LA Noire - frustrating interrogations

[gyroscopeboy]

I'm not going to post any spoilers here, just make some general observations.


3. Restarting missions and unskippable cutscenes. None of this would bother me that much if we didn't have to sit through the whole case again to re-do an interrogation... including the age old cardinal gaming sin of having to sit through unskippable cut-scenes (seriously, Bondi?).

Hey man, if you're failing an interrogation press pause and quit to the main menu and then reload your save...it will take you to just before the interrogation, outside the police HQ. This also works for questioning people in the field, but you MAY have to find all the clues again.

I was heaps frustrated before i discovered that haha, i restarted whole missions a few times.

 

[MikeCrick]

As has already been said, as annoying as it can be I find it quite refreshing for a game to not just allow me to be awesome all the time.

We all make mistakes and read into things the wrong way, I get frustrated when I pick something wrong but more so at myself than the game. It provides a challenge and the fact that you can't 'cheat' and just repeat an interrogation makes you take each one more seriously.

I dunno, it could also be that LA Noir is kinda refreshing in this recent slew of shooters and RPGs. Neither of which are bad, but it's good to see them trying something new.

However I am Australian and one of my good friends worked on the game at Team Bondi so maybe I have bias haha

 

[Elamdri]

Maybe you should read the OP post, He owned the gun, the gunstore manager confirmed this, yet, its not considered a correct answer. Which is really stupid.

I made the same mistake the OP did. Just because he owned the gun doesn't not prove that he shot the man.

despite the bullets found at the scene, the witness that places him at the scene who also claimed he shot the person, in broad daylight.

That would of been motive and means, enough to put him on trial.

Remember though, we're not talking about this in the context of trial. I mean, to be honest, that guy would lose a jury trial so fast it's not even funny. The Lying mechanic in LA Noire from what I have seen tends to work off a system of hard contradictions. I mentioned in another post in this thread that it's entire possible that the girl could have been lying and just because it was his gun that was used doesn't prove that he shot him. LA Noire lying works more like someone saying "I was home at 9:00" and you have a airline stub for a 9:00 flight in their name that was used.

But what I get from the game is that 90% of the choices will always be Doubt, 10% will be lie or truth.

Still though, I like games that force me to think rather than shoot, which is sad that I couldnt find peaceful solutions to some of the many shoot-outs Ive responded to in the game.

I mean, who knew that getting shot in the hand is DEADLY?

forget disarming suspects, its either kill or be killed.

Remember that's it's stylized to be like a crime noir film. It's not so much about the peaceful solution. It's gritty justice.

As for interrogations, I think people are getting caught up in this 100% completion, perfect run through mentality, and that's not how the game is meant to be played. Getting something wrong can have just as much meaning for the story as getting everything right.

 

[crop52]

HEY GUYS! Public service announcement!

if you feel that the game has bullshitted you in some way or another, press start and choose "quit" instead of "restart," but do it before the interrogation sequence ends, and then resume from the main menu,

if you do this, you can resume the from a reasonably earlier spot, instead of just starting the entire case over,

yeah, definitely came in handy whenever the game pulls some crap on me,
i enjoy the game, but sometimes it's just full of bollocks,

 

[MasterMongoose0]

My gripe is when the "right" answer doesn't really reveal anything useful or different. Like, you choose "Truth" and Cole still goes "You couldn't tell me more?" in a very accusatory manner, and they spout off some random drivel. I get what they were going for, and it works most of the time, but when it doesn't, man it's kind of annoying...

I like the intuition system a lot, though, especially when I looked at "Ask the Community" and everyone is just as baffled as I am with a pretty even split in answer percentages xD

 

[Matthew McDonald]

Also, I've found that, if you wait long enough on a question, the incorrect answers will eliminate themselves. This happen to anyone else?

I didn't know this but I did wonder what one of the things on the stat screen meant. Now I know.

 

[Woodsey]

Watch your mouth. The game has issues - but the driving is wonderful. NO EXCEPTIONS!

Mafia 2? Hehe, I had a few issues with that one too. But then again, I have issues with most games I play (only one I can think of recently that I didn't get annoyed with at some point was Dead Space 2, which was, in my eyes, pretty much perfect)

The thing that bugged me in Mafia 2 was the damn cops and how they would give chase if someone else so much as grazed off your car. Dropped it to easy for my second playthrough though and it's more fun this way.

They can stop the other drivers too - and all they do is fine you, its not 'game over'.

 

[knight steel]

Cole: *Soft voice* Ma'am, I understand that this is hard for you, but did you hear anything last night?

Woman: I'm sorry, I didn't...*very slight shifty eyes*

*Selects doubt, thinking that Cole will ask something like 'Are you sure?'

Cole: OH COME ON! AN OLD HAG LIKE YOU HAS TO HEAR EVERYTHING THAT GOES ON IN THIS JOINT!

Me:...Oh God, Cole. WHY?! Well, I've failed this question...

Woman: OKAY, OKAY! I heard something outside of the window on the second floor, but I think it was just a raccoon or something.

Cole: Thank you for your help, Ma'am.

Woman: Oh, you're very welcome.

Question Correct!

Me: ...What. The. Fuck.

BWUHAAHAHAHA oh that was so funny your comment just made me laugh out loud thanks you ^_^.

 

[Chiasm]

Still though, I like games that force me to think rather than shoot, which is sad that I couldnt find peaceful solutions to some of the many shoot-outs Ive responded to in the game.

I mean, who knew that getting shot in the hand is DEADLY?

forget disarming suspects, its either kill or be killed.

I think this is one of the few things I dislike, maybe it's just because I am closely tied to the criminal justice system. But I can't see how any cop is able to go around just blasting guys and even if you do shoot for the leg the game ends with the guy in a body bag. The worst example of this is with a certain high profile killer later on in the game; your only option is to kill.

I think the game overall is fairly based in a realistic scenario which just make all the, "for game play sake" flaws stand out even more. It's like the uncanny valley but with game play/story.

 

[Tallim]

Maybe you should read the OP post, He owned the gun, the gunstore manager confirmed this, yet, its not considered a correct answer. Which is really stupid.

I made the same mistake the OP did. Just because he owned the gun doesn't not prove that he shot the man.

despite the bullets found at the scene, the witness that places him at the scene who also claimed he shot the person, in broad daylight.

That would of been motive and means, enough to put him on trial.

Remember though, we're not talking about this in the context of trial. I mean, to be honest, that guy would lose a jury trial so fast it's not even funny. The Lying mechanic in LA Noire from what I have seen tends to work off a system of hard contradictions. I mentioned in another post in this thread that it's entire possible that the girl could have been lying and just because it was his gun that was used doesn't prove that he shot him. LA Noire lying works more like someone saying "I was home at 9:00" and you have a airline stub for a 9:00 flight in their name that was used.

But what I get from the game is that 90% of the choices will always be Doubt, 10% will be lie or truth.

Still though, I like games that force me to think rather than shoot, which is sad that I couldnt find peaceful solutions to some of the many shoot-outs Ive responded to in the game.

I mean, who knew that getting shot in the hand is DEADLY?

forget disarming suspects, its either kill or be killed.

Remember that's it's stylized to be like a crime noir film. It's not so much about the peaceful solution. It's gritty justice.

As for interrogations, I think people are getting caught up in this 100% completion, perfect run through mentality, and that's not how the game is meant to be played. Getting something wrong can have just as much meaning for the story as getting everything right.

I agree with this. In fact I think the game pointing out when you get a question right or wrong is an extremely poor choice of things to do, it breaks atmosphere a bit. I know you can disable the clue hunting hints but I don't think you can disable the conversation cues.


One thing I noticed once I got the time last night to sink a couple of hours in, asking the questions in the order they are on the pad is often a really bad idea. There are hints in some questions answers that make it obvious you should use Doubt in another one. Better to ask the questions you know most about from witness accounts and evidence first.

It's that old adage of never asking a question you don't know the answer to. Not always possible in game but since I started doing that I get a lot more correct answers than I did at the start.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

Christ, I'm tired of explaining this. I DID read your comment. The lying mechanic in LA Noire is HARDCORE. You have to catch them dead in a lie, and you're not allowed to make logical leaps. I did the same mistake you did with that guy and his gun and then realized I was wrong; just because his gun was used in the shooting doesn't mean he did it.

That's true, but my problem with it is that the game is inconsistent in communicating this to you. Sometimes a loose piece of evidence like that will be enough for you to pick 'lie' and sometimes it won't.

 

[Lenin211]

Rather than restarting the case you could just exit to the dashboard and restart the game. Kind of time consuming but less so than sitting through everything again. I did find , however that the "lie" option didn't work very well.

 

[Jerre138]

Definitely. Especially choosing evidence to prove a lie. Sometimes there are 5 or more pieces of evidence that would incriminate someone, but if it isn't the one piece the game needs you to use, you get the "fuck up music". At times like that I don't feel like I made a bad decision that I'll just have to live with (like I would if I believed someone who was actually lying), so it's quit, resume, collect same evidence again, repeat. I'm enjoying the game, but it can be very frustrating at times.

And another thing. Does anyone really feel more immersed for not having a gps style radar to get to your destination? Not being able to ask your partner because you're receving yet another call from dispatch to do some mediocre side mission is so fucking annoying.

And yes, I know there wasn't any gps in '47. Nor was there in 1911 and that worked out just fine.

 

[Elamdri]

Christ, I'm tired of explaining this. I DID read your comment. The lying mechanic in LA Noire is HARDCORE. You have to catch them dead in a lie, and you're not allowed to make logical leaps. I did the same mistake you did with that guy and his gun and then realized I was wrong; just because his gun was used in the shooting doesn't mean he did it.

That's true, but my problem with it is that the game is inconsistent in communicating this to you. Sometimes a loose piece of evidence like that will be enough for you to pick 'lie' and sometimes it won't.

Ok, I will concede that point, sometimes the game is indeed inconsistent.

 

[Meggiepants]

Christ, I'm tired of explaining this. I DID read your comment. The lying mechanic in LA Noire is HARDCORE. You have to catch them dead in a lie, and you're not allowed to make logical leaps. I did the same mistake you did with that guy and his gun and then realized I was wrong; just because his gun was used in the shooting doesn't mean he did it.

That's true, but my problem with it is that the game is inconsistent in communicating this to you. Sometimes a loose piece of evidence like that will be enough for you to pick 'lie' and sometimes it won't.

I am going to back up Miracle's initial complaint on this. I won't put the actual case in here, because I want this to remain spoiler free, but there was a case, where I found evidence, that with all the clues I had found previously, pointed out the obvious lie. No doubts, no inference. The POI gave a contradictory statement to the cold hard evidence I had. I used this evidence to prove his lie, but it was not accepted. In fact, he was lying, but they wanted me to use a less reliable testimony as proof of the lie rather than physical evidence.

I think they could have fixed this by having a fourth option like, "intimidate" or something along those lines, since that's really what Cole is doing in most of these cases where doubt is concerned.

Not a flawless game, but still fun.

As far as the driving goes, I found a little Ford roadster thing that handles great. Problem is, no siren, so the pedestrians become all suicidal and walk out in front of me all the time. Otherwise, you are right, the driving is ass.

 

[Sinclair Solutions]

OH MY GOD!!!

This thread totally ruined this game for me..

I for ages was really excited for LA Noire, but after reading this, im not so sure i want it at all.. These are some major game flaws mentioned here.. Game flaws that really takes the piss out of you..

ARRRGH...

I'm also worried. Could someone answer this for me? Are the problems bad enough that you wouldn't recommend the game to someone else? I've waited for this game for a long time, but if it is that bad...

I mean, I played Phoenix Wright: And Justice for All and experienced a similar problem. Overall I enjoyed the game, but it was very frustrating at times.

So what is the general consensus here? Buy or skip?

 

[Spygon]

If you do muck up an interrogation instead of hitting the restart button quit the game before leaving the builidng when you reload it.It will reload with you just about to enter the building with everything else reset like your first stepping into the building.

But i do agree with you Miracle of sound 1 and 2 as cole just randomly accuses characters that makes the whole tone of the interrogation change that is a pain.

Also i hate when there are parts of evidence where it could be either answer to the same lie then have to guess which one it is

 

[ToastiestZombie]

Well they are late 1940s cars, those things were giant death bricks of metal that handled like cows on an Ice rink

At least they're more fun to drive than those big boulders of steel in Mafia 2

At least they're more fun to drive than the cars from GTA 4 which seem to be at an ice rink all the time