This review contains spoilers
and now we enter full spoiler territory. here is your last warning. i have a lot of things to say about the story. enjoy my disjointed rant.
i said it was simple and easy to summarize in my main review. it is! and yet celica and alm are amazing foils to each other. two childhood friends separated for their safety and also destiny. their country is dying and they have to save the world. alm’s story is the more by-the-book one; he becomes the nepo baby figurehead of the rebellion who grows into his own, though this means that people trust him to rule the kingdom of zofia, right? but he doesn't understand politics. he just understands doing what's right. so it's a position that he's REALLY not ready for and would rather literally anyone else do—such as the though-to-be-deceased princess anthiese, being none other than his dear childhood friend celica.
celica’s story involves her coming to terms with her status as the "sole survivor" of the zofian royal family, and slowly growing into the position rather than continuing to hide for her safety. as a priestess, when the gods do not help the people, she seeks answers, where alm would rather just beat up the bad guys instead of waiting for God to do something.
but he's still waiting for the hypothetical princess anthiese to do something. it's all the same. because life is not so simple for these children of the brand.
celica, who has been burdened with her legacy and heritage from such a young age, has a lot of scars that just don’t go away. she's lost family. her siblings burned to death. her shitty father got assassinated turning zofia into even more of a shithole. she has trouble relying on her close friends, her new friends, her guardian, even her long-lost brother, and it leads to her literally sacrificing herself to duma and his bitches all while knowing that it’s a terrible idea. because she would sooner die than ever involve and thus endanger her companions. she has trouble letting loose, and so her overworld quips are far less than the goofy sheltered farm boy alm. he wears his heart on his sleeve! his motives are simple, and unlike celica he’s completely oblivious to his own heritage—in denial, even! he’s so attached to the idea of being mycen’s grandson, a commoner’s success story, that he lets all the signs that he’s much more pass him by until he’s screaming bloody murder over his father’s corpse.
Oops! should have considered why you could even wield that sword before you drove through his chest.
alm's story has his heritage thrust unto him just like that. frankly, i wish they grappled with the implication that his whole life was a lie longer than it did. that scene where mycen explains why rudolf did what he did and alm is so hung up on how his grandpa and dad LIED to him without considering how fucked up he was about not rly having much of a family to speak of and how much it would hurt to end his father's life? it's incredibly poignant. "And what of my peace?!" is the best line in this game. in turn i wish they talked more about his issues with family because aside from him being like "i never had something like that growing up haha" when delthea and lu reunite (assuming you even save them both) it feels kind of out of nowhere when he's like crying to berkut about how he doesn't want to be alone again. i love berkut and alm's relationship by the way because berkut is a mirror of what alm could have been if he grew up in rigel. they're the same age and everything. have you played nier automata? i haven’t. but kyle mccarley's performance during that stretch of the story is like a little taste of the lightning in a bottle that was his 9S and it is GREAT. and there's a reason people meme on "UNCLEEEE!" and "lies lies lies LIES LIES!" from ian sinclair because THEY'RE GOOD LINES WITH AMAZING DELIVERY.
i say all this but celica absolutely has the stronger story. it's much easier to extrapolate her motivations and flaws and how it leads her from point A to B rather than reading into what is still a pretty vanilla epic kingdom fight thing. unfortunately i'll never forgive kusakihara for what he did to her BECAUSE THE REDDITORS ARE BADMOUTHING MY GIRL FOR BEING STUPID AND LETTING JEDAH SACRIFICE HER!!! THERE WERE SOME EASY FIXES TO THIS. MAYBE IF THEY COULD DECIDE IF SHE WAS SACRIFICING HERSELF TO SAVE DUMA OR MILA. LIKE SHE CAN'T FATHOM A WORLD WITHOUT GODS BECAUSE SHE'S A PRIESTESS AND SO SHE WOULD RATHER HAVE ONE GOD THAN NONE. OR MAYBE MAKE JEDAH A LITTLE LESS OBVIOUSLY EVIL SO IT'S NOT STUPID FOR HER TO TRUST THAT HE CAN ACTUALLY HELP HER FIX VALENTIA'S PROBLEMS. BUT HER CHARACTER IN ITSELF IS QUITE CONSISTENT SHE CAN’T FIX HER TRAUMA-BASED BAD HABITS OVERNIGHT! NEITHER CAN YOU. I'M MAD SHE GETS PUNISHED FOR HER FLAWS WHEN ALM CAN MOVE ON TOO EASILY FROM THE CONSEQUENCES OF HIS ACTIONS. also conrad is a fun character who is clearly stuck in the past too i wish that was explored more too! but he rescues celica from things that were non-issues or things she solved herself back in gaiden it’s kinda weird. the part where he slaps her for trying to sacrifice herself is kinda weird from a guy who knows exactly what she's burdened with which is a shame because it's a good scene after that. there's some VERY good contrasts with how celica was lied to her by her family and kept in the dark and caused so much unnecessary agony. yet is just so overjoyed to see him alive and safe! compared to how alm was lied to by his family and kept in the dark and caused so much undue suffering that he is now desperately scrabbling to keep his cousin with him. it doesn't work. it's such a good story until it ISN'T!!! WHY DID SHE HAVE TO DIE FOR ALM'S DEVELOPMENT IN A CUTSCENE IDGAF IF IT WAS LIKE 10 SECONDS OF HER BEING DEAD IF KYLE WASN'T SUCH A GOOD VOICE ACTOR AND HAD ME HOOKED WHILE ALM WAS PLEADING FOR CELICA TO SAY SOMETHING AND THE MUSIC WASNT SO DIVINE I WOULD HATE HATED THIS SCENE UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
so yeah. in the words of someone on tumblr valentia needs a feminist movement. i wish rinea wasn't berkut's little plot device because the bits of info we get about her from their memory prism makes her so compelling and i'm on some mega copium when i pray that berkut was hallucinating when she forgave him beyond the grave. I WISH MATHILDA DIDN'T RETIRE FROM THE BATTLEFIELD. WHY DID SHE DO THAT! WHAT REASON DID SHE HAVE? AFTER THE WHOLE SUPPORT CHAIN WHERE CLIVE VALIDATES THAT HE LOVES HER SO SO MUCH BECAUSE SHE IS SO COOL AND CAPABLE AND DOESN'T FEEL UPSTAGED AT ALL BECAUSE THEY FIGHT TOGETHER. WHY DID WE SEE HER CLEAVAGE IN THAT ONE CG? WHY DOES ALM HAVE A HAREM? I LIKE HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH CLAIR AND EVEN FAYE BUT THEY'RE HIS ONLY TWO SUPPORTS ASIDE FROM HIS ACT 5 GRANDPA CHAIN I'M TIRED OF IT.
i never mentioned fernand though. fernand was pretty good. was cool when he died realizing he fucked up severely.
the tragedy between duma and mila was amazing as well. mila sacrificing herself to protect her brother at the cost of the people she was spoiling silly? MINDBLOWING. the gods literally could not sustain this world any longer and maybe alm is being impulsive when he decides they have to put down duma but the story is about people of any station of birth being capable of shaping their own future. noble. commoner. doesn't matter. we all gotta till the fucking land. with celica being an obvious mila parallel alm is kind of stationed as the duma parallel but he's not. berkut fits that way better. he has the zofian upbringing with the rigelian heritage so he's kind of got both at once. commoner upbringing and noble heritage. rather than this being a zero to hero success story his story is about the dualities within him imo it would not be echoes if he was actually just a normal commoner i just wish that was made clearer. and unfortunately this means act 5 is celica playing second fiddle to him because HER beliefs are flawed and have to change but HIS aren't so much because it's the right thing to do. he grows into his own so quickly it's compelling and it's frustrating seeing celica lag behind when she is absolutely the better protagonist of the two
But then i see the final cg at the end of the credits with duma and mila's resting place and i remember that this game is peak cinema.
i said it was simple and easy to summarize in my main review. it is! and yet celica and alm are amazing foils to each other. two childhood friends separated for their safety and also destiny. their country is dying and they have to save the world. alm’s story is the more by-the-book one; he becomes the nepo baby figurehead of the rebellion who grows into his own, though this means that people trust him to rule the kingdom of zofia, right? but he doesn't understand politics. he just understands doing what's right. so it's a position that he's REALLY not ready for and would rather literally anyone else do—such as the though-to-be-deceased princess anthiese, being none other than his dear childhood friend celica.
celica’s story involves her coming to terms with her status as the "sole survivor" of the zofian royal family, and slowly growing into the position rather than continuing to hide for her safety. as a priestess, when the gods do not help the people, she seeks answers, where alm would rather just beat up the bad guys instead of waiting for God to do something.
but he's still waiting for the hypothetical princess anthiese to do something. it's all the same. because life is not so simple for these children of the brand.
celica, who has been burdened with her legacy and heritage from such a young age, has a lot of scars that just don’t go away. she's lost family. her siblings burned to death. her shitty father got assassinated turning zofia into even more of a shithole. she has trouble relying on her close friends, her new friends, her guardian, even her long-lost brother, and it leads to her literally sacrificing herself to duma and his bitches all while knowing that it’s a terrible idea. because she would sooner die than ever involve and thus endanger her companions. she has trouble letting loose, and so her overworld quips are far less than the goofy sheltered farm boy alm. he wears his heart on his sleeve! his motives are simple, and unlike celica he’s completely oblivious to his own heritage—in denial, even! he’s so attached to the idea of being mycen’s grandson, a commoner’s success story, that he lets all the signs that he’s much more pass him by until he’s screaming bloody murder over his father’s corpse.
Oops! should have considered why you could even wield that sword before you drove through his chest.
alm's story has his heritage thrust unto him just like that. frankly, i wish they grappled with the implication that his whole life was a lie longer than it did. that scene where mycen explains why rudolf did what he did and alm is so hung up on how his grandpa and dad LIED to him without considering how fucked up he was about not rly having much of a family to speak of and how much it would hurt to end his father's life? it's incredibly poignant. "And what of my peace?!" is the best line in this game. in turn i wish they talked more about his issues with family because aside from him being like "i never had something like that growing up haha" when delthea and lu reunite (assuming you even save them both) it feels kind of out of nowhere when he's like crying to berkut about how he doesn't want to be alone again. i love berkut and alm's relationship by the way because berkut is a mirror of what alm could have been if he grew up in rigel. they're the same age and everything. have you played nier automata? i haven’t. but kyle mccarley's performance during that stretch of the story is like a little taste of the lightning in a bottle that was his 9S and it is GREAT. and there's a reason people meme on "UNCLEEEE!" and "lies lies lies LIES LIES!" from ian sinclair because THEY'RE GOOD LINES WITH AMAZING DELIVERY.
i say all this but celica absolutely has the stronger story. it's much easier to extrapolate her motivations and flaws and how it leads her from point A to B rather than reading into what is still a pretty vanilla epic kingdom fight thing. unfortunately i'll never forgive kusakihara for what he did to her BECAUSE THE REDDITORS ARE BADMOUTHING MY GIRL FOR BEING STUPID AND LETTING JEDAH SACRIFICE HER!!! THERE WERE SOME EASY FIXES TO THIS. MAYBE IF THEY COULD DECIDE IF SHE WAS SACRIFICING HERSELF TO SAVE DUMA OR MILA. LIKE SHE CAN'T FATHOM A WORLD WITHOUT GODS BECAUSE SHE'S A PRIESTESS AND SO SHE WOULD RATHER HAVE ONE GOD THAN NONE. OR MAYBE MAKE JEDAH A LITTLE LESS OBVIOUSLY EVIL SO IT'S NOT STUPID FOR HER TO TRUST THAT HE CAN ACTUALLY HELP HER FIX VALENTIA'S PROBLEMS. BUT HER CHARACTER IN ITSELF IS QUITE CONSISTENT SHE CAN’T FIX HER TRAUMA-BASED BAD HABITS OVERNIGHT! NEITHER CAN YOU. I'M MAD SHE GETS PUNISHED FOR HER FLAWS WHEN ALM CAN MOVE ON TOO EASILY FROM THE CONSEQUENCES OF HIS ACTIONS. also conrad is a fun character who is clearly stuck in the past too i wish that was explored more too! but he rescues celica from things that were non-issues or things she solved herself back in gaiden it’s kinda weird. the part where he slaps her for trying to sacrifice herself is kinda weird from a guy who knows exactly what she's burdened with which is a shame because it's a good scene after that. there's some VERY good contrasts with how celica was lied to her by her family and kept in the dark and caused so much unnecessary agony. yet is just so overjoyed to see him alive and safe! compared to how alm was lied to by his family and kept in the dark and caused so much undue suffering that he is now desperately scrabbling to keep his cousin with him. it doesn't work. it's such a good story until it ISN'T!!! WHY DID SHE HAVE TO DIE FOR ALM'S DEVELOPMENT IN A CUTSCENE IDGAF IF IT WAS LIKE 10 SECONDS OF HER BEING DEAD IF KYLE WASN'T SUCH A GOOD VOICE ACTOR AND HAD ME HOOKED WHILE ALM WAS PLEADING FOR CELICA TO SAY SOMETHING AND THE MUSIC WASNT SO DIVINE I WOULD HATE HATED THIS SCENE UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
so yeah. in the words of someone on tumblr valentia needs a feminist movement. i wish rinea wasn't berkut's little plot device because the bits of info we get about her from their memory prism makes her so compelling and i'm on some mega copium when i pray that berkut was hallucinating when she forgave him beyond the grave. I WISH MATHILDA DIDN'T RETIRE FROM THE BATTLEFIELD. WHY DID SHE DO THAT! WHAT REASON DID SHE HAVE? AFTER THE WHOLE SUPPORT CHAIN WHERE CLIVE VALIDATES THAT HE LOVES HER SO SO MUCH BECAUSE SHE IS SO COOL AND CAPABLE AND DOESN'T FEEL UPSTAGED AT ALL BECAUSE THEY FIGHT TOGETHER. WHY DID WE SEE HER CLEAVAGE IN THAT ONE CG? WHY DOES ALM HAVE A HAREM? I LIKE HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH CLAIR AND EVEN FAYE BUT THEY'RE HIS ONLY TWO SUPPORTS ASIDE FROM HIS ACT 5 GRANDPA CHAIN I'M TIRED OF IT.
i never mentioned fernand though. fernand was pretty good. was cool when he died realizing he fucked up severely.
the tragedy between duma and mila was amazing as well. mila sacrificing herself to protect her brother at the cost of the people she was spoiling silly? MINDBLOWING. the gods literally could not sustain this world any longer and maybe alm is being impulsive when he decides they have to put down duma but the story is about people of any station of birth being capable of shaping their own future. noble. commoner. doesn't matter. we all gotta till the fucking land. with celica being an obvious mila parallel alm is kind of stationed as the duma parallel but he's not. berkut fits that way better. he has the zofian upbringing with the rigelian heritage so he's kind of got both at once. commoner upbringing and noble heritage. rather than this being a zero to hero success story his story is about the dualities within him imo it would not be echoes if he was actually just a normal commoner i just wish that was made clearer. and unfortunately this means act 5 is celica playing second fiddle to him because HER beliefs are flawed and have to change but HIS aren't so much because it's the right thing to do. he grows into his own so quickly it's compelling and it's frustrating seeing celica lag behind when she is absolutely the better protagonist of the two
But then i see the final cg at the end of the credits with duma and mila's resting place and i remember that this game is peak cinema.