Frozen Essence: V.2 uploaded

[Kisekiko]

You know, I've been thinking about it and isn't it possible that

Zareh lied to Mina about her past? It makes sense and all, but after seeing his dark ending I get the feeling he might have just been obsessed with her. I believe that Zareh fell in love with Mina after they had sealed her. Wouldn't it be in his personality to make all that stuff up about their childhood so he could keep her to himself? I know I'm wrong but wouldn't that be interesting? I mean, NONE of the stuff he told Mina showed up in any other path, even the True path. Also, just because Zareh's ending isn't the true ending makes me suspect that Zareh's story is a lie. Just saying .

Oooooh! Nice idea! Actually, that really makes sense . . .

[tooaya]

Played through life, water, death and earth paths in that order (both light and dark), kudos on making such a nice game. (although I ended up skipping a lot of stuff, there seems to be a lot of dialogues that wasn't...necessary? Didn't really like how long the fight scenes are, etc. )

For light paths:

In the beginning I really liked how mature Rune felt, but the more I got onto his path the less I liked him. >___> Was totally planning to change path during the festival, but then it's kind of too late. Anyway, was quite pissed off by his hopeless and careless attitude, even though it got a little better toward the end...I can't bring myself to like him much. >>; The fight scene totally drained my will of playing his paths too, I have a stronger feeling (of hatred) toward Oryon than Rune, the guy just doesn't leave much impression on me.

For Earth paths:

Caius is awesome. I think he's the most awesome of all guardians. I think the creator's totally biased against him too, making his fight CG so hawt like that *___* (compared to Runes..hmmmm. >___> ) His light path is so hilarious and cute at the same time, it felt like he's a total azzhole and dominating at first, but in the end he was just a puppy. XDDD Loved the bed scenes, love perverted but innocent guys too (I question the fact that Caius really doesn't know the meaning behind "sleeping together" >___> )

And seriously, I didn't really mind the dark path, at least Mina's powerful in that path and not completely useless. >__>

For Water Paths:

The kid Zareh is so cute, the young Zareh looked nice, the older one just...eh.....um. *bricked* I kinda expected him to stay as the young one I guess, but oh well.
I have mixed feeling about this path. All the past memories are sweet and all, but to have Mina all of a sudden remembering everything and then all of a sudden be all love-dovy just gave me goose pimps. I don't know why but it didn't leave as much of an impression on me as it should have. I liked it much better when the two fought together against whatwastheguysname in the end, and how Zareh destroyed his hearing (I'm glad his hopeless attitude is much shorter compared to Rune, otherwise I'd be annoyed about it too. >> )

The end CG of the light ending was *____* Zareh with his hair tied up in a ponytail just reminds me so much of someone I obsess over with, so there's definitely a plus for that design along. The dark ending CG was quite awesome too. I accidentally skipped through the words though. >__>;;

Death Paths:

I'm a weirdo so I say this is my favorite of all paths. I love Mina in this path, yay for world domination! *shot* Though I have to say, I'm quite unsatisfied with the dark ending. I need, NEED to see Oryon insulted more. >__> I hate the guy too much OTL (though at the same time, I wish I can go after him so he can go through all the suffering and changes the other guys went through hohohoho~ )

Sayuri:

I don't think it's possible, since Mina remembers the past herself, that's how she recognized Zareh in the first place. Unless Zareh did something similar to dark hypnosis and tool control of Mina's mind so she thought those happened...>_> I think that's a bit far fetched though.

[nefferinthia]

You know, I've been thinking about it and isn't it possible that

Zareh lied to Mina about her past? It makes sense and all, but after seeing his dark ending I get the feeling he might have just been obsessed with her. I believe that Zareh fell in love with Mina after they had sealed her. Wouldn't it be in his personality to make all that stuff up about their childhood so he could keep her to himself? I know I'm wrong but wouldn't that be interesting? I mean, NONE of the stuff he told Mina showed up in any other path, even the True path. Also, just because Zareh's ending isn't the true ending makes me suspect that Zareh's story is a lie. Just saying .

Oh my god, this and you are brilliant!

That would make his ending all the more awesome seeing as in that case he's pretty much a creep. A cute creep, but still a creep. I kind of want it to be canon now~ I mean, it totally makes sense with the True ending 'not revealing' her past and what not.

[Ametrya]

I just got all the endings and CGs... and still hate Caius, I really don't get the fuss with the "bad boys".

[Kisekiko]

Sayuri:

I don't think it's possible, since Mina remembers the past herself, that's how she recognized Zareh in the first place. Unless Zareh did something similar to dark hypnosis and tool control of Mina's mind so she thought those happened...>_> I think that's a bit far fetched though.

Far fetched, yes, but still an awesome idea! And from what I've seen of

Zareh, he has both the means and the motivation to go through with it.

I just got all the endings and CGs... and still hate Caius, I really don't get the fuss with the "bad boys".

Poor thing . . . You'll be in my prayers tonight, Ametrya . . .

[Ametrya]

And then people complain about abusive boyfriends..

[Kisekiko]

And then people complain about abusive boyfriends..

I'm sorry if I offended you. Did you perhaps not read my rant about Varian's "Light" ending? I am just as much against abuse as you are, and wouldn't find Caius nearly so appealing if he were an unkind or disrespectful partner. However, seeing that he treats her with puppylike adoration in the Light end, there's no reason to imply that he is abusive.

[Ametrya]

I'm sorry if I offended you. Did you perhaps not read my rant about Varian's "Light" ending? I am just as much against abuse as you are, and wouldn't find Caius nearly so appealing if he were an unkind or disrespectful partner. However, seeing that he treats her with puppylike adoration in the Light end, there's no reason to imply that he is abusive.

Yeah, but only after treating her very badly for a long time. I mean, he's saved only by being attractive and with a sad backstory.

[Kisekiko]

It's not as though he singled her out for bad treatment. That's just the way he is towards everyone- or how he was towards everyone. If he continued acting like a jerk throughout the entire story, then I would certainly agree with you. However, as you said yourself, he gets better towards the end. His personality problems are a result of his upbringing, and he is able to change his behavior for Mina's sake. True, his impulsive nature is still there, but the fact that it's focused on protecting and caring for Mina shows that he is willing to make the effort. If he hadn't bothered to even try to change, as in the Dark Path, then simply the fact that his nature is a product of his environment would certainly not excuse his continued mistreatment of Mina, or anyone else. But that is not the case, because he clearly cares about her enough to change. Personally, that is my favorite element of "bad boys"- the point at which their seriously underdeveloped social skills begin to target any perceived threats to their love interest, as opposed to the interest herself. His should be applauded for displaying that sort of devotion, not ridiculed or subjected to derisive remarks about his appearance and background.

[Aleema]

You guys are so cute. The powah'o'love incites rabid fangirling once more. :3

*caius spoilers in this post* <-- Don't f**king complain.

We can all agree domestic abuse is bad. Very bad. Just violence in general sucks.
Seeing Caius hurt Mina happily is painful to watch -- and that is what Venus was going for. Personally, if he did that to me, there would be no happy ending. I would not forgive him, and I would run away as fast as I could. And I would pray to god that NO ONE ever think they can ACTUALLY change someone like that in REAL LIFE. If someone ever does that to you, LEAVE and TELL SOMEONE. You can't change people like that in real life. And I would go so far as to say that even Caius will have troubling losing such a distinct part of his personality because of some infatuation with the MC. (And if you believe that he is changed, permanently, then that's at least one thing in his favor.)

But because this is fantasy, we can treat that scene as a literary device or a euphemism of troubled times in a relationship, rather than a direct translation to our world. A love test, if you will. Caius has an unrealistic background, involving assassins and genocide (of said assassins), and is a severely sheltered/underdeveloped person. While those things exist in real life, almost never in his extreme. And an extreme character needs an extreme climax to his development. The most disturbing part of him doing that to Mina was that he genuine did want to kill/hurt her (at least, that's what he said), and the love thing came afterwards. So it was more a test for Mina (A.K.A: you) than him. She was a martyr to show Caius that his violent tendencies will only make him more alone. He's psychotic. He honestly is. But since magic exists in this world, it can be reasoned that he can be cured of that with a lil' bit o'love.

But being attractive with a sad backstory certainly excuses men of a lot of flaws in the eyes of women. "He's a jerk, but he's like that because his puppy died when he was five." "Awww. He can call me names any day ... I mean, look at that ass." <-- Unhealthy in real life. (and for what it's worth, I never really found Caius attractive)

All jerks and psychos have a history that has made them so. Mostly people with mental disorders are the only ones insensitive to others without reason because they simply cannot perceive other people as important. Caius may actually be a little bit of both here. I see him leaning more towards the latter, but I'm not the author.

What does make Caius redeemable is his "pure love" ending -- where it comes against all his training and experience. I think this triggers something very primal within women. It's irresistible. Until, of course, he nearly kills you.

[Red Lilies]

What does make Caius redeemable is his "pure love" ending -- where it comes against all his training and experience. I think this triggers something very primal within women. It's irresistible. Until, of course, he nearly kills you.

Lol, I think Aleema hit the nail on the head here (actually in her whole post, but that seemed like an uber long quote, so I shortened it. ). Despite my total love for Caius as a character, mainly in paths other than his, he fits my least favorite type of guys seen in games/manga/anime. I always finish a path like his (or in the case of manga, the book) and wonder why on earth the girl stuck with him so long. Even when it works out well in the end, I'm always wondering about what happens that day the guy snaps...O.o

[Malvodius]

You guys are so cute. The powah'o'love incites rabid fangirling once more. :3

*spoilers in this post*

We can all agree domestic abuse is bad. Very bad. Just violence in general sucks.
Seeing Caius hurt Mina happily is painful to watch -- and that is what Venus was going for. Personally, if he did that to me, there would be no happy ending. I would not forgive him, and I would run away as fast as I could. And I would pray to god that NO ONE ever think they can ACTUALLY change someone like that in REAL LIFE. If someone ever does that to you, LEAVE and TELL SOMEONE. You can't change people like that in real life. And I would go so far as to say that even Caius will have troubling losing such a distinct part of his personality because of some infatuation with the MC. (And if you believe that he is changed, permanently, then that's at least one thing in his favor.)

But because this is fantasy, we can treat that scene as a literary device or a euphemism of troubled times in a relationship, rather than a direct translation to our world. A love test, if you will. Caius has an unrealistic background, involving assassins and genocide (of said assassins), and is a severely sheltered/underdeveloped person. While those things exist in real life, almost never in his extreme. And an extreme character needs an extreme climax to his development. The most disturbing part of him doing that to Mina was that he genuine did want to kill/hurt her (at least, that's what he said), and the love thing came afterwards. So it was more a test for Mina (A.K.A: you) than him. She was a martyr to show Caius that his violent tendencies will only make him more alone. He's psychotic. He honestly is. But since magic exists in this world, it can be reasoned that he can be cured of that with a lil' bit o'love.

But being attractive with a sad backstory certainly excuses men of a lot of flaws in the eyes of women. "He's a jerk, but he's like that because his puppy died when he was five." "Awww. He can call me names any day ... I mean, look at that ass." <-- Unhealthy in real life. (and for what it's worth, I never really found Caius attractive)

All jerks and psychos have a history that has made them so. Mostly people with mental disorders are the only ones insensitive to others without reason because they simply cannot perceive other people as important. Caius may actually be a little bit of both here. I see him leaning more towards the latter, but I'm not the author.

What does make Caius redeemable is his "pure love" ending -- where it comes against all his training and experience. I think this triggers something very primal within women. It's irresistible. Until, of course, he nearly kills you.

I would put all that in spoilers tags if I were you.. there are people who usualy keep reading after the warning and then complain.

[Aleema]

Then they're the same people who would highlight the spoiler tags anyhoodle. Maybe. Haha. Huge white blocks are weird to me, sorry. Ten pages in -- play the damn game already! XD

Still I think it's important that everyone know that abusive boyfriends will not suddenly change into cuddle muffins. This is pure fantasy.

[tooaya]

Aren't abusive boyfriends start out nice and then get worse as you actually start to fall for him? (IRL that is) In that case Caius is like, completely opposite isn't it? >>; The girl here started to fall him without him ever being nice to from the very beginning, I guess she just likes the abuse. >___>

[ElementalButterfly]

You know, I've been thinking about it and isn't it possible that

Zareh lied to Mina about her past? It makes sense and all, but after seeing his dark ending I get the feeling he might have just been obsessed with her. I believe that Zareh fell in love with Mina after they had sealed her. Wouldn't it be in his personality to make all that stuff up about their childhood so he could keep her to himself? I know I'm wrong but wouldn't that be interesting? I mean, NONE of the stuff he told Mina showed up in any other path, even the True path. Also, just because Zareh's ending isn't the true ending makes me suspect that Zareh's story is a lie. Just saying .

Didn't Mina remembered the memories? I mean she remembered that he is zareh right? O_O