Feedback (contains spoilers)

[smoothsailing]

Even though much of the active discussion seems to happen on the Pinkerton Road forums, I'm too lazy to create an account over there and will give my feedback here

I enjoyed the game very much overall. I have no idea why so many steam users seem to complain about Malachi being non-likeable. I actually liked his arrogance and wit (I've read some comparisons with Deponia - I stopped playing Deponia because I didn't like the main character at all. Being arrogant is one thing, being stupid and mean another - didn't like the combination of both!)

I was also pretty thrilled with the whole "historical facts & figures" concept and loved analyzing people thanks to their data points (some of them took me a while to figure out!). As some others have said, the only problem is that the game felt a bit like a taster - I would have liked a bit more depth into the Moebius theory and the characters' background, but maybe we'll just have to wait. 

Now, for the cons. I'm not going to comment on some aspects that have already been heavily discussed elsewhere (the ipod/girl puzzle, the maze which was a bit too long at the end, animation issues...etc.), but I'd just would like to focus on a few points that prevented me enjoying the game fully.

- Backtracking. While I understand the concept of only picking up an object only when you know you're going to have a use for it, I thought it was a very cumbersome process. It actually made me waste so much time at the beginning of the game because I thought I had clicked on everything already (and I had). It took me forever to solve the canal puzzle because of that. Then I got the hang of it, but story-wise, it led to very unlikely situations verging on the ridiculous (Dominique's puzzle with the earrings and liquor. "mm, excuse me while I go back to New York in two minutes to get you something", when I had already spotted the earrings before but couldn't take them with me!). I actually prefer the old "pick anything you see" method.

- Gretchen. Anybody else wonders what she could possibly be doing on her tablet all day long? Oh, and I forgot: *standing*? Apart from the Gretchen/David sequence at the beginning of the game, I was disappointed in the utter lack of depth (or purpose) of her character.

- Now, something that I thought was important to mention. I suppose not a lot of players saw it but the letter found in Caroline's safe is written in very poor French and looks like it was google translated. Why not ask some French fans for some help? I would gladly translate it for you, it wouldn't take me long. That really bugged me because it deterred me from believing the story at that point, especially as the library thing wasn't very realistic either (with the "sexually frustrated" librarian, not to mention the cliché password... would you have chosen something like "statueofliberty66" if the game had been set in a US library?). I know there are probably more important things in a game, but I was surprised (and a bit disappointed, too) by the lack of research/rigor here.

- On this subject, one minor piece of detail - choosing the "Ecole normale supérieure de Paris" for Caroline doesn't work very well. This school is indeed an elite institution, but people attending it are supposed to become teachers/researchers or to work for the state as civil servants. That's not the feel I got from Caroline's character. There are some excellent schools in economics/business/management in Paris that probably would have been a better choice. I realize it may sound petty and unimportant, but for those of use who actually know Paris, it ties in with making the story more believable and giving depth to a character. That point wasn't particularly crucial, but I thought it would be good to mention in case you work on games that are set in foreign environments in the future - try to check with people from that country if the background elements are realistic or not, I'm sure you've got a bunch of international fans who'd gladly help you.

Again, I enjoyed the game very much overall. I'm pretty happy I've been following Phoenix Online for a while now. TSL is one thing, but it has led me to discover and play some pretty good games lately, so congrats and thank you for your work! I'm definitely looking forward to your next projects

[Tazettae]

On that topic, I would be very happy to help with Australian realism. And yes, I'm an Aussie.

[Tweetiti]

- Now, something that I thought was important to mention. I suppose not a lot of players saw it but the letter found in Caroline's safe is written in very poor French and looks like it was google translated. Why not ask some French fans for some help? I would gladly translate it for you, it wouldn't take me long. That really bugged me because it deterred me from believing the story at that point, especially as the library thing wasn't very realistic either (with the "sexually frustrated" librarian, not to mention the cliché password... would you have chosen something like "statueofliberty66" if the game had been set in a US library?). I know there are probably more important things in a game, but I was surprised (and a bit disappointed, too) by the lack of research/rigor here.

- On this subject, one minor piece of detail - choosing the "Ecole normale supérieure de Paris" for Caroline doesn't work very well. This school is indeed an elite institution, but people attending it are supposed to become teachers/researchers or to work for the state as civil servants. That's not the feel I got from Caroline's character. There are some excellent schools in economics/business/management in Paris that probably would have been a better choice. I realize it may sound petty and unimportant, but for those of use who actually know Paris, it ties in with making the story more believable and giving depth to a character. That point wasn't particularly crucial, but I thought it would be good to mention in case you work on games that are set in foreign environments in the future - try to check with people from that country if the background elements are realistic or not, I'm sure you've got a bunch of international fans who'd gladly help you.

I'm glad someone is mentionning the letter it really made me cringe specially the part about the "practicalities", that made no sense! A lot of fan would love to translate this for free to you, check us up next time but I would really advise to change this ASAP.