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But yes, it's highly poetic, particularly in the descriptive text. Some of the other character dialogue is more conversational. But it's up to you whether it interests you or not.
1. We don't pop out of the womb 'smart'. We come out scared, confused, and really 'not smart' - we don't even know about object permanence for some days or weeks even. But would you call a baby 'stupid'? The point is that being confused by something represents an opportunity to learn something new, which means a chance for personal growth even. Yes, even from a computer game - art in any form has the power to do that for us.
2. The designers of this game have clearly conspired to confuse you. It's not meant to make sense. Not at first anyway. They've made this story confusing in a couple ways. Firstly, as you alluded in your post - its an unusual style of telling a story that feels cryptic to the point of being poetry if you're expecting a typical narrative with the usual plot devices. A narrative complete with twists and plot devices ARE indeed in there, but they're buried behind the filter of the main character's mind. Think of it as though its a first person novel. Like any first person novel, you can only learn about the plot by way of 'listening in on' the musings of the main character, right?
What makes it vastly more confusing than just that is the fact that the main character is a total wreck, at least the start. Which is why I'm confident that they want you to be confused. They want you to be confused, because it WOULD BE confusing to be that much of an alcoholic, waking up from a three day bender in a trashed hotel room, having pushed it so far that you've suffered some kind of mini-stroke or something and have lost access to almost everything concerning your past and identity. Even your name.
As others have described, the way that information is filtered to you manifests in very quirky ways, like talking neckties and funny voices representing various aspects of the character's mind. Each of the 'skills' you develop has its own voicing - generally the same voice actor, but as the game proceeds you'll notice more and more that each 'skill' has a unique 'tone' to it. The kinds of words it uses, its pacing, etc. 'Logic' is always calm, 'Electrochemical' is always partying, 'Authority' is always dominating, 'Empathy' is always sensitive to how people other than the main character are feeling, etc. The poetry part comes largely from the more abstract skills - 'Conceptualization' and 'Shivers', for example. Conceptualization is literally the skill of abstracting things from other things, or in other words, extreme pattern finding and creative vision. Shivers is a little vague and confusing to me still, but I gather that it's meant to be how well the character has their fingers on the pulse of the city he lives in.
Which brings me to yet another way the game is confusing - the same reason why every game or story that is set in a world that is not our own is confusing at first: all the location names, all of the historical events frequently alluded to, all of the famous people talked about, are all fake. There's no getting around this one - but there's also no definitive need to fully understand the game world in order to enjoy the game. It does add something if you do put in the time to figure it out, but be patient with it because it doesn't tell you everything all at once, and so you'll have to put it together as you go.
While we're all used to that last source of confusion, when its compounded by the others it makes for a pretty dizzying narrative. So no, you're definitely not 'stupid' for not getting it. Try again, and just allow yourself to be confused. If it's still not fun, then it's just not your kind of game. Not liking a game doesn't make you stupid either.
It was a rhetorical question. Next thoughtless comment. =P
My point wasn't that baby's are 'smart', it was that it's a little harsh applying labels to people, or to yourself, for the crime of simply not knowing something. Especially since none of us know anything at birth.
You sure speak in a very condescending tone for someone who doesn't recognize a joke.
This game is an absolute masterpiece with how they managed to break a person down to all their core parts. All of the "skills" are really just parts of the body, the mind, personality types. I assure you, you wont find anything like this in any other medium. And so you get to experience a rather poetic personification of what is normally the automatic processes happening within your body and mind. It's really a genius game. If you don't care about psychology, what makes people tick, motivations for behavior, and even the over arching examination of politics, the game isn't for you. It's not typical, tropey, rehashed ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. It's a thinking mans (or womans) game. It may not be your speed, but I can tell you this game is soo good for those who find value in what it has to offer. And it even allows you some options of how you want your character to act, and what sort of ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ he will say. It's an amazing game, If I could I'd reset my memories just to play it again new.