Every problem I had with Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night
I didn't think it was possible but I think Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night is my least favorite chapter in this game so far. Where can I even begin to dissect this absolute clusterfuck? I will note that the two positives out of this whole chapter were >!Zhao and Seed!<, but everything else left me confused, infuriated, and just done with Season Two.
- The weird tension between the Proxy and Magus. It is nice for someone to be hesitant about trusting the Proxy but the whole >!"You're still a criminal because of your proxy antics"!< is such a lazy excuse. It has been made pretty clear that everyone has been accepting of Belle and Wise being proxies because they are Phaethon. Even the Defense Force, the people you directly work under, has used the help of the Proxy in the past. I also didn't like it when Magus came to our defense when Lorenz was in "douchebag mode" as it felt sudden.
- Speaking of Belle, where in the hell did she suddenly develop an ego from? Throughout the quest, she was acting like the greatest thing since sliced bread because of her reputation. What, did the complete glazing that her and brother received since 1.7 go to her head? This was completely out of character.
- The Exaltists continue the downward trend of being ridiculously evil. Even >!Sarah!<, who was once this mysterious figure, starting spouting out the same >!"The Creator will commit the Final Sacrifice" and "None of you mere mortals can understand"!< bullshit that these idiots have been saying since 1.5. The sooner I get to the point where these idiots are written out of the story, the better.
- Once again, the writers did the "we need to explain the backstory of these characters in an inorganic and forced way" as we learn that Isolde and Magus were a part of the >!Agamemnon Squad that got wiped out defending trains of Porcumulex supplies they were told were civilians!<. It wasn't like most stories where information is given in small doses. They decided a whole dialogue cutscene giving you this exposition.
- Much of the Obol Squad really didn't contribute anything. Seed and Trigger made some quips here and there but they really didn't do anything important. Soldier 11 was completely fucking wasted. As she is one of my mains, I was quite excited to see what she would do. It turns out it was jack and shit. Most of her appearances often had her stand here doing nothing and she had no dialogue whatsoever. Did the writers decide "Eh, she already had significant roles in Season 1. Just have her there in the background for the fanservice."
- For no real reason, Orphie decided to explain her whole tragic backstory during the middle of the chapter to the Proxy. It felt similar to when Alice just went >!"So, my dad died."!< in the last chapter. That was quite stupid but at least it made sense later (although it felt like plot-convenience) The reveal that Orphie was a >!clone to assist Magus, who is a talking gun by the way!<. This really added nothing to the overall narrative in my eyes. It is like the writers knew they wouldn't have another opportunity to elaborate on her background.
- Stop if you heard this before. The Proxy is in danger because of something in the Hollow, and our Shifu comes swooping in to save our ass. To be fair, we were deliberately trapped on account of >!Lorenz threw his weight around and forced us to stay until the operation was complete.!< I don't know why Wise couldn't just handle things on the outside but that is besides the point. >!Yixuan comes in and retrieves us. We return back to Subian Temple where we inform everyone about what's going on. Obol Squad managed to track us down and instead of escorting us back and promising to keep us safe until everything was over. They joined forces with Subian Temple and disobeyed orders. I guess Soldier 11, who is known for strictly following orders, was a-okay with this.!<
- Lorenz was, and pardon my language here, an absolute fucking c**t. From the first interaction with him, he was made to look like a complete and utter douche. There was no rhyme or reason for his behavior >!aside from "I have power therefore I can be a dick" and it seemed very clear that the game wanted to make you hate him.!< It's not even the "He's shady but ultimately good" but "This man is an absolute bastard." It seems every decision he made was treated as he was abusing his power and being a megalomaniac just because he could. When the reveal that he >!took the bride from Lucro and ordered the Agamemnon Squad to defend the trains, it was the biggest "No shit, Sherlock!" moment!< because you nailed into my goddamn skull this man was the antichrist. He didn't even sound remorseful, he was gladly gloating about it like some evil scientist that sent his minions to die.
- While I am at it, I am going to rant about the Defense Force because they weren't portrayed in the most positive light. For some reason, the grunts decided they wanted to push people around, acting like complete jerks towards us and the people of Waifei Peninsula. You can chalk it off as "Oh, these were Lorenz' men" but I call bullhonkey on that.
- >!The Isolde twist!<, oh boy. Prior to this moment, I was on Isolde's side. It was quite fucked up what Lorenz and Lucro did and both of their had it coming. Then, it was revealed that >!Isolde was Mavorakh.!< WHAT? Yep, Isolde, out of her burning hatred for the Defense Force and Porcumulex, >!decided to join and become an Overseer for a goddamn doomsday cult!<. How? The game explained that >!"Well, she's not fully crazy and doesn't care about the Creator's plan" but how the fuck would she be able to rise through the ranks if she wasn't fully invested in the cause?!<
Also, how in the fuck did nobody suspect this? She is a high-ranking member of the Defense Force, surely her absence would lead to people thinking something is up. Another thing, this is such a completely roundabout way to get revenge. I also don't buy the "Lorenz and Lucro wouldn't face proper justice" because if Isolde gathered up enough evidence to support her theory, then surely the Defense Force and Porcumulex would've done something. The PR nightmare that would have come from this information being shared would've caused both Lorenz and Lucro to be booted from their roles. Sure, they probably wouldn't go to trial but they are no longer in their positions and both of their reputations would've tanked.
Oh, wait. They did go to trial despite both of them being dead. The letter we received at the end that was supposed to tie up this complete mess stated that >!Isolde wanted us to stand as a witness. Therefore, she knew that Lorenz and Lucro would've been arrested. She explained that she orchestrated everything and was deeply sorry but couldn't stop herself out of pure hatred and knew she was going to end up dead too.!< Fuck this bullshit. This is easily one of the worst plot twists I have ever seen in not only a gacha game, but video games as a whole. This wasn't done because it made sense, it was done for the steer shock. If you take one second of think and try to piece together everything, you just find another problem that completely undoes your whole theory.
This is the exact same bullshit they did with >!Twiggy, Dina, and some other villains I am skimming over.!< This whole >!"I am evil because what happened to me in the past yet I didn't want to do all of this" bit!< has been beating to death but this crap with >!Isolde!< is the worst example. You didn't need >!Lorenz and Lucro dying, you didn't need Isolde revealing herself as Mavorakh!<, you damn well didn't need The Exaltists to wipe their balls all over another quest, and you didn't need the fucking letter. Just craft this story of Isolde using every resource she has to find enough evidence to reveal what happened with Agamemnon Squad and expose corruption in the DF and Porcumulex, but Lorenz and Lucro are using their own forces to stop Isolde from exposing them. Obol Squad can be stuck in the middle, initially hunting down Isolde before learning the truth themselves and helping her.
There were a million directions Hoyoverse could've taken with 2.2 and all of them would have been better than the shit they served. I knew Season Two was going to be a bumpy ride but this is the car going off the cliff. I thought Bury Your Tears With The Past was the bottom of the barrel, but Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night managed to break through the bottom and sunk to a whole new low.