SHOYU!!!

im sorry

tldr: my theory is that the game looks gorgeous and the music is all bangers and the gameplay is fire and the acting is perfect and all of this has fooled people into thinking the story was excellent when it is "good" at best and "mid" most of the time

(i will go into spoilers for the end of ACT ONE.)

listen. i had high hopes. the premise is so fire. the world seems interesting. the characters at first glance are fun. and then, very quickly you realize. that there's nothing there and they're badly written (before you start saying The Spoiler YES I KNOW ILL FUCKING GET TO IT)

the moment i realized this was ass was at the end of act 1. gustave dies (yay! i loved him but this was a fun scene). verso arrives. (who's this guy.) he is a 1 to 1 copy of gustave because he is white and has brown hair. he also has a sword like gustave. they escape. maelle grieves. i start thinking "oh boy! i hope sciel and lune will finally have ONE CRUMB of characterization and actually talk to her. help her grieve. because so far i know a little about gustave's relationship with all three women, but those three women did not really talk to each other. which is kinda sad actually because im like 8 hours in. but its the perfect time! they will talk to maelle, and have different ways of grieving, and this will be great characterization!".

maelle grieves. and hugs. the fucking mascot. the fucking mascot? what the fuck? what the fuck.

we get a scene with sciel and lune. in my playthrough, this was the only Real moment where those two women talk. "oh boy!", i think. "they messed up with maelle but FINALLY, this is when we pass the bechdel test!". they talk about how the only time they interact is when someone dies. "oh," i say to myself. "i think this game is French". and by that, i know what i truly mean. you might know. you will understand soon.

and then. verso comes back. he is immediately suspicious, and at this point i have lost most of my trust with the game. he talks about how he was working with Da Bad Old Guy. he somehow changed his mind. he does not give any reason why. and somehow. sciel and lune let him come to the party. i am clenching my controller.

at this point, it is obvious to me that maelle will become the main character. her mentor just died. she is super strong. she has a Clear Goal. Revenge. why wouldnt she become the main pov character? that would be stupid.

the cutscene ends. i gain control. they show me who i control.

its fucking verso.

i scream, loudly, "THIS GAME IS FUCKING FRENCH". but really, i mean its SEXIST!!!!!! ITS SEXIST LIKE THE FRENCH!!!!! (i can say it im french) WHY IS HE THE NEW POV CHARACTER!!!! MAELLE IS RIGHT THERE!!!! I DONT KNOW THIS GUY!!!! I DONT WANNA KNOW HIM!!!! HES SUS!!!! HES SO SUS!!!! AND I HAVE STOPPED TRUSTING THE GAME TO BRING ME SOMEWHERE GOOD!!!!!! BECAUSE IT CARES MORE ABOUT THE STUPID MASCOT AND THE NEW WHITE GUY THAN ANY OF ITS FEMALE CHARACTERS!!!!!!!!! YOU HAD GOLD!!!! YOU HAD GOLD RIGHT THERE!!!!! IF MAELLE WAS THE POV MC I WOULDVE BEEN OKAY WITH IT!!!! BUT ITS NOT!!!!! STUPID!!!! THIS GAME IS SO STUPID!!!!!!!!

i throw my controller accross the room. i am on the floor.

anyway i kept playing for a little bit and then the scene where maelle is like "can we bury gustave somewhere" happened and the girls are like "uh no we dont have time :'(" but verso is like "omg girl dont worry we'll find him a spot :)" and i screamed "HE'S GROOMING HER!!!!! LADIES STOP HIM!!!!" but i was mostly kidding with that one

(VAGUE SPOILERS FOR THE END OF THE GAME IN THE NEXT PARAGRAPH)

and then i watched some playthroughs (enough to be in the top 10% of people watching exp33 streams...........................................) and i saw the twist and then the ending and i was like "wow im sure this scene couldve hit if the characters were better written" and then it got nominated for best narrative or whatever and im like. i cannot believe this. I AM THE ONE WITH THE GOOD FRENCH RPG THATS WELL WRITTEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!