Thinking about the Wayback Season 1 update tomorrow and how distinctly different the story has been since the end of the base game. Originally you were learning all this stuff about this fractured guild, people with backstory - too much backstory. Ended up hating each other. You had to learn about all of them to piece it back together as your first step towards your eventual occupation - uniting people for a greater good.
But when it was Logan, Eir, Caithe, Rytlock and Zojja, you were playing catch-up. You were in the deep end, trying to sort out five different personalities and types of grief and resentment before time ran out. One of them was your mentor, to ease you in, and Trahearne helped, but he’s even more of an old soul with contacts in every clique and decades of training. You’re the baby of the group, whether you’re playing an older character or a sapling sylvari, you’re breaking into an established dynamic and trying to throw back the tide.
But that changes after the original story’s done. Season 1, which we’re about to re-live, introduced six new, younger representatives for each race, often without much indication they were important at all. One was the son of one of the original mentors, one was an actual child, one was never meant to survive, one was even a villain. But instead of getting catapulted into a mess of distant, formerly legendary heroes, now we’re fumbling around with our peers, creating that mess.
Take Kasmeer - thrown out of high society, her family disgraced, unprepared to deal with the real world’s messy, violent challenges, a noble stranded without a safety net. She stepped up without complaining to go trekking through a deadly jungle. She bagged the woman of her dreams. She lost her nerve when confronted by one of her own gods going rogue, but held herself together so we could stop him. And she decided to go into the Mists themselves to demand the other gods answer for their inaction. Now she’s a woman of determination and active choices.
And Braham, whose development has been at the forefront. He started off not knowing how to pull away from his mother’s legendary shadow. Then he elevated himself to being a person of prophecy in his culture. He struggled with a personal loss that made him push those close to him away, but finally got his closure and owned up to what he really needed. He was a maelstrom of emotional conflict; resentment, grief, guilt, resentment again, over-compensation and anger, but he’s found his self-reflection and become an ally worthy of trust, become more healthy and getting a sense of humour - AND able to tell someone outright when he loves them. Also he’s WAY taller.
Did you notice Taimi getting slightly taller each time we saw her? She was originally petulant, obsessive, egotistical and minuscule, and now she’s still those things but tempered by humour and proven results, but she’s BIGGER. At first she was still in school and getting treated harshly by elders who couldn’t respect her age. There’s no avoiding it - life’s been rough for Taimi and she knows there’s no quick magical solution that fixes it all. Now when she jokes around with us, it’s not childish, but more like keeping a positive outlook in the face of multiple certain dooms.
And Rox, going from the days of Citadel lackey, trying to win Rytlock’s dangled approval, to finding a new home and family who don’t need her to prove anything? Canach actually trying to kill us, failing, taking the loss to heart and coming back, not changed, not upstanding, not without fault, but just willing to admit he can be wrong, and then leaning on you for support when he needed it most? Aurene, just… Aurene?
This has been an evolution of technology and mechanics but above all, character, watching this game over the years. Destiny’s Edge, too, have ended up taking a cue from it and going from legendary heroes back to just people, needing help to really find themselves as they realise what true love is meant to be, or whether that’s something they needed at all, or find out what it means for your child to grow up and see you as a stranger, they’re developing in new and logical ways that have not once felt forced or without cause and effect.
That’s why I’m so excited to see how it’s brought back tomorrow - all they are now means a lot more because of where they’re been.
stormborns
yousharknotpass
snowghoul
theartofmadeline
kaledo-art
andulkaphoto
vaporwave
areudirty
