Just finished 'All That's Left are Stars', so...(Actual spoilers to big parts of the game, do not read unless you're done with 0.53!)
Mini Rant incoming:
Ouch. Literally wept. I felt like fucking Lestat from the Vampire Chronicles, just weeping more and more as each new fucking blow of the hammer hit... I thought I was deep in the feels after the loss of Orig Maya...I thought the faux loss at the start of Chapter 2 was hard, then her real death, etc, whatever...but holy shit I was NOT prepared. I've managed to stay like 99% spoiler free, thankfully, cause going into this blind is perhaps one of the most enthralling pieces of literature I've ever experienced.
Every single time it jumped forward two months I felt a growing horror. The game makes it clear that any situation that is too good to be true is just that...so seeing that Akira can actually BE a good person, that Ayane gets her dream come true...I knew exactly what would happen. That Himawari would show up, explain they were never meant to be there, etc etc. I fucking knew it was going to happen...
And then it did.
I had to stop playing last night once they made it to the beach, it was too late, and I was already down from THAT stuff happening, so when I picked it up tonight, I figured...couple character resets, some lore drop(And what lore it was!), and we'll move back to the story. Akira and Ayane will have a path forward...
And then..."I'm sorry" as the opening verse of "all that's left are stars" begins playing and holy fuck I was not ready. I am devastated for these poor fictional characters. What a fucking song choice. What a fucking moment.
Mild Context:
I'm an author, I've written nearly half a million words over a 5 book series...I've hurt my characters, I've killed them, I've sacrificed them, I've trapped them in a permanent timeloop. I've set the stakes so high that only the permanent ego death, the sacrifice of everything the MC is/was/could-be is enough to end the tragedy and save the lives of his loved ones....
And it wasn't until I finished "all that's left are stars" that I felt what my own readers felt. I think I owe them an apology, cause holy shit.
Himawari is really going through alot for her parents...the pain she went through stripping them of what amounts to their happiest memories, to save them from years of pain...fuck. Devastated. Akira fighting to not lose the memories? Peak. Ayane loving her daughter enough to trust her, even as she strips her of her happiness? My god....
I'm actually gonna take a few days after that before moving into 0.54. This is the kind of thing that sticks with you, and I think the moment deserves it.
And that somehow this is really only like the midpoint of the game? Insane.
Just...holy shit. I saw a few comments about 0.53 being some of the best so far...you were right.
TL;DR - Gonna nut punch Selebus one day. Donate to my GoFundMe so I can fly to Japan and do that sooner, rather than later.
