History YMMV / TheCrookedMan

* ThatOneBoss: The dodgy fighting mechanics are difficult to use due to the fact you need to stop moving in order to hit The Crooked Man, while all The Crooked Man needs to do is touch you to hurt you.

* GoodBadBugs: You can actually pause the game during the fighting sections with the Crooked Man, and if you select an unusable items, the game will think you're swinging the weapon. Very useful if you don't want to deal with the Crooked Man. [[UnwinnableByMistake Just don't go over the number of times you're supposed to hit him or he'll become impossible to defeat]].

* FamilyUnfriendlyAesop: Most stories go the "Never give up! With enough hard work and dedication, you'll achieve your dream!" route. This one doesn't. [[spoiler: The moral of the story is that sometimes, hard work and dedication to a dream is just bashing your head against a wall, and the harder you work toward something impossible the more miserable you'll make yourself. Sometimes, you ''have'' to give up on one dream... so that you don't give up on living altogether.]]

* InsaneTrollLogic: Uri's games have a general trend of forcing you to choose the LEAST realistic option during a choice scene in order to get the best ending. In The Crooked Man, you [[spoiler: attack people on the brink of committing suicide, tell people to give up on their dreams, and tell people that it's bad to let go of the past.]] Realistically, none of these would give a good response. Justified for this game in that [[spoiler: you are dealing with the ghost of a person who simply wants to be told the hard truth, and a malicious spirit that will not listen to reason.]]

** Forgetting a relationship isn't the same thing as letting go of one. Forgetting someone is s coping mechanism, a disservice to yourself and your past that means you'll never be able to cherish the good times or learn from your mistakes, while letting go is simply choosing not to cling to the past and hope for a future you already know you'll never have.

* AlternateAesopInterpretation: See FamilyUnfriendlyAesop below. Essentially, the theme of the game is HardWorkHardlyWorks and focuses on how to cope with disappointment, but there's room to interpret the finer points:

** In fact, trying to use the "Don't give up" speech [[spoiler: causes D to fly into a rage and stab you. And then he gets killed by the Crooked Man]].
** It can be argued, though, that the point was closer to "Don't ''blindly'' follow your dreams, and have a fallback plan" rather than simply give it up, since he (accurately) points out that continuing down a [[JustForPun crooked]] and broken path in a blind pursuit of your dreams can cost you more than you gain. He also tells him he ''should'' try the Bar exam again, but to consider other options as well. Plus no one ever said your passion can't be just a hobby any ways.
** Also: forgetting about a lost connection with someone isn't progress, it's a coping mechanism. Sure it's healthy to "move on", but ignoring all the good and bad times you had with someone is doing yourself a disservice. You are cutting out a very important part of your life and history and suppressing it. It may be painful to remember because it brings about that [[WebVideo/CinemaSins "I wish I still had that"]] feeling, but you don't learn anything from the past if you pretend it never happened.
** The lesson from [[spoiler:Fluffy]] is more obscure, though. It can be argued that the lesson is supposed to be "parents are just dicks sometimes and there's nothing you can do about it". On the other hand, [[spoiler:Fluffy]] waited for someone else [[spoiler:his mom]] to solve his problems for him when he had plenty of opportunities to fix it himself [[spoiler:he's lost so why not go down the street to the police station and ask for help?]] Then it can be argued that the lesson is that just because someone doesn't help you [[spoiler:his mom, again,]] doesn't mean that they don't care about you. It may just be that they don't know you need help or are somehow unable to help. Finally the lesson could be "don't act brave". Facing your fears is fine and all, but if you get lost and wander around for hours and hours on end refusing help at every turn, you are just going to make things worse. For example, hunters that get lost in the woods (in groups of 2 or more, usually) often can't find their way out and they start making foolish decisions out of pride. When they are found, it is common for them to claim that they never got lost. Refusing assistance or refusing to acknowledge assistance isn't putting on a brave face, it's ignoring the facts. Whether it's for the sake of pride, out of embarrassment, fear, or just born out of plan stubbornness, refusing help when you clearly need it is just not a good idea.

* ParanoiaFuel: It is heavily implied by certain elements of the game that although the Crooked Man "locked onto" [[spoiler:Duke]] and David, it wasn't actually ''created'' by them. It, or other beings like it, exist independently waiting [[spoiler:for people susceptible to its influence that it can drive to suicide or kill.]]

** The lesson from [[spoiler:Fluffy]] is more obscure, though. It can be argued that the lesson is supposed to be "parents are just dicks sometimes and there's nothing you can do about it". On the other hand, [[spoiler:Fluffy]] waited for someone else [[spoiler:his mom]] to solve his problems for him when he had plenty of opportunities to fix it himself [[spoiler:he's lost so why not go down the street to the police station and ask for help?]] Then it can be argued that the lesson is that just because someone doesn't help you [[spoiler:his mom, again,]] doesn't mean that they don't care about you. It may just be that they don't know you need help or are somehow unable to help. Finally the lesson could be "don't act brave". Facing your fears is fine and all, but if you get lost and wander around for hours and hours on end refusing help at every turn, you are just going to make things worse. For example, hunters that get lost in the woods (in groups of 2 or more, usually) often can't find their way out and they start making foolish decisions out of pride. When they are found, it is common for them to claim that they never got lost. Another example is when this troper got lost in the woods as a kid. I found my way out of the woods where people were several times, but I was too embarrassed and fearful to ask for help. Refusing assistance or refusing to acknowledge assistance isn't putting on a brave face, it's ignoring the facts. Whether it's for the sake of pride, out of embarrassment, fear, or just born out of plan stubbornness, refusing help when you clearly need it is just not a good idea.

** It can be argued, though, that the point was closer to "Don't ''blindly'' follow your dreams, and have a fallback plan" rather than simply give it up, since he (accurately) points out that continuing down a [[JustForPun crooked]] and broken path in a blind pursuit of your dreams can cost you more than you gain. He also tells him he ''should'' try the Bar exam again, but to consider other options as well.

* JerkassWoobie: D. He's got an incredibly rude and snobby personality, but we learn over time that he's become that way because [[spoiler:he's been trying and failing for years to become a lawer, something he's wanted to do since he was a boy, and has received nothing but mockery and scorn for it.]] The fact that he [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold softens up eventually]] definitely helps.

* JerkassWoobie: D. He's got an incredibly rude and snobby personality, but we learn over time that he's become that way because [[spoiler:he's been trying and failing for years to become a layer, something he's wanted to do since he was a boy, and has received nothing but mockery and scorn for it.]] The fact that he [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold softens up eventually]] definitely helps.

* HarsherInHindsight: Later on in the game, you find out that [[spoiler: Paul has the ability to see and sense the paranormal.]] He knew from the beginning that something was off about the room, but didn't mention it to David and let him move in there anyway, which directly led to all the events of the game.

* GoodBadBugs: You can actually pause the game during the fighting sections with the Crooked Man, and if you select an unusable items, the game will think you're swinging the weapon. Very useful if you don't want to deal with the Crooked Man.[[UnwinnableByMistake Just don't go over the number of times you're supposed to hit him or he'll become impossible to defeat]].

* GoodBadBugs: You can actually pause the game during the fighting sections with the Crooked Man, and if you select an unusable items, the game will think you're swinging the weapon. Very useful if you don't want to deal with the Crooked Man. [[UnwinnableByMistake Just don't go over the number of times you're supposed to hit him or he'll become impossible to defeat]].

* ParanoiaFuel: It is heavily implied by certain elements of the game that although the Crooked Man "locked onto" [[spoiled: Duke]] and David, it wasn't actually ''created'' by them. It, or other beings like it, exist independently waiting [[spoiler: for people susceptible to its influence that it can drive to suicide or kill.]]

* ThatOneBoss: The dodgy fighting mechanics are difficult to use due to the fact you need to stop moving in order to hit The Crooked Man, while all The Crooked Man needs to do is touch you to hurt you.

* ThatOneBoss: The dodgy fighting mechanics make ''fighting'' The Crooked Man a pain.

* NauseaFuel: The dead cat, the Crooked Man eating a model of an embryo (it was fake, but still), the Crooked Man's impossibly cricked neck...