Alone in the Dark 2 - Amazing Grace

After that totally necessary sequence last time, I'm ready to enjoy more stealth sections in my survival horror game.

I'd make fun of this, but considering how things go later...

Carnby wants me to get the key to the shackles, so Grace is going to have to get them. I've got a teddy bear, which will come in handy at one point...probably. Its not that difficult to get out, just selecting push against a block of wood against the wall. We're running on cheap animation rules at the moment.

I don't think that'll give me away

The next room has a lot of stuff, but no key. There's a parrot and a bag of seeds. The parrot speaks after eating and tells me where to find a staff latter and not to sneeze. There's also a pepper shaker and a sandwich, the latter just seems to be a healing item. Big help for Grace...oh, there's going to be fighting with Grace, isn't there?
Curiously, there's a map on the wall that causes a vocal chorus to swell for some reason.

The sword shows why they're avoiding texturing the characters in detail

This connects to a hallway. Where there's a pirate. Yay. He goes along on a set pattern, more or less, and if you're within a certain range, he catches you. But if you reach a hidey-hole, you can't be seen. If this sounds boring and utterly pointless, it is. You want to know what Wolfenstein 3D would have looked like if they went with their original idea, here's your example. There are several doors and ladders here, most of which seem to be locked. At least, I have no idea how Grace is going to open them.

Why does this pirate ship have so many pirates?

After making it up a ladder, disaster strikes. Another pirate, only this time I have no where to go next. I don't want to do this. It looks like up is really the only way forward. Oh, this game.

I'm going to be so glad to kill these guys next time

It gets better. The top of the ship is absolutely the worst stealth section in any game possible. You advance like someone would expect to, going behind the boxes and barrels. Only, then two of the guys notice and chase after me. Okay, I'll wait behind a barrel for them...how the hell did they spot me? They keep doing it. Its like some bizarre timer, you walk into a particular hotspot, they activate, you wait, they activate.

Because they can spot me behind a barrel but not this barrel...for some reason

Wanna know how you get past them? You turn around from the start. This isn't obvious, because from most of the camera angles, you can't see anything there. Even so, there's a guard there. You wouldn't think that. That's not the end of it, because one of the moving guards dropped something near the hole you're heading towards. You have to avoid the hotspots that awaken them. There's a reason why beta testers are a thing. The item is a tinder-box.

Why would you keep that?

The hole leads to the captain's room...for some reason. Inside are in some order, a small cannon, a crystal vase, and the captain's staff. There's no way out, so I fiddle around with the items. Throwing the crystal vase causes a pirate to open the door. Aha, I think, I must drop the cannon, light it and blow him away. So I try that again. Nothing happens. I look around the room again. Nothing. Okay, I'm missing something. Turns out I should have put the pepper shaker into the cannon. Gee, why didn't I think of that, after all I surely examined that.
I would like to point out again, I have no examination function. After defeating him, I get a bell.

From this shot, it feels like he's creeping on Grace

Outside there's that damn short chef again, but the door across is open. There's a kitchen there. The only items of note are a dumbwaiter and a chicken foot. I stumble upon the correct solution completely by accident. Ring the bell, and the dumbwaiter opens. Taking Grace...

This feels like a monkey paw thing

Back to the house. Okay, fair enough. There's a key which opens the nearby cabinet. Giving me a tin of molasses and a container of ice. Further examination reveals that there's nothing else, but the second I enter the main lobby, a guard notices me and I can't run away. I can see the bunkhouse and see nothing new. Okay, clearly I have to use one or the other on the floor, and at this point I don't really care. The magic walkthrough tells me that I have to use the ice on the kitchen floor and then drag him over there.

Also, it keeps talking about a tip sheet that came with the game, and I can't find any evidence of its existence.

And we never see him again

Upstairs its a similar event, except with the molasses. This one causes the zombie to get stuck. I'm not supposed to do anything else, he's just supposed to die...eventually. I leave him, since this is apparently done. In the corridor the door to the bedroom is closed but everything else is open.

This is supposed to be a hint

The only change is in One-Eyed Jack's bedroom, a vision occurs as I enter. I fail to understand it, and discover that I'm supposed to use the captain's staff on the desk. This gives me a key and a book. The book, written from the perspective of someone aboard ol' Pregzt's ship, describes how to cure someone of voodoo possession. I need a chicken foot, a piece of chalk, (to make a symbol) a strange staff and a mirror.

There are two of them? Huh?

After this the witch's door is open and in there I use the staff on the depression in the floor to turn the staff into a Loa staff. Which is probably the staff needed. Two more items. Apparently I can do something with the organ again, but there's an evil aura that's impossible to dispel and its only useful if I didn't use the ice on this floor. There's another guard, but he falls for the same trick as the other one and I'm back on the ship. Captured instantly too.

The circle of life has no beginning...or end...

Now I'm back as Carnby in yet another annoying mini-game...Press the arrow keys until you can reach the key, then use it. I get the idea, but after a couple hours of Grace, I just want it over. And over it is. It doesn't seem like there's a time limit either. After escaping, I deliver a sound thrashing to the guard. Grace has run off, so I enter the next room and thrash another one. Grace is still nowhere to be seen. I think this is a good place to stop.

Total Time: 9.5 hours

This Session: 1.5 hours