Daniil of course has such an irreparably damaged reputation in the fandom but also the misconceptions go so many ways. (And I'm not even gonna go into things like difficulty or whether the walking is boring, because that is largely subjective, whereas some things about the characters are just. Objectively textual.)
Like when I was playing the Bachelor's route, I was like oh, I actually have a lot of choice to be righteous or kind or selfless if I don't always go for the worst available option; he's a flawed character for sure, but not a one-note villain. But I think that the very fluffy depiction of Artemy in many fanworks also does him some disservice. I suppose the default of how they're perceived is entirely due to the endings - which, of course, seeing them as black and white Good Ending and Evil Ending also removes a lot of nuance, even if Termite of all endings that exist in both games probably instinctively feels the best (as it, for example, involves less uhhhhhh genocide than Diurnal), while Utopian feels quite ruthless, from "this ugly hellhole seems designed for artillery testing" down to the ominous final cutscene; there's still different sides to them, and different possible motivations for choosing them. But also, even setting aside the nuances or the possibility of choosing each other's endings, you can draw a very straight line from how the characters act throughout to how they end up; but you can also play Daniil as genuinely trying to save everyone, making personal sacrifices and risking his life for others, and then in the end deciding to destroy the town because he believes there's no other way, or that it's for the better. You can play Artemy as gruff and quick to violence, you can play him as someone who's really not feeling at home here too, but still decides to save the town. And doesn't that make for interesting narratives too? Who says they're less canon? I think hbomberguy is largely responsible for the "the healers are at their worst when you're not controlling them" narrative, and while he was mainly talking about them failing their own quests as NPCs, between his comments on their characters and the fandom game of telephone it rippled off into some wider statement about how they are canonically unless you intervene, taken as gospel; I was actually convinced going into Haruspex route that Daniil would be constantly bickering with or undermining Artemy and well IMAGINE MY SURPRISE.
But another thing that surprised me about Haruspex route was how much Artemy also has the outsider perspective. Sure, he knows some things Daniil never learns, and is let closer to the Kin, but definitely less than I expected. Classic gives him less ties to the townspeople than patho 2, too. And the way I had to fight for every scrap of information, how everyone expected me to fulfill this predestined role but also I was constantly unworthy of being told anything about it, closely mirrored how I felt playing as Daniil when the rulers expected me to work for them but kept me in the dark about their plans. And Artemy, too, in his least charitable dialogues can call both the townsfolk and the Kin barbaric savages; but nobody ever mentions that, because I guess if we're reading Daniil as a genocidal racist then his narrative foil must therefore be an antiracist activist. Which is really not a narrative that happens in classic; even if he doesn't hate the Kin, they're not as present as in the remake, he mainly interacts with Oyun or the herb traders, so it's more about immediate concerns rather than the fate of their whole civilization. And even in less aggressive options, he still is both viewed as and sets himself as apart from both the town and the Kin. I could also, throughout, insist that I don't want to tie my entire future to this place; p2 let me say that in Diurnal but it felt a little inconsistent when I have those kids living in my house and I have either killed everyone in the Kin who disagrees with me, or enough guys for everyone to agree with everything I say. (Not gonna comment on that because that's a long rant I don't wanna get into, just a fact of how the story progresses.) Same reason why it felt weird to attempt escape on day 10; sorry but Aglaya wasn't that convincing to me weighed against where I was in the game. In p2 I can protest all I want but I will adopt the kids and I will go to the abattoir and I will say in my thoughts map that I care about those things, it happens by default unless I just fully refuse to do my quests but that's a non-choice. In classic of course I would also do my quests with all that entails, but I felt like they're more about immediate concerns, and then I'm offered this position in the local community but it's still believably up in the air what Artemy will do about it; he never integrates to quite the same degree. And I guess there's also the aspect that in classic if you choose someone else's ending you're kinda not the main character of what happens anymore, while in p2 because it's just Artemy's route it's all about him and his choice and his designated place in the grand scheme of things unless he fucks off with the Fellow Traveler I guess. Anyway this post kinda got away from me so I guess the thesis statement is that it's all a lot more complicated than some of the comments on the internet make it seem idk
annaxmalina
baratheonpilled
titsay
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