Act 3 start confusion (Spoilers)

[Its Almost Harvesting Season]

I don't want the act fully spoiled but I'm scratching my head at the events, and it's very hard to discuss this with any friends without spoiling them due to nobody I know being as far in the game...

So I've JUST started act 3 and paused the game at the camp. The truth of the world being a canvas painted by Verso, who died, has come to light... and the parents are stuck in some argument within the canvas due to grief. Alicia is told to go into the canvas and help their father, so she does; but this is where I feel like I missed something.

Do we see her enter the canvas twice? At first we are in the atelier, but then it cuts to a dark cave looking area and another discussion about entering the canvas. We then see that Alicia kind of fumbles the entry and accidentally ends up being controlled by her mothers chroma and turned into a "fake person" (for lack of a better term lol) and living for 16 fake years... I was sure Maelle gommaged at the end of the Act 2 cutscene but I suppose I could be wrong, but did Maelle not "die" and instead have her fake life removed? or did she re-enter the canvas after we defeated the Paintress and after hiding the canvas in the real world?

[Ratsplat]

That whole going into the canvas thing is a flash back. She only entered once. It shows how she became Maelle. I haven't replayed to that point, so I don't remember what her gommaging was about. But it could be said that Maelle is now 'dead', and the real Alicia has turned up.

The cave scene likely happened right after the atelier scene.

[wildcardbitches]

The more you think about the family the most ♥♥♥♥♥♥ up everything they do is. Essentially they tried to delay their grief, but it doesn't work. You have to feel your feelings.

[Its Almost Harvesting Season]

Originally posted by Ratsplat:

That whole going into the canvas thing is a flash back. She only entered once. It shows how she became Maelle. I haven't replayed to that point, so I don't remember what her gommaging was about. But it could be said that Maelle is now 'dead', and the real Alicia has turned up.

The cave scene likely happened right after the atelier scene.

Yea I figured it was meant to be right afterwards, but it just seemed strange like there were two instances of Alicia entering the canvas. The gommage scene shows petals coming off of her, and I was admittedly a bit preoccupied taking in what was happening but I'm fairly sure it shows her completely fading out. The whole twist reveal feels a little clumsily assembled, but I won't begrudge the devs... It's not the easiest turn to take lol

[Ratsplat]

Originally posted by Its Almost Harvesting Season:

Originally posted by Ratsplat:

That whole going into the canvas thing is a flash back. She only entered once. It shows how she became Maelle. I haven't replayed to that point, so I don't remember what her gommaging was about. But it could be said that Maelle is now 'dead', and the real Alicia has turned up.

The cave scene likely happened right after the atelier scene.

Yea I figured it was meant to be right afterwards, but it just seemed strange like there were two instances of Alicia entering the canvas. The gommage scene shows petals coming off of her, and I was admittedly a bit preoccupied taking in what was happening but I'm fairly sure it shows her completely fading out. The whole twist reveal feels a little clumsily assembled, but I won't begrudge the devs... It's not the easiest turn to take lol

For a game/story like this, they really need to be careful and do things right, because there is so many things up to interpretation that by time you're at the end, it can be hard to tell what is actually intended or what is due to the possibility of writing errors.