History YMMV / HeavyRain

** The entire market chase. From the amount of ways to fail to [[DickDastardlyStopsToCheat some of Miroslav Korda's methods to get away]], such as knocking down store things like a child to ''releasing chickens to bother Norman''. Norman adds to the Narm by being annoyed by the chickens. For extra narm points, fail every button prompt. It makes Norman looks like a complete klutz and more like [[Franchise/ThePinkPanther Jacques Clouseau]] rather than a [=Se7en=]-esque investigator.

** The entire market chase. From the amount of ways to fail to [[DickDastardlyStopsToCheat some of Miroslav Korda's methods to get away]], such as knocking down store things like a child to ''releasing chickens to bother Norman''. Norman adds to the Narm by being annoyed by the chickens. For extra narm points, fail every button prompt. It makes Norman looks like a complete klutz and more like [[Film/TheNakedGun Frank Drebin]] rather than a [=Se7en=]-esque investigator.

* AngstWhatAngst: If [[spoiler:Shaun]] survives the events of the game, he doesn't seem at all traumatized by the ordeal he's suffered through at the hands of the killer. Madison also counts, as unlike Ethan and Norman, she's not bothered much by the harrowing events she goes through over the course of the game. Then again, it is unclear much time passes between the final chapter and the epilogue.

* AngstWhatAngst: If [[spoiler:Shaun]] survives the events of the game, he doesn't seem at all traumatized by the ordeal he's suffered through at the hands of the killer. Madison also counts, as unlike Ethan and Norman, she's not bothered much by the harrowing events she goes through over the course of the game. Then again, we don't know how much time passes between the final chapter and the epilogue.

* AngstWhatAngst: If [[spoiler:Shaun]] survives the events of the game, he doesn't seem at all traumatized by the ordeal he's suffered through at the hands of the killer. Madison also counts, as unlike Ethan and Norman, she's not bothered much by the harrowing events she goes through over the course of the game.

* AssPull: The reveal that [[spoiler:Scott Shelby, one of the player characters, is the Origami Killer]] can come across as this. While it doesn't come completely out of nowhere, and there's plenty of {{Foreshadowing}} if you know where to look, some gamers still see the twist as questionable, failing to comprehend how someone who [[spoiler:is as overweight and unfit as Scott]] could set up the trials for Ethan, or how [[spoiler:even when [[InternalMonologue thinking to himself]], meaning that no one could possibly overhear him, Scott never once lets on his true identity [[RuleOfDrama for the sake of a dramatic reveal]]. Not to mention the scene wherein the clock shop owner is killed and Shelby is panicked and shocked--despite the fact that the twist reveals that ''he was the one who did it'']]. Making it even worse is that [[GameplayAndStorySegregation depending on your choices made while playing, the reveal can completely contradict how he has been acting]] ([[spoiler:in fact the only way every choice you make as Scott can make sense is if you played with knowledge of the reveal and/or were [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential deliberately playing him as cruelly as possible just for the sake of it]]]]).

** Grace is detested by the vast majority of players. She divorced Ethan after Jason's death, which is sadly TruthInTelevision for many marriages that suffer similar tragedies. What does it is the fact [[KickTheDog she also claimed virtually everything he owned save for full custody of Shaun, and verbally berates him about Jason's death after Shaun goes missing]]. There's also a point where Grace believes Ethan could be the Origami Killer just based on an unexplained event that happened before their separation; though she does admit that there may be no connection to the murders, it seems half-hearted at best, which makes her even more hated.

FanonDiscontinuity: Fans of Jayden tend to pretend the scene of Jayden [[spoiler:hallucinating the tanks outside of the ARI]] in the Case Closed ending never happened and have it end with [[EarnYourHappyEnding him getting over his addiction and flushing the Triptocaine down the toilet]]. Notably, most Youtube videos of Jayden's story/ending end with the flushing scene and edit out the following scene.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: Beginning to evoke this reaction a scant half-decade after its release. It initially received a fair amount of praise for its dark, intricate story and cinematic gameplay. However, games such as ''VideoGame/TheWalkingDeadTelltale'', ''VideoGame/LifeIsStrange'', and ''VideoGame/UntilDawn'' have combined its basic formula with tighter writing that make the more questionable aspects of the plot harder to ignore today. Several reviews of the [=PlayStation=] 4 remastered version made note of this, saying that the writing has not aged nearly as well as the visuals.

** When Jayden investigates the scene at the nightclub, one of his thoughts just emphasizes his woobieness:

%%** While Lt. Carter Blake was meant to be hated for his HairTriggerTemper PoliceBrutality tendencies, many fans and critics alike hate how easily he gets away with it. Throughout the game, he violently assaults several people (one of which is an innocent civilian, not a suspect), declares Ethan to be the Origami Killer and puts out a warrant out for his arrest base on very little evidence, potentially points a gun at and threatens to kill a federal officer, and tries to get Jayden sent home before they find Shaun, all of which he does without being brought up on charges or being taken off the case. The worst of it comes in the games endings as Blake seemingly becomes a Karma Houdini in the GoldenEnding and you can only punish him by getting [[spoiler:either Ethan or Jayden]] killed.

** How one views Scott Shelby [[spoiler:as the Origami Killer]] depends on what end scenario you get. In one, [[spoiler:Scott prepares to shoot Ethan even after he had succeeded in the trials, suggesting that he just uses his trauma as an excuse to satisfy his urges.]] But in another, [[spoiler:Shelby lets Ethan shoot him after rescuing his son, suggesting he is either a DeathSeeker or that he at least wanted to die at the hands of a father willing to do whatever it took to save his son.]]

** If [[spoiler:Madison or Jayden rescue Shaun and are subsequently killed by Shelby, Shaun still manages to get away. Does Shelby not kill Shaun due to being disoriented or weakened from his fight, or was he willing to let Shaun live if rescued?]]
** If he chooses to, does [[spoiler:Shelby leave Lauren to drown to finally get rid of a potential witness in an easy and relatively guilt-free manner? Is it because she betrayed him to Kramer? Or does he simply believe there is no time to save her without drowning as well? He does appear genuinely aggrieved when attacking Kramer later on.]]
** Why doesn't [[spoiler:Shelby defend himself, run away or at least respond when Lauren confronts him at the end? Is he so overcome by guilt or heartbreak that Lauren now hates him that he became a DeathSeeker? Or was he just busy thinking of a response to placate her until it was too late?]]

* Was Madison motivated to investigate the Origami Killer to save a child from drowning or to gain acclaim as a journalist? Or a mixture of both? Did her priorities change as she fell in love with Ethan? Does Ethan's rejection spur her into writing the book as a MistreatmentInducedBetrayal?

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Madison and her playable segments are rather controversial. Some perceive her as a well written and strong female character who is independent enough to help Ethan in his quest to save his son, going as far as to put herself in danger to find clues to the child's whereabouts. Others argue that Madison is an unnecessary form of fan-service that adds nothing to the story; several times, she is attacked by sexually violent aggressors such as the nightmares in her debut, Adrian Baker who tries to sexually assault her with an electric drill as she is strapped to a table, and Paco Mendez who forces her at gunpoint to strip naked. It gives the impression that it's all a creepy attempt at FanService. Not to mention how some of her endings are portrayed regarding Ethan.

** If he chooses to, does [[spoiler:Shelby leave Lauren to drown to finally get rid of a potential witness in an easy and relatively guilt-free manner? Is it because she betrayed him to Kramer? Or does he simply believe there is no time to save her without drowning as well?]]
** Why doesn't [[spoiler:Shelby defend himself, run away or at least respond when Lauren confronts him at the end? Is he so overcome by guilt or heartbreak that Lauren now hates him that he became a DeathSeeker? Or was he just busy thinking of a response to placate her until it was too late? He does appear genuinely aggrieved when attacking Kramer later on.]]

** If he chooses too, does [[spoiler:Shelby leave Lauren to drown to finally get rid of a potential witness in a relatively guilt-free manner? Is it because she betrayed him to Kramer? Or does he simply believe there is no time to save her without drowning as well?]]
** Why doesn't [[spoiler:Shelby defend himself, run away or at least respond when Lauren confronts him at the end? Is he so overcome by guilt or heartbreak that Lauren now hates him that he became a DeathSeeker? Or was he just busy thinking of a response to placate her until it was too late?]]

** For most of the game, Madison seems like a fairly empathetic human being. But her behavior in some of the endings make her look much less sympathetic than the heroic IntrepidReporter she's apparently intended to be. Prime examples include writing a best-selling book about the Origami Killer case in a blatant betrayal of Ethan's trust if he rejected her (which he can do after discovering she was planning to do just that) or, in one of the bad endings, [[spoiler:suggesting to a clearly depressed Ethan that she bear him another son, right in front of Shaun's freshly filled in grave]]. Whether Madison is in fact a [[TheSociopath sociopath]] or just the victim of bad writing is left to the player's judgement.