Getting back into it, and hoo boy is the new Path mechanic fun. My boy Frame’s on the Path of Acceptance, and it’s a very intriguing take on how to turn that stage of death into motivation! And especially deepens the original idea of him I had in mind. The options were great to choose and reveal bits and pieces of the world. I was a big fan of it invoking a nostalgic longing in Death’s Garden, and it felt especially pointed when he made the choice to send the Librarian into eternal slumber. Felt almost like he was giving her the peace he knew and lost already.
The revamped skill system is also neat to see! The new six definitely feel more broadly applicable than they previously were, and I’ve gotta say, Insight is gonna be my number one ride or die skill til the end. Big on the observant types, though getting to expand on Frame’s past by making him a former a con artist definitely made it even spicier.
As for the Spirit Gift: I’m a big fan of how the Pythia’s Bracelet is implemented. Yes! Give me those character motivations! But it also feels ‘balanced’ for lack of a better word, in that it doesn’t replace the skill entirely but expands on it. More of an assistance and guiding hand towards better options instead of completely solving everything; not to say I didn’t appreciated when did help diffuse the Pyriphlegethon situation and revealed an entirely new layer to it which absolutely astounded me. I haven’t checked out what the other Spirit Gifts are like, but the one for Insight is pretty much perfect, in my opinion, though that might just be me Insight appreciation speaking.
Definitely loved the new additions to the early chapters expanding on the Crew’s interactions. Seeing them forming their own relationships and getting small tastes to the other sides of them is lovely to see, especially with how it gave Yaga more intrigue and foreshadowing to read into.
Haven’t yet gotten to the end of this update, but I’m extremely excited to see what happens next, and I hope that your writing continues to go super well!
P.S. One more thing to mention: decided to make Frame not completely disinterested in Damien this time, even if it’s only sexually. Man can at least find the hot devil sexy and get down with him and Morgen, as a treat for getting ripped from the peace of oblivion. Plus, the portion of Chapter 4 from the last update with the dinner and his mother definitely gave me a new curiosity about the guy. Guess I’m a sucker for characters going through family issues, who could have guessed?
P.P.S. Oh, and before I forget, just wanted to let you know that Death’s non-binary writing tends to have verb conjugation errors, e.g. They eats vs. They eat. Not unexpected, given how much text and code you must have to scour through already, but I’ll say that it began occurring more frequently in the scenes leading up to and in Memorium. And I think there might be a mistype when picking up Death? They and the player character called it Sanctuary before switching back to Memorium.