YMMV / Day of the Tentacle

• Catharsis Factor: For those who didn't like how Edna would keep putting them in the dungeon in Maniac Mansion or thought she was just plain creepy? Being required to literally push her out of the game world is just as cathartic as it is hilarious.
• Crosses the Line Twice: Edna will not let you look at her video screens. So how do you get her out of the way? Push her. Bernard literally says "Well, you know what they say - if you want to save the world, you got to push a few old ladies down the stairs."
• Even Better Sequel: A child of LucasArts' golden age and it shows. Witty and ergonomic when compared to the original SCUMM game. DOTT is a very polished game which greatly benefited from the acquired experience of the designers, who averted several mistakes such as Unwinnable by Design. Maniac Mansion probably only bests it in one regard; multiple (and selectable) characters leading to multiple endings and adding Replay Value. The sequel is also Lighter and Softer, as it's less hardcore.
• Harsher in Hindsight: When examining a portrait of Max, Hoagie comments that "his petard runneth over". In The Devil's Playhouse, Max is Killed Off for Real when his head explodes due to overconcentration of psychic power.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • In the past there is a painting of Max in the 2nd floor hallway, and Hoagie describes him as a "patriotic dude". Fast forward to the Sam and Max reboot by Telltale Games, and Max becomes president of the United States.
  • Day of the Tentacle also wasn't the only computer game to come out in 1993 to involve time travel and the American Revolution.
  • The IRS agents look very much like the agents from The Matrix.
• Scrappy Mechanic: Until Laverne gets the tentacle costume, she has to talk to a guard every time she wants to move between her cell, the yard, and the rest of the mansion. And if that wasn't irritating enough, you can only send inventory items to/from her when she's outside, (and this is almost the only reason why you'll ever be outside, as only two puzzles take place there). This leads to a lot of back-and-forthing between the yard and the rest of the mansion (stopping at the cell every single time in between) when you realise Laverne is holding an item someone else needs or vice versa.
• Self-Fanservice: Some fanarts downplay Laverne's Mad Eye and give her a more stereotypically "cute" appearance.
• Sequel Difficulty Drop: Taking inspiration from The Secret of Monkey Island released three years prior, the game is completely void of the numerous Unwinnable by Design instances and only has a pair of Useless Items^note The only useless items in DOTT being the trophy won from the human contest, and a random hubcap found late in the game, unlike the many that litter Maniac Mansion, resulting in a much easier adventure game.
• Sequel Displacement: It's a sequel to Maniac Mansion, but a lot of gamers didn't even know since the game itself never states this, despite making numerous references to its predecessor. Fortunately, the original game is included as a game-in-a-game in the sequel (by "using" Ed's computer).
• Squick: Talking to Dr. Fred about his money situation can reveal that Edna's an exotic dancer to help with the bills.
• That One Puzzle: Use Squeaky Mattress with the other bed. The hard part isn't figuring it out — the game is just very picky about what you are clicking and usually results in Hoagie saying "Where'm I gonna put it? Where'm I gonna put it?" even when you use the correct combination.
  • Finding the keys on the other side of a door in the mansion.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: Laverne, Hoagie, and Bernard are merged into a three-headed freak for the finale. However, the vast majority of the dialog from the protagonists in this whole section is only from Bernard while the others barely say anything, and a lot of it, especially the examination dialog, is simply reused from his section of the game. Just imagine the hilarity that could have resulted from the three describing what you're examining, wanting them to do, and so forth, not to mention all the contradicting and arguing with each other they could have done.
• The Woobie: The future Edisons are a great representation of mankind. They are so sad and broken that the prospect of freedom is just a liability to them.

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