outlastingthetrials

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Bad Influences

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"Easy there, Tango"

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FIRE WALKK WITHH ME [An outlast trials AMV]

AAAAAA AFTER 5 DAYSS AND FIVE NIGHTS, ITS FINISHED

Anyways, hopee you guyss likee thiss

SONG: TwinPeaks, Firewalk with me by Fantomas

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Happy prime time freaks

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Absolutely, especially the fact that they’re getting Kusamura back in AND a ‘she’ has already learnt Japanese which I think will be our Medea. Toxic shock 2.0 baby!!!!

I am seeing a lot of people talk about the new prime assets being conjoined and it would be interesting to have a prime asset with eyes in the back of their head (one looking back).

On the other hand it could be a piggy back situation, the larger carries the small one. It could also be another ranged enemy with the ‘medea’ character carrying poison bombs to throw at reagents while the larger one serves as a ‘tank’ like enemy. One fast, one slow.

Aaaah cannot wait for July

Prime Asset Predictions

All of these are like, drawn from things inside the game so far, especially event stuff (spoilers for the event)

These might all mean nothing, but I do think the names can't really be a coincidence here? Idk. Just noticed some interesting theming and wanna see if I can predict what the "deal" with our new Prime Assets will be ☺️

Firstly, the new room decor.

Medea is from Greek mythology, and actually has a connection to the Minotaur, as @alien-atomz discovered! She is the niece of the mother of the Minotaur, as well as being the granddaughter of the sun god Helios. The room includes a fake sun on the ceiling and obviously the Relapse Catalogue also has a cute lil sun mirror, so interesting to see some sun imagery injected into the game there.

But I believe that the person on the Minotaur's back is our Medea.

Medea's story in greek myth is interesting. She married Jason from the Argonauts after helping him defeat her father and betraying her home for him, only for him to go on to leave her for a princess. Medea poisons the princess and the king, as well as her and Jason's own kids, before leaving him to marry someone else. Jason later dies, crushed by the mast of his own ship I think.

The Minotaur is obviously a different type of tragedy. A king was gifted a bull by the gods to sacrifice to them, but he really fuckin loved that bull and tried to trick the gods by sacrificing another. They obviously know it's not the special cow and enchant the king's wife to be in love with the bull. She is given a cow costume (I THINK made by Daedalus???) in order to trick the bull into fucking her and she gives birth to the Minotaur. The king is furious, has him locked in a labyrinth and sends in maidens to satisfy his aggression, he is later killed by Theseus.

The name of these plants is "Quarantine's Pastime", and who has been in quarantine since before LATHE 2 because he has syphilis? Whitehorn.

"Fiddy" or "Fiddle Leaf", known to purify air.

"Potter" can mean someone who makes pottery or has potted this particular plant, but "Potter" also has another meaning

I believe that the person behind Whitehorn might be a relative or partner (or both*), who is particularly interested in gardening. I imagine the mechanic for this character might revolve around poison, maybe in a gas form, maybe something else. Similar to Toxic Shock perhaps? Whitehorn (or our Minotaur) is a heavy hitter, likely big and bulky, but slow. Our Medea doesn't deal much damage, clinging to the Minotaur, but laces items or places around the maps, maybe the traps have poison powder. The last name "Kress" in Kress Chemical and Kress Estate is, as I've mentioned before, obviously a type of plant or vegetable.

Maybe Prescott Whitehorn married the daughter of Kress Chemical. Maybe Prescott Whitehorn is cousins with the Kress family, or that's his niece or nephew or something.

*It could also be incestuous. @outlastingthetrials pointed out how ironic or interesting it would be if these well-to-do people, far richer and upper class than the other Primes, were actually in an incestuous relationship. Potentially to keep the bloodline pure if they're weird old money types, or a link to European royalty perhaps. But I agree, I think that would be a super interesting dynamic to explore. Maybe an Uncle and Niece? That's also pretty common in Greek Mythology.

Also I find the "Politics" document interesting, as with the "Prime Time II" ones. I think we're getting a JFK ending for SURE, but maybe also either a Reagent or maybe even Whitehorn himself running for President? Ensuring that Murkoff controls the entire country? Feels a little far fetched, but Avellanos seems to be hinting at that, at least to me.

Idk, maybe this is all complete nonsense and I've completely thrown random shit together for nothing.

Compels me though.

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JFK mention in the documents

We’re one step closer to a grassy knoll ending

Murkoff’s getting even more involved in politics, what could go wrong?

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🎶 Everybody say "Hey, clown

You turned our happy upside-down

We're gonna burn your flag and piss on your parade" (piss on your parade)🎶

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MURKOFF SAYS HAPPY PRIDE MONTH!!!

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brain go brrrrrrrrrrrrrr

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Motherrr

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Muak💋

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Every time people draw Murkoff Leland with hair, an angel loses it's wings💔

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I really don't think Amelia is gonna be a Prime Asset. Maaaybe a Specialist ExPop?? But I don't know. The thing is, I see everyone saying she was super charismatic and that's how she convinced everyone to try and escape, but I just don't think that's true? Her speeches to Reagents weren't anything special, in fact, a lot of times I was wondering if they were even gonna work, opening with "you're garbage" and stuff like that. I think more than anything, Amelia proved that Lathe 2 is not working, and that's what scared Easterman the most. Not that everyone was trying to leave (though obviously that's not a good thing), but that the therapy is kind of bullshit. All of the endings so far have been seemingly a fair bit distant in the future, making me believe that as Reagents, we get out a lot later than it seems. There is no way the brainwashing can only take a few months, that has to take several years of breaking us down and reforming us. And I think it isn't working, and Amelia exposed that by encouraging Reagents to form and keep social bonds and get out of there together, something Easterman discouraged and definitely doesn't want to continue (see the upcoming PVP mode for evidence of that).

All in all, Amelia could have been anyone. She could have been any Reagent, they are all down on their luck people who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time or were seeking something or signed up willingly to a lie. But Amelia could have been literally anyone, and she knows that. There can't nor will there ever be another Mother Gooseberry because she is a unique individual with charisma and influence and experiences that shaped her to be that way. Amelia is not.

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Bambino

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Female Reagents after Franco called them mommy the 5th time this week

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If I had any say in the development of The Outlast Trials, my plea to Red Barrels would be this: expand on the characters you’ve already got instead of adding new ones. Franco, the Pitcher, Amelia, Henrietta, they’ve all been great. But do you know what’s been one of my favourite updates? The one for the Imposter. Making them able to interact with players more. I was hanging out with one for quite a while in Kill the Snitch, thinking it was my buddy @cannibalizedcadavers. He even offered me a lockpick, and if Danny hadn’t picked up a key elsewhere in the trial at that exact moment, I would’ve taken the bait and gotten stabbed. I got out of there sharpish, but it was super unsettling being misled like that, much better than the telltale giggling they used to do. 

I feel like they should add new mechanics to the guys already on the roster, refine them a little, maybe even design alternative versions. There are supposed to be multiple Pushers, multiple Night Hunters, multiple Pitchers, and yet they all have the same voice lines and appearance. The Jaeger being unique makes sense because she’s Henrietta, and we know some of the other ex-pops have names, Frank, George, Danny, etc. But we see two heavy ex-pops die. The Black Big Grunt dies twice in Franco’s trials (that I can recall), first in Poison the Medicine, then again in Poison the Cattle. So, where does that fit into the timeline? I take it we’re supposed to assume it's a different Big Grunt. 

Teach the old dogs some new tricks instead of trying to distract us with new playmates. Refine some new mechanics or behaviours, even if they’re not strictly player-related.

I’ve always found it odd that ex-pops don’t react to one another, or at least not to the Prime Assets. I’m not asking for Prime Time-level dialogue, just something, especially from specialist ex-pops. I think they’d all have something funny to say about the Pusher, and the Pusher mistakenly thinking he’s still their doctor? Come on. Give me some chemistry between the characters. There’s a severe lack of interactivity within the game, both with the characters and their environments. Actually, I think it’s only Franco and maaaaybe Phyllis who mention there’s something weird about their respective trial environments.

The Prime Assets are supposed to be these charismatic leaders, but we never get to see Phyllis playing mother hen, Coyle playing drill sergeant, or Franco building up a new gang. There’s a lot of tell, don’t show, which made sense in the beginning. I admit that during Amelia’s Escape, I was hoping to see more of the Sinyala Facility. Specifically, I was hoping to get a peek at where they’re keeping the ex-pops when they’re not in active trials. I’m imagining an asylum-type environment, which at some point could be used as a map itself. Imagine trying to escape and instead winding up in a sleep room full of ex-pops who want you dead. I know the developers have talked about this before, but I’m sorry, with how volatile the ex-pops are, I cannot see them all getting along enough to be in a sleep room like the Reagents. There must be containment procedures, something to keep them more docile when they aren’t on patrol. 

Also, they fucking killed Clyde Perry. I was really hoping to see him in-game, even if he was just looking down on us like Wernicke, maybe hear some voice lines from him. But no. He’s gone. Wasted just to big up Henrietta’s arrival. It’s interesting that both Clyde and Henrietta were victimised by Coyle, and it was Henrietta who ended Clyde. I really wonder how the Jaeger will work in Coyle’s trial environments. Because surely she’d want revenge? She could crack him like a pistachio, especially with all her new enhancements. How are they going to keep Coyle safe? Just not let them out of the insertion gate at the same time? Seems reasonable, I guess. But they probably won’t think it through that thoroughly.

I wish that story informed gameplay in more ways than just introducing new hazards. I don’t need gas or frost. What I need is for the Prime Assets to bark at their underlings and call the Pitcher a creepy bastard. For general ex-pops to maybe keep their distance from Prime Assets, or risk friendly fire.

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UPDATE

So, as you probably guessed, I started writing this before the Jaeger was released (21st April, to be exact). And just as I suspected, there’s no new dialogue between ex-pops. I expected Henrietta/the Jaeger to at least hint at something to do with Coyle. Coyle’s voice actor, Julian Bailey, seems to be tied up with other acting work at the moment, so I suppose I can understand why we’re not getting anything new from him. But come on, there’s no hostility from the Jaeger towards him? Nothing about the man who is responsible for what’s happened to her? No long-standing fear of cops or men in general? 

Uuuuugh. I just wish it mattered more which ex-pops are actually in the trial, and that they acknowledged their surroundings. Phyllis mentions feeling like she’s living the same day over and over again, and that the doctors have “moved things around again”. But she was also the one to notice Amelia running around and that the rules were changing.

I suppose this is more of a vent piece than my usual analysis-style post. In between these big, story-altering events, I’d love it if Red Barrels would sneak in some little character updates, additional dialogue, maybe a few model changes. Something. Anything. Something more than just evidence documents.