[archived from a cohost post, originally made on may 29, 2024]
for the first time in a while, I truly just do not understand what the writers of a game thought they were doing.
I know what they think they were going for, but every tiring step of this game's plot is flimsily justified in ways that feel even more hollow than I expected.
at the game's outset, the idea that a group of people could manipulate a nation into going to war to satisfy their personal vendetta against the emperor seemed truly absurd, but I was willing to see how they managed to justify it.
they didn't even try.
the idea that these five young adults would be sacrificing themselves at the end of the war to atone for their complicity in the bloodshed was also somewhat compelling. assuming, of course, they could actually explain how this would sate the populace or the state.
they tried! but it makes no goddamn sense. the final gambit is going "actually, we started the war because of these traitors, therefore we have no right to the spoils of war and should return them"???? HUH????
none of the politics in this game, a game about war, and politics, and emperors, and revenge, follow any sort of actual logic. things happen at the whim of the emotional swing the writer(s) think the arc of a game about war is supposed to follow.
none of the character arcs make any sense, either. there is no real gravitas toward the bloodshed apart from the two named character deaths on the side of the player. you never interact with soldiers who aren't in your very special kids' club. the closest you get is hearing that there's casualties from Hans, the runner who is then sacrificed for the sake of pathos and giving Amleth (the protagonist) a reason to take issue with the idea of war.
I truly think you could get more coherent character arcs and political motivations out of a LLM. early on, the crafter/man of industry of the circle of traitors is arguing with other factory owners, all of whom are making money on producing military hardware, because the other factory owners don't want to keep making military hardware. ain't no fuckin' way that's how it plays out. for 75% of the game, half the domestic representatives exist only to look like cowards for not leaning full tilt into being war hawks. when Amleth finally grows a conscience after he makes a bad call and gets Hans killed, it rings hollow as it causes the breakup of the group, and then eventually they get back together because, it's fine? the princess is fine with it? none of these beats make sense.
I'm so fucking tired of thinking about this game. it's bad. valkyria chronicles isn't really good either but VC fans (who hated it) have been wrong before so I gave it a solid shot but nah this game is ass too