A trilogy of horror quests from Harvester Games (Downfall, The Cat Lady, now here Lorelai) – it’s like movies Andrey Zvyagintsev, where depression, everyday dreariness and general darkness are intertwined with mysticism, filmed in the language of video clips Marilyn Manson (Marilyn Manson; talking primarily about Sweet Dreams). Unless in Lorelai Less hard rock and more Evanescence. It turns out just as crazy, scary, depressing, stylish and overall very cool. These games have already received cult status, and their author, Remigush Michalski (Remigiusz Michalski), is now considered an artist who creates real art – albeit very uncomfortable in places. And yet, despite all the similarities between the three projects, Lorelai very different from the others.
About freaks and people
The trilogy takes place in the Devil Came Through Here universe, created by Michalski. The first one was released in 2009 Downfall: A Horror Adventure Game, which was primarily remembered for the abundance of creepy, bloody scenes. There were so many of them, and everything was so pulsating with an insane nightmare that some – I know this personally – were even sickened by what they saw.
The picture was stylish, but somehow dirty and unkempt. Combined with weak technical performance, this would have left the game at the level of niche indie trash, if not for the gorgeous soundtrack and a really crazy, complex plot. The story told how the main character, on the verge of divorce from his wife, stays with her at a hotel in a provincial town, after which they quarrel, the wife disappears without a trace, and the husband finds himself between the world of the living and the dead. By making difficult decisions and occasionally doing terrible things, we could influence the ending.
In 2012 Harvester Games released The Cat Lady, where both the picture and the technical performance were already at a qualitatively different level. And the plot was about a lonely woman who lived with cats, inviting them to her apartment by playing the piano. Then she committed suicide, but again ended up on the border between worlds, where she met the local Mephistopheles – the Queen of Hearts. She offered her a deal – to kill five human “parasites” in exchange for a return to life and even immortality. Atmospheric music, very lively, emotional dialogues and well-written characters were included.
A remake was released in 2016 Downfall, in which Rem Michalski not only corrected the overall visual style, clearly looking back at The Cat Lady, but also removed the logical inconsistencies of the original, actually linking the two stories together. Not everyone liked it, but everyone was looking forward to the third part, which the author clearly hinted at.
Dislike
We waited. Lorelai, the final part of this trilogy came out and overall did not disappoint. And purely visually, this is probably the best thing I’ve drawn today Michalski. Here he mixes 2D and 3D for the first time, not forgetting to constantly change the angle and color palette, moving from bright, almost poisonous colors to a stylish black-red and black-and-white palette, alternating close-up and long-range shots in a short space of the frame, adding various tricky filters, blur. And filling it all with walls of rain, the sight of drops flowing down the glass, which, together with the sad-beautiful music, so accurately reflect the inner state of the main character.
The girl Laura (but everyone calls her Lorelai) with a rosebud in her black hair seems to live in the same film Zvyagintseva. The father died, the mother smokes, drinks and suffers from depression, the stepfather (who, of course, hardly dries out) beats the mother and periodically pesters her eldest daughter. Yes, Lorelai has a baby sister, Bethany, whom her mother’s boyfriend, understandably, can’t stand. College isn’t going well either, and Lorelai is forced to go wash old women in a nursing home.
At some point, the mother https://winomania-casino.co.uk/ commits suicide, and the stepfather goes crazy – and the usual bloody horror for this series begins. After her death, Lorelai ends up in a strange border dimension, where she meets the same Queen of Hearts. She, as usual, offers to bring her back to life, but not for her beautiful eyes..
Flights in dreams and in reality
From this moment on, the action constantly switches between past and present, the boundaries of reality shift, Laura either dies or is reborn and moves between the world of the living and the possessions of the Queen of Hearts. And we, as in previous games, desperately don’t understand whether this is happening in a dream or in reality.
Michalski, Of course, he uses familiar techniques. The corridors of the apartment can be painted with bloody patterns and inscriptions, and when Lorelai goes into the kitchen, she risks falling into another dimension. There are practically no screamers, but there are mannequins that suddenly grow behind their backs and at some point will definitely turn their heads. Or, for example, dead old women in a nursing home, even after death, begin to squeeze the panic button, calling for help in a ward with terrible pictures. What will happen if you reach out to their hand and unclench your palm – you understand..
However, in execution Rema Michalski even clichés are impressive due to how stylish, powerful and atmospheric it is presented. Music plays a special role in this, due to which a more or less measured narrative (well, as far as one can even talk about in this case) periodically turns into cool music videos. As a result, all this begins to look like some kind of arthouse movie – well, or like a typical series "Legion" Noah Hawley (Noah Hawley).
Die, so with music. And a smile!
Our heroine solves the corresponding problems. Find the headless corpses of herself and her mother, and then find their heads and attach them back; put a pig’s snout on my stepfather; correctly arrange objects on the graves of your family members (and on your own, of course, too); pull the key out of the mouth of a dead shark – what does it feel like??
God bless, Michalski doesn’t lose his sense of humor. Laura has a funny neighbor, Zach, who loves video games and makes them himself. In a conversation with him, you can spend 10 minutes of real time listening to hilarious stories about what projects he is currently preparing – and even play some (naturally, “pixel” ones). Zach, in particular, assures that the authors Fortnite and similar royal battles stole the idea from him.
One day he will offer to help pick the lock – because he saw how they do it in Skyrim. The heroine herself remembers that cats seem to be afraid of cucumbers, and willingly uses this knowledge to make one street cat, squealing and jumping, rush into the distance and carry away with him a dog that is blocking us from passing.
Simpler means worse?
IN Lorelai everything is good – visual style, music, dialogues, plot, characters, which, despite the mysticism reigning around, are very similar to real people. However, if you compare the game with the previous parts of this trilogy, you will notice that the puzzles have become much simpler (we mainly look for, use and combine one or two items from the inventory), and the story has become more understandable, simple and concise. In any other case, this would be considered a blessing, but from horror Harvester Games you’re just waiting for a higher degree of madness, blossoming complexity and wild, inexplicable actions. In other words, here we get "Leviathan" the same Zvyagintseva (well, or "Fool" Yuri Bykov) about everyday life, only with powerful mysticism – but I would like, for example, "Antichrist" Lars von Trier (Lars von Trier)!
As before, we periodically make decisions about what to do and what to respond: to be impudent and even rude or obedient; whether to smoke your first cigarette or not; call Zack your boyfriend or keep your distance; pour laxatives into the tea of the nasty older sister in the nursing home or try to improve relations with her. But now the decisions have become more obvious – and by and large only one or two of them will somehow affect the finale.
Other dilemmas no longer evoke the same emotional response. IN The Cat Lady at some point it depended on us whether we would bring the main character to hysterics or not. And in Lorelai something similar happens only in relation to an unfamiliar guy – well, what do we care about him?
Dot the i’s
On the other hand, we must understand that times have changed. And today the authors (which was noticeable even in the remake Downfall) also work for new audiences. That is why, apparently, they decided to make the story more sane and accessible. Moreover, if we are talking specifically about the final part of the trilogy, then it was clearly important to dot the i’s and finally give answers. In this regard, the decision to simplify the plot, to finalize the image of the same Queen of Hearts (even though not everyone may like how exactly this was done) looks just right.
By the way, in Lorelai many references to Downfall And The Cat Lady — the authors tried to more or less put all the lines together. Apparently, this is also why it was necessary to make the story more linear – so that the players would not tear the folding puzzle apart with the abundance of their decisions.
In any case and Lorelai, and this whole beautifully crazy trilogy from Harvester Games – this is, of course, a phenomenon. What started out as a niche indie nightmare eventually turned into the same niche, independent, but real art – with outstanding visual and musical accompaniment, non-trivial direction, living characters. And with the right to hope. In fact, there is no violence for the sake of violence here. Despite all the mysticism and exaggerated cruelty, these are games about all of us, about our lives – and this virtual reality is cruel in direct proportion to how cruel our real existential existence is. Here there was a place for black depression, and light sadness, and melancholy, and freaks, and people. It turns out to be a kind of replacement therapy for those who find themselves in similar situations. Just before starting treatment with Lorelai, I strongly recommend that you first read Downfall And The Cat Lady. And then we will wait together for new games from Harvester Games.
Pros: truly fascinating plot; lively, well-developed characters and dialogues; gorgeous directing; adult themes; outstanding visual and musical score.
Cons: the plot has become simpler, shorter and more linear compared to previous games; riddles have been simplified; the animation is just as clumsy as before (although this can also be called a conscious stylistic decision).
