User Info: Edgeknight Edgeknight 8 years ago #1



After finishing up the Rapunzel's game's story on Extra mode I have to give the team my respect. They made you work for the answers, but they're there and the Law endings have their typical drawback: the removal of free will from the equation. One of my major problems with the Law ending in this game is that it feels unnatural for Vincent to be happy in the things that terrify or completely disinterest him. In the Neutral and Chaos endings it's emphasized that the idea of a typical life and a typical marriage just aren't things that appeal to a laid back free spirit like him. He values his freedom and independence. During the course of the game he overcomes doubts and fears, but this aspect of him doesn't change. The Rapunzel game's Extra mode story sheds some light on what happened.



In the story the Prince slowly falls under the spell of the Witch. He questions why he has fallen for Rapunzel as hard as he has, and the more this passion and dedication grows the more confused he becomes. When her story of the two queens ends the Witch takes full control over Rapunzel and proposes to him. No man can resist Rapunzel's beauty and charm, so the Witch can ensnare the hearts of men.



To understand how this story relates to the story of the main game we have to look at one of the repeated symbols: the ants, familiars of witches (according to the game). The ants are associated with Katherine. They become a symbol of her presence, and in the case of the cake, the threat of her wrath. Katherine, for the purposes of the parallels with the Rapunzel story, is the Witch. That makes Catherine Rapunzel and Vincent the Prince. The thoughts, actions, and characteristics of these three characters in the Rapunzel story shed new light on the thought processes and motivations of each character in the main game. Ultimately the two endings to the Rapunzel tale are there to shed another light on the Law and Chaos endings (as well as give us an idea of Ishtar's role in facilitating the whole thing).



With this new take on the story a couple of things that didn't make sense to me clicked into place. Remember the scene where Vincent is trying to break up with Catherine? A few of her lines felt strange; particularly the one about she claims to have been "protecting" Vincent. It's easy to miss as the scene quickly moves past it, but the game never explains what she meant. She certainly wasn't protecting him from Boss, as he was still having Nightmares every night. She wasn't protecting him from Steve since he shows up at Vincent's apartment and spooks him. What could she possibly have been protecting him from? The Rapunzel game answers this question: the Witch's "scheme". Catherine was, in her eyes, protecting Vincent from Katherine.



The Law ending now works as a Law ending: Vincent is okay with losing what he values most (freedom) because his free will has, in a sense, been subverted. He's under Katherine's "spell" and now the Witch has the Prince. Order and tranquility at the price of one's freedom, individuality, or free will: that's a Law ending and that helps the player understand why Vincent has such a drastic change of heart. "The curse of a great lady, that brings misery upon the world of men" indeed. "I'm not a newbie it's just that I only registered a few days ago." -matchulinch I wasn't crazy about the Law endings to this game because they felt less like Megaten endings and more like contrived and cheesy "Hollywood" style endings. Law and Chaos have always had sinister AND benevolent aspects to them depending on your point of view. It's the Neutral endings that serve as the "happy" endings as they don't strive to change the status quo.After finishing up the Rapunzel's game's story on Extra mode I have to give the team my respect. They made you work for the answers, but they're there and the Law endings have their typical drawback: the removal of free will from the equation. One of my major problems with the Law ending in this game is that it feels unnatural for Vincent to be happy in the things that terrify or completely disinterest him. In the Neutral and Chaos endings it's emphasized that the idea of a typical life and a typical marriage just aren't things that appeal to a laid back free spirit like him. He values his freedom and independence. During the course of the game he overcomes doubts and fears, but this aspect of him doesn't change. The Rapunzel game's Extra mode story sheds some light on what happened.In the story the Prince slowly falls under the spell of the Witch. He questions why he has fallen for Rapunzel as hard as he has, and the more this passion and dedication grows the more confused he becomes. When her story of the two queens ends the Witch takes full control over Rapunzel and proposes to him. No man can resist Rapunzel's beauty and charm, so the Witch can ensnare the hearts of men.To understand how this story relates to the story of the main game we have to look at one of the repeated symbols: the ants, familiars of witches (according to the game). The ants are associated with Katherine. They become a symbol of her presence, and in the case of the cake, the threat of her wrath. Katherine, for the purposes of the parallels with the Rapunzel story, is the Witch. That makes Catherine Rapunzel and Vincent the Prince. The thoughts, actions, and characteristics of these three characters in the Rapunzel story shed new light on the thought processes and motivations of each character in the main game. Ultimately the two endings to the Rapunzel tale are there to shed another light on the Law and Chaos endings (as well as give us an idea of Ishtar's role in facilitating the whole thing).With this new take on the story a couple of things that didn't make sense to me clicked into place. Remember the scene where Vincent is trying to break up with Catherine? A few of her lines felt strange; particularly the one about she claims to have been "protecting" Vincent. It's easy to miss as the scene quickly moves past it, but the game never explains what she meant. She certainly wasn't protecting him from Boss, as he was still having Nightmares every night. She wasn't protecting him from Steve since he shows up at Vincent's apartment and spooks him. What could she possibly have been protecting him from? The Rapunzel game answers this question: the Witch's "scheme". Catherine was, in her eyes, protecting Vincent from Katherine.The Law ending now works as a Law ending: Vincent is okay with losing what he values most (freedom) because his free will has, in a sense, been subverted. He's under Katherine's "spell" and now the Witch has the Prince. Order and tranquility at the price of one's freedom, individuality, or free will:a Law ending and that helps the player understand why Vincent has such a drastic change of heart. "The curse of a great lady, that brings misery upon the world of men" indeed.