evrart as a character. Literally every sentence he says is either a power move or incredibly manipulative. He will make you jump to his tune like a toy soldier.
@@fireaza i always thought that there's three layers to evrart. on the surface, he's a union organizer. one level below that, he's a corrupt mob boss pretending to be a union organizer, the exact person that the liberals would want to be in power. someone they can bribe and use as a puppet. and then below that there's a genuine revolutionary, biding his time until he has the money and manpower to enact real meaningful change
@@fireaza there's a popular theory that he's playing the role of the corrupt union boss to distract from his real goals and ease the minds of people in power by acting like them, i.e. just in it for his own gain when he's not
I feel like sorry cop is the one most often obtained for your first playthrough. Most players upon finding the mayhem Harry has done will be very inclined to apologize for everything. Everyone wants to be the superstar cop, but if you show basic empathy during your playthrough you'll naturally fall into saying sorry all the time.
Unlocking Sorry Cop is so interesting because it is a moment of personal growth just being *told* you qualify. Your instinct as a human being would be to apologize when you've wronged someone, but it really makes you take a step back and wonder, "Why *do* I apologize so much?" Our Detective most certainly has done a lot of wrong to a lot of people. But overrelying on "sorry" as some form of absolvement neglects instead making ammends in more tangible ways and growing as a person. When Harry says sorry for something, what he's REALLY apologizing for is being "a horrible person." You unlock it by being empathetic, but the true path to empathy is realizing the last thing Harry needs is to be the Sorry Cop. Sometimes a quick sorry is a must to patch things up. But apologizing for *everything,* even things you personally have no control over, is an exercise in self-depricating misery.
Not really. I got superstar cop, while still being empathetic (which is different from just apologizing all the time). You can have a big ego, and still help and understand people. Also, the most common one is the boring cop, because people go for the straight Sherlock Holmes type gameplay at first.
I obtained boring cop first (before getting apocalypse cop) because Raphael has a job to do. Sorry cop just seems both boring and unhelpful to people. I interpret sorry cop as begging/forcing other people to forgive you. It’s also not a coincidence that sorry cop is closely related to suicidal dialogue. Sorry Raphael presents dilemmas (not directly) like “forgive me or I’ll be too depressed to work on the case (or live)”.
I think he already is. His own playthrough brought him face to face with the reality that many descendants of immigrant families face whenever they're asked "No, but where are you *really* from?", and then deal with his own prejudices/preconceptions. So it only took what, 4-5 episodes for this game to spark some personal growth and perhaps give him some new insight for his real-life job. It's amazing that a video game can do even that much, and he hasn't even scratched the surface of it at this point yet.
Idk... that's a strategy so crazy, it might even work. People know and expect the 'good cop - bad cop' trope. But can criminals always keep up their cop-face when they witness an officer losing theirs?
Not only did I manage that on my first playthrough, I also completed the autopsy and found the bullet on day one. Kim was so proud of me. Felt good, man.
I'm glad you're internalizing Rigorous Self-Critique. It provides some of the most interesting side details about Harry's backstory in my eyes. In addition, when you feel it is appropriate to learn more about him, don't forget to investigate your clipboard again. There's a lot of other characterization content hidden with it still.
As much as I love Disco Elysium - and that's a LOT - the inventory/inspect function is really easy to forget about, especially through your first run. But you're right, there's a ton of things you can learn from the things just sitting in your pockets.
But why though? I can understand picking the sorry cop if you're expecting him to reflect on himself and try to make amends, as most people do that in a few dialogues and stumble onto that miserable copotype. But you're expecting one thing and getting another, which is turning into a pathetic spineless doormat who self-flagellates in such an over the top manner that the more it happens it gets really annoying. There is no improvement in character, it's a perpetual state of 'I'm a piece of sh.. failure who can't do anything right, it's only natural that I fail' from the very start to the very end. Even Kim gets annoyed with it. It's absolutely the worst thing to pick unless you really don't want to go with any of the others - so while I can understand picking it from a blind playthrough's perspective, why would you as a viewer familiar with it be so giddy about it? It's not fun to watch nor smartly written, it's just a weak joke that goes too long.
@@Nast33 I think for this particular run it's appropriate for how this version of Harry is being tackled. Simply from a "RP" perspective, you could go full sad-sack "I'm The Worst and Always Will Be" cop and lean into it completely - or use this Tequila-and-Tranquilizer Tabula Rasa waking up in the hemorrhoid of Revachol to decide maybe you shouldn't be a public masturbator. But to each their own. My last run I grabbed Actual Art Degree, Jamais Vu and Wompty-Dompty Dom Centre (and The Fifteenth Indotribe to get rich by existing) and became The Best Harry who would never admit any wrong-doing if possible with 76 level ups. The only mystery I couldn't solve is who was ratting me out for taking tons of drugs after Kim went to sleep, somehow he knew.
@@fivegears Problem is it fails in regards to RP as well, even if it weren't as grating to you as it was for me - as examples in this very playthrough Harry is managing to do some pretty damn good accomplishments like shooting the body down and having a triumphant moment with Kim, showing excellent observational and deduction skills when picking apart the footprints in the ground, or even knocking out Measurehead in a tremendous display of physical and combat ability. Separate from that he's showing good backbone when verbally jabbing with the fat racist or interrogating the big imposing strike breaker about his past after noticing he's not what he seems, plus other examples I'm forgetting. Even after seeing he was an absolute case solving machine up to only a few months ago, he's still acting like a complete and total fuck up with no redeeming qualities. None of it makes sense if you keep leaning into the Sorry cop after certain points in the game. Shortly after you do some of those backbone-growing things you can RP away from Sorry cop by selecting far fewer of those worst self-flagellation replies.
@@Nast33 That's the way it works for a lot of people. Nothing they say or do will ever be good enough for themselves. They need to be taught that this isn't the case. It's one of the things you learn from CBT, for instance. I had to be taught how to see the worth in my own actions, for one, and it still took decades for the lesson to really sink in -- and even then, I will sometimes slip back when I'm feeling depressed. There are so many places in the game where you can, even on a success, create another flashpoint for Harry where he views himself as a failure or burden. Healing happens slowly, not in the course of a week. Being the Sorry Cop makes plenty of sense.
A shame, you missed a Kim moment I was really hoping you'd get. If you refuse to sit down, Evrart will say that he won't talk to you until you get on his eye level. If your Volition is high enough you can just stand there and stare at him. Kim will stand there, silently, completely on your side, showing no signs of annoyance, boredom or anything else. He'll question Harry on many things, but here he is immediatly behind you.
I actually got this on my first playthrough. I for the longest time genuinely had no idea what people were talking about when they talked about the horror of the chair that damages you.
Kim would never show weakness that would embarrass the force in front of the Union’s boss. I don’t think it mattered at all that it was Harry, he would do the same every time.
I feel it's worth noting that the Foot In the Door technique is literally a sales technique. It's pushing someone to something they don't want or don't even want to engage with using basic politeness.
The thing I love about both Evrart and Joyce that make them my favourite characters in the game is their polar opposite methods of manipulation. Joyce is as slimy as Evrart but she keeps it concealed under a veneer of etiquette and smooth-talk. She's not as dishonest as Evrart by a long stretch but she'll have you playing into her hand without you even knowing regardless. Evrart on the other hand is as openly slimy and heavy-handedly manipulative as you can get. His power plays are as subtle as a slap and he'll brazenly lie to your face, almost daring you to catch him out on it and when you do, he doesn't try to slink back from it. He'll just be like "Oh ho you're as good as they say, well done" or some such, and then without hesitation move on to the next blatant attempt at manipulating you. It's almost like comparing an agile, defensive fighter who wears you down by expertly avoiding you, vs. an overwhelming heavy-hitter who just doesn't relent and wears you down by sheer force, not even giving you a chance to put your guard up.
Everyone in this game has a different ideology that they stand behind that backs up their actions. All of them good and evil by their own rights. None of them of a truly pure conscience, all of them are flawed. A game written by Communists, with a clear communistic bias, that readily critiques the communists themselves as quickly as it critiques the Capitalists, the Fascists, and the Moderates all the same. Its as honestly self-critical, as it is critical of others as well. There's something very unique about a work of art that can do that. So ready to call out the problems of the world. To rub our faces in it. But still willingly turns the mirror back towards itself. And does the same whilst facing the mirror. That sort of honest authenticity is rare, but highly valuable, in my opinion.
Minor spoiler for the "Communist" ideology route: I really liked how the game is absolutely unafraid to rip into overly-intellectual communists, despite being written by communists. Absolutely chortled at the line that's like "the most important part of being a communist is complaining about other communists." Because it's just SO reflective of what happens in leftist spheres online and the obsession with *appearing* communist rather than actually *doing* communist things.
@@TheVeeBeaT That part was so well done. Both for the criticism of communists and for the ending of the quest. The game does a great job of taking characters who start off obnoxious but end up becoming really likable.
@@TheVeeBeaT as a dirty commie myself the communist vision quest with "inframaterialists" hits so fucking hard it could have only been written by fellow communists.
Most importantly, it acknowledges all these problems with the world while also hanging on to the beauty of the world and the flawed people who live in it.
Foot in the door comes from door to door salesmen. It's quite literally "If they open the door for your, put your foot in the door. Now they can't close the door. Make your sales pitch to a captive audience." Though it has grown more sophisticated as a psychological manipulation technique for detectives, interestingly enough. You find the figurative door for a suspect and shove your foot in it to keep it open. You start by making small offers and small requests and rewarding the kinds of responses you want. You condition the other person to say "Okay" or "Yes" and you DO NOT RATCHET THINGS UP. Then you just leave. A couple hours later you come back and pretend you discovered something alarming in the intervening time and you (now with a second interrogator) use the fact that you have a "foot in the door' to try to coerce a confession. I'm sure it's less sinister in a clinical therapy setting. Despite its inherently manipulative nature.
Psychologists and salespeople seem to be strategically similar. What you call “compliance momentum” we call “asking leading questions.” I guess there will always be a little manipulation involved in initiating behavioral changes in others - for good or ill.
You say you “haven’t played the game very well” so far. I think possibly the only way to interpret this as being true is really diving in to its political themes which you haven’t engaged with much yet, which, whatever. That’s inevitable as the game continues. Honestly, from a main story perspective, getting the body down, reaching the first story checkpoint with Joyce AND getting into the harbor on day 1 are kind of insane. You’ve set it up so that Kim will be gone transporting the body during day 2 which will give you the whole day to just talk to everyone and find out about this place if you want.
Hey Brady (or anyone reading), I know this video is an old one but I just wanted to contribute the info relating to your explanation in the beginning of the game. What you were primarily describing is called a "Yes Set" which is similar but sifferent enough from the Foot In The Door aoproach to be distinct. These are both classic sales techniques (Foot in the Door = Door to Door salesman). Foot in The Door approach is more along the lines of the Elevator Pitch but its main intention is to establish or preserve a route of communication. The foot acts as a door stopper. Yes Sets are more what you described, which establishes an acute + temporary affirmative conditioning to continue saying yes, or conversely, to create internal dissonance when contenplating saying "No".
"Raphael Ambrosius Costeau" having an actual narrative to his past was one of the more interesting subversions of this game. A lot of RPG's let you customize a blank slate character, so you develop a personal relationship to this overarching narrative that you have for this guy. Raphael himself encourages this roleplay because he's an odd duck with a rich internal fantasy life. Except as you near the climax and the ending, you are quite upsettingly rug-pulled away from the fantasies and Harry's history and baggage become all too real and comically mundane and then you feel a little stupid for projecting your own story onto him. Raphael is a larper who is desperate to fill the void left by his amnesia with anything that lets him escape reality.
@RancorousSea It's not that unusual. I've seen players try to help Harry "go clean" and get respectable. The problem is that doesn't really happen. He's here a chronic late stage alcoholic for a reason. A ton of RPG's just let you morality your way out of being that through a few personal choices because the character is a blank-slate avatar.
I was a foster carer for a few years and it was all power-dynamic management, all the time. All these techniques you mention came up in my training and were useful every day.
This is a great playthrough, and is my comfort series at the moment. I just want to add that, although you are uncomfortable with interacting with the political elements, the game is not asking for right or wrong choices. Whatever you choose will be wrong, but it is interesting to see what the game says about why. Also, we are aware you are playing a game - whatever your character chooses doesn't reflect you as a person. There are very few people who would refuse to acknowledge that, and those who do just can't handle Disco Elysium.
Interesting point on compliance momentum. I think I'd heard of this before, but some time ago. However, as I heard you giving examples I wondered if you had to be careful with what you asked. The reason for this is when you were giving the examples, I was imagining myself hearing those questions and it worked great until you said "Can I cross my legs?" That sounded such a weird thing to ask permission to do, you can normally do that without any permission at all unlike using their coat hooks or entering their premises etc, that it immediately made me think "WTF? What's wrong with this guy? That's weird!" Oh, one other common technique that encourages people to talk is inviting them to fill the silence. Patiently waiting for them to answer a question, provide information or just speak - without interrupting that silence yourself - can make people feel uncomfortable enough with the silence that they feel the need to fill it with speech. I have used that personally, and while working with service participants, several times. Like all techniques, you have to use it when it's right, but people often need to fill a silence if you provide it.
before I watch this, calling it now: sorry cop Also, there's no reason you CAN'T come at this from the failed therapist/manipulator angle. Raphael doesn't know he has a past, so anything is valid. When more information is revealed, how will this revelation fit into his worldview, or his self identity?
'I sit in their chair- it's just a chair to me' I wonder whether this is why therapists have reacted so strongly to me asking to sit in a particular configuration. Maybe they thought I was trying to pull some power play. In a way I am- I am more powerful if people sit to my left. Because I'm deaf in my right ear. If people sit to the right of me, even in a quiet environment, I really have to strain to be able to understand them. That reason is so logical that in the end they always agreed. But I wonder if that idea that I'm trying to make a powerplay lingered.
Checks in Disco Elysium are fairly straightforwards. Each check has a numeric difficulty (IE Challenging 12). When you perform a check, the game rolls 2 dice with 6 sides, and then adds the strength of a corresponding skill (IE Composure) to that result. If there are any conditional modifiers (IE -2 Chair is killing you), they are added as well. Kf this sum is higher than or equal to the difficulty of the check, you pass! Otherwise, you fail. Note that rolling snake-eyes (1+1) always loses, and rolling sixes (6+6) always wins. If you fail a check, any number of things could happen. You could just sit there dumbly, you could take damage, you could make a fool of yourself and permanently change your relationship with someone else, or you could actually blunder your way into a good outcome! Likewise, success is not always a good thing. Maybe punching a child in the face isn't the best thing for a law enforcement officer to do. WHITE checks can be retried if circumstances change - specifically, if you gain conditional modifiers (IE returning to the corpse with ammonia) or if you invest another point into the corresponding skill. Notably, changing your clothes or taking drugs/alcohol will not do this. White checks can also be returned to! If you see a white check, and you don't fancy your chances, you could just disengage from the conversation, change your clothes, have a drink/smoke, and step right back up to give it a try. RED checks can never be retried. Your success, or failure, will be permanent, and they more often have very drastic consequences. Many red checks are sprung on you mid-conversation, and a number of them are unavoidable (IE Composure - Challenging 12 Try not to panic).
You used IE where you meant EG. Eg means example and Ie is when you are mapping to something specific. Eg., there's a lot of psychology involved with Evrart. Ie., this will take up the entire episode.
Hey Brady, loving this series. You have very unique and insightful takes on one of my favorite games. Regarding apologies, and your own apology, my impression is you were bit too hard on yourself. I don't think the narrative you had regarding Kim's heritage was necessarily WRONG, it's just there's a more fitting narrative that many commenters pointed out. I think in that situation it would be sufficient just to say 'oh yeah, that makes way more sense!' rather than do a whole apology video. You also could examine why it might be that you arrived at a different narrative than the commonly accepted one, helping us learn more about you and why your narrative might have some validity too. Disco Elysium is critical of the Sorry Cops, and I think it makes a good point. 'Sorry' is often the end of a conversation, a social tool, and the exact opposite of Rigorous Self-critique.
evrart claire is an incredible antagonist. possibly the best character in this whole game. i love the game's first 'boss fight' with the chair and getting put on the spot about your gun. power moves indeed!
slowly catching up on this playthrough. Honestly, LOVE the deep analysis, a dream come true to hear all of your interpretations, as someone that also wants to start and never stop talking about this game.
"You are a Harry wizard... eh... well, not a wizard actually, but definitely some kind of magician - best trick is disappearing objects, especially liquids"
The chat guy who said about doing a big thing for someone so that they struggle to say no to your requests afterwards.. That's called coercion and isn't a good thing, right??
I loved hearing the analysis of the Evrart "Battle". There is so much to take into consideration. I very much appreciate how moving on from failure is such a central theme to this game's narrative.
9:50 there is a moment (or several) in literally every play through I’ve watched of this game where someone says something right before the game says it. Without fail. It’s not even the same moment. It’s all different moments. It’s a very special narrative. The best and most apt way I’ve found to describe it is that the narrative is so very “human.”
Forgiving yourself is so difficult, there's a whole range of religion(s) that have made it their core transactional tool of social enforcement (which can, ironically, make self forgiveness more difficult, thinking it NEEDS that external force).
Hey, thanks Brady, been to therapist before, but woman tended to give whatever information I've given to her to my family since I was a teenager, so I kinda had a mistrust to them when they've known my family somehow.
Honestly, I think the best course of action you can do with the check is take it without thanking him. It completely throws him off because he sits there waiting for you to say thank you and you just stare at him.
we had some garbage 80s business marketing name for it but we applied the hell out of compliance momentum in proselytizing missionary work. feels a little gross when i confront it, but thats how we got there. it did get me into a lot of places i'd never expect someone to say yes to.
Your play through is so unique and genuine, I absolutely love it. The depth of the game and your response to it is amazing and I have to play it again myself ETA: you're playing really well, most people don't get the body down and meet everyone you have in the first day. I think the game wants you to feel like you're playing badly bc canonically Harry is awful at most things lol
OMG I think I understand the chair thing for the first time. I always halfway laughed it off and halfway thought it was silly that Harry is so upset over an uncomfortable chair. I thought it was a silly bit. But discomfort is a whole thing around addiction, I think? Like Carrie Fisher wrote that the most important thing for her in getting sober was understanding that it was okay for her to be uncomfortable. I wonder if the chair is meant to be about that.
Okay, 2 things: 1. re: game reading your thoughts. Were you maybe a mental health consultant for the game but somehow displaced that memory? 2. I feel kinda weird being addicted to a playthrough by a specialist in addiction... what is happening. lol (it's awesome, please continue)
I feel like Brady is relating more to Physique than Psyche. He's very much going along with Electrochem, Physical Instrument, Endurance, etc. Interesting how the character has evolved sine the first inception.
I actually took the money from Mr. Evrart and didn't even consider it a bribe. Used it to buy things to help me on the case (healing items), and still did everything I could to spite him. I kind of wished the game could reconize taking it as method of *using* him instead of just recognizing it as taking a bribe. Like ok thanks for the free money, jerk.
I like the point of Inland Empire protecting you; in my understanding this effect might be a side effect of it's true purpose: dealing with the world through a lens of imagination and narrative competence.
Yes, of course some people have. Some people have difficulty picking up on finer nuances of tone. Some people flat out find it difficult to understand why someone would say things they don't believe. So it's not surprising to me that some people missed the distinction between the serious analysis moments and the role play moments.
Oooooh this is getting exciting!!!! 😊 I really can vibe with what you said about the different sort of aspects of your personality to expect in the video 😂 I totally understand what you mean, I want to point out that many people regarded Harrys psyche or just the general psyche/bodily faculty game mechanic as completely unrealistic, but although it may be exagerated and overdefined I believe the way you "talk to yourself" in this game isnt entirely unrealistic.
Hey Brady, I’m loving your commentary and psychological insight. After you finish the game, would you be willing to go back and react to clips of the psychologically-juicy stuff you missed? For instance, if you fail/succeed at a check when succeeding/failing would have given more insight into your character. (I can make a list if you want). I’d be fascinated to hear your insight on them.
It's always worth returning to White Checks if you have the chance to add a point to something - I just wouldn't dump points into a low stat over and over again hoping to get it. It's OK to miss info or miss something "important". Already blew some opportunities for some HUGE info - and that's great, that's just how this particular run went.
Yeah I thought "foot in the door" originally came from door to door salespeople. It's that initial interaction (or more bluntly, tactic) by which you gain the minimum amount of rapport you need (in a situation where rapport is currently either zero-you just met-or worse than zero-you just met, and also this person distrusts people "like you" or situations like this and are eager to make you go away or just be impervious to you (or maybe even verbally attack or attempt to humiliate you). Your foot in the door (literally your appeal to not have them shut their literal door, as a salesperson trying to win a tiny chance to state your "offer", from a person you presume to be hostile or utterly uninterested and who's holding their front door barely ajar just enough to look at you sideways, thinking of how best to tell you to buzz off) is that little something you intuit will get them to soften and hear a little more from you, so you can press on and even be invited inside for a more favourable conversation. We do this with everyting, too. Trying to start a conversation with someone cute at a club (or, say, in theme with this game: trying to introduce yourself to someone you know sells drugs, who doesn't know you or trust you, doesn't need you, has a very strong reason to dismiss randoms like you approaching them... but could very well be persuaded if you can first persuade them to let you speak at all-maybe you start a convo about music first, or that you know so-and-so in common and share similar judgment of character, or just casually share a story to show you're not a sketchbag, that you respect boundaries and respect their position and their time-maybe you're apologetic, deferential, even, or your state what you want without actually stating it, giving them full agency to ignore the obvious subtext or to at least look at you and think about it.... while also making it so obvious that they can tell you're giving them that free exit from the conversation, showing respect for their time and making it easy on them, one might even say you're doing them a favour... maybe, they think, this person's trying to make sure I feel good either way, maybe I *owe some respect in return to them* by hearing about their thing for a minute.) I suppose that example could've been about how street canvassers work or approaching a belligerent customer at a store you work at. Lots of things. I'm sure it reveals nothing about my past. You're so smart and intuitive, I have no doubt, but don't even worry about it. I'ts just a story I read recently, you know? Sharp thinking though, on your part, I can really tell that about you, even before I started talking to you. That's so rare, you know? Hey do you... nah, nevermind-oh, you sure? Okay I guess, it's just I have something really cool, I don't normally share all this with someone I just met but I get this feeling we're kinda similar and you'd really love this-mind if I come sit down?-if you're not too busy I could-hmm, do I even have it on me, I wasn't really planning on-oh there it is, that's lucky...so there's this place we rent for part of the year, you know, kinda a getaway, you ever been down south, Panama? It's so nice man, I still got a bit of a tan, well you can't really see it in this light but, I got a few photos on my phone, look at this shit, this was in mid-January by the way... I just had this thought, no idea why, well we share it with some other poeple, different parts of the year you know, makes it so affordable, and guess what...
omg first part of this video reminds me of group therapies and individal ones. i was 13 when i was sent by court order to therapiest, i did not spoke frst day, second day, third and so on, eventualy after a week therpist spoke first lol. i kept quiet, it dragged for months and then he just used what he knew will trigger me, i still remeber t today. he said the man said ypu stoped and stoped second boy and 2 of you draged the third is that true. not realising i said yes, why did you stop he asked. it was a perfect question wich opened niagara falls. still today i remember what i said, because i saw i becme a monster like the soldiers who gathered us like cattel after city felt.. he pushed for more, but i said silent, he triggered me once mrore and i jut said there is nothing to say,i survived others did not, wish i was one of them, there is no ponint going thru it wth a person who cant understand, who does not know what is going on in my homeland and in alanguage wich is not mine.. next session igot therapist who spoke my native languaege and knew very well what happened to me, he knew everything, did not even have to ask me. i found out i have c ptsd and why i drift off, why i have nightmares, ''movies'' in my head wich goes over and over and over and that there is no point forcng me into therapy coz i am not ready, tai will come oneday when i am rdy. that day came 8 or 10 years later. he only told me if ever i start do SH or start to think to end everything to go to emergency.. crazy how element in a game can trigger some memories...
About the gun, it doesn’t matter if you need it or not. The fact it’s lost, in itself, is a problem. For one, it reflects badly on the organization - and you’ll be punished internally for it -, and it also means someone else has it, that shouldn’t. It could cause an accident if a civilian takes it, or it could be traced back to a crime, while being a police issued gun, if a criminal does. Recovering your itens is your first priority if you care about being a cop. At this point you forgot about it, but you should have checked your information on your documents with Kim’s car light as well.
Do you always walk behind your clients? I've gotten therapy at a place where that was the deal and it was sort of funny watching them trying to make it look casual and not like they were keeping an exit path open. I finally called my therapist on it so it could stop being awkward. "Do you have a rule that you have to walk behind your patients? It would make sense if you did." And she laughed and said yes, that was the rule, and then she didn't have to do the whole "I just paused and let you walk past me while I check this bulletin board" routine. Or whatever.
If I was a therapist and my client sat in my chair I would try to connect through humour and ask them to ask questions about me and try to give me therapy. Maybe that would help them emapthise with my position and relax a bit.
I just wanted to throw my 2 cents in in regard to your playstyle/choices. I see a lot of comments about how you may have missed something, some potential dialogue, etc. And in my opinion, that's perfect. Missing something at one point can lead to a fantastic interaction/revelation later. I recently played through by min/maxing - there are some Thoughts that have huge bonuses and at the end I leveled up 76 times - and it was the most boring playthough ever. So, I hope you keep failing, missing things in plain sight, ruining chances. You can't be a Sorry Cop if there's nothing to be sorry for.
This is more a response to the Twitch VOD, but you said Psyculturists is the Kim to your Harry but... let's be honest, with Ed's various hats, Evil Ed and so on, it's absolutely the other way around.
Pretty sure there is at least one character that complains about you shining the light into his face but its been a while so might be wrong. In any case, you haven't met said character yet. :)
I think Inland Empire is so against you remembering anything because its job is to fantasize and make stuff up- your real name and life are well, real, and it sucks. It'd much rather you hang out with it as Raphael.
It's starting to make me a little anxious that black void as the character portrait. I know it's your RP as the drunken psychologically messed detective, but it's starting to get a little bit weird in my opinion.
I keep telling people, it boggles me that you talk smack about 7-11 clerks, when you are also a person who enjoys getting a hot dog and soda at 2am. How would you like a world where they weren't doing that crap job for your convenience? Have you tried appreciating the fact that those humans are there for you? Also, you have no clue where they come from or what brought them to the 7-11. I knew one who was making a new start after leaving her abusive boyfriend, and other who had moved to my country with a Master's degree in geology that he wasn't able to use until he'd passed some extra tests. The fact that they're holding down a convenience store in the middle of the night tells you nothing about them aside from that they've been backed into a lousy job--and not even that, because there's probably someone out there somewhere who likes working nights at the Circle K.
Thank you for watching everyone! Parts 8, 9, and 10 are up on the archive through patreon if you'd like to check them out early. I will also have another standalone analysis video coming sometime this week about why we don't always listen to Volition in real life and the psychology behind that. Stay tuned!
I love Evrart as a character. Literally every sentence he says is either a power move or incredibly manipulative. He will make you jump to his tune like a toy soldier.
I kinda wish there was more of him. I'd really like to know if he's genuine about what he says, or he's bullshitting.
@@fireazaYes
@@fireaza i always thought that there's three layers to evrart. on the surface, he's a union organizer. one level below that, he's a corrupt mob boss pretending to be a union organizer, the exact person that the liberals would want to be in power. someone they can bribe and use as a puppet. and then below that there's a genuine revolutionary, biding his time until he has the money and manpower to enact real meaningful change
@@fireaza there's a popular theory that he's playing the role of the corrupt union boss to distract from his real goals and ease the minds of people in power by acting like them, i.e. just in it for his own gain when he's not
@@FlameHiddenI agree
I feel like sorry cop is the one most often obtained for your first playthrough. Most players upon finding the mayhem Harry has done will be very inclined to apologize for everything. Everyone wants to be the superstar cop, but if you show basic empathy during your playthrough you'll naturally fall into saying sorry all the time.
Unlocking Sorry Cop is so interesting because it is a moment of personal growth just being *told* you qualify. Your instinct as a human being would be to apologize when you've wronged someone, but it really makes you take a step back and wonder, "Why *do* I apologize so much?"
Our Detective most certainly has done a lot of wrong to a lot of people. But overrelying on "sorry" as some form of absolvement neglects instead making ammends in more tangible ways and growing as a person.
When Harry says sorry for something, what he's REALLY apologizing for is being "a horrible person." You unlock it by being empathetic, but the true path to empathy is realizing the last thing Harry needs is to be the Sorry Cop.
Sometimes a quick sorry is a must to patch things up. But apologizing for *everything,* even things you personally have no control over, is an exercise in self-depricating misery.
Not really. I got superstar cop, while still being empathetic (which is different from just apologizing all the time). You can have a big ego, and still help and understand people. Also, the most common one is the boring cop, because people go for the straight Sherlock Holmes type gameplay at first.
I obtained boring cop first (before getting apocalypse cop) because Raphael has a job to do. Sorry cop just seems both boring and unhelpful to people.
I interpret sorry cop as begging/forcing other people to forgive you. It’s also not a coincidence that sorry cop is closely related to suicidal dialogue. Sorry Raphael presents dilemmas (not directly) like “forgive me or I’ll be too depressed to work on the case (or live)”.
Something tells me that Brady pre Disco Elysium and Brady post Disco Elysium are going to be two different people
That's what I love so much about this game
Yeah, that's a thing that can happen when a game (or any medium, really) has so much good and deep writing.
the writing is so beautiful. its thoughts on fighting for better things are heartbreaking but still hopeful and motivating
I think he already is. His own playthrough brought him face to face with the reality that many descendants of immigrant families face whenever they're asked "No, but where are you *really* from?", and then deal with his own prejudices/preconceptions. So it only took what, 4-5 episodes for this game to spark some personal growth and perhaps give him some new insight for his real-life job. It's amazing that a video game can do even that much, and he hasn't even scratched the surface of it at this point yet.
"we're doing healthy cop, sick cop" oh my days 😂
Idk... that's a strategy so crazy, it might even work. People know and expect the 'good cop - bad cop' trope. But can criminals always keep up their cop-face when they witness an officer losing theirs?
Ah, you've done fine. Getting the body down and examined, and talking to both Joyce and Evrart is more than most people manage on day 1 of this game.
So much tare to pick up and substances to collect.
Right? I don't think I've ever seen a first playthrough do all 3 on day 1.
I did neither! I got unbelievably distracted talking with literally any person I could and still leave a lot untouched.
I didn't take the body down until like, day 4 lmao
Not only did I manage that on my first playthrough, I also completed the autopsy and found the bullet on day one. Kim was so proud of me. Felt good, man.
Couple lines in into the conversation, he says "this is a boss fight". Damn right he is.
I mean, duh. You're debating the boss of the Union.
I'm glad you're internalizing Rigorous Self-Critique. It provides some of the most interesting side details about Harry's backstory in my eyes.
In addition, when you feel it is appropriate to learn more about him, don't forget to investigate your clipboard again. There's a lot of other characterization content hidden with it still.
As much as I love Disco Elysium - and that's a LOT - the inventory/inspect function is really easy to forget about, especially through your first run. But you're right, there's a ton of things you can learn from the things just sitting in your pockets.
But why though? I can understand picking the sorry cop if you're expecting him to reflect on himself and try to make amends, as most people do that in a few dialogues and stumble onto that miserable copotype.
But you're expecting one thing and getting another, which is turning into a pathetic spineless doormat who self-flagellates in such an over the top manner that the more it happens it gets really annoying. There is no improvement in character, it's a perpetual state of 'I'm a piece of sh.. failure who can't do anything right, it's only natural that I fail' from the very start to the very end. Even Kim gets annoyed with it.
It's absolutely the worst thing to pick unless you really don't want to go with any of the others - so while I can understand picking it from a blind playthrough's perspective, why would you as a viewer familiar with it be so giddy about it? It's not fun to watch nor smartly written, it's just a weak joke that goes too long.
@@Nast33 I think for this particular run it's appropriate for how this version of Harry is being tackled. Simply from a "RP" perspective, you could go full sad-sack "I'm The Worst and Always Will Be" cop and lean into it completely - or use this Tequila-and-Tranquilizer Tabula Rasa waking up in the hemorrhoid of Revachol to decide maybe you shouldn't be a public masturbator.
But to each their own. My last run I grabbed Actual Art Degree, Jamais Vu and Wompty-Dompty Dom Centre (and The Fifteenth Indotribe to get rich by existing) and became The Best Harry who would never admit any wrong-doing if possible with 76 level ups. The only mystery I couldn't solve is who was ratting me out for taking tons of drugs after Kim went to sleep, somehow he knew.
@@fivegears Problem is it fails in regards to RP as well, even if it weren't as grating to you as it was for me - as examples in this very playthrough Harry is managing to do some pretty damn good accomplishments like shooting the body down and having a triumphant moment with Kim, showing excellent observational and deduction skills when picking apart the footprints in the ground, or even knocking out Measurehead in a tremendous display of physical and combat ability.
Separate from that he's showing good backbone when verbally jabbing with the fat racist or interrogating the big imposing strike breaker about his past after noticing he's not what he seems, plus other examples I'm forgetting. Even after seeing he was an absolute case solving machine up to only a few months ago, he's still acting like a complete and total fuck up with no redeeming qualities. None of it makes sense if you keep leaning into the Sorry cop after certain points in the game. Shortly after you do some of those backbone-growing things you can RP away from Sorry cop by selecting far fewer of those worst self-flagellation replies.
@@Nast33 That's the way it works for a lot of people. Nothing they say or do will ever be good enough for themselves. They need to be taught that this isn't the case. It's one of the things you learn from CBT, for instance. I had to be taught how to see the worth in my own actions, for one, and it still took decades for the lesson to really sink in -- and even then, I will sometimes slip back when I'm feeling depressed.
There are so many places in the game where you can, even on a success, create another flashpoint for Harry where he views himself as a failure or burden. Healing happens slowly, not in the course of a week. Being the Sorry Cop makes plenty of sense.
Raphaël Ambrosius Costeau is one classy name for one classy cop! Wear it proudly!
I heard this in the voice of the tie.
Raphael knows how to party, bratan! @@kayla8402
@@kayla8402 Wear it proudly, Brattan!
A shame, you missed a Kim moment I was really hoping you'd get.
If you refuse to sit down, Evrart will say that he won't talk to you until you get on his eye level.
If your Volition is high enough you can just stand there and stare at him.
Kim will stand there, silently, completely on your side, showing no signs of annoyance, boredom or anything else.
He'll question Harry on many things, but here he is immediatly behind you.
I actually got this on my first playthrough. I for the longest time genuinely had no idea what people were talking about when they talked about the horror of the chair that damages you.
Kim would never show weakness that would embarrass the force in front of the Union’s boss. I don’t think it mattered at all that it was Harry, he would do the same every time.
I feel it's worth noting that the Foot In the Door technique is literally a sales technique. It's pushing someone to something they don't want or don't even want to engage with using basic politeness.
The thing I love about both Evrart and Joyce that make them my favourite characters in the game is their polar opposite methods of manipulation. Joyce is as slimy as Evrart but she keeps it concealed under a veneer of etiquette and smooth-talk. She's not as dishonest as Evrart by a long stretch but she'll have you playing into her hand without you even knowing regardless. Evrart on the other hand is as openly slimy and heavy-handedly manipulative as you can get. His power plays are as subtle as a slap and he'll brazenly lie to your face, almost daring you to catch him out on it and when you do, he doesn't try to slink back from it. He'll just be like "Oh ho you're as good as they say, well done" or some such, and then without hesitation move on to the next blatant attempt at manipulating you. It's almost like comparing an agile, defensive fighter who wears you down by expertly avoiding you, vs. an overwhelming heavy-hitter who just doesn't relent and wears you down by sheer force, not even giving you a chance to put your guard up.
Evrart Claire is a wonderfully honest man.
Mr. Evrart is helping me find my gun.
Mr. Evrart is helping me find my gun.
Mr. Evrart is helping me find my gun.
Mr. Evrart is helping me find my gun.
Mr. Evrart is helping me find my gun.
Everyone in this game has a different ideology that they stand behind that backs up their actions.
All of them good and evil by their own rights. None of them of a truly pure conscience, all of them are flawed.
A game written by Communists, with a clear communistic bias, that readily critiques the communists themselves as quickly as it critiques the Capitalists, the Fascists, and the Moderates all the same. Its as honestly self-critical, as it is critical of others as well.
There's something very unique about a work of art that can do that. So ready to call out the problems of the world. To rub our faces in it. But still willingly turns the mirror back towards itself. And does the same whilst facing the mirror. That sort of honest authenticity is rare, but highly valuable, in my opinion.
There is no greater shame than to be a Boring Centrist cop.
Minor spoiler for the "Communist" ideology route: I really liked how the game is absolutely unafraid to rip into overly-intellectual communists, despite being written by communists. Absolutely chortled at the line that's like "the most important part of being a communist is complaining about other communists."
Because it's just SO reflective of what happens in leftist spheres online and the obsession with *appearing* communist rather than actually *doing* communist things.
@@TheVeeBeaT That part was so well done. Both for the criticism of communists and for the ending of the quest. The game does a great job of taking characters who start off obnoxious but end up becoming really likable.
@@TheVeeBeaT as a dirty commie myself the communist vision quest with "inframaterialists" hits so fucking hard it could have only been written by fellow communists.
Most importantly, it acknowledges all these problems with the world while also hanging on to the beauty of the world and the flawed people who live in it.
Foot in the door comes from door to door salesmen. It's quite literally "If they open the door for your, put your foot in the door. Now they can't close the door. Make your sales pitch to a captive audience." Though it has grown more sophisticated as a psychological manipulation technique for detectives, interestingly enough. You find the figurative door for a suspect and shove your foot in it to keep it open. You start by making small offers and small requests and rewarding the kinds of responses you want. You condition the other person to say "Okay" or "Yes" and you DO NOT RATCHET THINGS UP. Then you just leave. A couple hours later you come back and pretend you discovered something alarming in the intervening time and you (now with a second interrogator) use the fact that you have a "foot in the door' to try to coerce a confession.
I'm sure it's less sinister in a clinical therapy setting. Despite its inherently manipulative nature.
Psychologists and salespeople seem to be strategically similar. What you call “compliance momentum” we call “asking leading questions.” I guess there will always be a little manipulation involved in initiating behavioral changes in others - for good or ill.
You say you “haven’t played the game very well” so far. I think possibly the only way to interpret this as being true is really diving in to its political themes which you haven’t engaged with much yet, which, whatever. That’s inevitable as the game continues. Honestly, from a main story perspective, getting the body down, reaching the first story checkpoint with Joyce AND getting into the harbor on day 1 are kind of insane. You’ve set it up so that Kim will be gone transporting the body during day 2 which will give you the whole day to just talk to everyone and find out about this place if you want.
Hey Brady (or anyone reading), I know this video is an old one but I just wanted to contribute the info relating to your explanation in the beginning of the game.
What you were primarily describing is called a "Yes Set" which is similar but sifferent enough from the Foot In The Door aoproach to be distinct.
These are both classic sales techniques (Foot in the Door = Door to Door salesman).
Foot in The Door approach is more along the lines of the Elevator Pitch but its main intention is to establish or preserve a route of communication. The foot acts as a door stopper.
Yes Sets are more what you described, which establishes an acute + temporary affirmative conditioning to continue saying yes, or conversely, to create internal dissonance when contenplating saying "No".
i think this has been the most productive day one of any disco elysium playthrough ever
The chair physically hurting the character in front of the boss is such a master class in storytelling.
"Raphael Ambrosius Costeau" having an actual narrative to his past was one of the more interesting subversions of this game. A lot of RPG's let you customize a blank slate character, so you develop a personal relationship to this overarching narrative that you have for this guy. Raphael himself encourages this roleplay because he's an odd duck with a rich internal fantasy life. Except as you near the climax and the ending, you are quite upsettingly rug-pulled away from the fantasies and Harry's history and baggage become all too real and comically mundane and then you feel a little stupid for projecting your own story onto him. Raphael is a larper who is desperate to fill the void left by his amnesia with anything that lets him escape reality.
@RancorousSea
It's not that unusual. I've seen players try to help Harry "go clean" and get respectable.
The problem is that doesn't really happen. He's here a chronic late stage alcoholic for a reason. A ton of RPG's just let you morality your way out of being that through a few personal choices because the character is a blank-slate avatar.
Brady playing this way is so interesting. That Blue Ledger may change everything, but will Raph actually look at it?
I was a foster carer for a few years and it was all power-dynamic management, all the time. All these techniques you mention came up in my training and were useful every day.
This is a great playthrough, and is my comfort series at the moment. I just want to add that, although you are uncomfortable with interacting with the political elements, the game is not asking for right or wrong choices. Whatever you choose will be wrong, but it is interesting to see what the game says about why. Also, we are aware you are playing a game - whatever your character chooses doesn't reflect you as a person. There are very few people who would refuse to acknowledge that, and those who do just can't handle Disco Elysium.
Interesting point on compliance momentum. I think I'd heard of this before, but some time ago. However, as I heard you giving examples I wondered if you had to be careful with what you asked. The reason for this is when you were giving the examples, I was imagining myself hearing those questions and it worked great until you said "Can I cross my legs?" That sounded such a weird thing to ask permission to do, you can normally do that without any permission at all unlike using their coat hooks or entering their premises etc, that it immediately made me think "WTF? What's wrong with this guy? That's weird!"
Oh, one other common technique that encourages people to talk is inviting them to fill the silence. Patiently waiting for them to answer a question, provide information or just speak - without interrupting that silence yourself - can make people feel uncomfortable enough with the silence that they feel the need to fill it with speech. I have used that personally, and while working with service participants, several times. Like all techniques, you have to use it when it's right, but people often need to fill a silence if you provide it.
Lol totally agree, that was a bad example with the legs. I'd never really ask that one 😂
before I watch this, calling it now:
sorry cop
Also, there's no reason you CAN'T come at this from the failed therapist/manipulator angle. Raphael doesn't know he has a past, so anything is valid. When more information is revealed, how will this revelation fit into his worldview, or his self identity?
You should absolutely go talk to Cuno more. He's really interesting under all that bluster
You can make some choices about the detective, especially his politics but he is very much his own character with his own concrete past and attitudes
'I sit in their chair- it's just a chair to me'
I wonder whether this is why therapists have reacted so strongly to me asking to sit in a particular configuration. Maybe they thought I was trying to pull some power play. In a way I am- I am more powerful if people sit to my left.
Because I'm deaf in my right ear. If people sit to the right of me, even in a quiet environment, I really have to strain to be able to understand them.
That reason is so logical that in the end they always agreed. But I wonder if that idea that I'm trying to make a powerplay lingered.
Checks in Disco Elysium are fairly straightforwards.
Each check has a numeric difficulty (IE Challenging 12). When you perform a check, the game rolls 2 dice with 6 sides, and then adds the strength of a corresponding skill (IE Composure) to that result. If there are any conditional modifiers (IE -2 Chair is killing you), they are added as well. Kf this sum is higher than or equal to the difficulty of the check, you pass! Otherwise, you fail. Note that rolling snake-eyes (1+1) always loses, and rolling sixes (6+6) always wins.
If you fail a check, any number of things could happen. You could just sit there dumbly, you could take damage, you could make a fool of yourself and permanently change your relationship with someone else, or you could actually blunder your way into a good outcome! Likewise, success is not always a good thing. Maybe punching a child in the face isn't the best thing for a law enforcement officer to do.
WHITE checks can be retried if circumstances change - specifically, if you gain conditional modifiers (IE returning to the corpse with ammonia) or if you invest another point into the corresponding skill. Notably, changing your clothes or taking drugs/alcohol will not do this. White checks can also be returned to! If you see a white check, and you don't fancy your chances, you could just disengage from the conversation, change your clothes, have a drink/smoke, and step right back up to give it a try.
RED checks can never be retried. Your success, or failure, will be permanent, and they more often have very drastic consequences. Many red checks are sprung on you mid-conversation, and a number of them are unavoidable (IE Composure - Challenging 12 Try not to panic).
You used IE where you meant EG. Eg means example and Ie is when you are mapping to something specific. Eg., there's a lot of psychology involved with Evrart. Ie., this will take up the entire episode.
Empathy:Legendary Failure
This Mr.Evrart seems like an honest man. A man of the people, a leader of the working class. You should trust him.
Logic: Success
He is not honest but his goal is good. You don't need to like him in order to work with the union.
Rethoric [Legendary: Success] In other words - he is helping you find your gun.
Hey Brady, loving this series. You have very unique and insightful takes on one of my favorite games.
Regarding apologies, and your own apology, my impression is you were bit too hard on yourself. I don't think the narrative you had regarding Kim's heritage was necessarily WRONG, it's just there's a more fitting narrative that many commenters pointed out. I think in that situation it would be sufficient just to say 'oh yeah, that makes way more sense!' rather than do a whole apology video.
You also could examine why it might be that you arrived at a different narrative than the commonly accepted one, helping us learn more about you and why your narrative might have some validity too.
Disco Elysium is critical of the Sorry Cops, and I think it makes a good point. 'Sorry' is often the end of a conversation, a social tool, and the exact opposite of Rigorous Self-critique.
evrart claire is an incredible antagonist. possibly the best character in this whole game. i love the game's first 'boss fight' with the chair and getting put on the spot about your gun. power moves indeed!
Mr Evratt is helping me to find my gun.
Mr Evratt is helping me to find my gun.
Mr Evrart is helping me to find my gun
Evrart is one of the most interesting characters in this game always an experience when you interact with him
slowly catching up on this playthrough. Honestly, LOVE the deep analysis, a dream come true to hear all of your interpretations, as someone that also wants to start and never stop talking about this game.
"You are a Harry wizard... eh... well, not a wizard actually, but definitely some kind of magician - best trick is disappearing objects, especially liquids"
The chat guy who said about doing a big thing for someone so that they struggle to say no to your requests afterwards.. That's called coercion and isn't a good thing, right??
Yyyup, it's a manipulation technique that leverages people's guilt.
I loved hearing the analysis of the Evrart "Battle". There is so much to take into consideration. I very much appreciate how moving on from failure is such a central theme to this game's narrative.
9:50 there is a moment (or several) in literally every play through I’ve watched of this game where someone says something right before the game says it. Without fail. It’s not even the same moment. It’s all different moments. It’s a very special narrative.
The best and most apt way I’ve found to describe it is that the narrative is so very “human.”
Forgiving yourself is so difficult, there's a whole range of religion(s) that have made it their core transactional tool of social enforcement (which can, ironically, make self forgiveness more difficult, thinking it NEEDS that external force).
Yeah- pretty crazy for me to think about, actually.
9:50 haha love your reaction there, with the game immediately concurring
Evrart made me think so much during my first playtrough, ngl he 100% got me with his power moves 😭
really enjoyed the insight in this video!
Love the videos! Your contribution makes this playthrough really interesting. Good job!
i like the way your cat just shows up in front of the camera it brings me bliss somehow ❤
DE is remarkable at predicting your thoughts. It did the same for me
I work in mental health/addictions, and the opioid vs cigarettes push-pull you brought up is a really interesting way to think about it.
Hey, thanks Brady, been to therapist before, but woman tended to give whatever information I've given to her to my family since I was a teenager, so I kinda had a mistrust to them when they've known my family somehow.
Dexter and sinister are real words for right and left handedness.
Honestly, I think the best course of action you can do with the check is take it without thanking him. It completely throws him off because he sits there waiting for you to say thank you and you just stare at him.
we had some garbage 80s business marketing name for it but we applied the hell out of compliance momentum in proselytizing missionary work. feels a little gross when i confront it, but thats how we got there. it did get me into a lot of places i'd never expect someone to say yes to.
I did not realize before how psychological DE is… you’re totally giving insights into this. Thanks!
"Healthy cop, sick cop" rofl
Your play through is so unique and genuine, I absolutely love it. The depth of the game and your response to it is amazing and I have to play it again myself
ETA: you're playing really well, most people don't get the body down and meet everyone you have in the first day. I think the game wants you to feel like you're playing badly bc canonically Harry is awful at most things lol
This series is fantastic
OMG I think I understand the chair thing for the first time. I always halfway laughed it off and halfway thought it was silly that Harry is so upset over an uncomfortable chair. I thought it was a silly bit. But discomfort is a whole thing around addiction, I think? Like Carrie Fisher wrote that the most important thing for her in getting sober was understanding that it was okay for her to be uncomfortable. I wonder if the chair is meant to be about that.
Okay, 2 things: 1. re: game reading your thoughts. Were you maybe a mental health consultant for the game but somehow displaced that memory? 2. I feel kinda weird being addicted to a playthrough by a specialist in addiction... what is happening. lol (it's awesome, please continue)
I feel like Brady is relating more to Physique than Psyche. He's very much going along with Electrochem, Physical Instrument, Endurance, etc. Interesting how the character has evolved sine the first inception.
I actually took the money from Mr. Evrart and didn't even consider it a bribe. Used it to buy things to help me on the case (healing items), and still did everything I could to spite him.
I kind of wished the game could reconize taking it as method of *using* him instead of just recognizing it as taking a bribe.
Like ok thanks for the free money, jerk.
"we're doing healthy cop sick cop" made me lose it
I like the point of Inland Empire protecting you; in my understanding this effect might be a side effect of it's true purpose: dealing with the world through a lens of imagination and narrative competence.
1:01:02 there’s an extra space between “we” and “probably”
It doesn’t matter, but I saw it, and now you have to suffer too
We're doing Healthy Cop Sick Cop now! And it will succeed!
I don’t understand, have people really been that confused about the fact that you’re playing a role-playing game?
Yes 😂. It's actually pretty funny
Yes, of course some people have. Some people have difficulty picking up on finer nuances of tone. Some people flat out find it difficult to understand why someone would say things they don't believe. So it's not surprising to me that some people missed the distinction between the serious analysis moments and the role play moments.
That line on Evrart's paper reads ▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮.
Oooooh this is getting exciting!!!! 😊
I really can vibe with what you said about the different sort of aspects of your personality to expect in the video 😂 I totally understand what you mean, I want to point out that many people regarded Harrys psyche or just the general psyche/bodily faculty game mechanic as completely unrealistic, but although it may be exagerated and overdefined I believe the way you "talk to yourself" in this game isnt entirely unrealistic.
Spoilers
I Wonder if he will figure out Evrart’s true intentions and personality by the end
I hope so but many people even after beating the game cannot figure it out so we will see.
Hey Brady, I’m loving your commentary and psychological insight. After you finish the game, would you be willing to go back and react to clips of the psychologically-juicy stuff you missed? For instance, if you fail/succeed at a check when succeeding/failing would have given more insight into your character. (I can make a list if you want). I’d be fascinated to hear your insight on them.
22 minutes before the first conversation in the game, holy carp!
you need to relook at the paperwork at somepoint, there's some big stuff you missed there
It's always worth returning to White Checks if you have the chance to add a point to something - I just wouldn't dump points into a low stat over and over again hoping to get it. It's OK to miss info or miss something "important". Already blew some opportunities for some HUGE info - and that's great, that's just how this particular run went.
Yeah I thought "foot in the door" originally came from door to door salespeople. It's that initial interaction (or more bluntly, tactic) by which you gain the minimum amount of rapport you need (in a situation where rapport is currently either zero-you just met-or worse than zero-you just met, and also this person distrusts people "like you" or situations like this and are eager to make you go away or just be impervious to you (or maybe even verbally attack or attempt to humiliate you). Your foot in the door (literally your appeal to not have them shut their literal door, as a salesperson trying to win a tiny chance to state your "offer", from a person you presume to be hostile or utterly uninterested and who's holding their front door barely ajar just enough to look at you sideways, thinking of how best to tell you to buzz off) is that little something you intuit will get them to soften and hear a little more from you, so you can press on and even be invited inside for a more favourable conversation.
We do this with everyting, too. Trying to start a conversation with someone cute at a club (or, say, in theme with this game: trying to introduce yourself to someone you know sells drugs, who doesn't know you or trust you, doesn't need you, has a very strong reason to dismiss randoms like you approaching them... but could very well be persuaded if you can first persuade them to let you speak at all-maybe you start a convo about music first, or that you know so-and-so in common and share similar judgment of character, or just casually share a story to show you're not a sketchbag, that you respect boundaries and respect their position and their time-maybe you're apologetic, deferential, even, or your state what you want without actually stating it, giving them full agency to ignore the obvious subtext or to at least look at you and think about it.... while also making it so obvious that they can tell you're giving them that free exit from the conversation, showing respect for their time and making it easy on them, one might even say you're doing them a favour... maybe, they think, this person's trying to make sure I feel good either way, maybe I *owe some respect in return to them* by hearing about their thing for a minute.)
I suppose that example could've been about how street canvassers work or approaching a belligerent customer at a store you work at. Lots of things. I'm sure it reveals nothing about my past. You're so smart and intuitive, I have no doubt, but don't even worry about it. I'ts just a story I read recently, you know? Sharp thinking though, on your part, I can really tell that about you, even before I started talking to you. That's so rare, you know? Hey do you... nah, nevermind-oh, you sure? Okay I guess, it's just I have something really cool, I don't normally share all this with someone I just met but I get this feeling we're kinda similar and you'd really love this-mind if I come sit down?-if you're not too busy I could-hmm, do I even have it on me, I wasn't really planning on-oh there it is, that's lucky...so there's this place we rent for part of the year, you know, kinda a getaway, you ever been down south, Panama? It's so nice man, I still got a bit of a tan, well you can't really see it in this light but, I got a few photos on my phone, look at this shit, this was in mid-January by the way... I just had this thought, no idea why, well we share it with some other poeple, different parts of the year you know, makes it so affordable, and guess what...
omg first part of this video reminds me of group therapies and individal ones. i was 13 when i was sent by court order to therapiest, i did not spoke frst day, second day, third and so on, eventualy after a week therpist spoke first lol. i kept quiet, it dragged for months and then he just used what he knew will trigger me, i still remeber t today. he said the man said ypu stoped and stoped second boy and 2 of you draged the third is that true. not realising i said yes, why did you stop he asked. it was a perfect question wich opened niagara falls. still today i remember what i said, because i saw i becme a monster like the soldiers who gathered us like cattel after city felt.. he pushed for more, but i said silent, he triggered me once mrore and i jut said there is nothing to say,i survived others did not, wish i was one of them, there is no ponint going thru it wth a person who cant understand, who does not know what is going on in my homeland and in alanguage wich is not mine.. next session igot therapist who spoke my native languaege and knew very well what happened to me, he knew everything, did not even have to ask me. i found out i have c ptsd and why i drift off, why i have nightmares, ''movies'' in my head wich goes over and over and over and that there is no point forcng me into therapy coz i am not ready, tai will come oneday when i am rdy. that day came 8 or 10 years later. he only told me if ever i start do SH or start to think to end everything to go to emergency.. crazy how element in a game can trigger some memories...
Keeping your health and morale topped up will provide better odds with some checks.
Awesome one!
Someone should make a compilation of every time he predicts dialogue in the game 🤣
About the gun, it doesn’t matter if you need it or not. The fact it’s lost, in itself, is a problem. For one, it reflects badly on the organization - and you’ll be punished internally for it -, and it also means someone else has it, that shouldn’t. It could cause an accident if a civilian takes it, or it could be traced back to a crime, while being a police issued gun, if a criminal does. Recovering your itens is your first priority if you care about being a cop. At this point you forgot about it, but you should have checked your information on your documents with Kim’s car light as well.
28:00 ish: Can't just sit in the chair to avoid the power game if the chair *is* the power game, eh?
Do you always walk behind your clients? I've gotten therapy at a place where that was the deal and it was sort of funny watching them trying to make it look casual and not like they were keeping an exit path open. I finally called my therapist on it so it could stop being awkward. "Do you have a rule that you have to walk behind your patients? It would make sense if you did." And she laughed and said yes, that was the rule, and then she didn't have to do the whole "I just paused and let you walk past me while I check this bulletin board" routine. Or whatever.
Mr Evrart is helping me find my gun
Dont forget to check out your clipboard. Would be sad to see it not get explored before the game ends
I won't go into spoilers so you just need to trust me on this one: Evrart Claire did nothing wrong! ❤
If I was a therapist and my client sat in my chair I would try to connect through humour and ask them to ask questions about me and try to give me therapy. Maybe that would help them emapthise with my position and relax a bit.
I understand you are doing this for fun. Still you give valubale inside the Human psyche and Biology. Iam intrigued and curios what you will do next.
9:50 see? Maybe volition can be listened to some.
Also, for later, but no spoilers dw,
Consider oblivion based mental health, forgetting some of the worst of your past
I thought Foot in the door was a sales technique originally.
I just wanted to throw my 2 cents in in regard to your playstyle/choices. I see a lot of comments about how you may have missed something, some potential dialogue, etc. And in my opinion, that's perfect. Missing something at one point can lead to a fantastic interaction/revelation later. I recently played through by min/maxing - there are some Thoughts that have huge bonuses and at the end I leveled up 76 times - and it was the most boring playthough ever.
So, I hope you keep failing, missing things in plain sight, ruining chances. You can't be a Sorry Cop if there's nothing to be sorry for.
This is more a response to the Twitch VOD, but you said Psyculturists is the Kim to your Harry but... let's be honest, with Ed's various hats, Evil Ed and so on, it's absolutely the other way around.
Hell yeah.
If you want a spoiler-free explanation of how the Checks (passive and active, white and red) and Thought Cabinet work, I can give one.
Pretty sure there is at least one character that complains about you shining the light into his face but its been a while so might be wrong. In any case, you haven't met said character yet. :)
volition is the best
I think Inland Empire is so against you remembering anything because its job is to fantasize and make stuff up- your real name and life are well, real, and it sucks. It'd much rather you hang out with it as Raphael.
Where does the idea that you're "not playing the game well" come from?
It's starting to make me a little anxious that black void as the character portrait. I know it's your RP as the drunken psychologically messed detective, but it's starting to get a little bit weird in my opinion.
There’s no harm in not knowing just like there isn’t really any advantage in finding out too. (Maybe a thought and some xp but it goes both ways)
Yes, the game doesn't acknowledge if you know your face or not, it's just a gimmick for the start game. I just find it weird not knowing, that's all.
Brady actually makes s good point as to why he hasn't yet. And it also ties into the character lol
I keep telling people, it boggles me that you talk smack about 7-11 clerks, when you are also a person who enjoys getting a hot dog and soda at 2am. How would you like a world where they weren't doing that crap job for your convenience? Have you tried appreciating the fact that those humans are there for you? Also, you have no clue where they come from or what brought them to the 7-11. I knew one who was making a new start after leaving her abusive boyfriend, and other who had moved to my country with a Master's degree in geology that he wasn't able to use until he'd passed some extra tests. The fact that they're holding down a convenience store in the middle of the night tells you nothing about them aside from that they've been backed into a lousy job--and not even that, because there's probably someone out there somewhere who likes working nights at the Circle K.
Evrart my lovingly hated character
Mr. Evrart is helping me find my gun.