SLBP: Mitsuhide Act 1
Nov. 26th, 2019 10:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
waterscrollThe most enjoyable of the SLBP routes I've done so far. Mitsuhide is lovely to spend time with *and* kind to the MC (most of the time) *and* has an interesting character arc that speaks to my interests but doesn't personally attack me.
Mitsuhide, in this version, is a kind, ethical, honorable man. The man he serves, Demon King Nobunaga, is more interested in power than in morals. But the honor of a Samurai lies in loyal service to his lord, even when he's acting badly. Mitsuhide has to navigate between his ethics and his honor, knowing that he won't ever be able to be true to both and might not be able to be true to either. We know - historical spoiler - that it is all going to end in painful death for both him and Nobunaga, but that's for act 2. This part culminates with the burning of Mt. Hiei, which Mitsuhide tries to stop, partly because he doesn't think it's ok to kill innocents (or monks) and partly because the MC is there. But he can't stop it and can only save a few lives. Is it worth serving a tyrant if you can mitigate his worst harms, sometimes? And what about the times you can't?
The MC is very active in this route and works together with Mitsuhide to try to manipulate Nobunaga into being less terrible. Her cooking skills turn out to be very useful for things as varied as averting diplomatic incidents and getting food to prisoners that she and Mitsuhide are trying to free. The reason she was on Mt. Hiei to begin with was to do some cooking related diplomacy by bringing a special desert to the enemy leader. Which was going pretty well until Nobunaga attacked.
I understand in his own route Nobunaga has reasons for things and isn't just an evil despot. Also that in the Nobunaga route Mitsuhide comes across as a self-righteous rule-bound prick. Fair enough. In this route Nobunaga comes across as horrifyingly ruthless and his only justification for his cruelty is that it works.
This was definitely more romantic than the Mitsunari and Hideyoshi routes. The MC and Mitsuhide seemed very good for each other and also generally treated each other well. The exception is the arc in the middle when he feels that he has to push her away in order to protect her, which is a trope I don't love, but it works well here with his own conflicted feelings about how he's living his life. But aside from that, really from the beginning of the route they enjoy spending time together and are always doing nice things for each other and showing appreciation for each other. At the end of the route they decide to get married and it feels very natural.
So yay, this game is actually capable of giving me a route that makes me happy and doesn't just turn me into a curled-up ball of complicated thoughts and feelings. They may have done this just so that the inevitable angsty death in Act 2 hurts even more, though. I'm a little worried about that. But I can always pick the AU happy ending in which no one dies. I might do that.
Mitsuhide, in this version, is a kind, ethical, honorable man. The man he serves, Demon King Nobunaga, is more interested in power than in morals. But the honor of a Samurai lies in loyal service to his lord, even when he's acting badly. Mitsuhide has to navigate between his ethics and his honor, knowing that he won't ever be able to be true to both and might not be able to be true to either. We know - historical spoiler - that it is all going to end in painful death for both him and Nobunaga, but that's for act 2. This part culminates with the burning of Mt. Hiei, which Mitsuhide tries to stop, partly because he doesn't think it's ok to kill innocents (or monks) and partly because the MC is there. But he can't stop it and can only save a few lives. Is it worth serving a tyrant if you can mitigate his worst harms, sometimes? And what about the times you can't?
The MC is very active in this route and works together with Mitsuhide to try to manipulate Nobunaga into being less terrible. Her cooking skills turn out to be very useful for things as varied as averting diplomatic incidents and getting food to prisoners that she and Mitsuhide are trying to free. The reason she was on Mt. Hiei to begin with was to do some cooking related diplomacy by bringing a special desert to the enemy leader. Which was going pretty well until Nobunaga attacked.
I understand in his own route Nobunaga has reasons for things and isn't just an evil despot. Also that in the Nobunaga route Mitsuhide comes across as a self-righteous rule-bound prick. Fair enough. In this route Nobunaga comes across as horrifyingly ruthless and his only justification for his cruelty is that it works.
This was definitely more romantic than the Mitsunari and Hideyoshi routes. The MC and Mitsuhide seemed very good for each other and also generally treated each other well. The exception is the arc in the middle when he feels that he has to push her away in order to protect her, which is a trope I don't love, but it works well here with his own conflicted feelings about how he's living his life. But aside from that, really from the beginning of the route they enjoy spending time together and are always doing nice things for each other and showing appreciation for each other. At the end of the route they decide to get married and it feels very natural.
So yay, this game is actually capable of giving me a route that makes me happy and doesn't just turn me into a curled-up ball of complicated thoughts and feelings. They may have done this just so that the inevitable angsty death in Act 2 hurts even more, though. I'm a little worried about that. But I can always pick the AU happy ending in which no one dies. I might do that.
