u/youneverrknoww

To preface, I played LiS when it was new in 2015, episode by episode, as it was released. Chloe lived, of course, because well, she's Chloe. She always lives for me. Played BTS right afterwards, desperately still wanting more of the story, and of course, wanting more of Max and Chloe. But the change up between DONTNOD and Deck Nine was glaringly obvious to just about everyone back then, and the excitement from the first game felt stifled and relegated to fanfics and hand drawn ideas. We got some comics that were supposed to be cannon, but people like me didn't want comics, we wanted another game with the characters we fell in love with.

That said, it's been a really long 11 years waiting for Reunion. And now that it's come and gone, now that the dust has settled, I don't know. I guess it was okay. It was going to be hard for any developer to come in and really do these 2 characters justice, but at the end of the day, we got Deck Nine to do it. Deck Nine, who frequently struggles writing stories with character depth and nuance, no matter what IP they're writing for. (Hell, they made my favorite character from The Expanse, Camina Drummer, into a boring game. How? I have no idea.)

Anyways, before I go on an anti-D9 tangent, one thing has lingered in my brain since finishing Reunion and it's bothered me enough to make this post. The romance, specifically the one, singular kiss we got between Max and Chloe, all felt so...juvenile to me. Like, hadn't they already dated and been together once before Deck Nine forced them to break up? Even their journals were written like them kissing was their first time. "OMG I got to kiss Chloe Price!" *eyeroll* The familiarity of their past and prior shared physical moments were glazed over in a way that they felt like they never happened. But then again, look at who wrote the script. Sorry, I'll stop.

Surely I can't be the only person who feels like this, though. We got a nice story, yes. Chloe and Max are alive, and if you chose the right options, they can end up together and happy. Good. Yes. Boxes checked. But that's all? Now I wasn't expecting to see them making out or anything, but dang, for all the intense gazing Max does looking at Chloe, the intimacy here between two 30 year olds who have dated prior, mind you, felt weak and so unrealistic. I'm sorry, but if I want to kiss someone in a rowboat who also wants to kiss me, I can make it happen. Granted, it was a funny moment, but when its literally half of the romance options you get for an entire game, without even a mutual "I love you", it all feels a bit hollow once the story is done.

To preface, I know this is just a game. Don't read too much into the following. Good art of any kind is made to make us feel though, and I'm simply just feeling it. And I know many of you are, too.

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The most foretelling thing about Bloom & Rage that has stuck with me since I finished it (and then again, and then again) is that quote from near the end of the game:

"The only way we can protect ourselves is if we forget..."

In the same ways the girls had to forget to protect themselves, those of us who were deeply moved by this game have to almost try to forget it in order to get on with our lives. But I can't get it out of my head. And truthfully, I don't want to forget it. Of all my years in playing games, I've never had a story cause so many emotions at once, and with so much staying power. I want to keep feeling how this game made me feel, as overwhelming as it is at the moment. More than that though, I want to know what happens next! But with no tape 3 or update or murmur of a new game in the works, we may have to be happy with what we were given. To find peace with the fact that we may never know what happens next. Is this an allegory for life maybe? Something akin to "better to have loved and lost than to not have loved at all?" I don't know. I'm just rambling through the feelings.

But I won't forget this one any time soon.