Well, to jump off from one parallel to another, one more reason why I decided to put in two PoV switches here is because I think it will help highlight one of my main themes of Act II, which is the duality and contrast between Augusta and Victoria.
They’re both teenagers born into power who find themselves at the heads of a civil war, living in the shadows of their mothers, but they have vast differences and (potentially) some similarities. Augusta spent most of her life within the opulent finery of the Imperial Palace, attended by guards, tutors, and servants. As you’ll soon find, Victoria’s upbringing couldn’t be more removed from an imperial princess’ life of luxury.
Much like the Act I interludes focused on the Prefect’s backstory and what shaped them and their motivations, the Act II interludes will shine a light onto Victoria and what drives her forward, as otherwise she wouldn’t have as much of an impression upon the reader until near the end of the story except as a distant opponent.
It would be ironic and sad if we found out that Victoria, despite having “lost everything,” received more love/attention from her family and a happy childhood with Leta and Iblin taking care of her than Augusta received from Julia and Titus.
Honestly thinking on it more, I’m kinda coming around to the idea of solving this all with a marriage of Victoria and Augusta. Augusta has shown a few sapphic tendencies already and the negative health impacts of incest wouldn’t be relevant, and it’s help to shore up her reign with Galleria legitimacy (esp if Titus has been… removed). Enemies to Lovers arc wen.
I replayed this game after not playing since march, i am surprised by the INSANE amounts of new content, and the climax no less. I really enjoy how much our choices matter and a single tear was shed while reading it. Because of this, im back onto the how often i think about the roman empire mood. Time to save the republic/empire, and protect Augusta the darling. The Empire United must divide! The Empire divided must unite!
Just to clarify the family tree, Marius and Victoria are only (potentially, as a bio parent Prefect would render them entirely unrelated except on paper) second cousins of Augusta, which is less consanguineous than, for example, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip’s marriage, who were third and second cousins.
There might be some animosity from Augusta’s part, I would say. It was Victoria’s supporters that caused her mother’s death ( I don’t know how Force Ghost Julia fits into this, we will see). Plus the potential burning done by Iblin. Maybe also the general situation caused by the civil war too.
Then, if there is such a possibility, it could be rendered more achievable by reducing the possible causes of resentment Augusta might have towards Victoria. Also, a paragon Augusta could be more inclined towards such a solution due to her desire for less bloodshed.
A tyrant Augusta would be far, far less welcoming of such a proposition, no doubt.
I normally play as woman but this game make me feel like i should be man because i really love our empress so much. ah to be in love, to burn whole city just to make her smile.
More flashback related to baby Augusta even nice like when she born and u realize…that…and panic like damn she nothing like that man people definitely will talk about this.
FWIW you can play as Augusta’s bio mom if you’re wiling to play a trans woman. That content isn’t gated behind being a man, just behind having a penis. (And of course any gender can romance Julia and play as Augusta’s surrogate parent)
Act I’s chapter interludes contained the backstory of the Prefect, but Act II’s interludes will focus on Victoria and her faction’s story. There won’t be any further flashbacks featuring the Prefect.
I suppose there’s no real need to be coy now that so many people have guessed at it, but yes, Victoria will be Augusta’s fourth (of four) betrothal option. I’ll say for all that it may present a neat tying up to the conflict, there are quite a few pitfalls the Prefect will encounter in trying to make the match. It may not be possible depending on Augusta’s personality and experiences (along with the opposing faction’s opinion) and bears risks as well as benefits.
Augusta’s four betrothal options all have a trade-off, as many decisions do in Shattered Eagle. The Prefect will have to make their decision to curry an alliance via matrimony carefully.
Although they just as well might decide to allow Augusta to make her own decisions, and one day follow her heart to a consort of her choosing. Augusta being unbetrothed by the end of the story is a perfectly valid status for her as well.
Fair warning, this is probably going to be a fan-favoured pairing.
What this means is that a disproportionate number of players are going to try for it, a disproportionate number of players are going to be invested in how it turns out, and as a result, a disproportionate amount of fan discourse is going to be about it.
I had the same experience with the Hawkins romance in Mecha Ace. I didn’t intend it to be canon or a favourite, but because of how well it integrated with the rest of the story, and with the conventions of the genre, and with that ever-so-popular “enemies-to-lovers” arc, it became the hands-down favourite romance for just about everyone. The SomethingAwful LetsPlay chose it, people still talk about it. There are four guides for Mecha Ace on Steam and two of them are for navigating the Hawkins romance plot.
This means that however you write this route is probably going to be scrutinised, analysed, and picked over more than any of the other routes. Expect a lot of fanart - but also expect it to be the route which most players will at least try to play through, and plan accordingly.
It won’t be easy to achieve, but good to know. I’ve found I don’t always have a sense for what will be a fan favorite decision or not. I didn’t originally think Julia would be the phenomenon she’s become in this story, due to her cruelty and coldness, but I was proven wrong very quickly.
I’ve generally been with the majority on most of the stuff so far, but this is probably one path where I’m going to differ for my main run, I’ll check it out when it is written out of curiosity but it’s actually something I’m not all that interested in
(Me)