Post by WisdomDragon in Ch 3- Well, that escalated quickly.

Demonheart: The Cursed Trial » Community

Viewing post in Ch 3- Well, that escalated quickly.

The very end is why I need to play again and fiddle around with different choices. I was playing this round as Tactful Good. Not overly flirty/blushing with anyone because death game in progress is not really the time for hookups; and all around nice to all, even those I think are sus so as not to prematurely tip them off. It *seemed* like it was going well. So the last sequence of events went by in a flash of curveballs blindsiding me and now I'm not as sure what to think on who the original third demonheart was.

As for the self confessor- the first game taught me never trust their type because they may be a conniving hunter waiting to pounce. So... if my conspiracy is wrong (and the theory admittedly is a stretch, but I don't want to admit that character is dead in such an abrupt off screen fashion), it's possible the confessor is the killer, and potentially working with an accomplice or two for mutual gain. But that expectation of "don't trust this obvious parallel to a character from the original game" can always be subverted and it's possible they've been the third all along. I'll have more theories when I've played through a few more times to absorb the general plot completely and see the variations on events.

theredwoman1 year ago(+1)

I was good, about equally tactful/defiant, so I agree that the different choices seem very interesting here. In fairness, I didn't think the trial would go that bad until it did, but I was seriously considering throwing that possessive person under the bus, especially since our main partner in chapter 3 didn't seem to think it was a bad idea. The scene after the victim's body is found just felt like they were going off the rails, especially since my character was quite friendly to both of the other characters in that scene. Hell, even the Master suggests as much at the end of the chapter.

I completely agree on the confessor though, especially since they seem close to a certain pair of characters who are both quite stubborn. I could see them deciding to protect the confessor, especially since otherwise suspicion falls on the protag and someone who people really don't want to risk a fight against (as shown by how poorly that goes). But, in terms of accomplices, it also seems very strange that someone, who has otherwise been very stubborn about the demonhearts, is suddenly ignoring the confessor as a demonheart and doesn't even imprison them? I really don't feel like I can rule that third person out because it feels like a sudden lack of vigour from someone not known for it, especially when the confessor doesn't really have an alibi since their companion was sleeping the entire night.

WisdomDragon1 year ago (1 edit) (+1)

There's definitely a messy intersection of motivations/agendas happening during the trial. Even doing a second playthrough of chapter 3, I'm confused on why certain things happen. As for Leona, it's entirely possible she's behaving the way she is towards protag and not the self confessor out of the very simple human motivation of jealousy and self preservation. She's very self-righteous and most everyone doesn't trust and/or respect her. Depending on how you play protag, others don't have many issues with them. And Ran, who she clearly views as *her*ally and maybe she wants more, obviously has a thing. Might be jealousy of the simple peasant girl is clouding her judgment; but then self confessor did the confessing after she's already been brutal, so she realizes she can't keep doing the vicious zealot things without someone having enough of her behavior and kills her while she sleeps, so she opts for the less tyrant option with them in hopes to stave off assassination attempts.

BTW- You should check out what happens if you choose to attack the stubborn duo who are so friendly with the self confessor. The end result drastically narrows down possible scenarios happening and bolsters a few potential theories.

Edit- just realized you mentioning how poorly a fight can go indicates you've tried that option. So yeah. One of the duo might be a "demon strumpet" and the other was taken in by their act, or it's a red herring to throw off suspicion from the real third demonheart.

WisdomDragon1 year ago

Speed ran more playthroughs with the skip button, including an evil/defiant run and trying the other attack option during the trial. If the conspiracy theory is not true, I know who the three current demonhearts are because they are the only ones, outside the protag herself that we obviously know is a demonheart, who don't potentially die and stay dead during one of the fights. The questions become which one of the other two killed someone to become a demonheart themselves and why, and which was already a demonheart from the start.

Also, it'd be nice if there was an option to offer to take the blood test and be crafty about deceiving the others by continually renewing the injury to make it seem like there was normal healing time needed. Or to bring up that someone else could do so, thereby making it pointless unless everyone stays in each other's presence 24/7 to watch for subversion; which also means no one gets anything done and we're all stuck tolerating each other without relent. Anything to throw some doubt on the process, if that's the route a player wanted to go down, besides flat out refusal to play along. But that's probably too much variation to try accounting for in game path layout.

Anyway, this has been interesting to explore. Still have lots of questions as to why the event was orchestrated by the "master" to begin with (outside the fact he's an evil sadist with a penchant for toying with people), what Raze's promised "reward" is for helping the master/why he's playing along with any level of faith he won't get backstabbed later on, and what the various companions' motivations are to act like they have been because they're still ultimately strangers to the protag and we can't discern much as it is. Hopeful for chapter 4 to start giving some clues to puzzle this out further.

Rolling Crown1 year ago(+2)

I've been thinking of ways someone could cheat the "test of blood", but not the protagonist, because certain things needed to happen.
As for answers about Raze, I was planning to leave it for later, when more characters die and you don't have anyone to talk to :')

WisdomDragon1 year ago

Ha! Fair enough all around. There's always going to be a thousand "what if this could happen" scenarios someone might think up to circumvent or delay drama, but a story does need to unfold and conflict keeps things spicy. The trying to cheat on the test thing was just something to strike me as a thing at least one or two might attempt to whatever degree of success or failure because most people are unwilling but fell back on the "you'll just have to trust me that it's not me" response.

And always happy for some Raze screen time, and it seems like he needs an actual friend. Could be good for him, so fingers crossed maybe he might participate in some real chat with protag, not just his blustering to hide his insecurities, if the right options get picked.

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Viewing post in Ch 3- Well, that escalated quickly.