Opinion on the Halloween event and my ranking of the scenes.
I finally finished the event today and managed to play all the scenes. Overall, it was a good event and I liked it a lot. It was very original compared to previous events and, in my opinion, the best one so far. The stories were well done, however, there were some that I didn’t like as much as others.
Here is my personal ranking of each route:
5. Amanda: I felt sorry that they couldn’t be together because of how it was seen in that era for two women to love each other. But I don’t understand why she would take the risk of poisoning Gislebert if, in the end, they still wouldn’t be able to be together. And correct me if I’m wrong, but Ysaline would probably be forced to marry another man sooner or later. Also, since the wine supposedly smelled different, I don’t know how Amanda didn’t notice it while putting the poison in it (or maybe she did notice and decided to take the risk anyway). I don’t know, but to me it feels like a very rushed decision without thinking clearly.
4. Roy: The story was good overall. I understand that Roy wanted to join the battle to avoid the guilt of being seen as a coward. The fact that Ysaline joined as well felt a bit unnecessary to me, although emotionally I guess I can understand her (even if personally, I would never join a battle without experience because there’s a very high chance of dying, but oh well). I didn’t quite understand the ending. They supposedly won the battle, so why didn’t they move away from the battlefield? How did they not see Truchais? I feel like they had enough time to react or at least notice him… Still, it’s sad that they had to die like that in the end.
3. Jason: I liked the story and, just like with Amanda, I felt sad that they couldn’t be together + the ending and Jason’s desperation. But I think I’m the only one who feels like Jason acted quite illogically. Jason’s father had a morality in which he considered burning women alive for being “witches” as something correct. And not only that, but he also kept a very big gap between peasants and nobles. Jason says that his father wants his son to be happy, but according to his father’s personality and way of thinking, I interpret that as his father believing Jason would be happy according to his standards, not his son’s feelings. For example: he doesn’t want his son to marry a peasant girl, but someone with high status, even if his son isn't in love with that person. I don’t know how Jason thought it would be so easy to become king and marry Ysaline (who was a peasant and supposedly a friend of a “witch”) just by completing a simple task given by his father, who promised he would make him king if he succeeded. Jason needed to leave town for a few days to complete it, how did he not suspect anything? or at least tell Ysaline to hide somewhere until he returned. Another thing I didn’t like is that Jason did nothing when Ysaline’s friend was accused of being a witch, and he justified it by saying that Ysaline was safe. In my opinion, that seemed very lacking in empathy. Every life matters — he only acted when it affected him personally. If I was in Jason’s position, I wouldn’t wait until something happened to Ysaline and she probably ended up dead. I would have already tried to kill my father, not only because Ysaline’s life would be in danger, but also because of all the senseless things he was doing — or at least try to escape no matter what I might lose or if my relationship with him gets destroyed.
2. Devon: Even though it was a bit boring at first, the ending surprised me. I didn’t expect Roland to be the one behind the sinking. I felt sadness and anger when everyone from the ship fled and left them to die just because they were paid a sum of money to carry out that sinking. The moment when Devon asks Ysaline how many children she wants to have and she starts to imagine it… that was really heartbreaking. It was a really unfair death for both of them.
1. Thomas: This scene made me incredibly sad. They had only been married for three months, during which Ysaline was constantly sick. She slowly starts getting worse and Thomas spends the whole story searching for a remedy while Ysaline suffers alone waiting for him to return. Every time he comes back later and later, but he always brings a gift for Ysaline along with a new remedy. It’s described very well how Ysaline keeps weakening and how Thomas’s desperation increases — they even describe physical changes in Thomas, like tiredness, paleness or weight loss. I can’t imagine how it must feel that after trying everything and traveling across land and sea, Thomas returns home only to realize that nothing he brings works, and when it’s too late, there is no time left to spend with his wife. He feels guilty while she dies in his arms and then he contracts her illness. Which means that out of all the routes, he is the only one who dies alone while suffering with the burden of losing his wife, the illness, and probably: the guilt.
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To sum up, although there were some details that I didn’t like very much, I will repeat that overall it was a good event, with original and tragic stories in every route. By the way, something else that I liked was the fact that secondary characters no longer appeared as silhouettes but had designs — I loved that. The illustrations were also very beautiful; my favorites were Jason’s and Thomas’s.
Congratulations to everyone who participated in creating this event! :)