Sob my body is ready, I say to myself as I start up the game. Even though I know it's truly not.
OHHHHHHHH I love the very dramatic intro, with Hippolytus talking to Theramenes before the title screen shows up very cinematic-like alkdjfasd And the music from the first game!! You do such an amazing job of making these three games feel so cohesive, from the style, to the colors, to the music. It really feels like a VN triptych.
Have I mentioned I love your use of the classical music? Makes it feel even more like a classic theatric play ldkjfas
THIS LINE???
HELLO????
Poetry.
LDKFJALSDKJFALSDFA PHAEDRA CATCHING HERSELF. It's funny yet tragic at the same time... 😭
WHY DOES SHE LOOK SO INTENSE AS SHE STEPS TOWARDS HIM.
I love the way her sprite turns pink as she becomes lost in her emotions. It makes tangible how those feelings change and control her.
Sob Hippolytus blaming himself... this is so painful... 😭 Apologizing for his own words???? GoddddDDDDDD
THE SHATTER EFFECT GUHHHHHH
Another gorgeous line lakdsjfasd
GODDDD. Not only Phaedra shattering him to the core with her confession and making him feel ashamed and awful, but then telling him to kill her... HAVE YOU NOT TRAUMATIZED HIM ENOUGH 😭
God the voice acting is so intense and gripping here lkajdfalks
Sob it is finished...
I knew this would be even harder than the previous two and my expectations were not dashed lol. While the previous two were equally as artistic and tragic in the way we got to see both of their follow-up reactions to what happened, seeing the actual moment. Witnessing the way that Phaedra became so intense and twisted in her final moments, particularly when she was begging Hippolytus to kill her. And then seeing Hippolytus's torment in real time and the way he was already blaming himself and the horror at having all of this happen to him. It was the most painful of all 😭
I mentioned this already at the beginning but the way you not only brought back the style from the previous entries but also expanded upon it in this one was incredible. I loved how we're still introduced to them as their purple and gold counterparts, but see Phaedra's color change in different ways as she loses control, becoming pink, becoming gray, and becoming red as she fully succumbed to the twisted state of her mind and was no longer in control at all. Also getting to see a few others join this time around was a nice addition, with the appearance of Theramenes and Oenone. Then the sheer fact that this entry is longer with even more dramatic moments and CGs. It really helps culminate the first two as this fantastic build-up leading to this final climax. Which is all the more interesting given that it actually happens before the other two. The climax was at the start, but you've framed it in such a way that it now comes at the end, which honestly I feel is just brilliant and such a fantastic way to approach the original story and make it come alive.
The writing was absolutely brilliant as always. I only highlighted those two lines above but I could have screenshotted so many more!!! It really felt like reading the lines of a theatrical epic. And the emotion the voice actors read each line with only made them pop even more. Wonderfully poetic and tragic and absolutely dripping with symbolism in basically every line.
I really loved how you handled the CGs this time around, from the beautiful shot of Phaedra on the ground and the sun shining down, harking back to the first game and reminding us of her own pain and her own tragedy as one of the daughters of the sun. And then the CG of Hippolytus with the swirl, which was such a great way to visualize the intense chaos taking place in his mind. And the way you had Phaedra's hands reach up. Red in her delusions. And even warping as her psyche became more and more warped. GUHHHH. It was so well done LKAJDLFAKSJDF
Literally just every inch of this was so fantastically done. The emotions on the sprites, the gorgeous composition and framing of each shot. This was a magnificent finale to your trifecta of Phaedra games. I feel like this belongs in a library or something next to all the other classics LKAJDFASD
I'M RAMBLING NOW BUT JUST. Yes. Brilliant. You never cease to amaze and impress me with the unique and artistic ways you handle each and every one of your games!!! 💕