Subway Platform 4 Cut Scene

[Shadedarkan]

I'd like to clear something up as I've seen a number of posts regarding this.

To trigger the cut scene on platform 4 in the subway you need only read the newspaper left on the ticket machine. It doesn't matter whether you are playing a New Game or Extra New Game.
The occult article on the last landing before platform 4 doesn't matter. I suspect this is due to the fact that Heather has read this when she was younger.
When I was testing this I also started to think about the fact that a lingering spirit/thought/emotion isn't what actually pushes her off the platform. Heather's mind created it after reading the newspaper. If it had been a lingering spirit/thought/emotion she would have been pushed off the platform regardless of whether she had knowledge of the incident or not. I can't very well believe that her knowledge, or lack thereof, of the incident dictates whether her mind 'activates' a dormant lingering spirit/thought/emotion.

[NarooN]

This is very possible, though it's also possible that the spirit really was some malevolent spirit "left behind" or stuck there, and when she read the article, it "triggered" that spirit to go to that place or whatever.

Might seem hard to believe, but it's not like the Otherworld makes a lot of sense, nor is it obligated to.

[Shadedarkan]

I just read what you posted, NarooN, and it caused a separate train of thought in my mind. I guess it is also possible, in theory of 'belief is power', that if the spirit/thought/emotion were still there that it is trying to push her off and certain conditions must be met before that spirit/thought/emotion can affect an outcome on Heather.
Heather mentions how she had read the article when she was younger but didn't take it seriously even though somewhere in her mind she does. So in the deeper recesses of her psyche she does believe that these events can occur. In this way, having specific knowledge of something is most important.
If she does not read the newspaper she doesn't know anything happened on platform 4 and when she goes there she sees that she is alone and the platform is empty. The spirit/thought/emotion tries to push her off, but cannot interact with Heather who believes that there is nothing there.
If she does read the newspaper then her mind has already made the link to the occult article and she starts thinking that a ghost could be there trying to harm her. When she visits the platform the spirit/thought/emotion succeeds in pushing her off the platform. Her belief that the spirit/thought/emotion was able to exist and interact with her is what let it do so.

[NarooN]

Indeed. Nice catch about her reading it when she was younger, I forgot about that part. This also reminds me of a film by Kiyoshi Kurosawa, "Kairo" (also known as Pulse) from 2001. I recommend it very highly.

[Shadedarkan]

Indeed. Nice catch about her reading it when she was younger, I forgot about that part. This also reminds me of a film by Kiyoshi Kurosawa, "Kairo" (also known as Pulse) from 2001. I recommend it very highly.

Ah, I have had that movie for years. I bought while in Okinawa along with Lost Highway. I'll have to watch it again sometime soon.