I’m not convinced Mr. Sahwit is being honest with us. Thankfully, we have the evidence to break him in Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney.
You know a tutorial section for a video game is good when it’s fun to replay it even if you’ve already done so multiple times, and that’s how I feel here in “The First Turnabout”.
It just makes me all the more eager to start the first real case next week.
This one will be a unique experience for me because it’s probably the first game I’ve played on stream where there is no voice acting whatsoever, so I need to provide the audio stimulation entirely on my own.
I do tend to want to comment on the game, how it plays, and my thoughts on its writing. Hopefully having to perform double duty by reading the script on top won’t hinder that part of my “house style”, as it were. Thankfully, if it does we have other avenues to work with.
I’m excited. These are very watchable games, as I can speak to from personal experience. So if you happen to be one of the people following my content, but haven’t played these games before, you’re in for a treat.
We’ve solved the case, so let’s take a few minutes to discuss it.
Normally, this is the part where I tell you what game I’m playing next, and to look forward to it next week. However, for once I knew both what I wanted to play and that I would have enough time to start it. So instead, look forward to the start of Pheonix Wright: Ace Attorney tomorrow!
At last, we have finally reached the end of this mystery. Using the facts at our disposal, we should be able to nail down who killed Kate Vine. This is the finale of Contradiction: Spot the Liar.
My understanding is that in the universe in which Contradiction had a sequel, the first order of business was to resolve the lingering plot thread regarding Atlas and its true goals. I would have loved to see that materialize, but the odds of that happening are nearly non-existent.
Given that we don’t live in that world, I quite like the ambiguity that’s left behind in its wake. We know that Atlus caused some serious damage, and we know that there’s something more sinister at play. However, for all we know there’s no brainwashing or satanic cults at all. It’s equally plausible that this is just the logical endpoint of capitalism made manifest via two extraordinarily corrupt businessmen. It could be any number of things, and the fact that we don’t know allows our imagination to try to fill in the gaps.
I’m a firm believer that not everything needs to be explained, and leaving room for interpretation can create a more interesting work. This is one of the games that best exemplifies that while still resolving the important plot threads.
Should we even be surprised that there turned out to be way more to this mystery than meets the eye? Satanic Cults? Demons? Capitalism? Mind Control? Brainwashing? How deep does this well go?
And will we stop asking questions in Contradiction: Spot the Liar?
I don’t think it would surprise anyone to hear the Contradiction was developed on a small budget, but looking into the dev process I was shocked to discover just how little the creator Tim Follin was working with: £4010, or about $6615 at the time. It’s not until about this point in the game, where certain plot points appear to be rushed or dropped, that the limited resources start to make their impact known. Honestly, even knowing things had to be cut due to practical constraints, the game still manages to resolve the central plot thread to a satisfying conclusion and set up for a potential sequel that seems especially unlikely now that Paul Darrow is no longer with us.
If you’re curious to learn more, I recommend reading the interview from GamesIndustry.biz. From the way it sounds, Tim Follin crunched himself hard to make the closest thing he could to his dream game, and I can only express both my sympathy and my respect.
You heard it here, folks. We have a new clue, so it’s time to ask every single person we’ve met so far about it in Contradiction: Spot the Liar!
We’re getting close. And the closer we come to the truth of Kate Vine’s death, the more bizarre this village appears.
Next week, we’ll conclude this mystery. The final contradictions will reveal the missing pieces.
The investigation appears primed to take a turn, and why does everything seem to revolve around Atlas and the Rands?
Perhaps we’ll find the answer if we can just spot the Contradiction!
And now we can to one of my favorite parts of the story: How open it is to interpretation.
Over the investigation, we’ve been presented with several “explanations” behind what Altas’s true motivations are. They could be legitimate businessmen indoctrinating students into embracing the capitalist mindset and becoming the worst business-brained scumbags. They could be using brainwashing techniques to create slaves to sell on the black market. Or, they could be devil worshippers implanting demons into innocent college kids.
Either way, the Rands appear to be inexorably linked to the death of our murder victim. And as we unravel the puzzle, things start to grow even more bizarre. As we continue, we had best be prepared for any eventuality.
How strange! We seem to have picked up a DVD containing evidence of pickpocketing. Who would be so brazen as to film themselves committing crimes, and why?
Perhaps it will lead to a new Contradiction.
How time changes our perspectives. Hypnosis is not my thing personally, but in the furry fandom, I’m aware of multiple people who are into hypnosis and could be reasonably considered knowledgeable on the subject. One of them conveniently happens to be in the process of writing a short comic regarding how to practice hypnosis safely. While it isn’t exactly what you’d expect from pop culture, it’s still something that influences one’s state of mind and needs to be done with respect to that person.
And that’s something I wouldn’t have the ability to point to years ago, when this game originally came out.
At last, we have finally managed to meet the elusive founder of Atlas, Paul Rand. Perhaps he’ll have some clues as to who killed Laura Palm- I mean Kate Vine.
I shouldn’t be surprised that the actor playing Paul Rand is so skilled at his craft, for he is none other than Paul Darrow, which I should have known. For those of you who have been following my channel for a while, this man is the voice of the evil sorcerer Zarok, the primary antagonist of Medievil, a role that he was happy to reprise for both the PSP version and the 2019 remake. Alas, part of why this was noteworthy is that he passed before he could reprise his role, so the developers chose to clean up and reuse his already recorded lines rather than recast him. There was even a dedication to his memory in the credits for the remake.
Rest in power, Mr. Darrow. You were a great talent.
The clock is ticking, and we only have a few hours left to solve the mystery of Lauren Palm- Kate Vine. The question remains what else has been tangled up in this bizarre case in the otherwise sleepy village of Edenton.
It’s always strange going back to replay or rewatch old media with fresh eyes because I never picked up on Contradiction’s strained relationship with relatively benign (and now legal in many areas) substances like salvia and pot. I myself don’t partake in either, but even I’m aware that the danger of both substances has been largely exaggerated in pop culture and beyond.
But looking back, this game is almost ten years old, so I can’t be too surprised by that either. The world changed a great deal in the time since, and this is partially a time capsule of bygone days.
Next time, we’ll interview Paul Rand, father of Ryan Rand (not Paul Ryan, nor Ayn Rand).
