The Thread and the Sword

Ahsjkdkd, okay, the late parts lowkey made this a horror game-- Very well executed 😂👌🏻✨

It's nice to finally see this story presented with dialogues and narration rather than just a monologue. Monologues are nice too, of course, but I'm def a sucker for character interaction 😌✨ E-Even if it's mildly disturbing 🥴🥴

Anyways, now knowing he's been groomed and gaslighted, I understand even more why Hippolytus is confused and afraid of Phaedra. Not only is she a bully and a groomer, but now we also found out she's a sadist! Awesome sauce 🥴👌🏻

It's quite complex, I can't even begin to dissect their relationship with the little energy I have rn, lol. All I can say is, once again~ Great job, Chim! 😌🤲🏻💞 I do feel like I might've missed some nuances though since I barely have any knowledge of Greek mythology, but even I can tell there's some Grade A drama and tragedy in there 👀👌🏻✨

I also love the art effects here as well! ( I noticed her colors changed to those of her sisters! Is that significant in any way? Aside from just showing emotional shifts... 👀 ) So yeh, aside from the already noted volume issues, this trilogy is otherwise perfect! Bravo!! Very glad I made the time to play 😁🤲🏻🥳✨💞💞

P.S. Psst, you typoed Phaedra in the voice cast on the game page, btw... Thought you should know 👀👀🤲🏻

Sob my body is ready, I say to myself as I start up the game. Even though I know it's truly not.

OHHHHHHHH I love the very dramatic intro, with Hippolytus talking to Theramenes before the title screen shows up very cinematic-like alkdjfasd And the music from the first game!! You do such an amazing job of making these three games feel so cohesive, from the style, to the colors, to the music. It really feels like a VN triptych.

Have I mentioned I love your use of the classical music? Makes it feel even more like a classic theatric play ldkjfas

THIS LINE???

HELLO????

Poetry.

LDKFJALSDKJFALSDFA PHAEDRA CATCHING HERSELF. It's funny yet tragic at the same time... 😭

WHY DOES SHE LOOK SO INTENSE AS SHE STEPS TOWARDS HIM.

I love the way her sprite turns pink as she becomes lost in her emotions. It makes tangible how those feelings change and control her.

Sob Hippolytus blaming himself... this is so painful... 😭 Apologizing for his own words???? GoddddDDDDDD

THE SHATTER EFFECT GUHHHHHH

Another gorgeous line lakdsjfasd

GODDDD. Not only Phaedra shattering him to the core with her confession and making him feel ashamed and awful, but then telling him to kill her... HAVE YOU NOT TRAUMATIZED HIM ENOUGH 😭

God the voice acting is so intense and gripping here lkajdfalks

Sob it is finished...

I knew this would be even harder than the previous two and my expectations were not dashed lol. While the previous two were equally as artistic and tragic in the way we got to see both of their follow-up reactions to what happened, seeing the actual moment. Witnessing the way that Phaedra became so intense and twisted in her final moments, particularly when she was begging Hippolytus to kill her. And then seeing Hippolytus's torment in real time and the way he was already blaming himself and the horror at having all of this happen to him. It was the most painful of all 😭

I mentioned this already at the beginning but the way you not only brought back the style from the previous entries but also expanded upon it in this one was incredible. I loved how we're still introduced to them as their purple and gold counterparts, but see Phaedra's color change in different ways as she loses control, becoming pink, becoming gray, and becoming red as she fully succumbed to the twisted state of her mind and was no longer in control at all. Also getting to see a few others join this time around was a nice addition, with the appearance of Theramenes and Oenone. Then the sheer fact that this entry is longer with even more dramatic moments and CGs. It really helps culminate the first two as this fantastic build-up leading to this final climax. Which is all the more interesting given that it actually happens before the other two. The climax was at the start, but you've framed it in such a way that it now comes at the end, which honestly I feel is just brilliant and such a fantastic way to approach the original story and make it come alive.

The writing was absolutely brilliant as always. I only highlighted those two lines above but I could have screenshotted so many more!!! It really felt like reading the lines of a theatrical epic. And the emotion the voice actors read each line with only made them pop even more. Wonderfully poetic and tragic and absolutely dripping with symbolism in basically every line.

I really loved how you handled the CGs this time around, from the beautiful shot of Phaedra on the ground and the sun shining down, harking back to the first game and reminding us of her own pain and her own tragedy as one of the daughters of the sun. And then the CG of Hippolytus with the swirl, which was such a great way to visualize the intense chaos taking place in his mind. And the way you had Phaedra's hands reach up. Red in her delusions. And even warping as her psyche became more and more warped. GUHHHH. It was so well done LKAJDLFAKSJDF

Literally just every inch of this was so fantastically done. The emotions on the sprites, the gorgeous composition and framing of each shot. This was a magnificent finale to your trifecta of Phaedra games. I feel like this belongs in a library or something next to all the other classics LKAJDFASD

I'M RAMBLING NOW BUT JUST. Yes. Brilliant. You never cease to amaze and impress me with the unique and artistic ways you handle each and every one of your games!!! 💕

WE FINALLY HAVE THE ENDING TO THE TRILOGY, and what an ending it was! Rather than go chronologically, instead we go back to the inciting incident - the thing that started it all. 

The writing is as beautiful as always, combining the poeticism of TDOTS with the slightly more raw (but still poetic) prose from SOTW. The BGM was also very well chosen, the crescendoing orchestral pieces artfully amplifying with the tension of the scene. 

From a technical perspective, this entry masterfully combines elements from the previous two games. It particularly makes good use of the color matrix from TDOTS, as well as the symbolic elements from that game (the statues and the sun). It also artfully uses the ripple effect from SOTW in multiple places to illustrate a character's anxieties, much like how it was used in SOTW. 

The voice acting is absolutely splendid, particularly the VAs for the leads, Phaedra and Hippolytus. As always, Justine incorporated so much dignity and poise into her lines, with palpable vulnerability and emotion that really colors the flawed individual that Phaedra is. Dylan brings a similar amount of emotion to his performance, particularly excelling later on, when Hippolytus' psyche is colored by his anxiety, fear, and anger. They also sound very age appropriate, really highlighting the difference in age between them - and how inappropriate this relationship is. It's also really interesting hearing the two VAs side-by-side - Phaedra's voice is much more theatrical, while Hippolytus' voice is much more grounded, similar to how a person would normally speak - perhaps reflecting how Phaedra has become caught up in "fate," in the "story," in the "theater" - while Hippolytus is just an unwitting victim of her delusions. 

The opening CG of Hippolytus is beautiful, painting him as a majestic but very lonely figure, set against the backdrop of the sun, with the walls caving in around him - a symbol of his impending fate. The actual sprites are gorgeous - Phaedra is softer than I expected (particularly her facial features, at least compared to TDOTS), her figure "soft and frail" compared to Hippolytus - however, this only makes her aggression later on more palpable. Hippolytus, on the other hand, looks very masculine and dignified, posed like a Greek statue, but at the same time his face is soft, with youthful features - emphasizing how young he is. 

=================SPOILERS====================

Here, we really see the mentalities of Phaedra and Hippolytus that we saw in the previous two entries - though now juxtaposed against one another. And, when you see these two people side by side, you really get an idea of how terrible Phaedra is, and how faultless Hippolytus is. In TDOTS, Phaedra is understandable - sympathetic, even. But here, when faced with the target of her aggressions, you see just how ridiculous Phaedra is being as she continuously gaslights and pushes blame onto anyone except herself. It starts early on, as she tells Hippolytus that she "deserves pity" despite bullying him for many years. Hippolytus, on the other hand, is trying his best to understand her - to extend to her his sympathies, no matter what she does. At the start, he accepts her past mistreatment of him, although he was not obligated to do so, and when she starts to speak of love, he automatically assumes that she speaks of his father. Even after she comes on to him (in a very inappropriate fashion, after recounting to him her fanfiction in which he was Theseus and she was Ariadne), Hippolytus still tries to understand her, to give her the benefit of the doubt (he even APOLOGIZED to her). 

Whether you actually believe Phaedra was doomed by Aphrodite's curses (or "the Sun") - it is clear that she is still RESPONSIBLE for what she has done. Her stating that she hates herself, that she feels terrible for her feelings - has no impact on the final result. Ultimately, she still imposes her feelings on Hippolytus. She states that she had no choice but to reveal her feelings to him, but prior events reveal that is the opposite of the case - Hippolytus gave her an out, accepted that she was talking about Theseus and not him - and she suddenly confessed her feelings to him out of the blue. The reveal that she mistreated him PRECISELY because she loved him (and wanted him to detest her) makes her even more detestable - completely self-absorbed, wrapped up in her own feelings and desires.

After that, it seems like everything is settled - Hippolytus and Phaedra cross each other, each planning to go their separate ways - and ONCE AGAIN, Phaedra chases Hippolytus, telling him to kill her. Multiple times, Hippolytus could have been free from the mess of his stepmother's feelings towards him, and each time Phaedra drags him back into it. Even when Hippolytus cries out that he does not want to kill her, that he wants to be left alone, Phaedra persists. 

The usage of color matrixes here was BRILLIANT. In the first TDOTS game, color matrixes were used so that one sprite could be used to symbolize three characters - the Daughters of the Sun, Ariadne, and Pasiphae. In that game, all three characters were portrayed as victims of "curses" that they received from Aphrodite (and, ultimately, these could all lead back to "the Sun"). Here, Phaedra once again turns into the different colors representing the Daughters of the Sun - purple for herself, pink for Ariadne, and red for Pasiphae. When she starts to recount the tale of Ariadne, imagining what it would be like if she were in Ariadne's place and Hippolytus in Theseus', she turns pink, overwhelmed by her "love." Then, when she is consumed by her irrational "love" (and anger), she turns into red - representing Pasiphae. This callback to the TDOTS game also reframes it in a slightly different light - as here, it is clear that Phaedra, despite her protestations, is likely acting of her own will. 

The final CG with Hippolytus as Phaedra reaches for his sword is brilliantly composed. At first, I thought that it might be framed as Hippolytus looking down at Phaedra as she claws at his clothes - however, instead, it focuses on Hippolytus' face, on his distressed expression, as his thoughts swirl around him. We don't see Phaedra - only her hands, tinged red, reaching up from the darkness like some kind of monster reaching from the deep. (And, even as she asks for Hippolytus' sword - she reaches further, passing his sword - perhaps symbolizing that she is asking for something more dastardly...) 

(I really loved the fade out to the text alone as the finale reaches its climax - allowing you to focus on the words, Phaedra's crazed begging tinged with red - it reminded me a lot of silent films!)

The meaning of the title, "The Thread and the Sword," is quite an interesting one. In direct terms, it's a reference to the red thread that Ariadne lent to Theseus, allowing him to escape from the Minotaur's labryinth. It's interesting that this red thread, a symbol of Ariadne's love and affection, is contrasted against the thread between Hippolytus and Phaedra - one of dangerous obsession, "love" that is not truly love at all. At the same time, Ariadne's thread led to her death, abandoned by Theseus - a tragedy. And in this way, the thread of fate connecting Phaedra and Hippolytus also leads to both of their deaths. (Now, had Hippolytus taken Phaedra's life - could he have cut his thread and escaped his fate? Who knows...) 

Overall, as a conclusion to the trilogy, it was brilliantly conceived. In TDOTS, you hear Phaedra's perspective - you sympathize with her plight. In SOTW, you learn the perspective of Hippolytus, the victim of her transgressions - and you start to question her, to sympathize with him. Here, in TTATS, you finally see the event that started it all - and it puts everything into perspective, as you see the real colors of the people involved in this tragedy.

Fantastic work, phaedriquement! Racine would be proud (probably)!