[!!!SPOILER!!!] Brad VS Old Marty scene

[Alexis Wasilla]

I'm very conflicted about this scene and I can tell alot of other people are too and I don't know really how to feel, what do you guys think about this scene?

[coffeebagel]

It makes you feel like a villain because you killed a man that among other things raped his own daughter driving her to suicide. What can I say, DL is a genius.

[DuckieMcduck]

When I first went through that, I guarded through several of his attacks trying to avoid conflict specially because Buddy was in the room.

The fight really catches you off guard, as Brad was already fighting this character internally throughout his life and you don't expect to see them in person anymore. It's a good scene because it emphasizes the loss of control that spawns from piled on angst and blockers (that turn out to be stimulants), the fake option to use reason, in a completely unreasonable situation that encompasses such deep rooted emotions that were expressed throughout the whole game, is a great addition too.

You even get to hit Buddy, literally the only thing the game says is precious and would have you lose limbs over, just to keep on attacking this torturing figure for Brad which he tried to keep away from his mind all those years. It demonstrates that despite being strong and unyielding, Brad is emotionally weak and a broken man because of who he is. But, who wouldn't be?

[KnightwhosaysNi]

It's supposed to be a dark subversion of the "Atonment with the Father" part of Cambel's hero's journey. Traditionally it's there to confront a figure or element of authority in the protag's past and come to terms with it, thus becoming more mature and fufilled. In Brad's case, his years of trauma and rage break upon seeing Marty and he utterly annihilates him without even a regard for his adoptive daughter and what that does to her. Ultimately, his inability to let go of that anger keeps him from developing, much like how his inability to let go of his addidction to Joy or his desire to save Buddy is counterintuitive and harmful to himselft.* Not to excuse Marty's actions, he's reprehensible beyond redemption, but Brad's inability to let go of his pain is the true tragedy of the scene.

*I actually haven't beaten Lisa yet, Rando keeps kicking my ass, but I think I get the point and where the story is going.

[tentaclemage]

It's to make Brad's victory a hollow one. In a more traditional story, Brad probably would have come across Marty tearing Buddy's clothes off and trying to force himself on her, so you feel good about beating the tar out of him. A hero's triumph over a villian is most satisfying when the villian is at his most dispicable, not when he's minding his own business and then crying and begging for mercy when you attack him.

A similar thing happens with Chris Columbo. The guy is a jerk to you the entire game, and if Lisa was a more normal story Brad would get a chance to get revenge on him. But instead the guy kills himself, denying you the satasfaction, and he even apologizes for being mean to you. Like with Marty, Columbo's death isn't satisfying because he was being nice when he was defeated.

These both prepare the player for when Brad is faced with an even more hollow victory at the end of the game.