Your thoughts on Brad (Spoilers)

[Hardace]

First off, I'd like to say I love the hell out of this game. What a breath of fresh air. What balls the developer has for making a game like this.

I'm wondering what everyone's general thoughts, feelings, and emotions on the main character were as you played through the game, and played again through Pain Mode.

I'm going to double post to avoid people clicking on massive spoilers.

I'd like to start by sharing what I thought following the jump.

[MegaLobsterFace]

The more the game dragged on, the more I believed that Brad was a piece of human garbage. On the basest of levels, he had good intentions, but he hurt everyone along the way and basically ended up making it far worse for not only the person he was trying to protect, but everyone else in the world. I realize that most of what he did was probably because of the Joy, but that's not an excuse. Depending on the way you play, he ranges from a detatched, manicly obsessed deadbeat to a psychotic, sociopathic killer with no regard for anything but his own wants.

I think everyone involved can agree that no one wanted Buddy to end up in the wrong hands, but means don't always justify ends

[Hardace]

What a ride this game has been.


Brad definitely ain't perfect -> but he is easily one of the most human protagonists you'll find in a game these days.

From the moment you start the game after having the ever-living ♥♥♥♥ kicked out of a child-aged Brad for defending his friends you can see he at least starts out as a good person. It killed me to watch his Dad berate him for that and throw a bottle at his head. Having him check on his sister and go to his room to cry his little eyes out after is one of the realest moments in gaming.

These same friends, who he was willing to take beatings for, don't seem to hold him in the same esteem. I still can't get over that not one of the original crew ever ends up joining your party. From their reaction to him finding and caring for Buddy, it seems like they immediately start resenting him for not taking the quick security and cash-out selling her out to Rando's Army would have been.

It's hard for me to say whether it's entirely because of his past (Along with his sister's tragic passing) or because of the man he is but Brad seems to have one of the most intact moral compasses left in our post-apocalyptic world (besides a few notable exceptions).

Even before that he takes Dusty in to be his assistant. We later find out in Pain mode he goes as far as adopting this kid. He saw a need and he filled the role of a Father.

Brad's addiction is all the more tragic having seen how good of a person we can be. We are given hints that he can turn abusive when he is under the influence -> but we are never given a sense of how badly. We are shown how awful his life has been, how horrific his upbringing was, and how he copes with the loss in his life. This is cleverly shown with his Dad holding his dead sister and dissapearing as he takes his drug of choice.

We get more than enough hints that he has done some terrible things, but we're never given the full story. His best friend Rick tells him he's not fit to be a father. Is it because of the things Brad has done while he's been on drugs? We get a hint that Brad maimed Dusty that, thankfully, turns out to be someone else's doing. The whole thing makes you think. Why is he so distant to his adopted son during the game? Who is a reliable source of information in this game? Are his friends just ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ or is there more to it?

His friends are far from the best you'll ever see. I was suprised at how they all seem to abandon Brad at the first turn of things. It makes me wonder if one of them tipped off the gang that raids his house. It's apparent they were never quite down to raise Buddy the way he was. Lord only knows what the hell Sticky did.

Throughout the game we get some choices into what Brad can do. You can either have him be a massive post-apocalyptic ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ or a pretty good guy. The less drugs you do the better. One thing that stood out to me is the decisions you can't make.

You can't stop Brad from beating the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ ♥♥♥♥ out of Rick or blowing up his abusive father. At first, I was kind of pissed I couldn't stop him. Now I'm glad that we can't change what Brad does. It shows his mind is fractured from he drugs and the stress he has been under. How uncontrollably ♥♥♥♥♥♥ up it is when he goes ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ is nothing short of jaw-dropping. On the other hand, I like that he doesn't blow up Rick and Sticky if you don't want him to. It shows some sentiment for who his friends were to him.

Buddy's clear disdain for Brad gave me some questions about him, but in the end I don't think she has the most valid opinion. Even leaving in the possibility he sheltered her too much, you would think she would have valued him more than she does in game. Despite the music in the flashbacks we see, there's nothing overtly awful he does to her (that we are privy to). Its doubtful he had the most eloquent way of stopping her from seeing the outside world -> but in the end he is right to not let her wander about. We see multiple examples of her being maimed by the men left in the world. Most people just want a piece of her -> something she never seems to grasp until perhaps after Brad's death. (Side note -> I was moved when you see Buddy wearing Brad's Poncho at the end of the game. Perhaps a sign that she finally understood his pain on some level).

When Brad switches classes from a nobody to a failure ♥♥♥♥ gets real. Watching his absolute despair when he literally becomes a failure in Buddy's (and his own) eyes is soul-wrenching. We don't really know the depth of Buddy's validity in saying he was a terrible father -> but we know he damn well tried his best despite all of his demons. It's even more heart-breaking when your new friends-> your party members (who are arguably better friends to him than his original) go after him in the final fight. My god, Hint-Lord Terry's speech was beautiful. I still wonder if they are dead or just "appear to be"- I'd like to think he didn't blow them up, but I'm not sure how much control his body has left at that point.

Watching Brad take his final stand is such a badass moment. He finally does start living. In his own way he is finally doing the absolute right thing against all odds (at least in his eyes). I can't condone him for what he does to Dusty though. I hope we get more clarity on their relationship. I want to know how Dusty goes from the jump from his beloved adopted son to a stranger. Does he really kill his own adopted son? Does Brad know who Rando was all along? Is Rando dead or just "done". I don't understand why Rando couldn't have talked it out. Did he think Brad was hurting her? Did Rando have his men attack Brad or did they just do it on impulse?

After the fight I had to have Buddy give Brad a hug. To this day I haven't seen the alternative. Could not friggen do it. Who else was shell-shocked seeing Joy-Brad. Holy hell. I'd like to think Brad eats up the joy and runs away from Buddy, but I gotta face it, Brad ain't Brad anymore.

At the end I have more questions than answers. Maybe that's the way it should be. All I know is I love this game. I love the friggen humor, the writing, the real-ness. The developer made himself a hell of a game. Hope he gets the credit he deserves.

My apologies for the post being so long, but I had to get that off my chest.

[LastSurvivor]

Brad may screwed up big time, but he went out with a bang, like a real man should.
Besides, it feels like entire world litterally was out to get him: horrible, abusive father leaves him with younger sister while Brad was not ready to be a dad himself, that failure leads to a dangerous and sadistic stalker who tortures him for it, his childhood friends backstab him with the "best intentions", there is entire world of perverts, bandits and mutants out there, the person, for which Brad went through all of this, hates him for it... And game creator dosen't seems to hold much respect for him either. Of course I sympathize with Brad!

[Hardace]

Love the responses. Part of why I love this game so much is that it leaves room for interpretation. No one is really wrong.

Bad-assDude you said that the game creator doesn't seem to hold much respect for Brad.

I know what you are talking about there. Dingaling made a post that was something along the lines of "You guys really have a high opinion of Brad ;)" (Note: I can't find the post so forgive me if its wrong). Makes me wonder who exactly his inspiration for Brad was.

He also seems to hint that we may yet find more about Brad.

It's interesting because just like when you find Dusty all bandaged up it sours your opinion on Brad until further evidence is revealed. I went through Pain mode utterly disgusted with Brad until I beat that. The more evidence we have the better judgement we can all make.

[EverDownward]

I have nothing but sympathy for Brad.

[ComeOnAndSam]

I didn't feel like Brad was a piece of ♥♥♥♥ until his encounter with Marty. It is common for games to make you do something you don't want to do, and totally crush immersion. Despite being a choice based game, Brad makes many decisions involving Buddy, as he cares for her wellbeing more than we do because we, as a player, do not have the same relationship. And that's fine, I get that.

But when it came to Marty, I felt like we had enough backstory between the two to choose murder or forgiveness. Personally, I chose murder due to his abusiveness and murder of Brad's mother (probably), but I did NOT choose to beat the ♥♥♥♥ out of Buddy. The game makes no attempt to hide it is breaking your immersion by making you pretend you can stop Brad from killing him, when you can't. So basically, the last 15 minutes was all I needed to decide Brad was no longer a guy trying to make his way with the cards dealt and just a straight up piece of turd.

[bridgeofblues]

Where did you get Brads Mother from he dying over the guilt he has inside for his baby/kid sister suicide and falling to protect her from Marty's abused.

[ComeOnAndSam]

Originally posted by bridgeofblues:

Where did you get Brads Mother from he dying over the guilt he has inside for his baby/kid sister suicide and falling to protect her from Marty's abused.

Joyful ending does have any of that. I wasn't sure if Lisa was Brad's mom or sister.

I assumed mother because, don't you play as Lisa in the previous game who is an abused wife? I don't have much info on that game either.

[bridgeofblues]

If you play Lisa the first it implies Special if try to find everything that Lisa Marty daughter confirm in the intro when you go to the babies room.

[Ontan]

To me Brad reminded me a lot of Joel from The Last of Us.

[MegaLobsterFace]

Originally posted by FormerPeace:

To me Brad reminded me a lot of Joel from The Last of Us.

Yeah, but Ellie liked Joel

[bridgeofblues]

Well there very similar character is the Irony.

[Beardfist]

You really do have to play Lisa the First to truely understand why Brad acts the way he does. The guy is a tragic character and nearly everything he does in the game is justifiable. Its just a shame he's a drug addict, but then if he wasn't he'd be nearly flawless. And that makes for a boring character.

[Nedly Dedly]

I agree with you on most of the aspects, felt sorry for Brad, when I saw that he mutated in a blob-like form at the end, I hope he did nothing wrong ot Buddy though.