RO9GE'S PROFILE

...I walked past that guy like 5 times before. Wow.

I understand, I just wanted to make sure I didn't miss something.

Hrm. I realize that a lot of character deaths happened off-screen, but it just seemed a bit odd for a character like Mahk to leave it open like that. Granted, though, his character's story had been pretty much finished.

Ah, good. That kind of ambiguity is very well done.

Makes sense.

I think I'll get started by saying that Qualisto is the perfect foil for Dehl. It starts off appearing to be just a simple cold vs hot style personality, but quickly shows to be much deeper. We have lawful vs chaotic, handling of stress, attitude and morals all contrasting with each other so well and developing together. They both clearly make each other better.

What really made me happy, I think, was how well the whole story was resolved for everybody in the end. Man that was just a really good ending. Seeing the status of the world and everything being rebuilt made for a very satisfying ending. I felt like I understood what was going on more than I did in the ending to IMTS, which while still very good, left a few things a bit too open for me. I didn't quite understand the final status of that world, or the timing of a couple of things, but I'll get to that in another post.

So anyway, Santes and Zargo. Not much to say here. They were strong characters, and while Santes almost got a little too excitable, I liked her idealism and how it contrasted with Dehl's. At times during the story it was easy to forget they were married, but their perspectives were always helpful. And might I say a perfect ending with both of them as parents.

Siriush taking off his hat at the end...a very nice touch to finish him off. You have a talent for showing a lot of emotion without telling it directly.

Kulkumatz also had a perfect ending, even if it changed to happy music a bit too quickly when he died...talk about a mood swing. He was a really interesting character for sure.

I really liked Tehogan's character and how he developed over the course of the game. Although I totally missed his dad being Taru, though. Did we ever get to see his dad grown up? Also, I don’t get why his middle name’s a spoiler on tvtropes. Did I miss something again?

Now to go a bit more in depth with Dehl and Rehm.

I was a bit surprised Rehm was an optional character after all the tons of buildup you did for him. I mean man those interludes were good. But I'm also a bit confused about what happened to him after them. Did the events on the ship we investigated right before his character quest pertain to him? I thought it did for a while, until I thought I realized it was talking about Skint...until I realized Skint got stabbed in the back right after he first met Dehl during the rebellion? (didn't catch that guy being Skint either, actually)

So uh...yeah maybe the ship was its own story, but I didn't catch how that related if it did. Nor did I understand why the Shra burst into the room with drugs and had some of them...was he already drunk enough to do that? Was he confiscating them? Was it just a completely separate story then? The Shar's experience with ships indicated Rehm, but he also seemed to die in the end so...yeah. Maybe I missed crucial evidence - my final score for the evidence portion was 350 after all, and it probably should have gone up to 500?

Also I don't feel like I understood what happened to him when he was in prison. It seems to be that he was constantly tortured and drank all the pain away, but then I got the impression that it was all in his head and was treated fine...although I don't think that's where you're going with it. The humans said they were purposefully torturing him to give him motivation to live? I'm sorry? I understand that you want to show everybody's motivation and how they believe what they are doing is right. You're really good at that in every single other case but this just made no sense to me. I get the feeling that I just missed a lot here.

I loved his chat with his dad in the epilogue. So in the end, I did really like his character. Those interludes, especially the last two, were very powerful. The scene where Dehl gave him the white coat was one of my favorites in the game. Man talk about symbolism! The amount of forgiveness shown after Rehm had messed up so badly in so many ways was just heart wrenching. That kind of scene is why Dehl is such a good main character, and why Rehm was as well. However, I'm just plain confused about what happened to him between Interlude 3 and when our party saw him. For such amazing character development up until the point we saw him, the fact that I didn't see nearly as much afterwards felt a bit odd. Unless, over course, I just missed a lot. Still, super good job overall with him. Man, seeing a years-long suicide attempt just breaking down all alone at sea, I just...I wasn't expecting that. Not in the slightest. It really took me off guard. And then practically loosing yourself completely in alcohol to try and forget?

And now Dehl. Oh man Dehl. You did a heck of a good job of showing all the audience his emotion and feelings without having to really show it to us at all. Case in point - the scene where Mahk rejects him after the Xobi instance. I can't even begin to imagine how much that must have hurt him. And I know it did. Also, very nice touch with him trying to walk towards Xobi in the end. Perfect example of using small touches of the sprites movement to show emotion. But anyway, even though I might have liked seeing his reaction, we didn't, and in a way that made it all the more effective. Dehl is a very closed character and doesn't reveal things often. When Xobi came back in the very end calling him Brother Dehl it nearly brought me to tears. Once again, we didn't really see Dehl emotionally react, but still know it must have deeply affected him.

However...one thing left me unsatisfied. That moment after killing Skint when he broke down. He finally, finally, finally was honest with himself and admitted his own guilt for what he'd done. So many things led up to that, and it was handled well. But...it wasn't followed up on. I mean seriously! Nobody overhears him and comforts him, or just...anything. That's such a big admission, but to see it not addressed directly and see how he's dealing with the guilt in the future really hurts me. Maybe we didn't need it addressed directly, because his final scene was a very nice way to tie up everything, but...man it just hurts me to see all that. You even left the question of Dehl's overall reaction to the events when compared with Skint left open in your spill of secrets! Did you really mean to leave it that open? If so are we going to see him in the future? Because my gosh I really darn hope so.

But still, everybody has said it already, but he was such a refreshing main character. His personality and beliefs made him such a likable character, and really showed his amazing strength. The fact that he still talked to the final boss so much in the end instead of just rushing forward, and talking calmly to the people in the end just shows how, even after snapping, he controlled himself to an extent. An extent. In a way, I envy him. He's such a good role model.

Overall you made a great world. If anything, there was a bit too much information and foreshadowing for me to grab all of it in one go. But that’s a good thing.

Is Marie really the main character of it? I heard it mentioned in TVtropes, but couldn't find where you confirmed it. If so that means if it happens on the same planet that everybody from the Reconstruction is dead by the time she finds it unless they stumble upon that final emitter. Not sure what to say other than that - she's a strong character and could handle it well, even though it seems a bit odd for a reason I can't seem to place.

Speaking of which, I have a list of story points that, if this is the final entry, will probably be resolved. Let me know if they already have been and I missed it.

The location of the final emitter. This one isn't quite necessary since it seems to be just a way of leaving things open. Heck, in the game you left the identity of the third Shikolon as sequel bait, even though you revealed later it was Skint. How had died. Might I mention that I clutched my heart when Dehl killed him? You sure do get us involved with the story well…

Those grey dragon extra bosses. Flat what and all. Now sure what’s going on there but it’s reoccurring.

The Black one's identity, and what he was going for. It seemed to be that he was trying to stop Tez's cell donation since right after that he said it was 'already done'. But there's still alot more going on, clearly.

Everything going on with Moke. I don't know why tvtropes says the theory of him being the Black One is jossed. It would make sense - he lost his memory, and Tez has apparently forgotten some things as well. The Black one could have switched bodies with Moke being what’s left, but I think Moke being the Black One still fits pretty darn well actually. If I remember, the scene of him killing Tez showed the Black one as being in appearance similar enough to Moke to work. Shra scales can change color anyway.

Tez, of course, and why on earth him touching things causes so much crap to happen. Gosh golly gee whiz what he did to the final boss was creepy as all get out.

Perhaps Ouranos’ ultimate mission success? Although in this case it feels well enough wrapped up for me. That final scene with the Rouges nailed it. The only thing that really need to be wrapped up perhaps it Daszk and Kara’s search for another solution. That scene seemed left open a lot more than the rest, which leads to…

This is just a personal thing, but I hope beyond every possible hope we see Daszk more. I fell in love with him like you couldn't possibly believe. He's the kind of character you just want to constantly reach out and hug. Dehl came close at times, as well, but man. Daszk.