History YMMV / LauraBow

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: Both games involve a large cast of characters, all of which are nasty egotistical stereotypes. The main goal is to spy on all of them to learn their little secrets, such as who is blackmailing who and who has had an affair and such. And then they all die like mayflies, slaughtered one by one by a serial killer, which you cannot prevent. The characters being unlikable prevents the player from feeling too sad about their deaths, and thus finding the game depressing, but also makes it hard to care ''at all''.

* PlayTheGameSkipTheStory: A rare in-game example... it's possible to completely skip the story. However, if you do this, you get punished with a low rating.
** In fact, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhhdZ2COfQs it's entirely possible to not have witnessed any events at all]]!

** In fact, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhhdZ2COfQs it's entirely possible to not have witnessed any events at all]]!
* ValuesDissonance / DeliberateValuesDissonance:
** Being set in TheRoaringTwenties, there is some casual sexism thrown around. This was all done on purpose to help establish the setting.
** Through examining the museum exhibits, one mentions an African tribe called the "Hottentots". Even in the nineties (When the second game was made), people would probably ''NOT'' want to describe them as such, but the game ''is'' set in the 20s, so it's possibly deliberate.

* JerkassWoobie: Lillian; yes she [[spoiler: did murder almost her whole extended family, including her mom]] but her father died and her mom's an alcoholic, plus it's implied she has some kind of mental problems, so it's not hard to see why she goes crazy. Even Laura seemed saddened by [[spoiler: her death]].

* NightmareFuel: The murderer strangling Laura in the attic.

** The ghost in the graveyard, who does nothing but point at you before disappearing.
*** Even worse, if you tell Laura to look at the ghost, she'll dismiss it by claiming "It's just a wisp of mist from the bayou", which makes you wonder if ''you'', the player, [[ParanoiaFuel are the one seeing things.]]

* ValuesDissonance / DeliberateValuesDissonance: Being set in TheRoaringTwenties, there is some casual sexism thrown around. This was all done on purpose to help establish the setting.

** Through examining the museum exhibits, one mentions an african tribe called the "Hottentots". Even in the nineties (When the second game was made), people would probably ''NOT'' want to describe them as such, but the game ''is'' set in the 20s, so it's possibly deliberate.

* LesYay The speakeasies Ladies Lounge in the second game gives off this vibe.

** In fact, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhhdZ2COfQs it's entirely possible to not have witnessed any events at all]]!

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: Both games involve a large cast of characters, all of which are nasty egotistical stereotypes. The main goal is to spy on all of them to learn their little secrets, such as who is blackmailing who and who has had an affair and such. And then they all die like mayflies, slaughtered one by one by a serial killer, which you cannot prevent. The characters being unlikable prevents the player from feeling too sad about their deaths, and thus finding the game depressing, but it also means spending a lot of time with characters you don't care about ''at all''.

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: Both games involve a large cast of characters, all of which are nasty egotistical stereotypes. The main goal is to spy on all of them to learn their little secrets, such as who is blackmailing who and who has had an affair and such. And then they all die like mayflies, slaughtered one by one by a serial killer, which you cannot prevent. So why exactly should you care about any of these characters?

* FridgeLogic: In the first game, there's several ways for Laura to get murdered by an unseen figure, even very very early in the game. But once you've beaten the game, [[spoiler:it's obvious that nobody had any motive to kill her, ''especially'' not the murderer, and certainly not that early in the night. She was actually the one person present who the murderer ''didn't'' want to kill.]]
** FridgeHorror: If you take a look at the instances in which Laura can be killed by the mysterious figure, [[spoiler: taking a shower, hiding in the attic, and hiding in the closet]], Laura is simply grabbed and killed without the murderer even looking.
** This is potentially a case of GameplayAndStorySegregation, as [[spoiler: The one suspect in the mansion who likes Laura and doesn't want her to die being the murderer and never killing her would actually give the true culprit away too easily.]] Although near the end of the game, [[spoiler: Lillian]] is so unhinged that she argues with [[spoiler: Laura]] and thinks she's "as bad as everyone else" [[spoiler: if you talk to her while she's writing in her diary.]]

** In fact, it's entirely possible to not have witnessed any events at all!

** FridgeHorror: If you take a look at the instances in which Laura can be killed by the mysterious figure, [[spoiler: taking a shower, hiding in the attic, and hiding in the closet]], Laura is simply grabbed and killed without the murderer even looking. [[spoiler: too late to see it was her best friend.]]

* PlayTheGameSkipTheStory: A rare in-game example... it's possible to completely skip the story. However, if you do this, you get punished with a low rating.

* PlayTheGameSkipTheStory: A rare in-game example...it's possible to completely skip the story. However, if you do this, you get punished with a low rating.

* CompleteMonster: the motive for the murder in the first game is simply psychotic insanity.

* FridgeLogic: In the first game, there's several ways for Laura to get murdered by an unseen figure, even very very early in the game. But once you've beaten the game, [[spoiler:it's obvious that nobody had any motive to kill her, ''especially'' not the murderer, and certainly not that early in the night. She was actually the one person present [[spoiler: Besides Celie]] who the murderer ''didn't'' want to kill.]]

** This is potentially a case of GameplayAndStorySegregation, as [[spoiler: The one suspect in the mansion who likes Laura and doesn't want her to die being the murderer and never killing her would actually give the true culprit away too easily.]]

* FridgeLogic: In the first game, there's several ways for Laura to get murdered by an unseen figure, even very very early in the game. But once you've beaten the game, [[spoiler:it's obvious that nobody had any motive to kill her, ''especially'' not the murderer, and certainly not that early in the night. She was actually the one person present who the murderer ''didn't'' want to kill.]]

* YourMileageMayVary: The first game's story actually seems very brilliantly written given that the way you play, it isn't ''entirely'' stated who the murderer is. Unless you find ''all'' the information, it can look like either [[spoiler: Henri]] or [[spoiler: Rudy]] is the villain. Or, it wasn't written very well ''because'' it's not entirely spelled out.
** Though, that's really just a result of not collecting all the information (so it's deliberately ambiguous to make the player replay it and hunt harder for clues.) If you collect absolutely every bit of evidence, the murderer is explicitly revealed to be [[spoiler:Lillian]].