Is it just me... or is the MC really stupid

[Sangu1ne]

Been playing for about... an hour... hoping that the MC would get "better" - but... uhh... WOW SHE'S DUMB. I'm finding it difficult to continue playing. As in ... how on earth does she walk/talk at all?

The conversations go like this:

Other Person: You're stupid. You're dumb enough to buy this.
MC: huh? What'd you say?
Other Person: Hey, buy this obviously-useless-thing for me. Because you feel bad. Right?
MC: Uhm. YEAH! Sure!

And she doesn't seem to get any better.

What the hell? She has Memory issues... I didn't think that automatically meant that she was supposed to be dumb as a sack o' hammers?? Anyone further along have a good explanation or is this just really the way she's supposed to be?

[house-special curry]

Her idiocy is her greatest charm, imo. She's not a blank slate, she has actual characterization! And that characterization is how supremely, unbelievably, powerfully dumb she is. It's almost a super power. :P

[what the skibidi]

I honestly think because of her memory loss, she acts the way she acts. I mean if you've played other otome games like Amensia or even the new one, Mystic Messenger, the MC can be quite dumb or even lack a personality. It's not until you make your own choices that you kind of add yourself to the MC.

I do have to say though, when you finish the whole game and go through the Epilogue and the Grand Ending, you learn more as to why she is completely lost as a person.

[Sangu1ne]

omg. Don't let people know that being stupid is a super power... that would mean I meet super powered people every day... it's like the saddest version of x-men... ever.

[sketchit]

Personally, I feel like this is a combination of several things. First, she's a blank slate that has forgotten so many of the things we take for granted (like money, etc). Think about it; when you were born and a child, you didn't have any concept of morals or money or many, many things until other people explained stuff to you. Second, she's living a very sheltered existence with the Oz famiglie. She's not hardly asked to do or provide anything for herself, so when she is, it's a bit of a shock. The third had to do with the first but is a major spoiler for the grand route, but it has to do with the reason for the MC's existence.

[Irell of the Stars]

After completeing most (98%) of the game, I beleive I have a good idea about this.

Turns out the wizard wasn't so great after all. There was a swap. The lion got courage, but took a hit on the brain department (hence why Caramia is always being refered to as an idot). The tin man got a heart but loss a bit of courage which explains why Axel is so shy about his feelings. The scarcrow got a brain but is now lacking a lot of heart which explains Kyrie being cruel at times. As for Dorthy (and therefore the MC and Ceasar), she gets magic but at the price of losing all three of these. The MC's not very brave, she's not very smart, and while she has a 'heart', the ease she moves on from one relationship to another makes it a little suspect. Ceasar's not very brave (unless you count running away brave), smart (by announcing his attacks), or has much of a heart (seen in alternative endings when he goes around trying to slaughter the MCs love interest).

Essential, I think she wasn't born stupid, she was made stupid.

[jkly]

I'm less than two hours into the game and she's making it extremely hard for me to continue.

[purple&green2023]

Originally posted by Irell of the Stars:

After completeing most (98%) of the game, I beleive I have a good idea about this.

Turns out the wizard wasn't so great after all. There was a swap. The lion got courage, but took a hit on the brain department (hence why Caramia is always being refered to as an idot). The tin man got a heart but loss a bit of courage which explains why Axel is so shy about his feelings. The scarcrow got a brain but is now lacking a lot of heart which explains Kyrie being cruel at times. As for Dorthy (and therefore the MC and Ceasar), she gets magic but at the price of losing all three of these. The MC's not very brave, she's not very smart, and while she has a 'heart', the ease she moves on from one relationship to another makes it a little suspect. Ceasar's not very brave (unless you count running away brave), smart (by announcing his attacks), or has much of a heart (seen in alternative endings when he goes around trying to slaughter the MCs love interest).

Essential, I think she wasn't born stupid, she was made stupid.

This is a good theory! I actually hope it's true.

[bidumb]

Yeah, I think the MC is incredibly stupid. I find her to be the weakest part of the game so far... I wish she'd show more of a desire to actually find out about herself. For the most part she goes with the flow, and I find it unrealistic that she hardly wonders about it. Even if she had no desire to find out, she should reason, "I don't want to know because maybe my past is traumatizing." I don't find her to be well-thought out, imo... In general though, a lot of otome games don't have well-written MCs, so I'm not too surprised. To be fair, I'm still nowhere near done with the game, so I hope the game proves me wrong as I continue.

[Elinor]

Originally posted by house-special curry:

Her idiocy is her greatest charm, imo. She's not a blank slate, she has actual characterization! And that characterization is how supremely, unbelievably, powerfully dumb she is. It's almost a super power. :P

Quoting because this made me LOL! I do not enjoy her stupidity but it DOES play out like some kind of superpower - its funny when its spelled out like this! X'D

Originally posted by Irell of the Stars:

After completeing most (98%) of the game, I beleive I have a good idea about this.

Turns out the wizard wasn't so great after all. There was a swap. The lion got courage, but took a hit on the brain department (hence why Caramia is always being refered to as an idot). The tin man got a heart but loss a bit of courage which explains why Axel is so shy about his feelings. The scarcrow got a brain but is now lacking a lot of heart which explains Kyrie being cruel at times. As for Dorthy (and therefore the MC and Ceasar), she gets magic but at the price of losing all three of these. The MC's not very brave, she's not very smart, and while she has a 'heart', the ease she moves on from one relationship to another makes it a little suspect. Ceasar's not very brave (unless you count running away brave), smart (by announcing his attacks), or has much of a heart (seen in alternative endings when he goes around trying to slaughter the MCs love interest).

Essential, I think she wasn't born stupid, she was made stupid.

(minor spoiler) Eh, Caramia isn't stupid, I'd say he is above average... he just lives with Kyrie; everyone is stupid to Kyrie, and Kyrie reminds Caramia of this; Its part of their banter. In some ways, Caramia is much wiser then Kyrie, if not as intelegent. Given we mostly see Caramia and Kyrie together its easy to forget Kyrie's infulence in this and just take them as a pair with Caramia being the "stupid" one and Kyrie the smart one.

Axel, IMO, is not lacking in courage per say... I think he finds expressing his feeling difficalt because he is sensative. I think of him as being like some cute fuzzy baby animal, all sweet, soft and adorable, inside a protective suit of armor. He can't help but feel, which is why he hasn't grown numb to Kyrie's cruelty like Caramia has.

Kyrie... well, he has more heart then he likes to show. In a way even Axel is better at expressing his real feelings. It helps to pay attention to some of Kyrie's interactions with Dorian and Caramia if you can't spot it anywhere else; those two spell it out, either bluntly or subtly at different points. And then there is the end of the Epilouge...

As for the MC her traits, such as they are, are explained in the epilogue and grand finalie but it has more to do with Dorothy being a child then anything else. . The MC's traits DO make sense given that, even if you have to wait for that sense to show itself. Admittedly I am not a fan of so much stupid, but at least in this case they take it to the point where it is sort of, to me, like watching a puppy run arround and bump into things; not a clue in its head at all, but everyone seems to find it cute.

Originally posted by sketchit:

Personally, I feel like this is a combination of several things. First, she's a blank slate that has forgotten so many of the things we take for granted (like money, etc). Think about it; when you were born and a child, you didn't have any concept of morals or money or many, many things until other people explained stuff to you. Second, she's living a very sheltered existence with the Oz famiglie. She's not hardly asked to do or provide anything for herself, so when she is, it's a bit of a shock. The third had to do with the first but is a major spoiler for the grand route, but it has to do with the reason for the MC's existence.

Also this.

[.21grams]

Originally posted by Elinor:

Kyrie... well, he has more heart then he likes to show. In a way even Axel is better at expressing his real feelings. It helps to pay attention to some of Kyrie's interactions with Dorian and Caramia if you can't spot it anywhere else; those two spell it out, either bluntly or subtly at different points. And then there is the end of the Epilouge...

I totally second this. It became even more apparent when you played through his route a second time, with all the interludes. Heck, he doesn't even believe he's good enough for the MC throughout most of his route and thus, wants to let her go. If there is anything to be said about Kyrie, I think it's that his character has many, maaany layers. It shows in the multiple ways he expresses his love and affection or tries to hide it - with various degrees of success. The necklace scene, which was so beautifully done imo, comes to mind.

Originally posted by Elinor:

As for the MC her traits, such as they are, are explained in the epilogue and grand finalie but it has more to do with Dorothy being a child then anything else. . The MC's traits DO make sense given that, even if you have to wait for that sense to show itself. Admittedly I am not a fan of so much stupid, but at least in this case they take it to the point where it is sort of, to me, like watching a puppy run arround and bump into things; not a clue in its head at all, but everyone seems to find it cute.

Agreed. I didn't like it much at first either, but the MC grew on me regardless. Her childlike innocence and candor that comes with it, as well as her ability to see everything in a fresh and unbiased manner is even envied by Kyrie, and I think he has a point, given how he's her complete opposite in that regard.

However, I prefer childlike innocence that makes sense given the character's background to the stupidity I see in the heroines of other otome games, where they're supposed to act mature given their age and history, but nnnope, the drama and plot demand her to be a useless dimwit with approximately zero sense of responsibility or agency.

[Ursaw]

While her innocent and childlike character grew on me with time, in the context of a romance (duh) game I find it quite uncomfortable, if anything.

Rather than her problem being plain stupidity and lack of personality (looking at you, Amnesia heroine), Fuka's actually quite interesting as a character, with her mind and personality alike to a little child's. But romancing a said child is, well, not very enjoyable for me personally?

I like the characters, but it's hard to mess around with them when the fact that I'm playing as a 5-year-old is looming over me