The other day I found out there is different dialogue right after the ch7 vote (Protect) depending on whether you successfully persuaded Roland or not. At this point I'm surprised the game is still surprising me. This is such a neat little detail that I could have gone without knowing at all if I hadn't failed the persuasion like an idiot or kept myself from mindlessly skipping the cutscene. Replaying the game several times gave me ideas like "maybe this line only appears if you did xyz," but this really caught me off guard for some reason. Just... this game, man. I keep underestimating it.
To clarify, this is if you persuaded him
and this is if you didn't
I guess this also implies there are more like this and I have no idea where to begin if I wanted to find them. Frederica does have something similar when the result is Surrender in the same vote. She says this
if you didn't persuade her, and if you did, she doesn't say anything at all, which is honestly... chilling. I never would have noticed this if I wasn't explicitly paying attention for this kind of thing. The details, man.
Recently re-checked what the credits music are for the non-Golden endings and was having thoughts.
So every one of them has the appropriate character's battle theme at the beginning and their Path theme at the end. Between them are two pieces from the soundtrack, which is the part I decided to fixate on. For Morality ending, those two are The Diary of Orlaea, and Pride of the Three High Houses.
(spoilers incoming)
That's where my brain stopped because. Pride of the Three High Houses. That's exactly the thing that is... well, utterly destroyed at the end of that route. There is absolutely none of the three high houses left, and that is even if Serenoa survived.
It's such a bold statement, right in the credits. The Diary of Orlaea, that's an acceptable one. It reminds us why we chose that route, what we fought for, what we fought against, etc. But Pride of the Three High Houses takes away the focus from that "main plot", reminding us of the thing we chose to ignore rather than save or fight. The fact that it has a bright sound is an added sting, too.
As for Utility ending, alongside Roland's themes are Archduke Gustadolph and Chagrin Concealed. The first one is not surprising to find; it's a reminder of what we fought and achieved, straightforward like that. Chagrin Concealed gives a more somber tone, making us look deeper into what we lost. I will say it's not as oddly placed as Pride of the Three High Houses, since we do fight Svarog near the end. The game makes sure to talk about it in that scene straightforwardly enough.
I also think that the absence of any music that could reference Hyzante or the Roselle is this ending's last punch in the gut. The fact that even the credits decidedly ignore the Roselle's plight is... well, fitting.
Lastly, I'm going to say Liberty ending is the most confusing when I try to analyze it from this angle, although it's interesting nonetheless. There are Benedict's themes, as usual, and then there are He Who is Lord and Scales of Conviction. That seems... odd, especially compared to the other two endings. Those two don't have a strong flavor that could be pointing at something specific, consistently being used in objective moments in the story (persuasion + voting phases). If anything, using these two in Liberty's credits feels like an even stronger confirmation that Liberty was meant to be the "true non-Golden ending", or the antithesis of Golden. Golden is when Serenoa breaks free from the scales; Liberty is when he devotes himself to it. I like that there is no other distraction there -- no reference to Hyzante whom we defeated, no reference to Roland who left, no reference to Aesfrost whom we allied with. There is ONLY the scales.
Recently I realized it took me like 5+ playthroughs to see a dialogue. In an unskippable cutscene no less, the one with Roland in ch2 before the tourney. Turns out I just never happened to choose the liberty option in the choices offered. It just didn't seem like it would yield any interesting conversation and I sorta forgot I never picked it.
But when I finally saw the banter that came after that, I was caught off guard by how... well, lighthearted that was. It's nothing really special, but with the sheer depression of the main story distracting me, scenes like this that actually show the casual friendship between these two feel so rare.
Another scene has been stuck in my head for similar reasons. I think it's ch14 warship path. Roland is having his usual angst moment and Serenoa tells him something along the lines of "there's nothing the combined might of Glenbrook's royal line and House Wolffort can't achieve" and Roland (who has just been brooding, by the way) is like "hell yeah!!" It's just that I could imagine these two having the same conversation as kids.
I really appreciate some of the more "unexpected" uses of music in this game. Like the mines' music plays after the final fights in some endings. It did seem odd at first but ended up feeling very emotional. It made me view that track with a whole new perspective. Honestly, I initially thought this was a weaker aspect of this game, the way the music is used so flexibly, but I've grown quite fond of it.
My absolute favorite one has to be the main theme though. It's seriously one of the coolest moments in the game. It just fits so well, and there is amazing thrill in hearing something you thought you'd only hear in the main menu. First Campaign also became special to me after playing through Golden. I love how it's the first battle theme that plays, and it's the last thing you hear before credits. I guess there is something romantic in that. Imagine marrying your wife to the music that played while you were whacking bandits beside her.
i decided to do some doodle therapy, and told myself i wasnt allowed to erase or undo anything on this canvas, and just draw without any reason or goal.... and this is the product. i dunno if this is already a practice or if its something new.... but im gonna call it a "Free canvas"
