About Andoain's new sprite
I prefer Andoain's old sprite over his new one. I truly do.
I liked it better when his specific brand of crazy was oozing out of every pixel of his sprite. I remember the first time I saw him in Guide Ahead: I got slightly startled when I saw him, because there is something so subtly off with his expression. It's something about the way his eyes are not fully symmetrically drawn, it immediately gives you the impression that this is a character where not all is what it seems to be. In contrast his new sprite has lost its edges. It looks inoffensive and tame in comparison. But I don't know, maybe it fits him after all. Because later in The Masses' Travels we learn that even though Andoain is just as happy as ever to follow illusions, he is no longer the Guide of those fixed ideas the Lock and Key gave him. This time the otherworldly creature that got his mind filled with new visions just made him its follower.
Look at this sad individual of a man, Andoain constantly needs saving: By Mostima and Lemuen to shield him from Fiammetta's well justified anger against him. By "Keph", who just used him for the Law's greater goal. By Patia to give him back a minimal sense of order once he woke up from the dream and went to face the Law – and yet there he went and still called himself a Guide and still believes himself able to find paths.
My guy, you are not a guide. You have been a sleepwalker since you decided to put ideals before reality. That's why you hurt a real and genuine friend you had made with Lemuen for the sake of pursuing a vision you had wildly misinterpreted. That's why you went and ruined it right again after you had given Fiammetta an apology that by all appearance had been nothing but sincere. That's why living a life with Patia and the other Pathfinders who saw you as their "Guide" wasn't enough for you and why "Keph" managed to pull you so easily into her dream. That’s why the Law decided there was no point in showing you reality but to instead translate the information it wanted to show you in yet another simulation tailor made for your view only.
Those "true angels" the Law was talking about? We have only seen them in Andoain's simulation the Law made for him. Taking into consideration he has proven to be easily influenced and swayed by visions that pry on his emotions like the Lock and Key and also "Keph", I’m very cautious with story information we only have learned from his point of view. Maybe his urge to chase after ideals made him fall prey to yet another false vision.
Look at Andoain’s new sprite. In contrast to his old one he is no longer facing the viewer. Instead he is evasive, avoiding to look at the reality in front of him, entirely distracted with his dreams. Someone so used to sleepwalking through his entire life like Andoain would feel little difference when walking from one dream into another, when mistaking an old memory for a vision of the future, when exchanging one illusion with another. I don’t like Andoain’s new sprite that much, but maybe it fits him after all.
