Rhinne@ImRhinne
Finished Wuwa 3.1 on stream yesterday (big effort post inc)
This was definitely the best story in wuwa, don't think its close
Aemeath
The characterization and themes behind aemeath were stellar, better than I've seen in the game so far.
Been personally learning recently just how much your childhood and parents play into who you are,
your motivations, and how you act as an adult. Every single aspect of Aemeath is tied to that theme,
from her idle animations showing her using paper planes (something she did with rover), to her
literal goal being to be the same as her "parent" and "save the world".
Was kind of an uncanny timing to play this story, because personally I've been learning that my parents pushing me as a child to strive for perfection
in grades and extracirriculars resulted in the workaholism I have now. Learning that kids who
get affection almost exclusively when they perform well causes them to search for that approval
the rest of their lives from performing was eyeopening.
I also really liked the parallel of what Rover is as a character and his goals being mirrored
in that of Aemeath (his child). This led up to what I thought was the best part of the quest.
Rover abandoning Aemeath in the past to play hero, and seeing that now mirrored in Aemeath doing the same exact thing. I loved rover having to feel the emotions he essentially subjected Aemeath to earlier, and also the contradictory (and kind of hypocritical) nature of him trying to make her not go through with it, when that's exactly what he put her through before.
Seeing Aemeath's hypocritical, more human side come out, is something gacha characters often lack as well. One of the biggest complaints she has with Rover
was him not opening up to her about his struggles (see: flashback where Rovers sad about his homeland) yet here, at the same time, Aemeath is doing exactly that, refusing to tell Rover about her struggles because she doesn't want to worry him, and wants to play the strong and righteous hero that she saw Rover as, also playing into the mirroring rover motif above.
Rover
I touched a good amount of Rover above, but the biggest thing I want to say is that Rover felt like an actual character. They did an extremely good job with his facial expressions, and there were certain points (once again, homeland flashback) where you could hear Rover holding back tears as he tries to be strong for Aemeath.
Seeing Rover deal with the consequences of his previous actions via Aemeath's sacrifice was a nice
touch as well, or at least it would've been, if not for the worst part of the story.
Aemeath's "Sacrifice"
They're building up to sacrifice Aemeath for good.
The moment I saw it coming, I was begging them not to go down this route.
Never have I seen a gacha game properly handle this type of story.
And it seems I never will.
Why build all of that up to Aemeath's sacrifice, only to bring her back LITERALLY 2 MINUTES LATER? You just killed all the importance of building the parallel for Rover's own self-sacrifice and the consequences of those actions.
Why Death Matters
One common point I'm seeing from people who didn't like my reaction is that they think I believe death needs to happen for a story to have weight or meaning.
It doesn't have to. Kuro put themselves into the bucket of it NEEDING to. Why spend half the story building up the narrative of self sacrifice (Astronaut dude shutting off the conamination, Rover leaving his happiness, etc.), only to make it ring hollow at the end?
When making long form stories like Wuthering Waves, you want the entire journey to feel like it had meaning, going back from the start.
Rover facing the LASTING consequences of his actions and changing his behavior is the best way to handle this. This was a perfect opportunity for Rover to see the self-sacrificing philosophy of his crumble, how useless it is, and change as a result.
If they leave her as a "vegetable", I'd be fine with this outcome. Maybe you'd even consider it harder hitting than her being dead. But they won't. We all know it. I don't understand why I see people pretending otherwise.
Yes, it is the case that if a character cannot die because plot armor, it removes the stakes.
Yes, it is the case that the sacrifices become less meaningful when the audience is aware the whole time nothing can actually happen to the character.
Yes, it is the case that the story would've been better if Rover had a permanent reminder of his fuckups, and changed as a person or the way he acts as a result. That would've been the perfect way to get him out of generic gacha npc hell and showcase more personality.
Still the best story wuwa's ever done. Aemeath is the best written character in wuwa as well.
Sad to see they fumbled the ending. I enjoyed the build up a lot.
7/10
