From what I've read, everyone seems to prefer the original game to the sequel, but for me the sequel was definitely better -- is there anyone who agrees with me, lol?

Except that.... ********* SPOILER ALERT *********
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I don't get the ending, any more than I got the ending of Dark Fall! For those of you who have played Lights Out, could you please tell me what happened? That is, I know I got Malakai working and sent back out into space/time, but exactly how had he driven the lighthouse keeper(s) mad, if in fact that's what he did? And what, he shifted them back and forth between the times, and that's how anachronistic stuff got left lying around? I loved playing this game, but I'm confused as to exactly what happened, lol! Any elucidation welcome!

It was inevitable of course, now that JB has published 2 games under a common banner, that comparisons would be made, preferences expressed and battle lines drawn. The Journal vs Lights Out? Bearing in mind that each player brings along with them their own experiences when setting out on such an interactive gaming venture. Its not possible to be objective.
The most we can do is say, in this instance, what we liked and what we liked less ( I found nothing to dislike!)

So here goes, what did I think………

The storytelling was excellent in both games. JB is able to weave each individual thread so carefully that we can only stand back and admire the whole cloth set out before us. Both are full of suspense and atmosphere, we readily suspend our disbelief and become immersed in his finely drawn worlds. The settings were good and wholly believable. The attention to detail is obvious and serves to draw us in further. The sound reaches out of both games and has us literally on the edge of our seats. The voice acting is good in both games. There are loose threads at the end of both that make me ask, “yes but what…..” So I find myself thinking, then what is it that makes me prefer The Journal to Lights Out? I struggled with this for a while, but finally came to the conclusion that the lives of the characters in the first game are just more finely drawn for me than in the second game.
As simple as that.
My opinion!

To add to Dumbledores wonderful comments, I think the other thing which made Lights Out less flowing was the fact that you played during the daytime too, whereas Dark Fall was all at night in the dark The lighthouse 1912 had the same feel as Dowerton, do I Really dare open that door??? Whereas the later visits were not as creepy. OK, so I was brought up on the old horror movies so that does colour my judgement somewhat!!

I enjoyed both DF games, but did enjoy DFI a smidgeon more. Why? Like Tigger said, it was a game played at 3 am in the morning, when it was dark dark dark outside & extremely quiet, and the game occurred in a dark dark dark deserted hotel. My husband was travelling quite a bit at the time I was playing DFI, so it was great to be up all night in a dark house playing DFI.

I found myself using hints a lot more for DFII - I am not a scientist, and so all of the science-oriented situations were not intuitive for me.

It also seems to be that in most anything, games/tv/movies/books, that folks always enjoy the first in the series more - maybe because the first is always new, while the followers of the first are familiar.

Huge Gigantic Spoilers!!! Do not read below if you wish to play "Lights Out" fresh.
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Ok, deep breath.....

Malakai has been waiting since 2090BC for the right candidate to reprogram his spatial and timecode settings. The probe (number 4 in the series) was sent on his mission to discover 'dark matter' by Corbin Hart in 2090AD. The probe, after a mishap, arrives back in the same place, but in 2090BC, crashing into the sea by Fetch Rock. The Bronze Age people of the island build a seahenge to mark the arrival point, and place the probe in the caverns immediately beneath Fang Rock (the pointed stone). Time passes slowly, and eventually the camp (and caverns) are abandoned.....There he sits, and waits, for the right candidate to "free him". This event begins in 1912, when the local smugglers use the caverns as storage. The proximity of human minds awakens Malakai's AI......



As Malakai says himself: "Many have tried, and many have failed. The primitives, the Drake Creature, the Magnus Creature, The White Creature.... all have tried, and all have failed, but now there is you mapman, now there is you..."

Malakai's will cannot extend much further than the island, which is why he uses pawns, like Oliver Drake, the lighthouse keeper in 1912. Drake influences Robert Demarion to contact Parker. Demarion (from his notes found in the journal, and toilet!) already suspects there is something awry at Fetch Rock, and believes it to be a power beyond human comprehension. He has also been finding strange items washing up on the beach, like a floppy disk from 2004!

Malakai needs Parker. He senses he is the right candidate. But why...?

Both Malakai and Parker have something in common. They have both been exiled, from their home and peers. The isolation (4000 years in Malakais case!) has driven both characters a little mad, which is why Parker is a more suitable canditate. He shares a state of mind. Polly White's regression tape (found in 2004, in the rucksack) reveals that she is also less stable than the norm, but the cause of her instability is less extreme: she is the descendant of James Woolf, and has a memory of being in the lighthouse in 1912. The failure of her 'ghost hunt' in Dark Fall 1 has also left her feeling less than adequate.



Parker's involuntary sympathy for the probe, also means he is able to hear its thoughts, and share the visions, which he does throughout the game. The other, less suitable, candidates have less sympathetic minds, which in turn get 'burnt out' (literally. They are also damaged, at a genetic level, by time travel). Drake's (and Magnus's) body actually glow after performing Malakais tasks. Whether Malakai is purposely vicious is something I didn't want to state. He knows that his return to 2090AD will result in him never dwelling beneath the rocks, or encountering any of the island dwellers. Effectively, none of the events witnessed will occur, and Malakai will return to the DEOS base. But, does the end justify the means? I quite like to think of Malakai as a spiteful child, who behaves badly, but has no conscience.

Phew.

Jonathan

P.s. Of course, that doesn't explain what happened to Parker at the end of the adventure, but I quite like the idea of him waiting on the island, till I need him. Try not to worry too much, I send him a package of tea and Cornish Pastys on a regular basis. I hear he has also made friends with a very chatty seagull.

Wow!

Thanks, Jonathan.
That really helps tidy up some loose ends for me.

Nice to hear your summing up Jonathan, I got most of that from the game but wasn't sure if I was correct or another who is slightly deranged... (my strait jacket is on the peg next to yours!!) - only kidding!!

Wouldn't happen to be a Jonathan Livingston Seagull would it?? Or is that another story

Ha ha, Tigger! I do talk to gulls, but their conversation can be rather dull. The vocabulary of the Squawk Dialect is rather limited. Squawk.

I'm glad to have clarified a few points. Mostly, there are clues to the above points, but a few areas were snipped from the game for time budget reasons. They were not essential to the story, but would have helped cement some ideas into place. For example, the lift shaft in 2090AD was originally built to extend all the way to the surface of Fetch Rock. Climbing out onto the surface of the island would have allowed you to see Fetch Rock partly submerged, and decorated with hundreds of radio masts, blinking against an orange storm threatening sky.

Are you allowed to post pictures of the unused portions on your website??

Hugs

Tig

Jonathan: That brings up some questions. Polly White presumably will conclude that she has had another unfruitful search for parapsychological phenomena. Drake will not have gone mad and he and the other two lighthouse attendants will have lived out full lives. Demarion will not have had the occasion for calling in Parker in the first place and Parker will still be brooding over not getting any significant map work. The prehistoric islanders will not have built the seahenge.

However, will Malakai also be renewed? No rust or corrosion? No memory of what happened? Similarly in 2090 would the launch have gone efficiently and uneventfully ahead, Corbin Hart never having to grieve for now a non-existent loss. All is squeezed down to an infinitesimally short period of time, which vanishes from history. Hmm?

Oh, Jonathan, I was going to e-mail you to tell you how very much I have enjoyed both of your games. They are very high on my "List of Favorites" and I will snatch up any games you produce in the future, sight unseen.

They each had their own emphasis, though both dealt with paranatural events, and I appreciated what each had to offer that was different in tone. I really have a hard time deciding which game I preferred. They were different -- they were delightful.

I am looking forward with great anticipation to your next effort. You have made it rather tough on yourself be setting such a high standard in your first two games. Good luck!

As an aside, you are dealing with a very difficult subject when you venture into "time travel." I think you handled it a bit more deftly in DARK FALL than LIGHTS OUT, but there was a little more to deal with in the second game.

There is one picayune annoyance that I might mention, just so I don't seem effusively laudatory. I don't mind the fair amount of reading involved in playing. In fact, I definitely enjoyed it, since it was all closely connected with the plot and character development, but do you use a speller in your editing of what is written?

Advpuzlov, just remember you Americans don't spell all words the same way we do...

Just a few days ago I loaded up the Journal again. Every once in a while, I fire up a game that I've really enjoyed in the past. I'm currently engrossed in Traitor's Gate, and although the game is a great deal of fun, it can be slow progressing through it (You know, map the sewer, explore an exit, get nailed by the guards...repeat). In agreement with other comments in this thread, I really found the story and characters of DF1 entrancing, and still do.

One of my favorite parts of Lights Out was the inclusion of Polly White. Paging through her journal brought back memories of DF1 and gave further closure to that story. Still, I can't help but feel a bit sorry for her. After all, she's a dedicated investigator/researcher who's been stymied in two attempts to prove the existence of supernatural activity (unless, of course, because of the time reversal, Polly never ended up going to Fetch Rock). While we certainly don't want supernatural energies running amuck, particularly not the likes of that in The Journal, I hope that Polly is ultimately exonerated, and finds the evidence she's been hunting for.

A quick story about DF1, just to attest to how spooky Mr. Boakes' games are. I was playing through DF1 for the first time one evening. Our computer sits in one end of our family room, while a sitting area and television are at the other. My wife was watching television while I was exploring the Station Hotel. I had just accessed Polly and Nigel's room, and was listening to Polly's taped message about venturing outside the safety of the room. My wife, overhearing the message, got spooked. Mr. Boakes certainly makes the scariest games around!

Hi all,
Me again, I keep finding things to wax lyrical about!

One of the things I particularly enjoyed about playing both games was the wealth of peripheral writings.

I felt they helped provide depth to the stories. It was a constant joy to come across such beautifully titled tomes as 'The Piskie Folk of Duloe', flyers for upcoming performances such as 'The Mourning Bride of Bodmin Moor' I was even left feeling that I needed to read the rest of 'Bright Spark'

Is it just me? Maybe I should start a new thread...
Peripheral Writings in DF games?
What do you think?

I read all of the books I could get my hands on More please