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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 πŸ˜”

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! πŸ₯³βœ¨πŸ’ž

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-- πŸ˜­πŸ€²πŸ»πŸ’žπŸ’ž 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 πŸ˜πŸ‘ŒπŸ»βœ¨

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 πŸ˜³πŸ‘ŒπŸ»βœ¨πŸ’ž

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 πŸ™‰πŸ€²πŸ» 

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!! πŸ₯³βœ¨πŸ’ž

So yeah, really impactful sequel, Chim! You made me feel things! How dare agshsk-- πŸ˜­πŸ€²πŸ»πŸ’¦βœ¨πŸ’ž Another 9.5/10 game for me πŸ˜ŒπŸ‘ŒπŸ»πŸ’žπŸ’ž 

Now, what things shall I unearth when I play the last one tomorrow... Lowkey scared, but also hyped πŸ‘€πŸ’¦βœ¨πŸ’ž

*Edited for a typo. Goddammit-- I guess your curse transferred to me, smh 😀😀

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Aaaah, thanks for your detailed feedback!

Your reading is very interesting here! Admittedly, this whole series is meant to be up to interpretation but your take is surprisingly empathetic towards Phaedra. It does make sense though: what I got from abuse is that, even when you see your abusers commit the most inhuman things, you also see how vulnerable they are. And while I think that nobody is unsavable (and that Phaedra deserves her rehabilitation), I do also believe that the victims aren't the one who need to save their abusers (not that you said that lol just sharing my thoughts).

And yes, Phaedra's sucicide even has one more consequence: she took it from Hippolytus, she stole the resolve he takes at the end of Son of the Woods (however, if I'm being honest, Hippolytus dies right after this game, hence the final background, with the sword stained with blood and the wave; it's the tragedy reaching him no matter what, and the wave is connected to the way he dies in the myth: dragged down by his horses, frightened of the sea monster Hippolytus just killed; players are free to interpret the ending as they wish, but I'll admit that's what I have in mind lol).

I'm glad you appreciated Hippolytus enough to want to comfort him, haha. For Ariadne, there are two versions of the myth: the most famous one narrates her marrying Dionysus, god of wine-making; however, another version, which is the one Racine followed in his play and that I followed myself here, is Ariadne committing suicide out of despair after being abandoned by Theseus, for whom she betrayed her father and her country (yeah, Ariadne would definitely deserve her own game loool).

For the voice acting, I'll admit I don't know how to make the volume of the voice lines louder without having it sound saturated, but yes, the issue will exist in nthe whole series efrgvbf; and for the wavy effect, I used Wattson's Ren'Py Wave Shader (cf. credits), but I'm glad you appreciated the effect!

Thanks for your feedback, excited to hear what you have to say of the final game! Hopefully you'll enjoy it, it sure is a wild ride (and is also longer than the two others combined haha).

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Aaa, sorry for the late reply! Expected to reply and play the last part yesterday, but life really has a way of throwing you for a loop ahsjsl-- πŸ₯΄πŸ€²πŸ»πŸ’¦βœ¨

But anyways! Yeah, I tend to be empathetic towards most people, so it's hard to ignore the vulnerable parts of Phaedra. It's one of my flaws, tbh. I get easily taken advantage of because of it. Now I overcompensate by NOT trusting a lot of real people, haha... Still trying to heal from it 😩🀲🏻 

Oh no! Poor Hippolytus! Guy can't catch a break agsjsl-- 😭😭 Yeah, I can imagine he won't like Phaedra just killing herself from it cuz he already resolved himself to. If I were him, I'd be relieved, hence why I didn't think about that from the get go. Def fits his prideful personality better πŸ˜πŸ‘ŒπŸ»βœ¨

Omg, yes! Ariadne deserves her own game for sure!! She's only side roles in these two entries but she already caught my heart, man πŸ˜­πŸ€²πŸ»πŸ’žπŸ’ž

I see! Damn. Ren'py sounds complicated than I initially thought. Major glad I decided to use RPG Maker MZ instead. Volume control is easier there πŸ˜‚πŸ‘‰πŸ»πŸ‘ˆπŸ»  And guess I can't use the shader when it's limited to Ren'py then. Oh well~ Still hella cool. I legit jumped in awe when it happened πŸ˜ŒπŸ‘ŒπŸ»βœ¨πŸ’ž

You're welcome! Tbh, I'm still a bit drained from yesterday's life shenanigans ( since what happened could throw a wrench in my future, lol ), so I'm not sure if I'll have the energy to give feedback, but I'll see what I can do! Even if it's short or something πŸ₯°πŸ’ž But I have no doubts I'll enjoy it, that's for sure! πŸ˜πŸ€²πŸ»βœ¨πŸ’ž