I love the writing in this game, its my favorite thing in it. But it's inevitable, especially with so many different writers working on it, that some characters miss the mark with certain people. Usually I just ignore those characters and go on about my day or there are other aspects that balance and flesh them out. Kiyoko and the Kitsune for instance, has a player agency problem. There's so much (very engaging and well written by the way) dialogue that simply has your character smile and nod through. There's scant few, in any opportunity to resist or criticize their goofy foreign culture and act like the proper barbarian they believe you to be. I am not a Kitsune, so why is it, whenever anyone in the den tells me "Oh sorry bud you just have to take it on the chin because that's how things work in the old country." I just tilt my head and saunter off with little more than a defeated "Shou ga nai....." The only example I can think of is being able to punch Takahiro in his stupid face. And that scene wasn't even the same writer. And it portrayed Nakano as strangely out of character. By and large though, I do love their content overall. I like playing the part of the outsider interacting with a group of people from a completely foreign culture. I like the fact that even your wife will, at the end of the day, see you as "one of the good ones" at best, and that you will never truly be able to understand and be accepted fully by them unless you literally sell their deity your soul. I like the tragic cats in the cradle situation you have with your estranged daughter. The positives make up for the negatives.
My main issue, however, is with Agnimitra. From the moment I was introduced to the character and started chatting her up I could tell I didn't like this one very much, and until I sat down and really thought about it I couldn't put my finger on why. But I think I've figured it out. In short, she's perfect. she's pretentious. and by extension, she's boring.
Agnimitra is a pheonix, she's lived for a very long time. She will outlive you and possibly everyone else on the planet. What a tragic and double edged sword fate has dealt you, Agni. Surely this will enable you to write about the flawed and in some ways, terrifying existance of a woman doomed to watch countless generations people continuously make the same mistakes over and over again. To see the cycle firsthand and the inevitability of mans struggle. To wake up in a world filled with strangers, where everyone you knew and loved is long gone. Surely this would take it's toll on someone mentally, it's a wonder she hasn't lost her mind, really..... Oh, what's that you say? Agnimitra doesn't show any signs of grief or mental anguish at all, you say? She's a playful, confident woman? The first thing she does upon being reincarnated is to jump onto strange dick like a thirsty man into an oasis? Okay, but surely this is a front, right? Some kind of coping mechanism. Agnimitra, tell me about your families. Your past loves and losses. Your children that have been lost to time like sand in an hourglass. Oh...... You experience no negative emotion at the thought whatsoever? Even as the literal walking incarnation of gods punishment at the end of The Green Mile? You can recall every single one of them with perfect clarity and smile as you reminice with no hint of bitterness whatsoever? Oh. How old did you say you were? Older than the advent of currency, you say? And you think the barter system was more convenient, even though the entire purpose of currency was convenience? O-okay. Well.
This is the most frustrating character in the game. I will contrast her with another character to demonstrate why flaws are important to balance out characters, and moreso very powerful ones. Nina, like Agni, she was born with a very powerful ability. She's a psychic master, like professor X without the wheelchair. Even with maxed out willpower it's made clear through the dialogue she could crush you psionically with a thought. Well, Nina? What's it like to be so awesome and cool and be able to basically do anything you want with your mind just by virtue of being born better than everyone else?
"Well, Doctor.... It fucking sucks mega shit, and I have to keep myself perpetually drunk just to numb the pain of being what I am. I'm super fatalistic and resigned to fate at this point."
Oh shit, how very genuinely interesting unlike some people I also know of.
This was all fine up until a few days ago, because I always had the option of just leaving her in her cave or throwing the feather into the ocean. The tipping point was finding out that Agni is actually the ancestor of my very own harpy child. And that knowledge is burned into my brain now. I can never forget that Zhara and my little Turkey are infested with Agni's Mary Sue genes, and that sucks. That really sucks.
Edit: Changed "Rumie" to "Nina"
My main issue, however, is with Agnimitra. From the moment I was introduced to the character and started chatting her up I could tell I didn't like this one very much, and until I sat down and really thought about it I couldn't put my finger on why. But I think I've figured it out. In short, she's perfect. she's pretentious. and by extension, she's boring.
Agnimitra is a pheonix, she's lived for a very long time. She will outlive you and possibly everyone else on the planet. What a tragic and double edged sword fate has dealt you, Agni. Surely this will enable you to write about the flawed and in some ways, terrifying existance of a woman doomed to watch countless generations people continuously make the same mistakes over and over again. To see the cycle firsthand and the inevitability of mans struggle. To wake up in a world filled with strangers, where everyone you knew and loved is long gone. Surely this would take it's toll on someone mentally, it's a wonder she hasn't lost her mind, really..... Oh, what's that you say? Agnimitra doesn't show any signs of grief or mental anguish at all, you say? She's a playful, confident woman? The first thing she does upon being reincarnated is to jump onto strange dick like a thirsty man into an oasis? Okay, but surely this is a front, right? Some kind of coping mechanism. Agnimitra, tell me about your families. Your past loves and losses. Your children that have been lost to time like sand in an hourglass. Oh...... You experience no negative emotion at the thought whatsoever? Even as the literal walking incarnation of gods punishment at the end of The Green Mile? You can recall every single one of them with perfect clarity and smile as you reminice with no hint of bitterness whatsoever? Oh. How old did you say you were? Older than the advent of currency, you say? And you think the barter system was more convenient, even though the entire purpose of currency was convenience? O-okay. Well.
This is the most frustrating character in the game. I will contrast her with another character to demonstrate why flaws are important to balance out characters, and moreso very powerful ones. Nina, like Agni, she was born with a very powerful ability. She's a psychic master, like professor X without the wheelchair. Even with maxed out willpower it's made clear through the dialogue she could crush you psionically with a thought. Well, Nina? What's it like to be so awesome and cool and be able to basically do anything you want with your mind just by virtue of being born better than everyone else?
"Well, Doctor.... It fucking sucks mega shit, and I have to keep myself perpetually drunk just to numb the pain of being what I am. I'm super fatalistic and resigned to fate at this point."
Oh shit, how very genuinely interesting unlike some people I also know of.
This was all fine up until a few days ago, because I always had the option of just leaving her in her cave or throwing the feather into the ocean. The tipping point was finding out that Agni is actually the ancestor of my very own harpy child. And that knowledge is burned into my brain now. I can never forget that Zhara and my little Turkey are infested with Agni's Mary Sue genes, and that sucks. That really sucks.
Edit: Changed "Rumie" to "Nina"
Last edited:
