Tuesday, March 8, 2011

The Altos - Round 1 / Mia Famiglia


From the loading screen of the Alto family, we learn: The Altos are new money. Their unscrupulous business practices have gotten them far in this town. Unofficially, they own most of the local shops. But how did their daughter become such a Goody Two-Shoes?

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When I first visited the Alto family, I noticed the contrast between Nick and Vita and their sweet daughter Holly.

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In this picture, it seems that Nick is looking at his daughter Holly with a mixture of frustration and concern.  She is truly nothing like her parents, and their relationship with her is that they are only acquaintances.  That's sad.

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Vita Alto likes to look in the mirror a lot, and seems most interested in her diabolical planning and scheming.  In her biography it says: As charming as she is unscrupulous, it is highly unfortunate for all of the town that Vita Alto is a politician with any sort of power.

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Vita is currently a local representative with a lifetime wish of becoming Leader of the Free World.  Look out, Sunset Valley.

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Vita has all the qualities you would expect to find in a rotten politician.  She also likes custom music, grilled salmon, and the color red.  Oh, and she has a very deep and creepy voice.

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Nick is a Vice President in his business, however in order to fulfill his lifetime wish, he will have to change careers and start at the bottom again.  In his biography, it says: An utterly ruthless businessman, Nick Alto, along with his wife, has plotted the misfortune of almost everyone they've met.

As you can see,  Holly has her own laptop.  I figured she should have her own since her parents didn't seem like they would be the types to share, and they probably have secrets on theirs that they would want to keep from her.


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Nick wants to be The Emperor of Evil.  Oh goody.  What a nice guy.  Well, he seems like he might be nicer than his wife, but if he is it's only slightly.

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I think it's obvious that Nick was meant to be a mobster.  I've never watched The Sopranos, but I've seen The Godfather movies, and he seems to fit that stereotype from his name, his clothes, and his personality.  He seems to have qualities that would make it easy for him to become a mob boss - or an Emperor of Evil - same difference.  He loves classical music, ratatouille, and the color red.

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Nick decided that he wanted to change careers, even though it would mean a large pay decrease from §4480 a week down to §500 a week, starting at the bottom of the criminal career as a decoy.  But he should have no trouble moving up quickly, as it seems he has the necessary skills and personality for the job.

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Holly spent a lot of time alone.  This is her bedroom.  It seems that her parents had her room decorated when she was a child in colors she didn't like, and then never bothered to update it even though Holly is in highschool now.

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Holly wanted a part time job, and this one seemed to fit her personality best.  I think she wants to start earning her own money now because she is sure that the ways her parents are earning money are wrong.

In Holly's biography, it says: Holly somehow managed to develop the polar opposite moral code of her parents and is constantly striving to turn them to good.

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Since it is a Sunday, Holly has free time.  She decided to spend part of the day painting a new picture.  I also put the guitar in her inventory since she is the only one in the Alto family that has any interest in playing it.  After awhile she decided to get out of the house and went and took a guitar class.

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Here is Holly's personality. She loves pop music, her favorite food is cobbler, and her favorite color is Irish green.

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Nick headed off for his first day as a decoy.  He looks like he's doing his best to intimidate the driver.

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Meanwhile, Vita greeted this guy at the door. It turns out that this guy is not only Nick's closest friend, but now he's also Nick's new boss, a bagman named Xander Clavell.

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Vita likes to do this a lot. I haven't yet figured out all of her evil plots, but she surely has them.

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Nick was able to warn his boss about a police threat.  I'll bet Vita had some inside information since she is a local representative and tipped him off.

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Between the help with the police and having his friend as a boss, it seems natural that Nick would get an instant promotion to Cutpurse.

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He left for the day looking quite satisfied with himself.  He was very confident that it would only be a short matter of time before he was the boss.

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After work Nick headed straight for the gym where he spent a couple of hours working out. It's very important he keep in shape to keep getting those promotions, as well as practicing running fast enough to outrun the police if necessary.

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Vita invited over her friend Gunther Goth to get to know him better in hopes of getting his financial support in an upcoming election.

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Gunther really came through for her, giving her a huge donation of §10,000.

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I don't know what this is about, but Holly loves playing her guitar.  I guess the class was really good.

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She couldn't wait to practice some more, and so she stood outside the theater and played.  If her parents could see her, I'm not entirely sure they would approve.

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I think Holly was especially happy today because she figured out what it was that she wanted to do with the rest of her life.  She really wants to become an Illustrious Author.  I can see her writing children's books.

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Speaking of children, Vita was never fond of them.  She only had Holly because her husband wanted children, and because having children might help her political career by making her seem more human.  She was out at the bookstore buying the next volume in a series that would help her become more charismatic.  She liked to be seen out in public as much as possible anyway.

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A little girl wanted her attention, but she pretended to ignore her.  She wouldn't be of voting age for a long time, and so Vita had no reason to talk to her.

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She did however have a reason to talk to Nancy Landgrabb.  At first I thought it was because they were both rich and powerful people in Sunset Valley. 

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But no, they are actually enemies.  I guess despite their similarities, Nancy Landgrabb's family came from old money and practically founded Sunset Valley, while Vita's family were the nouveau riche, which meant that Nancy had no respect whatsoever for the Alto family.

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Fortunately, Gunther came by at that moment and distracted Vita because she really wanted to smack Nancy upside her conceited blond head, but even more she wanted to talk to Gunther some more and learn more about him, especially since he gave her such a large contribution.

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Tori Kimura is a co-worker of Vita's, although they are only acquaintances.  Vita learned that Gunther is a workaholic like Nick.

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And apparently he is also very brave.  This conversation cemented their friendship, and they are now best friends.

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Before heading home, Vita wanted to meet this woman who seemed to possess an interesting personality.  When you're in politics, it's important to be on the lookout for people who can help your career.

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It turns out that Pauline is also ambitious like Vita, and she has a job in the music industry.

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Back at the house, Nick tries to talk to Holly.  Maybe she told him of her plans to write children's books.  I doubt that impressed him.

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Holly headed into the kitchen to make dinner for the family.  I guess she figured if she fixed dinner, her parents might join her in a vegetarian meal.

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Her mom stared at the food without comment, and sat down to eat with her in silence.  Her dad grabbed a plate and headed into the dining room to eat alone.  So much for a family dinner, but at least they didn't complain about their vegetarian meal.

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Nick wanted to scare his daughter.  It was his weird way of showing affection.  Holly was onto him though, and headed off to bed before he could jump out at her again.

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After a short, but decent night's sleep, Vita was up at 3:30 a.m. to start her day of scheming and plotting.

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She checked herself out in the mirror.  She hoped her looks would hold out long enough for her to reach the top of the political career.

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Holly woke up early and finished her painting.  It goes nicely with the colors in her room.

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Before school, she decided to hire a maid to help out her parents, and then called her friend Bebe Hart.  She thought she really should reach out to more people and make more friends - people more like herself and less like her mother and father.

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As soon as Nick woke up, he got right to work.  He had a couple of hours before he actually had to be there, and maybe he could get that next promotion in record time.  He was still a bit sore from the previous evening's workout and the dirty plate on the table was annoying him, but despite those minor things, he was in a fantastic mood.  Working was about his favorite thing in the world, his house was beautiful, the view was fantastic looking out over Sunset Valley, and he had had a great night's sleep.

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Unlike her husband, Vita preferred to ignore the man driving her to work instead of intimidating him.  Besides, she had more plotting to do.  Today she would really need to work on impressing her boss, Tamara Donner by running errands.

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Here we get a first glimpse of the mail carrier, Alma Tanti.  Either she is really serious about getting the mail out on time, or she is multi-tasking and getting in her morning jog.

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And this is our final view of the Alto's house before they head off for work and school. We will see them again someday after we've visited everyone else in Sunset Valley. Hopefully, their lives will be fairly intact when we get back to them.

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