History YMMV / ThePark

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Due to the countless number of interpretations possible for main characters such as Lorraine and Callum, please check out their character pages.

-->'''Norma''': "Anyway, the Chipmunk man, he was carving and picking away at the ice. And at first we thought he was making some animal, like a lion or a tiger, but as more and more ice fell away...When you first looked, it was like a human face, smiling out of that block of ice. But the more you looked at it, the more you saw that there was something not quite right about the proportions, something unnatural that made your heart begin to beat just a little bit faster, like you were prey , and that thing in the ice was hunter."
-->'''''' "For a few moments it was chaos, everybody was running away from the guy, who had one of [sic] teenagers on the ground and he was stab stab stabbing with the icepick and blood was spraying and people were screaming and Frank and I had the kids and we were dragging them away as fast as we could..."
-->'''''' "And the last thing I saw, before Frank dragged me away, was that the eyeball of one of those poor kids had landed on the ice sculpture, making the horrible creature look more or less alive."

* TheWoobie: Lorraine; she's had to cope with abuse, low-paying jobs, sexual harassment, the death of her lover, unsupported pregnancy, mental illness, 70's era ECT, rejection by her mother and in-laws, mounting debt, poverty, disconnection of electricity to her home, and [[spoiler: possible intrusions by real ghosts]]. And all this happens ''before'' she takes Callum on the fateful visit to the park. [[spoiler: The events of the game's conclusion and those of ''The Secret World'' only make life even more miserable for her.]]

* ContinuityLockout: ''The Park'' has been played by more than a few people with no knowledge of ''VideoGame/TheSecretWorld'', to whom the story makes next to no sense and is generally misconstrued as far more metaphorical and MaybeMagicMaybeMundane than it actually is. This is inevitable since ''The Park'' is from the perspective of an initiated muggle who, aside from a few subtle hints, is completely unaware of the Secret World and its mystical inhabitants. It doesn't help that the marketing ''doesn't actually tell you'' it's a spinoff, instead making it sound like it's one of the usual short, standalone indie horror games.

* IdiotPlot: [[spoiler: Had the whole situation been literal,]] Lorraine could've caught Callum much sooner if she had just waited for him at the exit of the Tunnel of Tales attraction. In fact, it could've been prevented in the first place had she ''ran'' up the escalator to grab him instead of wasting time reminiscing about the park. [[spoiler: However, the fact that Atlantic Island Park is likely already shut down by this point is a good indication that the introduction didn't really happen the way Lorraine believes it did.]]

* UnfortunateImplications: [[https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurenorsini/2015/11/03/the-scariest-part-of-the-park-is-its-portrayal-of-mental-illness/#1ea98fd510ff This Forbes article]], and by extension some Website/YouTube commenters watching the playthrough, accuse ''The Park'' of negatively portraying people with mental illness as potential child-murdering sociopaths. Of course, most of these critics [[ContinuityLockout don't realize that the supernatural force]] responsible for most of Lorraine's [[RealAfterAll erratic behaviour is real]], though the fact that they [[CowboyBebopAtHisComputer appear to have ignored the in-game notes doesn't help.]]

* ClicheStorm: One criticism of the game is that some of the horror elements have been done many times before, such as a creepy mascot and the goal to find a child. The final interactive scene in particular might come off as creepy to some, but others might find it lackluster due to the use of creepy child drawings, psychiatric patient notes, creepy dolls, a repeating room, and hanging bodies--things that have been done in other games, all together in one scene. Doubly unfortunately, several of these criticisms also seem to be under the impression that the main character is insane as well, unaware of the game's connection to ''The Secret World.''

* ContinuityLockout: ''The Park'' has been played by more than a few people with no knowledge of VideoGame/TheSecretWorld, to whom the story makes next to no sense and is generally misconstrued as far more metaphorical and MaybeMagicMaybeMundane than it actually is. This is inevitable since ''The Park'' is from the perspective of an initiated muggle who, aside from a few subtle hints, is completely unaware of the Secret World and its mystical inhabitants.

* SoOkItsAverage: The game currently holds a score of 67/100 on Metacritic. Some players praise the game for its EnvironmentalNarrativeGame genre, and its few but genuinely scary jumpscares as opposed to several cheap ones seen in most other games, while others criticize it for a mix of its cliche plot (see ClicheStorm above) and the plot ambiguity. [[note]] A common complaint from those who haven't played ''The Secret World". [[/note]]

* UnfortunateImplications: [[https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurenorsini/2015/11/03/the-scariest-part-of-the-park-is-its-portrayal-of-mental-illness/#1ea98fd510ff This Forbes article]], and by extension some Website/YouTube commenters watching the playthrough, accuse ''The Park'' of portraying people with mental illness in a negative light as potential child-murdering sociopaths. Of course, most of these critics [[ContinuityLockout don't realize that the supernatural force]] responsible for most of Lorraine's [[RealAfterAll erratic behaviour is real]], though the fact that they [[CowboyBebopAtHisComputer appear to have ignored the in-game notes doesn't help.]]

** Also in regards to Don: did his harness really fail, or did he commit suicide by unclipping it and jumping to his death? On the one hand, there were a lot of accidents at the park, both due to sabotage and sheer bad luck... but on the other hand, there were also a number of suicides recorded, and Don's last not mentioned that he was suffering from emotional instability as a result of his work on the park.

** Also in regards to Don: did his harness really fail, or did he commit suicide by unclipping it and jumping to his death. On the one hand, there were a lot of accidents at the park, both due to sabotage and sheer bad luck... but on the other hand, there were also a number of suicides recorded, and Don's last not mentioned that he was suffering from emotional instability as a result of his work on the park.

* UnfortunateImplications: [[https://www.forbes.com/forbes/welcome/?toURL=https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurenorsini/2015/11/03/the-scariest-part-of-the-park-is-its-portrayal-of-mental-illness/&refURL=https://www.google.ca/&referrer=https://www.google.ca/ This Forbes article]], and by extension some Website/YouTube commenters watching the playthrough, accuse ''The Park'' of portraying people with mental illness in a negative light as potential child-murdering sociopaths. Of course, most of these critics [[ContinuityLockout don't realize that the supernatural force]] responsible for most of Lorraine's [[RealAfterAll erratic behaviour is real]], though the fact that they [[CowboyBebopAtHisComputer appear to have ignored the in-game notes doesn't help.]]

* DeliberateValuesDissonance: To be expected in a game featuring a young single mother in the 70s/80s(?). Lorraine experiencing workplace sexual harassment is treated as commonplace, even by Lorraine herself, and she is constantly taken advantage of by society due to her mental illness.
** The electroshock therapy used to treat her depression was clearly a quick-fix solution from doctors who just wanted to get a mentally ill woman off their hands as quickly as possible.

* {{Narm}}: Lorraine's wrists spontaneously slitting themselves.

*** Same with the burning baby dolls spread throughout the house.
** While speaking poetly is normal in journal pages, being poetic on a ''police report'' is a tad bit awkward. It's a wonder that the police even accepted Norma Creed's testimony with a statement like this:

* MixedReception: The game currently holds a score of 67/100 on Metacritic. Some players praise the game for its EnvironmentalNarrative genre, and its few but genuinely scary jumpscares as opposed to several cheap ones seen in most other games, while others criticize it for a mix of its cliche plot (see ClicheStorm above) and the plot ambiguity. [[note]] A common complaint from those who haven't played ''The Secret World". [[/note]]

* ClicheStorm: One criticism of the game is that some of the horror elements have been done many times before, such as a creepy mascot and the goal to find a child. The final interactive scene in particular might come off as creepy to some, but others might find it lackluster due to the use of creepy child drawings, psychiatric patient notes, creepy dolls, a repeating room, and hanging bodies--things that have been done in other games, all together in one scene.

* CompleteMonster: The Bogeyman, an immortal entity that lives in the park, and feeds off of children before killing them. He psychologically tortures Lorraine by exposing her to the park's negative atmosphere, manipulating her feelings for Callum, taunting her with the reminder of just how poorly she is at being a mother, and as if to add insult to injury, he [[spoiler: mind-controls her into stabbing Callum to death.]]

* UnfortunateImplications: [[https://www.forbes.com/forbes/welcome/?toURL=https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurenorsini/2015/11/03/the-scariest-part-of-the-park-is-its-portrayal-of-mental-illness/&refURL=https://www.google.ca/&referrer=https://www.google.ca/ This Forbes article]], and by extension some YouTube commenters watching the playthrough, accuse ''The Park'' of portraying people with mental illness in a negative light as potential child-murdering sociopaths. Of course, most of these critics [[ContinuityLockout don't realize that the supernatural force]] responsible for most of Lorraine's [[RealAfterAll erratic behaviour is real]], though the fact that they [[CowboyBebopAtHisComputer appear to have ignored the in-game notes doesn't help.]]

* IdiotPlot: [[spoiler: Had the whole situation been literal,]] Lorraine could've caught Callum much sooner if she had just waited for him at the exit of the Tunnel of Tales attration. In fact, it could've been prevented in the first place had she ''ran'' up the escalator to grab him instead of wasting time reminiscing about the park.

** The bodies hanging from Lorraine's kitchen are supposed to invoke fear, but come of as...hammy.

* UnfortunateImplications: [[https://www.forbes.com/forbes/welcome/?toURL=https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurenorsini/2015/11/03/the-scariest-part-of-the-park-is-its-portrayal-of-mental-illness/&refURL=https://www.google.ca/&referrer=https://www.google.ca/ This Forbes article]], and by extension some YouTube commenters watching the playthrough, accuse ''The Park'' of portraying people with mental illness in a negative light as potential child-murdering sociopaths. Of course, most of these critics [[ContinuityLockout don't realize that the supernatural force]] responsible for most of Lorraine's [[RealAfterAll erratic behaviour is real]], though the fact that they [[CowboyBebopAtHisComputer appear to have ignored the in-game notes doesn't help.]]

-->'''Norma''': "

* DeliberateValuesDissonance: To be expected in a game featuring a young single mother in the 70s/80s(?). Lorraine experiencing workplace sexual harassment is treated as commonplace, even by Lorraine herself, and she is constantly taken advantage of by society sue to her mental illness.

* Narm: Lorraine's wrists spontaneously slitting themselves.

* UnfortunateImplications: [[https://www.forbes.com/forbes/welcome/?
toURL=https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurenorsini/2015/11/03/the-scariest-part-of-the-park-is-its-portrayal-of-mental-illness/&refURL=https://www.google.ca/&referrer=https://www.google.ca/ This Forbes article]], and by extension some YouTube commenters watching the playthrough, accuse ''The Park'' of portraying people with mental illness in a negative light as potential child-murdering sociopaths. Of course, most of these critics [[ContinuityLockout don't realize that the supernatural force]] responsible for most of Lorraine's [[RealAfterAll erratic behaviour is real]], though the fact that they [[CowboyBebopAtHisComputer appear to have ignored the in-game notes doesn't help.]]