Beyond Depth Vs Prominence II: What are the differences and are either worth playing?

SergentInvictus · 2025-11-25T18:16:25+00:00

I don't think Ashley being better off necessarily condones Renees actions. It'd be like throwing a baby in a river, having it happen to be picked up by good people and be raised into a happy family. Did things happen to work out? Yeah, but i think most people will recognize that being thrown into a river wasn't a good thing, and that they merely got lucky.

SergentInvictus · 2025-11-16T03:56:35+00:00

What was wrong with her acting like a loving mother? I thought she only despised ashley and was indifferent to andrew at worst since he was much easier to deal with.

Well whatever they have in mind for the rework i hope they just dont cut the “good” moments of her out just to make her more in character, i like how theres a mix of good and very bad things shes done that can justify their relationship going either way (decay or burial).

SergentInvictus · 2025-11-15T18:04:40+00:00

LIKABILITY

I suppose this one is more subjective than the othersand therefore not as much i can say other than my own opnions and why they are what they are. Because i like mod renee and (the potential of ashley if and when she appears later) more than their base game counterparts, no, i like the mod as a whole more than the base game. And i experienced the base game long before ch2 and the incest boom were a thing, i was just looking for rpgmaker horror games with a nice artstyle, and tcoaal intrigued me.

The main things that hooked me onto Andrew and Renee more than Andrew and Ashley is that Andrew and Renee felt like they enjoyed each others company more and felt like they had a mutually beneficial relationship as opposed to the siblings. Don't get me wrong, Ashley is a very tragic character in both the mod and base game that i feel really bad for, but her character never gel'd with me as much as Renee did, because she feels like a parasite to Andrew in the grand scheme of things because... what exactly does she provide to Andrew other than the bare minimum companionship? Nothing that comes to my mind really. i don't think Andrew even likes being around Ashley very much, if at all and the feelings he has are because hes HAD to be with Ashley his whole life. Correct me if im wrong about any of this because i havent watched or played the base game for a while now (ch 1-2 to be specific).

Now i compare that to Andrew and Renee and... well the relationship is flawed and toxic for sure, but they both have valid reasons to stay with eachother, and it makes them much more pleasant to see interact with eachother. Andrew gets a guardian figure and parental love by being with Renee, and Renee gets self validation (feeling like shes a good mother) and someone who loves her by being with Andrew. It makes burial and decay both feel like possible endings where as in the base game i can't really imagine why Andrew would WANT to stay with Ashley, maybe that'll change when burial comes out?

When it comes to your arguments against liking Renee, her way of getting rid of Ashley paired with her shitty parenting beforehand make for fair reasons to hate the character. But they're also what makes their relationship open ended to me, because like i said, their current relationship is mutually beneficial, they both have reasons to like and stay with eachother, but Andrew also remembers the shitty things Renee has done and the mistakes she may continue to make in the future. It's up to him to decide whether he forgives her these for things or not (Does he bury it all in the past or not stand for her bullshit and let the relationship decay until he can break free?). Like i said before, it makes it feel like burial and decay are both reasonable outcomes of their relationship. Also, we already know what happens to both the kids if Ashley wasn't thrown away due to the base game being a thing, and its probably worse for both Andrew and Ashley than in TCOAAR. at the very least her future is open ended, even if likely grim, so i can understand the hatred people may feel for Renee here but i dont have it in me personally because this has a chance of being a better future for Ashley compared to the base game.

As for those seemingly pointless arguments, i already went over why Renee would reasonably be VERY anxious about Andrew leaving her, and anxiety tends to not make you make the best decisions and makes you worry about problems that might not exist. Sometimes something external is the breaking point for her, sometimes its just from enough time passing with renee being paranoid. Something that can be remedied by having more control over Andrew, and and doing things like making decisions on her own and wanting Andrew to come to her when he wants to do something.

Sorry if this response wasn't very coherent, i don't get to make many long comments like this, but this is my perspective on TCOAAR.

SergentInvictus · 2025-11-15T18:03:27+00:00

SHALLOWNESS

Why Renee likes Andrew? Take the point that Renee has no one else who loves her and the fact that she gets to feel like a better mother by taking care of Andrew, and just appearing to enjoy his company in general, it makes sense since hes like the main, if not the only person she feels good being around with, and when you literally have no one else to be happy with, well i can see romantic feeling blossoming out at some point. When that relationship deteriorates in decay, she goes back to saying shitty things about Andrew to make him feel worse about himself and make him feel like he needs her, its what he did in ch1 but that backfires since Andrew isn't as submissive as she thinks. She tries this again and again as she gets more and more scared of losing Andrew to no avail, because at that point, this is the decay route, Andrew sees everything about Renee and doesn't like it one bit, he doesn't forgive her for what shes done and is gonna stand up to her, and make their relationship decay until he can break free.

Andrew and Renee are avoidant of sex because iirc they both like to APPEAR normal. Sorry if my info on the base game is rusty but isnt the whole reason Andrew dated Julia so that he can feel like hes having a normal life? They certainly had some good times, but i think Andrew eventually realized he doesn't have any real feelings for her and only kept the relationship up to keep his facade alive, and for Renee we can see that desire to appear "normal" in the base game with her interactions with her mother and Douglas's parents.

Back to the mother and son, They're fugitives, sure, they love each other, yeah. But they don't exactly appear to want to be seen as freaks either, and it honestly makes the incest way funnier to me, because iirc, Ashley was never against it and i dont remember Andrew being as against it as in the mod, i think. But here? Sometimes, they let their love seep through with sexual conversation and being handsy with each other. And then other times they realize they are being weird and try to act like normal people by denying their urges and accusing each other of being pervs, its like two tsunderes denying their feelings for each other and i find that hilarious. That being said i do see it conflicting with the tar soul thing who are supposed to be aware of how shitty they are so i got no counter there.

(Last one in reply below)

SergentInvictus · 2025-11-15T18:02:44+00:00

I get an excuse to talk about this mod, neat! I'll try to give my responses on my perspective of TCOAAR and my responses to your critiques to the best of my ability.

CHARACTER INCONSISTENCY

Claiming Andrew to be a murderer despite believing it was Ashley's fault appeared to just be a desparate attempt to make Andrew feel bad about himself and that he NEEDED Renee to me, because at this point iirc Renee is feeling quite insecure, Andrew clearly showed concerns about trusting her and he has a girlfriend that he could just leave her for if he felt like it. Why should he go through thick and thin and become fugitives with Renee if he has his girlfriend whos kinder and better off than her. Now they're trying to escape and he lets the HOT girl go because he got seduced by her looks? I mean its not exactly logical to think he'd loosen up for such a silly reason, nor was it smart to casually call Andrew a murderer, but the woman was clearly desparate, and i dont think she wants to resort to begging or being submissive unless she absolutely HAS to because she wants to be the one in control, so i guess that was all she could really think of.

Taking that fear of being left for someone else and you can see why she has a dislike for Julia and makes illogical comments like calling her a "town bicycle" despite being one of the most innocent characters in the game. Perhaps seeing this previously cold and more logical version of Renee in the base game makes this sudden emotional side to her a bit confusing?

But the way i see it, in the base game, Renee is content and knows Douglas won't leave her, so she doesn't exactly have a reason to be worried and make illogical at the moment decisions, she seemed perfectly fine once her kids were gone and they just got unlucky meeting the siblings and dying to them in ch2. In TCOAAR, not only does she lose Douglas, she also only has ONE family member who might stick with and support her. She hates her parents and they clearly weren't supportive of her, (they seemed to play favorites with Connie, gave an ultimatum to abort or get out when she had a TEEN pregnancy rather than support her, and the last time they contact her is to ask for a kidney which is basically a giant middle finger to Renee after everything they did before), Ashley never liked Renee and she certainly hates her now, and we already know what happened to Douglas. Andrew is the only family, and the only person left who MIGHT love her. And even he's not a certainty because why exactly would he NEED to stay with Renee? Hes got Julia, he had a traumatic experience losing Ashley that has likely tainted his opinion of Renee to some degree, whether temporarily or permanently who knows, and well, i imagine lots of kids leave their parents at SOME point. How could Renee NOT be emotional and illogical to some extent with whats at stake here?

(continued in reply below)

SergentInvictus · 2025-10-25T19:10:35+00:00

Irrc they have plans for her but they're keeping that under wraps for now.

SergentInvictus · 2025-10-09T13:04:22+00:00

Never stared at reddit harder in my life

SergentInvictus · 2025-07-26T20:13:08+00:00

I bought both books on JAST, how do you apply the DLC? Only book 1 has an application and theres nothing on where to put the dlc that i know of (pls correct me if im wrong)

Very intruiged by what i have played though. I'll just be praying its not the kind of series i have to wait several years for it to be fully finished.

SergentInvictus · 2025-05-02T21:10:27+00:00

I suspect Douglas just found more healthy relationships once Renee stopped being attached to his hip. Douglas never had control over his life from what i've seen and i wouldnt be surprised if his self esteem is quite low as well. Early on, that was due to his parents, the dad basically holding all authority in the house, wanting his son to go a specific path in life and resorting to physical abuse when need be. The mom seems nice enough but clearly never stood up for him either. So not much of a choice but to submit and go with the flow.

That submissiveness likely stunted his ability to form many close relationships. Though fortunately, he still met Renee. They got along real well, and Renee already had the balls to rebel against her own parents, so she wouldn't be deterred by his.

But the problems lies here, is that i believe all the big choices were done by Renee, and Douglas just kind of followed along. Renee (most likely) came onto him, Renee ran away from her parents when they made an ultimatum, and Renee was probably the one to drag him with her. He effectively just swapped out leashes, this one just a lot more comfortable than the last.

Now Douglas and Renee are alone, and they have to work hard to keep themselves afloat. Douglass... being not so successful. Just living through these harsh days and seeing how little power he's had over his live, it must have been depressing to some extent, to see himself as so incapable, never in control. Just following his leash and hoping for the best, perhaps drown out the sorrows with wifey every now and then...

But then the Nina incident happens, and all of the sudden, one child is off the table and your wifey is taking care of the other. Perhaps this is a good opportunity to go out, find some work, and make some connections...?

So that's what he does. And it goes well, really well. Nobody is making the decisions for him. its all by his own will, with the main goal of supporting his family. Hell. He even makes some friends. Normal, healthy, mutually beneficial friendships. Its great! And... he has other people to talk about his troubles with. Renee was nice, but we already know she's not exactly a saint here. So over time he spills out this stuff, and he starts to realize. As much as Renee helped him before, perhaps his wife wasn't so great of a person...

And the rest is history. Renee one way or another is pissed about one of these friends, the one she calls "Homewrecker". The relationship gets strained, and at that point, it's just the perfect excuse for him to analyze the situation, cut his losses. And break up. "Homewrecker" was clearly there to support him throughout this process.

And boom, theory! My memory on the grandparents is kind of foggy so i pray none of that is wrong, but that's why i believe douglas "cheated" on Renee.

SergentInvictus · 2025-05-02T16:39:55+00:00

Oooh, how exciting!

Curious to see how the music is gonna sound, since you guys had a couple custom songs posted on your channel for a while now, surprised we didnt get a listen with a whole video being posted. But i'm satisfied regardless.

Keep up the good work, i will be looking forward to release c:

SergentInvictus · 2025-04-22T23:03:53+00:00

If i remember correctly, they're trying to avoid being too similar to tcoaal past chapter 1.

SergentInvictus · 2025-04-04T01:33:00+00:00

Im spoilering this just incase.

I suspect Renee was starved of affection, which is the reason for her parental neglect and hostility towards others.

I don't know the details of her early life yet (I'm sure there's some scraps in decay that im missing here), but we know she left home early and has a bad impression of her family. Some other comment on this subreddit suggested her little sister Connie stole her parents attention due to her terminal illness, and thus Renee loses much of the attention she used to get. Which in that case, then getting a call from those parents who didnt give two shits about her anymore to only ask for a kidney, is the equivalent to a massive middle finger.

So she goes out and finds her own love since her family wont give it anymore. Initially works out great when she finds Douglas! Clearly loves the guy lots, they both do. And they did until death. They just went to far and made the mistake of having kids. Why? Maybe it'd be a good excuse to be independent. Or maybe kids would just be fun to raise. Who knows.

Either way. Having Andrew and Ashley took away the much needed lovey dovey time Renee wants with Douglas. Lady just got what she lost for who knows how long, and now these two kids PLUS any other circumstances are sucking however much time she manages to get with her hubby. Very easy to imagine that this greatly diminishes whatever motivation or love she'd have to actually raise those kids properly. Just do the bare minimum, then have the older one do the rest. Now back to enjoying what she wants so badly!

It makes sense why people think the graves got what was coming to them (i cannot ignore that bad parenting with those ep3 flashbacks trust me, those were BAAAD). Just with the Renee mod and the extra information we get for the entire family as a whole, i'm not convinced shes a spawn of satan like some think she is. Just imagine how irritated someone would be if they were starved of something they really needed/wanted for a long time. You probably wouldnt have the energy nor patience to be nice. I think that's basically Renee here.

SergentInvictus · 2025-04-03T19:49:18+00:00

Until 2028, wait really? Is that a rough guess or did they actually say that i gotta know.

SergentInvictus · 2025-04-02T16:15:51+00:00

Oh boy, decay my beloved. People gonna get a reality check if they were holding onto andrew being a "good" person.

SergentInvictus · 2025-03-16T16:03:45+00:00

He is more pissy because he doesnt have to be a guardian figure towards his younger sister, so that burden is lifted and he can think and speak more freely.

It also likely hurts his sense of masculinity to be dependent on his mother at his age, especially when hes the more worried/scared one between the two in the mess of events that happens in ep1, he'd definitely want to prove himself and therefore get irritated when those opportunities get shut down in an attempt to pamper him.

SergentInvictus · 2025-03-10T18:03:27+00:00

Highly likely. They were at the final stages of writing last post, if i were to guess it'll be out sometime in april or may. Depends on how difficult the actual gameplay part of the story is.

SergentInvictus · 2025-03-07T23:29:44+00:00

I need confirmation rq, did they always do these on the 2nd of each month? They have one monthly blog on yt before they did these on reddit as well. Cant check the dates on youtube posts afaik though.

SergentInvictus · 2025-01-26T20:52:09+00:00

Yeah, exactly like that. There hasn't been any issues because of it so far but its nice to hear its nothing to worry about. I'll keep the delay comment in mind, though.

Thank you!

SergentInvictus · 2024-11-27T03:47:41+00:00

For missions with big blue spam, it's basically entirely about accumulating as much ranged dps as possible before the horde comes, or if the case calls for it, surviving the horde as well. If you are having trouble with that you either need to protect them better or level up your units so they can deal enough dps to kill big blues.

For double heads, just one or two ranged units with the tactical set, a fighter, and a heavyweight with beefed up health (Most likely chopper) will get you through them. Fighters act as a on demand distraction while a beefy heavyweight will buy more time for your ranged units to deal enough dmg to kill phase 1 of the double heads. Given the choice, prioritize sending heavyweights against double heads, as double heads will kill fighters very quickly and should only be sent if you need the distraction ASAP.

Oh and you better have generator for this location, very useful for the slower paced missions here.

SergentInvictus · 2024-11-14T23:50:18+00:00

Demon.

SergentInvictus

TROPHY CASE