Aw damn, the contrast between Hippolytus as this brave, proud young man, but still so innocent and naive that he doesn't even know what to do with Phaedra's twisted affection and even victim blamed himself for her feelings, is just so poignant. There may be more to the story, but I feel for him in this moment 😔
But for now, I read his reluctance in killing Phaedra to be out of fear, yes, perhaps pity, but also a sliver of kindness. Because, aside from this twisted affection, she's still just any other woman. His step-mother, no less. She's not a beast. Not a monster. Just a flawed woman with a twisted affection. She doesn't deserve to be killed. Not even rapists of the highest degree are sentenced to death. What she needs is therapy and rehabilitation. As they say, hate the sin, not the sinner.
I've struggled with that mindset myself. After all, I've been and am abused and want nothing more but punishment to those who have wronged me. But... It's true that we are all still human in the end. Every one of us deserves a second chance ( well, within reasons, lol ). Punishments, death sentences, those are just an easy way out...
Ofc, all victims and survivors still have the right to exercise their boundaries, which means they don't have to forgive those abusers nor even breathe the same air as them. No one can nor should talk them into it either. It's 100% their right and choice to make. The sinner's redemption shall not and will never be the victim/survivor's responsibility to see through.
That's what Phaedra pushed onto Hippolytus. She chose to take an easy way out. She wanted Hippolytus to take responsibility. When it's supposed to be her sin and hers alone.
And this is how Hippolytus wound up blaming himself. Amidst all his confusion and fear and failure in felling her, he directed all that frustration onto himself. After all, what is an easier target but yourself?
Haa, yep, very relatable story to me. Fortunately, I've never been taken advantage of in that way by a family member, but yeah, many similar cycles when it comes to familial abuse.
I feel for him. I wish I could reach out and hug him. Tell him it's not his fault. Tell him it's not his reponsibility to help Phaedra get her easy way out. Tell him that it's okay. Everything will be okay.
As for my opinion on the first entry now; I'm disappointed but not surprised Phaedra killed herself. From the first moment of rejection, she was looking for an easy way out for her feelings and harassment. Although at the very least, I'm glad she didn't wait around for Hippolytus to kill her. That she at least realized what she did was wrong.
And I guess that's the tragedy. Instead of improving herself, instead of apologizing and talking things through, to then live with the guilt of her sin, she chose to end the chapter of her life. Her easy way out.
At least, that's the way I see it.
I'm also shocked to find out Ariadne killed herself. She didn't deserve that, goddammit :' )
But yeah, this one is even more impactful than the first, Chim! So hella bravo! Congrats on slipping my hypeman mask for a sec and peeked at the person beneath 😝 Solid 10/10 for the writing! 🥳✨💞
For the art direction~ Holy heck! How did you do the part with the sun going all ripply?! That was hella cool and intense!! I need a tutorial ahsjksls-- 😭🤲🏻💞💞 But yeah! I love most of the art direction! Even better than the first one! I do wonder what's the purpose of the Hippolytus parallax effect tho? Owo Breaks immersion a bit for me, but nothing major, so is okie 😁👌🏻✨
The voice acting? To be honest, at first the delivery was quite rough and sounded like the VA was trying too hard to sound dramatic, but throughout the game, I could hear the VA actually improving on their delivery and the parts where they yell were actually truly intense! So mad props on that! Improving within just one project takes real skill, so yeh! Am impressed 😳👌🏻✨💞
As for improvement feedback~ The music volume issue is there, ofc, so I won't comment on it further. Unfortunately, it also extends to the voice acting volume. Probably because you were trying to balance it out with the yelling parts? But yeah, it resulted in the non-yelling parts sounding really low, even at 100%. There were even parts where I could barely hear the voice at all. Not sure if you've fixed it for the last entry, but I'll say it here anyway, seeing as the music volume issue persisted 🙉🤲🏻
But good news! This time, I didn't catch any typos! So major props for that! This is enough proof* that you can fight the curse, yayy!! 🥳✨💞
So yeah, really impactful sequel, Chim! You made me feel things! How dare agshsk-- 😭🤲🏻💦✨💞 Another 9.5/10 game for me 😌👌🏻💞💞
Now, what things shall I unearth when I play the last one tomorrow... Lowkey scared, but also hyped 👀💦✨💞
*Edited for a typo. Goddammit-- I guess your curse transferred to me, smh 😤😤