Kiisaka's thought fiasco

I also really loved all the parallels the game puls between Velvet (the protagonist) and Artorius (the antagonist). They are two sides of the same coin. They both do what is necessary for their goal, seemingly uncaring for what or whom they need to sacrifice to achieve it. That is especially enhanced with Artorius having raised Velvet. We love Velvet's deteriorating sanity, and how she learned to accept herself.

The game is very big on sacrifices, and how far a person would go to achieve it. Enslavement was a big topic once again as is the case in a lot of Tales of games with the Malakhims stripped of their free will to do the abbys bidding.

The ending was also very fitting of the game. Velvet not making it out alive didn't come out of nowhere. The game led up to that the entire time. I find it delightful. Velvet is a very fadcinating character, and it would have been fun to explore how she'd develop after fulfilling her goal. She had nothing else going for her. Learning to strive forward is difficult, especially since revenge is all that that kept her going. Without it, what is left? She didn't make it out alive, though. She is in an endless cycle of devouring Innominat, and getting devoured by Innominat. Laphicet and Velvet saying "I love you" before she succumbed to unconsciousness had me very emotional. Laphicet turning into the fifth god was also a neat ending.

What I didn't like is how often the game put a cut between men and women. How much they differentiated them from each other. There were a lot of talks where the differences came up, and I didn't like. Yes, men and women do have their differences, but they also share similarities.

How much weight fiction, and just the world places on romantic/sexual relations makes me sad. It leaves me feeling inferior. Incomplete. Unimportant. Wrong. Broken.

Sure, non-platonic relationships are important. They are part of life, and a lot of people share their lives with a partner. That doesn't mean that platonic relationships are meaningless. We form platonic bonds long before we can fall in love. There are our parents, friends, teachers. Not all of them last, but all of them are important to our development. They are who partly shape us into who we are. Yet somehow not having a lover means only ever being lonely.