In the end, HER completely dropped this plot point and, to me, CAP suffered as a result (though I was glad to see that a similar idea was eventually explored in GTH).ĬAP plays with some interesting ideas that try to give depth to its plot and character motivations, such as Karl's doppelganger backstory, but it just feels too light in tone in some places (especially with Lukas and Karl mostly played for laughs) and frustratingly vague with its mystery in other ways. To me, this was really interesting, and I was looking forward to potentially seeing maybe modern day descendants of this family who try to reconcile with the monster and their family's dark history. It was teased during a conversation with Savannah in SAW about how the castle was owned by a family that committed horrible atrocities in the past that were the root cause of the monster. For me, this was disappointing because it was built up really nicely before release. This is made worst by the fact that CAP directly follows SAW which, to me, is genuinely scary at some points and includes a genuinely effective plot with characters who carry a great deal of pain in their hearts that looms throughout the game in a way that really enhanced the dark tone and scary atmosphere.ĬAP was supposed to be similar in this regard but it never quite panned out that way. Personally, my major gripe is that the game is supposed to be one of the scarier entries in the series (at least that was the way it was marketed) and it's not really that scary. Both were difficult to navigate, which at points was frustrating, because they were hard to see in due to the darkness and weren't particularly interesting looking, feeling like retreads of similar areas from previous games. That said, I never liked the forest or the underground tunnels. The castle has some nice areas in it, like the gift shop and the glass blowing room. When CAP came out, I really liked it, but now that we're over a decade since it first released (madness) I wonder what I liked so much about it. I genuinely tried to like it, but CAP just left me with a feeling of disappointment, and I'm still not sure where it would fall in my personal ranking of the games. Nor were any of the (in person) characters really enjoyable. But I feel like HER pulled their punch and was intentionally vague (in order to avoid upsetting young girl gamers or their parents) and the message ended up a bit wishy-washy.Īs for as puzzles go, nothing really stands out besides Raid and the cow game, for better or worse. I do sort of like the idea that the monster is a symbol of (and an imaginary scapegoat for) the violence, physical and sexual, that is perpetrated against women and ignored by the Castle Finster community. But the story, while it has an interesting premise, is pretty weak, and a lot of the story points make no sense when you think about them.Īnya plans to disappear Nancy (and presumably kill her) in order to frame Markus and ruin his life, but like, even in 2011 the email detailing the "monster plan" could be traced back to her or at least proven to not have been sent from Markus right? And surely someone would notice on the security footage that Anya disappears whenever the monster appears? Renate's map of monster sightings- what was the explanation for that? Why does Nancy need to prove to Karl that the monster isn't Lukas, and how does taking photos of the monster in the middle of the forest prove it isn't Lukas? Why was Anya grunting and pacing back and forth in the same spot in the forest? How does the scarf of Renate's sister, who disappeared like 70 years ago, suddenly show up in immaculate condition in the tunnels? Where is Lukas' dad? What the hell does "the Captive Curse" even mean? The setting and the soundtrack are both really lovely, and I kind of loved Markus. Not one of the best games but also not one of the worst- maybe the most forgettable game though. I just replayed CAP for the first time since 2015 and found it pretty meh.
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