I did it. I finally played “Slender: The Nine Pages”. I sure hope the site where I downloaded it was safe, but all seems well. I downloaded version 1.3, and I had some trouble at first figuring out how to get it to work, as the computer kept complaining at me that I couldn’t open the game without the data folder being nearby. I don’t even know what that was supposed to mean, but once some hardcore unzipping occurred, once I realized that was what it wanted me to do, the game worked just fine. But, before I played, I wanted to do something very stupid. I wanted to wait until it was dark out, turn off all the lights, and light a few paper lanterns. I know, cute, little paper lanterns have very little to do with eluding the Slender Man, but they were all I had for some semi-spooky ambient lighting.

I then awaited the arrival of nightfall. And I started freaking out. I kid you not, I really didn’t know if I could play the game, I was so frightened of the Slender Man popping up out of nowhere and…doing whatever it is he does. It’s something bad, though. I know it is. Nevertheless, I ended up growing quite impatient and starting the game earlier than planned, before it was quite dark out yet.

But, I couldn’t do it. Apparently, the Slender Man only appears once several minutes have gone by or once you get the first page. And so, whenever I entered a room, it was always a relief when there was no page to be found. And then I spotted one. A page. There was a page, and if I grabbed it, the Slender Man would come! No, I can’t face him, I just can’t! And little did I know, but the pages even have freaky messages written on them that I never saw in the Youtube videos I watched, and I just couldn’t grab it.

So I quit the game. Just like that. I quit. And it’s very fitting the pause screen is accessed by pressing the Escape key. Escape indeed.

I then got to thinking about one thing I’ve always wanted to do, which was to record videos of my gameplay. And after watching people play the game on Youtube, I thought it would be even more fun to have the ability to record the game with commentary, as well, and I went about hunting down a free program with which to do so. I found one, and I practiced a bit with it, and after having some trouble being allowed to record voice during the video, I finally figured it out. By now, it was thoroughly dark out, and I turned the lights off again and steeled myself for terror.

I made quite a scene during this first true playthrough. I squealed and screamed, and that was before the Slender Man even showed up, and I jumped when the overhead light in one hallway popped, and then I really started freaking out once Slender Man started stalking me, and halfway through, I was so freaked out, I had to turn the lights back on. And I did a pretty cruddy job finding those darn pages. Partly because the controls take some getting used to and also because I was so darn terrified, and eventually I quit after several playthroughs where the best I could do was 3 pages. I was shaking so badly when it was done. I’m not kidding.

Proud of my very first video, nevertheless, I began to watch what I had made, and you know what, it didn’t record. I mean, it did record, but not the game, and all I ended up with was me apparently freaking out at the mere sight of my downloads folder. (Which was undermined further by peaceful background music the video program had added on its own. It took some research to get the background music to go away.) And so I was left with two choices. Either I would just not get to show off my gameplay video, or I would be forced to play the game again. And I really didn’t want to. I really didn’t.

Nevertheless, I became so distressed at the fact that my video didn’t work, that I did play the game again, this time with the screen settings changed so it would actually get recorded. It was quite a disappointment, though, as I wasn’t as afraid this time around, and so my commentary wasn’t quite as…energetic as before, and the game wasn’t quite as much of a thrill as it was on my earlier attempts. I did repeat some of my comments I particularly liked from last time, though, and I described several times throughout the video some things that had happened last time that no one will get to see. Because it didn’t record properly.

Nevertheless, my actually successful video did still turn out pretty good. I did record myself slinking around the Slender Man many times when he was in the same room as me, or catching glimpses of him in the doorway before I bolted in the opposite direction, and I also quit the game once when he cornered me in a hallway. My flashlight also went out at one point, leaving me in pitch blackness, and there was a time later on in the video where I was walking down the hallway, only to be forced to change my course when he popped up completely out of nowhere.

But, you know what, why don’t I just show you? That’s right, the Duck has a Youtube account now! You may need to turn the volume up a bit, as I was not used to how well the microphone would pick up my voice, and I talked rather quietly. And it’s a rather long video. But, there are many moments of excitement and thrills, I do say.

Video from Youtube User: The Duck of Indeed

So I hope you enjoyed, just as I really enjoyed getting to experience a game I’ve been hearing so much about. I just wish I didn’t end up becoming so calm after a while, as the game was more fun when I was much more frightened, even if it was probably due to me being less stressed this time that I managed to actually get up to 5 pages on my last attempt.

So, it’s possible I’ll play the game again and record another video some time. I might even turn the lights off next time, to see if I can make it scary again. Though, that might only make it too scary….

But, before I end this post, I have a question for all of you. How do you record videos with console games? This is something I’d like to do more, and while it’s easy on a computer, I have no idea how to do it on a video game console. Please assist, dear readers!

The Duck Who Has Recently Became Strangely Infatuated With My Own Voice