Question after you win... (Spoilers)

[LC]

...for the first time.

So, I just finished the game with Gray. I really enjoyed the basic puzzles, and I also enjoyed transitioning into the meta puzzles and then hunting for things I didn't find yet while traversing the environment easier with the various tools I found. Specifically, I got the wings, the sword and the memory cube thingy that allows you to listen to the "fallen" and read the murals.

I feel like there are still at least a few things that I didn't find yet. For example I got a tip for a shortcut that I never followed up on, there are a few murals where I never found the room to make the pattern in, I didn't figure out what to do with the strange glowing carvings yet, and a few other things.

I was looking forward hunting for those while easily traversing the environment, but alas, I accidentially finished my run with Gray, and it seems like I'm now playing as the princess's child. Judging from the first few minutes with her, all the levels got much, much harder and the tools I already found (wings, sword, memory cube) are not available anymore.

I wanted to finish hunting for secrets, and now instead it looks like I have to finish 200+ more levels, which feels pretty crushing. The last levels on the Gray run were already pretty hard for me.

I don't want to be spoiled, but I have three questions:
1. Is this considered some sort of New Game+, or is this part of a regular playthrough?
2. Is it really all 200+ levels again but much harder?
3. Could I have finished my run with Gray without wings/sword? Or is it normal having to do this second run without them?

I am really unsure whether I should continue and trying to push through the difficulty, or (try to?) reset the game so I can start as Gray again and play until I have finished more meta game puzzles.

[Moonie]

1. This is part of the linear storyline. Anything you've done as Gray carries on to this segment - things you've done, people you've talked to, etc.
2. Yes, but they are significantly easier to cheese with the items than Gray's versions of the puzzles due to their tighter design, which leads into...
3. Completely possible, and they are available for this character if Gray finished without taking them. All 200+ levels can be cleared for both characters with or without items.

You didn't ask these questions, but the answers may be pertinent to your situation:
4. Resetting the game is as easy as refusing the fruit when offered, or if VOID, dying in the same way repeatedly until a certain screen appears, then only making a single input.
5. Whatever way you find yourself back on the initialization screen, you can now start the game as this character without having to finish as Gray first. You don't need to finish Gray's segment itemless to take this one on with items.

[LC]

Okay, so it sounds like the intended way to continue the game at this point is to play with this character without the items. Correct?

What gets me (well, apart from the prospect of having to beat 200+ even harder puzzles despite wanting to continue secret hunting) is that without the items hunting for secrets is so much more burdensome. E.g. to get the shortcut merchant I could just blaze through levels collecting locusts while using wings and sword.

Man, I really really wish I hadn't finished the game with Gray already, and could just have continued playing with her for a while more. Definitely wouldn't have done it if I would've known what would happen. Sadly recreating my Gray gamestate after resetting sounds annoying too.

This is all pretty frustrating.

[Moonie]

The intended way to continue the game is to do whatever you damn well please with whatever you've been provided, be that items or information. The game does not punish or reward you for choosing one way or the other, it's entirely up to you. You're saying it yourself, you'd rather go back to secret hunting with Gray, so...

I neglected mentioning this at first but this may be useful if you choose to read it:
6. After collecting the items once, from the initialization screen you can choose to start the game with the items without having to collect them.

[LC]

In the end I reset and started again as Gray. That also had the unexpected benefit of meeting two characters I missed in my first run, and it was a nice surprise getting Tail's backstory before they were instructed not to talk to me.

I'll tackle the harder levels later when I feel content with the Gray run. Thanks for your help!

[brickey.8]

The intended progression is to beat the game as the second character (with or without using resets to get the items back), then play as Gray a final time to solve all the remaining brand puzzles. The stuff that happens when you solve the last few brand puzzles all assumes you've seen the ending you get to by playing the second character.

That said, playing around more as Gray will help you understand the puzzles better and may teach you about shortcuts and other tricks that'll make the second character's run a lot easier. So you're certainly not doing it "wrong".

[Moonie]

Awfully straightforward way to break down a nonlinear game