Sam & Max 205: What's New, Beelzebub? - Reviews & Discussions w/ Spoilers

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Comments

  • edited April 2008
    The episode was great. :)

    However, it is a bit of a tease to put Hugh Bliss there and give him so few lines. I mean, he was the main villain of Season 1, I would like to see more of him. Jurgen was at the wedding trying to catch the Boquet. Is it possible that Hugh Bliss may return as well, as an occasionally recurring character?

    Of course, it was delightfully creepy when he wouldn't respond to the two, just staring with that backwards head. o_o;;
  • edited April 2008
    Corvin25 wrote: »
    Of course, it was delightfully creepy when he wouldn't respond to the two, just staring with that backwards head. o_o;;

    Heh, that was actually a bit creepy. I thought he was going to tear into them with the mother of all death threats after awhile. :p
  • edited April 2008
    Jake wrote: »
    Throughout the season, I harbored a secret hope that Lincoln's head would somehow end up attached to the Maimtron's body for some kind of final showdown.

    You should kill one of the game writers, cut off their skin with a knife, and wear it as a suit.
  • edited April 2008
    In Sams personal hell, where Peepers keeps his gun?
  • edited April 2008
    Great episode, really tied up the whole season nicely. Well done Telltale, I can hardly wait for Season 3!
  • edited April 2008
    Well finally finished it tonight, and finally reached the end of this thread (quite a few more still to read :) )

    Loved 205, I was totally not expecting the Soda Poppers as villains.

    Puzzles I turned on hints to solve:
    - Toy Factory - I'd already worked out I could shoot the toy, but didn't make the "Alien" reference that Max hints about straight away.
    - Peepers seducing Sybil - there doesn't seem to be any clue in the dialogue that his real name would break the spell, and the first hints seemed to indicate to me that we needed to get Timmy /into/ Sybils to confront Peepers. Max's second hint about going back to hell twigged that I needed to switch the swearing list. Love that Timmy says "melon-farming" LOL.
    - With the Fiddle Contest puzzle - I saw Chippy's cartridge and immediately thought to get the Mimesweeper cartridges (yes, the music at SCP's cubicle was helpful) but the moleman wasn't helping me. So I thought maybe if I could pull Timmy away from Maimtron, the Maimtron could provide lyrics to Chippy's music... and then I thought... crack in pavement, and got the cartridge that way. So no hints used, but I did go in the wrong direction for a while.

    With the final showdown puzzle, bell & book were easy, and I couldn't work out how to do the candle bit.... and ended up just doing lots of random things with random items, which eventually led me to the right conclusion.
    I just thought Sam was being cruel throwing things into Mr Spatula's tank... I didn't make the cake connection until it appeared! And then I thought if I could find a rib, I could turn it into another Stinky.... the birthday cake aspect only made sense after a little more thinking :)

    Loved the whole thing, I was actually laughing out loud so many times and this was even before the opening credits. And all the great things that happened when hell froze over...

    I'd list a favourite quote but I'd probably have to play the episode again and write /all/ of them down.

    But here's a taste:
    "Who would have thought the Lincoln Memorial's bachelor party would be such a disaster?"
    "At least it wasn't as bad as the Washington monument's bris"
  • edited April 2008
    Molokov wrote: »
    - Peepers seducing Sybil - there doesn't seem to be any clue in the dialogue that his real name would break the spell, and the first hints seemed to indicate to me that we needed to get Timmy /into/ Sybils to confront Peepers. Max's second hint about going back to hell twigged that I needed to switch the swearing list. Love that Timmy says "melon-farming" LOL.

    The hint was from Stinky's puzzle. The order I did them was Spec's first then Wizzer. When I got to Peepers, I couldn't figure out for the life of me what to do until I realized that Peepers was changing forms with nearly ever edit to him (which I still want to know how you guys did that, TTG!). When I made that connection, I figured it was something along the same lines.

    It took me a while to figure out I needed to switch the lists. My hint came from Hugh Bliss himself after Max said to go back to hell. I kind of freaked out when I saw his head turn around by itself as he said "OH! I just love my job!"
  • edited April 2008
    Jake wrote: »
    Hey out of curiosity, did hearing the Mimesweeper music playing on the Corporate Presence's computer in the Hell main office help you guys figure out the "violin duel with Specs" puzzle?


    It helped a bit, because I would not have thought that Mimesweeper had music. But seeing the other game in Chippy was a greater help. Then i tried asking the moleman for help, saw the one game above the pile, and fished it out with the paperclips.

    I really liked this episode! Some of the puzzles were really evil! That Poor Monster ;-) First getting killed (well it asked for it) and then having to donate a rib. I also liked how Hugh Bliss did not say "Hi i'm Hugh Bliss" or anything at all at for a while, when Sam talked to him. The big Car Uprage (for getting all uprgades and decals this season) was also a nice idea.

    The only Problem I had was freeing Santa and the elf, simply because I did not think you could shoot the gift at Santa's workshop. But after i did that once, it was easy.
  • edited April 2008
    With the Peepers puzzle I think the biggest clue was that Sybil kept saying "I see him for what he truly is" or something like that; and of course we all know she was being tricked into NOT seeing his true from. When the whole Stinky thing went down -- and when I could still ask Grandpa Stinky afterward to remind me how we saw her true form -- it clicked. Also, when you ask Timmy for Peepers' real name and it's bleeped, you naturally just HAVE to find out! It's human instinct.
  • mremre
    edited April 2008
    Is it just me, or did the golden fiddle puzzle just have at ton of red herrings attached to it? Since Max says something like "His music doesn't have enough soul" after hearing Chippy, I was certain that I'd have to use Harry Moleman's karaoke machine in some way. Other than that, I also spent a lot of time trying to make the Maimtron help Chippy out.

    Needless to say, I had wasted a good amount of time before actually giving in and shamefully turning the hints up one notch. I feel dirty. :o One of the best puzzles this season though, and I'm glad Telltale has increased the difficulty since adding the hint system.

    One minor complaint I have about that puzzle though, is that I actually wasn't aware that the cartridges were copies of Mimesweeper. I think S&M only mention that the first time you click the pile, and that was all the way back before the opening credits.

    All in all, I'd say this episode is the best one this season in terms of jokes and writing. Unfortunately, with all the excess travel time I can't really say the same gameplaywise. (That is, the rooms in this episode is mostly just a long, linear passage from one end to the other - I mean, to get from your street into one of the dioramas you will have to walk through no less than five rooms before getting there. Of which two, the sewers and the reception area, are really mostly pointless.)
  • edited April 2008
    I just realized that TTGs missed a golden replay moment with the Maintron. They could have changed it a bit so that after the Maimtron says a line from a song, Timmy would immediately say the artist that originally sung it similar to when you find out they are having a trivia contest.

    I mean, hell, that little bit got me to look up Patty Smyth.
  • edited April 2008
    I am replaying the whole season right now... and I just found a nice bit of foreshadowing of 205 in 202, when you click on the North Pole in the office.
    Sam: We are just borrowing this from Santa until he gets back.
    Max: When will he come back from hell?
    Sam: Right after it freezes over.

    Or something like that. It is not exactly what happened (because hell froze over after he was released), but still a nice connection to the rest of the season.
  • edited April 2008
    Also, the very first scene in 201 has Max referring to his gun as "The Peacemaker"
  • mremre
    edited April 2008
    Randulf wrote: »
    Also, the very first scene in 201 has Max referring to his gun as "The Peacemaker"

    Would that be a 205 reference? :confused:
  • edited April 2008
    Molokov wrote: »
    - With the Fiddle Contest puzzle - I saw Chippy's cartridge and immediately thought to get the Mimesweeper cartridges (yes, the music at SCP's cubicle was helpful) but the moleman wasn't helping me. So I thought maybe if I could pull Timmy away from Maimtron, the Maimtron could provide lyrics to Chippy's music... and then I thought... crack in pavement, and got the cartridge that way. So no hints used, but I did go in the wrong direction for a while.

    This is how I managed to figure that one out, too, though I completely missed hearing the Mimesweeper music. I just figured that since Chippy could use cartridges, I would try to get a hold of one just to see what would happen.
    With the final showdown puzzle, bell & book were easy, and I couldn't work out how to do the candle bit.... and ended up just doing lots of random things with random items, which eventually led me to the right conclusion.
    I just thought Sam was being cruel throwing things into Mr Spatula's tank... I didn't make the cake connection until it appeared! And then I thought if I could find a rib, I could turn it into another Stinky.... the birthday cake aspect only made sense after a little more thinking :)
    Yeah, I didn't realize I was making a cake of the damned either until it turned into one, I just saw that you could toss stuff into Mr. Spatula's tank and ran with it. I looked around for a spare rib, too- I even tried to tear up the skeleton poster!
  • edited April 2008
    Hello, first post here (please excuse my learnt-in-Quebec english). I thoroughly enjoyed 205. Am I the only one who got the reference to the LucasArts' cancellation of Sam and Max: Freelance Police? Maybe I misunderstood, but the Popper's Corporate Presence 101 speech right after they reveal their true colors clearly includes something along the lines of: "After careful evaluation of current market place realities and underlying economic considerations" which I've taken from this sad letter.
  • jmmjmm
    edited April 2008
    I believe "someone" posted about that earlier...
  • edited April 2008
    How did I miss this one the first time?
    When you click on the efficiency meter after you've broken all the dioramas:
    Sam (jumping up & down, taunting like a little kid): Hee Hee, we broke hell!
    Max: This is why we can't have nice afterlifes

    Brilliant
  • edited April 2008
    Great work, you guys at Telltale.

    My laptop sucks, so whenever I play I get about 4-5 minutes of actual play then about 8-10 minutes of lag...eh...it's a Dell...what can you do?

    But well-worth the wait, and definitely bizarre and fitting with the Sam and Max universe. Can't wait to see what you guys cook up next, but give yourselves a bit of a breather for right now. You done good.
  • edited April 2008
    loooool BEST CHAPTER EVER! XDXD
    the stuff just kept going on and on and on...
    when the #$%* poppers came up first I was like "nooooo!!!!!!!!" XDXDXD
    this game was just awesome in every way possible!
    long, lots of items, tons of jokes, godly plot twists...
    even jurgen was there! XD

    and the best of all... stinky and the dark food!
    lol, the part when he explained the stuff about the dark food and humans who tried to find better food for selfish purposes... god that was the best part in all S&M games together.! XDXDXD
    loooooool dark food... XDXDXD I can just watch this scene over and over again... XD
    "the cake of the damned!"
    and it all got connected together at the end.
    wow, telltale, you have passed lucasarts if you ask me.

    ...now just buy monkey island and DoTT. XD

    ...it bruns when I pee!! XDXD
    ohoh, and the best joke; "only watching this bell makes me salivate..."
    loooool but I like this one only because I learn psychology. XD
  • edited April 2008
    My girlfriend really appreciates Satan's voice. I think she might leave me for his voice actor.
  • mremre
    edited April 2008
    Ciremi wrote: »
    Great work, you guys at Telltale.

    My laptop sucks, so whenever I play I get about 4-5 minutes of actual play then about 8-10 minutes of lag...eh...it's a Dell...what can you do?

    But well-worth the wait, and definitely bizarre and fitting with the Sam and Max universe. Can't wait to see what you guys cook up next, but give yourselves a bit of a breather for right now. You done good.

    I agree with everything in this post. Will you be my friend?
  • edited April 2008
    okay, here's my objective and condensed review :

    Masterpiece.

    To expand just a little, i agree with some of the flaws that have already been pointed out (the one about demon peepers in sam's personal hell mostly), but well, it really couldn't spoil the overall awesomeness of this episodes. The quality has really built up all along the two seasons, you guys kept doin them better and better, to the point that now i think season one sucks hard poo compared to that one (don't get me wrong, season one was great, it's just great to see how telltale have managed to top themselves in that way). Hopefully you'll make those twats at lucasart's regrett some of their decisions !

    One other minor flaw would be that this episodes looks kind of like a gift to the fans who followed up since the begining... The way you reused almost everything from every other episode was just great, but it means you HAVE to have played them all before that one, which not bad in itself, tho... Anyway, as far as I'm concerned, i was a little skeptical about that whole episodic thing at the begining of season one, but you guys not only managed to prove me wrong, you also made me LOVE it with that one final gem.

    Also, the writing was your best ever... There's been some complains about maybe not matching the "true" whackyness and "personality" of sam & max, which i agreed with, but it's been solved along the way and now i think you really nailed it EXACTLY right. Not only that, but the jokes were gold... At one point I couldn't laugh anymore, i was just staring at the screen my mouth wide open, lookin silly but happy and waiting for the next jewel to come, thinkin "my god, i'm dead and in heaven right now" everytime.

    Ok, i guess that's all i have to say... I love you telltales, keep up the good work and you shall see more of my money !
  • JakeJake Telltale Alumni
    edited April 2008
    One thing that I forgot to mention that is kind of awesome, re Soda Poppers - did you guys notice that the Demon music from Ice Station Santa (the stuff that plays whenever the Corporate Presence is around, or when Santa is posessed, or when Sam & Max are in the lava pit), is an apocalyptic version of the music that's always played whenever the Soda Poppers are around? I was hoping it would get pretty drilled into people during the Poppers reveal scene in 205, but I haven't seen it mentioned.
  • edited April 2008
    Jared did a good job then, because I didn't notice it. Of course, I'm used to the "Screwing with the Soda Poppers" theme, so the connection between the two given their vastly opposite styles was a major leap in logic that I never made until you said something, Jake.
  • bai_ganyobai_ganyo Banned
    edited April 2008
    1. in the backflash pic of them beating Brady to death he has an afro, which should have been shaven off by then, S&M can't even have shaved the dead body, because in 102 one of them states, that Brady cried, while shaving it off

    2. in 102 you can read in the Worst News newspaper, that Brady got arrested and is now in jail, is therefore not killed by the Poppers
  • edited April 2008
    bai_ganyo wrote: »
    1. in the backflash pic of them beating Brady to death he has an afro, which should have been shaven off by then, S&M can't even have shaved the dead body, because in 102 one of them states, that Brady cried, while shaving it off

    2. in 102 you can read in the Worst News newspaper, that Brady got arrested and is now in jail, is therefore not killed by the Poppers
    Chances are between the two episodes, they jumpped him and the news papers are late to report it (as usual).
  • edited April 2008
    that still wouldn't explain, why he has still hair when he died...expect that he simply might be wearing an artificial 'fro...can't really call such a thing a wig..
  • edited April 2008
    bai_ganyo wrote: »
    1. in the backflash pic of them beating Brady to death he has an afro, which should have been shaven off by then, S&M can't even have shaved the dead body, because in 102 one of them states, that Brady cried, while shaving it off

    2. in 102 you can read in the Worst News newspaper, that Brady got arrested and is now in jail, is therefore not killed by the Poppers

    Didn't you see Weekend at Bernie's?
  • edited April 2008
    wisp wrote: »
    that still wouldn't explain, why he has still hair when he died...expect that he simply might be wearing an artificial 'fro...can't really call such a thing a wig..

    He answers the fro question if you talk to him. :)
  • edited April 2008
    True, but I thought elf tears only worked on plants!
  • edited April 2008
    Zeek wrote: »
    He answers the fro question if you talk to him. :)
    ..but that would mean he had access to that stuff while he was still alive. if it would be so easy for "normal" people to get elf tears...why don't i have some?
  • JakeJake Telltale Alumni
    edited April 2008
    If you want to get semantic about it, there's an elf in hell, and he's not happy.
  • bai_ganyobai_ganyo Banned
    edited April 2008
    Wasn't there an appearing of the Mariachis in 102? I replayed it, but couldn't make them appear!
  • WillWill Telltale Alumni
    edited April 2008
    Definitely not 102. In 201, assuming a dyslexic typo,
    you have to talk to the bug twice before going to Christmas Present.
  • edited April 2008
    BTW, whatever became of the Four Horsemen figurines? I don't recall seeing them again.
  • JakeJake Telltale Alumni
    edited April 2008
    They summoned the spirits of Christmas! The High Priest medallions didn't show up again either :P or the bolt cutters, or something.
  • edited April 2008
    I think this episode is interesting, because it's the first Sam & Max episode to be long enough that I actually forgot things that'd be useful for later puzzles. Granted, I can only blame my own dumbness, but for some reason I feel like the cake ingredients weren't emphasized enough... even when I started pouring stuff into the fish tank, it didn't dawn on me what I was making until it was finished. Once it clicked, though, it felt like it should have been obvious, and I'm not sure why I didn't think to look at the cook book (which would have made everything clear).

    That puzzle is pretty reminiscent of Monkey Island's end-game puzzles, although Monkey Island probably would have had you make a cake using more obvious versions of the ingredients earlier in the game...
  • edited April 2008
    yeah... same here for the cake puzzle, i just kept using the coffee cup on everything cause i was itching to know what it was for, but some of the lines you get for using it on different things are downright hilarious


    speaking of which, when can we expect a play it again list for 205, will we get it in a week or so... (or will you guys make us wait all summer again and force me to make another one in your absence :D)
  • edited April 2008
    I just listened to the censored "more than jerks" song (after you switch the lists, try the music machine in stinky's). it's the most &#* funny thing in the world!! XD
    the whole idea of censoring satan's shopping list is just amazing! at first you think it's just for the quest part, but it did censor the whole food words in the game!
    at the end, when max yelled "ya you #$*& poppers!!" I was like "LOOOL XDXDXDXDXD"!
    awesome job telltale! one of the greatest ideas in games history.
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