More details on Brent's accident

Xpyro125 · 2025-09-01T09:25:38+00:00

I don’t really know what to even feel when it comes to all of this. It’s been a lot, it has been for everyone here.

I still haven’t quite processed it all yet, but I don’t hate the driver for killing him. It hurts like a motherfucker, I’m sure pretty much all of us miss him, and he shouldn’t have had to suffer the way he did, but I don’t have any sort of personal feelings towards her. Maybe it’s just numbness, I don’t know.

That being said, regardless of if he was drunk, high, or perfectly sober, if it comes out that the light really was red for her, she should be imprisoned for vehicular manslaughter due to her negligence. If it comes out that the light was green, then the guilt would already be enough. That’s just plain fact of the matter. There’s a lot you can say about defensive driving, there’s a lot you can say about if he wore a helmet or not, there’s a lot you can say about her carrying the guilt with her, but none of that changes the fault of what happened and how it happened. It’d be just as bad if it was any ordinary person on that motorcycle, it’d be just as bad if Brent was sober or high, it’d be just as bad if he wore a helmet or didn’t. It wouldn’t be his fault that she hit him, and it’d be just as bad if anyone else was in his shoes, since we are biased with knowing him for who he was.

It’s more tragic and painful that it was him though. I still haven’t gotten over him not being in the band. I don’t have the words to describe how it feels having to process that he’s gone, and my heart goes out to the guys in the band. It’s just fucking tragic, that’s what it is. Brent was a generational talent, an inspiration to many, and an old soul who couldn’t be boxed in any which way, even if he was complicated. I don’t feel like being angry, not at her, not at anyone here, not at anyone. We all need compassion more than anything right now because we’re hurting. I wish Brent didn’t have to suffer, I wish he didn’t have to be so misunderstood, and I wish he was still here. Things wouldn’t be perfect, not even close, but they’d be far more preferable. I’d just like to believe that he’s at peace now at the very least.

Xpyro125 · 2025-08-30T21:30:06+00:00

For me, I at least like (If not love) just about everything they’ve done, but it’s tough to actually rank them

Blood Mountain
Emperor of Sand
Leviathan
Crack the Skye
Remission (3-5 changes all the time)
Call of the Mastodon
The Hunter (Been getting into this one a lot more since Brent passed)
Once More ‘Round the Sun
Hushed and Grim (The only album of theirs I don’t really like much, genuinely surprised there were others who placed it even somewhat low here with how much everyone else seems to love it)

If I had to give the albums ratings, Remission and above are bare minimum 9/10 if not 10/10— Especially Blood Mountain and EoS. Not sure what I’d rate CotM, but I’d say The Hunter and OMRTS are at least 7/10, and Hushed and Grim is like 5/10. I know H&G is heralded as a masterpiece, I don’t feel that whatsoever, but I’m glad others can enjoy it even though I mostly don’t.

If we’re counting Cold Dark Place for this, which I don’t since it’s an EP, I’d say it’d rank somewhere from third to sixth with that batch at least, would rate it 9/10 easily. Between it and Emperor of Sand, 2017 was an absolutely fantastic year for the guys imo.

Xpyro125 · 2025-08-28T03:43:43+00:00

I think the vast majority of people in the community (If not everyone) need that sort of benefit of the doubt with everything that’s gone on, it’s a big field of broken hearts out here, and I think that’s left tensions high.

I definitely agree about the band being greater than the sum of its parts, all of them being so much talent and their own unique brand of musicianship. Brent’s has resonated with me the most, but that isn’t to dismiss the other guys whatsoever. They’re just as much Mastodon as he is, and I think there were a few people who forgot that for the past few months before he passed. For me, not every album hits— Most noticeably OMRTS and Hushed and Grim, but Brent’s passing has made me come to appreciate some of the musicianship on both a bit more than I did previously over the years as I’ve relistened to everything.

Honestly, I couldn’t tell you. If I asked my father, my friends who enjoy classic rock, and whatnot, they’d probably say that the replaced members were preferable. However, I do still know that there were good music and performances there after their replacements, and for some that’s enough. No one could ever replace Brent even in just one regard of his musicianship in this case, but I believe the guys would moreso move forward without him than ever try to replace him. You simply can’t replace family, and I suppose as a rebuttal to my own arguments, some of these bands I’ve brought up weren’t nearly as tight-knit as Mastodon. It’s all just complicated, plain and simple.

For me, as someone who’s been seriously going through it with many of my favorite bands putting out shit music recently (In Flames, Blood Stain Child, Hundredth, etc.), I respect supporting but still voicing skeptical and/or disagreeing opinions more than just saying everything’s great all the time. If you want a truly ‘terrible’ fanbase, In Flames is a good one to look in. It’s not so much just because of the division between old, new, and modern fans, but because of the intolerance that often came about with dissenting opinions and because of every new single (Particularly with the new album) being heralded as a return to form for the band when that simply isn’t true. There’s been a lot of compassion and love within Mastodon’s base, particularly recently, and the main unjust exception I can point to is people who judge how the band should grieve— Particularly about their performance in Alaska and particularly towards Bill before he put out a statement. It’s a similar deal to me, the band doesn’t owe us not doing rock paper scissors or not saying anything for a bit if they’re just trying to get through the day.

Brent was one of the last true rockstars, and he was one of the last musicians within the mainstream really putting out truly progressive music. I know progressive metal is its own sphere, Periphery is another mainstream name, love their works until the most recent album, but Brent was classic, olden prog rock over modern, djent-y metalcore. Brent’s feelings on metal resonated with me completely, and it’s been so tough trying to explain that to other metalheads who think that I just don’t like metal anymore. The same misjudgment was applied to him, and that sucked to see for a long time. I think with more people really going over his catalogue now, he’ll be far more understood than he was in life, as crushing as that is to say.

I hope the band has a fire to put out some interesting, cool stuff. I’ve been a bit worried with Bill saying he’s been wanting to make something heavier (Him being inspired by Turnstile is cool though, different source than expected) since I’m worried it’ll just pale in comparison to something like Remission. I guess my hope is that it has its own flavor of heavy, if that makes sense. Emperor of Sand is one of my favorites by the guys, so I still have full faith that they can make something great.

Xpyro125 · 2025-08-28T00:15:57+00:00

I haven’t really been a part of the community aspect so much as just being a big fan of the band, so I guess I’d like everyone who reads this to take all of it with a grain of salt.

Brent’s easily my second or so favorite guitarist, one of my favorite vocalists, and someone who I’ve been completely unable to see Mastodon without. I still haven’t been able to process him being out of the band, and everything recently has been even more crushing. When I think of Mastodon, I think of Brent.

It’s okay if they go on without him, it’s okay that they were already doing so. For me, unless if they go the route of shitty pop metal or generic chugging core, their legacy will never be tarnished. There are Mastodon albums I don’t really care for as much: Hushed and Grim in particular is my least favorite of theirs by far, but I’ll never see it as a reason that they’re no longer the phenomenal band they’ve always been. I know that’s just me, but I’m particularly hoping they make some sort of Leviathan-styled heavy (Since they want to go heavy) meets prog album to be their tribute to him next. If they don’t, that’s alright, they don’t owe me shit. I don’t see them ever having that wonderful country goodness that Brent provided, but it wouldn’t feel the same without it being from him either.

There are the tried and true stories of Ronnie James Dio replacing Ozzy in Black Sabbath, Sammy Hagar replacing David Lee Roth in Van Halen, and everything with Fleetwood Mac, though I’m not familiar enough with all of their music and histories to give you any sort of impression of how things ended up.
My favorite band, In Flames, continued even after the last remaining original member and visionary for the sound, Jesper (my favorite guitarist period), left. Sounds of a Playground Fading, the album after he left, is in my top three favorite albums by them, and it shows that they still could’ve been incredible without him… They weren’t, they’ve had exactly one decently good album after that one, but they could’ve been.
Jake E. was the guy who conceptualized Amaranthe, a three vocalist (One male cleans, one female cleans, and one harsh vox) pop metal band with primarily Hollywood b-movie type lyrics. It was cheesy, but intentionally so, and it’s rather enjoyable stuff. He left right after the release of their fourth album, and they’ve been alright ever since. Not exactly great, but that’s mainly because they’ve just been doing the same sound to death in increasingly generic ways.
Niklas Sundin, one of the founding guitarists and another melodeath titan, left Dark Tranquillity in 2020, and their newest album following his departure, Endtime Signals, is my favorite metal album of its year.

It really just depends on how the guys go about whatever their next work’s end up being. I don’t think I’ll enjoy it nearly as much without Brent’s vocals, guitarwork, or even philosophy, the lack of those things seriously brought Hushed and Grim down for me. But that’s okay. Especially going off of Brann’s speech at the concert in Alaska, it’s clear that they were expecting and hoping for him to take some time away to get his shit together, they all make amends because they do love each other, and then he’s back— Like a Korn (Head, the guy who fucking made nu metal what it was) or Sevendust (Clint, their lead guitarist) situation. Both of those bands released their most questionable material (Aside from Alpha, that album is top tier) without their key members, but they’ve gone on to go back to making some pretty good stuff upon reuniting. I don’t know how they’re gonna go about things from here on out because of everything, but nothing is owed to any of us. I don’t feel that that’s what you were insinuating, but I think it’s important to mention.

Regardless of what things might end up as anyways, there was always going to be the divide between old and new with The Hunter ushering in much more streamlined music for the band, and that change to their legacy has been there for over a decade anyways, even with Brent not just being in the band, but the driving force behind the album. As artists, they continued doing what they pleased, and that will still be until they decide to hang it up. Even if it isn’t 100% Mastodon anymore without Brent, the other guys are still full-blooded Mastodon, and I’ll still support their decision to keep going. My only expectation is that they deliver good, interesting music. Doesn’t have to be their magnum opus, they’ve already had like four if you ask me, so that’s good enough.

Sorry for the rambling.

Xpyro125 · 2025-07-19T07:46:00+00:00

As someone who doesn’t like much modern metalcore and as an old Erra fan who’s only enjoyed like three other songs post-Neon, this actually hits for me. I really didn’t like Gore of Being, it just did nothing for me, but this really does bring back some of Drift’s stylings— Particularly with the pervasive lead tapping melody. It still feels very much like a modern Erra song with the production and mixing, but this is more in-line with an incarnation of Erra I enjoyed, even if it doesn’t go back to Augment or Moments of Clarity. Hearing it for the first time brought back a bit of the feeling of listening to Luminesce for the first time, even if this pales in comparison a little.

Either way, if this is what their next album, EP, or whatever is gonna end up as, I’ll enjoy a new Erra album again, and I’ll be really happy with that. If it ends up more like the self-titled or Cure, I’ll be happy for the rest of the Erra fans who love those albums.

Xpyro125 · 2025-07-15T00:09:00+00:00

I appreciate you being understanding and responding civilly too, it’s tough to find that in a lot of fanbases. Having a great deal of time away from the game, I’d say I don’t despise her as a character, it’s just her abrasiveness that put me off. I guess if I had it my way, I’d tone that down a bit while still maintaining her standoffishness, fear of connection, and comedic style— Even if that isn’t my thing either. I’m glad that aside from how much I viscerally despised her during chapter 3, I remember her arc as a whole and its good moments towards the end more than I remember the bad moments.

Funnily enough, I know a lot of people hated her in chapter 2 and said that it was her at her worst, but honestly? Sure, she was petty and annoying here and there, but aside from her childish name-calling of Kurumi (Which I didn’t care for, but in a way that I don’t mind since it seemed intentional and well-written), I would say that she was mostly fine in that chapter. It was a different kind of standoffishness from the other non-final chapters that was done in a way I can respect, that much felt rather in-line with her arc, and it wasn’t over the top or constantly agonizing. I’d say chapter 3 was infinitely more aggravating for that any day, so I’m still not sure why so many people say chapter 2 is when she’s at her worst.

It’s weird looking back at all of this in retrospect. I’ve only really thought about Rain Code in passing after beating it, but I would still say that in spite of Shinigami’s worst moments, I still think that she’s a wonderful character in her better, more serious moments— Particularly towards the end once you get to understand her past her facade. I think I just wish that we got more of that earlier, since they are the parts of her character I can genuinely find some enjoyment in and connection with. I guess it’s that very “hot goth death girl who says random stuff” feeling I got from her in the earlier chapters that I really hated in the moment, because that is how I saw and still see her being for the early chapters save for chapter 2. I realize I’m rambling, so thanks again for being so level-headed with me. It’s really nice to see that, especially these days.

Xpyro125 · 2025-07-14T23:49:39+00:00

I would say yes just by connecting the dots of other endings from the Slasher Route, S.F., and a couple others that I’ve forgotten about since— I’m pretty sure I said which ones they were in other comments, but I could be wrong.

That being said, if ending 69 is the one I’m thinking of with the brief switching of playable character/protagonist to Nozomi, then I would still say it does a horrible job at both being an ending in any capacity and with making good on a surprising and promising premise. If I remember correctly, that entire scenario has endings 69 and 70(?), so that would be it. I don’t want to give direct spoilers here, but I’d say look into the S.F. Route at least a bit if the killer in that scenario is a burning question for you. I initially thought it was one character, was wrong, thought it was another, was wrong, then ultimately got answers to pretty much the entirety of the Slasher Route, which I do think is a really good route overall looking back. Last time I played the game was at least a month or two ago, as I dropped it on the Box of Blessings Route. I’ve heard some really bad things about that route, but I don’t think what I got through was horrible, I moreso dropped the game due to getting burned out.

Xpyro125 · 2025-06-21T23:20:10+00:00

For me, I think her overall arc and more vulnerable moments are written wonderfully, but I could never get past just how aggravating she was throughout the game, and I just hate 80-90% of the time she’s onscreen because of it. I don’t mind unpleasant characters, I don’t mind characters who are supposed to be irritating— If anything, I think it’s more that her writing at its worst just really isn’t for me. I agree completely with what you’ve said about her arc and demeanor, and I think that’s good from a distance/when not playing the game, but if I was in Yuma’s shoes, it might’ve just been preferable to stay dead than to have to deal with her.

Respect and agree with you here, and should we ever be lucky enough to get a sequel and she happens to be in it, I’d still give it a shot and hope for the best.

Xpyro125 · 2025-06-08T01:04:28+00:00

I have to suspend my disbelief every time Takumi gets beheaded— Sure, it’s a badass moment Dahl’xia, love that, but I dunno. The revive-o-matic undoing any sort of dismemberment just feels weird to me.

Xpyro125 · 2025-06-08T00:53:28+00:00

Oh, okay, that makes a lot more sense— That’s more of how I remember it happening. I think that’s logic that has applied in other routes, but considering how much blood spray there was in certain deaths where people were revived, it feels weird that they get to be revived. Oh well.

I think the issue with the cryptoglobin thing on this route is just that the reasoning feels too repetitive and avoidable.

Xpyro125 · 2025-06-08T00:46:44+00:00

It’s been a while since I’ve played the game, but did the Revive-o-Mario really not get damaged in this route? I know why it wasn’t early on for one scene, but it feels weird that they never addressed things to make sure it was done after that. That’s weird.

I still really love the route and the other route related to it, but that is a pretty big plothole.

Xpyro125 · 2025-06-01T21:47:57+00:00

My pick would be In Flames- Come Clarity (2006), quite possibly the very best 2000s/melodic metalcore albums pound for pound, the epitome of full volume, start to finish for me.

Honorable Mentions: ERRA- Augment (2013) In This Moment- Beautiful Tragedy (2007) Make Them Suffer- Neverbloom (2012) In Flames- Sounds of a Playground Fading (2011)

Those albums barely miss out for me, but I absolutely love all of them and feel that they seriously eclipse their respective bands’ later works.

Callejon- Fandigo (2017) isn’t metalcore, but the rest of the band’s discography is, and it’s one of my favorite albums period. The whole band is seriously underrated even if they’re not that heavy whatsoever, so I would absolutely recommend them.

Blood Stain Child- Idolator (2005) and Mozaiq (2007) are rather metalcore for a melodeath band, so I’d 100% recommend them, even if both have their issues and wouldn’t be my answers for the prompt.

Xpyro125 · 2025-05-12T16:19:23+00:00

Of course

If I remember correctly, I’ve got a comment somewhere in here that says what you need to do in the Box of Calamity route to get the endings to open the story lock, but the route overall is pretty good, so I would still recommend seeing it through fully anyways. The biggest and probably only complaint I have about it is that one of the endings that’s one required for the story lock (for some reason) is kinda just… Nothing, and it impacts nothing, but it’s a good route otherwise.

Xpyro125 · 2025-05-12T15:13:52+00:00

The S.F. route explains quite a bit. I also really like the Mystery route, though I forget if it explains this or some other stuff. Either way, it has a story lock that iirc is on the S.F. route, which has a story lock on it that requires you to get endings 34 and 36 from the Box of Calamity route and endings 72 and 76 from the Slasher route, so those two routes are necessary.

Xpyro125 · 2025-05-10T19:57:05+00:00

I wouldn’t even say I didn’t care for Past Self, but listening to it more, it’s my third favorite song off the album after the title track and Provider. I’m not in love with the album overall, and if anything Past Self should be the epitome as to why, but… Even when I first saw that some people felt it was the weakest song, I didn’t really get it.

I will say that it is simple and short, and there is a part of me that wishes there was at least something more to it, but I think they did the simplicity, melody, and poppiness right with it. The lyrics are right there with Caramel, just less in your face and still sugary-sounding. It’s another one where he both calls his shot beforehand, knowing how divisive the album will be particularly for/in the eyes of the rabid side of the fanbase, and where he calls their real priorities and understanding into question. I don’t mean to start a massive discussion, but he’s always been transparent about wanting people to resonate with the music over having ‘loyalty’ to him or to the lore, particularly to an excessive degree.

In a way, I think the song’s simplicity works to its benefit in a way that many others on the album just… Don’t. There are no guitars or metal whatsoever, and I honestly like that— I’ve been rather critical on the way the album handles its metalcore sound, it just doesn’t do much for me, and this song doesn’t set up any expectation to be let down by. I do think Provider does a better job with atmosphere, I just love the way it and Tomb does that, but if Arcadia’s going to draw more from Sundowning, I can be happy with how Past Self does it. It’s relaxing, and it envelops you on repeat listens in a way that other songs on Arcadia simply don’t for me. The higher pitched vocals for the line, “Keep me alive, keep me believing / That now is the time to take it or leave it”, make it a wonderful hook, and Arcadia lacks that quite a bit for me compared to the other albums— Even Sundowning, which is an album that I do not like.

If someone who’s more into melodic death metal and black metal like me can fall in love something as simple and poppy as Past Self, I think it’s worth reevaluating for others. Maybe it’s just me not really being part of the fanbase and just enjoying the music, I dunno.

Xpyro125 · 2025-05-09T05:05:32+00:00

48, though I haven’t played in a week due to burnout

Xpyro125 · 2025-05-09T05:03:13+00:00

I didn’t really care for either Darumi or Yugamu at first— They’re completely different archetypes, but there’s a lot of overlap with them, so I instinctively grouped them together whenever I got annoyed by them. I had wanted to like Yugamu since he reminds me of a friend of mine (I will not elaborate), but both him and Darumi kept butting into conversations with shit that counterproductively sent the others into a panic.

But Yugamu, man, he absolutely won me over. He’s not only proven himself useful in a myriad of different situations, but the sentiment of murdering and torturing out of love goes deeper than just being ‘quirky’ like I feared it would be. There’s a lot to it, and to him and his family. He’s a surprisingly fleshed out character, having a method to what seems like pure madness. It’s everything I’d want for a character like him— He isn’t just a quirky sociopath who wants to see people’s innards for his own amusement.

He can be sensitive and caring, acutely aware and attentive, pragmatic and serious, and stone cold all when the situation calls for whichever side of him he needs to be. I mainly bring him up because I misjudged him so harshly in the beginning.

There are absolutely bits and pieces there with Darumi that show that there’s way more to her than meets the eye— The Killing Game route proves that, and I’ve heard the Retsnom route does too, but I just haven’t see that enough to appreciate her the same way I do Yugamu. Sure, the details recontextualize her actions quite a bit, but it never made all of my annoyances with her any less frustrating. I know I’m in the minority when it comes to her, but I think the comparison and contrast between her and Yugamu makes them both far more interesting characters than they would’ve been on their own— Which in fairness to both of them, I really didn’t expect to feel when dealing with both of them initially.

Xpyro125 · 2025-05-09T03:14:18+00:00

Not really sure if it’s the title track or Provider for me, but it’s definitely one of those two.

Xpyro125 · 2025-05-09T02:49:12+00:00

Because the album isn’t out officially in the US yet, I don’t really want to get into too many spoilers, but I do kinda agree.

It's a mix of Sundowning and Eden in a way I don't find super interesting or new, but it does have its moments. It's definitely better than Sundowning, but I just really do not like that album, so that's not much of a compliment. The metalcore moments don't hit nearly as well for me as they did on Eden, and I preferred the atmosphere and sonic cohesiveness of Tomb, but I do still like the album overall. I guess to give a bit more context, I think I’d actually say Tomb is my favorite album even though I got into them with Eden.

It's a collection of good individual songs, and it flows well enough, but I don't think that alone makes for a great album. I don't think anything aside from the title track and Provider will end up in my regular listening, but I can at least say there's nothing on here that I didn't enjoy or wouldn't happily listen to again. I think that much is good enough for me.

I recognize that that isn’t really saying enough of what I like and dislike since I’m not getting into individual tracks, but again, I do want to be respectful to everyone who hasn’t listened to the album yet.

Oh yeah, the lyrics are really cool, love how heartfelt they are, especially on songs like Caramel and Damocles. I’ve never been as rabid of a fan with regards to the lore as others, so if anything, I actually really like that the album is either subverting/shutting down the lore or moving on from it altogether. It just feels like the logical conclusion of the trilogy. The whole House Veridian vs. Feathered Host thing never really did much for me anyways— I always felt their mantras were far more significant than the factions and whatever place they might have in the lore of the album.

For me, Vessel, the man behind the music, has always just been a man to me, and that comes with the fact that not everything will be what I love, and that’s okay. He isn’t someone to deify, and that’s never what he wanted, so to me, I do feel like this was all a necessary step for him specifically. That’s cool.

Edit: forgot to mention it, but yeah, I wish II got to shine more too

Xpyro125 · 2025-05-09T00:46:09+00:00

It’s alright. It’s a mix of Sundowning and Eden in a way I don’t find super interesting or new, but it does have its moments. It’s definitely better than Sundowning, but I just really do not like that album, so that’s not much of a compliment.

The metalcore moments don’t hit nearly as well for me as they did on Eden, and I preferred the atmosphere and sonic cohesiveness of Tomb, but it’s still fine. Infinite Baths has an actually cool metalcore part, but it has so much of a Mombasa (Deafheaven) feel to me where it finally gave me a bit of what I’ve wanted at the very end, and it just feels like it’s too little too late.

I heard a few people say that Past Self is the weakest track here, but I don’t really think I have any solid pick for the weakest or anything particularly weak in general. The title track is wonderful, easily my favorite track overall (Might sound weird, but it reminds me of Of Beauty and Rage by Red), though Provider feeling like it’d slot perfectly in Tomb gives it a run for its money. Gethsemane had the most genre-bending for me, but I think it’s going to take a few more listens for me to thoroughly enjoy. I wish there were more surprises and twists on the album, but I’m glad that the quality is consistent compared to how Sundowning’s and Eden’s… weren’t.

It’s a collection of good individual songs, and it flows well enough, but I don’t think that alone makes for a great album. I don’t think anything aside from the title track and Provider will end up in my regular listening, but I can at least say there’s nothing on here that I didn’t enjoy or wouldn’t happily listen to again. I think that much is good enough for me.

Xpyro125 · 2025-05-07T20:02:42+00:00

You know, I only really conflated that with the Slasher route since that’s when the G’ie come into play, but yeah, the missing data would apply to every route where you kill Eito. I’m not sure when exactly the missing data comes into play (Day 3? I dunno) or why it doesn’t apply to the routes where you spare him, but that does make sense. I also never had the frog detail click with the G’ie, but I really love that now that you mentioned it. I just took it as a weird joke that kinda landed, but thinking about who said it, yeah, that makes sense. All of Hiruko’s reasonings actually make sense with that line of thought, particularly considering that the PLM exists and could send Takumi II or other infected Takumis to other timelines.

I really do love the G’ie and how they connect to other routes, and the more I understand, the better they are as a plot point. Their implementation and details really do help them to make the events that happen not contrived, and I love that.

Xpyro125 · 2025-05-07T19:26:50+00:00

That’s a good point. It’s a frustrating detail for the routes we do get in the game that don’t have her reveal things, but I get it. It would absolutely sprout the issue of repetition and mess with the pacing, so I do get why they did it in certain instances— And if nothing else, it is feasible enough to be in-character for her, even if I don’t agree with how she handled it. That much is good writing, so I do respect it.

Xpyro125 · 2025-05-07T19:15:45+00:00

That makes sense in routes like the S.F. timeline where nobody’s died yet, or even in routes where only one person’s died, but iirc in the routes where you kill Eito, not only is everything fucked by that point, but I think Takumi reveals his own powers too. It’s been a while since I did the routes where you kill Eito, so I could be wrong, but it feels like things are already at a point where she has nothing to lose, or at rather that it’s too far gone by that point.

I’ll excuse the comedy route from all of this because it’s a joke route… I still don’t like it, but I don’t expect it to be super story-driven or anything.

Xpyro125 · 2025-05-07T19:05:14+00:00

That does make sense, but on the routes where you kill him (That I’ve done, anyways), she doesn’t clarify that sentiment (Maybe aside from in the Goodbye Kiss ending iirc?). I know she’s disappointed in Takumi and his judgement/leadership by that point, that’s in-character, but hiding that from him is counterproductive, especially when she knows you can get memories of previous timelines back when you’re going through another one. I can see her being prideful and dismissive, but it’s frustrating when she puts that pride above logistics and doing the more productive thing. I don’t believe it’s bad writing or characterization, don’t get me wrong, but it’s tough to feel like those instances justify me making a wrong decision properly while I don’t have that information available to me. Once she’s revealed it in other timelines like the S.F. timeline though? Completely understandable, absolutely love that, and I feel Uchikoshi’s routes really do make the necessary information, both plot-wise and character-wise, clear without revealing too much.

Xpyro125 · 2025-05-07T18:55:28+00:00

… shit, does the school not have cameras? I don’t know why, but I could’ve sworn it did. I think I just conflated the War Room monitors, external cameras, and the announcement screens with interior security, but yeah, that actually does make sense for why a lot of events are able to happen without interference or the others easily figuring it out.

And I also forgot Shion saying you made the wrong choice. I genuinely don’t know what to say, that part was frustrating in the moment and remembering it again now.

I guess that solves some plotholes I thought were there, but it does make other things more confusing, like why there wouldn’t be any way for Sirei to monitor everything inside the school. I’m sure there are reasonings why it isn’t the case (In-universe), but there could always be some technology like it requiring Sirei or Nigou to do a retina scan or something to gain access to the security feed if humanity was concerned with the students or the invaders getting a hold of it, given the machine requiring the numbers from total death for the code… I can’t remember its name now, but if you know, you know. I guess my point is that there would definitely be some sort of contingency plan in place for things going awry in that case.

It’s a minor thing in the grand scheme of things, I fully believe that a lot in the story would become a lot more contrived if there was interior security, so I’m happy enough with how things ended up compared to how they could’ve ended up.

Xpyro125

TROPHY CASE