this won't push me away from tumblr, I just can't make myself start over in another social media when I got so used to how things are here, but fuck man, this update sucks ass. Just on the fandom side of things, it's gonna make long-form discussions between multiple people basically impossible to keep up with. And even multiple reblogs between the same two people will be difficult to find the whole convo by just going in the notes. Urgh, this fucking sucks
you ever resent a character's popularity because of how most of the fans reduce them to their characterization in a single scenerio instead of observing how they are in other circumstances as well?
OK. gotta get this off my chest before it drowns me
Why I don't like Cage
I honestly really wanted to enjoy this route, and I did, for a bit, when first seeing it and exploring it. But after seeing it more thoroughly and mulling over all the writing decisions that boggles me………… yeah, no, I just can't say I like this route. I already alluded to it in other rant posts, but thought I'd break it down more thoroughly why I think Cage is honestly the weakest route in terms of writing. Ofc, this will be a very critical post, and if you just don't wanna see that, just don't click read more. And if you do and still think you personally can enjoy the route, that's perfectly fine. I honestly envy you, because I really tried to look over the writing flaws but I just can't.
Anyway. Let's get to it–
The lead-up
This one is pretty minor, and more of a nitpick than anything, but added to everything else (as you'll see later), it's just a decision that boggles me.
So, folks who were here for a longer time, will remember one of my wishes for the Prison3r was that it didn't simply overhaul the 'leave head behind' choice. Beforehand for those who don't know, that choice would lead to Drowned Grey, which many criticized as making no sense, but which I personally always liked. Prisoner just threw all her entire fate onto you, after all, trusting you'll understand– that you'll help her– and with Skeptic's previous dialogue for that scene ("Maybe…… we should take her with us.") a part of us did understand, but for one reason, or another, through simple obliviousness or fear, we chose to ignore it and leave her behind. Her resentment then is understandable. Especially for a prisoner that's been trapped for so long and just watched her one hope leave the room.
Because of that, finding out the new chapter 3 is overhauling that route, I was pretty disappointed, but still willing to see where they were going to go with it. If the new route was worth it, after all, and did fit this lead up better, then I was willing to accept this change. It didn't, as I'll get into it here, and it only made me resent the loss of this Grey lead-up.
Writing
I'll start this by saying I love Cage's character. Her writing is impeccable, and the derealization angle is something that works well for a Prisoner evolution (tho I would like if she didn't just feel like 'Prisoner 2.0'; out of all unique chapter 3s, she feels the most just like her Ch2 variant, but again).
I also really enjoy how the ending where we lose our own head goes. The sudden silence and music cut gives it all a great atmosphere, and the images together with the princesses little comments are mesmerizing and just. a great microcosm of what is happening in the game as a whole (two gods, carrying out a violent dance in the hopes of getting to know each other and themselves better). I love that ending, and in my opinion, it's where the route is at its best.
Unfortunately, that isn't the only ending. And it's a bit of a punch to the face when what is considered 'the happy' ending to this route just reads so poorly to me.
I might've liked it better, if it wasn't for this particular line–
That, to me, is the crux of the problem in this route. Can you tell me why she is apologizing? Imagine you find yourself locked away in a basement, with no hopes of leaving until a stranger with a knife comes in. You talk, and eventually convinces him to try and free you. But something goes wrong. Something takes over him, something unknown and that seemingly wants to harm you, and you have no choice but to kill him for your own safety. Then you don't even get a chance to leave the basement before you're back, in more chains, and that stranger is also back (supposedly, with that unknown entity too).
Why, then, would you come to the conclusion that it was your fault you were trapped in the first place? Why would you apologize for it, when for all you know, you have only been a victim doing her best with the tools she's given? And going more meta, why would the writers think this is a proper moral for this ending? 'It is your own fault that you were trapped by forces beyond your control. Shame on you, you should've only believed in your own freedom.'
I get what the game is going for, with the 'a prison of your own mind' thing, but the execution is very lackluster and leaves some very unfortunate implications. I didn't realize it at the time, but this ending left me feeling a little empty. Unsatisfied, like the idea we came in with wasn't paid off.
And that's true!! It's a popular read, but I don't think Prisoner was ever about the 'trappings of your own mind'. It is about being trapped, yes, but by circumstances outside your control and understanding. It's why Drowned Grey was always a great evolution of the Prisoner. Because of neglect, she was never able to escape her circumstances, and so opted for leaving her own body behind and simply watching as everything around her rotted and drowned the only person who dould've saved you.
So, it was a bit of a slap to the face to have Cage say in full words, "your helplessness is your fault." and feels like an answer to a question that was never there.
But the narrative and Cage herself aren't the only ones who suffer from poor writing choices. So let's get to what always confounded me about this chapter, but never had the words to put why it bothered me so much.
The Voices
Usually, hearing the voices banter is one of my favorite parts of any chapter. Their dialogues and thought processes always feels natural and fitting to the chapter at hand. Then, it was a big surprise when I found that I really disliked hearing the voices talk in Cage. So much so, that I avoided exploring that route again for the longest time.
Something about their dialogue just seems…… unnatural. Manufactured to keep driving the chosen theme ('your mind is the cage' which I already went into why it doesn't make sense as the main theme), instead of it being character-driven and the theme just naturally sipping into it.
This is best shown off in the version with Broken, though other variants aren't safe from this, weirdness, either.
But…… why? What about our previous experiences would've made you come to that conclusion? Besides, we never even properly used the blade, it was always her who'd use it. It feels like it's trying to push a narrative that was never there, instead of expanding on what was presented before. A better way to phrase this, and that would match the previous routes would be: "For however much good it did us. It was only ever pointed at us. Even she used it on herself instead of anything else. Maybe it'd be good to never have pick it up in the first place."
That's not only more fitting with how the routes went so far, but it also subtly hints at the knife's role in all of this without judgement, or beating you over the head with it. I'm not saying I'd be a better writer than BTG (far from it), I'm just showing how simple changes to better fit the narrative that was already established would've gone long ways for making Cage's dialogue feel more natural.
Sighs. Like, I'm sorry, but this just doesn't feel earned. What did we do to suddenly gain all this insight? This isn't like Fury, where through her torture, it's very obvious what her gripe is, and where Broken's understanding feel much more fitting. It feels like, in a quest to 'redeem' Broken, the devs have give them way too much knowledge for what feels deserved in this particular route (it incidentally made me dislike the character more, tbh, as this feels like a 'holier than thou' attitude rather than the moment of empathy the devs intended).
And it gets worse when paired to Skeptic's characterization here. Maybe I'm looking to much into it, but it feels. weirdly malicious. Like at every moment of Skeptic showing a flaw, Broken is there to show how much better they are. And with Tony admitting he genuinely got tired of writing Skeptic in that update post, it makes way too much sense.
Another line I couldn't get a screenshot for, but that perfectly shows this dichotomy, is one where Skeptic goes, "How many agency do you think she has here?" and Broken replies with, "More than you'd like, I'm sure."
That'd be a very sick comeback……… if it had anything to do with the situation at hand. Cause not only has Skeptic never shown a desire to control the princess (if anything, he always wanted to make things fair by her, even if wasn't exactly ready to put all his trust on her), but. Broken, buddy, the princess was thoroughly chained last time we saw her, and the number of chains only increased since then. It once again is pushing a narrative that was not only never established, and it villainifies Skeptic in a way that's just. inaccurate.
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for showing Skeptic's flaws, and how his 'purely rational' approach can end up making things worse. But this doesn't feel like a genuine character study, it just feels like assassination. And it makes me particularly upset, cause I always loved how his search for truth wasn't just about 'knowing' things, it was about safety. He wanted a way out, for us and the princess. It'd make sense then, that being denied that escape by taking the Princess cutting her own head at face value (another instance where the old dialogue about taking her with us would've worked much better!! who would've thunk!!), would make Skeptic double down on his approach, because ignoring him was exactly what kept you trapped. It'd make for an interesting conflict then, between his new-found certainty that you can't be trusted to make the right decisions (the decisions that'll lead you to more answers, and therefore, a escape), and your role as the decider, and whatever voice you get could be at different places in this conflict.
Hero, of course, being on your side; Paranoid also not trusting you, as your choice only led to another prison; Cheated being on your side as well; and Broken being unsure (the choice that leads to Broken (asking for Skeptic to do it) is much more fitting of a scared and unsure attitude rather than Broken's disdain towards Skeptic that's shown in-game; especially when Skeptic did try to make it easier for you, instead of acting 'unfeeling' like Broken says).
And because the devs already explained that dialogue change I so despise as a way to 'make players come across the route more naturally', it really doesn't feel worth it. Many players already left the head behind before, coming across D. Grey at the time, and many still choose to take her head upstairs cause it's an available and interesting option. The loss of Skeptic's characterization there just doesn't feel worth it then, especially with what I mentioned about how ignoring him being what makes him double-down in Cage making his characterization feel a lot more natural.
So, yeah. These are all the main problems I have with Cage. I honestly thought I was going insane by how much this route seemed to bother me while everyone kept complimenting it. And putting it all into words, why its execution so thoroughly disappointed me, helped me sort this out in my head. I really wanted to like Cage. I love several aspects of Cage. But its overall handling is so deeply broken (heh) that I can safely say this is my least favorite route in the game. And Drowned Grey, which used to be the least favorite, just went a bit by my newfound appreciation of it and the way it expands on Prisoner's themes so much better.
And, like, I kinda get it? I'm also a white-passing POC deeply afraid of seeming racist, I can see how that response would come to be, but like, the last thing you do is keep trying to bury it as deep as possible. you dig it up and address it
at this point, I'll have to do a full rewrite of Skeptic's routes, even if just in my mind, just so I can keep going with my Post-Canon AUs with some peace of mind. that is NOT my boi, and I refuse to take those as canon
(someone already did one for Den and EotN over on reddit, which I still gotta read, but it's nice to see others agree Skeptic feels mishandled in the update)
