True to its wintery inspiration, Wintertide Miracles is like a snowflake: kinda sparkly and lovely, but leaving absolutely no trace whatsoever once melted. Maybe that's none too surprising: not only are we talking about a fandisc, i.e. a type of media that's a bit too close to officially sanctioned fanfiction for comfort, but we're also talking about the second Code Realize fandisc. The first was already pretty light on content and treading a mite too much on fanfiction territory; but that was nothing compared to WM, which proudly roams said territory and makes no effort to hide its sheer fanficness. I'll be blunt: the content here is so thinly spread that there's not even enough material to write a decent route report, forcing me to resort instead to a good ol' Pros and Cons List. (Spoilers ahead!)
THE BAD:
Going all Legend of Zelda: WM proudly cements the existence of two distinct timelines in the Code Realize lore: the original one presented in the first game, in which Finis dies, and the alternative one introduced in Future Blessings, in which Finis survives. The game weaves these two timelines in a clumsy and unfulfilling fashion, leaving us with two somewhat weak stories instead of a single solid one — and a sour taste of fanfiction in the mouth. Amateur storytelling aside, the very existence of that second timeline basically means that I was totally not the only one who was miffed to see Finis die in the original story, which begs the question: why was Finis not saved in said original story to start with? His relationship with Cardia could have been explored in the fandiscs all the same, and that would have spared us that utterly inelegant recourse to an alternative timeline. We could then have enjoyed the better of two worlds, instead of having to choose between bro and beaus.
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| Christmas food, yes please! |
Cardia's Too Good: Even though Cardia is bound to have all the beaus fawning over her simply by virtue of being an otome heroine, and even though she does deserve the attention by virtue of being an interesting otome heroine, there can indeed be too much of a good thing. The original game and Future Blessings made sure that only one guy at a time was in love with Cardia, while the others rooted for the lovebirds from the sidelines; WM, on the other hand, goes harem full force with its Double Date feature, which stars two beaus simultaneously trying to gain Cardia's favours. Not only does this call forth mental images of the hentai variety, but it's also over-the-top and tacky. Most of us struggle to gain the love of one decent person, yet Cardia has a whole posse of handsome and honorable men at her feet? Heck, this hits a little too far from home for comfort. Cardia comes across as stiff and unconfortable in those segments, and it doesn't help that she has to friendzone like her life depends on it; the whole thing makes her less relatable and likeable, and that's quite unfortunate.
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| Still a sexy b*tch, though. |
Victor's Assassination: To my utter horror, my favourite romance material in CR is getting more defiled by the fandisc. After having suffered through an unfulfilling sequel route that basically ruined all the wholesomeness of Victor's original route, I had to endure the pain of seeing him reduced to a giant fanfic trope at the hands of WM. It's harrowing enough to see him confess his undying love for Cardia under the influence of a (eyes rolling) truth serum in one of the Double Dates; however, the torture doesn't stop here, as the darn game serves us a dedicated route in which Victor begs Cardia to pretend to be his fiancée to get him out of a bind. Not only is this fanfic porn at its purest, but it's not even consistent with Victor's established character. Victor was the most heart-wrenchingly, hauntingly sincere of all the beaus in the original game — not over-the-top like Impey, not ice cold like Van Helsing, not full of flourishes like Lupin, not conflicted like Saint-Germain. Why would such a beautifully honest character resort to that kind of stratageme, knowing that he could hurt himself and Cardia in the process? Heck, the Victor I know would have confessed his feelings eons before even dreaming of asking Cardia to play lovers.
Isaac Beckford For The Win: The way WM rambles on and on about Cardia's late father's contributions to science, London and England, you'd think this guy was a saint and not the original game's main villain. Trying to make him more nuanced and to show his human side is one thing; trying to rehabilitate him entirely and make us forget his horrendous deeds and devious mind is another, and the game should have wisely abstained from the latter. The number of side stories featuring a forgotten or lost Isaac Beckford contraption is also getting properly ridiculous — I swear, it's turning into a gimmick at that point. Are we dealing with an insane genius or with Inspector Gadget here? One more CR fandisc, and Isaac Beckford will probably be saving the day à la MacGyver from beyond the grave.
THE GOOD:
Cantarella, a.k.a. The Dark Horse: I didn't expect much from the resident "Cardia's New BFF" story; however, the songstress' tale took me by surprise and touched my heart. Cantarella's story succeeds better than Shirley's in showing a fulfilling father-daughter relationship that Cardia can build upon and draw inspiration from to reconcile herself with her past. In fact, I daresay that Cantarella and Miles' relationship is one of the best in the entire series. Their constant dead-pan banter is hilarious; yet behind the ribbing hides a deep and strong love, mixed with a desperate desire to protect each other and be worthy of the other's affections. Some of their scenes made me laugh, others made me tear up — but none left me indifferent, and I was left deeply sated by the unfolding of their tumultuous relationship.
Finis Rules: Forget about the beaus and Cardia herself, Finis is the true star of WM. He's present in every single story, and he shines like crazy. His budding relationship with Cardia is a delight to watch, and his sharp tongue makes for deliciously hilarious dialogue. Otomate could have gone the easy way and made him a pure tsundere or an total ice queen; instead, they went for subtlety and made him exactly what he is, i.e. a formerly sheltered boy who's slowly but surely learning to love and show affection. Cardia and Finis' ever-growing bond is absolutely the best relationship in the entire series, trampling all the romantic routes in its wake. Special mention to that splendid moment in which a flustered Finis manages to say aloud that he loves Cardia — only to have emotionally tone-deaf Cardia dismiss his prowess entirely; that scene manages to be all at once incredibly moving and ridiculously funny, i.e. pretty much Cardia and Finis' relationship in a nutshell.
Secondary Character Galore: Every single CR character gets their fifteen minutes of fame and screen time in WM — including such unlikely entries as Aleister, Nemo and Sisi. The Gordon Mafia trio from Future Blessings makes a couple of cameos, and so does the Idea triad. It's lovely to see the whole CR crew come together in a single game, all the more so as this well may be the first and last time it happens.
Fashion Madness: We're kinda scrapping the bottom of the barrel here; however, seeing the whole crew decked up in brand-new outfits and all pimped up for the winter definitely adds a certain je ne sais quoi to the game. I would have loved to see those warbrobes changes happen sooner, maybe as early as in the original game — but hey, better late than ever.
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| A beach scene in a winter-themed game, now that's real edgy. |
Let's be honest, I'll probably have forgotten all about WM by next week; however, I had a decently pleasant time playing it. Still, I hope there won't be anymore CR fandiscs with themes I'm a sucker for, because I'm starting to suffer from serious CR fatigue at that point. Thanks for reading and drop by anytime, dear fellow gamers!
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