The game has been out for a few days so lets talk about it!What are your thoughts on it (so far)?How'd you do regarding the mysteries?I did pretty well, the only things I was wrong on were:Tsukasa being the one killing people on the island. Even after reviewing the part where Tsuyu was cut down, I still stubbornly thought "nah, it's just a coincidence/red herring that Kikuko is there, Tsukasa must be hiding somewhere close by."and the person we--the reader--were. I thought we were a mermaid--Sobae in this case--that needed to solve things on the island so they could resolve the curse of raging waves so that she could return back to Ryugu. The reveal was so much worse than in the first game.
>I didn't finish quick enough to touch the spoilerswageslaving hurts bwos
>>733727007You can always revisit these threads when you're done with it. Are you enjoying it so far?
>>733727229Yeah. Just reached the first real "everyone dies" end.
Do we agree that the first game had higher highs but Mermaid's Curse was a far more well-rounded experience?
>>733730636had the same thoughts as well. first game spiked at the prologue and just kept falling down till the end. second game on the other hand starts off very slow and meandering, and the infodump chapters were horrible, but it ends quite nicely. both are average overall, but I prefer having a better ending than a better beginning
>>733731572>first game spiked at the prologueThe prologue was so good that I felt bait-and-switched for the rest of it. It felt so tense and atmospheric, akin to Fate Stay/Night, where you're up against different enemies that you're lacking info on and could die if you make one wrong move. More of that would have been so good.>infodump chapters were horribleAbsolutely; the pacing suffers as a result, but given the format of the VN, completing the top routes before doing the infodump is massively jarring.>I prefer having a better ending than a better beginningYou thought the 2nd had a better ending than the first? I thought everything came together way better in the first game. I was actually surprised they managed to pull off what Ever17 was going for, but way better and more logical. The reveal missed the mark for me in the 2nd one.
>>733732226>You thought the 2nd had a better ending than the first?the 2nd ending is better simply because it doesn't do the sin of "90% of the story actually doesn't happen in the true ending". I mean sure some variant of it happens, but we just see a montage of it
>>733732662Okay yeah, I see where you're coming from.
>>733732662I preferred that even if it was a little silly. I don't know, essentially erasing all of the important bad stuff anyway just gave me the same feeling. The bit that pissed me off the most was his aunt just dying for no reason because she was a dumb cunt, really feels like another draft of the script had more going on there but instead it was purely just a lame fake out.I liked a lot of the reveal towards the ending, but the protagonist being essentially utterly shafted just because he happened to be the first Yuza through was annoying and while the love story was a nice dynamic, I didn't care for it.
>>733733117Reading your post brought the following question to mind:Why didn't Kikuko kill everyone when she had the opportunity to do so? She's already set on killing everyone so why would she wait on killing the main cast? It seems a little contrived to fake your own death (that barely even mattered overall) when you're planning on killing the remaining people soon after. Was it all just to trick the reader? If so, lame.
>>733733586Well, I guess you could argue that she might not have been able to kill everyone before help arrived from the mainland, and that the only people she COULD kill were those who she gave the mirror to anyway, and she didn't give one to everyone on the island. Establishing an alibi would be important for getting away, if everyone thinks she's dead it might take longer to tally up the bodies and work out she isn't there. Ultimately, the whole thing is probably so you think that the curse kills only divers, and they conveniently kill off the cast in order of descending diver rank to try and hide the mirror trick.
>>733733946What made me think of it was when you said the "aunt" gets killed but at that moment Kikuko could have easily have killed both of the boys as well as his grandmother. Sure makes more sense than wasting time to fake your death. I initially thought it was some woman killing curse until the Yuza got killed. I don't even think she would need to establish an alibi because it simply doesn't help her situation. If she is questioned later and others say they seen her dead, it would only raise suspicion. If she were to be declared missing, she could create a new identity if needed. Overall it just doesn't work imo.
>>733734778By the aunt I meant Yuza's actual aunt, I forgot her actual name. You know, the bitch who wants to be a mermaid. She couldn't have killed Azami, he didn't have the mark, he only died because he was trying to protect Tsukasa. But yeah, it doesn't really work after she shows up in front of them later after happening to cut Yuza's head off, it's just to try and throw you off.
>>733735025Ah right, my bad. I liked it because she was a red herring, leading readers to think it was Yuza's mother. It also helped further flesh our Avi so it was good enough for me. Kikuko should have been able to kill Azami early on because that's before Yuza mention's the curse's condition. We know she didn't even try to kill the boys, however, because Yuza was also unharmed at the time his gran died.It's very clearly a chain of actions to throw the reader off, rather than it being the actions of a rational actor.
>>733735543>Kikuko should have been able to kill Azami early on because that's before Yuza mention's the curse's condition.I don't understand. Even if Yuza doesn't know the curse condition, it's still a requirement, unless you're talking about her killing Azami with some other method. She couldn't have done it. Now, as for why Yuza doesn't die, that's just a plot convenience, like him getting his head cut off while everyone else gets chest slashed because he happens to pull his mirror out.
AHHHHHHHHHHHHH
>>733735805If I'm not mistaken, they both should have a mirror on them when they go to the beach to meet gran; Kikuko could have killed them then if she wanted to. It was only later that they discarded their mirrors. We may be exactly sure if Azami had a mirror on him at the beach but given that Yuza wasn't cut down it's proof that Kikuko only targeted gran.
>>733737723Did Azami ever actually have a mirror? I thought she was giving them out only to divers, I don't remember Azami ever saying anything about having one when Yuza gets given one, I know Sato and Tsukasa discard theirs but I don't remember anything that would point to him having one.
Oh neat. Can someone tell me how to solve the tamatebako scale puzzle? I'm quite literally stumped. I tried viewing the mermaid's profile or load her memories 4 times for 3 secs, but nothing happening .
>>733738373Hint 1: Something happens when you put the scale in the box.Hint 2: Consider otherworldly ways to view messages.Solution: Check your logs, dummy.
>>733737998I'm not sure but I assume so. For whatever reason the islanders really love carrying those mirrors around on their persons lol. On this topic, do we know what Tsukasa had on her that allowed her to still be targeted after she threw away the mirror? She didn't seem to know Ikuma to have his business card. Maybe it was something from her father with the crest? At the time I thought the curse was related to reflections so I thought it would be her glasses.
>>733731572I just finished a replay of the first and I forgot how underused the curses are after the prologue. Like you can activate Tetsuos at multiple times where the other person lies but it never activates. Yakko only allows you to use it once and it again doesn't work. Also, the way its used in the story contradicts the requirementHarue only gets a chance at the ending. They become more like plot points than anything else. Saying that the first game had way more enjoyable characters than the second and I feel like delivered info dumps in a less intrusive way.
>>733738373Oh wait, I realised you were talking about the step AFTER that.Hint 1: Take a break.Hint 2:No, really, close the game.Solution: You must be stupid, it's right in front of you.
