The Mystery of the Druids: A Bizarre Adventure Game

[@MandaloreGaming]

Druids on GOG - gog.la/Lowry THE LIST - docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1_K3ziSxT9zcUUGCddS4sF1uNJTWHSbOwB1CQX2Rx4Uo I was starting to doubt parts of this game happened but at least I'll have permanent evidence now.

[@thehoboking2821]

I was just fucken waching some of your vids the fuck

[@fugu_3467]

robbing hobos will do that

[@nono-zc1dj]

Poor thing

[@Q_Tura]

That's not a deal, that's a punishment

[@lucaballarati9694]

The Druids are finally upon us! I'm going to savour this later.

[@Brian2986]

I like how the druids tell him he's eating human flesh, in order to elicit some sort of shock response, but after we've been following Halligan for a while, we know he's unfazed because it's probably not even in the top five of heinous acts he's committed this week.

[@kaspartambur]

It should have instead cut back to Palpatine with a shocked face that the guy with them is even more sinister than they are.

[@joaogomes9405]

It's probably not even his first time.

[@LAVATORR]

Halligan just calmly dabs his mouth with a handkerchief he uses to dry the tears of the terminally ill orphans he frightens as a Hospital Clown.

[@LAVATORR]

@@kaspartambur "....uh, Mr. Halligan, they generally don't....oh wow ok you're okay with this ok now you're silently handing me an empty plate without breaking eye contact ok that's okay yeah"

[@dmc1673]

Halligan: *witnesses the druid brutalize and torture man in public* Druids: the food we gave you didn't walk on all fours Halligan: *surprise pikachu face*

[@TOASTEngineer]

Here's the thing about inviting Halligan in to the droods: To everyone who doesn't know him, Halligan appears to be a competent, professional detective. He works for the homicide department of the most central police bureau, and has an unflappable demeanor and a kickass RP accent. Sinclair is a not-vampire who has been manipulating the world from behind the scenes for centuries, so he'd naturally assume anyone who is sent after him, especially someone who actually makes progress against him, would be someone pretty special himself. Halligan stumbles on to the right lead within an hour of being assigned the case. He gets on to Sinclair's estate without a warrant when Sinclair probably thought of himself as untouchable. Sinclair even says, "your investigation had us worried." Sinclair has *every reason* to assume Halligan is a Bond-esque supercop, and no reason to think he might be a pizza-addicted dysfunctional psychopath who ruins everything he touches for no reason. He genuinely believed Halligan would be a great asset to the Drood Illuminati. It's a shame Melanie snapped him out of it. Can you imagine the antics Halligan would get up to with access to the levers of world power?

[@boodle399]

he won't have a pizza tab anymore

[@aisushitai2680]

This comment fucking SENT me I didn't even THINK of it from Sinclar's perspective.

[@timothymclean]

Sinclair: _Now for the hard part of the plan-making sure he keeps eating now that he knows it's..._ Halligan: _chewing_ "...What? Do I have something on my face?" Sinclair: _Alright, I'm sure there's a perfectly valid reason that this guy, presumably Scotland Yard's greatest detective, is still eating human flesh._ Halligan: "Man, this meat tastes weird. What did you say this was again?" Sinclair: _Oh gods, what have I done?_

[@no1important777]

sinclair was worried, but for the wrong reasons. "hello mister sinclair, would you like some apple schnapps?"

[@sanghelian]

guys... ...what if we are living the aftermath of the bad ending and halligan caused 2020?

[@l3gosnip3r]

My favorite thing is that there's only two detectives in Scotland Yard, but both of them are terrible.

[@gantzllat]

@@cibo889 To be fair he did attempted murder in two occasions, messed with the time space continuum, illegally break in a suspect's house messing out the whole investigation, partake in cannibalism, committed arson against multiple people, framed an innocent man of thievery, destroyed historical buildings, desecrated evidence while disrespecting someone's grave. I'm even surprised he still had a job by the beginning of the game

[@valletas]

@@gantzllat well he still saved the world i guess

[@gantzllat]

@@valletas yes he did. While being a terrible detective

[@valletas]

@@gantzllat i disagree because by the end he isnt even a detective anynore he is out of a job

[@Hobo_Knight]

@@gantzllat so he's perfect FBI material

[@DGS2605]

The cutscene of the guy getting dismembered was actually terrifying but all I could think of was the idea of the Voice Actor being told "Alright just fucking scream for like 3 minutes"

[@uehreka]

I like to think that he was called to do a single scream, but then after every take the voice director was like “That was good, can you give us another slightly different one?” for an hour

[@NoriMori1992]

I think they just looped one or two screams over and over.

[@selma9466]

fell asleep watching the video, imagine me hearing this scream from my laptop for like what feels like 10 minutes, never ending.. what the fu

[@ColdHawk]

The voice actor sold it though!

[@KingThrillgore]

His scream seemed genuine. I guess they showed the VA the salt arc softlock

[@ClanCrusher]

Does anyone else feel like there's an undercurrent of meta-commentary going on here? Halligan obsessively picks up random things, follows insane paths of logic, and goes off on random journeys to follow inane threads. In response, the people around him treat him like a crazy conspiracy believing, kleptomaniac nutjob who is grossly unqualified for his position. Halligan is essentially the real world equivalent of an adventure game protagonist and the people who know him treat him exactly like you would expect them to.

[@lamontjohnson4341]

This makes too much sense sir

[@PsychOsmosis]

That's what I was thinking too. The people around him know he's got adventure game protagonist syndrome, so he can't be trusted. It's just good meta.

[@Shenaldrac]

Problem is the people around him are idiots too. Like the Chief just immediately assuming the guy who Lowry imprisoned must not have been the murderer because they were killed. This completely ignores the possibility of their being multiple killers.

[@PsychOsmosis]

@@Shenaldrac That, while true, is another issue entirely. It doesn't take away from the good use of meta-narrative. They can be simultaneously idiots and distrusting of the main character for his obvious adventure game protagonist syndrome.

[@EGOS42]

Yeah, this game is self-aware. We may need to stop it from causing the nuclear holocaust.

[@zacharyheine4177]

The police chief desperately begging Halligan to tell him that he didn't seriously poison a homeless man to steal his change really elevates this for me

[@richardg8376]

I was really hoping Halligan would say "any clues as to his whereabouts?" when told the chief was looking for a "detective Halligan" who works in his department.

[@itmademesignup9508]

I love the operatic music in the background during that scene...it absolutely nails the tone.

[@007TisseTrold]

his suffering is so human, you want to believe the best in your fellow man, but deep down you know they’re animals.

[@Electric0eye]

For real. The chief sounds like an asshole antagonistic character but by a few hours into the game it becomes clear he's just *utterly tired* of Halligan's nonsense.

[@GearShotgun]

@@Electric0eye you kinda get that vibe from most of the people in the office. At first you think they’re just a bunch of a-holes, then you realize they’ve got every reason to hate Halligan

[@MrDirzel]

Halligan is such a fascinating character. Morally dubious, not a hero, not an anti-hero, just a bad person completing a task.

[@someone___1240]

The villain saving the day lol

[@drugmate9710]

@@someone___1240 Wouldn't really call him a villain. He doesn't have any villainous goals in mind, he just wants to solve the crime in the most psychotic way possible.

[@SerechII]

True chaotic neutral

[@loopyloon5401]

@@drugmate9710 I'd say he's the alpha villain, actually, think about it, he could've sold Melanie down the river to remain a neo-druid, but he opted to use time travel & a grammatical loophole in the application of a celtic curse to ensure that he not only got the girl but is now the last ordained drood, thus allowing him great power that he doesn't have to share with Sinclair & his brethren, as soon as he figures out that magic missile spell that'll be the end for Lowry & Miller.

[@IoIey_y]

⠀⠀⠀⡯⡯⡾⠝⠘⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢊⠘⡮⣣⠪⠢⡑⡌ ⠀⠀⠀⠟⠝⠈⠀⠀⠀⠡⠀⠠⢈⠠⢐⢠⢂⢔⣐⢄⡂⢔⠀⡁⢉⠸⢨⢑⠕⡌ ⠀⠀⡀⠁⠀⠀⠀⡀⢂⠡⠈⡔⣕⢮⣳⢯⣿⣻⣟⣯⣯⢷⣫⣆⡂⠀⠀⢐⠑⡌ ⢀⠠⠐⠈⠀⢀⢂⠢⡂⠕⡁⣝⢮⣳⢽⡽⣾⣻⣿⣯⡯⣟⣞⢾⢜⢆⠀⡀⠀⠪ ⣬⠂⠀⠀⢀⢂⢪⠨⢂⠥⣺⡪⣗⢗⣽⢽⡯⣿⣽⣷⢿⡽⡾⡽⣝⢎⠀⠀⠀⢡ ⣿⠀⠀⠀⢂⠢⢂⢥⢱⡹⣪⢞⡵⣻⡪⡯⡯⣟⡾⣿⣻⡽⣯⡻⣪⠧⠑⠀⠁⢐ ⣿⠀⠀⠀⠢⢑⠠⠑⠕⡝⡎⡗⡝⡎⣞⢽⡹⣕⢯⢻⠹⡹⢚⠝⡷⡽⡨⠀⠀⢔ ⣿⡯⠀⢈⠈⢄⠂⠂⠐⠀⠌⠠⢑⠱⡱⡱⡑⢔⠁⠀⡀⠐⠐⠐⡡⡹⣪⠀⠀⢘ ⣿⣽⠀⡀⡊⠀⠐⠨⠈⡁⠂⢈⠠⡱⡽⣷⡑⠁⠠⠑⠀⢉⢇⣤⢘⣪⢽⠀⢌⢎ ⣿⢾⠀⢌⠌⠀⡁⠢⠂⠐⡀⠀⢀⢳⢽⣽⡺⣨⢄⣑⢉⢃⢭⡲⣕⡭⣹⠠⢐⢗ ⣿⡗⠀⠢⠡⡱⡸⣔⢵⢱⢸⠈⠀⡪⣳⣳⢹⢜⡵⣱⢱⡱⣳⡹⣵⣻⢔⢅⢬⡷ ⣷⡇⡂⠡⡑⢕⢕⠕⡑⠡⢂⢊⢐⢕⡝⡮⡧⡳⣝⢴⡐⣁⠃⡫⡒⣕⢏⡮⣷⡟ ⣷⣻⣅⠑⢌⠢⠁⢐⠠⠑⡐⠐⠌⡪⠮⡫⠪⡪⡪⣺⢸⠰⠡⠠⠐⢱⠨⡪⡪⡰ ⣯⢷⣟⣇⡂⡂⡌⡀⠀⠁⡂⠅⠂⠀⡑⡄⢇⠇⢝⡨⡠⡁⢐⠠⢀⢪⡐⡜⡪⡊ ⣿⢽⡾⢹⡄⠕⡅⢇⠂⠑⣴⡬⣬⣬⣆⢮⣦⣷⣵⣷⡗⢃⢮⠱⡸⢰⢱⢸⢨⢌ ⣯⢯⣟⠸⣳⡅⠜⠔⡌⡐⠈⠻⠟⣿⢿⣿⣿⠿⡻⣃⠢⣱⡳⡱⡩⢢⠣⡃⠢⠁ ⡯⣟⣞⡇⡿⣽⡪⡘⡰⠨⢐⢀⠢⢢⢄⢤⣰⠼⡾⢕⢕⡵⣝⠎⢌⢪⠪⡘⡌⠀ ⡯⣳⠯⠚⢊⠡⡂⢂⠨⠊⠔⡑⠬⡸⣘⢬⢪⣪⡺⡼⣕⢯⢞⢕⢝⠎⢻⢼⣀⠀ ⠁⡂⠔⡁⡢⠣⢀⠢⠀⠅⠱⡐⡱⡘⡔⡕⡕⣲⡹⣎⡮⡏⡑⢜⢼⡱⢩⣗⣯⣟ ⢀⢂⢑⠀⡂⡃⠅⠊⢄⢑⠠⠑⢕⢕⢝⢮⢺⢕⢟⢮⢊⢢⢱⢄⠃⣇⣞⢞⣞⢾ ⢀⠢⡑⡀⢂⢊⠠⠁⡂⡐⠀⠅⡈⠪⠪⠪⠣⠫⠑⡁⢔⠕⣜⣜⢦⡰⡎⡯⡾⡽

[@somanyfruitsmango9021]

Halligan is like a DND player that constantly does really stupid things on purpose, but he keeps rolling really high so the DM is forced to have all of his absurd, convoluted, criminal schemes work.

[@Galvatron102]

Old Man Halligan, the character who won Mystery of the Droods

[@alexeggmacmuffin9311]

@@Galvatron102 +2

[@chesterstevens8870]

And that's why I hate DND and've moved on to better systems.

[@thequackrier]

@@chesterstevens8870 curious what your favorite systems are. i also have my complaints about D&D and have been looking for alternatives

[@NomadicDuck]

Halligan didn’t ask her out for pizza to actually go on a date, he needed someone to pay the Pizza Tab

[@Ezio999Auditore]

Pitza

[@nickylaraiso9328]

That could be a twist ending.

[@Dianbler]

@@Ezio999Auditore That's technically how you will say it in Italian: /pitsa/

[@guyofminimalimportance7]

I was really expecting some cheesy ending scene where they show up at the place and he gets kicked out because he never payed his tab.

[@ChillDudelD]

Pizzagate...

[@franklinbarnes7329]

Halligan and Melanie's relationship makes a billion times more sense when you realize that because of his deal with Serstan, she's technically a puzzle item

[@boiyado6717]

I mean…Halligan probably cares more about his puzzle items than actual people.

[@GuitarSlayer136]

​​@@boiyado6717If they just changed the line from "Nothing will happen to either of us" to "No druid will harm either of us" when bartering for their lives, the whole stabbing Melanie plan could have actually been brilliant with the mistletoe being the crowning jewel of the plan instead of an afterthought

[@SMG-vx3mu]

the puzzle is his deranged nature

[@moomby3572]

​@@GuitarSlayer136 I think he just really wanted to stab Melanie

[@விஷ்ணு_கார்த்திக்]

@@moomby3572 It would've been one hell of a plot twist if he just figured that he really likes being a psychotic killer lol

[@realwolfingen8896]

Considering Halligans regular diet, real human flesh is probably the healthiest thing he has eaten in months.

[@The24thWight]

Kek.

[@Roboshi2007]

considering some of the pizza places I've seen it won't be the first bit of dubious meat he's eaten

[@theanimefan00]

The likes are 666 at the moment. I wanted to leave it like that

[@Deathtobunny1]

> implying Halligans pizza isn't already topped with human flesh

[@Blackieswain]

Unless it was an American

[@Romanticoutlaw]

I like how halligan took one sip of the medical ethanol, lost consciousness, and then immediately decided to dose a homeless man with it for pocket change

[@alexanderrahl7034]

It was POCKET change too! 😂 Halligan valued a human life less than 68 cents The man is a genuine threat to society. "Menace" gets thrown around a lot these days, because folks have had no Halligans around for a baseline! 😂

[@wesshiflet2214]

well, he woke up okay, he assumed everyone else would as well

[@TheDracoChick]

This is so batshit insane, that I seriously thought for a moment there that the ending song was part of the actual game.

[@shosecor4986]

It wasnt?

[@Sanguivore]

Me too, LOL.

[@flashgordonsthemesong2838]

I thought the same thing until Blake opened the door and Mandalore's helmet was in front of the computer, so about halfway through the song.

[@NotEnoughSound]

I thought so too until i saw the Mandalor office in the video lol

[@stefanusbayu1426]

Guys, not the army of predator drones flying?

[@spencers5898]

The best part of Halligan stabbing Melanie is that he tells her he's going to go get help, and only after she asks him not to leave her does he seem to realize he can just use his newfound druid magic instead. He lives so much in the moment that he literally stabbed his prospective girlfriend in the stomach with absolutely no plan in mind of how to prevent her from dying. What an incredible character.

[@JDizzle785]

Not to mention by the logic of the vow he could have just stabbed himself instead but of course he didn’t because he’s Halligan. I honestly wonder how much of his characterization was intentional and how much of it is just weird/sloppy writing lol

[@MegamanXfan21xx]

@@JDizzle785 Or not even stab. If all it took was one of them being harmed, he could have just made a small cut.

[@LiarJudas666]

I think Mandalore really got it in one saying Halligan has the mind of an insect, I busted up at that

[@G0thCrayon]

There are also a lot more incredible characters, I daresay a disproportionate amount, on death row. Twenty years ago, I would have also said something to the effect of "great characters who are unlikely to have prospective girlfriends," but a lot of seriously jacked-up stuff has become the norm' over the past half a decade.

[@BenRangel]

@@JDizzle785 I thin 1:11:17 answers that. "No matter how illegal, corrupt or immoral"

[@marwansobhy7050]

You start off the game wondering why everyone hates Halligan and you end it wondering how Melanie doesn't

[@cbot72]

Perhaps her ex was worse and he seems sane in comparison

[@vorys5400]

@@cbot72 Then her ex had to do something worse than STABBING HER WITH SCISSORS. Maybe he decapitated her a couple of times, who knows

[@Psychoangel-d23]

@@cbot72 that... Is a frightening thought.

[@Dickkickem460]

She didn't have a puzzle item

[@leonardorossi998]

How? Through the magic of the Druids!

[@LadyLuck-rd5vi]

Melanie takes a single look at Detective Halligan and thinks "I could fix him." and then she gets stabbed

[@johnyj2082]

Earlier he tried to choke her so he's definitely a bad boy.

[@caret_shell]

She should've picked "bear."

[@Colddirector]

I love the idea of the druids brainwashing and recruiting Halligan, but quickly regretting it after realizing just how unpleasant he is to be around.

[@joshuakim5240]

Druids: "Muahahaha! Halligan is now under our control!" *42 seconds later* Druids: "Holy shit, how do we undo the mind control spell?! This guy is fucking nuts even for our standards!"

[@MonteScarf]

He ate HOW many pizzas!? I also feel like he would end getting them in trouble - he would drug the homeless man again to steal his hat because he can't find his own hat, and all the droods would get arrested... Like that Al Capone going to jail for tax evasion

[@kindbudkudos]

@@MonteScarf its pitzas

[@derfzgrld]

@@kindbudkudos *Pizzen ;) For clarity: Thats the correct GERMAN plural for the word and, as Mandalore pointed out already, in german the word is pronounced the way Halligon does.

[@kindbudkudos]

@@derfzgrld lol. my b. i was shooting for pronunciation. im not literate in zeet german.

[@Electroporcupine]

I love a protagonist whose actions are so divorced from reality that when he gets mind-controlled into eating human flesh and murdering the woman he likes the audience honestly can't tell if there's anything out of the ordinary.

[@padmanabhanvaidyanathan7182]

I don't think he was being mind controlled, he seemed entirely unconcerned, which is more his usual self.

[@marley7868]

@@padmanabhanvaidyanathan7182 I'm convinced he knew it was human flesh and was trying to scam them but the food caused mind control

[@Zack_Wester]

@@marley7868 feels like it.

[@sagapulastation1711]

@@padmanabhanvaidyanathan7182 i think he was also playing along to not be killed or smth

[@Colddirector]

@@padmanabhanvaidyanathan7182 I like to think he wasn’t being mind controlled, he just was happy to have friends. Friends that he can mooch off for pizza money later.

[@SlipMaker]

I love that he could have stopped the ritual by heroically stabbing himself but instead he casually murders his girlfriend.

[@jmjedi923]

I know i just realized that too! not to mention he could have like, just knicked his arm or something not like stab her

[@phearamax4146]

To be fair, it’s easier for a doctor to heal someone else than themselves

[@SlipMaker]

@@phearamax4146 he sure had a lot of confidence in his ability to resurrect the dead for someone who has never done it before lol

[@Seandeclanpatrick]

'Casually' doesn't even cover it. He's so fucking relaxed when he stabs her that it's actually terrifying. His posture doesn't even change as he does it. It's the way a secret psychopath would do it in a movie or TV show to shock the audience.

[@jmjedi923]

@@phearamax4146 he had magic mistletoe, he can jam that into his own gut Or have melanie do it

[@galaxycamerata]

Halligan's behavior makes perfect sense considering he goes through 28 cigs a day. His brain is so full of nicotine that there's no room for empathy, shame or regret.

[@romanscum5678]

Honestly at this point I just want to know the logistics of how he smokes so many cigs a day. Like they take a bit of time to get through, does he do like 2 at once or something?!

[@sealogic4552]

By my math, smoking 28 cigarettes a day should take about 2 1/2 hours. It must be all this man does in his spare time. I can only imagine the smell on that jacket.

[@romanscum5678]

@@sealogic4552 Even just walking in to a room with that thing will make it smell like a smoker was living in it.

[@turtleofpride4572]

I was a two pack a day for a bit so it's not that hard for me to believe.

[@romanscum5678]

@@turtleofpride4572 >2 pack a day Alright, how'd you do it? Please, I am genuinely curious as to how you managed to go through so many.

[@iResistive]

I'm here because the queen is gone and somehow Halligan might have a hand in this

[@Roadent1241]

Ah, that makes sense......

[@LostStarzOfTheSky]

He needed her iv bag

[@Ezio999Auditore]

He needed her dinner fork to repair his jeep so that he can fly over the cliff towards the druid fortress and lockpick the castle gates with it.

[@btarczy5067]

HALLIGAN!

[@RobertJones-bs9pf]

Check if somebody's issued an arrest warrant for King Charles.

[@exoticvws273]

Lowery is a druid, it explains everything. why he floats, why his social status is so high, and why he turned in the wrong guy for the skeleton murders even though he is clearly a better detective than halligan. He was covering for his druid buddies

[@shaynehughes6645]

This makes too much sense considering he would know Halligan was going to try stopping Sinclair eventually, thus giving him reason to be Halligan's workplace rival.

[@sunnypeach8299]

That would make for an excellent plot for the sequel.

[@sarahbelle81]

This makes a lot of sense, but I still prefer to think he just can float for no reason and everyone just accepts it.

[@sevenpolar3483]

I am fairly sure Halligan went into a coma after drinking the medical alcohol and everything after was just his weird dream

[@vintheguy]

17:43 anyone know what this is a reference to?

[@whade62000]

Melanie's case is really tragic considering her whole backstory is that she is trying to move on from a crazy abusive ex and she's hoping that change to come from Halligan of all people.

[@ColdHawk]

You know, now that you mention it, that is insanely true-to-life. It has to be one of the most subtle and congruent pieces of story-telling logic I have seen in a video game supporting character. It explains an awful lot, like her fairly low-key reaction to being smacked around. The only way that an intelligent, brave, accomplished, attractive woman like Melanie would have any romantic involvement with an inherently untrustworthy, somewhat hapless, selfish and self-serving, amoral, slovenly, chad like Hallagan is that she comes from a background of abuse. With that one detail of her past we can understand that she must have grown up in an abusive environment, which affected her development in such a way that she cannot distinguish warning signs in a man who expresses interest in her. For Melanie, abuse and love have been entangled in the chaos of her early upbringing resulting in what will be a string of bad choices in relationships as an adult. Being slapped around by Hallagan, who then says it wasn’t his fault, probably strikes a chord deep in her limbic brain, manifesting as an unconscious attraction, a feeling of familiarity as if they were “meant to be together.” Annnd then he stabs her in the abdomen.

[@rafaelfigfigueiredo2988]

Dam bro

[@doctabaldhead]

With all of the things that the game tried and failed to get right I wasn't expecting the tragic cycle of abuse to be one of the things they succeeded in getting across.

[@nicolasg8091]

I like to think of his not deflecting this time when she confronts him about his obsession with pizza and office untidiness (compared to how defensive he got when his other co-worker brought it up) as a small hint of his growth.

[@wareforcoin5780]

Technically, that's a big change going from abusive to actual cannibal.

[@HolyApplebutter]

31:20 The way Halligan asks what time the police chief got those calls legitimately makes me fear he's going to hunt those people down for snitching.

[@CollinMcLean]

Making sure he gets his alibi's straightened out.

[@alexanderrahl7034]

The chief being like "Halligan... _please_ tell me you didnt do it." The chief is literally begging him 😂 He _needs_ to know he didnt fuck up so bad as to hire someone like Halligan

[@THEFRISKIESTDINGO]

Halligan is such a well-developed character that when he stabbed Melanie I thought "makes perfect sense."

[@Nionivek]

I have to agree. He does crazy things but never does the idea that he is breaking character occur to me. Heck even when he is just casually eating human flesh pre-mind control.

[@rezlov_]

It's so messed up that it's honestly a pretty tame thing for him to do.

[@towelgirl21]

He's already poisoned and robbed a homeless guy, and eaten human flesh. Melanie got off easy by Halligan standards.

[@matthewbruns8613]

He's "well-developed" in the way charcoal is "well-done".

[@notinspectorgadget]

​​@@matthewbruns8613 Maybe "well-established"

[@unadulterated]

A thing that makes adventure games unrealistic is how the protagonist will devise incredibly convoluted ploys to get everyday items they could just buy from the store. Mystery of the Druids solves this by establishing early on that the protagonist is so hard up he will murder a homeless man for pennies

[@dungeonmaster217]

Hey, he didn't murder him!

[@kipras1412]

@@dungeonmaster217 do you think Brent really cared if the hobo lived?

[@dungeonmaster217]

@@kipras1412 of course not.

[@douglasbubbletrousers4763]

Finally some realism in video games. Designers take note!

[@thehoodedteddy1335]

To be fair, Halligan is completely broke

[@maximedumoussaud9042]

Halligan may be the most accurate video game player satire I have ever seen. He's so casual about scamming, robbing, eating human flesh and straight up poisoning and stabbing people so long as it advances the plot, he makes GTA5's Trevor bland in comparison.

[@brunop.8745]

If all of that was intentional on the part of the devs, kudos to them I guess

[@alexanderrahl7034]

Trevor was meant to be a representation of the player. But its like hes the representation of the player, made by someone who has heard stories from the player second hand. "😂and then dude, i rolled right over her and took the bitch's money and knife. Cuz i needed a weapon somehow! So there i was, $17, a knife, in my underwear in a lowrider. What else was i gonna do? I rob the cluckin bell!" Meanwhile Halligan is a representation of the player, as if the player made him. Where he does everything with a detached energy and blank expression. Like the one you have right now, reading this comment. Or we have, playing the game. When we kill someone in GTA, we dont act like trevor. We look like 🤨😐😐😏😐😬😬😬😦😮‍💨😐

[@giftedfox4748]

When Halligan is at dinner and the first thing he gets told is that they are eating human flesh, I thought how funny it would be if he just kept eating... Well, the game did not disappoint because that is what this insane man does.

[@dingusdangus1790]

You are the big hero of the story, the only way to stop the druids is to cause Serstan to break his deal. Do you: A. Sacrifice yourself heroically to end the ritual B. Stab your new girlfriend and the only human being in space AND time that wants to have anything to do with you.

[@SoulReaperIsHere]

It was the right choice though, he still had the mistletoe and perhaps in that one moment of desperation - Halligan thought clearly for once.

[@93Avenger93]

@@SoulReaperIsHere ah yes, the magical druidic powers of healing that ... he never practiced before, and was never even explained how they work or how to use the plant beyond “it has healing properties”. Come on ...

[@DerLamer]

@@93Avenger93 Eh, Halligan is a proven druidic magic prodigy. He can make salt collapse buildings just by having heard that that's a thing.

[@theoneandonlymichaelmccormick]

Like...the promise was that no HARM would come to either of you. He could’ve done something like cut her finger, or punch her in the shoulder. But NO. His FIRST instinct was to stab her in the liver without hesitation.

[@donatodiniccolodibettobardi842]

Yes, because mistletoe worked so well the first time around!

[@CoolSmoovie]

Poisons and robs a homeless man Eats a human steak Stabs his girlfriend Owes debts to all of his co-workers Calls the Caribbean for reasons All of his co-workers hate him *Saves the world* This is literally the most interesting character of all time.

[@sirvalhart7464]

not to mention he sent out an arrest warrant for prince charles for no other reason other than shits and giggles

[@alexscriabin]

all but the last sound like an average police officer tbh

[@loopyloon5401]

If I had to guess, the only reason he had to save the world was the fact he happened to live there...

[@mikalmandichak8328]

Probably uses the carabean as a tax haven for bitcoin.

[@loopyloon5401]

@@mikalmandichak8328 Didn't exist yet

[@WisteriaNerium]

The fact that Halligan knows you can't draw money from the bank of England but doesn't really know what medical ethanol is makes me think he actually went there to get money

[@madquack6449]

Him being drunk the whole time would explain a lot

[@weneedaladder8384]

He definitely only knows because he's tried.

[@DepressedHandsomeSpaceCop]

Halligan probably has a lot to say about central banks and "fiat currency." But you'd have to get some pitza and beer with him to hear about it.

[@vizthex]

lol yup

[@meow33_33]

Medical ethanol is the same substance that is in your beer - ethyl alcohol (C2H5OH). What makes it 'medical' is just the purity and strength. Why Halligan passes out from just a sip is yet another mystery.

[@itstherealbrace6424]

I'm not sure if you've been told before, but in the original release of the game in 2001, Lowry was sitting in his chair. For some reason, when the game was re-released in 2004, he was floating. So for some reason, the updated version of the game (which fixed bugs and added the physical copy of Lowry's file, among other things) decided to make him float instead of sit.

[@katanatsunami]

That makes it better, it means Lowry sitting on the chair was a bug, and his levitation is the fix.

[@Jachra]

​@@katanatsunami Lowry is the one in a billion who can develop yoga powers at incredible speed

[@BE-fw1lr]

Patch Notes: 1: Untethered Lowry from this mortal plane.

[@Kokoasz]

So Halligan may be an amoral sociopath, but from an outside perspective, he’s a super detective. He solved a murder case that’s been going on for months in the span of a few hours using basically nothing but a bone and some burnt grass. It’s no wonder Sinclair is afraid of his investigation, he’s basically Sherlock Holmes if Sherlock Holmes were about 60% more unhinged.

[@MachineMan-mj4gj]

He kicked the cocaine habit, but the damage was already done.

[@rattles8789]

Halligan is truly the best detective they have. Until Lowry deigns to stop levitating and rule the world.

[@Kokoasz]

@@rattles8789 idk, Lowry put an innocent man in jail and got that man killed. He may have transcended humanity but he’s a lousy detective.

[@lacreatura4737]

@@rattles8789 Lowry may be a superchad. But he's still a pretty subpar detective.

[@timothymclean]

To be fair to Lowry, we only see him in the context of the _one_ case where the detective being as loony as Halligan and equally prone to conspiratorial tangents is helpful. He probably does better on ordinary cases.

[@oldstoffire]

I just realized that the entire point of baiting Chris into giving you alcohol, passing out, and then dusting for fingerprints, was that Halligan was literally too stupid to know what ethanol was. It's not even terrible adventure game logic, it's just terrible Halligan logic lmao

[@judeironheart7252]

oh so it was to know which bottle was alcohol, because he's too proud to ask or google it

[@oldstoffire]

@@judeironheart7252 probably too stupid but yeah lol

[@seanodonnell9826]

Halligan is amazing, He doesn't know how to operate a printer and thinks the phone receiver is too heavy to use, his main professional use of the copier is to scan pictures of his face. you might assume he's some sort of eccentric genius detective but no...He's just Halligan, a true original.

[@mozarteanchaos]

@@seanodonnell9826 he acts like he THINKS he's an eccentric genius detective, which is the worst form of crime on earth imho

[@Logan-zp8bi]

@@mozarteanchaos Yeah, as an eccentric detective who once investigated an indie developer to confirm suspicions of the developers clear greed and corruption. I can confirm I've never once scanned my face on a copier, I've scanned my rear like a sane person.

[@ryanlaurie8733]

"Halligan runs like there's something wrong with him" There are a great many things wrong with him.

[@headlesshunter8435]

"Doesn't beat als Pitsa Pallace:

[@somanyfruitsmango9021]

I like to believe that Lowry isn't levitating, but instead that he's just so absurdly strong that he can hold his entire body weight by only his heel on his desk.

[@Inkspeckle]

the fact that Halligan's first choice was, with no warning whatsoever, to stab his maybe-Girlfriend when any other 'chosen one' would have stabbed himself to accomplish the exact same thing is both an absolute dick move and entirely in character. brilliant

[@robertflinch2447]

Didnt even consider that. Wow

[@thatguyonline5083]

Psychotic dick move which turned out to be brilliant. Classic Halligan

[@Casanuda]

Melanie could not have revived Brent, so he made the only "sane" choice. A paper cut might have been enough to break the vow but best not chance saving the world. So obviously you shove a blade into the lower torso of your companion. The Doctor would approve. Well, at least some of the Doctors.

[@Inkspeckle]

@@Casanuda Considering everything he's done up to that point you cannot convince me that he considered the healing Mistletoe even one nanosecond before jamming that hedgeclipper into his love interest's abdomen. This guy was fully willing to roofie a homeless man and rob him, steal a human bone from a crime scene and keep it for no apparent reason, chug medical ethanol, forge his superior's signature, steal an undoubtedly expensive fishing rod to scrape salt of a boat instead of just getting some salt anywhere else, EAT HUMAN FLESH UNPROMPTED and never mention it to anyone ever, frame an innocent professor for theft to use a library computer, leave a wheelchair bound elderly man to die in an explosion, ask a girl out to a pizza place he has an unpaid 275 pound tab at while they were stuck in the lair of an evil druid cult in the middle ages and loot his savior's dead body without hesitation after he convinced him to jump out a window. He also never once said a word to her to let her know of his intentions, he just straight up stabs her. the game could have ended with Halligan doing a heel turn and joining the druids after that and it would have made just as much sense. Halligan is a chaotic stupid lunatic who only saves the world because no one else would have taken the absurd leaps of logic he did or gone through with his awful actions as casually as he did. The druids were defeated by a pizza obsessed kleptomaniac conspiracy theorist with zero self awareness and one braincell.

[@Casanuda]

@@Inkspeckle I like to think Halligan is intelligent but so insane that he can't operate like a normal human. How else would he become a homicide detective for Scottland Yard? It would be interesting to see a prequel with him becoming the hero he was in Mystery of the Druids.

[@PassTheMarmalade1957]

Okay, as an English person, a police detective in the 90's/00's issuing an arrest warrant for Prince Charles for the murder of Princess Diana, then going, "It was just a prank, bro," has an energy that foreshadows Halligan's character *perfectly.*

[@Roadent1241]

As a Brit who was born in the 90's and doesn't know what's real and what's rumours about the Royal Family, heck I can barely keep track of who's who really, how close was/is Halligan to whatever truth has been revealed? Also shame we'll never see her glorious shades of green again.

[@Roadent1241]

@@HelghastStalker That doesn't answer my question but that much I knew, thanks XD

[@MaskOneOneTwoThree]

@@Roadent1241 It was a semi-popular conspiracy theory at the time that Princess Di's accident was a setup from the Queen or Prince Charles, Di's ex-husband, in order to prevent her embarrassing the Royal Family with the divorce. About the equivalent of the American 9/11 truthers, "jet fuel can't melt steel beams," in terms of conspiracy and meme-fodder in later years.

[@Roadent1241]

@@MaskOneOneTwoThree Ah, right, yes. I remember hearing stuff about Di and Charles on the car radio when I was very little before That happened and mum just going "well just divorce him then!!". And I almost consider my parents old fashioned given there's a 40-year gap between me and them XD Didn't think they'd think of that as an option.

[@MaskOneOneTwoThree]

@@jiaan100 LOL if you're trying to claim covid is some bioengineered weapon, its a shitty one. A bioweapon that at best kills 60+ yr olds and people with shitty lungs? Terrible weapon, like as gun that mostly just bruises people unless you hit nana in the eye. Everyone knows covid was actually a punishment from God for us daring to build flying machines, duh.

[@jerrytc2978]

im gonna be honest people joke halligan is a terrible person to have on your side, which is true but your enemy literally cannot in anyway predict him, he is a force of nature itself, you cant plan around him, you cant hide from something you dont understand hes a pricey asset, but a useful one

[@mikespike2099]

Thats true - be random and your enemy is too confused to plan an attack!

[@ColdHawk]

It’s like a new alignment: lawful chaotic

[@echowoods7977]

@@ColdHawk halligan is not lawful. he's chaotic chaotic

[@apollorainer1991]

he's not a hero - he's a cosmic horror to the villains

[@Romanticoutlaw]

he's a terrible ally but a terrifying foe

[@killjoy8372]

Ok but someone being slowly eaten alive by their limbs being methodically slivered away a bit at a time while they scream and cry is legit horrifying

[@passingrando6457]

And absolutely wrong from a culinary standpoint. Everyone knows pain and fear hormones ruin the flavor of meat.

[@killjoy8372]

@@passingrando6457 aw man, it's one thing to be eaten alive but to not even taste good? That's too much :(

[@bigjuice2623]

Ngl for some reason that part kinda messed me up

[@jiaan100]

I have some bad news about all your favorite celebrities and politicians

[@emmettbrown3463]

@@jiaan100 bro?

[@elizabest4246]

Halligan is the only character I’ve seen and confidently say that he would survive in Pathologic

[@kellerharris2593]

He's basically if the Bachelor dropped out of college to become a cop

[@galedex5661]

You should ask the real question: Would Pathologic survive Halligan?

[@AnimeManiacAndres]

@@galedex5661 no

[@landrylongacre6391]

@@galedex5661 he would destroy that world for pitza money

[@Mrkabrat]

@@galedex5661 The amount of poisoned hobbos and skeletonized bodies would skyrocket

[@viscera_atrocity]

I absolutely love that Halligan is an absolute psycho that operates on the adventure game logic, while everything else (non-magic, anyway) is more like real world. It's like Mandalore said: "You have something he needs for a puzzle - your life is over."

[@bigpigeon2384]

@TooLateToTheStory There Was Game like that a while back called Edna escapes the insane asylum or something

[@bigpigeon2384]

@TooLateToTheStory yeah the second one follows her friend right?

[@Arbiter099]

@TooLateToTheStory I shudder to think what foul thoughts are running through the minds of the protagonists of Forklift Simulator 2020

[@Kasaaz]

It's even better that like all the people in the game who know him also know it. So it's not like it was unintentional on the part of the game creators.

[@mikibaumgart9553]

My favourite part of this video is how Halligan says "I've been *investigating*!" Like he's genuinely really pleased with himself and is legitimately expecting praise from the Chief.

[@christophersmith8848]

I just love the way the Chief is furious with Halligan for not having some kind of breakthrough on the case when he has had it for like, 6 hours

[@timothymclean]

@@christophersmith8848 To be fair, in those six hours he's poisoned a homeless man and taken a quick trip to France. And he refused to explain why a druid expert might be relevant to the case at hand.

[@error-try-again-later]

​@@timothymclean Halligan is simply efficient with his time, Lowry could never 🙄💅🏻

[@prometheus9732]

@@error-try-again-laterI wonder how Halligan manages to tell the chief on how he managed to travel back in time, defeat a cult of canibals preparing to end the world,and obtains magical Druid powers to heal a person he stabbed with a knife. There is no chance that halligan is going to keep his job after this.

[@Xenomorthian]

@@prometheus9732He has Druid powers now they can't stop make him leave even if they wanted to

[@m.streicher8286]

I like how halligan has the ability to be compassionate and charismatic. It makes all the times that he chooses not to be even funnier.

[@angbandsbane]

So Halligan wins because the exact words of the oath he makes Serstan swear are "Nothing will happen to her" not "I won't do anything to her." And from how quickly Serstan swore it, he seems not to have even considered the possibility of Halligan himself voiding the oath. Good grief, evil is only defeated because our hero's moral compass is warped beyond even the villains' comprehension. Wonder if that was intentional.

[@maxsync183]

It's weird where they draw the line with technicality. If you think about it serstans oath is broken pretty much the moment he makes it because Melanie is breathing, the cells in her body are moving and replicating, basically something is happening to her all the time. I think the best option for serstan was to promise that nothing will happen to her *once he let's her go* and then kill her while still touching her.

[@HipHopRepair]

Imagine how weird it would‘ve been, if Halligans plan failed: *stab* „Wtf!!! Why did you stab me?!“ „relax…I tried something, but it didn’t work“

[@kabob0077]

Is... Is Halligan a Fae?

[@annajensen7360]

They could have done a much more clever twist too! All we would have to do is change the line to "Swear that no druid will harm Melanie" and since Serstan doesn't know about Halligan being a Druid it would make more sense to swear the oath. It would dampen the impact of the later mistletoe reveal, but I think it's worth it

[@bewawolf19]

@@annajensen7360 Thought the same thing myself, though that would take away from the character moment of Halligan rather stabbing the woman than himself to achieve his ends.

[@duncancole1742]

The way Halligan is your classic adventure game character (steals everything he can, does messed up shit to steal more stuff etc) but everyone actually notices this behaviour is pretty great and the unexpectedly solid voice acting really helps.

[@GearShotgun]

I saw a comment that said you could actually see MoD as a deconstruction of adventure games in a way. Like you said, Halligan acts like a typical protagonist and everyone calls him out being because of it. The hilarity of the hobo and the druids both calling the police on him is especially great.

[@Talisguy]

@@GearShotgun He also seems like he could be a parody of Fox Mulder. Like Mulder, he's a criminal investigator who's alienated his colleagues due to his fringe beliefs and weird behaviour, sent to investigate a bizarre serial killer who turns out to be supernatural. ...Except Halligan is usually wrong about his cases having paranormal elements, unlike Mulder, who's almost always right (because The X-Files would be very boring if every weird serial killer they were sent after turned out to be a regular human,) and despite actually solving this case in an impressively short amount of time if you think about it (the game only seems to take place over the course of about a week,) no amount of maverick detective work in the world can overcome the terrible reputation he's picked up thanks to his constant bullshit.

[@sock2828]

Do adventure game protagonists routinely go around drugging people?

[@GearShotgun]

@@sock2828 no, but they’ll typically do some dubious or questionable stuff to get what they need or bypass obstacles and then forget about it just as fast. What makes TMoD stand out is that people actually notice the stuff the protagonist does and reacts pretty realistically

[@JohnDarksoul69]

also they kinda solve my problem with the unrealistic aspect of the convoluted ploys your average adventure game protagonist will devise to get stuff they could simply buy somewhere... by establishing him as a broke man lmao

[@ultimateninjaboi]

I love how the conceit of Halligan as a character is literally just "acts like an adventure game character, but with real world consequences."

[@hazukichanx408]

Adventure Games should really be more accurately relabelled "Sociopathy Simulators", or perhaps "Kleptomania-'Em-Ups". In some cases, I suppose, "Ludicrous Guesswork Bonanzas". But a lot of the time, especially with the "modern(ish) setting, plausible protagonist" ones, it very often boils down to "Who the frick would actually behave like that? Put a spider in some guy's tea so he'll crash his fucking truck?! Steal the candy from the baby to distract a seagull so you can take a ring from its nest for a wax imprint?"

[@KopperNeoman]

I like how Quest for Glory is one of the most sane adventure games out there because it's also an RPG. There's kleptomania, but you have to be a thief and not get caught.

[@sinko3811]

I think I read somewhere that that's basically what happened. They weren't sure if they wanted this to be a more comedic or a more serious type of Adventure game....and so they ended up with this amazing hybrid that is Halligan 😆

[@WhirlwindHeatAndFlash]

look up Deponia :)

[@juliocbp9389]

So… Sterling Archer?

[@dudeawsomeness1]

The idea of Halligan ignoring the villains monologue while absent mindedly eating human meat is hilarious

[@Atlink]

I'm sure its been said, but the dialog in this game is shockingly natural. I gotta hand it to the voice actors, they actually sound legitimately annoyed with one another, or even concerned. Especially with Halligan and Lowry.

[@marocat4749]

And how they make a shocking good romance between halligan and melanie, they have chemestry, somehow.

[@cdgonepotatoes4219]

the dialog's quality makes you genuinely doubt if everything else was done like that on purpose. It's so polished yet everything else isn't, is the outlier intentional or not?

[@dorpth]

And up there with The Wire in realistically portraying how 95% of police department efforts revolve around self-interest politics.

[@emailing]

Literally. I did not expect to like, get a weird attachment to halligan lowry and mel. That was weirdly endearing.

[@GumshoeClassic]

The thing that really impresses me about it is how inexperienced most of the actors seemed to be, at least looking at the list of projects they worked on. Having John Delbridge as dialogue director probably helped quite a bit, but still.

[@andrewdon2947]

There's no way Halligan isn't a satire of adventure game detectives. Those adorable little slaps when he attacked Melanie cinched it.

[@timothymclean]

The animation in general is ridiculously weightless. Which would be more of a problem if the cruel protagonist, odd plot, and hovering detective didn't give the game a surreal atmosphere that the animation quirks fade into.

[@popcornegg4405]

“Learning empathy from his travels, Halligan gives him his last rites..... *just kidding, he’s looting the body.”*

[@wildfire9280]

Ohhh, Halligan! **you hear a faint yet obnoxious laugh track**

[@joshuadarrow]

*Cue the mariachi sewer surfing mix*

[@hellishwerewolf7798]

He's essentially every fallout player ever.

[@popcornegg4405]

@@hellishwerewolf7798 Yep... you play as Halligan in every fallout game.

[@AndrewRedW]

Even though I saw that from a mile away, it was still very funny

[@G0thCrayon]

I love how the guy is just ceaselessly howling in pain (in Dolby Surround!) as his meats are being slowly flenced from the bone, but just lays there while being served up like premium deli meats... No straps, no chains, the only thing keeping him on that table is basically just the awkward embarrassment of getting up and interrupting their dinner plans.

[@bullno1]

It's the magic of the droods

[@theblekedet6467]

I can relate to him tbh

[@ElWarto93]

This just would be a very rude thing to do for a British Gentleman

[@CollinMcLean]

They probably slit his tendons and ligaments first

[@naw9549]

The fact that the chief asks for "sensible" results, and then Halligan asks Lowry for a "sensible" answer with so much emphasis on the word tells me he absolutely had to go lookup the definition first.

[@spencerlb]

I can’t describe to you how hard that made me laugh

[@isenokami7810]

I figured that was implying Lowry doesn’t provide sensible results either. Which he doesn’t, remember that case file full of nonsense. In their own ways, both Halligan and Lowry are headaches for the chief, and a menace to England.

[@jokubasrazas2255]

@@isenokami7810 now i want a sequel starring lowry

[@bullno1]

Don't slander my man like that. He even knows what the central bank of England is.

[@Svoorhout85]

I once read a long 4chan greentext story about a group of guys making hundreds of copies of that druid face and hiding them everywhere in another friends house while he was on vacation. In books, behind furniture, beneath floors. He's probably still running into that face.

[@harrythebaker]

This comment made me audibly laugh out loud. This is amazing.

[@laboon344]

@@harrythebaker laugh

[@harrythebaker]

@@laboon344 Cheers. Didn't notice the typo.

[@Zero60133]

Ah must be nice to have friends.

[@Wimmig43at339]

@@Zero60133 nah they’re overrated.

[@NameAvailable]

“This is grass Halligan!” made me laugh out loud. Like, he’s clearly incompetent, but forensics thinking he’s so stupid he literally just brought them grass is hilarious

[@herpydepth3849]

It’s like when your cat brings you a dead rat. Halligan is like that but he thinks the dead rat is key evidence in a murder investigation

[@JohnSmith-ox3gy]

@@BaldingSasquatch And that's not even the stupidest thing he did on his visit. He was apparently suffering from alcohol withdrawal as he took a swig of medical alcohol!

[@ManOutofTime913]

To be fair, Halligan can explain the grass was burnt only under the bones and Chris' explanation is that the bones got hot in the sun. Between that, recommending a close friend who is currently out of the country, and giving him medical alcohol, Chris is about as good a forensic expert as Halligan is a detective

[@sinko3811]

@@ManOutofTime913 Though that last one felt like he was actually trying to get Halligan killed (judging by him suddenly starting to laugh creepily during that scene)

[@ManOutofTime913]

@@sinko3811 A forensic scientist would commit a better murder.

[@Zotjad]

This game needs a spinoff following a new hire at Scotland Yard who never ends up in the same building at the same time as Halligan, and you just hear about him from the other characters and find his pizza boxes and alien magazines and you have to piece together what this being is.

[@brother_sothoth]

And then it turns out you ARE Halligan, in a big Fight Club esque twist

[@tommykarrick9130]

When you start to realize your case has a supernatural twist to it, you have to track down Halligan and ask him some questions. You find him passed out on a bench at Al’s Pizza Palace, and the only way to wake him up is with a whiff of Apple Schnapps (his favorite)

[@elloo98]

Alternatively you are playing someone who was cursed by droods (neo or otherwise) and need to get in the know on all of the secrets and mysteries that the droods had, culminating in a quest to find the last living drood, only to find out that he is a pitza-holic and conspiracy theorist working for the Scotland Yard. I honestly don't know if Halligan would be more or less than what one might expect of the last living drood. Probably both.

[@cyanthrope]

every step of the case, he's been there first, and you can tell by the sheer volume of poisoned homeless people and quantities of salt in places salt wouldn't otherwise be

[@JacobSteakfries]

I sincerely would not mind if this game was just Lowry and Halligan shit-talking each other over petty shit for 10 hours. I'd buy that in a heartbeat.

[@SgtShakenBake]

Sounds like a great dating sim lol

[@kucingcing]

Same

[@nicholasfarrell5981]

B-b-baka!

[@lipstickgamer6580]

Halligan haunts me. I’ve never even played this game. Once at work I thought “what would Halligan do?” and I was horrified with what I imagined; it’s my favorite way to pass the day

[@Nemtrac5]

Icing on the cake was he could have stabbed himself at the end but chose to stab her because he is a fucking sociopath lmao "on one condition, nothing will happen to Melanie or me afterwards"

[@Omnicide101]

I'm a bartender. I think I'd be arrested for just having the thought.

[@samribz3320]

WWHD

[@Cmbtsnpr]

@@Nemtrac5 That might be (flimsily) explained with the choice of diction. Stabbing yourself isn't something that "happens" to you, but something you do to yourself. If someone else stabs you, it's something happening to you. Flimsy as hell, but that's the magic of the druids

[@BuenDude]

@@Nemtrac5 melanie didn't know about the mistletoe so halligan would've died for real

[@Colddirector]

love how Serstans basically just a more violent version of Halligan’s chief. They both sit in their office, berate Halligan and demand he gets out of their sight

[@TheSergio1021]

Almost seems intended honestly

[@enzoqueijao]

History really does repeat

[@casewhite-954]

my sides...

[@MitchellD249]

The chief or Lowry?

[@kabob0077]

Only difference is that one sounds like Lord Gelt and the other doesn't.

[@lucklesscope8367]

I like to picture Sinclair as a sadist. At the table with Halligan he wanted to take his time before eating. He'd go on explaining that Halligan had a choice to either consume human flesh and fall under their influence or face the same horrible fate as their victims. Sinclair then wanted to observe the horror in Halligan's eyes upon facing this hard choice. But everything is ruined when Halligan starts to eat while Sinclair wasn't done monologuing, and in sheer panic he has to blurt out what it is to get some reaction.

[@Xenomorthian]

imagine how he must have felt when he not only got no reaction from Halligan finding out he was eating human flesh but Halligan kept eating and not caring

[@Rick586]

47:25 My headcanon is that those guards aren't looking for Melanie. They're tracking down Haligan because his kleptomania cannot be stopped by mind control.

[@decim161]

Lmao that makes it 10 times better

[@Rick586]

@Samar3n The droods needed those scissors for their arts & crafts fundraising project, hence why they were so angry

[@Atamosk-bu7zt]

And the barrier the droods put up at the end is actually to protect themselves from the pocket change bandit's moonshine of death.

[@Alberich_Prince_of_Dwarves]

Halligan is an escaped chimpanzee in a zoo.

[@cybernautadventurer]

Halligan probably stole their pizza delivery

[@Desgaroth]

"Halligan runs like there's something wrong with him" Well you see: There is.

[@JudgeNicodemus]

Multiple things are...

[@Fightersword]

I don’t know why, but it took watching this several times to realize that Halligan stabbed Melanie because when Serstan promised no harm would befall them, he wasn’t specific about its source, so Halligan stabbing her still broke the vow, as stupid as that is. And then butterfly effect I guess. Basically, Halligan won using some lawyer bullshit. Coming from a guy who’s lived his entire life taking advantage of the goodwill of others and any available loopholes to get whatever he wanted, it’s a fitting way for him to win.

[@aeddiefarmer]

Omg thank you for explaining this!

[@peculiarpangolin4638]

Also, Halligan could have stabbed himself in order to produce the same effect. So even in the end, he sees even Melanie's life as less valuable than his own. (Let's be real, he forgot that he had the mistletoe, he expected her to die.) Ah, Halligan, one of gaming's greatest characters...

[@Lucas_Nuts]

@@peculiarpangolin4638 Honestly wish there were more of him, because everyone around him is aware of who he is, yet he still manages to get on top haha

[@peculiarpangolin4638]

@@Lucas_Nuts So what you're saying is.... Halligan for Smash?

[@averagecoloniser4586]

@@peculiarpangolin4638 honestly I think it’s because halligan wanted to make sure that both of them survived since he now has magic healing powers with mistletoe and Melanie probably doesn’t, so if he stabbed himself Melanie wouldn’t have been able to heal him. As for if he couldn’t heal himself, I guess he just didn’t want to have the inconvenience of being stabbed in the gut

[@hansa5867]

This is one of the best videos to sleep to. Except for the literal 90 second long part in the middle where they scream in constant agony over and over

[@HarrHarrHarrify]

That part gave me a nightmare once when I left this video as a sleep aid.

[@hansa5867]

@ yup, no joke, wish that part was cut out. It goes on for sooo long 😅

[@sameggenton1077]

I love how Melanie isn’t even slightly upset that Halligan stabbed her

[@carlosfred8673]

She really wanted that Pitza date.

[@AlexWaff]

@@carlosfred8673 Brent is just going to ditch her so that she has to pay his tab.

[@joaogomes9405]

I love the fact that Halligan could have just as well stabbed himself, since the deal with Serstan was that both him and Melanie had to survive. But of course Halligan stabs the woman he loves instead, as Halligan is want to do.

[@Yugomorph]

He could have just stabbed either one of them in a leg or an arm and it would have done the job. He was just being a sadistic sociopath at that moment. That's our Halligan for you.

[@GreenEyedDazzler]

@@joaogomes9405 sorry to be that guy but it’s “won’t to do” as in something he is predisposed towards doing often or in the past

[@hendrikmaus3575]

It is telling for the insanity of this game, that most viewers just accept that it would go into a self-referencing song and dance number after the ending.

[@VoltageXXII]

I mean, Limbo of the Lost did it. So why not? The part that clued me off was when I saw Mando's helmet at one point in it and I realized that it wasn't actually part of the ending.

[@wayment1940]

wait thats not part of the game?

[@Calvin_Coolage]

@@VoltageXXII The Predator drones and the 'menacing' kanji from Jojo were what tipped me off.

[@harrysox2815]

It took me a really long time to realize it wasn't real. Too long.

[@harrysox2815]

@@Calvin_Coolage yeah that was what set me off but everything else felt like it fit

[@thecynicalone7655]

I can imagine a sequel where Halligan now has druid powers and is even more of a nuisance to everyone around him, because they can't link all the inconvenient bullshit that happens to them to him.

[@msgen02]

If there was ever a sequel, Halligan would be villain.

[@Casanuda]

@@msgen02 a PROPER sequel would have Halligan conveniently forgetting everything about his druid powers and chalking it up to a conspiracy.

[@serpentofdays]

I want this so bad now

[@willowbarrelmaker8269]

@@Casanuda That is actually perfect

[@jmjedi923]

@@msgen02 lowry would be the hero

[@g80gzt]

Halligan knowing you can't draw money from the bank of england, off the top of his head, implies he tried to.

[@SuperNintendawg]

I would point out that it's common knowledge, but this is Halligan we're taking about. Dude drinks straight ethanol for fun.

[@JKelly756]

“It is human flesh mr. Halligan” *proceeds to look completely unfazed and continue chewing*

[@adolfgaming1761]

**Ah yes, a good fucking meal*

[@mootroidXproductions]

something about this is just... mesmerizing. i keep coming back to it. i have not known peace since the day i saw Halligan steal those scissors.

[@adamwest8711]

This is my third viewing. It’s probably the best video of any kind I’ve seen on KZbin. The number of outstanding bits of comedy…just amazing.

[@ferdithetank7535]

Indeed, there is substantial charm in reviews like that. I revisit Pathologic and Limbo of the Lost every once in a while.

[@chromulus2225]

I have watched this video at least 10 times. I think I need help but every time I'm looking for something to watch while working and I see this in my recommended I just click it.

[@adamwest8711]

@@chromulus2225 it’s the magic of the droods.

[@sevenpolar3483]

the game is like a piece of abstract art, it isn't the greatest show of skill and good design, but it is endlessly fascinating

[@miguelolandesca9342]

“You have something he needs for a puzzle, your life is over” is probably my favourite fucking line from this video

[@belllerofont]

This broke me

[@chickentendies5215]

and he was right, he does stab her to complete a puzzle

[@vaivamarija7835]

Halligan and lowry have the energy of a couple whos been married and divorced witch each other at least 5 times

[@TheBonkleFox]

Lowry does give off Nero tol Scaeva vibes sometimes.

[@MellyTheCatLover]

Enemies to lovers back to enemies

[@error-try-again-later]

He is the Squilliam to Lowry's Squidward.

[@rainbowlack]

love loses❤

[@crimsondynamo615]

“Why do we always keep coming back to each other, knowing full well it’s never going to work?”

[@goblinrat6119]

A hero would stab himself to abuse a loophole in a magical sworn contract. Halligan, instead, stabs his romantic interest in the gut without a second thought. And that honestly totally fits all we've seen before that point.

[@Flamme-Sanabi]

At least he kinda became a druid, not like his romantic interest, so he was able to heal her. She couldn`t-

[@Freekymoho]

@@Flamme-Sanabi but that begs the question, was a lethal stab even neccesary? A small cut should have been enough

[@Flamme-Sanabi]

@@Freekymoho I mean, a papercut could do it. But I'd make sure that it works, so it's a lethal stab. I mean, they just could've tripped and fall on their face and that way the thing would've been ended.

[@satelliteexile2089]

It gets better, man. They tried that first, no dice. Even his line about the things is "All you could do with those is hurt yourself" but apparently it doesn't even register to Halligan that that'd work. Shivving his new girlfriend is insane but...well, yeah that fits.

[@Zorro9129]

That contract was unbelievably literal. He could have tripped over his shoelaces and sprained an ankle and the big bad would have to vanish from existence. The logic of the act is what surprised me, not the act itself.

[@genomicbeast]

The dark souls music in the background when the chief was grilling him was perfect.

[@ZaiketsuKumori]

It matches the "Oh Fuck" mood perfectly because you know you're about to get called out for being a shitty human being. Of course, the game requires you to be a shitty human being to progress, but that's another story.

[@Tukenfarben]

It was technically a "boss fight"

[@Solidpwner94]

@@Tukenfarben badum tss

[@vojtechjanku2534]

Also the Death Note soundtrack when the fisherman left was so on point

[@arlobrimley9566]

@@ZaiketsuKumori the real question is what was the song played when they went back in time? It was a banger.

[@EphemeraEssays]

The forensics guy casually accepting that Halligan wouldn't know what grass is kills me every fucking time

[@0neDoomedSpaceMarine]

Could have been snark on his behalf, but that works just as well.

[@wotwott2319]

​@@0neDoomedSpaceMarineI mean, he did think the forensics guy has a great job because he's a cabinet away from medical alcohol

[@portalmanHUN]

"....This is grass, Halligan"

[@MrJacobElias]

"Every time"??? Do you play this game often? Don't force us to do an intervention.

[@andyantony6638]

Don’t tell me you haven’t watched this at least twice.

[@ionutbadea7915]

Halligan could have stabbed himself at the end there because the vow was to not to hurt the both of them. He actively chose to stab Melanie.

[@Toxicgamerdog]

Halligan would not do that as that may interfere with him completing puzzles in the future. She, on the other hand, is expendable

[@cacomeatballmarinara2014]

He only did it because he still had the healing mistletoe on him and had to complete at least one more puzzle

[@lastgamecube9688]

I was howling at the fact that you play a psychopath who poisons homeless people for 60 cents. The incident being brought up later by the Captain made me cry.

[@drakep.5857]

I just became a fan of a game I didn't know existed.

[@Walamonga1313]

@@drakep.5857 Same. This shit is brilliant. The british accents makes it twice as good too

[@fermintenava5911]

Remember - he had to poison a homeless guy JUST TO GET SOME CHANGE FOR THE F***ING PAYPHONE. 😂

[@glitchedsushi]

@@fermintenava5911 to Halligan’s credit, the homeless guy didn’t wanted to give it to him 😂

[@GM_Head]

So, on my like, fifth viewing of this, it hit me. Druid Magic works for Halligan with the salt? Because Druids think time and space is bullshit. And Halligan will become an ordained Druid at the dinner party. So, because time and space is bullshit to Druids, he can do Druid magic at any point in time and space.

[@ryokiritani4187]

Holy shit

[@apeasant8550]

That makes too much sense

[@buttsauceable]

its also why dollar store palpatine had been "waiting so long to meet" halligan when he started the case a few hours earlier but it also kind of implies the druids always knew their plan would be foiled

[@sevenpolar3483]

@@buttsauceable Halligan investigates for at least a few days. The ferry only goes back and forth every day

[@Nionivek]

Very VERY sadly there is an explanation for the Salt... Basically a Druid Salt Merchant cursed the person so that salt would destroy whatever keep he was in... Which just so happened to apply post-mortem to his tomb for no real reason NOR does it explain why you couldn't use the coarse crystals. . The game tells you this information EXTREMELY poorly... to the point where you can only know this by filling in the gaps post-puzzle. Heck the way the game explains the curse made it sound more like "They found a way to use salt to destroy the castle" (Like say... inventing Gunpowder).

[@ViktoriaMagrey]

*There is indeed a version of the game where Lowry sits on the chair properly like a human being.* It's the original CD version of the game, prior to the DVD/Special Edition release, which has an almost entirely different soundtrack, features the credits song "The Kiss", and is _not_ the one available digitally nowadays. That means the official, polished release is the one that has a man floating above a chair mid-air. That's the version of the game that's going to last forever because they broke something _after_ a revision. That is hysterical. I guess someone brought up that his pose in the original looked uncomfortable because his back was so bent, so they tried fixing it, but they never checked to see whether or not it matched the pre-rendered background, the madlads.

[@Estra_Estra]

What?????? I- I just can't

[@Megenos]

They knew what they were doing. They were creating a Pantheon- a god!

[@logicaloverdrive8197]

Amazing how the creation of this game can be as bizzare as it is

[@marocat4749]

I thought watching that video firt ir was an obcure hint lowry was a druid. Or he could have been a mysterious celtic deity offering help just halligan never picked up on that he could levitate.And so he did just that.

[@ryokiritani4187]

@@marocat4749 halligan never picked the option that started the quest lmao

[@vtipoman]

There's a non-zero chance Halligan dies after drinking the medical alcohol, and the rest of the game is a hallucination created as his brain shuts down. Just tell me the forensics guy doesn't sound straight up evil in the cutscene (14:25), and that the entire department wouldn't be liable to believe Halligan really did find it reasonable to have a go at their supply of ethanol.

[@rina5221]

Halligan's character is perfect. I have never seen a customizable main character of a Bethesda RPG written as an actual believable person

[@artemismoore4176]

Halligan is technically an Oblivion NPC manifested

[@katatonikbliss]

the fallout 3 protagonist would be way more realistic if you could ask liam neeson for an autograph when you find him

[@michaelmerritt7406]

Halligan is the type that'd outright catch the Zodiac Killer while leaving his fork in the microwave.

[@EggheadsGuide]

Sure but in the process he would have committed as much if not more heinous crimes.

[@espio87]

@@EggheadsGuide Halligan: "You can't make an omellet without cracking some eggs."

[@alfalldoot6715]

@@espio87 "We're making the mother of all pitza here Lowry!"

[@BlondieYouTube]

Pretty sure leaving the fork in the microwave was part of puzzle, somehow.

[@wareforcoin5780]

@@BlondieKZbin Had to burn down the break room to get out of it.

[@svendays]

"You have something he needs for a puzzle--your life is over." I gave a hearty chuckle at that line. Who knows, maybe that really was what he was thinking....

[@BirchMonkey857]

I love how Halligan could've told the chief "there's evidence that a dangerous cult is behind this, and they seem to be emulating the Droods, so I'm speaking with an expert on the subject" and it would've easily shut him down, but because Halligan is, well, Halligan, he just said "DROODS" and expected it to go over well.

[@Inkspeckle]

The real Mystery of the Druids is how Halligan still had a job at the start of the game

[@QuantumTelephone]

Clearly he has no competition in this town

[@1Hol1Tiger]

Because unfortunately in the full version he's sadly the most competent officer.... I'm not kidding, you may think I'm joking, but the other police in the precinct are THAT bad.

[@WowPlusWow]

well, that part is actually quite realistic. Police in the real world have the best job security and can often get away with doing questionable shit.

[@theoneandonlymichaelmccormick]

Police unions, man.

[@Lucax97]

As a British person, I can't articulate just how well this game nails our atmosphere; aesthetically unappealing, mundane but utterly spiteful people ect. But unintentionally it fits into our history of poor presentation regarding film/tv, but simultaneously creating a compelling atmosphere with deceptively clever writing.

[@brawlives6996]

Big Edge of Darkness vibes tbh

[@sevenpolar3483]

When I saw the office, it was a really surreal experience, it felt like being taken back in time. The offices I worked at looked exactly the same, polished flat floors floors that were always very cold, that weird bubble textured walls that were dirtier at the bottom than the top and those box folders that always hurt your hand when taking paper in and out. The graphic artist should really be commended on their realism and ability to exactly replicate the look and feel of a room.

[@hcc440]

And what do you know, it depicted a stabbing

[@abbieoconnell3595]

Not to mention the late 90s/early 2000s obsession with the Royal Family and the bureaucracy of big, public institutions. It's SO British.

[@Jono793]

Agreed. This game has the vibe of the police dramas which were all over UK television in the 90s: A Touch of Frost, Inspector Morse etc. Like one of those, if the protagonist was a beetle person with no concept of human empathy 😅

[@SatNightShasta]

Oh my god, the cover of the game is Serstan yelling at Halligan to get out!

[@suguri2075]

For the 50th time.

[@alphashocker7458]

“Welcome to Estalia, Gentlemen!”

[@akun50]

@4:03 - "Dead people don't go around committing murders." - Amazingly boneheaded. The guy could've been a copycat or he might've had co-conspirators, partners, apprentices, or masters who decided to kill him in jail. So, no, it's entirely possible for that guy to have been one of the murderers. Especially since the police hadn't even nailed down how many murderers might've been involved.

[@deerenthusiast885]

that honestly bothered me a lot. That's something I'd expect from Halligan himself, not the damn chief.

[@shadowjack239]

@@deerenthusiast885 The fact we *expect* it from Halligan says it all, really!

[@theoneandonlymichaelmccormick]

Especially considering that the actual culprits of the murders WERE, in fact, a group of co-conspirators.

[@celas1]

I think your theory of Lowry's scissors binding him to the material world might be correct. Have you noticed after Halligan breaks them that he doesn't show up for the rest of the game?

[@twyckoff87]

I just love that instead of heroically sacrificing himself he shanks his girlfriend

[@ciceroissad4821]

I think it was because she didn't know about the healing properties of the herb. And so she wouldn't know how to save halligan.

[@hawkonroyale431]

@@ciceroissad4821 That and also it is just weird psychotic Halligan logic. I mean No one would think it would work since you are the one breaking the vow. It is like having a peace treaty and then go to war, only to blame it on the invaded country. Who would think like that? Halligan that's who.

[@517342]

The best part was in Mandy's stream. He got so used to the insane logic of this game that he using the scissors on her was his immediate response. And it was the right one.

[@alex-mj1lq]

peak bri'ish logic

[@Zero60133]

@@517342 Honestly i think this game story is intertwined with crazy logic of many similar games. Certainly it doesn't make sense to do the things he does, but since in many games you can drag and click items from inventory and use them(usually getting "you can't do that" sign), this game just rolls with it and shows how silly it would be and the kind of mindset such protagonist would need. I mean, i am sure many players at some point while being stuck in puzzle game would use every single inventory item in desperate attempt to complete the game.

[@noahp9]

Halligan telling his boss the out come will be like steamed hams. “Did you find the murderer?” “Yes” “Can I see him?” “No”

[@casedistorted]

@baldrobe_dwane Nier automata steamed hams/pizza

[@ColdHawk]

Except… there was no case to solve because the murderers were removed from the timeline and hence there were never any murders to solve? I am so very confused.

[@zyriantel9601]

So let me get this straight: Serstan, a man who knows no honor, enters into an agreement (which he said previously he wouldn’t do, reminder!) with Halligan, who also knows no honor, to not let harm befall Halligan or Melanie, upon the honor he never gave a rat’s ass about before… And because of that, for the first and last time in his existence, Serstan was bound to his honor. And then Halligan pulls a fast one by being just a smidge more dishonorable and stabbing Melanie in the gut for no good reason. Which then promptly unmakes Serstan, who was still bound to his honor. You know, if Serstan had just held fast to not entering into any deals with Halligan like he had claimed, he could’ve avoided this karmic bullshit.

[@aftertone3146]

My headcanon is that Halligan is Lucifer and getting into any deals or agreements with him of any kind dooms you instantly

[@georgeyreynolds]

Villains always like to tell you their plans though. I think maybe he mellowed because he's been there in the past and future and knows that they don't stop him. Villains always think nobody will stop them.

[@yanfei7782]

"You'll find two items in the castle, jack and shit." My favorite phrase.

[@ILSS]

It's a real standout line.

[@theoneandonlymichaelmccormick]

And Jack left town.

[@yanfei7782]

Nice.

[@yanfei7782]

@@ILSS Nice.

[@yanfei7782]

@@theoneandonlymichaelmccormick Nice.

[@Ipsolus]

> Enter main villain's office > "Get out of my room, I'm plotting the end of the world! >:("

[@yaryar5828]

Again?

[@elvastan]

"I AM THE SUPREME PATRIARCH"

[@cattibingo]

"I'LL TAKE OUT THE TRASH IN A MINUTE, MOM!"

[@jonathansotelo4877]

"You aren't mom with my chicken tendies!"

[@ZorotheGallade]

"I'M TOTALLY WORKING ON MY PLANS FOR WORLD DOMINATION AND NOT FINISHING MY SWEET FARM IN MINECRAFT"

[@CriticalNobody]

Halligan is a fascinating character. Not even Hannibal Lecter eats human flesh so casually

[@GSG-io8zp]

Love your videos!

[@HellecticMojo]

@TooLateToTheStory well, there's a country I'm never gonna try to visit apparently.

[@namleist]

"couldnt hurt to try" *shank melanie"

[@pidgy8927]

@UCQo_Si_W1450BKjXFI09Q9w come on, der Wixxer was fun

[@staregineer]

@TooLateToTheStory Wait so Halligan are purposely write to be a weirdo? For the longest time i thought the writer just try to make naive under dog Protaginists but failed huh now that interesting.

[@quartzninja]

"Through the magic of the duids!" is gonna be my "a wizard did it" for the foreseeable future.

[@androgenius_alisa]

Halligan is such a perfect character that him eating human flesh is understandable for SEVERAL reasons

[@mohamednail1707]

To be fair human flesh is pretty tasty

[@roadent217]

@@mohamednail1707 Doesn't it just taste like pork?

[@mohamednail1707]

@@roadent217 nah its taste more like beef

[@lunapyrope9683]

Sinclair: “It is Human flesh” Halligan: :T He just seems annoyed if anything.

[@borissurkan3035]

i heard that human flesh tastes like a mix of 4 diferent meats i heard it on a video the guy cutted a piece of his meat and mixed it with the 4 meats, man curiosity can take people to skyroquet

[@ViktoriaMagrey]

The way he says "Melanie!" after the mistletoe scene never fails to crack me up. Just his dumb smile and everything. He looks and sounds so genuinely happy that she's okay _after he himself stabbed her._ He really does love her, as much as he realistically can, anyway -in his own psychotic way.- And that actually makes the whole thing worse.

[@realKenM]

I wouldn't be suprised if he just stuck that mistletoe branch into *the stab wound* for no other reason than that it'd look pretty.

[@rileycarlson3714]

"You have something he needs for a puzzle. Your life is over." Nothing ever summed up Halligan so concisely

[@jurikurthambarskjelfir3533]

RUGBHY: Righteous Unlife-ing by Gorging By Halligan Yours