Symphonic Rain

[Mr Poltroon]

Ah~, finished Lise's route. Maybe I'll bother with bad ends one of these days, but not for now.

 

Not as many inspiring thoughts this time. No philosophies or anything...

Lise's Route

I don't actually have as much to say about this one, I don't think. We'll see what I end up writing.

 

Starting right at the beginning (that being their first meeting) there's not much to really say. Shy and afraid, persistence eventually got them to become friends.

Which led to the first issue; The Cenacolo incident, where everyone just left as soon as Lise showed up and she was left crying. I think Chris was being uncharacteristically forceful here. Not only was he pretty much forcing Lise to come against her objections, he was heading for the very Cenacolo he didn't like either. I cannot understand what made him to such a thing. Lise's similarities to Arietta are the only thing to come to mind, and how he apparently did the same thing for Arietta with Torta.

----

Grave's lessons were a pretty intriguing thing. 

It showed us how bad he was, but also how good he was. I came to believe he was an altogether too cocky and strict good teacher.

I just don't understand how he can love music this much, (he puts his emotions into the music, he's a Fortellist after all) and still end up being that terrible and despicable.

As I'll mention later down the line, I don't understand his threats at this point (Chris was stupid for playing Lise's song in the first place, but still). What he says and what he chooses to do are really different. I'll talk about this later*

----

I like how Asino served as a convenient info-dump this time around. Coming in, doing his thing and leaving. This also convinced me all-the-more that those two truly are friends. Either that or Chris interprets things in the strangest ways and delusion-ed himself into thinking this.

Grave being her father wasn't that much of a surprise. In fact, I don't think I was surprised by much this route. 

Some suspicion may have shown up at this point because of the rumors and another certain devil... But it's quickly cleared if you think about it. Hiding away in an old building no one ever comes to. Running away as soon as someone even gets near. Does this seem like cocky behaviour to you? (Perhaps, "God, you plebeian could contaminate me with germs! Run away!"?)

----

I like changes in personality. Over time, people can change and still be themselves. This happened with Lise and I liked it. The music playing in the old building was a pretty good part for me.

When it closed, which I assume may have had something to do with Grave, but we'll never know, Ms. Cordell's behaviour conforms to expectations and leaves me liking her all the more. 

 

Because of this they end up practicing at the apartment instead. This has another consequence, to which conclusion I arrived at first sight.

When she appeared with a hurt foot, I immediately blamed Grave. Later a hurt throat, I just couldn't have doubts anymore. The feet would impede her from reaching Chris (which it didn't) and the throat would impede her from singing (which it didn't). Just how more obvious could it become?

----

Chris' behaviour toward Grave's disciplining seemed way too aggressive, but Grave didn't actually do anything to him.*

For all his threatening to kill him, Grave just ignored those two when they went to live together (scenes which I enjoyed very much). If they, in the end, didn't come to get the music sheet, would he have done anything? We'll never know.

He also never targeted Chris himself but Lise instead. I suppose it would hurt Chris more that way...

----

As for the music sheet rescue mission itself I could already see the death flags all over the place. But them playing the Fortell on that place... Just how stupid are they? I'm not saying he wouldn't have found them if he didn't play the Fortell, but still. What a daring couple, those two.

I am just surprised a building that big was actually deserted...

 

The story afterward smelled like lies all the way through. However, we were looking at this through Chris' biased eyes, making it all that much harder to discern any facts here. Lise believed it, the story made enough sense and Grave really had no good reason to lie. It'd be much easier to just use his power at that point. 

Both Lise's and Grave's replies afterwards were surprising though, I'll give it that. Lise too cute and Grave too nice. 

----

Right before the graduation they hinted at something "hearing a familiar sound", I really do wonder what that was. I can assume it was Phorni, but I can't guess anymore from here. Talking about guesses, I really do wonder what's going on between Torta and Asino, if anything. They seem oddly in sync most of the time.

 

Graduation itself was as expected, and the later turn of events was also completely within my expectations. What he did to Lise, I can't really even hazard a guess as to how it made made her become like that, but it did. Having played other games with similar turns of events lately, the ending did not impact me much.

 

Grave is a despicable person, who probably made Fal like that too. He had some kind of backstory justification for his actions, but I felt it was just excuses and hardly important.

 

I will say one last thing though:

Lise2Cute

Lise and Fal's Routes

Warning, not only do I ramble here as I am very confused on many aspects. Recommended TL;DR.

Fal's appearance in Lisa's route only served to scare me, really. Knowing Grave was her benefactor I think she left us in the dark about much more than we were made to think. I have a hard time believing she wouldn't know Grave's daughter all that well, and even assuming she did, her behaviour at the Cenacolo was somewhat strange.

She told Chris to leave, and then he had to wait 4 or 5 days to be able to see her again. Just who does Fal think she is here? Did Lise actually trust her more at that point? How? Did they know each other well or not? We'll never know.

I don't understand why Chris couldn't help at that point. He was all but kicked from the room.

...I'll simply assume this was Grave's doing, making Lise stay at home or something.

Fal attempted to get more information from Lise by using Chris. This is fine. The whole conversation trying to discourage him from being with Lise is also fine, since she still kind of wanted him as a partner. The scheme failed here, unfortunately.

I'm just really confused on what she was trying to accomplish by getting Chris away from Lise right after the incident and why she didn't reaveal any information if she was trying to help Lise for her own glory.

Someone with a clearer mind on this subject might be able to help me.

This could warrant a re-read.

----

Due to Fal's appearance I simply couldn't shrug off the rumors as baseless, so that's something acquired by playing Fal's route first. On the other hand, if we play Lise's first, Fal's twist will hit us that much harder(given that the girl was completely innocent in this one), and Grave showing up will scare us to hell and back.

Excellent way of doing things, again.

 

The "we'll never know"'s are parts where theories are most welcome if you do have any.

 

I didn't like this route as much as the last one. Though I much prefer Lise over Fal. 

I don't like the antagonist. I prefer when they have proper motives for being cruel than when they're just cruel for the heck of it. Perhaps more backstory will come later, who knows?

 

Actually there are people who said that (If you finish Fal and Lise)

Lise's route is more of a route to provide more insight to Fal and the people she grew up with. If you consider the fact that Lise makes no major appearance in other routes, it kind of makes sense. Of course, Lise fans would disagree. I don't mind whatever the case though.

If this was indeed the case it was done in such a way as to leave me completely confused, as you can see by my comments on both routes.

 

Addendum - Lise and Fal's Route

I forgot to mention the final letter and the break up. I can safely say I much preferred the way it was done this time. And let it be known that perhaps last time was so tragic only to showcase Fal's "evilness".

[Zalor]

Starting right at the beginning (that being their first meeting) there's not much to really say. Shy and afraid, persistence eventually got them to become friends.

Which led to the first issue; The Cenacolo incident, where everyone just left as soon as Lise showed up and she was left crying. I think Chris was being uncharacteristically forceful here. Not only was he pretty much forcing Lise to come against her objections, he was heading for the very Cenacolo he didn't like either. I cannot understand what made him to such a thing.

 

Before I actually respond, I just want to thank you once again for doing this. Not only is it really interesting to see people's detailed reactions to each route one by one, but your interpretations are quite good.

 

Regarding Chris's insistence in going to the Cenacolo, I think it was kind of appropriate considering that Chris had to for once play a more assertive role in order to get Lise. I remember you previously saying that Chris is "lazy and uninspired", but in Lise's route he is less so. He actually persistently tries to practice with Lise. Thus to her, he must seem fairly confident. We know that he is not, and so does he. I read his desire to take Lise to the Cenacolo as a way to prove to himself and her that he is confident, strong and worth working with. The Cenacolo is where the cool kids are, so to speak. Chris wanted to appear worth Lise's time. In addition, just as he wanted to appear more social then he actually is, I think he genuinely thought that bringing Lise to a more social atmosphere would allow her to open up more to him.

 

To expand on Chris's persistence to get Lise, I think it is interesting that she is the only girl Chris tries to win for himself. Both Fal and Torta come to him, but Chris actually has to court Lise himself. 

My suspicions for this I think are that Chris wants to exercise his freedom. Spoilers for those that have not read Alfine yet.

 

Torta has created a social barrier around Chris. Chis is isolated both because of his depressive unsocial personality, and because of Torta's dominance over his social life, in addition to his illness. Getting Lisa was an opportunity to expand his social freedom. To escape the mundane prison of exlusively being either in his room, in school, with Torta, or sometimes with Asino. Fal offers an escape from his monotony as well, but she does so her self. With Lise Chris is forced to adopt a slightly more assertive and persistent role to achieve his freedom. Which shows him actually being motivated enough to take the initiative himself with out having another person push it upon him.

      

[Mr Poltroon]

Before I actually respond, I just want to thank you once again for doing this. Not only is it really interesting to see people's detailed reactions to each route one by one, but your interpretations are quite good.

 

Regarding Chris's insistence in going to the Cenacolo, I think it was kind of appropriate considering that Chris had to for once play a more assertive role in order to get Lise. I remember you previously saying that Chris is "lazy and uninspired", but in Lise's route he is less so. He actually persistently tries to practice with Lise. Thus to her, he must seem fairly confident. We know that he is not, and so does he. I read his desire to take Lise to the Cenacolo as a way to prove to himself and her that he is confident, strong and worth working with. The Cenacolo is where the cool kids are, so to speak. Chris wanted to appear worth Lise's time. In addition, just as he wanted to appear more social then he actually is, I think he genuinely thought that bringing Lise to a more social atmosphere would allow her to open up more to him.

It is as you say. Those less assertive than yourself will always make you act more assertive with them. (Though sometimes it just doesn't click. I remember a colleague I once had who was very shy, and so was I. Since neither of use ever started conversations we spent 3 years without talking much at all - completely different from my partner at the moment, who didn't stop until she broke through my shell)

Lise's Route

You really saw that whole thing in a different light, didn't you? I read it as him fabricating the illusion that taking Lise to be heard by other people she'd become his friend (or something more, we all know his heart was at play here) and she'd be recognized by other people. He then acted without thinking just trying to get it over with as fast as possible.

The way in which he did it is what I found uncharacteristic. He'd usually try to convince the other party, not pull it along, or think things through, do it a person at a time, not right in the middle of everyone.

 

The courting thing really has to do with the characters and... I dunno, maybe his girlfriend?

Fal, Lise and Torta's Route (no, I haven't actually finished Torta yet, right at the start so no spoilers)

Fal went to Chris to get something from him.

Chris went to Lise because he liked her right from the start, whether he wants to admit it or not.

And from what I've seen thus far, Torta does like Chris, but Chris was trying to keep his distance, for obvious reasons.

 

As for doing this kind of thing. I really like it. When I read VN's I usually finish them before posting on the forums, but I find that is a bad idea, since I tend to forget my initial impressions or just most of the story. This was the first VN I actually started from the start and could afford to do a per route analysis; go as you play.

[Snowtsuku]

Now I kind of want to reread Lise's Route. I think it's one of the routes that did not have much of an impact to me, so I can't remember it as well as the others.

[Eclipsed]

Mr. Rampaging 100% Agreement Commentary Symphonic Rain fanboy incoming

 

Ah~, finished Lise's route. Maybe I'll bother with bad ends one of these days, but not for now.

 

Not as many inspiring thoughts this time. No philosophies or anything...

Lise's Route

I don't actually have as much to say about this one, I don't think. We'll see what I end up writing. 

 

Starting right at the beginning (that being their first meeting) there's not much to really say. Shy and afraid, persistence eventually got them to become friends.

Which led to the first issue; The Cenacolo incident, where everyone just left as soon as Lise showed up and she was left crying. I think Chris was being uncharacteristically forceful here. Not only was he pretty much forcing Lise to come against her objections, he was heading for the very Cenacolo he didn't like either. I cannot understand what made him to such a thing. Lise's similarities to Arietta are the only thing to come to mind, and how he apparently did the same thing for Arietta with Torta.

Yeah, Chris's reasoning was basically, "Wow, this shy girl who has been hiding and practicing her singing in the Old School Building has such a wonderful voice! I just HAVE to let the world hear her ASAP! The Cenacolo will be the best place to start!"

 

It was pretty uncharacteristically forceful of him, but I've come to appreciate that Chris was at least more assertive/thinking for himself this time around instead of unknowingly being manipulated like he was in Fal's route.

 

----

Grave's lessons were a pretty intriguing thing. 

It showed us how bad he was, but also how good he was. I came to believe he was an altogether too cocky and strict good teacher.

I just don't understand how he can love music this much, (he puts his emotions into the music, he's a Fortellist after all) and still end up being that terrible and despicable.

Plot  . Someone's got to be the antagonist.

We don't really get much background info on Grave, only that he is a well-reknowned prodigy whose wife left him because he was too busy with his music. Maybe that's all it took. With nothing left but his music, Grave continues pushing himself even further to become the best of the best, the elite of the elite, causing his ego to climb to astronomical proportions.

That explains why his attitude during his lessons is the way it is. He is an elitist who knows his shit. 

As to why his 'disciplining' methods to Lise are so cruel: he HATES singers. Simple as that. His wife left him for a singer. Just look at how pissed he is when Lise affirms her desire to sing during their 'heart to heart' (should've been a dead giveaway that he was NOT going to let the duo off the hook):

 

Other than this, I believe if Lise didn't pursue singing and was obedient to him, she would've turned out fine/been spared the physical abuse. Ms. Cordell turned out fine under his tutelage (and Chris would have too if he didn't meddle) so I guess as long as you don't get on his bad side like Lise did with the singing everything should be fine.

 

As I'll mention later down the line, I don't understand his threats at this point (Chris was stupid for playing Lise's song in the first place, but still). What he says and what he chooses to do are really different. I'll talk about this later*
Grave: "I F@#%$ HATE singers. If you corrupt my daughter, my SUCCESSOR, and make her join the dark side of them despicable singers, you gonna pay!@#"
 

----

I like how Asino served as a convenient info-dump this time around. Coming in, doing his thing and leaving. This also convinced me all-the-more that those two truly are friends. Either that or Chris interprets things in the strangest ways and delusion-ed himself into thinking this.

I believe that was the only scene Asino has in Lise's route. His advice was actually weird to me, because it was useless. Wasn't he saying something like, "Beware the rumors regarding Lise"? Seriously, because of this guy I thought Lise would have a psychological twist like Fal did, but nope xD

 

Grave being her father wasn't that much of a surprise.

I knew Grave was Lise's father from the get-go. In Fal's route in a very short scene right before Grad. Recital, Grave makes a cameo and Fal explicitly mentions him being her benefactor and that she hated him and his daugher xD. I was actually a bit worried, because I thought Grave being her father would be the sole plot twist in this route, but luckily they revealed it pretty early on and focused on how much of an ass he is.

I felt it was a bit weird for the writers to try to do a 'double twist' though. Like I was already under the impression that Grave was her biological father, but then they do the weird "Lise is his daughter, but since her parents separated when she was young she was put in the orphanage, then Grave adopted her later to do the successor thing and kept it a secret that he was her real father to prevent emotional attachment, but now that we're in the climax, let's reveal that he is indeed her biological father!" thing.

 

In fact, I don't think I was surprised by much this route. Me neither. Not sure if cuz Fal made us prepared for any twists or if the twists were just lacking/obvious xD.

 

Some suspicion may have shown up at this point because of the rumors and another certain devil... But it's quickly cleared if you think about it. Hiding away in an old building no one ever comes to. Running away as soon as someone even gets near. Does this seem like cocky behaviour to you? (Perhaps, "God, you plebeian could contaminate me with germs! Run away!"?)

Again which is why I felt Asino's advice "be careful of the rumors about Lise" was useless and only served to mislead readers. It was obvious Lise wasn't a conceited person. Oh well, as you said, it was probably Asino trying to be a genuine friend. He friggen' made me brace myself for nothing though.

 

----

I like changes in personality. Over time, people can change and still be themselves. This happened with Lise and I liked it. The music playing in the old building was a pretty good part for me.

I love Lise's non-shy side. She becomes 100x more adorable! Her theme's also good. I'd rank Fal > Lise > Torta, but they're all good!

 

When it closed, which I assume may have had something to do with Grave, but we'll never know, Ms. Cordell's behaviour conforms to expectations and leaves me liking her all the more.

Cordell's one of those characters you just have to have mad respect for   

 

Because of this they end up practicing at the apartment instead. This has another consequence, to which conclusion I arrived at first sight.

When she appeared with a hurt foot, I immediately blamed Grave. Later a hurt throat, I just couldn't have doubts anymore. The feet would impede her from reaching Chris (which it didn't) and the throat would impede her from singing (which it didn't). Just how more obvious could it become?

What amazes me the most was that Lise walked ALL the way to Chris's house with an injured foot AND in the rain to boot. I didn't keep track how far her place is from Chris's, but I thought it was cute how diligent she was in making those journeys.

 

----

Chris' behaviour toward Grave's disciplining seemed way too aggressive, but Grave didn't actually do anything to him.*

How would you feel if you saw someone you were in love with (and wanted to protect) being physically abused by someone you already have a poor view towards?

 

For all his threatening to kill him, Grave just ignored those two when they went to live together (scenes which I enjoyed very much).

 

With Grave's massive ego, I actually believe what he says in the picture above is true.

 

Also, thinking about it, I tend to enjoy these eloping scenes in VNs. (other VN spoilers) Little Busters -> Riki x Rin, Grisaia -> Yuuji x Yumiko. Something about the intimacy and how the story really zooms in on just these two characters is charming to me. 

 

If they, in the end, didn't come to get the music sheet, would he have done anything? We'll never know. 

He also never targeted Chris himself but Lise instead. I suppose it would hurt Chris more that way...

Oh, I see your point now about how Grave 'doesn't actually do what he says'. He says something along the lines of, "You won't survive if you meddle in my affairs" to Chris right? Essentially a death threat. Pardon me if wrong.

Well, I guess we can say "All talk, no action" xD. 

 

----

As for the music sheet rescue mission itself I could already see the death flags all over the place. But them playing the Fortell on that place... Just how stupid are they? I'm not saying he wouldn't have found them if he didn't play the Fortell, but still. What a daring couple, those two.

I am just surprised a building that big was actually deserted...

Grave was supposedly not even home (Lise wasn't sure), so it shouldn't have mattered if they spent 3 minutes to play a song. They were already searching for a couple hours anyway.

And yeah, writers used a cheap excuse to explain the deserted-ness. "Grave doesn't like having chefs and butlers around the house" or something xD.

 

The story afterward smelled like lies all the way through. However, we were looking at this through Chris' biased eyes, making it all that much harder to discern any facts here. Lise believed it, the story made enough sense and Grave really had no good reason to lie. It'd be much easier to just use his power at that point. 

Both Lise's and Grave's replies afterwards were surprising though, I'll give it that. Lise too cute and Grave too nice. 
Mhmm. I was shaking my head calling BS the entire time, but man, the conversation totally sounded convincing and genuine. But again, this should've been a dead giveaway xD:

 

----

Right before the graduation they hinted at something "hearing a familiar sound", I really do wonder what that was. I can assume it was Phorni, but I can't guess anymore from here. Talking about guesses, I really do wonder what's going on between Torta and Asino, if anything. They seem oddly in sync most of the time.
I don't remember the "hearing a familiar sound" :<

 

Yeah, I totally wonder what's up with Torta and Asino. The way they act is pretty weird. They take subtle jabs at each other, but seem to be in sync regarding things. It's like are they friends? Enemies?

 

 

Graduation itself was as expected, and the later turn of events was also completely within my expectations. What he did to Lise, I can't really even hazard a guess as to how it made made her become like that, but it did. Having played other games with similar turns of events lately, the ending did not impact me much.

I guess prolonged strangulation caused oxygen deprivation to the brain so that's why she loses her memory(?). And of course, her voice box getting rekt to prevent her from ever singing.

Being the jolly sap that I am, I still cried when there were signs of her voice returning in the ending   

 

Grave is a despicable person, who probably made Fal like that too. He had some kind of backstory justification for his actions, but I felt it was just excuses and hardly important.

 

I will say one last thing though:

Lise2Cute

You think Lise is cute. Therefore, you are cool. *Thumbs up*

Have fun with Torta route!

[Mr Poltroon]

Mr. Rampaging 100% Agreement Commentary Symphonic Rain fanboy incoming

 

Fal and Lise's Route

Oh, I see your point now about how Grave doesn't actually do what he says. He says something along the lines of, "You won't survive if you meddle in my affairs" to Chris right? Essentially a death threat. Pardon me if wrong.

Well, I guess we can say "All talk, no action" xD. 

I was indeed talking about how he made a death threat to Chris and decided to hurt his daughter instead. What?

 

I believe that was the only scene Asino has in Lise's route. His advice was actually weird to me, because it was useless. Wasn't he saying something like, "Beware the rumors regarding Lise"? Seriously, because of this guy I thought Lise would have a psychological twist like Fal did, but nope xD

Asino's advice was there for those who played Fal's route first, as I later stated. These routes complement each other. One make's Fal's all the more unexpected, the other trolls us in Lise's.

 

I knew Grave was Lise's father from the get-go. A very short scene right before Grad. Recital Grave makes a cameo in Fal's route where she explicitly mentions him being her benefactor and that she hated him and his daugher xD. I was actually a bit worried, because I thought Grave being her father would be the sole plot twist in this route, but luckily they revealed it pretty early on.

I'll have to consider what you just said... She said she also hated Grave's daughter (which at some point I suspected to be Ms, Cordell, but quickly changed my mind). Because of this, I really don't know what to make of Fal's involvement with Lise.

 

I don't remember the "hearing a familiar sound"

It was a random off-line right around the time we never saw Phorni again. I just happened to take note of it.

 

Grave was supposedly not even home (Lise wasn't sure), so it shouldn't have mattered if they spent 3 minutes to play a song. They were already searching for a couple hours anyway.

I'm just really surprised a bloody mansion is left completely unattended. 

 

 But again, this should've been a dead giveaway

Yes, he made various faces and said various things that hinted at his hatred towards singers, and that the duo wouldn't make it out unscathed. But in the end, that didn't mean he was going to do something, right? He could have ended up doing nothing.

 

How would you feel if you saw someone you in love with and wanted to protect being physically abused?

Yes, you're absolutely correct here.

[Eclipsed]

Fal and Lise's Route

Oh, I see your point now about how Grave doesn't actually do what he says. He says something along the lines of, "You won't survive if you meddle in my affairs" to Chris right? Essentially a death threat. Pardon me if wrong.

Well, I guess we can say "All talk, no action" xD. 

I was indeed talking about how he made a death threat to Chris and decided to hurt his daughter instead. What?

 

-Yeah, exactly. Grave is 'all talk, no action' to everybody except Lise.

 

In general, the thing about Grave is that he is only ever 'evil' towards Lise and Lise only (and by extension, people like Chris who involve themselves with Lise). That's the only reason I could think of regarding why their society hasn't already comdemned this prick. They don't know how evil he is to this one person(his daughter). People like Ms. Cordell seem to have no ill thoughts of him whatsoever.

-Why make threats to Chris and not do anything to Chris, but instead hurt Lise-

Grave is always going to hurt Lise, regardless of Chris being there or not. It's just that Chris's meddling causes Lise to further pursue singing (which Grave TOTALLY hates) so more 'disciplining' is required by Grave. Overall though I feel Grave's abuse towards Lise is more because of her pursuing singing rather than him carrying out his threat on Chris.

So that leaves why Grave doesn't do anything to Chris: Grave has a socially high standing as a well-reknowned fortello player. He isn't going to tarnish his reputation by carrying out these death threats or physically harming Chris. 

I'll admit though that it was anti-climatic for Grave to not even attempt any non-physical attacks on Chris like expel him from the Institution or any other "I have power, so I'll screw you over" moves that antagonists in positions of power would typically do.

So again, "all talk, no action."   

Well, one reason I could think of would be attributing this to to Grave's ego: he was so confident that his successor, Lise, would return to him on her own volition and follow his ways. Of course, that failed, so he made the bet with them in hopes that they would not perform as well as they did in the recital (this relates to the bad end btw). Though in the 'good' end, this failed too.

So fk everything, you can have Lise, right after I disown her and strangle her to death. Take her, you guys aren't worth my time anymore. Good day to you sir.

 

 But again, this should've been a dead giveaway

Yes, he made various faces and said various things that hinted at his hatred towards singers, and that the duo wouldn't make it out unscathed. But in the end, that didn't mean he was going to do something, right? He could have ended up doing nothing.

 

-Coulda, woulda, shoulda; TL;DR Grave is an ass so he did something xD. My point was it was no surprise  that he did end up doing something to screw the duo over.

This line gave me the dreaded "Oh no..." feeling

[Mr Poltroon]

I'll talk in detail about Torta's route tomorrow morning. In the meanwhile, have the random notes I made as I played.

There's something really shady going on.

Her voice doesn't match the sprite, or her sprite doesn't match what she says. She says stuff followed by "nevermind" a lot. Is sometimes strangely serious...

 

Rain hitting his face below a dome. Oh, what a mystery...

 

Arietta...

 

Cold nicely dealt with.

 

"Come on in you bastard!; Stay longer, c'mon!" -Pretty much a quote from the Granny.

 

Rarely seen smiles seen way too often.

 

"This is her true character, you're being deceived all along!" -  Asino

Oh, the irony.

 

So this is the good end, huh? Would it be possible to make a bad end to this outcome?

[Mr Poltroon]

Well then. After a night's sleep I wonder if I still remember anything...

Fal and Torta's route

Right from the start this route had more going on than the others. Torta many times made the wrong sprite to match her voice or said the wrong thing for her sprite. It's easy to notice right from the start that she likes him, if only ever so slightly at this point.

 

This route focuses a lot on what Fal's route basically skipped over with one quick letter.

Torta and Ari are twins, and they're sisters.

A lot of this route was spent dragging about, with Torta painfully putting up with an unrequited (or maybe not so much) love, trying not to betray her sister, or not to put Chris in a similar situation.

It miserably failed.

 

During Natale, while under a dome, Chris felt rain on his face. Just to make it clear, I am almost positive he just cried without noticing. Goes to show how his emotions were already in disarray.

 

In general, I feel he dealt with Ari in the best way he could.

A lot of stuff is likely to have gone on behind the scenes so excuse my disorderly rambling.

 

I'll start by the first big issue. Ari's appearance on New Year's. I was waiting pretty much the entire time for the twins switching places card to be used. I'll come back to this later*

Chris mistakenly saying the wrong name was not a "twist" (if you can call it that) that I expected. At any rate, I'm not sure I can comment on this. It did not seem like that much of an issue, mistaking the names, especially considering he had been dining with Torta almost everyday as she placed the table while humming.

But I'm no twin, for all I know she could've really been hurt, and I doubt she had some garlic on hand to fabricate tears.

 

From here on more shady dealings go on. Please notice we never saw the two of them together over the course of this route, so I'm not throwing anything out the window, though I'm aiming for the end rather than the New Year now*

 

Torta was seen placing a letter, one we don't know the contents of other than what she told us, and we know she's pretty much a compulsive liar at this point.

The Graduation recital was a mess. I really have no idea what's going on through Torta's head. No one will end up happy if you all keep up the shenanigans.  

Ari coming back was somewhat painful, and Chris put up with it for Torta. But Torta gives no damns and instead attempts to repent or whatever she did. 

It finishes with us talking to an apparent Torta.

Good end

 

I really don't know what to say of this route, I am convinced this is not the entirety of it, but who knows?

At the end, after the Graduation recital, I am willing to bet the sisters switched places. But this is all baseless... 

[Yukiru]

Well then. After a night's sleep I wonder if I still remember anything...

Fal and Torta's route

Right from the start this route had more going on than the others. Torta many times made the wrong sprite to match her voice or said the wrong thing for her sprite. It's easy to notice right from the start that she likes him, if only ever so slightly at this point.

 

This route focuses a lot on what Fal's route basically skipped over with one quick letter.

Torta and Ari are twins, and they're sisters.

A lot of this route was spent dragging about, with Torta painfully putting up with an unrequited (or maybe not so much) love, trying not to betray her sister, or not to put Chris in a similar situation.

It miserably failed.

 

During Natale, while under a dome, Chris felt rain on his face. Just to make it clear, I am almost positive he just cried without noticing. Goes to show how his emotions were already in disarray.

 

In general, I feel he dealt with Ari in the best way he could.

A lot of stuff is likely to have gone on behind the scenes so excuse my disorderly rambling.

 

I'll start by the first big issue. Ari's appearance on New Year's. I was waiting pretty much the entire time for the twins switching places card to be used. I'll come back to this later*

Chris mistakenly saying the wrong name was not a "twist" (if you can call it that) that I expected. At any rate, I'm not sure I can comment on this. It did not seem like that much of an issue, mistaking the names, especially considering he had been dining with Torta almost everyday as she placed the table while humming.

But I'm no twin, for all I know she could've really been hurt, and I doubt she had some garlic on hand to fabricate tears.

 

From here on more shady dealings go on. Please notice we never saw the two of them together over the course of this route, so I'm not throwing anything out the window, though I'm aiming for the end rather than the New Year now*

 

Torta was seen placing a letter, one we don't know the contents of other than what she told us, and we know she's pretty much a compulsive liar at this point.

The Graduation recital was a mess. I really have no idea what's going on through Torta's head. No one will end up happy if you all keep up the shenanigans.  

Ari coming back was somewhat painful, and Chris put up with it for Torta. But Torta gives no damns and instead attempts to repent or whatever she did. 

It finishes with us talking to an apparent Torta.

Good end

 

I really don't know what to say of this route, I am convinced this is not the entirety of it, but who knows?

At the end, after the Graduation recital, I am willing to bet the sisters switched places. But this is all baseless... 

It'd be welcome if anyone else had their own thoughts so I could formulate some kind of theory as to went on in my head. 

Of course, if there's more to this route we enter spoiler territory so please avoid it in which case.

 

 

As a general impression, I don't like Torta herself much (while I do like tortas). In addition to this mess of a route, I can safely say I enjoyed it less than Lise's route. 

Oh yeah, and I'm loving all these happy ends

[Snowtsuku]

You are currently in a route where I refrain from making theories and comments. Like I said, I may drop a few hints. And to be honest, it's better to discuss things after Al Fine. Besides, I can't remember what are the things I thought of after reading it without the Al Fine. I wish I can forget about this VN and reread it again : >

Oh, and I just remember what Eclipse put in his spoiler thoughts after reading Al Fine : P

 

[Mr Poltroon]

My theory back when I read it is that Arietta didn't go meet Chris on Christmas, but instead it was Torta playing the role of Arietta. 

[Yukiru]

Torta's Route

You might be referring to New Year and not Christmas. After all, Arietta wasn't there for Christmas.

 

I'm at least relived I'm not meant to make much of anything out of that mess yet.

[Eclipsed]

Oh, and I just remember what Eclipse put in his spoiler thoughts after reading Al Fine : P

[Mr Poltroon]

 

[Snowtsuku]

You don't like Torta much. Therefore, you are not cool!

[Eclipsed]

Heh. Even I don't like Torta. I'll gladly put her last in the heroine rank for this VN.

[Mr Poltroon]

My first reading session of Al Fine is finished. Here are some thoughts I wrote as I played. Most of them were made right after the initial revelation.

Twins switch even before this whole thing began? Within expectations.

Terrific accident Chris does not remember? Within reasonable bounds of possibility. Have seen it in plenty other titles.

Rain phenomenon? Completely surprising. -> I guess that the Fairy of his dreams has something to do with Chris' broken mind.

Sudden realisation that Ari may be dead altogether. Ouch. Torta, whoever that is, is the one who writes the letters and sends them home. There's no Ari to read them, they're just sent back to Chris.

Fal's route ended short of visiting Arietta. ...At Fal's request. The epilogue was happy though.

Lise had to put up with an umbrella. She was also deathly afraid of Torta around the start. But by graduation time she was fine talking to her.

It also explains Torta being in sync with Asino.

Rain is linked to Chris' mood? Will have to check Piova metter on the other routes.

The dome rain... I'm still willing to bet it's a tear.

Overreaction at dinner time with Ari easily explained now due to a combination of factors.And emotions.

It is as I had predicted in Fal's route. Grief and Sorrow better Chris' performances, while happiness not so much. I guess some emotions are stronger than others.

Little Ms. Fairy might have more to it than Chris being bonkers...

Poor Torta, deciding everything by herself... No wonder she's emotionally challenged.

[Mr Poltroon]

And so I finish Al Fine.

 

Torta's route and Al Fine

We'll start at the start, shall we?

We initially start in what I assume to be Arietta's room. It's not until later that we are actually shown it's Torta's. But I'm sure most people will have realized this when we are told about the rain.

This route throws us the shocking revelations all at once and at the beginning. Unlike other routes, its value doesn't come so much from the twists, but from seeing Torta's route in a different light.

----

That Torta had always been posing as Arietta, that Arietta and Chris had been in an accident and that Torta wrote the letters are the big thing that is mostly expanded on this route. To be honest, this whole premise had flashed through my mind before, so I wasn't that surprised at it. 

I didn't have any particular pieces of foreshadowing toward this, exempting Torta's shady reactions and the shenanigans with Arietta in Torta's route. It was one of the possibilities there were when Torta sent a letter on Thursday.

----

The accident... Well, there had to be some kind of motive, right? And I couldn't have guessed that, I don't think.

However, this accident was also the cause of the rain, seemingly - Phorni's route will likely confirm this.

And that was the grand twist that had me going for a loop. Certainly accounted for the lack of umbrellas all over the place. The main heroines not doing anything about it, as well as Asino just made me have no suspicion whatsoever toward the rain.

This blasted rain made me stop for a while and consider a bunch of things in a new light before they cam up in the route itself. Earlier quote:

I guess that the Fairy of his dreams has something to do with Chris' broken mind.

Fal's route ended short of visiting Arietta. ...At Fal's request. The epilogue was happy though.

Lise had to put up with an umbrella. She was also deathly afraid of Torta around the start. But by graduation time she was fine talking to her.

It also explains Torta being in sync with Asino.

[Snowtsuku]

I enjoyed reading your thoughts in the series. And yep, Al Fine was really meant to change the way you look at every route.

 

About the philosophy you left, I find it hard to disagree with it but I can't agree with it either.

[Mr Poltroon]

About the philosophy you left, I find it hard to disagree with it but I can't agree with it either.

[Snowtsuku]

Philosophy

That's one thing I guess. Another thing is the choices you could have made in several situations. You'll have more options if you know the truth.At the same time though, I don't think one would regret their decisions unless they also know the truth.

[Mr Poltroon]

I have finished Phorni's route. It was most enjoyable and I can say shedded my first and only tears for this VN here. I guess the choice of girl really does affect my emotions.

 

This one went along pretty much according to my expectations. 

Al Fine

Such a shame we really get no better explanation for the rain.

 

No, I'm not gonna write my thoughts on this one. It all went exactly as I'd expected.

[Eclipsed]

I like Torta now.

 

Enjoyed reading your thoughts as well, Tiago. Good job!

[Snowtsuku]

I have finished Phorni's route. It was most enjoyable and I can say shedded my first and only tears for this VN here. I guess the choice of girl really does affect my emotions.

Same here. I dunno if it's just because I like her. Though it seems to me that it is the common response to the route.

 

Now this thread shall go back to the depths of VN talk again.