My main problem with AMFP: Observer vs. Participator

[Alardem]

EDIT: Whoa, the forum ate my response!

If you're really gonna use the credentials argument: I'm a double major in English and History, and I stick to my guns. I bet Dan Pinchbeck's also got plenty of experience with reading Victorian literature. :p

It's true that not all Victorian literature was purple prose, as its comprehensibility spanned a vast range, but Ozzie's overwrought monologues fit that of a self-righteous, deluded aristocratic character. As far as period-appropriate dialogue goes, he's a far more convincing character than Alexander or the folks from Bioshock: Infinite. (That game's writing has made it my punching bag.) He may appear ludicrous to an audience in 2013, but I prefer that over a man who speaks as if he's from my time.

There are plenty of flaws with the story-telling, chief being the overuse of notes in lieu of environmental or audio cues. One problem is that Mandus' notes, both in his journal and the papers he picks up, seem to represent his internal thoughts - this is supported by the fact that he writes ridiculously long notes during moments where he logically has no time to do so (chase scenes) and that you very conspicuously see a note materialize before your eyes when the woman gets grabbed by Pigs in the London Attack scene. Perhaps it would have been better to do what SOMA is doing and express Mandus' thoughts as voice-overs.

Another is that he's even more "mustache-twirling" than Alexander. We're meant to take his rants about feeding kids to piggies and calling his victims delicious seriously.

However, I would chalk down this overdose of text in a video-game as a casualty of scope exceeding limited resources. It's why so many horror games use audio-logs and notes instead of actually showing what the notes are talking about.