#digimon survive harmonious | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

abelunwilling · 2 years

Text

kayama shuuji did several things wrong, BUT –

or, “i can’t believe how many people missed the point of this character”

We need to talk about Kayama Shuuji.

To say that Shuuji is a controversial character is putting it... mildly, to say the least. Some of the first posts I saw in this fandom were some pretty visceral reactions to Shuuji’s abuse of Lopmon, his grisly fate in most routes and his character in general. However, I can’t help but feel like a lot of the criticism of this character is borne of kneejerk discomfort rather than a fair or genuine effort to understand him. Of course, you’re completely welcome to like or dislike any character for even the most arbitrary reasons--I just personally feel that there is much more to Shuuji than many care to explore.

So... what is going on here?

( This meta post contains spoilers for Digimon Survive.

TW: heavy discussion of self-harm, suicidal ideation and abuse )

Shuuji’s relationship with his family

Firstly, we should consider that the only information we have about Shuuji’s family comes from a biased source: Shuuji himself. His family does not physically appear in the story of Survive; rather, he tells the other characters about them, and they feature in a long nightmare sequence at the beginning of part 5. This nightmare is incredibly loaded–watch it again if you need a refresher. It is evidently based on an actual memory which provides important context for this complicated relationship. Let’s go through the major beats.

Shuuji’s father accuses Shuuji of hating him, which Shuuji desperately denies. His father counters that if Shuuji didn’t hate him, then he would “demonstrate the ability expected of a Kayama boy”.

Shuuji’s brother interjects, telling Shuuji not to bother; he’ll just work hard enough for both of them.

Shuuji’s father asks why he’s giving up, and suggests Shuuji isn’t really his son. Shuuji immediately starts trying to appease him; his father is unresponsive.

Shuuji lashes out, accusing his family of not understanding him. He then has a few lines aside to himself which are quite interesting, including: “From the start, I didn’t want to do it. I couldn’t do it...” (Put a pin in this, we’ll come back to it.)

Panicking, Shuuji starts simply pleading not to be abandoned.

Even the most surface-level read of the text here is pretty cut and dry: Shuuji is traumatized enough by his relationship with his family to be having nightmares about them, and his father (if not the entire family) is incredibly emotionally abusive. If we assume the wording used in the dream is exactly as it was in the real conversation, then the phrasing Shuuji’s dad uses here is extremely calculated. Shuuji’s failures aren’t just bad because he failed; they’re bad because they mean he hates his father. This deliberately emotive language paints Shuuji in the role of an aggressor in a scenario where he is actually the victim.

Perhaps because of conversations like this, Shuuji does not appear to recognise that he is being abused; directly after waking from the nightmare he even says that his dad “had to” abandon him. First of all, this establishes that, at best, he simply feels abandoned by his family–but, at worst, he may have actually been literally disowned or otherwise cut off from them. Second and more crushingly, he seems to actually believe that abandonment is a proportionate and justified response to his perceived inability to succeed.

We don’t really know enough about Shuuji’s brother to make any real judgment on him; Shuuji calls him “an incredible person” but does so in relation to his own poor self-esteem (“much better than me”, he says), and in his Recollection anticipates being mocked by him. His brother’s only line in the nightmare–offering to “work hard enough for both of [us]”–is interesting, though. The most charitable read could suggest he is trying to defuse the situation but it seems slightly more likely that he’s simply validating his father’s lack of confidence in Shuuji. This is common in families where only one child is abused by a parent or parents; siblings sometimes become involved–or at least complicit–in the abuse, so as to protect themselves.

A quick note: Digimon Survive on its own can make it seem as if maybe Shuuji is doing badly academically, and that’s why his father is angry with him. However, we now have the additional context of the Recollection stories (translated here) which explain that he isn’t just a good student; he’s actually ranked first in his class for grades (@digital-survivor has made an excellent post explaining why this is so significant.)

If he’s doing so well academically, then although grades and college entry are what Shuuji often refers to when he’s talking about living up to his father’s standards, it’s more likely that the problems between him and his father are based around Shuuji’s personality and the harsh style of leadership his father expects him to demonstrate.

Essentially, Shuuji just isn’t like the rest of his family, and they are trying to force him into their mold. And when it comes to Shuuji's own feelings, think back to: “From the start, I didn’t want to do it. I couldn’t do it...”

It's not just that Shuuji is struggling to meet his family’s expectations; he literally doesn’t want to do the things they’re asking, and doesn't think they're even possible for him. But, by his own admission, Shuuji is obsessed with his father’s approval, despite clearly believing–and basically being told–that he can never actually get it without compromising his own identity. Either way, it’s clear that his father has incredible power over him, and wields that power cruelly.

Shuuji’s trauma response

We can see hints of Shuuji’s troubled mental state pretty much from the outset. From the top of the game he’s established as a somewhat awkward, bossy person, who seems socially isolated; he doesn’t appear to have existing bonds with any of the other campers, and you can even find some NPCs making fun of him in the prologue chapter.

Once in the other world, besides a (frankly normal) level of distress and anxiety in their newfound situation, it also becomes apparent that Shuuji has a lot more going on. He has an almost compulsive need to feel independent, as he becomes strangely uncomfortable and upset when others offer him help. He also clearly has issues with control; although it’s spurred in part by the other kids looking to him as the eldest, Shuuji frequently tries to take control of situations. He’s usually outvoted; however, while he often folds oddly quickly (interestingly, you see him stutter a lot in these instances, a characteristic Lopmon shares), later he more consistently doubles down and lashes out verbally at others when they don’t listen to him.

His bossiness with the others and his harshness with Lopmon (we’re getting there, don’t worry) is also easily associated with his desire to please and emulate his father. This is common in abused children, who often try to appease their abuser by acting in whatever way they think is least likely to result in further aggression, even when they aren’t there.

In case that was too lowkey, you see Shuuji doing this overtly in the nightmare scene; notice that he is not actually arguing against the way he is being treated, but trying to convince his father that he will behave in the way he wants. The only moment in which he expresses frustration (“you don’t understand me”) is not responded to by the other characters in the dream, suggesting that it’s a feeling he has not actually voiced. (In the true route, Shuuji says that his family has never really had a direct conversation with each other, which would support this.)

At this point it’s also worth saying that not everyone’s trauma response is good, healthy or rational. It would be nice to believe that all victims of abuse simply cry quietly in the corner now and then without otherwise causing trouble, and that may be true for some. However, for many survivors it is not that simple, especially if they have avoided treating or even acknowledging their trauma for some time.

Besides fear and sadness, many survivors may also feel anger; towards their abuser, towards their own powerlessness or even toward people/things that seemingly have nothing to do with the trauma. They may struggle to trust others or form healthy relationships. They may act in ways others consider unusual or inappropriate. None of these things make them less worthy of empathy or compassion.

However: when people cope with abuse–or any other kind of trauma–by perpetuating it on others, that’s where it gets sticky. So, let’s address the bunny in the room.

What is going on with Lopmon?

I’d like to first draw your attention to Shuuji’s treatment of the other characters–including the other Digimon–besides Lopmon. He does have a tendency to be bossy, but this is not exactly inappropriate given the situation; he’s the oldest of all the Survive kids, and the others specifically look to him for guidance (even if they often disagree with it).

Even Shuuji’s official bio describes him as "gentle and peaceful”. Significantly, Shuuji is also specifically shown soothing others, even when he himself is distressed. Of particular note is the fact that, after Ryo’s death, it’s Shuuji who calms the group down and takes them back to the old school; right after, he also talks Kaito out of immediately going after Miu.

At his rock-bottom worst, when Arukenimon tempts him with the promise of the group going home in exchange for one child sacrifice, Shuuji still offers himself with very little hesitation to spare the others–he does panic when it comes to sealing the deal, but he still doesn’t throw any of his friends under the bus. Although the other kids are pretty frustrated with him at this point, after he dies they’re quick to note that for all his shortcomings, Shuuji always had the team's safety in mind. So. What is it about Lopmon?

When it comes to Shuuji’s relationship with Lopmon, there is an additional layer of nuance to be considered, beyond even “they are two separate characters in a piece of media”. Digimon Survive operates with the idea that each partner Digimon is literally a part of their fated child’s soul, a concept that was also true for the original Digimon Adventure anime and its sequel.

At a glance, Lopmon and Shuuji might not seem particularly similar. However, they actually share several notable qualities. Like Shuuji, Lopmon dislikes fighting and conflict in general (in group discussions, Shuuji almost always advocates diplomacy or retreat instead of fighting). He’s also determined to contribute and be of use to those he cares about, and prefers to do so without help from others. Most significantly, Lopmon has a strong desire for approval and praise–and sadly, like Shuuji, it is frequently to his detriment.

But Lopmon also embodies several of Shuuji’s less obvious qualities–ones that are less obvious specifically because Shuuji is trying to suppress them.

Lopmon is very visibly sensitive, often crying, stuttering or trailing off when he’s emotionally affected. He has trouble asserting himself, and can be clumsy and slightly awkward. Another quality of Lopmon’s that’s relevant to Shuuji is that he is not very good at articulating his feelings. When Takuma finally decides to mediate between the two, Lopmon only manages to say that he “needs to be with him” but can’t express why, leaving both him and Shuuji frustrated.

Lopmon’s vulnerability mimics Shuuji's own internal state; his innocent but deeply wounded inner child, who has been made to feel worthless through emotional abuse. In short, Shuuji doesn’t like Lopmon because Shuuji doesn’t like Shuuji, and is specifically cruel to him in ways he is also cruel to himself.

Most interestingly for these two, the creators of the game stated they would use the “Digimon are part of a person’s soul” concept to explore darker themes, with Producer Habu giving the specific example in a stream that “hurting your Digimon is a form of self-harm”. This suggests that the intention of the creators is, in presenting Shuuji and Lopmon’s relationship, not just to show the cycle of abuse that Shuuji is part of but to metaphorically depict a person struggling with self-harm.

Shuuji & Lopmon as a self-harm metaphor

Shuuji calls Lopmon things like lazy, useless, stupid–words that, either directly or by implication, have also likely been used against him by his family. He rejects Lopmon’s efforts to bond with or please him and holds him to unrealistic and unfair standards, much as his father does with him. Interestingly, Shuuji directly compares himself to Lopmon right after having the nightmare about his father, saying that Lopmon is “like he was” back when his father “chewed [him] out and had to abandon [him]”.

This wording is important. Shuuji still believes himself to be the problem in his family situation and that his father’s harsh methods are justified–so he uses them on Lopmon, in whom he sees his weaknesses reflected, not only to punish him but to try to “fix” him. However, much as Lopmon functions symbolically as an extension of Shuuji, he is still technically a separate person. Thus, by forcing Lopmon to be held to these same unattainable standards, Shuuji simultaneously perpetuates the cycle of abuse in two ways; by revictimising himself, and by inflicting abuse on another vulnerable person.

You can see this in action when Takuma finally convinces Shuuji to “teach” Lopmon. Shuuji responds by trying to make Lopmon do muscle training like push-ups, which turn out to be physically–perhaps even anatomically–impossible for him. Takuma points out that this isn’t how Digimon gain strength, and Shuuji immediately becomes angry and defensive.

But the things Shuuji’s father expects of him are similarly unachievable; Shuuji literally can’t get results by trying to be the harsh disciplinarian his father wants, because he just isn't one. Like his father, he is asking things of Lopmon that fundamentally contradict who Lopmon is as an individual.

Physical abuse is a whole other issue–but it’s important to note that Shuuji’s abuse of Lopmon does not become physical until he reaches his absolute lowest point; he’s literally been mentally tortured, and has become completely desperate and delusional.

It is interesting that right as Shuuji crosses the line to physically harming Lopmon–metaphorically, escalating from negative self-talk to physical self-harm–Wendimon appears, initially appearing to help Shuuji only to ultimately kill him. This could be considered a grim allegory for how self-harm, though it may seem to provide temporary relief, is a dangerous and unreliable coping mechanism. Furthermore, it shows that Lopmon is even more like Shuuji than we’ve realised up to this point; a gentle person who can nonetheless be driven to great cruelty under harsh enough conditions.

It also doesn’t occur until right after he offers himself to die for the others.This is not purely a noble move–Arukenimon points out, probably correctly, that Shuuji is terrified and wants his suffering to be over. Other dialogue during the Wendimon fight suggests that Shuuji also suffered from suicidal thoughts, stating that he doesn’t deserve to live, though we don’t know if they are recent or if he has harbored them for some time.

Shuuji has some really interesting dialogue in this sequence; he actually expresses pride in Lopmon for the first time upon seeing how powerful he is, and expresses a desire to use that power against people who have hurt him–specifically including his family. This moment is not about Shuuji becoming powerful, though–rather, it shows us how powerless he is, and how desperate he is to have some sort of strength to assert himself.

This act of destruction also unifies Shuuji and Lopmon for the first time; not through acceptance and trust but through pain and suffering. After eating Shuuji, Wendimon speaks with the voices of both characters as it fights the others, crying openly as it expresses their agony. And their most despairing thoughts are also the same; guilt over their actions, despairing over what they could have done instead, as well as hatred toward themselves.

It gets better (thanks Ryo!)

I know this has been really heavy so far... so let’s talk about the true route for a little bit.

Ryo is the character who Shuuji’s fate hinges on, and this makes good sense for a few reasons. Firstly, in all but the true route, Ryo’s death is a major factor in Shuuji’s own downward spiral; he feels incredibly guilty for failing to protect him, which you do see him attempting several times, trying to calm Ryo and keep him with the group. It’s not the only reason he breaks down, but it’s an important trigger.

However, in the true route, Ryo’s survival of the bridge incident gives us a chance to see one of his most important and positive qualities: he’s very observant. In the waterway incident, this really shines through; not only does he escape Arukenimon’s illusions the fastest, he’s not affected by them at all. In similar fashion, he’s able to analyse the situation with Shuuji in ways the others can’t; by immediately drawing parallels between Shuuji’s delusional behavior and his own in the past, Ryo is the only one capable of identifying both the problem and the solution.

The problem? Shuuji is traumatized, and the enemy is exploiting that. Not only does Ryo state this directly, he even admonishes the others for not being more sensitive to it. The solution? It’s a little bit weirder, but I’ll explain why I think it’s effective.

Punching Shuuji–while not the most elegant response–is the first step in eliciting a physical reaction that unifies him with Lopmon in that moment. Notice that Shuuji instantly loses his aggression after Ryo does this; not only that, but (though I’m not sure if this carries over in the original Japanese or other locations) even his speech patterns almost immediately start to mimic Lopmon’s own.

The way Ryo calls him out verbally also unifies Shuuji with Lopmon. He points out the lengths to which Lopmon has gone for him even though Shuuji never appreciated it, and that harming him is cruel and unfair–though unknowingly, he’s also directly summarized Shuuji’s relationship with his father. It’s entirely possible that Shuuji has never considered this with regard to his own situation, not just Lopmon’s, and Ryo’s words give a whole new context to the way he has been taught to view the world.

Then Ryo does something very important: he tells Shuuji that he has friends who will support him through what’s happening right now. He holds him accountable, but he also makes it clear that he will still be helped and cared for.

Following this, Shuuji’s apology to Lopmon is genuine, emotional and incredibly humble; and this time around, Lopmon’s evolution into Turuiemon is triggered by empathy, not rage. @digital-survivor (again, haha) has made a great post about how Lopmon’s evo line in the true route represents Shuuji’s positive character development should he let go of his need to please his father and trust in his own decisions. I wholeheartedly agree with this post so I will not analyse these scenes too much further, but I will add the following:

The Turuiemon evolution scene is particularly significant because it signifies the turning point not just for Shuuji's relationship with Lopmon, but his relationship with himself. From that moment on, when he praises or validates Lopmon, he’s also praising and validating the parts of himself that he previously saw as weak or useless, slowly healing the damage that has inflicted on him over the years. One of the things he says to Lopmon during his apology is “I have to heal you”; and, yes, he does need to make up for the things he’s done to Lopmon! But Shuuji also needs to heal, and to show the same patience and gentleness to himself that he is willing to show others.

However, the Cherubimon evolution scene is the one I really want to focus on because, besides being a culmination of Shuuji’s gradually increasing self-worth–and, of course, his bond with Lopmon–it is also a direct inversion of the Wendimon evolution scene.

As I mentioned earlier, the Wendimon evolution occurs right after Shuuji offers himself to Arukenimon as a sacrifice to save his friends. In this moment Shuuji’s motivation is not pure; he does want to save his friends, but he’s also desperate, miserable and wants his pain to end. The way he says it–“it should be me”–also indicates he feels it’s the ‘correct’ option that he is obligated to choose, not something he is fully willing to do.

Wendimon's evolution happens only because Shuuji forces it to through abuse; and, though Wendimon is incredibly powerful, this power cannot be controlled and backfires horribly, symbolizing Shuuji's self-destruction.

The Cherubimon evolution happens in a similar (though not quite as high-stakes) situation; Shuuji and Lopmon are facing off against a powerful enemy, and Shuuji tells Takuma to leave them and get the others, despite knowing they might not make it. In this instance Shuuji is not acting out of fear or panic; he’s assessed the situation and consciously chosen to shield the others, because he truly believes it’s the right thing to do.

In this instance, Cherubimon's evolution is triggered through Shuuji's conviction and his deep bond with Lopmon, their combined power manifesting exactly as Shuuji intends it to–symbolizing his self-acceptance.

“The Discourse”

Since the original anime, Digimon has always–in my opinion–tended to depict children’s problems with honesty and compassion. Digimon Survive is, at least as far as I know, far darker in tone than any other piece of Digimon media to date, and so it’s to be expected that it would deal with more complex issues. Parental abuse isn’t the only heavy hitter in the main cast’s trauma bag; it also addresses possibly terminal illness and even the stalking/sexual harrassment of a very young child.

Frankly, I commend this game for depicting Shuuji’s trauma in such an unflinching way, showing both the darkest possible outcome as well as a more hopeful path. If it makes you uncomfortable, then that’s probably exactly what the writers had in mind. Child abuse–mental, physical, anything–is a terribly painful subject, and the game is very specific and intentional in showing why Shuuji is the way he is. I think it’s also significant that, even outside the true route, it’s very clear that Takuma and the other characters don’t condemn Shuuji as a bad person who deserved his fate–they simply regret not having the means to help him.

As I said earlier, while of course not all victims of abuse will express abusive, or even just misguided behavior themselves, it is important to recognise that some might. To put it bluntly: if you are willing to retract support for abuse victims because they have made mistakes–especially children, making mistakes that are direct results of how their abuse has mentally impacted them–then I would question if you support them at all. No abuse victim–no person–is perfect, and while of course all people should be accountable for their mistakes, this doesn’t mean they should not also receive support for their problems.

Of course, Shuuji is a fictional character, and so to dislike him is not necessarily reflective of how one feels about real children in his situation. But the fandom response to this character has been so aggressive and unsympathetic that it’s difficult not to wonder if maybe people just really didn’t understand the point of him. In any other piece of media, it’s hard to believe an abused child with a self-harm problem would be judged as harshly.

In fact, even within the Digimon franchise, Ken from 02, whose physical abuse of his partner Wormmon is much more regular and pronounced (people like to say the difference is Ken’s actions are influenced by external forces–actually, so are Shuuji’s) is a fan-favorite. Why is that? Why are people so quick to say that Shuuji “deserves” to suffer, while Ken is generally regarded as having one of the best redemption arcs in the fandom–when the situation is actually not that different? Is it because Lopmon is a cute bunny and Wormmon is an icky bug? Is it because our attitude to consuming media with “problematic” characters has simply changed over time?

Furthermore, what exactly would Shuuji have to do to “earn” his happy ending in the true route? He already apologizes, and immediately modifies his behavior toward Lopmon once it’s fully addressed. He continues to feel guilty for it, right up into the later parts of the game–but even when he brings this up (which is rarely) he never makes it about him. If you want him to have some sort of external punishment, Ryo did tell him off after punching him in the face–and if that’s not good enough, he literally dies painfully in the event that nobody is there to do just that.

The narrative does not condone his actions, nor are they without consequence. So the question is really: exactly how much more do you want him to suffer? And why, when the game has already shown you that suffering more will not fix his behavior or save Lopmon? I think it is important to ask ourselves these questions, especially because, if anything, the entire message of the true route is that by making an effort to empathize with others–including those who have done wrong and seem unreachable–we may be able to help not just them, but the community or even the world as a whole.

If you still don’t like Shuuji, that’s fine; again, he’s not a real person, and anyone is free to think whatever they like. If his actions disgust you and you can’t get past it or just generally hate his vibes, that’s none of my business.

But I think for many people, seeing Shuuji and Lopmon’s story turn from a cautionary tale of self-loathing to one of redemption through self-acceptance is a genuine source of comfort and hope.

In short, it’s a shame to write off this character at his worst, without giving him a chance at his best.

And, for real, fuck Shuuji’s dad.

#digimon survive #digimon meta #shuuji kayama #lopmon #the trigger warnings are there for a reason #alternate silly title:#'if u hate me at my moral/wrathful/harmony route u don't deserve me at my true route'#if i cannot be this kid's new and better dad i will settle for being his fandom attorney #EDIT: something weird happened to this post and deleted some paragraphs/took others out of order #i think i've fixed it now but lmk if you see anything off!

87 notes · View notes

kideternity · 2 months

Text

My not really being a visual novel guy versus my desire to play through digimon survive at least twice so that I can become mega ultra besties with Ryo

#dinu yells into the void #digimon #dinu yells in the void #dinu plays digimon #sure. new tag. why not.#anyways. hello again digimon fandom #taking a break from watching the animes to game again ive been Craving #and i kept putting off survive too long 😭 lol #i got to ch2 yesterday. art style is really gorgeous music is strangely nostalgic #i like the characters mostly the lore intrigues me #it’s mostly just the gameplay thats the biggest hurdle bc again. and this is entirely a me thing #i am not rly a visual novel guy i think ive played like one visual novel before???? uhhh butterfly soup. the gay baseball one.#but i will brave it so i can see all of ryos scenes omg i love ryo i NEED to get to new game plus so he doesnt die #spoiled myself on his everything and its sooooo. HES THE PARANOID BOY…… I NEED TO SEE HIM OKAY #im currently doing the harmony path on my first playthrough. then new game plus truthful path.#idk if ill be the moral or wrathful routes #probably not. but well see!

3 notes · View notes

manofmanymons · 1 year

Note

au where kaito survives harmony and just has to babysit egg

YOU KNOW THOSE CHILDRENS SITCOMS WHERE THE CHARACTERS HAVE TO TAKE CARE OF AN EGG FOR HOME EC AND THERE’S ALWAYS THAT ONE CHARACTER WHO GETS WAY TOO INTO IT AND TREATS THE EGG LIKE AN ACTUAL HUMAN INFANT

That’s him

He would take it SO seriously (as he should obviously)

Heaven forbid anyone so much as breathes in that egg's direction or he is throwing hands

Honestly given the nature of that ending I feel like his parents would not be helpful or supportive in any way. They don’t want any trouble, so they insist he gets rid of it or get out. It’s not like he wanted to live with people who wouldn’t accept Dracmon anyways.

This honestly has the energy of an action/comedy movie now that I’m thinking about it. Trying to take care of a baby in a somewhat apocalyptic dystopian world lafkjda

It takes a while before he warms up to the idea of anyone else helping out—it’s his fault, his partner, and his responsibility, after all. But eventually the others convince him that the more people who are looking out for his partner, the better.

Minoru pretends to drop the egg one (1) time as a joke and is never allowed in the same room as it ever again. Takuma makes the mistake of trying to defend him (“it was just a joke, he won’t do it again!”) and is also banned from egg.

Do you think things would get more or less chaotic after the egg hatches and they all have to deal with A Baby? At least the Harmony ending is at least a little bit more chill than the Wrathful ending. Slightly safer place for the little fella.

I HAD A VISION WHILE MAKING THIS POST AND HAD TO SHITTILY EDIT THIS IMMEDIATELY

#digimon survive #kaito shinonome #slowly getting around to asks again #harmony route #digimon survive spoilers #spoilers #new players please avert your eyes

11 notes · View notes

stuckinthewrongworld · 1 year

Text

Day 4: Moral, Wrathful, Harmony

I feel like these would be the routes my OCs would be on if they were in the Survive world.

@surviveweek

#digimon survive week #survive week #digimon survive week 2023 #survive week 2023 #digimon survive #digimon #digimon oc #digidestined oc #digidestined #tamersona #moral #wrathful #harmony

11 notes · View notes

starryoak · 2 years

Text

What’s funny about the reveal that the Professor is Haru from the start of the game, is that it’s actually visible from the get-go; he has the same eyes he did as a child.

He never grew out of his kind eyes (:

#i don’t know if the twist was obvious to anyone else #but it fooled me up until they started dropping major hints #so maybe everyone else just guessed automatically #maybe it’s because I did the harmony route first so he was gone early in #digimon survive #digimon survive spoilers #survive spoilers #digimon #akiharu minase #haru minase #renamon #my posts

8 notes · View notes

catboyithaqua · 2 years

Text

KAITO

#digimon survive #im about to go into depth so im just gonna #digimon survive spoilers #man the fucking harmony route #MAN THE FUCKING HARMONY ROUTE #KAITOOOOO #HIS GRIEF FOR HIS SISTER BEING MANIPULATED AND TWISTED #HE IS A FUCKING!!!! KID!!! WHO HAS JUST LOST HIS ONE FUCKING LIFELINE!!!!#AND THEN HIS GRIEF WAS TAKEN. IT WAS TWISTED. IT WAS TOYED WITH AND IT BROKE HIM. KAITOOOOO :(#AND THEN WHEN WE FINALLY TALKED. WHEN WE GOT HIM TO HIS SENSES. HE USED HIS LAST REMAINING MOVEMENTS TO PROTECT WHAT MIU CARED ABOUT MOST.#KAITOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO #MAN THESE TWO. HURT ME #it is so good tho props to this game this dynamic is so raw and real and painful #and not even just that. it isnt just suffering. even through the pain there is still that true sense of care and bond between them #even after miu died #kaito is NOT perfect by any means but fuck. he really fucking tried to be a good brother.#i think the thing with kaito is that. he is blaming himself for mius trauma. he is blaming himself for mius issues so that is why he feels #he has to take them away #ok i might dump all of my survive thoughts someday bc this is the first time im early to smth and hyperfixating HARD on it #would anyone be into that #bc like. if so yknow 👉👈✨️#maxposting

13 notes · View notes

neorukix · 2 years

Text

Hey Digimon Survive fandom, I'm curious about some translation/adaptation/localization dialogue which I'm too lazy to look up myself since I'm playing it in my mother language Spanish, or as it is credited, Mexican Spanish (despite supposed to be a neutral Latin American Spanish but ok) so, here's the scene in question.

SPOILERS AHEAD: Part 5

For the record, I’m not here for the “which pronouns Renamon uses?!” but more of a genuinely curiosity about the inconsistence of the translation/adaptation.

So, the scene when Renamon appears before Takuma and Agumon.

"I wonder who is that?" 「あいつはだれだろう？」(... I think.) But in Spanish, a pronoun is not needed in this sentence since by context, we understand Agumon is talking about the Kemonogami in front of them so, nothing wrong here and is very accurate considering that in Japanese is very common to "ignore" parts of a sentence when is easy to understand if the context allows.

And if you are done with your first play then, you know who Renamon really is (won't say just to be safe ¯\_(ツ)_/¯) but let's go to the next scene where I want to know how other languages did it.

Takuma finds Haru and Miyuki after Renamon goes away.

"We are fine, She protected us." 「うん。獣が守ってくれたから」 (Consider that I don’t have access to the japanese text so I’m typing by ear :3) In Japanese we don’t have an exact pronoun but Haru refers to Renamon not as “She” but as “Kemono” so basically the dialogue is “Yes, The Beast protected us” but more as a reply to Takuma’s “Are you alright?” implying that the answer is a “We’re fine because the Beast protected us” kinda thing but, that’s not the point here xD.

"She? That beast (kemono)?「獣？だれ？」 Here Takuma replies with a “Kemono? Who?” Pretty simple and again, without pronouns.

"Renamon... Must be who we just saw. Do you know her?" 「レナモン?さっきみったのと同じやつかな... そいつ前から知っているの？」 Here Takuma uses やつ and そいつ, genderless pronouns.

So, this is the thing. Both Haru and Takuma use female pronouns in the translation to refer to Renamon but later in the game, EVERYONE uses male pronouns being only this scene the one to have female pronouns.

Now, I always refer to Renamon with she/her-they/them pronouns given the fact that in Japanese there aren't really any specific pronouns for Digimons in general (as I said before, is easy and kinda convenient to ignore parts of the sentence and genderless pronouns are very common) and just here in this scene alone, we listen to Agumon and Takuma refer to Renamon as あいつ ("aitsu", no gender but can be crudely translated as "that guy") and as we just saw before, そいつ ("soitsu", also translated as “that guy”) and やつ (”yatsu”, again “that guy”) but anyway, you get the point.

I also recall Miyuki refering to Renamon as あの子 ("ano ko") again no gender and can be translated as "that child" but I believe people tend to translate it as "that girl" for convenience.

For most of the game I unconsciously ignored the text since my ears can understand japanese pretty well so to be honest, I just noticed about this in my 5th play and thus the reason I now want to know how other languages did this scene or if it was the spanish translator’s mistake :3c so yeah the question is, all the translations decided to use female pronouns in this scene alone?

#digimon survive spoilers #digimon survive #digimon #the spoiler embargo thingie is over but still will save some details #don't know if someone will see this but mostly I'm curious about other languages aside english #since it's easy to see scenes in english on y*utube #but the english version of the dialogue is welcome too uwu #also I'm almost done with all the routes!#only missing the harmony route and I'm scared help #the moral one is my fav one btw #also sorry this is kinda long :D #memo

5 notes · View notes

pumakaji64 · 2 years

Text

I finished the first route of Digimon Survive, managed to get everyone out alive 😎

#Digimon survive #spoilers in tags #( well everyone who you can save in the first run that is )#excited to start the second playthrough ^_^#I think I’m gonna try to do the wrath or harmony routes next #probably harmony first then wrath since I already evolved shinobu into tyrannomon again by accident lol

3 notes · View notes

fortune-maiden · 2 years

Text

I’m skimming the interview for Digimon Survive and alfjaslkfj the SMT vibes!

I mean Digimon Cyber Sleuth was already full of SMT vibes and I loved it so this game is going to absolutely destroy me!

(and also my time management rip)

#digimon survive #there will be 3 routes morality harmony and rage. HMMMMMMMM #and also a secret route *eyes emoji*

1 note · View note

holydramon · 3 months

Text

got to chapter 8 (which I believe is where things diverge)!! anyway popping the biggest bottles cause all my theories regarding haru and miyuki have been proven correct so far.

#also!! miyuki!! i love her. glad we saved her.#that said very confused cause like… it seems?? we’re in the human world now???#they really went ‘home away from home’ is one of the most iconic digimon episodes we should include that (joke)#that said uh. does the time between digital world and human world work the same as adventure in this. cause if so.#YIKES MIYUKI…. like she was stuck in the digital world for like. what? about 60 human years (based off how old the professor is).#how many digital years is that?? man.#last but not least… I’m guessing based off what’s been shown so far that the big bad is apocalymon which. i guess is better than yggdrasil #which was my other guess. that said kinda wish it was something new. but also I get it. apocalymon makes sense as a villain. plus digimon #survive is meant to kinda be a more mature/dark take on the adventure premise so. i get it.#i will say one of my other guesses based on the mural was huanlongmon and like. against all odds I am still hoping that might be right. that #said that is probably just coping lol.#i mean come on… ruin mode is right there… please…#dramon thoughts #roseate plays survive #digimon survive spoilers #OH ALSO. i am doing harmony route btw.#i admittedly. am not looking forward to having to go through chapters 1-7 again for moral and wrathful. like they’re good but. this game is #very long.#probably gonna cheese it and just alternate between wrath and moral for every choice next run and then make a save at the start of 7 and #just choose all wrath or all moral to get each route from there #just so I don’t have to do those chapters. two more times.

0 notes

kitchfit · 4 months

Text

Year in Review: Games Pt 3

My penultimate list of games contains a rather random grabbag of obsessions I bounced between over the summer and into the fall. And for this list I do mean obsession. Most of these titles took over my brain for at least a week until I was able to stave it off with something else.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past Randomizer

I don't often think too much about the structure of traditional Zelda games when I look back on them. Recently, in an interview, Eiji Aonuma expressed a lack of interest to return to the traditional styled Zelda games, stating "Why do you want to go back to a type of game where you're more limited or more restricted in the types of things or ways you can play?" I understand that sentiment, but I believe the restrictive structure of older Zeldas actively curate the gameplay experience rather than hinder it. There's something to be said about how linearity in a game can be in service to a better story, but in Zelda, the linearity turns the entire map into something of a puzzlebox. There's a reason this franchise inspired Metroid.

These are the thoughts I had while figuring out exactly how Zelda randomizers worked and actually getting one to function properly. A Link to the Past, the game the solidified the Zelda formula. Compared to Zelda I, this game is considerably more linear, each mark of your progression hindered by a Key Item that progressively unlocks more of the world around you until you have free reign of the map. The OG makes this progression path relatively intuitive, but in a randomizer the path still exists, but its been altered. All of the keys are behind new locks, and the experience of finding those locks is almost like playing Alttp for the first time.

Familiar items from the beginning may be moved towards the end. I didn't even find the sword until around the halfway point, and had to get creative when dealing with bosses, but near the end, when I had everything, the game was identical to its original counterpart. In this way, the restrictive nature of the game made it more compelling than if I had free reign of the map from the get go. But I guess the Zelda team just isn't interested in that type of gameplay anymore.

Super Mario Odyssey

This is foreshadowing a much more psychotic stage of this review, which I'll save as the last update to this Year in Review project. The is my first time playing this! Can you believe! I'm apparently something of a "gamer," but one of the most beloved Mario games of modern times remained unplayed and alone... I had to rectify this. And damn, yea. This is the perfect advancement in 3D Mario since the time of Mario Galaxy. The controls are a perfect mix of freedom and control; I was never agitated with Mario's movement. The Moons allowing simple exploration and puzzle solving to be rewarded without booting the player out of the level. Finally, after all this time, Mario has reached the heights of the first Banjo Kazooie game.

This is a lot easier to qualify with hindsight, since well... You'll see! But during my time with the game, what I was most impressed with were the environments. You're exploring entire communities! New sections of the Mario world that we've never seen before that fit perfectly with everything we've seen before. Classic themes with a twist. The Sand Kingdom is a normal dessert level that has been frozen over with an icy curse. The Wooded Kingdom seems at first to be a standard grass theme, but is actually a defunct industrial zone upkept by robots who like to garden! Even New Donk City with its hyper realistic Business People, which seems a wild setting for a Mario game, hearkens back to the older games like Donkey Kong 94. For the first time in a long time, this game got me interested in the lore of the Mario universe, and that would have dire consequences...

Fire Emblem: Awakening

This is one of those franchises I have a lot of love for despite the fact almost every entry has something that makes me stretch my face into a comical frown, like Wile E. Coyote realizing he's been thoroughly duped by the funny bird that goes fast. The Fire Emblem games are already thoroughly difficult tactical rpgs, which are hard enough to invest yourself into without tearing your hair out. Awakening is the game that brought the franchise back from the brink of death, at least in the west, and part of that, I believe, was because of the reintroduction of a mechanic from FE4 I affectionately refer to as "the breeding mechanic."

By slamming your anime chess pieces against each other like action figures to make them kiss, they can get married and have a kid. That child can then be recruited into your army after some goofy time travel antics, and their stats, class options, and abilities are decided based on those of their parent units. This means breeding your units like livestock to create the best child units is the most effective way to play the game, which, I won't lie, is just simulated eugenics. This grossed me out as a teenager when I bought this game, and combined with how hard the game was for me at the time, I put the game down for an indefinite hiatus.

Returning to it after all these years, I am sad to say abusing the breeding mechanic is fun as all hell. Okay, maybe equating romance options in a video game to actual eugenics is a bit harsh. It's not like the game encourages playing like that, it really is just letting you ship your favorite characters together, which is present in every FE game these days. Pairing the units up based not only on chemistry but on available skills allowed me to have a nice time with a pretty fun cast and absolutely WRECK HOUSE through the chapters to the point that difficulty became something of a joke. There's also a story in this game. It's fine. Time travel is in it.

Fire Emblem: Binding Blade

This is lauded as one of the most difficult FE games to ever exist, but it isn't usually said with a happy face. Every map is a "seize map" meaning the primary objective is always to kill the boss and bring the Lord (in this case, Roy) to the place the boss was sitting. Roy stagnates at level 20 around the midpoint of the game, and will not promote until the second to last chapter, meaning he's basically useless in the latter half of the game but still required to use in every chapter. Reinforcements appear to a genuinely goofy degree, and will sometimes capsize your run without any warning. You cannot get the true ending of the game without keeping certain fragile ass characters alive (sometimes on the ENEMY TEAM) that unlock hidden chapters with even more bullshit difficulty. Full disclosure, I had to use a guide + a hack that removed fog to get through this game.

Despite ALL OF THIS, Binding Blade has been one of the most engaging and thought provoking Fire Emblem experiences I've ever had. The plot follows a World War esque scenario. On the relatively peaceful continent of Elibe, the country with the strongest military, Bern, has suddenly broke treaty and attempts to conquer all neighboring states. Roy, a 14 year old noble boy on a quest to deliver reinforcements, is suddenly thrust into the role of general after the commander of Lycia falls in battle against Bern troops. And THAT is why the game's difficulty feels so appropriate! It's an uphill climb from day one, Roy is in no way prepared for this, he's FOURTEEN. He should be playing Animal Crossing on his Nintendo 3DS, consarnit! There's also an interesting twist at the end that calls into question our celebration of history and responsibility of the past, which I might get into if I replay it. And I probably will! There's a very lovingly made hack that remakes all of Binding Blade in FE8 with qol features that made me excited to come back to it in the future.

Pikmin 4 pt 1

I'm still having a hard time believing this game exists. I feel like I'm taking it for granted. Just last year I remember cynically telling my friend this title would probably be in development hell for another half a decade at least. But it's here! And damn what a fantastic return. Similar to Pikmin 2, 4 foregoes time limits and resource management in favor of exploration and isolated challenges, without turning to the bullshit difficulty 2 would occasionally throw your way. There's just so much stuff in this game! Caves are back! Piklopedia is huge! Two new types of Pikmin! Like 6 enormous maps to explore!

I do have a few reservations on it. Instead of following the previously established continuity, Pikmin 4 reboots the series, repeating Pikmin 1's plot with the caveat that Olimar never made it off of PNF-404, and it's your job to save him. Along with sixty other tiny alien people that are apparently also prone to crash land in dangerous areas like Olimar before them. It's hilarious, really, the only reason your (custom made) character is in charge is because they're the only one who made it through the atmosphere without shitting themselves.

The caves overall have stronger themes than Pikmin 2 ever managed, and are extremely well designed in their layouts, and the plot and characters are super charming as well. Louie is back and bastardly as ever. He is such an asshole in this title, I love him so much. This is marked as part 1, not only because I'm excited to jump back into the extensive postgame content, but also because of the amount of detail put into the Piklopedia that I want to read EVERYTHING, but due to circumstances I wasn't able to at the time. I know these lists may come off as unemployed behavior, but astonishingly I do have a job that holds back my GAMING POWER just a little bit.

Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance

I took a slight gaming break after Pikmin 4, but it wasn't long before the gaming urge enveloped me like a holy fire. I considered replaying Zero Mission, but if I start one Metroid game I will play through all of them into Dread, which I didn't want to start. And then I remembered there are like 10 Metroids that I've never played, and they have vampires in them! I guess, rather than a Metroid, you could call them a Vania. I've only really played Castlevania 1 and 3 on the NES before, but it's a series I hold pretty close to my heart, and this game works as a good introduction to the series, if you'd like.

The plot follows Juste Belmont, the fruity grandson of Simon who follows his boyfriend into Dracula's Castle to find their girlfriend. Juste has the typical whip finesse of a Belmont, but his direct lineage to Sypha Belnades from Dracula's Curse gives him skills in elemental magic that he slowly unlocks throughout the game. The element Juste is equipped with pairs with his secondary weapon that each unleash a different spell type, which are super fun to experiment with. Dracula's Castle is also split between to dimensions, like the Light and Dark world from alttp, and while it's always fun to explore old areas with new differences, I don't think it adds too much to the aesthetics. Both versions of the castle are nearly identical in terms of artstyle, with the "B Castle" taking on a slightly darker palette.

Juste also collects random shit he finds in the castle to decorate an empty room he found, which is tied to the true ending for some reason. I have a friend who picks up random trash off the streets and brings it back to his house as "trinkets" that he shows off to people when he has visitors, which I found myself reminded of when Juste picks up what must have been Alucard's childhood teddybear to hoard back in little nest.

Digimon Survive

This is a fascinating game. If you have any love for digimon as a series, or if you love visual novel horror games, this is a fantastic deal. From what I remember it faced some backlash when it was revealed it wasn't just a digimon tactical rpg, and even more criticism when players found out how involved the visual novel aspect was. For me, this game perfectly marries the two genres. Your choices in the visual novel structure and treatment of your units during these sections decide not only how your digimon evolve and grow, but which units Survive to the end of the game. There are also four branching paths the story can take that genuinely feel influenced by the choices you made, even though they mostly come down to a rather straightforward morality system.

The plot is similar to season one of the Digimon anime, but with a more mature feel. Eight kids at summer camp are whisked away to the digital world, where the laws of physics are altered, a vague facsimile of human culture can be found, and tons of wacky creatures show up to either aide or harm our protagonists. Except in this version some of them may actually die. I made it through the game with losing only two characters, but they're absence was felt all the way to the end of the game. You don't have to know anything about digimon to appreciate this, but it is a fun new way to enjoy these classic creatures, or be terrified of them, in a certain Bunny's case...

Final Fantasy VII

I don't mod a lot of games. I do look for fan games and improvement patches for older games, but I got a hankering to seek out some stuff a bit more high tech. On Nexus it turned out there were a lot of cool HD graphic mods for an rpg I hadn't picked up in eight years: FF7, baby! I originally got a quarter of the way through this game on steam and put it down for a bit, and then never picked it back up. I remembered being annoyed and confused at the plot and the setting, but going back to it now (with clearer visuals, lol) I enjoyed the hell out of this complicated mess of a story! Honestly, it's not as convoluted as people made it out to be, but maybe my brain has been fundamentally altered by Kingdom Hearts. There's a central mystery present around the six hour mark surrounding a memory Cloud has that doesn't make any sense, and the truth behind that memory slowly unveils itself in a fascinating way.

I was surprised how much I liked Cloud as a character. He never really impressed me in Smash or KH, but in his original game he's this goofy, anxious dork who tries too hard to be cool in front of pretty girls. I can relate to that. AND he has motion sickness. I can relate to that even more.

There are a lot of playable characters in this game, but only 3 of them are allowed in your party, who naturally will level up a lot faster than the benched boys. This is good for replayability, I guess, but if I go back to it anytime soon, I'll have a hard time not picking Barret, Aerith and Tifa as Cloud's best buddies. The other characters are cool (Yuffie is still more of a KH character to me), but I got so damn attached to those three. I also went to the effort of Chocobo breeding for the busted endgame materia, which was a surprisingly fun sidequest, despite its esoteric nature. I did this totally legitimately too! EVERYONE CONGRATULATE ME FOR BEING SO COOL!

Final Fantasy IX

I think this is the easiest Final Fantasy game to recommend to someone. All of the FF games I've played have this compelling found family aspect present, but it's executed in the best way in this one. The characters seem to have this genuine affection for each other that gets more and more real as the game progress and they develop as people. It's also hilarious in a very Shakespearean way. The main character, Zidane, was raised by theater kids, so the goofy, dramatic irony stage gags are very appropriate. All the characters were super compelling with great designs as well, and I had a hard time deciding which three would be in the final party. I settled on Vivi, Freya, and Dagger, but I used Quina and Steiner quite a bit.

The story pulled out tears from me towards the end. This is a tale about grief, identity, and the acceptance of death, and it handles those themes with depth and grace. Zidane and Vivi are unsure of who they are, where they come from. While Zidane looks normal enough, by FF9 standards, Vivi is forced to confront the fact he is probably not human almost immediately upon encountering his puppet brethren, and his reflective journey on accepting this and the fact he does not have long to live is the strongest emotional through-line of the game. But what moved me to tears was (SPOILERS FOR THE REST OF THIS PARAGRAPH) Zidane's drive to reach Kuja before his unavoidable fate. To reach out to his brother and risk life and limb just so he could offer this man comfort in his last moments, to have the last emotion he felt be the tenderness he never got to feel during his long life. Idk it got to me.

(SPOILERS OVER) The Chocobo mission in this game is a lot more fun and intuitive than it was in 7. Instead of breeding, you play a hot and cold mini game that's frustrating as hell at first, but gradually gets faster and more fun. The games lore makes a lot of references to earlier titles, though I really only recognized the call backs to 7 and 4. This inspired me to make a Libre office spreadsheet of all Final Fantasy games lore, plot and recurring elements in an obsessive and ultimately futile attempt to tie the first nine games together in a neat timeline. I'm filling it out as I go through them, so I may never actually release my findings, but it's still been a fun project, similar to these Year in Reviews!

Final Fantasy

This is the GBA version. After 9, I wanted to go through all the FF games I hadn't played, starting of course with 1. According to Legend, the team that worked on this were about to go out of business went all out on one Final product to make or break the company, thus "Final" Fantasy. I think it may also be named so for the amount of cliche fantasy tropes played out through the story. There are elves who's prince has been put under a sleeping curse, dwarves that love to mine and forge, mermaids imprisoned by a sea monster, there's even a floating dead civilization inspired by Castle in the Sky complete with still functional robots. All of this makes for a pretty fun setting, and seeing where most of the recurring aspects of the FF series originated was delightful! A few of them even threw me for a loop; Bahamut lives underground and gives you a class upgrade, I didn't even expect him to be here!

The combat is simple. The gba version reduced the amount of random encounters, and the world design is relatively intuitive (except for the airship, which is hiding underneath a super esoteric sidequest the game barely tells you about), so the challenge was mostly limited to the boss encounters, who can be cheesed with elemental magic from a decent mage. I played with a Black Mage, a Monk, a Fighter, and a Red Mage, so my healing options were pretty limiting. I didn't realize until near the end of the game that monks are strongest without weapons, so at the last moment my little Monkey boy was FUCKING SHIT UP while he had been dragging his feet for most of the game. The final boss fucked me up in return, however, and I almost grinded (ground doesn't sound right) levels for the first time in this game before discovering the Titan Gloves.

The final boss is (spoilies) the first boss from the opening of the game, who has been transported 1,000 years into the past to manipulate the conflict of the game, including his own initial defeat. This means defeating him for the 2nd time breaks this loop, stops him from creating conflict in the first place and retcons the entire events of the game, allowing your actions to fall into obscure legend in the cultural consciousness. This provides a nice explanation for the main cast's lack of identity. This story is being told second hand as a legend. These people are only remembered for their actions in a myth and thus their true names have never been known...

Final Fantasy II: Dawn of Souls

Before playing this game I had it beaten into my head from video essayists and game journalists that this is the worst Final Fantasy with dogshit mechanics. Maybe that's true, I haven't played all of them yet. These mechanics were cool as hell to me, though. Your stats are decided by usage instead of building up through leveling up, meaning your magic stat is trained by using more magic, attack is trained by attacking, etc. In the og NES game, this also applied to HP, which was trained by getting hit, but that was changed to a more steady leveling curve in the GBA version, and thank God for that. There are also several weapon types like swords, axes, and spears you can train your party members with, though you're forced to specialize early on, lest you be under-leveled later in the game. I think this system is incredibly ahead of its time, inelegant as it may be, as it lets you customize your characters' stat builds in a way that's now standard for modern rpgs.

The story kind of rakes you across the coals. It follows a group of children who have joined a rebellion against an empire dead set on taking over the world. Almost every victory is met with an equal degree of tragedy. You might defeat the enemy commander only to be too late to prevent a city being wiped from the face of the earth, you might find one of the game's macguffins from a tough dungeon only for a party member to be brutally killed off at the last moment. Even defeating the emperor comes with a slap in the face, as his death only leads to a portal to ACTUAL HELL where the emperor has seized control of the afterlife. It makes the ending very satisfying in my eyes, though there are some story developments (like Leon) that feel pretty undercooked. There's also a bonus story featuring all the dead characters exploring hell! Cool! I didn't play this, since it drops everyone back at level one, but I may return to it as a separate game someday. I just gotta know what happened to all the dead guys! They died??? Oh shit!!

Fatum Betula

I discovered this game watching Any Austin talk about games you can get on the Switch for $2, and can you believe my luck? It was only $1 on sale packaged with Paratropics! After playing it, I think this game is worth more than $2, though it is pretty short. The opening of the game is unsettling. Through hints in the menu, you learn to stare out into an abyss until a face with too many teeth tells you to fill a vial with liquid to feed to a birch tree.

And that's all you need to do! Find several different liquids hidden in the beautifully rendered polygonal environments and give to the birch to change the fate of the world. I only figured this out through a lot of trial and error. There are several endings depending on which liquid you choose, around 9 in total if I remember right, including poison, blood, liquid bone. Some of them are received as rewards for exploration and experimentation, while the true ending is done through a series of bizarre tasks that I honestly had to use a guide for.

The endings have a good range of philosophical to comedic, my favorite one being liquid bone, which transforms everyone in the world into funny dancing skeletons. There are so many characters in this world that delight and intrigue, and the writing blows my mind at a few points. It's a game you want to dig into and dissect its many angles, while still hitting you with occasional dialogue that makes you laugh pretty hard.

AND DONE! This list is a bit longer than usual, since I wanted everything on the final Games list to be homogenized. Dang I played a lot of viddy games this year. Next time I will be covering Shows. I was going to do a comics list but I haven't finished enough comics this year to merit one, maybe at the end as a bonus!

1 note · View note

dats-hq · 3 months

Text

Kaito, Aoi, and the Importance of Digimon Survive's Intertexuality Across Routes

Digimon Survive is such a powerful narrative because its core theme is reinforced through its very structure as a visual novel. The game's radical belief in the ability for anyone to blossom into the best versions of themselves given the right circumstances is a powerful concept, but it could easily come off as naive. To avoid coming off as naive, there must be an acknowledgement of the darkest parts of our hearts.

It's like this:

In the Truthful Ending, Kaito has some issues with anger and overprotectiveness, but ultimately develops a slightly healthier relationship with his sister. A fine snapshot of a young boy's life over the course of a few weeks, but is it a snapshot of the young boy's soul? I think not. That snapshot comes in more parts. To see how his relationship with Miu would develop in more dire circumstances, you must see Moral Route. To see how he would cultivate a more strenuous relationship with Miu in light of a heightened sense of danger in the world, you must see Wrathful Route. To see who Kaito would become without Miu's grounding presence, you must see Harmony Route.

By seeing Kaito across four dimensions, you are able to form a picture of the actual Kaito. In composite, Kaito is obviously a good person. He is motivated by a desire to protect. He is brave. He cares for people. Even his friends who he betrayed in Harmony Route could see that deep down, Kaito had the potential to be a good person. This is seen when they all wish to extend an offer of forgiveness to Kaito, even after he resolved to destroy the world. By seeing Kaito at his absolute worst, we actually see a glimmer of his potential.

(I would like to clarify that I do not believe that Kaito "redeemed himself by dying," nor is it my reading of the text that Kaito was made to die as punishment for his misdeeds. I understand how one may come to those readings of the text, but I believe it was an unfortunate and unintended implication at worst.)

Aoi is an overachiever. She's a bright young girl, and that comes with certain expectations. If one were to look at her on a very surface level, you would think that she understands the importance of the responsibilities she's been given, and she doesn't mind the extra work. That is obviously bullshit, but to some extent, this is the image she puts out into the world. Aoi is not forthcoming about her emotions, so prior to meeting Labramon, she allows herself to stoically accept an unfair burden. Her fellow students take advantage of her, and her opinion is rarely respected among the other chosen children when discussing next steps. Without the ability to assert herself, she has all of the responsibility with none of the actual power. She must work hard, but she cannot do good.

This is a shame. Aoi is motivated by a strong sense of justice. The best version of herself is one who has the confidence to set boundaries and stand firm on issues she cares about, but much like Kaito, watching her grow into her best self is merely a snapshot of a few weeks in the life of a child. To truly plunder the depths of Aoi's soul, we must look into Wrathful Route.

In Wrathful Route, we see the most explosive expression of Aoi's convictions. She learns that a sense of justice is worth nothing if you don't have power, and power is worthless if it is not used. While nobody younger than Aoi dies in Moral Route, and Miu's safety in Harmony Route is Kaito's responsibility first and foremost, Saki's safety was squarely Aoi's responsibility.

Aoi's grief over her own failure to uphold her values causes an overcorrection. She is overcome with a desire to wield the maximum possible power and realize a twisted vision of maximum possible justice.

I love the gusto, Aoi, but human instrumentality is not a healthy response to traumatic invalidation.

It's important to stress that while I love Saki and think Saki/Aoi is an adorable ship, Saki's death is not the sole cause of Aoi's mental anguish. Saki's death was the catalyst for Aoi to close herself off from the community who could have helped her. The anguish began developing years prior.

In other routes, Aoi's relationship to her sense of justice, her responsibility, and her assertiveness develop in different ways, but by examining Aoi across four dimensions, we can understand Aoi's actual self. In composite, Aoi is a good person. She has strong convictions. She is protective. She is capable. There are a lot of ways these values can shape a young girl, and Aoi deserves a life where she has a supportive community to allow her to grow into the best version of herself. Don't we all?

At the core of both Kaito and Aoi, we find good people. I like to think you'd find the same at the core of everyone in real life, too. And yet, in real life, we obviously find people who do work to make the world a worse place. In Digimon Survive, we can see the paths not taken, for better and for worse. In doing so, we see the Truth of each character.

(This is not wholly unrelated to the appeal of "the Digimon as a reflection of the human partner's true self." In Dracmon, we see Kaito's protectiveness in a more trusting and easygoing package. In Labramon, we see Aoi's supportiveness in a more assertive package.)

#digimon survive #digimon survive meta #aoi shibuya #shibuya aoi #digimon survive week #but late #day 2 cooperation #very late okay?#hi maq

42 notes · View notes