for how much the emphasis was made/done on hell forces ... after the fight with Azel.. MC seems more like a little bitch than anything...
also going from that fight ... how in the fuck is he supposed to defeat the father of all angels?
asking him nicely to die?
if he could barely hold on his own against 1 angel, be it archangel of death or whomever then I don't see how he is going to fight against his father who is said to be all powerful ...
the story is hanging by a thread at the moment, and even that thread is thin as fuck.
Again, those are demons. There is obviously a HUGE power different between the angels and demons, ESPECIALLY an Archangel. How did you think Azel got as important of a task as the Angel of Death? In almost every iteration of biblical lore that's like the equivalent to the "Hand of God" not exactly your "little bitch" of an Archangel. So him "semi" struggling against an Archangel who's had her powers since childhood, compared to someone who just discovered theirs, OF COURSE there is a power gap. That all being said, he's not going all out either, his mind is quite literally trying to hold him back (i.e Luna and the annoying guy) and him not using the Shadow Army at his beck and call.
As to the other point, it doesn't take a genius to know he wasn't going to beat God right away, give me a break. I'm pretty sure he mentions several times that he needs more power, and that his first step is to hone the Goddess's power and Raphael's, along with anything else he can get his hands on. As to why he was willing to go against Bethor and the Elders... it's most likely because he was in a bad headspace, I mean he literally says he wasn't thinking. Imo it was a willing suicide charge.
The power struggle between Angels and Demons, God and the MC, is the LEAST issue that this VN has. The issue is the family (who are obviously the primary LVs) being oblivious to the obvious trauma the MC has gone through.
Upon rereading I decided to take a serious look at the story and how the characters react to see if maybe I was too furious at the family at the time to see the true picture, and my conclusion was:
1. The writing is "alright" definitely better than most VNs but lackluster in some conversations (i.e some lines literally disregard what they were just talking about, nothing a small rewrite on said lines couldn't fix). I think it truly excels when the MC is deep in thought about his trauma.
2. The renders are great and arguably one of the best parts of the VN 2nd to only (imo) the concept/theme. Which is playing as a motherfuckin all powerful (or soon to be given his interesting power) Archangel. Playing out the typical Lucifer story with a bit more depth than just, "I'm evil and I want my father's throne."
3. The MC is good imo. Sure the direction of the family dynamic trying to get all buddy buddy with him and him just blatantly ignoring their ignorance sometimes is a bit annoying, again, nothing a rewrite couldn't fix. I think this is done for if you're trying to take the good path, the MC comes off as pretty neutral all things considered, and that's welcomed to me. The last thing I'd want in a concept like this is the MC to be happy, jolly, and horny, which brings me to my next point.
4. The sexual nature of the VN is welcomed the way it's going about it. Like I said before; he's not a go lucky hornball, but instead standoffish. And while I like that you can pick whatever sexual feelings you feel towards someone, when you DO pick them, it's less a super horny nature peeping tom, and moreso comes off as blatant curiosity. As for Azel's mannerisms it's obvious she's like your teasing tomboy older sister, and Emma is infatuated with us due to A. Being her long lost son and B. The scent powers we are using against her unknowingly.
5. The family, okay so I reread everything and maybe I'm giving it the benefit of the doubt, but I actually don't mind the family AS MUCH as I used to. Hear me out; the way they are going about the recovery of the MC is questionable in it's effectiveness realistically, but that's how it goes in real life sometimes. I've personally gone through a traumatic experience in my life and while the answer may have seemed clear to my family as to how they could fix me, it wasn't the way I WANTED to be fixed. They are TRYING, as opposed to some families that will just let you mellow in self doubt and give you TOO much space, eventually leading to suicide.
A. If you think about it from Emma's perspective she's never really lost a child (other than that raven chick but I'd say we don't have enough information about that yet), so she's trying to be all inclusive as she feels like she's failed us as a parent. And say she tried to force God to stop him from sending the MC to Hell, that would've potentially risked a War that would've resulted in countless deaths amongst her children over ONE child, as harsh as that sounds, I probably would've made the same choice as her. And for the record, she has had nightmares and a sense of guilt about the whole thing so she's not as bad as Azel.
B. Raphael is the nicest, she tried to let the MC know ahead of time. She also strikes me as the shy type so maybe that plays a role in it, always being forced to heal wounds or take care of the MC during their youth makes you feel unwanted for anything but what you can do for someone. Being yelled at by the one person you were supposed to protect, probably doesn't help.
C. Azel's the worst, again all she needs to do is acknowledge what she did was FUCKED UP regardless of the consequences and give the MC some space. Nough said on that because here's my primary point and the main issue imo to this whole VN.
6. So if the family is just being a normal family in the way that they aren't perfect in handling a traumatic experience, what's the issue? Here in lies the MAJOR plot hole; the MC has said outright a few times about being tortured in Hell, but either A. They refuse to listen to what the fuck he just said or B. They think he means it metaphorically. If it's the latter I can respect that as possible but if it's the former this whole VN is fucked. Because while he has said it a few times, they all insist they have no idea what actually happened to him in Hell. Raphael says it, AZEL says it (which would justifiably explain her nonchalant attitude) and even Emma says it, just like that in fact. So maybe they REALLY thought it was just a prison and don't know that he was actually tortured. Maybe they were even told that he wasn't going to get the torture treatment by God, and saw it more as a unjustified time out?
But then begs the biggest question, even if that were BOTH true, how did they not figure out or hear rumors that the King of HELL's favorite toy to torture was an Angel? There was only one in there as far as everyone knew, and with how fast the news of Hell being conquered came to Earth, you would think that a high profile ARCHANGEL would be a hot topic of discussion for the Demons on Earth at least in the beginning.
A. So we can't blame the family for the way they are handling the MC as unrealistic.
B. We can't blame the way they are acting if they truly didn't know that he was tortured for centuries.
C. We can't blame them for not trying to reach him.
D. And we can't blame them for not hearing his prayers.
But we CAN blame them for if they KNEW about the torture, and we CAN blame them for not finding out about said torture. Unless the King of Demons kept it all under wraps. As far as we know, only Prince Zak (his son), Inessa (his maid) and some seer that thought he was going to die anyway actually knew BEFORE he took the throne that he was being tortured. Those are all high positions of power in the hierarchy of Hell where looking the wrong way can get you killed let alone questioning said positions.
Those are my lenient defendable thoughts on the matter. I am curious if some of you could try to see it from those perspectives. What are your thoughts?
