A Machine For Pigs: Daddy, Please Don't Kill Me

[Muspelheim]

Well, true there are not really a "better" kind of horror. But I must say that I think that the slow building, more thoughtful type of horror is a bigger sign of skill on the part of the creator.

Fast horror in games mostly translate to some sort of spiky kebab monster jumping out of a cupboard while a string orchestra goes "TWIDLIDIDEEDLIDIDELIDIDDIDIDI..!", and while that works, it grows rather predictable rather fast. It can feel a bit too simple and fast, sometimes.

Now, if something like that happens maybe once, after some very careful set-up (like short glimpses of the monster in the corner of the eyes, tell-tale trails of kebabfat on the floor and maybe some remains of earlier victims), the impact of that jump scare is much greater, since it's been used much more economically. It's in wrapping the kebabmonsters with meaning that many of the faster horror games fail.

Carefully managing your scares and building up to a level they'd be unlikely to reach on their own is the tricky bit.

(Of course, it's all in my own opinion.)

 

[WildFire15]

As someone trying to get his act together with writing, I appreciated this.

 

[BlindChance]

I'd just like to add one more detail: "Kill" rather than "Murder" is a very important word choice decision, relating back to the first word 'Daddy'. "Murder" is a darker word, which would further the suggestion of deliberation and cruelty. But it's there already with the word 'please'. 'Kill', meanwhile, backs up the word 'daddy' in the sentence; it's simpler and more childlike. I think it's the right decision, but it's interesting that the sentence chooses to double-down on the powerlessness and victim nature of the speaker, rather than the menace and horror of the 'daddy'.

 

[Vale]

Fair enough. I disagreed with regards to AMFP's writing, not in that the prose itself is bad, but because it was unpleasantly anvilicious, without being genuinely vicious /see that pun? it burnssss/ or alternatively, introspective about its central and all-permeating metaphor (what the machine and what New Year's Eve symbolize together, which is explained in detail at the end of the game, but not in a particularly interesting way).

Also, here's a reminder that while GTA IV wasn't a particularly great game, it knew how to set up some goddamn atmosphere before you actually got to play. (while we're on the topic of "how to get the player invested in an experience right at the start")
Chills.

 

[Cid Silverwing]

The guy on the telephone honestly lost me since it never became clear if the guy was real and helping you or just a hallucination on your part, as opposed to the big bad of Descent who is unquestionably evil.

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

I dont want to leap uncontrollably onto the bandwagon of arse lickery here, so instead ill climb sneakily upon it;
As storytelling goes, its hard to find effective horror writing for jaded ppl such as my cold dead self. Fustrating too, when a true scare is one of the few things that pull me out of my constant lethargic state, aside a 4 day cocaine binge.
This is an interesting article, as i have been keen on new ideas of horror for personal writing, and originality is a necessity for me. Good quote also, analysis can often fray an illusion unfortunately. But some minds are just hardwired for analysis.
Oh...do i get points for not asking for a gtaV review? Instead, do farm simulator 2013: youre not sposed to enjoy your job yahtzee!

 

[Some_weirdGuy]

Personally I found the sentence in question somewhat cringe-worthy... but not in a good 'well written horror' way. Quite the opposite infact. :/
It felt like someone *trying* hard to write horror, with the unfortunate side-effect of making it so cheesy/blatant that it loses all impact. Amateurish, or tactless might be a good word for it - Certainly i guess it gets the point across, but it just could have been handled much more tact and elegance. If anything it's utter *lack* of subtly is it's undoing, and i gotta agree with Pyrian's post up above :X...

It's pretty bad when "Daddy, please don't kill me" is cited for its subtlety.

 

[Mikkaddo]

well, shallow as it might sound, I wasn't all that taken away by Amnesia or the announcements of Machine for Pigs, but with that kind of opening and the visuals I have seen of it, not to mention the way it's atmosphere apparently fits exactly what it's meant to be I think I will be giving it a shot now. Thank you Yahtzee . . . I was interested in this article and thanks to it, I will play this game. You've changed a mind my good man, not that it actually matters.

 

[V8 Ninja]

I'll admit that the first sentence is gripping, but subtlety is definitely the wrong word here. Maybe illustrative would be the right word, but the word is definitely not "Subtle".

As for A Machine For Pigs's writing, I feel as though its major problems are it being convoluted and ever-present. Unless you read and hear every single bit of dialogue, you never get a good grasp of what's going on. What's worse is that the writing is strewn everywhere, from the faux-audio logs to the notes to the diary entries to the journal. Whereas the original Amnesia: The Dark Descent's backstory was concise and restricted, A Machine For Pigs's feels heavy-handed and unfocused.

 

[Mikkaddo]

Personally I found the sentence in question somewhat cringe-worthy... but not in a good 'well written horror' way. Quite the opposite infact. :/
It felt like someone *trying* hard to write horror, with the unfortunate side-effect of making it so cheesy/blatant that it loses all impact. Amateurish, or tactless might be a good word for it - Certainly i guess it gets the point across, but it just could have been handled much more tact and elegance. If anything it's utter *lack* of subtly is it's undoing, and i gotta agree with Pyrian's post up above :X...

It's pretty bad when "Daddy, please don't kill me" is cited for its subtlety.

Well, it's likely that it's so blatant and not on it's own subtle for the exact purpose of hitting that easy target. There's a seatbelt commercial they show in my town where a car crashes, it then shows the souls of the mother, father and toddler of the car lift out of their bodies. The parents, mind you, were not wearing seatbelts and stay dead. The toddler however, her soul comes back, she wakes up, starts crying and saying "mommy, mommy wake up! mommy?!" for about another 20 seconds of cringe worthy tv. Cheesey and obvious sure, but I guarantee it hits everyone that sees it very deep if only for that one instant when they hear a child crying out to it's dead mother.

I think that's what Machine for Pigs is doing, hitting an easy target to say "come on, if this is really the worst writting we've done and it's all at the start, the rest can't be that bad, and even this was still effecting"

 

[Broderick]

The guy on the telephone honestly lost me since it never became clear if the guy was real and helping you or just a hallucination on your part, as opposed to the big bad of Descent who is unquestionably evil.

I am unsure if you have beaten the game yet, but I am about to reveal spoilers. so anyone reading this should not do so if they are trying to avoid spoilers.

Spoiler

Both the voice in the beginning and on the speakers is supposed to be that of the machine. As you know, the main character built the machine, and then later incapacitated it when he realized what he was about to do was insane. The line "Daddy, please dont kill me" I believe refers to the machine begging his "dad" to not "kill" him, or shut him down Edit: of course, it could also refer to his children as well, but I think it could be either considering the voice actor for that quote was an adult male.

 

[Grach]

I might not appreciate the "subtleties" of the line of dialog in question, but I found this one of the wankiest EP Yahtzee has done so far.

 

[MasterProcrastinator]

Lessons in brevity from Mr Zero Punctuation?

Now I've seen everything...

Mind explaining this comment?

 

[Olas]

It's pretty bad when "Daddy, please don't kill me" is cited for its subtlety.

He didn't cite it for subtlety, he said

"Subtlety ties into the same appreciation for elegance and doing a lot with very little. Both the Amnesia games show a great understanding of how a creepy atmosphere is created through small touches."

Essentially saying that whereas many modern games would have a drawn out, exposition rich dialogue sequence, aMfP conveys everything in a tiny 5 word sentence, making it pierce like a bullet. It's not subtlety per se, but it's part of the same idea that letting the mind fill in the blanks makes the message all the clearer and more effective.

Something I think Escapist moderators should take note of.

 

[RJ 17]

Thank you very much for this Yahtzee. As someone with a degree in English, a minor in Writing, and aspirations of becoming a novelist, I have a great appreciation for what you did with this article.

That and it brings validations to my views of the game itself. Seems like a LOT of people didn't like this game, saying that it was a boring walking simulator - and understandably so - and that it wasn't nearly as scary as the first game. I disagreed, saying that the horror was a lot more subtle, as you described. The horror comes from the writing itself, and not from running in terror as a shambling monstrosity is breathing down your neck. The game plays like an Edgar Allen Poe story. I know a lot of people who find Poe's writing to be boring, but there is true terror to be found in his words...and it all comes from the writing itself.

The horror of A Machine for Pigs isn't blatant and in-your-face the way it was in Dark Descent, what with the monsters and the insanity meter and the "run for your life!" gameplay. It comes rather from learning of the main character's pasts and the sins he committed there-in, all delivered through fantastic writing.

So thanks again, Yahtzee, for not only providing someone like me with a very interesting article to read, but also validation on my views of the game itself. :3

 

[FallenMessiah88]

I agree with this, especially since I find story to be a very important part of video games.

 

[romxxii]

It's funny that Yahtzee mentions GTA, the poster child for "using as many words as possible to say next to nothing" in game writing.

I thought the poster child was Metal Gear?

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

It's funny that Yahtzee mentions GTA, the poster child for "using as many words as possible to say next to nothing" in game writing.

I thought the poster child was Metal Gear?

Metal gear certainly raised the bar in time wasting conversations! I wouldnt have been that bothered if the characters actually had some chemistry and believable dialogue.
Plus, just because i want to save, it isnt code for 'can we talk more bollock plz?'.
I would like to see an option in future MGS where you can just turn off the communications device to not be harrassed like an untrusted child in a shopping centre

 

[Jeyl]

To offer a minor and probably irrelevant correction, it's actually six words that are spoken. Daddy is said twice in the beginning. Why twice? Maybe whoever is saying it can't really see this Daddy character, or that Daddy is so far removed from being the person this character once knew that when the moment the two meet for the first time, the use of the "Daddy" twice is an attempt to appeal to his caring, parental side. Sad part is,

Spoiler

Mandus believed he was acting out of parental care.

 

[Kenjitsuka]

Liked it, thanks as always!