Exactly! One of those situations in which you rebel but are impotent, something like that.
Hmm, that could be rather interesting, will it have consequences beyond that portion of the game? Will anyone acknowledge the fact that you broke the fourth wall with a sledgehammer, or will people act like nothing happened? Well, at the very least itāll be a fun ride.
I have no idea. Maybe a different outcome for ābreaking it with a sledgehammerā or ācarefully lockpicking itā? That could turn out to add a lot of replayability.
Eh, no more than if you added a separate side quest, though the novelty of the idea will likely be a deciding factor.
Though Iād like to note that the buildup to that point is also important, breaking the fourth wall in different manners have different tones to them, serious, comical, tragic or otherwise. Of course, from what Iāve read of your work I think you know that already.
1 Like
Goodness, i was actually thinking about āBreaking the fourth wallā scenes for my work for a past few days lately, and this thread appeared. what kind of sorcery is this?
1 Like
The game will break the 4th ball earlier the depending are your choices in beg you not to continue playing cuz its not going to make anybody happier
Read a comic once (scream? I think) where a prisoner was put in a hole and died, he came back as a zombie and attacked people, including the guy who was reading the comic and the writer. It ended with time being reversed to when they found him dead in the hole but there were two extra bodies with him, talk about breaking the barrier.
1 Like
Thatās actually pretty freaking cool! 
Duh well no actually!
1 Like
Oh I finally get it you are frightened of anime. God it scares the scrap out of me, all those little creatures with the big round eyes, not to mention the fact that most of them donāt have noses. It gives me nightmares.
https://tse2.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.M5059e33cea5d3082ec44fb5b8478ffc3o0&pid=15.1
Ha! Oh, I wish. Iām scared of jumpscares like, I donāt care how stupid it isā¦ I like quiet and I hate sudden, unnatural, loud noises! Itās the autism, I guess.
But I do think you have a point there. Think of their skulls!
I personally value the breaking of the fourth wall in situations where the occurrence can be explained both ingame(in roleplaying terms) and offgame(as a subtle reference or dialogue with more than one meaning) but by no means I believe that I share the same preference as the majority of the public.
I view that the constant use of gratuitous metalanguage can feel as cheap, but when it is done in a unexpected or innovative way, it can feel very fresh and engaging.
Of course, there are infinite ways to do this and Iāve seen many different approaches work in critical acclaimed successes.
Iāll bear it in mind (jump scare) and promise to only post slowly and quietly.
I do not get scared very often, but what makes me cringe is legs and kneecaps as in die hard and misery.
I just have to look away.
1 Like
I had an idea for a game sort of like the one mentioned about turning against the author. Basically, the main character is kind of a paranoid loon, but also partly right. Anyway, his āthemā is The Plot, which is a play on both paranoid delusions and conspiracy theories and, of course, the actual plot of the game. So he tends to be very suspicious of the convenient coincidences and interesting characters that are an inevitable part of the story. āYouāre working for The Plot!ā
1 Like
There are a few paths in Highlands, Deep Waters were you can break the fourth wall. Some are done according to the characterās current sanity, others are easter eggs, and a few are actually plot points. They usually can be interpreted in multiple ways, as the game constantly hints you that there is some kind of psychic influence over the town.
Iāll try to state some that I remember from my head:
1 - At one point in the game, the narrator might inquire you about a past failed relationship you had, questioning why it didnāt work out. You can then reply āNone of your goddamn business.ā, to which the narrator states that heās sorry about asking. Then the game proceeds as if nothing happened.
2 - Thereās a very, very specific branch where you can start questioning some invasive descriptions that the narration of the game tells you about what you should be feeling or doing. Youāll then notice thereās something trying to influence your decisions. Something that calls you a āmeat puppetā. You might even try to kill yourself in order to rebel against it.
Two of the main themes of the game are about the will to make your own choices and trying to discern what is real and what is unfounded paranoia or simplyā¦ madness. During the prologue, you play as one character, but as it ends and ten years pass, you play as different one, trying to follow the steps of the first investigator. Depending on how you finished the prologue, the first investigator might come back, and youāll once again control him/her. Thing is: He/she has passed ten years under the influence of the cult youāre investigating, being drugged and brainwashed to become one of āThemā. You can accept your fate, you can try to run from it or you can try to cling to what little sanity you have left and try to destroy them from the inside. You might even try to leave leads for the second investigator to follow.