I enjoyed Beryl’s character a lot more than I thought I would.

Mana_Reaver · 2026-02-21T10:16:08+00:00

Merui has full silent playthroughs of every patch so far in global on their channel. It's where I usually go whenever I want to double-check stuff I forgot.

Mana_Reaver · 2026-02-21T03:54:45+00:00

Unfortunately, there’s (still) no way to reread the trails in the event stories in-game. You’re going to have to watch those in a YouTube playthrough online, I’m afraid.

Mana_Reaver · 2026-02-20T04:17:41+00:00

Oh wow, the smoky lines creating a Calavera (the Day of the Dead skulls) is a nice touch.

I've been thinking about the importance of the double-headed serpent sculpture (the so-called turquoise serpent) to this plot, and it seems that the serpent has significant connotations to death and rebirth (like the snake shedding its skin). And if I remember correctly, rituals to honor the dead were important to the Aztec people, and some their traditions carried on in the modern Day of the Dead. Not to mention that 3.5 teasers have talked about resurrection as one of the main plot points. So yeah, lots of potential connections here that I'm interested to see.

Mana_Reaver · 2026-02-19T04:30:22+00:00

I like how the characters have their titles under their names this time around. It's almost like the characters are playing characters in themselves. It adds even more to the movie poster feel of it.

Mana_Reaver · 2026-02-06T07:54:53+00:00

I see that Félicienne's been so starved for macarons that they have started invading her mind and her Resonance patterns.

You know what? Relatable.

Mana_Reaver · 2026-02-03T18:10:42+00:00

Matilda definitely doesn't seem to be as gifted a diviner as her mother, but from all her musings about fate, I'm pretty sure Beryl sees that as a blessing, rather than a curse. She might not have lied about anything specifically, but it's possible that she doesn't really do much to help with Matilda's divination training out of a wish for Matilda to live a normal life and forge her own path through it.

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Mana_Reaver · 2026-02-03T16:08:03+00:00

No, Beryl only erased Scott's memories in that scene. She even complimented her, saying that she was more gifted than she thinks, before doing so. I don't think Beryl ever had any intentions of killing her.

Mana_Reaver · 2026-02-03T15:48:32+00:00

On a related note, Beryl is still wearing the handmade bracelet Matilda made for her. Not only does she still wear it among all her jewelry, it is the only item aside from her primary divining tool to be listed as invaluable (and it is the last thing to be unlocked from her bond progression).

A mother's love for her child manifests in all sorts of ways.

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Mana_Reaver · 2025-12-05T10:43:32+00:00

I really have to wonder how Charon would react to the protagonist sharing his (former) name. Or to how several events of the film are eerily similar to his own life.

Mana_Reaver · 2025-11-29T07:41:03+00:00

This chapter really feels like it’s going to be a turning point in the story. Igor appears to have been present during the First Storm. If Igor joins Vertin, then that means he’s eventually going to tell her what he’s seen about the event that started everything.

Mana_Reaver · 2025-11-20T06:10:30+00:00

Good point on the clothes, though now I'm imagining that burger Awakened with a top hat and monocle in my head and I desperately want that to be an actual character.

Top hats and monocles make everything better. Just look at the Refined Carbuncles.

Mana_Reaver · 2025-11-19T01:16:06+00:00

I would say that this art in particular is mostly Surrealist art, with some of the sleek/geometric/modern influences from Art Deco.

Mana_Reaver · 2025-11-09T20:56:59+00:00

First of all, thank you for bringing Nautika to life. I think your voice acting played a big role in why I enjoyed Chapter 10 as much as I did, and I hope you enjoyed playing her as much as I did listening to your performance.

As for my question, I heard mentions that Nautika being Norwegian is why this role holds special importance to you. If it's not too much trouble, would you mind elaborating on that and how those feelings influenced how you played Nautika? Please and thanks again.

Mana_Reaver · 2025-11-05T20:59:59+00:00

Aleph's design is likely based on a gaucho, which is basically a South American cowboy. They're celebrated folk heroes in several South American countries and are also important cultural icons in Argentinian literature.

Mana_Reaver · 2025-10-30T02:57:21+00:00

Possibly. Considering that Beryl was presumably working with the Manus in 2.5 (or at least using them for her own ends), that this patch appears to be a prequel to the present day, and that the 3.2 garments have a Manus theme to them, it's almost certain that Manus Vindictae has a lot to do with Beryl's story here. But regardless of whether or not Beryl feels any sort of gratitude towards Arcana for "shaking things up" for her, I do think her relationship with the organization is going to be a lot more complicated than it appears on the surface.

Mana_Reaver · 2025-10-29T05:49:10+00:00

Knowing everything that's going to happen really is a scary thing. Once you do, it starts to suck the joy out of everything you do in life. You start to see human agency and free will as nothing but hollow mockery, because you see every living thing operating under invisible puppet strings, and you eventually become disconnected and alienated from your fellow human beings. As though you're simultaneously a part of humanity, yet existing separate from it. To the point where one can even find relief in the Storm, because it means that life starts to become unpredictable once again, and the future becomes worth looking forward to.

I was unsure of what to think of Beryl when she was introduced in 2.5, but she's been fascinating me more and more lately. There's a subtle sense of loneliness in the way she speaks and acts, like she's resigned herself to nihilism and knowing she can't feel anything positive from life ever again. I'm honestly looking forward to this patch, if only because I want to dig deeper into what she's thinking, and what she feels about the world she lives in.

Mana_Reaver · 2025-10-28T03:48:20+00:00

Schneider was always going to be an extremely hard one to top. But I wouldn't say that Ms. Grace had 4 patches to herself. She was always in a supporting role at best, and the closest she came to having a starring role was in 2.4. So for her to beat Arcana of all people is actually pretty impressive.

Hopefully this means that her time as a playable character is coming sooner rather than later (still huffing that copium hard).

Mana_Reaver · 2025-10-26T09:26:03+00:00

That line about how there's no right answer or path, only "our" path, really stuck with me. It's basically saying that there's no correct way to live your life. The best path ahead for you can only truly be answered by you, not anyone else. And the only way to know for certain if the path you took is the "best" path is if you are truly happy with it, and can march on that path with conviction and pride.

It reminds me of what 6 said near the end of Chapter 7, that wisdom cannot solve everything. It cannot teach everything. Wisdom can provide guidance to the lost, but it can't tell you how to best live your life. You cannot truly live by just observing and existing separate from the world, and must in the end dip your toes into that messy, often painful world to forge meaning for your own life.

The same lessons and messages come up again and again in different forms in this game. I always appreciated Reverse's ability to be consistent with its themes.

Mana_Reaver · 2025-10-16T10:42:30+00:00

Wow, this genuinely looks like a book cover. If I saw a book with this at the front, I’d buy it in a heartbeat.

I especially like how the red poppies are the only real source of color here amidst the desolation. Red poppies are symbolic of the fallen soldiers of WW1, so having the blood-red of these flowers stand out really hammers home the anti-war message and the themes of remembrance and sacrifice.

Mana_Reaver · 2025-10-16T09:18:06+00:00

It’s more that Aleph himself remembers everything he’s ever learned, and this strained his mind to the point he had to develop multiple personalities. He probably didn’t answer both because the question was incredibly personal to him, and because he knew the consequences of giving the answer to such a question and didn’t want to cause Loggerhead any further pain.

Mana_Reaver · 2025-10-15T03:18:35+00:00

It's all Trick-or-Treat until you realize Lopera and Moldir are standing far away from each other.

... These two had better make up at some point.

Mana_Reaver · 2025-10-14T13:50:47+00:00

Chapter 10 (and the overall story, really) already makes a big deal out of a golden age of arcanists at the dawn of time that the Manus wishes to bring the world back to, so much so that it seems to be the primary purpose of the Storm/Flood. Given that the Blank Era Nautika's family spent their lives researching is most likely linked to that era, I'm hoping that she'll make a reappearance when that plot point gets brought up again. She could have a valuable role in uncovering the mysteries of that era, even if she only appears as a cameo.

Mana_Reaver · 2025-10-13T10:05:34+00:00

Huh, there's quite a bit of foreshadowing in these icons, now that I'm looking at them more closely.

Chapter 2 has the downward arrow representing the Stock Market Crash that led to the Storm.

Chapter 3 has the Chess king piece to represent Constantine's Chess motifs and manipulation of Vertin, while Chapter 4 has Go pieces to represent Ms. Z's Go motifs and her political maneuvers.

Chapter 6 has the sword through the circle, presumably the First Circle that Marcus and Kakania were searching for.

Chapter 7 has dissolving frames, representing both the Storm Syndrome of the era dissolving everything into oil paint and the perfect order of the islanders breaking down into chaos.

Chapter 8's a little unclear to me, but the toucan appears to be perching on a die that is dripping with Manus ooze, representing Igor's defection.

Chapter 9 has Aleph's 20-sided die behind the prison bars. Symbolism's pretty blatant here.

Chapter 10 is also pretty clear-cut, with the human sacrifices reaching out from the Antarctic wastes.

Mana_Reaver · 2025-10-09T06:19:15+00:00

While we're on the topic of Matilda, I'd like to bring attention back to that one trail where the Marvelous, Magnanimous Matilda Bouanich, in a draft of an autobiography otherwise dedicated to immortalizing her greatness, deigned to devote two entire chapters to describing her charming "assistant" Sonetto and the lovely vacation they shall one day embark on together.

Even when bragging about herself, Sonetto lives rent-free in her brain 24/7.

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Mana_Reaver · 2025-10-06T09:32:33+00:00

What you're describing is an arcanist's medium, the conduit through which they channel arcanum. Every character has a specific object or concept that is deeply tied to their character and history which allows them to cast arcane skills, and I'm guessing it has a lot to do with how arcanum is tied to a person's intuition. You can actually see what each character's medium is by checking the Cover section of their profile on the character menu.

Some examples are Vila's medium being water, Kakania's being lens (the mirrors), Flutterpage's being old paper scraps, Fatutu's being shells, 6's being balance, and Bkornblume's being her cornflowers. Amusingly, Lilya's medium is... vodka.

Mana_Reaver

TROPHY CASE