straightforwardly (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
straightforwardly) wrote2017-01-09 02:14 pm
straightforwardly) wrote2017-01-09 02:14 pm
113 | Mystic Messenger update: Zen's Route, days 10-11 & the After Story
So, yesterday I finished up Zen’s route in Mystic Messenger! Well, not finished, exactly— I think for it to be finished I’d need to get all of the endings— but I got the good ending, and read the after story, so.
So… I feel very mixed about how that route ended? I think I’ll talk about the good stuff/general reactions first, and then move on the stuff that I was dissatisfied with.
Zen’s meowing was so cute, omg. I chose the “meow for me” option in that phone call, and. Just. I laughed so much. That was adorable and great and quite possibly the best phone call, just for that moment. ♥
I mentioned this a bit on my last entry, but I really am super touched by how all of the characters worry about each other. Earlier, it was over Zen, and then, after the truth about the security system came out (which, on that note: WHAT THE HELL), over the main character. It’s really sweet, and I hope that it continues in all of the other routes.
For me… although I do want to know what’s going on with V, etc., it’s not really the plot that interests me so much in this game, but the characters, and their relationships with one another. Which is actually how I can manage to forgive all the stuff that annoyed me— but I’m getting ahead of myself.
It was strangely upsetting to see Zen’s faith in the RFA as an organization broken after all of the security system stuff— much more so than Jumin or the others reacting to it. I think it’s because it was right after he had his realization that the members basically were his family, combined with the fact that he had so much blind faith in V.
Also, Jaehee checking up on the main character on that one phone call/all of the chats = ♥ I was always planning on doing her route second, according to my usual method of how I chose route order in VNs, but that definitely gave me an extra burst of enthusiasm for it. I’m already so invested in her friendship with the main character
ALSO, I had a belated realization: Zen made tea!!!! So my “omg, I want to make him tea” instincts would have been okay! ♥ ♥ ♥ Though I was clearly wrong about him probably not drinking it, haha. It’s okay, I’m happy to be wrong about that.
The conversation between V and the main character was really intriguing. Though… it also got weirdly meta? I was surprised when I saw “Do you really think I can all clear this game?” as one of the conversation options, and was actually really unsure about whether or not I should choose it— I was worried that V’s reaction would be an embarrassing “game? What are you talking about?” type of thing.
But my curiosity won out, and V… didn’t really react to the strangeness of the question? His answer was, “There’s nothing you can’t do.” Which. Curious.
Now for the things that annoyed me about the ending. Which, there are about three things in total that bothered me.
In no particular order.
First… I really didn’t like that we got CGs with the main character in them? Or, to be precise, I don’t like that we got CGs that countered the profile picture I went with. I mean, I generally hate fill-in-the-blank main characters in visual novels, because… well, because that’s just not what I’m looking for when I play visual novels. At the very least, I want a default name and appearance, and some guidelines to their personality.
But this game didn’t have any of that (except for maybe some vague guidelines), and I accepted that (though I was and am internally going, ‘crap, what about the potential fanfic?’).
I feel like if we get the option to choose what the MC looks like in the beginning of the game, it shouldn’t be then ignored later on. Either have only one possible profile picture for the MC (and use that appearance in the CGs), or have multiple versions of those CGs (which would be a lot of extra work, I admit, but would have been really cool.)
Idk. I think I’m so annoyed about this because I went for the profile picture with the short blonde hair because I really liked her sharp, clear-eyed gaze, and I got used to associating the MC with her, so it was really jarring to suddenly see long brown hair. (Especially since… I also have long brown hair in real life? Idk why that element weirded me out even more, but it did.)
I was also...not personally happy with the ending. It hit my embarrassment squick so hard, omg. The press conference wasn’t too bad at first, though I had my problems with it, but when Zen called the main character to come up there with him….ack ack ack ack. It hit my embarrassment squick so hard that I could barely read what he was saying, and I was reminded all over again about the many, many reasons why I don’t like “romance with a celebrity!” type of stories.
But I do really like Zen, so. :(
Finally, I’m… not completely sold on the kidnapping plot. There were just so many unanswered questions. I know that it’s meant to tie in with the overall plot of the game, and that I’ll get more answers as I play through the other routes, and in theory I don’t have a problem with that. I actually love visual novels where you have to put the pieces together over the various routes. It’s just… I don’t think it was very well-done? The overall plot stuff suddenly came out of the blue after being ignored for days, and in the end I didn’t feel like I got some pieces of a puzzle (though I know I did)— I just felt like it was incomplete.
ANYWAYS. Back to the positive stuff! I picked up Zen’s After Story after finishing up (side-note: omg, that extras gallery ♥), and I really, really liked it! I love the snippets we got of Jumin and Zen’s relationship (and Jumin’s petty revenge re: Echo Girl’s real name, ahaha.) And I appreciated the nod to Jumin & the others still looking for where V disappeared to.
I’m not really sure how to feel about the main character becoming Zen’s manager, but… I had to laugh forever at her cringing alongside me at Zen’s cheesy lines. And how Zen didn’t get why she was so embarrassed by it, haha. Zen, you’re such a dork. ♥
I was initially going to do all of Zen’s bad endings before moving on to Jaehee’s route, but... Well. I’ve started working on Bad Ending Three, because a bit of poking around tells me that that’s the one that has the CG, and omg, I don’t know if I can actually do the other ones? At least not at this point in time. It’s just so painful to choose all of those awful replies to everyone.
I continued on with it because I spent 5 hourglasses on it, but I think I’m actually going to go on to Jaehee’s route instead of doing the rest of the bad endings. I know that’s a stupid decision in regards to time management because of the limited save slots, but. I’m just not finding this rewarding right now. It doesn’t help that I really want to see what the other routes are like.
So… I feel very mixed about how that route ended? I think I’ll talk about the good stuff/general reactions first, and then move on the stuff that I was dissatisfied with.
Zen’s meowing was so cute, omg. I chose the “meow for me” option in that phone call, and. Just. I laughed so much. That was adorable and great and quite possibly the best phone call, just for that moment. ♥
I mentioned this a bit on my last entry, but I really am super touched by how all of the characters worry about each other. Earlier, it was over Zen, and then, after the truth about the security system came out (which, on that note: WHAT THE HELL), over the main character. It’s really sweet, and I hope that it continues in all of the other routes.
For me… although I do want to know what’s going on with V, etc., it’s not really the plot that interests me so much in this game, but the characters, and their relationships with one another. Which is actually how I can manage to forgive all the stuff that annoyed me— but I’m getting ahead of myself.
It was strangely upsetting to see Zen’s faith in the RFA as an organization broken after all of the security system stuff— much more so than Jumin or the others reacting to it. I think it’s because it was right after he had his realization that the members basically were his family, combined with the fact that he had so much blind faith in V.
Also, Jaehee checking up on the main character on that one phone call/all of the chats = ♥ I was always planning on doing her route second, according to my usual method of how I chose route order in VNs, but that definitely gave me an extra burst of enthusiasm for it. I’m already so invested in her friendship with the main character
ALSO, I had a belated realization: Zen made tea!!!! So my “omg, I want to make him tea” instincts would have been okay! ♥ ♥ ♥ Though I was clearly wrong about him probably not drinking it, haha. It’s okay, I’m happy to be wrong about that.
The conversation between V and the main character was really intriguing. Though… it also got weirdly meta? I was surprised when I saw “Do you really think I can all clear this game?” as one of the conversation options, and was actually really unsure about whether or not I should choose it— I was worried that V’s reaction would be an embarrassing “game? What are you talking about?” type of thing.
But my curiosity won out, and V… didn’t really react to the strangeness of the question? His answer was, “There’s nothing you can’t do.” Which. Curious.
Now for the things that annoyed me about the ending. Which, there are about three things in total that bothered me.
In no particular order.
First… I really didn’t like that we got CGs with the main character in them? Or, to be precise, I don’t like that we got CGs that countered the profile picture I went with. I mean, I generally hate fill-in-the-blank main characters in visual novels, because… well, because that’s just not what I’m looking for when I play visual novels. At the very least, I want a default name and appearance, and some guidelines to their personality.
But this game didn’t have any of that (except for maybe some vague guidelines), and I accepted that (though I was and am internally going, ‘crap, what about the potential fanfic?’).
I feel like if we get the option to choose what the MC looks like in the beginning of the game, it shouldn’t be then ignored later on. Either have only one possible profile picture for the MC (and use that appearance in the CGs), or have multiple versions of those CGs (which would be a lot of extra work, I admit, but would have been really cool.)
Idk. I think I’m so annoyed about this because I went for the profile picture with the short blonde hair because I really liked her sharp, clear-eyed gaze, and I got used to associating the MC with her, so it was really jarring to suddenly see long brown hair. (Especially since… I also have long brown hair in real life? Idk why that element weirded me out even more, but it did.)
I was also...not personally happy with the ending. It hit my embarrassment squick so hard, omg. The press conference wasn’t too bad at first, though I had my problems with it, but when Zen called the main character to come up there with him….ack ack ack ack. It hit my embarrassment squick so hard that I could barely read what he was saying, and I was reminded all over again about the many, many reasons why I don’t like “romance with a celebrity!” type of stories.
But I do really like Zen, so. :(
Finally, I’m… not completely sold on the kidnapping plot. There were just so many unanswered questions. I know that it’s meant to tie in with the overall plot of the game, and that I’ll get more answers as I play through the other routes, and in theory I don’t have a problem with that. I actually love visual novels where you have to put the pieces together over the various routes. It’s just… I don’t think it was very well-done? The overall plot stuff suddenly came out of the blue after being ignored for days, and in the end I didn’t feel like I got some pieces of a puzzle (though I know I did)— I just felt like it was incomplete.
ANYWAYS. Back to the positive stuff! I picked up Zen’s After Story after finishing up (side-note: omg, that extras gallery ♥), and I really, really liked it! I love the snippets we got of Jumin and Zen’s relationship (and Jumin’s petty revenge re: Echo Girl’s real name, ahaha.) And I appreciated the nod to Jumin & the others still looking for where V disappeared to.
I’m not really sure how to feel about the main character becoming Zen’s manager, but… I had to laugh forever at her cringing alongside me at Zen’s cheesy lines. And how Zen didn’t get why she was so embarrassed by it, haha. Zen, you’re such a dork. ♥
I was initially going to do all of Zen’s bad endings before moving on to Jaehee’s route, but... Well. I’ve started working on Bad Ending Three, because a bit of poking around tells me that that’s the one that has the CG, and omg, I don’t know if I can actually do the other ones? At least not at this point in time. It’s just so painful to choose all of those awful replies to everyone.
I continued on with it because I spent 5 hourglasses on it, but I think I’m actually going to go on to Jaehee’s route instead of doing the rest of the bad endings. I know that’s a stupid decision in regards to time management because of the limited save slots, but. I’m just not finding this rewarding right now. It doesn’t help that I really want to see what the other routes are like.