About the achievements (spoilers)

[Rallania]

Just to preface, this is basically an appreciation post for the achievement art, there were just two achievements that I found interesting due to some details and wanted to share some thoughts.

So, quite a few of the achievements are essentially in-jokes/references to memes (which is incredible btw), however the end choice achievements are always interesting to me, as the art typically portrays a continuing trend (the traits) or parallel (the end choices). As I was looking at the end of chapter achievements for Chapter 4, I started thinking about the specific art choices made for the achievements ‘Obedient’ and ‘Tame the Beast’.

In ‘Obedient’, the art shows Reese holding his hand out (in morb form) to touch the MC’s face with one of his ‘talons’, tipping their head upward whilst both characters are in shadow; with ‘Tame the Beast’ it’s completely the opposite, where it’s the MC’s hand and Reese’s face (again in morb form), however instead it’s positioned so that the MC is ‘reaching out’ and you can see the details for both characters (the MC is drawn like how they are in most of the other achievements, and you can see more than just the outline for Reese).

I could be over-analysing this, however I find it fascinating how sinister/controlling the ‘Obedient’ achievement art comes across as, whilst the ‘Tame the Beast’ achievement art feels more about trust and faith (in a person). Obviously this reflects the scenarios in which you get these achievements (listening to Reese vs having the confidence to talk him down), although I’m also wondering whether if it could potentially be foreshadowing for the routes that Reese could end up going down in the future.

Part of the reason why I think this is because unlike the other end choice achievements, these two are not paralleling the two choices you can make in that chapter regardless of ‘winning’ traits: it’s paralleling an alternative variation of choosing to help Reese with the ‘winning scenario’, which suggests there’s more going on with the variation in that chapter. Moreover, the remaining end choice achievements (with the exception of ‘Matricide’ given how it’s just Dr Kelly’s face) directly reflect what fate befalls Reese at the end of the chapter, thus implying that the paired achievements do this as well.

Again, I could be over-analysing the art way too much, but I think it’s neat to think about. This isn’t a theory in the slightest, the achievements are just very cool, and I’d like to see other people’s opinions about them (^^).

[SlothBear]

I could be over-analysing this,

Honestly you probably aren't. I think the devs put even more thought into this sort of thing than we do. It wouldn't surprise me if each one had tons of meanings. Of course some are just jokes. Or are they?!?!

[Disco Rat]

Yeah I imagine that depending on how you dealt with Reese in episode 4 will directly change his personality in the next part of the story and your relationship dynamic. Also it might change how he views himself, (Monster Or Human)