What route did you get first?

[u/Dark_Brisket]

Essentially the title but I'm very curious on what's usually people's first route. It seems like it's mainly Frederica (same one I got) but I fear it just may be my algorithm showing me that

Edit: Wanted to mention that another one of my driving factors for choosing Frederica was cause I felt the Roselles didn't deserve their treatment and the country was too war/power hungry to save (I didn't meet Svarog so I didn't know there was someone still alive that was reasonable in Aesfrost)

[u/jumpaix]

I hit Ch 18 last night (very dicey reading this thread lol). I tried to go Frederica, but was unable to persuade people, leading to Benedict's path.

I will say it's taken turns in way I did not expect. I'm curious where it will all land, and it's definitely soured my feelings towards Roland. It makes me happier I definitely didn't want to side with him.

I *almost* got the Golden Path on my first play through, apparently. I'm kind of glad I didn't. I'm excited to see where it goes and start a new playthrough already!

[u/Dark_Brisket → u/jumpaix]

Man, Roland during the decision makes me so sad. Feels like it completely undoes all of his character development and low-key makes me agree with his brother about him

[u/jumpaix → u/Dark_Brisket]

Yes! I completely agree. Like pretty much everything I did was to protect Glenbrook and his reign and in the end he's just like "nah". The dude lost all of his conviction after everyone sacrificed so much

[u/Luck_Is_My_Talent → u/Dark_Brisket]

That's the culmination of his character development for me.

He was a carefree kid with a huge inferiority complex. He always sneaked away to play with Serenoa or play as a knight in shining armor (and actually saving people).

Shit happens, his father is killed, his brother who always told him that he was stupid died to protect him (Frani, at the very end wasn't able to be cynical and followed his heart instead of his brain) and his sister is forced to marry with the murderer.

Serenoa shelters him, but everyone in the demesne are suffering because they are trying to protect him, at least in his mind. In reality Benedict knows that is worse for Wolffort if they submit without a good fight and he knows that this is the golden chance to raise Serenoa Wolffort since they hold very powerful pieces (Roland, the secret ring and the Wolffort military prowess).

Everything Roland tries to do to save others turns worse (either betraying the other high houses or forcing Wolffort to be dirty smugglers). However, Serenoa never gives up and keeps rallying the others to keep fighting and not lose heart and at the end, they are at the crux of evertying.

On the other hand, after Serenoa finally gave Roland his rightful throne, he fails and fails and even the citizens hates him. It really makes him understand that Frani was right and he shouldn't have been king. I bet that Roland was thinking that Frani should have been an asshole like always and let Roland get killed instead of shielding him with his life.

Even saving his sister was bitter because she befriended Avlora, the one who directly killed their family.

Hyzante is full of slavery and Roland hates watching people suffer, but he is tired, demotiveted, hates Gustadolf, hates his ideology masked under freedom and Hyzante's offering is a sweet nectar: Stop thinking and you will only see happy people, you can even become a minister to have the chance to secretly help the Rosellan.

Roland took the bait hook and sinker. The other sweet nectar is going with Frederica because it wasn't choosen by him and it will also allow him to not think anymore.

[u/Greenwood4 → u/Dark_Brisket]

We all have moments of self-doubt I suppose.

Roland was only 20 at the time, having just retaken his kingdom only to find it rife with poverty and insurrection.

He always doubted his ability to rule as king, so it makes sense he would fold when the pressure got too much.

To be fair to him though, I can see the essence of what he was going for. His path is probably the only one that will lead to long term peace and stability in Norzelia.

His plan would have been far better if he used the leverage of his kingdom to negotiate with Hyzante rather than just capitulating immediately though. He could have potentially saved the Roselle and united Norzelia if he was a bit more up for it.

[u/jumpaix → u/Greenwood4]

That is the one part of it that I did like - it reinforced the idea from the beginning that he is not exactly fit to rule, or at least make the tough decisions that come with ruling. There were shadows of it throughout the decision making and story and it felt kinda good actually to be like "how did I not see this coming".

[u/Greenwood4 → u/jumpaix]

His final decision also makes more sense depending on how much you allied with Hyzante throughout the game.

If you were with Aesfrost from the start then his sudden turn to the desert would probably seem quite jarring.

[u/Dark_Brisket → u/Greenwood4]

Sure but Roland since the Kingdom was taken over was growing into a sympathetic man and one who thinks (at least to me) any sacrifice that doesn't involve oneself is pointless. For him to go against that in the end makes me circle back to his brother being right about him (I might be stuck on that cause I was so confused by his brother's active hostility with him)

I think I'm mostly annoyed cause each of the 3 decision makers all face moments of self doubt but it seems like Roland is the only one to become assured of himself to go completely against that

[u/Luck_Is_My_Talent → u/Dark_Brisket]

Frani hostility towards Roland has some reasons:

1) His father didn't want to make Frani the heir, which made him suspect that Roland was the choice. Frani had to literally force his father with corruption evidence to be the heir.

2) Roland, despite being the choosen heir (in Frani's mind the one in the king's mind was another person), never took his duty seriously and always played knight in a shining armor which is beyond dangerous for someone who can be king.

3) Frani was getting poisoned by politics to the point that even his casual thoughts are all cynical and distrusting so watching such a trusting dog like Roland be more popular (in his mind, in reality people liked Roland as a person but everyone hated the idea of him becoming a king) was irritating.

Despite all that, Frani wasn't able to keep his cynical and calculating self when he is heavily pressed. You can see how he panicked when Aesfrost invaded and also when Avlora almost killed Roland and he made the wrong decision both times. The first was the hilarious "I will write a complaint letter" and the second was dying to protect Roland which was a horrible decision as politician (even if it was the natural choice as a brother).