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alias_sqbrMasterlist of Code Realize posts
I am feeling under the weather today and Cam pointed out I can just plug the headphones into the controller so time to lie on the couch and flirt with a nerd.
...and it's, uh. Quite a journey!
Before I forget: it was at about this point that I realised the significance of the name Cardia haha (THE HEART BURNING POISON WAS REFLUX ALL ALONG)
Also I got the screenshots to upload, hooray! Here's the inset thing and a Twilight soldier, as added to the previous post.
Anyway.
Impey and Victor try and convince Cardia they can figure out a way to fix her, even if she has no heartbeat, but she's still very depressed. Lupin drags them "somewhere nice" to take her mind off things.
....namely, a casino run by mobsters? Admittedly, they are all wanted fugitives, they can't exactly wander into the Savoy(*) for high tea.
Huh I get to choose to hang out with Victor or Impey but not Lupin. *grabs at nerdy scientist who is not a sleaze*
(I'm hoping Victor doesn't turn out to be the "secretly yandere" type of gentle voiced dude but am prepared to roll with it if need be. Also Lupin is looking like the True Love Interest, which I can live with, even if they could stand to tone down the Hero(tm) markers a little)
Haa Cardia says Lupin seems "preoccupied", eg he keeps muttering to himself about how he will save all this beautiful money from lesser men.
Victor and Cardia have a freaking adorable scene where she gets VERY EXCITED about fairy floss. Apparently Impey ended up chased into the Thames by security so that'll be fun on his route. And of course Lupin won so much money he was barred for life.
Just as Cardia's feeling happy at how well she gets along with the guys she has a flashback to a villager saying "Monster! Die! Die!" , "as if to remind myself I must remain alone and isolated" ;_;
There's a commotion at the entrance as a man tries to get in without an invite.
Me: Van Helsing? He's gotta show up sometime soon.
The man shoots all the guards.
Me: I guess not D:
BUT IT IS. He holds a gun to Lupin's head and growls menacingly to hand over "the monster". Impey picks up Victor so they can run faster haha. Van Helsing is scarily competent and the glossary says he's a "hero of the Vampire War".
There was a Vampire War???
Note that this is the first time vampires or anything supernatural has come up all game. But they're apparently a subspecies of humanity with stronger members being "more pure blooded" HMM WHERE HAVE I SEEN SOMETHING LIKE THIS BEFORE *attempts to headcanon this as set in the same universe as Hakuoki* Apparently the war happened two years ago and humanity won thanks to Britain's "gas weapon"and Japan was so isolated they didn't notice.
Anyway I guess I can accept this as an AU of "Dracula"'s Van Helsing, turned from grandfatherly academic to cold, deadly assassin by the horrors of the Vampire War etc. And I mean, this version is sexier.
Victor: You made so many vampire kills for Twilight, you're known as the human weapon. Isn't that right, Van?
Me: That is not how his name works, Victor
Van Helsing: I have retired from Twilight.Now I work for 50 Shades of Grey.
Impey says he'll buy them some time and manages to endear himself to me for like two whole lines before he says something skeezy. And then Van Helsing shoots him?? And Lupin says to leave him??
Is Impey a demon o.O
Victor and Cardia are horrified and want to go back, so Lupin explains that Van Helsing hasn't killed any of the people he's shot so far. "His guns are loaded with salt. He's seasoning you, not killing you. And Impey's pretty sturdy." (BECAUSE HE'S A DEMON)
But then Van Helsing catches up to them and demonstrates that he also has a grenade launcher(!) so they shouldn't assume he's not willing to kill if they won't hand over the monster.
nnnng I have to decide if Cardia should come out or stay hiding. I haven't used a walkthrough so far, so I'll go with my gut and piiiiicccckkkk......"come out".
*types that and then stares at the screen nervously for a while before actually clicking*
Cardia says she's the monster he seeks and Van Helsing shows his first emotion: surprise. When he asks her to give him the boobgem she shows him why she can't, and, look, I don't mind all the fanservice in this game so far being the protagonist's boobs, but I do wonder how the target audience feels about it.
He stares at her in surprise for a moment longer then says "Change of plan. Tell me everything you know about Isaac Beckford. I need to know if a certain man...is truly immortal".
OoooOOoooh
She apologies and says she can't remember past two years ago E.G. THE DATE OF THE END OF THE VAMPIRE WAR (I love otome)
Victor points out that since they're all looking for Isaac it would be better to just work together with no more kidnapping and shooting people with grenade launchers etc. Van Helsing ponders it...then says no and shoots Lupin!
BUT THE GUN EXPLODES OUT OF VAN HELSING'S HAND!! It turns out Victor was just distracting him so Lupin could screw with it lol. They have gained Van Helsing's respect and he grudgingly agrees to work with them.
Van Helsing: The cook in this mansion is skilled, I would like to receive instruction.
Impey: If you ask nicely ;D
Van Helsing: ...I take it back, this food is awful >.>
I think we've met the obligatory tsundere.
Victor says Cardia constantly exudes a non-lethal but detectable amount of poison (it is not explained how he successfully took a "blood sample" of a universal solvent but never mind), so it's important she not stay in the same place all the time. Lupin says she can help them search for Isaac, but only if she learns some self defence skills from everyone (except for Saint-Germain, who will teach her London geography because he is but a harmless aristocrat, and Lupin, who's busybeing the end-game Final Boy looking for information)
Everyone's protective of her but not in an explicitly gendered way, which I like, even if it's a little odd in a het dating sim set in 19th century England.
I get to choose which training to do first so obviously it is time to learn some COMBAT CHEMISTRY.
Victor: Wouldn't it be better to learn from Lupin? Or Van Helsing? Or even the Count?
Impey: HEY
Victor's cute RAINBOW COMBAT SCIENCE sprite:
Cardia is distracted by how hot he looks in Serious Science mode.
haha omg so there's a big test tube with repeated warnings to Not Open It and...
On the one hand, I am a good ex-Chemistry student who knows not to mess with unknown chemicals, but on the other hand I'm curious...
Heh, even resisting the temptation, Cardia is Into Explosions. She jokingly calls Victor "Master Victor" (Fran-sensei) and they are both endearingly pleased with the lesson and each other.
Later the guys all talk about how great Cardia has been at learning, and argue whose skills will be the most useful. Van Helsing talks up her amazing physical prowess and combat skills, aw. And then Victor gives her a gift to take to her room...IT'S A SHIRT AND TROUSERS AND A CUTE LIL HAT. Which he soaked in a fluid cultivated from her blood!! WHAT A SWEETIE.
I get another training choice with everyone? Is this one of those games where I just pick the same guy or should I be diversifying my portfolio? Let's pick Victor, if I'm going down at least it'll be with my ship.
Victor isn't sure she has more to learn from him but everyone goes on about how great he is and he blushes.
Cardia: Why don't you teach me about explosives? :D
Victor: That's a bit too dangerous...I know, I'll teach you the history of alchemy!
I have the option to say it's boring but SIGN ME UP FOR HISTORY CLASS FRAN-SENSEI
...it actually is a little dull. Anyway, turns out Isaac is the one who figured out how to make alchemy actually work. And some say he even discovered...THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE DUN DUN
(it's kind of funny that my primary associations with alchemy and the philosopher's stone are Japanese works set in AU!Europe(**))
Aw one morning Cardia giggles at Impey's shenanigans and everyone's like OMG YOU LAUGHED AND SMILED :D
Lupin: And now, training time is over. It's time for action...
Chapter 4: Train snatch
ooooh
Lupin: We're going to kidnap Twilight's leader! From a TRAIN!!
OOOOH
Victor: That's too dangerous D:
Saint-Germain: It sounds like a nice outing to me ^_^
Cardia: Um. What's a train?
I am 100% up for a train heist but Victor's against it so I make Cardia take his side. If it turns out Victor likes bold girls I'm in trouble lol. Also this music is weirdly reminiscent of Orzamarr from Dragon Age: Origins.
But of course it happens anyway and even the naysayers agree to help. Cardia goes to talk to Victor before the heist and he angsts a bit about using alchemy to hurt people. She points out that all his weapons are non-lethal and he looks sad, like maybe he was forced to commit war crimes as a state alchemistin Amestris.
The heist plan is explained over a train background I recognise from the opening credits, which start with the line "On a train with an unknown destination". HMM.
Cam, wandering past: Someone's monologuing about a plan, huh? That's clearly going to fail.
Me: I know /o\
Cardia feels like the train is a giant black metal mountain swallowing her up.
Van Helsing non-lethally shoots Twilight soldiers while muttering about how standards were higher in his day.
Victor's in danger! It belatedly occurs to me that he probably prefers Cardia to choose the more cautious options but dammit HER MAN IS IN DANGER so she is COMING TO SAVE HIM. I'm probably going to get a bad ending anyway may as well go down in a blaze of glory.
She body slams the soldier to the ground!! ...and then falls over and is about to be stabbed by another one.
Cardia: I'm going to die :(
Me: SPIT ON HIM!!!
But Van Helsing saves her and is impressed by her quick thinking because that was 100% the Van Helsing path option. OH WELL.
Cardia's job is to break the connection between the target's carriage and the back carriages with all the soldiers, using her poison if necessary. That part works, but things are still going pear-shaped, so Van Helsing sends her to the roof to get picked up by Impey in his ornithopter.
But on her way there, a Twilight soldier finds her and says he's been ordered to capture her (THIS IS SUCH A TRAP) and slashes at her with what is 100% a recycled Hakuoki sword animation.
Yay, it'sSteampunk Tuxedo Mask Lupin! Their part of the plan got messed up by a storm outside. And then from behind a seat comes...some purple haired guy??? Who introduces himself as...HERLOCK SHOLMES
Luckily I was forewarned that this was a thing. It's still very silly, and I'm not sure why him having a long purple ponytail is bugging me so much given everything else but it just feels WRONG. Anyway, Sholmes (sigh) outsmarts and ties up Lupin and says it's a detective's duty to prevent a crime in progress.
Me: Spit on the rope!!!
Cardia: *touches the rope*
Me: I GUESS
Sholmes: ...huh. Cute understudy you have there, Lupin.
Lupin: If you think she's just here for her looks you're going to get hurt ^_^
Lupin gives her a chance to escape to the front of the Twilight leader's carriage to cut that connector, but she happens to look inside and...the carriage is empty!!!
...and then she feels the cold hard steel of a gun at her temple, held by a middle aged man I don't recognise. He leads her to another carriage, filled with soldiers, and she remembers Lupin's training: Don't give up, wait for an opportunity.
He calmly remarks that he would have expected a young girl like her to scream and cry, but she is a unique person after all. "To him and to the world."
An androgynous voice: This is unnecessary, Aleister.
Me: ALEISTER CROWLY??? Also wow, this...dude(?) sounds like evil twin Kaoru from Hakuoki lol
There is a CG of a pretty androgynous blonde smiling gently.
Me: Hmm, still can't tell if this is a boy or a...
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hot evil brother: Oh that's right, you wouldn't know who I am. You were always asleep.
He's saying "nee-san" which I think is for older sisters? Cardia's age is unknown even to her but she comes across as late teens/early 20s to me.
HE'S FINIS, ISAAC'S SUCCESSOR, THE HEAD OF TWILIGHT AND THE GUY THEY'RE HERE TO KIDNAP.
Finis: I wanted to meet you, so I leaked that I'd be on this train, with a touch of a lie regarding the amount of security ^_^
And then there's an explosion behind them. Finis just smiles.
Wow that's some heavy duty bee-girl aesthetic there Finis. The guy on the right is Aleister, whose surname hasn't been mentioned yet but come on.
And then just as all seems lost, through the window comes...VAN HELSING!!
Van Helsing: If anyone moves a finger I'll shoot Finis!
Finis : Go on then, shoot me ^_^
Van Helsing: SHUT UP
...messy relationship with your old boss, huh, Van Helsing? Maybe there's some sort of BEE MIND CONTROL
Aleister: Put the gun down, Abraham, for old time's sake.
Van Helsing: Sorry, Aleister, but I can't do that. Finis, I'm killing you here and now.
Cardia: Stop!
Me: sigh, are we going to have the old "he's my brother!" angst?
Cardia: This whole mission is to kidnap him!
Me: Fair
Van Helsing: If I can kill Finis with my own two hands that becomes my top priority!
Me: Just shoot him then?
Finis: You're wasting time with unnecessary talk because you can't make a decision. Are you afraid you will die? Or that she will die? Or...are you afraid I won't? ^_^
And then, through the window, comes...A CANNONBALL!!! And FIREWORKS!!!
Cardia recognises this as a classic Lupin manoeuvre and sure enough he calls her name from outside, where he is dangling from a rope ladder hanging from the sky.
She knows that if she falls, she'll die, but trusts him to catch her. She feels Finis's fingers brush against her as she takes a running leap out the window. As she and Lupin watch the train fall away behind them she sees Finis watching them escape...with a smile, like a small child with a fun toy. Somehow, it feels like she has seen his cold gaze before, a long time ago.
And then her chest starts burning??
Chapter 5: Vampire Requium
...you know what, I'm not sure I'm up for vampires on top of all that. I might stop for the night.
Oh but I want to note before I forget that I'm not sure Saint Germain's eyes are ever visibly open, which feels Symbolic. Also I hope Cardia spits on something ;_; Would also settle for her cutting herself and using her blood as a weapon, I'm not picky. I am enjoying how she has the sort of powerful but terrifying inhuman-ness I was sad not to get from girl demons in Hakuoki. Am also enjoying that while Finis is an androgynously feminine villain he's at least not a crossdresser, sigh. JUST MAKE AN EVIL SISTER, OTOMATE.
Some nerdy observations I didn't want cluttering things up:
Lupin, Van Helsing, and Saint Germain all use the polite, feminine-coded personal pronoun "watashi", I guess to give off a sense of gentlemanliness. Victor and Finis use the boyish "boku" and Impey the manlier "ore". Actually I think Lupin may have switched to ore now?
The sprites are all super crisp even in close up except when a close-up focusses on the eyes, in which case everything's visibly pixellated and blurry, oops.
The backgrounds are a bit eh artistically (the use of colour is a little Cheap Acrylic Landscape From the 70s) and slightly blurrier than the sprites, but mostly do their job adequately. Overall everything looks pretty good for a game originally designed for mobile devices being played on a big TV.
I'm sure everyone calling Victor "Fran" and Van Helsing "Van" in Japanese makes sense to actual Japanese speakers but it amuses me.
The heights are Impey > Victor > Saint Germain > Lupin > Van Helsing, the differences are fairly slight but it's still cute seeing Victor tower slightly over the louder dudes.
(*)ok the Savoy didn't open until 1889 but shh this is an AU
(**)If you're not familiar with it, I've been making a bunch of references to the great manga/anime Fullmetal Alchemist (Brotherhood), which amongst other things involves a colonialist Steampunk European country getting government Alchemists to commit war crimes and create the philosopher's stone to achieve eternal life.
I am feeling under the weather today and Cam pointed out I can just plug the headphones into the controller so time to lie on the couch and flirt with a nerd.
...and it's, uh. Quite a journey!
Before I forget: it was at about this point that I realised the significance of the name Cardia haha (THE HEART BURNING POISON WAS REFLUX ALL ALONG)
Also I got the screenshots to upload, hooray! Here's the inset thing and a Twilight soldier, as added to the previous post.
Anyway.
Impey and Victor try and convince Cardia they can figure out a way to fix her, even if she has no heartbeat, but she's still very depressed. Lupin drags them "somewhere nice" to take her mind off things.
....namely, a casino run by mobsters? Admittedly, they are all wanted fugitives, they can't exactly wander into the Savoy(*) for high tea.
Huh I get to choose to hang out with Victor or Impey but not Lupin. *grabs at nerdy scientist who is not a sleaze*
(I'm hoping Victor doesn't turn out to be the "secretly yandere" type of gentle voiced dude but am prepared to roll with it if need be. Also Lupin is looking like the True Love Interest, which I can live with, even if they could stand to tone down the Hero(tm) markers a little)
Haa Cardia says Lupin seems "preoccupied", eg he keeps muttering to himself about how he will save all this beautiful money from lesser men.
Victor and Cardia have a freaking adorable scene where she gets VERY EXCITED about fairy floss. Apparently Impey ended up chased into the Thames by security so that'll be fun on his route. And of course Lupin won so much money he was barred for life.
Just as Cardia's feeling happy at how well she gets along with the guys she has a flashback to a villager saying "Monster! Die! Die!" , "as if to remind myself I must remain alone and isolated" ;_;
There's a commotion at the entrance as a man tries to get in without an invite.
Me: Van Helsing? He's gotta show up sometime soon.
The man shoots all the guards.
Me: I guess not D:
BUT IT IS. He holds a gun to Lupin's head and growls menacingly to hand over "the monster". Impey picks up Victor so they can run faster haha. Van Helsing is scarily competent and the glossary says he's a "hero of the Vampire War".
There was a Vampire War???
Note that this is the first time vampires or anything supernatural has come up all game. But they're apparently a subspecies of humanity with stronger members being "more pure blooded" HMM WHERE HAVE I SEEN SOMETHING LIKE THIS BEFORE *attempts to headcanon this as set in the same universe as Hakuoki* Apparently the war happened two years ago and humanity won thanks to Britain's "gas weapon"
Anyway I guess I can accept this as an AU of "Dracula"'s Van Helsing, turned from grandfatherly academic to cold, deadly assassin by the horrors of the Vampire War etc. And I mean, this version is sexier.
Victor: You made so many vampire kills for Twilight, you're known as the human weapon. Isn't that right, Van?
Me: That is not how his name works, Victor
Van Helsing: I have retired from Twilight.
Impey says he'll buy them some time and manages to endear himself to me for like two whole lines before he says something skeezy. And then Van Helsing shoots him?? And Lupin says to leave him??
Is Impey a demon o.O
Victor and Cardia are horrified and want to go back, so Lupin explains that Van Helsing hasn't killed any of the people he's shot so far. "His guns are loaded with salt. He's seasoning you, not killing you. And Impey's pretty sturdy." (BECAUSE HE'S A DEMON)
But then Van Helsing catches up to them and demonstrates that he also has a grenade launcher(!) so they shouldn't assume he's not willing to kill if they won't hand over the monster.
nnnng I have to decide if Cardia should come out or stay hiding. I haven't used a walkthrough so far, so I'll go with my gut and piiiiicccckkkk......"come out".
*types that and then stares at the screen nervously for a while before actually clicking*
Cardia says she's the monster he seeks and Van Helsing shows his first emotion: surprise. When he asks her to give him the boobgem she shows him why she can't, and, look, I don't mind all the fanservice in this game so far being the protagonist's boobs, but I do wonder how the target audience feels about it.
He stares at her in surprise for a moment longer then says "Change of plan. Tell me everything you know about Isaac Beckford. I need to know if a certain man...is truly immortal".
OoooOOoooh
She apologies and says she can't remember past two years ago E.G. THE DATE OF THE END OF THE VAMPIRE WAR (I love otome)
Victor points out that since they're all looking for Isaac it would be better to just work together with no more kidnapping and shooting people with grenade launchers etc. Van Helsing ponders it...then says no and shoots Lupin!
BUT THE GUN EXPLODES OUT OF VAN HELSING'S HAND!! It turns out Victor was just distracting him so Lupin could screw with it lol. They have gained Van Helsing's respect and he grudgingly agrees to work with them.
Van Helsing: The cook in this mansion is skilled, I would like to receive instruction.
Impey: If you ask nicely ;D
Van Helsing: ...I take it back, this food is awful >.>
I think we've met the obligatory tsundere.
Victor says Cardia constantly exudes a non-lethal but detectable amount of poison (it is not explained how he successfully took a "blood sample" of a universal solvent but never mind), so it's important she not stay in the same place all the time. Lupin says she can help them search for Isaac, but only if she learns some self defence skills from everyone (except for Saint-Germain, who will teach her London geography because he is but a harmless aristocrat, and Lupin, who's busy
Everyone's protective of her but not in an explicitly gendered way, which I like, even if it's a little odd in a het dating sim set in 19th century England.
I get to choose which training to do first so obviously it is time to learn some COMBAT CHEMISTRY.
Victor: Wouldn't it be better to learn from Lupin? Or Van Helsing? Or even the Count?
Impey: HEY
Victor's cute RAINBOW COMBAT SCIENCE sprite:
Cardia is distracted by how hot he looks in Serious Science mode.
haha omg so there's a big test tube with repeated warnings to Not Open It and...
On the one hand, I am a good ex-Chemistry student who knows not to mess with unknown chemicals, but on the other hand I'm curious...
Heh, even resisting the temptation, Cardia is Into Explosions. She jokingly calls Victor "Master Victor" (Fran-sensei) and they are both endearingly pleased with the lesson and each other.
Later the guys all talk about how great Cardia has been at learning, and argue whose skills will be the most useful. Van Helsing talks up her amazing physical prowess and combat skills, aw. And then Victor gives her a gift to take to her room...IT'S A SHIRT AND TROUSERS AND A CUTE LIL HAT. Which he soaked in a fluid cultivated from her blood!! WHAT A SWEETIE.
I get another training choice with everyone? Is this one of those games where I just pick the same guy or should I be diversifying my portfolio? Let's pick Victor, if I'm going down at least it'll be with my ship.
Victor isn't sure she has more to learn from him but everyone goes on about how great he is and he blushes.
Cardia: Why don't you teach me about explosives? :D
Victor: That's a bit too dangerous...I know, I'll teach you the history of alchemy!
I have the option to say it's boring but SIGN ME UP FOR HISTORY CLASS FRAN-SENSEI
...it actually is a little dull. Anyway, turns out Isaac is the one who figured out how to make alchemy actually work. And some say he even discovered...THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE DUN DUN
(it's kind of funny that my primary associations with alchemy and the philosopher's stone are Japanese works set in AU!Europe(**))
Aw one morning Cardia giggles at Impey's shenanigans and everyone's like OMG YOU LAUGHED AND SMILED :D
Lupin: And now, training time is over. It's time for action...
Chapter 4: Train snatch
ooooh
Lupin: We're going to kidnap Twilight's leader! From a TRAIN!!
OOOOH
Victor: That's too dangerous D:
Saint-Germain: It sounds like a nice outing to me ^_^
Cardia: Um. What's a train?
I am 100% up for a train heist but Victor's against it so I make Cardia take his side. If it turns out Victor likes bold girls I'm in trouble lol. Also this music is weirdly reminiscent of Orzamarr from Dragon Age: Origins.
But of course it happens anyway and even the naysayers agree to help. Cardia goes to talk to Victor before the heist and he angsts a bit about using alchemy to hurt people. She points out that all his weapons are non-lethal and he looks sad, like maybe he was forced to commit war crimes as a state alchemist
The heist plan is explained over a train background I recognise from the opening credits, which start with the line "On a train with an unknown destination". HMM.
Cam, wandering past: Someone's monologuing about a plan, huh? That's clearly going to fail.
Me: I know /o\
Cardia feels like the train is a giant black metal mountain swallowing her up.
Van Helsing non-lethally shoots Twilight soldiers while muttering about how standards were higher in his day.
Victor's in danger! It belatedly occurs to me that he probably prefers Cardia to choose the more cautious options but dammit HER MAN IS IN DANGER so she is COMING TO SAVE HIM. I'm probably going to get a bad ending anyway may as well go down in a blaze of glory.
She body slams the soldier to the ground!! ...and then falls over and is about to be stabbed by another one.
Cardia: I'm going to die :(
Me: SPIT ON HIM!!!
But Van Helsing saves her and is impressed by her quick thinking because that was 100% the Van Helsing path option. OH WELL.
Cardia's job is to break the connection between the target's carriage and the back carriages with all the soldiers, using her poison if necessary. That part works, but things are still going pear-shaped, so Van Helsing sends her to the roof to get picked up by Impey in his ornithopter.
But on her way there, a Twilight soldier finds her and says he's been ordered to capture her (THIS IS SUCH A TRAP) and slashes at her with what is 100% a recycled Hakuoki sword animation.
Yay, it's
Luckily I was forewarned that this was a thing. It's still very silly, and I'm not sure why him having a long purple ponytail is bugging me so much given everything else but it just feels WRONG. Anyway, Sholmes (sigh) outsmarts and ties up Lupin and says it's a detective's duty to prevent a crime in progress.
Me: Spit on the rope!!!
Cardia: *touches the rope*
Me: I GUESS
Sholmes: ...huh. Cute understudy you have there, Lupin.
Lupin: If you think she's just here for her looks you're going to get hurt ^_^
Lupin gives her a chance to escape to the front of the Twilight leader's carriage to cut that connector, but she happens to look inside and...the carriage is empty!!!
...and then she feels the cold hard steel of a gun at her temple, held by a middle aged man I don't recognise. He leads her to another carriage, filled with soldiers, and she remembers Lupin's training: Don't give up, wait for an opportunity.
He calmly remarks that he would have expected a young girl like her to scream and cry, but she is a unique person after all. "To him and to the world."
An androgynous voice: This is unnecessary, Aleister.
Me: ALEISTER CROWLY??? Also wow, this...dude(?) sounds like evil twin Kaoru from Hakuoki lol
There is a CG of a pretty androgynous blonde smiling gently.
Me: Hmm, still can't tell if this is a boy or a...
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hot evil brother: Oh that's right, you wouldn't know who I am. You were always asleep.
He's saying "nee-san" which I think is for older sisters? Cardia's age is unknown even to her but she comes across as late teens/early 20s to me.
HE'S FINIS, ISAAC'S SUCCESSOR, THE HEAD OF TWILIGHT AND THE GUY THEY'RE HERE TO KIDNAP.
Finis: I wanted to meet you, so I leaked that I'd be on this train, with a touch of a lie regarding the amount of security ^_^
And then there's an explosion behind them. Finis just smiles.
Wow that's some heavy duty bee-girl aesthetic there Finis. The guy on the right is Aleister, whose surname hasn't been mentioned yet but come on.
And then just as all seems lost, through the window comes...VAN HELSING!!
Van Helsing: If anyone moves a finger I'll shoot Finis!
Finis : Go on then, shoot me ^_^
Van Helsing: SHUT UP
...messy relationship with your old boss, huh, Van Helsing? Maybe there's some sort of BEE MIND CONTROL
Aleister: Put the gun down, Abraham, for old time's sake.
Van Helsing: Sorry, Aleister, but I can't do that. Finis, I'm killing you here and now.
Cardia: Stop!
Me: sigh, are we going to have the old "he's my brother!" angst?
Cardia: This whole mission is to kidnap him!
Me: Fair
Van Helsing: If I can kill Finis with my own two hands that becomes my top priority!
Me: Just shoot him then?
Finis: You're wasting time with unnecessary talk because you can't make a decision. Are you afraid you will die? Or that she will die? Or...are you afraid I won't? ^_^
And then, through the window, comes...A CANNONBALL!!! And FIREWORKS!!!
Cardia recognises this as a classic Lupin manoeuvre and sure enough he calls her name from outside, where he is dangling from a rope ladder hanging from the sky.
She knows that if she falls, she'll die, but trusts him to catch her. She feels Finis's fingers brush against her as she takes a running leap out the window. As she and Lupin watch the train fall away behind them she sees Finis watching them escape...with a smile, like a small child with a fun toy. Somehow, it feels like she has seen his cold gaze before, a long time ago.
And then her chest starts burning??
Chapter 5: Vampire Requium
...you know what, I'm not sure I'm up for vampires on top of all that. I might stop for the night.
Oh but I want to note before I forget that I'm not sure Saint Germain's eyes are ever visibly open, which feels Symbolic. Also I hope Cardia spits on something ;_; Would also settle for her cutting herself and using her blood as a weapon, I'm not picky. I am enjoying how she has the sort of powerful but terrifying inhuman-ness I was sad not to get from girl demons in Hakuoki. Am also enjoying that while Finis is an androgynously feminine villain he's at least not a crossdresser, sigh. JUST MAKE AN EVIL SISTER, OTOMATE.
Some nerdy observations I didn't want cluttering things up:
Lupin, Van Helsing, and Saint Germain all use the polite, feminine-coded personal pronoun "watashi", I guess to give off a sense of gentlemanliness. Victor and Finis use the boyish "boku" and Impey the manlier "ore". Actually I think Lupin may have switched to ore now?
The sprites are all super crisp even in close up except when a close-up focusses on the eyes, in which case everything's visibly pixellated and blurry, oops.
The backgrounds are a bit eh artistically (the use of colour is a little Cheap Acrylic Landscape From the 70s) and slightly blurrier than the sprites, but mostly do their job adequately. Overall everything looks pretty good for a game originally designed for mobile devices being played on a big TV.
I'm sure everyone calling Victor "Fran" and Van Helsing "Van" in Japanese makes sense to actual Japanese speakers but it amuses me.
The heights are Impey > Victor > Saint Germain > Lupin > Van Helsing, the differences are fairly slight but it's still cute seeing Victor tower slightly over the louder dudes.
(*)ok the Savoy didn't open until 1889 but shh this is an AU
(**)If you're not familiar with it, I've been making a bunch of references to the great manga/anime Fullmetal Alchemist (Brotherhood), which amongst other things involves a colonialist Steampunk European country getting government Alchemists to commit war crimes and create the philosopher's stone to achieve eternal life.
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