Deadly Premonition - Discussion and Analysis

[Jaimas]

@Francis York Morgan, this one's for you, bro.

Whenever I've played games, I divide them into two categories. If a game by me has almost no story, but the gameplay itself is phenomenal, that's often enough to get over the bar of being a good game with me. Similarly, if the game's a piece of shit gameplay-wise, but the story absolutely kicks ass, that's almost equally important and I'll generally be much gentler with a game when I review it with that in mind. Because of this, what I consider a "bad" game is often much different than most. Sometimes there's obvious examples of stuff that I consider bad that everyone else does (a canard I will bludgeon Duke Nukem Forever with until a mainstream game that fucks up even worse comes along), but often you'll see games on my "tolerable" list that many people wouldn't look at. For example, I played through Vampire Rain. I didn't find it a great game, but I did find it substantially better than the reviews of it - which had given it ratings to rival Daikatana (a game actually on my shit list) would lead anyone to believe.

Such a mindset is what led me, inevitably, to Deadly Premonition. I was linked to the game by my friend Pothis, who quickly told me that this was a game that I had to get. I didn't get what he meant until I picked it up and tried it, and, after an intro sequence with graphics that looked like an old Dreamcast title, I realized that what I was dealing here was a hugely story-driven game with a hell of a lot to love in it. In many ways, I feel that SWERY succeeded where faggots like David Cage fail - and I'm not just saying that because my mom was a colossal Twin Peaks fan and will stab me if I say otherwise.

Deadly Premonition, despite its shortcomings, is a phenomenally enjoyable game. I'll acknowledge openly that it's not for everyone - it falls short in many areas and its myriad problems make it a game that really is only enjoyable for some. For anyone willing to engage the game at its own level, however, they'll be richly rewarded. It's easy to see the poor graphics, mediocre voice-acting, and more, and simply assume it's shit, but that's selling the game short. Deadly Premonition's beauty comes in strong characterization, fantastic writing (for the characters that actually matter, at least), and a plot that can keep one guessing until way late in the game. There's tiny clues interspersed that can tell more of the game's lore and plot, or even spoiler things if you're not careful (I know a certain easter egg that if you notice gives away a certain tidbit way too early), but the game shines in several areas, including a protagonist truly like none other, a game world that has some outright amazing internal mechanics (all of which are consistent), and one hell of an ending to top it all off.

I'd love to get more in-depth on this game, but I'm going to spare you doing that in one post because, simply put, I can sperg about this game for fucking pages. And so, I offer you guys the opportunity to make use of this. I've played through the game and studied the lore, environments, and various events of the game enough to provide answers to damned near anything regarding this game. If you want to know anything about the game, its creatures, or why the shit those undead fuckers are coming out of the walls, I'm your man. So if you're interested, let's get some discussion going about this game.

 

[IHeardThatCurtis]

Do you mind if i join in on this thread,I have been playing DP up to the 3 hour mark doing some of the main missions but mostly the side ones to see if i can get some good weapons for later because i heard it gets a little bit harder at the end.So far i really like it and like you said it's very Twin Peaks which i loved when i first watched it.

Well i want to talk about how awesome and kooky the game feels,While playing i'm always wondering what will happen next and how deep the rabbit hole goes.

 

[c-no]

I myself own Deadly Premonition on PC. I honestly do love it for what it is worth. As much as how combat is shoddy, I kinda enjoy though I feel driving itself is a bit more troublesome. Still, I do like how the game put me three hours in (that is without doing any sort of side mission save for finding a dumbell) and already, I think I'm not too far in to be halfway (Last one to die was the woman who owned a museum). Not saying it's bad but rather, it does make me feel like has a good length. Better than that of other modern games that could be beaten in like 3 hours.

Fun Fact: Kaysen is a sort of recurring character like that of Maiq of the Elder Scrolls and Patches of the Soul Series. Different guy with the same name. To add further with Kaysen, he's a fat guy in all his incarnations. Also remember an image from /v/ of 8Chan that Swery's games must share the same connection due to having a Kaysen along with Swery's last two games involving a red object. In Deadly Premonition, red tree seeds, in D4 (another game he made) it's red pills. I need to search through my files to bring up an image that tried to connect them all.

 

[IHeardThatCurtis]

So far i think it's not a bad game but it does have some flaws,I enjoy it otherwise over all and i want to complete the game and finish all of the side missions.Funny enough York kind of reminds me of myself always talking about 80's horror B-movies and other dumb movie facts although i don't talk to myself lol,So who is your favorite character so far?Mine so far is York and The Log Lady.

 

[Jaimas]

Do you mind if i join in on this thread,I have been playing DP up to the 3 hour mark doing some of the main missions but mostly the side ones to see if i can get some good weapons for later because i heard it gets a little bit harder at the end.So far i really like it and like you said it's very Twin Peaks which i loved when i first watched it.

Well i want to talk about how awesome and kooky the game feels,While playing i'm always wondering what will happen next and how deep the rabbit hole goes.

By all means! This game has some amazing atmosphere and appeal to both veterans and newcomers. Much like Silent Hill, almost everything in terms of the game's story, what York encounters, et al, are explained by the game's end, though the meaning of a lot of it isn't necessarily clear at first glance.

The game's biggest drawbacks mechanically are a few aspects of combat. The damage algorithms for many of the weapons and the life totals for the Shadows are just wonky, as is weapon placement. Everyone knows what gigantic ammo sinks Shadows are - it's really not supposed to be quite like this. Additionally, Melee weapons aren't supposed to break as easily as they do.

A good example of the weapon placement issue is that you don't get the Shotgun until almost 60% of the way through the game - you can actually get the Infinite Ammo Magnum way before then. It would have made way more sense if Wesley had sold it way earlier, since by the time you get it, it's not terribly useful because the Shadows are starting to get the life totals that the Shotgun has only one (admittedly crucial) use - knocking down and knocking back the Shadows in close-combat.

I've heard a lot of people say that combat in general shouldn't have been in Deadly Premonition, but that ignores that, like combat in the original Silent Hill, it's there to establish a very specific context. I'll get into this later if you'd like, but suffice to say a lot of the game's impact would have been lost if combat had been scrapped entirely.

Deadly Premonition isn't exactly a Survival Horror game per se - York has unlimited ammo and resource management usually isn't hugely critical until much later on - but it is definitely a Horror game, and one thing that the game excels at is something I call the Malign Paradigm Shift. This is a mechanic in horror that is extremely hard - if not impossible - to replicate predictably, but generally involves the player entering an innocuous situation and gradually realizing that things are not only wrong, but terribly so, and have been for quite some time. If you hammer out the sidequests like crazy (I certainly did), it's possible to be fucking around in Greenvale for some time with your initial encounter with the Shadows on the trail fading into memory as you meet and make friends with various characters (Keith at Milk Barn is a delight). When something finally does fucking happen (such as the Hospital segment or say, the little phenomenon I call Cloudy With a Chance of Evil), it fucking grabs you by the balls as you suddenly realize that more's going on (in the case of the former) or that there's nowhere really safe in Greenvale (in the case of the latter). It's this duality that seriously can mess with players, and Deadly Premonition's one of the few games to deliver on it.

So far i think it's not a bad game but it does have some flaws,I enjoy it otherwise over all and i want to complete the game and finish all of the side missions.Funny enough York kind of reminds me of myself always talking about 80's horror B-movies and other dumb movie facts although i don't talk to myself lol,So who is your favorite character so far?Mine so far is York and The Log Lady.

I will contend until the day I die that York is one of the most fucking fascinating characters to grace video gaming. He also has what is, unequivocally, one of the best character intros in the history of games:

We learn so much about York from this one scene that it's honestly sort of outstanding. we see him multitask like a pro, and all the while chatting on the phone with some handler back at the FBI who's probably laughing his ass off at York's nonsense. York is a man who categorizes and analyzes everything - even cartoons - in line with his training. This demeanor is why he's still working for the FBI despite being an obvious fucking sperg. York's awkward as shit, but he's a phenomenal parapsychologist and an extremely skilled investigator.

During the scene itself, York muses over the scar on his cheek, obtained in a scuffle with a recent, nameless perp who York calls "The Catwoman Wannabe." However, that scar isn't the one that grabs everyone's attention - instead, it's the much larger - and older - scar that extends deep into his hairline. Immediately this asks questions as to how he got it, giving a player a bit of a hint that more is going on with York than is initially apparent.

The final part of the puzzle comes in when York talks to Zach - in this case, the player, who is an integrated personality. This is, simply put, a convention defiance - you're not playing as York, per se - you're playing as this personality, the proverbial voice in his head.
Rather than just having the all-too-standard trope wherein a player is generally in control of everything until they interact with something or someone plot-critical, Deadly Premonition circumvents it in a fashion that's just fricking brilliant. By setting players as Zach, as opposed to York, they've established concrete rationales for this seperation of roles, since York and Zack indeed have very different roles. York handles interactivity with people, analysis work, and the general goings-on, whereas Zach - the player - is the one that deals with problem-solving and combat situations.

 

[Dollars2010]

I honestly love this game a lot, as silly as it is, and have played through it multiple times. York is one of my top five favourite video game characters with how unique he is, plus he reminds me a lot of Dale Cooper from Twin Peaks--I really love that show and grew up with it.

But you really hit the nail on the head, Jaimas, and bring up a lot of good points! I always enjoy reading analysis of this game, because there's so much to it aside from the kookiness, slapstick humour, and silliness. It's hard to put into words the depth it has, since there's so much going on beneath just a simple murder shaking up a generally quiet town.

 

[IHeardThatCurtis]

By all means! This game has some amazing atmosphere and appeal to both veterans and newcomers. Much like Silent Hill, almost everything in terms of the game's story, what York encounters, et al, are explained by the game's end, though the meaning of a lot of it isn't necessarily clear at first glance.

The game's biggest drawbacks mechanically are a few aspects of combat. The damage algorithms for many of the weapons and the life totals for the Shadows are just wonky, as is weapon placement. Everyone knows what gigantic ammo sinks Shadows are - it's really not supposed to be quite like this. Additionally, Melee weapons aren't supposed to break as easily as they do.

A good example of the weapon placement issue is that you don't get the Shotgun until almost 60% of the way through the game - you can actually get the Infinite Ammo Magnum way before then. It would have made way more sense if Wesley had sold it way earlier, since by the time you get it, it's not terribly useful because the Shadows are starting to get the life totals that the Shotgun has only one (admittedly crucial) use - knocking down and knocking back the Shadows in close-combat.

I've heard a lot of people say that combat in general shouldn't have been in Deadly Premonition, but that ignores that, like combat in the original Silent Hill, it's there to establish a very specific context. I'll get into this later if you'd like, but suffice to say a lot of the game's impact would have been lost if combat had been scrapped entirely.

Deadly Premonition isn't exactly a Survival Horror game per se - York has unlimited ammo and resource management usually isn't hugely critical until much later on - but it is definitely a Horror game, and one thing that the game excels at is something I call the Malign Paradigm Shift. This is a mechanic in horror that is extremely hard - if not impossible - to replicate predictably, but generally involves the player entering an innocuous situation and gradually realizing that things are not only wrong, but terribly so, and have been for quite some time. If you hammer out the sidequests like crazy (I certainly did), it's possible to be fucking around in Greenvale for some time with your initial encounter with the Shadows on the trail fading into memory as you meet and make friends with various characters (Keith at Milk Barn is a delight). When something finally does fucking happen (such as the Hospital segment or say, the little phenomenon I call Cloudy With a Chance of Evil), it fucking grabs you by the balls as you suddenly realize that more's going on (in the case of the former) or that there's nowhere really safe in Greenvale (in the case of the latter). It's this duality that seriously can mess with players, and Deadly Premonition's one of the few games to deliver on it.

Yes i will agree that the combat is very flawed but it's not too bad,I think someone else mentioned the driving which i will say in my opinion the worst thing about the game and should have been worked on more.With what you said with the combat i wish they made it flow more and less broken i would compare it to Morrowind combat it's even if you hit the enemy you will miss which is annoying.

The gun placement i have no problems with the enemy placement is strange to me but i guess i cannot complain about it,But i will say what lacks in game play is the story like i said before which is very interesting and i want to play further so i can find out what is going on.True you cannot dick around that much although you could just have to make sure you have enough food with you and not get too hungry.

I would call this game a mix between Silent Hill,Twin Peaks and Sims.

 

[Jaimas]

Yes i will agree that the combat is very flawed but it's not too bad,I think someone else mentioned the driving which i will say in my opinion the worst thing about the game and should have been worked on more.With what you said with the combat i wish they made it flow more and less broken i would compare it to Morrowind combat it's even if you hit the enemy you will miss which is annoying.

The gun placement i have no problems with the enemy placement is strange to me but i guess i cannot complain about it,But i will say what lacks in game play is the story like i said before which is very interesting and i want to play further so i can find out what is going on.True you cannot dick around that much although you could just have to make sure you have enough food with you and not get too hungry.

I would call this game a mix between Silent Hill,Twin Peaks and Sims.

I'd agree, except the driving gets steadily better as it goes along.

York has 2 vehicles to start - the Police Cruiser and the Police SUV - the Cruiser's a bit faster, but the SUV can off-road easier and has better armor. Starting about Day 6 or 7, Lysander starts selling other cars - clones of other characters cars - with wildly differing stats. The further you go, the bigger the selection. Cars with sirens (Cruiser, SUV, Emily's SUV, George's Hummer, York's Car) have the ability of going faster at the cost of using York's Pulse Gauge by engaging the siren.

The Yorkmobile (York's Ford Mustang GT he crashes in the intro) is available from Lysander if you complete all the Bribe Bull quests at the Car Wash.

Lysander also offers quests that boost car performance and handling. The cars just get better and better as you go.

 

[IHeardThatCurtis]

I have not gotten to getting the other cars just yet but i do have the DLC cars and im wondering if you can get them after beating the game or somewhere in the game like a dealer will sell it to me.

I wish their was more selections of clothes i wanna see them crazy or weird like in MGS3.

 

[Jaimas]

I have not gotten to getting the other cars just yet but i do have the DLC cars and im wondering if you can get them after beating the game or somewhere in the game like a dealer will sell it to me.

I wish their was more selections of clothes i wanna see them crazy or weird like in MGS3.

Dealer. He appears Day Six or so. And there's plenty of weirder suits. Most are references to other movies or works - he has one jacket set that resembles that of Tony Versetti.

 

[SteelPlatedHeart]

I never played the game myself, but I watched the Two Best Friends Play of the game and loved the hell out of its weirdness

 

[IHeardThatCurtis]

Okay cool i want to wear one of the suits that will let me be not hungry for some time,Really Steel it's a really cool game although some people don't like it i think most people should try it out.

How far are you into the game Jaimas?

 

[Jaimas]

Okay cool i want to wear one of the suits that will let me be not hungry for some time,Really Steel it's a really cool game although some people don't like it i think most people should try it out.

How far are you into the game Jaimas?

Beaten it about 3 times, not counting my little re-plays of previous chapters where I'm lulzing about with the Beam Saber or whatnot. I've gotten every achievement in it except one (the one for beating it on Easy). According to the leaderboards on XBox Live (Yes, it has those), I'm in the top 1% for almost every statistic except number of deaths (I haven't died at all in my replay saves) and meaningless crap like distance walked.

The suits that provide internal stat boosts are all late game. Of them, only two are absolute "Must Haves" - The Dancing All Night suit gives York a significant boost to his Pulse Gauge, whereas there's another suit later that gives him a life boost which is a godsend for the last leg of the game. Hunger seems hard to manage at first but it gets easier - in almost every level there's a "rest area" with an infinitely-respawning food item and a bed you can use (often a sink so you can shave, too). The rest area at the Tree of Anna has similar (infinite pickle cans) and the little rest area Brian maintains at the cemetary also has one (infinite tomatoes). Stock up on those and use those to tide you over, saving the more delicious fare (Turkey Sandwiches) for when they're really necessary. Restaurant foods keep you from getting hungry again for a goddamned long time, too and are often cheaper than getting high-level foods to go.

 

[IHeardThatCurtis]

Ah i see im guessing ya got it on Xbox 360 which is fine of course i got it on PC,Im playing pretty early in the game so i'm a little noobish but i can't wait so i can do the side quest so i can get the infinite magnum.

Their was one of the suits that could really help me with the later part of the game i do forget which suit it was,It is a bit hard with keeping up with hunger more so then being tired but it is manageable enough i would say and i am finding myself searching high and low for the trading cards and other lore based things around the town.

 

[Jaimas]

Ah i see im guessing ya got it on Xbox 360 which is fine of course i got it on PC,Im playing pretty early in the game so i'm a little noobish but i can't wait so i can do the side quest so i can get the infinite magnum.

Their was one of the suits that could really help me with the later part of the game i do forget which suit it was,It is a bit hard with keeping up with hunger more so then being tired but it is manageable enough i would say and i am finding myself searching high and low for the trading cards and other lore based things around the town.

Trading Cards are worth it for cash alone, notwithstanding their value in quests and for completeness.

Make a note that in general, the Infinite Guns have some kind of drawback. The Shotgun and Magnum hold notably less ammo per mag, and the SMG and Rifle have (negligably) lower attack power (it's barely noticeable). The other Infinites have specialty uses, from the Wesley Special (incendiary effect but no impact so kind of a hard weapon to exploit), Rocket Launcher (York with an RPG-7 = YES. Post-game weapon though), and the Police Custom is essentially a better Handgun with higher clip capacity and damage (it takes up a slot though).

 

[IHeardThatCurtis]

The infinite RPG weapon is something I have my eye on since it will help me with the final boss who I heard was kind of a problem,The trading card I am collecting for the weapon you get if you collect them all and a little bit of info on some stuff like character and items.

 

[Jaimas]

The infinite RPG weapon is something I have my eye on since it will help me with the final boss who I heard was kind of a problem,The trading card I am collecting for the weapon you get if you collect them all and a little bit of info on some stuff like character and items.

It's a post-game weapon, alas. So you're gonna have to beat the last boss twice if you want the damned thing (the weapon is gotten via a Spirital Place level that's essentially a boss rush).

 

[IHeardThatCurtis]

Shit thanks I hope I can get though them I think I can with some practice at least,is what I heard true and that the last part of the game is tricky?

 

[c-no]

Spoiler: Spoiler because it reveals something in the game for those who don't know.

This is part of the reason why I bought Deadly Premonition aside from what has already been said about it. Really, this was rather memorable.

 

[IHeardThatCurtis]

Oh yea I forgot to talk about the music,my god the music so so good especially the whistling one that is my favourite so far.Oh I don't think I have talked about it but what do you guys think of the QTE stuff in the game?