10/10 game marred by a story I dont like (mid game spoilers)

[surly king]

This is an entirely emotional response.

I wrote "I dont like" because I think many wont have this issue but to me, the fact that Verso took over for Gustave killed me (i´m writing from the after life).

I was holding onto hope that somehow, somewhere we´d be able to revive Gustave, make him come back stronger (his skill tree being partially hidden hinted at this, at least in my eyes. Now I realize it´s just so his death is more surprising...)

My soul just fundamentally rejected Verso the second he came on screen and I cant get over it. A poor replacement that made everything feel tainted.

This game has so much beauty, the art direction appeals to me in just about every way, the music is incredible, the gameplay is fun and I love how OP you can get with enough Luminas. It all just kind of clicked.

It feels disappointing to say the least. How can I cope, knowing that this game will never be what I want it to be?

Thanks for reading my blog post

[The Everlasting Stillness ☯]

"How dare you stand where he stood!"
Feel the exact same way as you.
I am in the middle of Act II right now. I still can't accept Verso. As much as I like the interactions at the camp with the other party members, there is still a gaping Gustave-shaped hole that he will never fill. The game tries really hard to make him very likable and I appreciate that, but he was introduced so abruptly and thrust upon me so unceremoniously that I still feel him like an outsider.

I don't doubt there is a reason for it, some kind of justification, but the fact they threw him in so quickly and expected you to go with it still feels weird to me. I don't even use him in the party all that often unless I need reliable Fracture. He will never replace Gustave.

I miss him, bros...
Pour ceux qui viendront après...

[surly king]

Originally posted by The Everlasting Stillness ☯:

"How dare you stand where he stood!"
Feel the exact same way as you.
snip

Well it´s good to know I´m not alone with this. Maybe in another life...

[Ogami]

Very late game spoiler:
(You have been warned if you did not finish the game yet)

Wait till you learn that Verso could have saved Gustave but let him die on purpose so he could easier weasel his way into the party and have more influence over Maelle.

[surly king]

Originally posted by Ogami:

snip

Did that actually happen? I must´ve missed it. That does make everything worse though

[Alkor]

If you don't like it, that means the scenarist did a good job. She made you care about him enough to make you feel the loss, the worst that can happen in that situation for a scenario is seing this happen and not care about it.
Yes, Verso comes very fast to replace him, but it's likely for gameplay reasons. I would also have prefered for them to wait for a bit before introducing him, or not give him basically the same skill tree, but from a gameplay perspective it's understandable.
It also took me some time to stop being in denial (the loading screen mentionning his skill don't help with that) and start liking Verso, I think that's normal behavior in that situation.

[Ogami]

Originally posted by surly king:

Originally posted by Ogami:

snip

Did that actually happen? I must´ve missed it. That does make everything worse though

Its Maelle´s level 7 relationship talk with Verso. She flat out asks him if he could have saved Gustave and let him die on purpose.
You can then say "Yes i did. (Truth)" or "No i was too late (Lie)", if you lie the relationship level is permanently stuck on 6 after that.

[surly king]

Originally posted by Ogami:

snip

I see. I never got past relationship level 4 because I just shamefully rushed to the end after act 2.

Originally posted by Alkor:

snip

I also think introducing Verso earlier and delaying the death a bit, maybe have them explore together for a while before would have made it a lot better. Maybe add some tension between Gustave and Verso as the two leaders and have that be the catalyst for the death instead. The way it is it just feels wrong to me.

[voormithadreth]

I felt the same way but I got over it. I had a little "I am never using Verso in honor of Gustave" thing, and you should just do that if that's how you feel. It was a rough period in the game, but necessary for the story.

[Wype]

Completely agree, Gustave was the favourite and trying to replace him immediately with Verso was and still is a crime.

Still it is refreshing to see such bold writing. I remember playing FF8 and kind of wished they were as bold when thinking back at it.

But ya, a way to even just bring him back in Act3 woulda been nice and its not as if they couldn't do it either. Chrono Trigger had it and it created that 2nd great moment bringing the character back.

I guess pulling something off like that is too hard as it would've bound to have been spoiled if it was possible.

[Dregora]

You will get to understand it later. Yes it was very bittersweet, but it created an emotional response, which is why id argue they made Gustave so likeable at the start. So his death would actually cause an emotional response.

But one that was needed. And one thatll make sense in the end/epilogue/act 3 of the game.

[Cataclism7]

I think it would have worked better if Maelle had taken over the main character role at camp.

[ShockedHearts]

your response means the games doing a great job imo

[アイゼリン]

WITHOUT SPOILERS, maybe by the end, the game will somehow pull you back in, but yea based on how you're feeling and your response is almost the exact same as mine, i doubt it

i hope it does though, i'm pretty beat up too about it all