You can find one of his father's (Richard’s) books down here as well, a scholarly tome on James Joyce put out by a university press. It’s a letter from his father congratulating him on being published, but largely deriding the book as pulp fiction garbage. The first clue is a copy of Terrence’s first book, with a note taped to the back. However, there’s still more to the story in the basement. By the end it’s revealed that a publisher has rediscovered and re-released his books, and that Terrence has begun work on a third novel. Since he moved to the house on Arbor Hill, it’s indicated that he’s become physically and emotionally distant from his family and possibly drinks too much. He had two books released dealing with time travel and the Kennedy assassination (in 1963, remember?), but his publisher dropped him because of declining sales and he contributes to the family by writing stereo equipment reviews for a magazine. He is a science fiction writer fallen on hard times. All we know is that, according to a newspaper article about Oscar’s drugstore/ice cream parlor, Terrence was his favorite nephew, and then he stopped seeing him suddenly when Terrence was still young. The other letter in Terrence’s office is Oscar’s will, indicating 1973 was the year he willed the house on Arbor Hill to Terrence, though there’s no evidence the two ever corresponded anymore. According to some other evidence in the game (more on that later), the last time Terrence saw Oscar, he was 12 years old, in 1963. The postmark on this letter is 1973, 23 years before the game takes place. You are always welcome on Arbor Hill, I will understand -urse if you feel you can- accept this invitation. Your marriage gives me much reassurance in this regard. I have had more than a little time to consider my past and my family, and my thoughts have often lingered on your development and welfare in the ten years since we last met. ![]() News reaches me that you are newly married to a wonderful young woman. ![]() I write on what I hope and imagine is a joyous occasion. All these notes are optional and easy to miss, and just to make it even more annoying, they’re all in a hard-to-read script you really have to take the time to decipher. One is in a false bottom compartment in Terrence’s desk, another in a locked file cabinet, and the last in a safe in the basement. With the exception of some newspaper clippings, every note directly dealing with Oscar as a living person is hidden. Oscar somewhat fades into the background as the plot tightens on Sam and Lonnie’s relationship, but there is still a compelling history involving him. There’s also the matter of creepy secret passages plastered with old newspaper advertisements Oscar apparently had built into the house at some point.Īll of this is primarily part of the game’s fake-out, that you’re playing a survival horror game until it becomes clear all the creepiest elements were merely window dressing for a more mundane coming-of-age story. Samantha and her girlfriend, Lonnie, attempt to summon him in a séance under the stairs, and notes left by the girls indicate that they believe his ghost wanders the halls of the house on Arbor Hill. Oscar is probably the most mysterious figure in the game’s lore. The one I want to look at today is about Terrence, Kaitlin and Samantha’s dad, and his uncle, Oscar Masan, who died and left the Greenbriars his mansion. And that’s a very compelling story that I enjoy, but the entire Greenbriar family also has a tale lurking in the shadows. The focus of the game is Kaitlin Greenbriar's returning home from a summer abroad and exploring the new house her family moved into while she was away, all the while discovering that her sister, Samantha, had fallen in love with a girl at school and run away with her to start a new life. Yet, even though the game is three years old and has been endlessly dissected, I notice there’s a backstory that never seems to get explored or talked about. ![]() It ranks up there with re-watching Harlem Nights or re-reading The Great Train Robbery as one of my go-to comfort media experiences. ![]() Since Gone Home made its way onto consoles and I finally got a chance to play it, it’s become one of my favorite video games of all time.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |