What can I say Carrot... WHAT CAN I SAY
THE EMOTIONS. THE WHIRLWIND OF EMOTIONS I WAS CAUGHT IN (admittedly, it was more bearable the previous part but STILL) BUT GOODNESS WHAT A CONCLUSION.
Okay. Okay. Okay. It's alright, I'll gather my thoughts.
First of all, WHAT?? SO MUCH ART??? AND I ONLY DID GENZOU'S ROUTE???? EVERYTHING IS SO PRETTY????? Like, really, the composition of the CGs was AMAZING, I loved the animations too, the succession of them to narrate very dramatic scenes (because this climax is still very dramatic looool). YOUR USE OF MUSIC, IT'S ALWAYS SO CLEVER, IT ALWAYS SETS SUCH A MOOD I AM IMPRESSED EACH AND EVERY TIME HOLY GOLLY MOLLY IGGY (yes, I need to create new interjections now)
The writing was, per usual, great and, per usual, made me discover French expressions used in English loool ("en masse" here dvdcvb). Your phrasing is both poetic, metaphorical even, and yes so visceral when it needs to. It perfectly supported the different moments of horror, fright, action and peace. Because I did say it: this finale is a WHIRLWIND OF EMOTIONS, it felt warm, then cold, blurry then clear, pure then soiled... it was an amazing finale, the perfect conclusion to a perfect game. An amazing culmination of everything that has been set up, and looking back on some things noticed during act 1 finally make sense and be explored.
I alas can't say much without spoilers. Just know, reader, that this game is amazing, be it the art, the writing, the music, the emotions, the heart, the themes... Oh, these themes!!! Play it, you won't regret it.
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CARROT. CARROT. CARROT. OH MY GOD, THE THEMES OF THIS LAST PART RESONATED SO MUCH WITH ME YOU HAVE NO IDEA AT SOME POINTS SOME SCENES EVEN FELT CLOSE TO SCENES AND THEMES FOR FUTURE GAMES (Happy :) in particular I was screaming AND I CAN'T EXPLAIN BECAUSE OF SELF SPOILERS BUT DAMN THIS HIT SO CLOSE TO HOME YOU BROKE MY SOUL AGAIN) DFVFDDFDFGFDFG AND YOU EXECUTED IT SO WELL I AM IMPRESSED.
First, finally, we got to see Buck's struggle and how her dehumanisation has indeed turned her. This also was a GREAT WAY to highlight Hunar as a character, the comfort he's brought her and how losing this last connection, the last thing that made her human made her snap and do the unutterable i.e. putting her own child in at best a questionable state to go back to a place where she could have peace, at worst, in an ironically wooden coffin. This theme of the monster residing in the perception of others, rather than being something inherent to a person, really touched me a lot, and it was the perfect conclusion for Bucks. Seeing her being called a monster, disgusting for helping a bug... was sad, and I adored how these little things are what, in the end, ended up breaking her.
Another theme that touched me a lot is the theme of innocence, the way it gets corrupted and, when we lose this childhood innocence, what the best we can do is. Growing up is hard. Growing up is difficult. Growing up is becoming a more complex person, because the world around you gets more complex. You start questioning yourself. You are subjected to norms. The questions multiply like rabbits. And only the ignorant can remain innocent, because the world has its darker colours, and so do we. So, when childhood seems far away, and the world around us gets more obscure, when people start harming each other deeply... what can we do?
Being nice. Being kind to others. Trying to understand them. Apologising for our wrondoings. Always making sure we act with kindness and respect. These are the things we can do. And your potrayal of this message was absolutely gorgeous. This is something that rings very personally with me, as these are things I firmly believe in.
I ADORED Saydie, and that is an UNDERSTATEMENT. She is an incarnation of innocence and yet, Iggy cannot connect with her. Of course he cannot: he is grown. He's been selfish and mean, he's hurt the others around him. And yet, he follows her, considers the perspective she presents and realises: when you look for others, and don't let them on the side... you make them happy.
I loved how this was the culmination of Iggy's arc: being good to others, bringing them happiness. His wish isn't for his friends to be this happy: "I want to make my friends this happy", I appreciated he took the matter into his own hands, because I agree: happiness is something you build by supporting others (you can tell it was already a theme in The Life I Lost with the "if you want to enjoy roses in life, you have to go get them" loool so I'm not lying when I say you really NAILED themes that REALLY resonate with me).
And I loved that these characters, after everything, could go back in time, get a new chance at trying things again and doing them better. Sure, we cannot do that in real life, and we have to grow from our mistakes. But in real life, we don't necessarily get through what these characters go through either loool. And more than that, it really reinforced the message of the game by contrasting the original timeline and the new one. And seeing these characters happier, realising their dreams and being still imperfect, of course, because who isn't, but so much healthier.
That being said, I wasn't expecting the tree to be a yandere looool, but I truly adored it. The reveal of Saydie's corpse was striking, and its interventions were amazing, displaying new layers of these characters. This tree is the guilt we feel while exploring the world and discovering that, no, we're not the children we were, and that we have more twisted wishes and experiences. Well, some of them are normal, some are a result of our own suffering and some... are indeed a result of the world getting to us. Well... that's okay. Without getting into too many untasteful details you can guess from The Day Being Ace Made Him Stronger, as this comment section isn't the place to share them lol, but accepting exploring a soiled world will also soil you, and that some soil is okay as long as you act with kindness was an excellent message. This cult, this fascination for childhood is pointless: people don't grow into children. And we have to accept to grow into healthy adults instead.
The romance was also GREAT! I played Genzou's and am watching Joy play the two others right now loool but from what I can tell from Genzou's route and Joy's stream, you wrote these scenes wonderfully, really. It felt consistent with what you set up in the game and well-earned. I loved how the LI is the one to defend us against Bucks, it showed they cared.
In conclusion, it was an amazing game, Carrot, and I hope you are proud of you. I've been following the development of it for years now, and, if it was great from the start, you've truly grown as a creator and a person too, and this final part shows it. This whole game shows it. It is an inspiring story about kindness, empathy and how to navigate a world not meant for those who are innocent. This also is a game about LGBT-issues, one of the most amazing ace representations I've ever seen in a piece of media, not to say THE MOST amazing... Thank you, Carrot, really. This game will stick to me all my life, and will be a stone of all I create, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. Time for a confession: you and your game are the reason I've started working on Waterlily on the Froth lol. When I played the previous part, I felt so strongly about it that I wanted to create something that would make me feel feelings as strong... so ta-dah...
I'll just conclude it all with a thank you. Thank you for creating this. Thank you for your kindness. Thank you sharing your thoughts and your vision of the world through this game. Thank you for all the art you put inside it. Thank you for such an emotional conclusion. I am looking forward to the rest of your creative journey. Please never stop inspiring others by sharing the stories and themes blazing in your soul. Because I'll endlessly thank you.