With no hard drive space or time to spare, I'll just be reading blogs. How sad... :/
My FF.net accountWell, yes. Part of what makes the game good is the directing. When I saw the screen go white and the words(paraphrased) "At least one of these hypotheses must be proven true to prove Natsuhi's innocence" I shat bricks. And I shat entire houses when they started graying out the ones that were being proven false. I guess you could just youtube it D= ?
edited 11th Jun '10 6:17:23 AM by TheAdversary
I'm hoping for Wizard-Hunting Wright here.
Kitkat Kitkat / He's our man / If any one screws up / He sure can -ImcaEP 7? Ugh, I seriously need to get my ass in gear an finish the rest of the VN.
... Yes. You need to see at least one straight iteration of the plot before you can handle Ryukishi07 screwing epically with the formula. You might get away with watching the anime adaptation of it, but there's some crucial exposition in the first VN (not least of all, Battler's familial situation) that are very important to the plot.
... If I had the courage, I would try re-reading it in light of everything I've learned in EPS 2-5. *sigh*
Try the manga? They seemed to do a decent job of keeping the details to me, and the entire first Episode's been fan-translated already. (Although Beatrice gets some hilariously psychotic facial expressions in the later arcs.)
(One thing I noticed—Jessica definitely was in on covering up Kinzo's death. (Spoiled in case anyone new reads this.) )
edited 6th Jul '10 10:00:24 PM by arbane
Reading over the first Episode's manga,. I think I've figured out who sent the first letter from Beatrice:
Possible spoilers through Episode 5 follow, along with some Insane Troll Logic:
I think it was Krauss. Here's my reasoning:
- Like all the siblings, Krauss was in financial trouble, and needs a lot of money right away.
- Alone among the siblings, Krauss had proof that the gold existed, but didn't know where it was.
- He had access to Kinzo's signet ring after Kinzo died.
- All the people who live on the island (aside from Gohda) are working together to cover up Kinzo's death.
Also, look at where likely suspects were when "Beatrice" gave Maria the umbrella and letter:
- Jessica - Playing with George and Battler - Innocent.
- Shannon - Helping the other servants set up the guest rooms - Suspicious.
- Kumasawa - Same as Shannon. Suspicious.
- Natsuhi - "Resting" due to one of her headaches - REALLY suspicious.
My apologies if all this is bloody obvious.
I think it holds together well, at least for Episodes 1 and 3. It only works for 2 if my theory about Rudolf and Kyrie working with both Krauss and Eva is true, and I'm still not sure who "Beatrice" was there. Episode 4 is so crazy I don't know what was going on. (but it probably at least started as a Zany Scheme on Krauss' part.)
What do you think, everybody?
edited 9th Jul '10 3:38:07 AM by arbane
The main problem is why he would do that. Of all the siblings he is the one with the last to gain with such letter. He already knows there is gold somewhere and he already is the heir. He would gain nothing from it.
If we are talking about the women only to be Beatrice, I would say Shannon and Kumasawa are the most likely ones. After all, they also may know where Krauss/Natsuhi keeps the ring.
If you think Kumasawa is unlikely, remember it is somewhat implied she is the first Beatrice (Virgilia). It probably wouldn't take much to fool Maria, no need to wigs or fancy dresses, it is enough to 'act' as a witch. For exemple, say Kumasawa have been playing and teaching 'magic' to Maria every year, Maria would easily believe she is 'Beatrice' (maybe through a magical disguise or whatever).
Why any of then would do that is unknown for me. But, at last, unlike Krauss they don't have nothing to lose (even if it don't seem they have anything to gain either).
PS: Not to mention I doubt Natsuhi would low herself to pretend to be someone else or, more important, I doubt she is gentle enough to play with Maria all this years (I doubt the 'Beatrice' who gives Maria the letter is someone different from 'Beatrice' who writes in Maria's diary). Not to mention that, in EP 5, it seen Natsuhi believe and respect Beatrice too much to take her place
edited 9th Jul '10 3:14:20 AM by Heatth
My reasoning is that he needs the money fast, and his own efforts at solving the riddle have failed. (The only times anyone's succeeded at solving the riddle in the games is when they work together.)
The fact that he's the heir actually works against him, thanks to his financial mismanagement.
You're right about Kumasawa. She works fine to be "Beatrice" (except in Episode 4, where Battler sees her), so I edited my previous post.
edited 9th Jul '10 3:39:45 AM by arbane
So, your idea is he wants to have all siblings working together in the riddle, similar to what happened in Ep3, so he can find the gold?
It might work, however, it is still too risky if it is accepted the one who ultimately solve it become the heir. Even if if his plan is that, since every one is working together, the heir do not change, one of his siblings (specially Eva) might go "Screw this" and try on her own.
By the other side, the letter is not really clear in the 'becoming heir' part, only that the one who find the gold will receive it. So, if you theory is correct, part of the plan would be convincing the rest that heir would not change no matter what happen. Even so, convincing then without letting then speak with Kinzo would probably be too hard.
I don't really believe it, but it is an interesting theory. I will reread the scene they discuss the letter in the EP 1 latter. I will also add that the 'Beatrice' of that theory can still be 'Beatrice' of Maria's diary. The most likely suspects for that latter are servants, after all.
I think Kinzo arranged it so Shanon absolutely has to kill the family -because she is "furniture" and all furniture so far have been accomplices or murder weapons- and, well, weapons need someone behind them, right? The whole magical thing is just so people outside of the family can think of it as a magical thing instead of vicious inter-family politics.
Adversary: Is this based off of something in Episode 6? Because Kinzo's been dead for over a year at this point—if he did have some My Death Is Only The Beginning plot, you'd expect it would have been sprung at the previous year's family meeting.
Also, I'm not sure what her motive would be, assuming she's really a human with an inferiority complex, not a homonculus or something.
Well, yes, but the Stakes Of Purgatory are just stakes made in New York, possibly by some hippie and the Siestas are just guns. Now, Shannon is just a maid but if she insists she is furniture and all furniture are weapons then she's probably a "weapon" of some sort. And I'm just putting the blame on Kinzo because I don't have anyone else that could have that kind of authority over Shannon.
edited 9th Jul '10 5:07:52 PM by TheAdversary
Someone's started posting Episode 6 on Youtube.
Prologue, part 1
(bad sound quality)

I know, right?
◊
Yeah...
But other than that, he is right: they are good and easy to get, so if you liked the Anime and you have some free time, give them a try!
Now that I think about it, there are only a couple of months left until the final games are released...
Dead