*SPOILERS* Question and my finishing thoughts

[Eliphas]

No idea if anyone still reads this forum, but here we go.

When did Sable started seeing aether? And why? But more importantly, why does he hide it? Makes no sense hiding it. Also, Sable acted like he was always able to see it, as I don't remember seeing him acquire the ability during the game, yet I'm pretty sure he claimed he acquired the ability after enrolling the academy, so I'm kinda lost here.

On another note, while I liked this game, one thing I hate about it, and this apply for Sickness too, is that I find the endings quite lacking. Not that they lack adult content or anything like that. While I have a serious bad ending fetish (thank you Monster Girl Quest), I found almost zero good endings. Rei and Jorou for example doesn't really have a romance route and all their endings MC-kun just hurts them in a way. Eth also seems to only have a "one sided love" ending.
Usually after finishing a route in a visual novel with choices and reached a good ending, you get a sense of fulfillment or accomplishment, yet I get none here. Only anger, frustration and disappointment. And you are hearing (reading?) this from a pretty unemotional person.

Anyway, those are just my two cents right after finishing all routes. I hope no one takes this in a bad way, I liked these games so far and I'm hoping to see more in the future.

[Zetsubou]

Originally posted by Eliphas:

Also, Sable acted like he was always able to see it, as I don't remember seeing him acquire the ability during the game, yet I'm pretty sure he claimed he acquired the ability after enrolling the academy, so I'm kinda lost here.

I've been searching through the game text trying to find any lines like this, but I can't see him ever saying that. Maybe it was something like he "never saw aether this thick" or "this abundant", or "never had much reason to use the ability" before coming to Amadronia?

He had the ability before enrolling at Amadronia, but never went anywhere with dense enough aether or enough magic users for there to be much point in using it.

Originally posted by Eliphas:

But more importantly, why does he hide it? Makes no sense hiding it.

To avoid scrutiny. "I used a tracking spell" is way easier to explain and for people to accept than "I have a rare ability and have no idea how I got it or why".

Also along those same lines, he simply has no reason to tell people. What good would that information do them? "I can track magic beasts" is useful information. The specifics of how he tracks them is less useful.

In Drakan's route he's given a compelling reason to come clean (ie. to avoid being killed by Nidhogg), and he gives up that information without a fight. He later talks to Drakan about it briefly as well, after learning that she has the same ability.

Outside of Drakan's route, however, the specifics of how he does what he does aren't relevant enough for him to elaborate and tell people the truth. It isn't the kind of thing to come up naturally in casual conversation either (without it coming across as Sable bragging out of nowhere).

Originally posted by Eliphas:

When did Sable started seeing aether? And why?

To be explored in future games ;)
He doesn't know it himself just yet, so players will learn more as he does.

[Eliphas]

My mistake, sorry, I was kinda drunk when I did Tix's route and I misinterpreted what Sable was thinking. The lines are 49 and 50 from day_27_tix_05.rpy :
"(Plus there's the fact that I can see aether, which makes deconstructing and analyzing spells much easier...)"
"(But I didn't really get a chance to do that until I came to Amadronia, so it's probably not a factor here.)"
Thank you for explaining properly. I'll leave a positive review. See ya next game

[Zetsubou]

Thanks Eliphas, I just wanted to make sure there wasn't a mistake that needed correcting. They can be tricky to find with longer games like this, and I hate inconsistencies like that.
I'm glad you enjoyed the game overall, and I hope you'll find the endings of the sequels a bit more satisfying.