Story confusion [spoilers]

[Endlave]

Well, I beat the game yesterday and despite what the reviews say, I did enjoy it for the most part, but there are some things that don't really make sense to me from a storytelling point of view. Maybe I just missed something.

1. Yui and Ryn keep calling humans mortals which assumes gods are immortal. So far, so good. Yet we play as the reincarnation of Zeus...so Zeus... died? How does that work? If gods are immortal, how could Zeus reincarnate? Unless they mean "immortal" in the sense of "when he dies, he reincarnates, so he technically lives forever" But wouldn't that also kinda ♥♥♥♥ things up? Assuming Zeus chooses wrongly and remains mortal...if that means Zeus cannot reincarnate anymore because he loses all his godly powers, Zeus ceases to exist. If he reincrnates, however, It basically doesn't matter who he chooses anyway because even if he remains mortal and dies, a new Zeus will be born after him. It kind of also means the story is an endless cycle because once Zeus dies, a new one is born meaning new goddesses will come to try seducing him again.

2. Not sure if I got this one right. So if Yui and Ryn are the descendants of Aphrodite and Athena, they don't REALLY are those goddesses, right? Still, they have their names, so are god names treated as surnames here? That would be fine, but that also means that there are a lot of gods and goddesses to keep track of in the pantheon, assuming every god has at least one child, which in return also has children and so forth and so forth. Depending on the definition of immortality and the sheer potency and vitality of these gods, the pantheon might be overcrowded by now. :P Even if gods eventually die, since they reincarnate, no god is ever lost, right? Unless that's what "remaining mortal" is for...throwing out gods from the pantheon.

3. What was Ronan/Ares' deal? Not versed with the Greek mythology but I suppose he has some beef with Zeus? Why else would he hate Aaki so much and wants to see him fail? Still, if he wants to see Zeus fail, why would he actually prevent Zeus from falling in love with mortal women from the start? Seeing as to falling in love with mortals leads to the denial from the ascension into the pantheon, shouldn't Ronan/Ares' goal have been to help Zeus fall in love with some human chick and be done with it? Instead, he just enjoys seeing how weak- spirited Aaki is at the beginning. Speaking of which. He supposedly has 49 women at his beck and call, so doesn't that disqualify him from ascending as well? He did ascend with whoever you didn't choose in the "not quite so good" Ending, so...
How confusing. He was also so obsessed with Sakuya that I kind of expected her to be a goddess in disguise as well. For someone who supposedly has 49 women to choose from, making such a fuss over one feels somewhat petty for a god. But then again, it might have been more out of revalry towards Zeus...*shrug*

4. Some inconsistency about that ninja-girl's identity. She gets called a demon and a titan when you get her end, yet adding her to the harem is fine? I guess Zeus could be boss enough to bend the rules and add humans to the pantheon, but even he wouldn't ever be allowed to add a titan, right? I might be wrong here, but I am sure they were supposed to be, like, his arch nemesis or something? At the very least, I was sure the gods hated them really much.

5. Yui and Ryn were pretty lucky that the reincarnation of Zeus was quite the weak-willed loser (which I find ironic, since he is Zeus... xD). If Aaki had had but a tenth of the badassness the original Zeus had, he would have probably already have drowned in p*ssy before Yui and Ryn had even gotten close to him. He would have been disqualified from entering the pantheon from the start.

Don't ask me why I actually care so much. I can't help it. When I get into stories, I kiiiiinda really want to understand them. I spent a lot of time pondering this yesterday night while I couldn't sleep. I wonder if I will get some replies, tho.

[Dharker]

Hi... Spoilers below in answers...

1. In most myth style regarding gods, they call themselves immortal as they do not age, however gods can die through other means, such as war, gods killing gods (often occurs) and gods choosing to die, so that they reincarnate and can start fresh. Nothing lasts forever everything dies, but in most myths, legends and other stories those who can live for hundreds/thousands of years tend to call themselves immortals even if that is not the case, to instil that ideal of superiority in other.

Also I liked the contradiction, of reincarnated gods calling themselves immortal despite the reality suggesting otherwise, it is a flaw of overconfidence.

P.s. yes it is an endless cycle. Zeus after all wants to be the king of the gods forever. Anmd all other gods want to live forever in the aim of growing more powerful as well.

2. Part of the story that explained this was cut, as it was boring needless dialogue for the sake of explaining. But put simply gods can have children with mortals. These children remain as mortals unless the god dies, if the god dies, then that descendant can take over the powers of the original god and upon attaining that power regain the originals memories alongside their own. If their are no mortal bred descendants then the 'soul' of the god will pass to the closest familial line and pass through that family line until one is able to ascend to the pantheon.

Thus Ryn and Yui are direct descendants, the protagonist is not a direct descendant.

3. Ronan is like the protagonist, a non-direct descendant of Ares. Ronan the person doesnt like the protagonist as Ronan wants the girl who likes the protagonist, he does not know he is Ares at that point. Thus later on when either Ryn or Yui is rejected, they find ares, help him ascend and use that to screw over the other girl and the protagonist. Once Ronan ascends to Ares he regains Ares soul but also takes with him his hatred of the protagonist.

4. The harem end is a bonus fun end. It should not be classed as part of the cannon, if one wants to force it, then one could argue that Zeus can do as he likes as the king of the gods, including bringing a titan or demon into that realm to be with him. Also the ninja-girl does like him, but she likes having her fun more. Each different ending of the game could be considered a different reincarnation of Zeus, so each time he dies he returns to the pantheon before going again. Eventually he decides he has had enough of that and brings all those he has loved across multiple reincarnations to the pantheon with him... But its better just to accept this as a fun bonus ending for completionists.

5. If he has already had sex with a mortal, ryn and yui would never have realised he was a potential, they would not have stopped there and would have continued searching and simply found the next potential zeus somewhere else. One could argue that based on the rules of ascension that Zeus mortal unknown self will always be a shy guy who is not very confident and therefore does not get women easily. One could argue that Zeus does this to himself to ensure there is a greater chance of him eventually reincarnating and ascending to the pantheon again.

[Endlave]

Woah. A dev response. And so fast, too. Awesomesauce! :D

Well, that actually makes a lot of sense, now that I think about it. I feel like I should have been able to figure the deal with Ares out if I had just thought a little bit harder about it. But then again, having the explanation of how immortality and reincarnating works in that universe greatly helped with understanding that. I am sad to hear it was cut, since I think it is really crucial information for understanding the whole idea behind the story, but I can understand why that decision was made...some people probably don't want too much long-winded explanations in their games. Still, as someone who likes lore and storytelling, I think it's a real pity.

Anyway, thanks a lot for finding the time to answer my questions. I really appreciate it. With this, my soul can find rest and ascend into the pantheon :P
Seriously, though. I respect devs who respond to user questions a lot. Keep it up!