straightforwardly (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
straightforwardly) wrote2019-01-05 06:57 pm
straightforwardly) wrote2019-01-05 06:57 pm
201 | more OZMAFIA!! - Scarlet's Route
I finished Scarlet’s route in OZMAFIA!!.
I really liked this one! Scarlet/Fuka were pretty cute and, unlike with the other pairings, I did feel like I got why they fell for one another in my first playthrough. Which was great, because it turned out that Scarlet’s extra scenes almost unanimously had very little to do with Fuka— they were pretty all about his relationships with other people. Not complaining, mind you— like I said, I’d already been sold on Fuka/Scarlet, so it was fun to see more of the characters / relationships in this game be fleshed out a little more.
It also had another interesting side-effect in that, while I’m not too invested in Scarlet as a character, I do love all the relationships around him and his involvement in those relationships. I ship him with so many different characters, and am interested in his interacting with even more.
I did initially feel weirdly guilty about approaching someone outside of Famiglia Oz (I hate it when people feel betrayed), and there was a moment later on in the route where I thought everything was going to go horribly in that regard, but thankfully all of the endings / scenarios managed to avoid hitting that particular DNW. ♥ In fact, I actually really liked how things were handled after Fuka joined Famiglia Oz. I like how the other members of Oz worried about her in their own way, even if some of them (Caramia and Kyrie) acknowledged that this separation was something that had to be; I also really enjoyed how unexpectedly sympathetic Axel was about Fuka and Scarlet’s relationship.
(Though I found it a little ironic that Fuka finally internalized everything that Scarlet had to say to her about intermingling between the famiglia— just when Scarlet began to feel more comfortable reaching out across famiglia lines.)
And I really loved that almost confession. ♥ It was so much better than any of the actual ones in the game so far. That’s partially because "I love you”s almost always fall a little flat for me, but it’s also because their relationship at that point in time is exactly the kind of complicated romance I like best.
To jump back a little earlier in the game— I also liked how the Meteor Shower Gathering was handled in this route. Between Fuka’s weird theories about stars and the revelation that Scarlet uses the scope of his rifle as a bad telescope, it’s probably my favorite one so far.
Scarlet and Hamelin’s relationship ended up being my everything. Everything. Seriously— it was so good. I loved all the loyalty and complicated feelings wrapped up between them, and I loved just how— focused on Hamelin Scarlet is. He’s so confused, and he doesn’t know why Hamelin changed, but he hasn’t stopped caring either. The extra scenes in the second half of the game were almost 100% about his flashbacks back to Hamelin— he spends almost as much time thinking about Hamelin as he does interacting with Fuka, and he even obliquely compares Fuka to him at one point!
And I loved, loved, loved Hamelin offering Scarlet a way out— like he knows he’s about to self-destruct and wants to offer Scarlet the chance not to go down with him— and how, if Scarlet doesn’t take that escape on his own, he ends up forcing it on him. And his wanting Scarlet to kill him! I thought it was so delicious when I got the “good” ending— and then I got the version of events in what I think was meant to be the “bad” (or at least “worse”/”bittersweet”) ending, and it was even better. *_*
And that’s not even touching on that beautiful bit of backstory where Scarlet’s forced to shoot Hamelin in the head in order to ensure peace.
And then there were all these hints that Hansel and Gretel were at least as dedicated to Hamelin as Scarlet was— the moment where Scarlet says that all their violence is partially because of their intense desire to win back territory for Hamelin’s sake! — and Hansel & Gretel worrying about Scarlet / essentially quizzing Fuka on her intentions / wanting to murder the Wolf Gang for hurting him, Scarlet worrying about them even in the good ending where they’re no longer part of the same famiglia anymore — yeah. I have a metric ton of Famiglia Grimm feelings.
I also can’t help but think about this in terms of the other endings where Hamelin comes back. Mostly, I wonder if Hamelin would have offered the same out if Hansel and Gretel had found something outside of their famiglia. I’m leaning towards yes.
...Also, on a less serious note, Hamelin haunting the Grimm estate for weeks, maybe months, and then AND THEN WALKING UP TO SCARLET LIKE HE JUST ARRIVED was amazing. I officially adore Hamelin now. ♥
This route was also very good for me in terms of trying to put together the overarching plot/backstory of this place! First: like the members of Famiglia Oz, Scarlet also seems to have a foggy memory! I’d been assuming that it had something to do with their journey with Dorothy, but apparently not, if Scarlet’s affected too.
In particular, there was this intriguing bit where Scarlet runs into Caesar in the forest, and after he runs away, he thinks about how he always freezes up when he sees Caesar, but he doesn’t know why. And he also has a flashback with Hamelin where he talks about having a bone-deep revulsion for wolves, but doesn’t know why. Which makes me think— he’s clearly supposed to be Little Red Riding Hood, but he doesn’t actually remember his past, does he?
(Also, in that first scene, Caesar said “Hey, wait” in a very cute way. That unexpected cuteness reminded me of Hamelin’s unexpected cuteness with Scarlet— Scarlet brings this out in people, apparently! On that note, I am really looking forward to when I play the Caesar route. /I say, having already decided to play that one last.)
(I do wonder— if everyone in town has memory problems, is the Wolf Gang also affected? I feel like Caesar recognized Scarlet. And is there any connection between that and why he’s determined to hunt Fuka down?)
BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY. I. I think that all of the main cast might be immortals???
Let me break this down. The key bits of information that made me think this are as follows:
1. Fuka says at one point that she was under the impression that the mafia famiglia have been around for a very long time, but Scarlet (in the same scene) tells her that he was there when they were formed. But! Scarlet also said at a different point earlier on that, and I quote, “Conflict is an everyday occurrence. We’ve been fighting forever.”
2. It’s flat-out stated, multiple times, that Hamelin is immortal. Kyrie says it to Scarlet after Hamelin forces Scarlet to shoot him, and there’s also another moment where Scarlet thinks that to himself during a flashback. He also says that that is the case because Hamelin is a member of the ruling class, which is a very interesting phrase! Furthermore, at another point, Scarlet also refers to himself being unable to die:
He also, when joining Famiglia Oz in one of the endings, casually mentions having some unnatural healing abilities:
No one else even blinks upon hearing this.
So, yeah. Immortals, maybe. I do also think that this might somehow be linked to their being characters from stories— Hamelin also dropped these intriguing tidbits of information in the ending where Scarlet joins Famiglia OZ:
I can’t help but feel like that might be important.
So that was Scarlet’s route. I’ll be doing the brothel route next, I think. Partially because of the route order recommendations I mentioned in my last post about this game, and partially because I really am curious what a brothel route might look like in an otome game.
I really liked this one! Scarlet/Fuka were pretty cute and, unlike with the other pairings, I did feel like I got why they fell for one another in my first playthrough. Which was great, because it turned out that Scarlet’s extra scenes almost unanimously had very little to do with Fuka— they were pretty all about his relationships with other people. Not complaining, mind you— like I said, I’d already been sold on Fuka/Scarlet, so it was fun to see more of the characters / relationships in this game be fleshed out a little more.
It also had another interesting side-effect in that, while I’m not too invested in Scarlet as a character, I do love all the relationships around him and his involvement in those relationships. I ship him with so many different characters, and am interested in his interacting with even more.
I did initially feel weirdly guilty about approaching someone outside of Famiglia Oz (I hate it when people feel betrayed), and there was a moment later on in the route where I thought everything was going to go horribly in that regard, but thankfully all of the endings / scenarios managed to avoid hitting that particular DNW. ♥ In fact, I actually really liked how things were handled after Fuka joined Famiglia Oz. I like how the other members of Oz worried about her in their own way, even if some of them (Caramia and Kyrie) acknowledged that this separation was something that had to be; I also really enjoyed how unexpectedly sympathetic Axel was about Fuka and Scarlet’s relationship.
(Though I found it a little ironic that Fuka finally internalized everything that Scarlet had to say to her about intermingling between the famiglia— just when Scarlet began to feel more comfortable reaching out across famiglia lines.)
And I really loved that almost confession. ♥ It was so much better than any of the actual ones in the game so far. That’s partially because "I love you”s almost always fall a little flat for me, but it’s also because their relationship at that point in time is exactly the kind of complicated romance I like best.
To jump back a little earlier in the game— I also liked how the Meteor Shower Gathering was handled in this route. Between Fuka’s weird theories about stars and the revelation that Scarlet uses the scope of his rifle as a bad telescope, it’s probably my favorite one so far.
Scarlet and Hamelin’s relationship ended up being my everything. Everything. Seriously— it was so good. I loved all the loyalty and complicated feelings wrapped up between them, and I loved just how— focused on Hamelin Scarlet is. He’s so confused, and he doesn’t know why Hamelin changed, but he hasn’t stopped caring either. The extra scenes in the second half of the game were almost 100% about his flashbacks back to Hamelin— he spends almost as much time thinking about Hamelin as he does interacting with Fuka, and he even obliquely compares Fuka to him at one point!
And I loved, loved, loved Hamelin offering Scarlet a way out— like he knows he’s about to self-destruct and wants to offer Scarlet the chance not to go down with him— and how, if Scarlet doesn’t take that escape on his own, he ends up forcing it on him. And his wanting Scarlet to kill him! I thought it was so delicious when I got the “good” ending— and then I got the version of events in what I think was meant to be the “bad” (or at least “worse”/”bittersweet”) ending, and it was even better. *_*
And that’s not even touching on that beautiful bit of backstory where Scarlet’s forced to shoot Hamelin in the head in order to ensure peace.
And then there were all these hints that Hansel and Gretel were at least as dedicated to Hamelin as Scarlet was— the moment where Scarlet says that all their violence is partially because of their intense desire to win back territory for Hamelin’s sake! — and Hansel & Gretel worrying about Scarlet / essentially quizzing Fuka on her intentions / wanting to murder the Wolf Gang for hurting him, Scarlet worrying about them even in the good ending where they’re no longer part of the same famiglia anymore — yeah. I have a metric ton of Famiglia Grimm feelings.
I also can’t help but think about this in terms of the other endings where Hamelin comes back. Mostly, I wonder if Hamelin would have offered the same out if Hansel and Gretel had found something outside of their famiglia. I’m leaning towards yes.
...Also, on a less serious note, Hamelin haunting the Grimm estate for weeks, maybe months, and then AND THEN WALKING UP TO SCARLET LIKE HE JUST ARRIVED was amazing. I officially adore Hamelin now. ♥
This route was also very good for me in terms of trying to put together the overarching plot/backstory of this place! First: like the members of Famiglia Oz, Scarlet also seems to have a foggy memory! I’d been assuming that it had something to do with their journey with Dorothy, but apparently not, if Scarlet’s affected too.
In particular, there was this intriguing bit where Scarlet runs into Caesar in the forest, and after he runs away, he thinks about how he always freezes up when he sees Caesar, but he doesn’t know why. And he also has a flashback with Hamelin where he talks about having a bone-deep revulsion for wolves, but doesn’t know why. Which makes me think— he’s clearly supposed to be Little Red Riding Hood, but he doesn’t actually remember his past, does he?
(Also, in that first scene, Caesar said “Hey, wait” in a very cute way. That unexpected cuteness reminded me of Hamelin’s unexpected cuteness with Scarlet— Scarlet brings this out in people, apparently! On that note, I am really looking forward to when I play the Caesar route. /I say, having already decided to play that one last.)
(I do wonder— if everyone in town has memory problems, is the Wolf Gang also affected? I feel like Caesar recognized Scarlet. And is there any connection between that and why he’s determined to hunt Fuka down?)
BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY. I. I think that all of the main cast might be immortals???
Let me break this down. The key bits of information that made me think this are as follows:
1. Fuka says at one point that she was under the impression that the mafia famiglia have been around for a very long time, but Scarlet (in the same scene) tells her that he was there when they were formed. But! Scarlet also said at a different point earlier on that, and I quote, “Conflict is an everyday occurrence. We’ve been fighting forever.”
2. It’s flat-out stated, multiple times, that Hamelin is immortal. Kyrie says it to Scarlet after Hamelin forces Scarlet to shoot him, and there’s also another moment where Scarlet thinks that to himself during a flashback. He also says that that is the case because Hamelin is a member of the ruling class, which is a very interesting phrase! Furthermore, at another point, Scarlet also refers to himself being unable to die:
He also, when joining Famiglia Oz in one of the endings, casually mentions having some unnatural healing abilities:
No one else even blinks upon hearing this.
So, yeah. Immortals, maybe. I do also think that this might somehow be linked to their being characters from stories— Hamelin also dropped these intriguing tidbits of information in the ending where Scarlet joins Famiglia OZ:
I can’t help but feel like that might be important.
So that was Scarlet’s route. I’ll be doing the brothel route next, I think. Partially because of the route order recommendations I mentioned in my last post about this game, and partially because I really am curious what a brothel route might look like in an otome game.