Eles Decroisa

Those two were my mains back in StS1 so of course I have a couple ideas on how these idiots would be self-sacrificing buddies!

an entire day? try a thousand years maybe

I’ll go first:

Local fucked up lizard discovers everything thing is a concept.

Caledon: Local autistic just wants to focus on his favourite hobbies but keeps being dragged into major world events because of a toxic highschool friendship from twenty years ago.

Briar: said daughter - Esperia's most devoted violinist who is completely out of place because she wears spring in a land of eternal winter.

The silent

I believe this was inspired by someone else’s headcanon so I HAVE TO include more context (this is Google translated/slightly edited for clarity so please forgive any inaccuracies):

“While the flames on Bonesister’s [CN nickname for Necrobinder] head are likely a reflection of her mood or state, I wonder if she can control the shape of those flames…will she try to mimic her former hair and face with will-o’-the-wisps? If she did, she probably wouldn’t, as she might break down just from seeing herself like that.”

Thinking about Necro breaking down…deeply mourning her old human self…the fact that she can never look like that again…it hurts me so bad 💔💔💔

I know it’s not really outright stated, but I feel like Necro asking Neow “is it even possible?” seems to me like she knows she’s faced off against the Architect several times and is frustrated that he isn’t dead yet. I don’t feel like that’s something she would be as likely to say if she thought this was her first climb — I think she would be more blindly optimistic and confident that she would be able to successfully pull it off. She’s endured countless failed climbs and probably feels like the task is impossible now because of her numerous failures. Plus Neow saying “Architect…weakening…we stronger…” implies that she feels like with the knowledge Necro has gained from past ascents, Necro will surely be strong enough to annihilate the Architect this time (though I suppose you could also interpret this as her trying to give Necro sans-her-memories-of-past-climbs an inflated sense of confidence in what she believes to be her first time facing off against him). Furthermore, Neow telling her “he…still…breathes…” seems to me like she’s aware that Necro knows he isn’t dead yet. She knows that Necro has tried (and failed) in the past and is trying to fuel her rage further so she doesn’t give up.

Also, I feel like it only adds to her vengeance and rage against the Architect further if Necrobinder remembers and is unable to forget her past ascents. I think she’s fully aware that Neow is reviving her, but rejects the “puppet” label for herself (see above: one of her interactions with Orobas) as she believes she is fully in control of her own autonomy; she probably sees Neow’s revivals as a way to better ensure her success. From Necro’s point of view, Neow is not controlling her; she willingly decided to make this deal with Neow reviving her out of her own volition. Plus, she’s an undead lich now, so she no longer has a normal human brain that can be as easily manipulated by Neow like Ironclad and Silent. I feel like she’s in a similar situation as Defect (a construct, also rebuilt itself differently so Neow can’t wipe its memories anymore) and Regent (Starrian, of a different species, can regenerate himself). I wonder if she obsesses over her mistakes from her previous climbs…what she could have done better…and if that only makes her more restless because she can’t forget.

This Epoch with Pael is probably weak evidence but to me I sort of imagine the extended dialogue to be more like this when Necro approaches Pael:

Necrobinder: I’ve tried so many times to kill the Architect and I just can’t seem to do it. Every time, I keep failing. What do I even do?

Pael: Killing Father isn’t the answer.

Necrobinder: You call that thing your father!? Look, I’m sorry, but your father killed mine. He killed my whole family and everyone I care about. He must pay for everything he’s done.

Pael: Killing him won’t bring any peace, though.

Necrobinder: It will bring me peace once I know he’s dead.

Pael: I still don’t agree, but if you so insist…here, take a part of me. Any part you like. This will help you get his attention…

This is something that has always impressed and inspired me. I’ve always wanted to try my hand at it, but man, it’s a tough challenge! It requires mastering so many different aspects of drawing—everything from composition and dynamic posing to style, perspective, and so much more.

I’m honestly so excited to see how this turns out!

The game was never perfect, but it limped along. The stories were getting better. The art, characters and music were always great. There were some changes the players genuinely enjoyed. But then something happened.

I think that a change of the game's leadership happened lately. The problem is that a single incompetent person in the lead can ruin hard work of the whole team. The new management seems clueless about how these games work. The logic I see is "if it isn't directly monetizable, let's cut it out or make it payed".

It's like as if a new store's management decided that since the entrance door doesn't bring any money, we should just put a wall here instead or make the door payed.

Cynically speaking, they forgot that while the "meta" players might bring the majority of the money, the "story" players are the ones who basically advertise the game for free. No whale is going to wax lyrical on their blog about the new game mode they liked or draw dozens of fanarts of their new meta darling.

And now the ugly:

I think every modern game is under scrutiny for using AI nowadays. Jounrey managed to dodge any serious accusations so far.

In fact, they seemed to have valued their human creators! They shared videos of a real orchestra recording the music. Reputable artists shared the work they did for the game in their portfolios.

But don't tell me the leadership that thought that cutting off a whole story mode (Reputation quests) and making its rewards into another paid season pass was a great idea hasn't fired most of their art and story people and hired a couple of underpaid "AI operators" instead.

I pray to all the gamedev gods that I'm wrong, but these might be the last batch of decent characters we had. Watch them "streamline" the characters into ridiculously underdressed jiggly ladies who look like clones of each other, the way most other gachas are.