Valiant Hearts love post - with pictures :D
On the bus heading home this evening, I played a bit of the mobile version of Valiant Hearts, because I guess I felt like making myself cry, apparently. Though I did not cry this time, but I did get a little misty-eyed, which is to be expected of a game set during WWI I guess, but especially this game in particular. I actually haven't played the mobile VH in ages, because I much prefer playing it on PC, and now I remember why - it's kind of a pain in the ass to do it on something as tiny as an itouch screen. I should get a stylus or something.
Man, sometimes I forget how pretty this game is, and it's always nice to have the reminder. I especially love the one part where you're playing Anna and just kind of running around Paris (and then steal a taxi to drive some guys to the front, but anyway...)
...Eeeerrrr I started to talk about how much I like the visuals in the game (with pictures!), but then I started tl;dring about Anna, and then I put in a few caps of my favourite scenes where she isn't involved, too, and began blathering about that, and basically this entry is all over the place. But if you were curious about the game and want to see some pictures, click below for screencaps and my disorganized fannish love.
Anna in Paris!!! 'Course, it's even better when it's the full screen.
Oh man, and I love all the neat little details inside Anna's apartment-
Especially the personal clutter in the screen's foreground, all those books and papers and things. It's neat. Though this particular room stands out a lot because it's so warm-toned; there aren't a lot of shots like that in this game. And it's kind of cool how you step outside of her sheltered warmth into the cold Paris night, and then soon after there is the battlefield, and those scenes are almost always cold and grey too, and... yeah. It's neat.
And this whole thing - the contrast between the warmth of her home and the world she steps out into - is one of the things I love about her, because she voluntarily gets involved with the war when she really doesn't have to. She has money and she has choices, but she makes the decision to do what's right, and help people as much as she can, and I love that so much about her.
I need to get more screenshots of all those scenes where she patches guys up and stuff, because I like that. (Those are some of my favourite parts to play, honestly.)
... Okay, somewhere along the line this became an Anna love-fest. Which is totally legit because ANNA IS AWESOME but I love all of the other player characters too.
Speaking of characters I love - Karl and Marie, oh my god, seriously.
Kind of an odd image to use when talking about those two, since this is a very "bad news" scene and the subtitles pretty much say it all, but honestly, they don't get many happy moments in this game in general, so. SERIOUSLY these two kids I just - and they really are kids, well, not kids, but they're so damn young. I did the math once and at the beginning of the game Karl is something like 18 at most, and Marie is younger. They were just getting their life started together, and then suddenly he's booted out of France, and then shortly after that the war starts, and it's just one thing after another.
... But anyway, I really like the way Marie looks in that scene. She doesn't get a lot of on-screen time, so I get pretty happy whenever I see her. I still wish there had been a part where you could play as her, though I don't know quite how that would go.
Speaking of scenes that I like-
Emile and Freddie's first meeting in the train station is wonderful. It made so much of an impression on me and I was SO happy when we got to see more of Freddie not-much-later in the game. Their friendship is so awesome. And I especially like that there are later times when this "Merci, mon ami" scene is repeated (under much different circumstances). ... And I love the way Emile looks in his flashy uniform; too bad they were so visible on the battlefield, er....
Oh, I was speaking earlier about little details. WELL this one is just a tiny part in a cut scene, and it's just background, but I love it:
It starts more distant than this, but then it gets CLOSER AND CLOSER and suddenly you realize it's bursting with movement and what looked like ants is actually a ton of people and this mass of activity is the war itself and - yeah. That one small but of a cutscene really made an impact, I guess.
AND THEN THERE IS WALT.
... Actually, I don't have a lot of good screencaps of Walt, what's up with that?
Well, let's not forget that one of the nicest little "extras" in this game is that you get to pet him after he fetches things for you. :D
Anyway. I have a lot of feelings right now. Though admittedly, as usual, a lot of the boil down to "Holy shit, I really love Anna". There's also a lot of "Emile is too old for this shit and Marie and Karl are so fucking young and I wish there could be a way to keep all of them safe" buuuut... we all know how that turns out.
I have a lot fewer "Oh no, I want to protect you" feelings about Freddie, because he didn't have to fight; he is an American who volunteered for it, and the USA wasn't even involved in the war when he made that decision. I do feel terrible for him regarding everything that happened to Margaret, though, especially since what little we get to see of her and read about her in the profiles indicates that she was a real swell woman... and his letters to her are really touching.
Oh, speaking of Margaret-
Freddie's memory of her on their wedding day. <3 Before, um, plot happened. I haven't researched the details of how common a marriage like theirs was at this point in time, but on the other hand I don't care, because they're just too sweet. (Freddie looks so happy, ahhh D: )
I should stop now before I post my entire damn screencap folder.
And I also want to write a ton of fic.
I love this game so much. Excuse me while I go cry into my pillow over the fates of fictional characters.
This entry was originally posted at http://yuuago.dreamwidth.org/3413161.html. You can comment here or at the original entry.
Man, sometimes I forget how pretty this game is, and it's always nice to have the reminder. I especially love the one part where you're playing Anna and just kind of running around Paris (and then steal a taxi to drive some guys to the front, but anyway...)
...Eeeerrrr I started to talk about how much I like the visuals in the game (with pictures!), but then I started tl;dring about Anna, and then I put in a few caps of my favourite scenes where she isn't involved, too, and began blathering about that, and basically this entry is all over the place. But if you were curious about the game and want to see some pictures, click below for screencaps and my disorganized fannish love.
Anna in Paris!!! 'Course, it's even better when it's the full screen.
Oh man, and I love all the neat little details inside Anna's apartment-
Especially the personal clutter in the screen's foreground, all those books and papers and things. It's neat. Though this particular room stands out a lot because it's so warm-toned; there aren't a lot of shots like that in this game. And it's kind of cool how you step outside of her sheltered warmth into the cold Paris night, and then soon after there is the battlefield, and those scenes are almost always cold and grey too, and... yeah. It's neat.
And this whole thing - the contrast between the warmth of her home and the world she steps out into - is one of the things I love about her, because she voluntarily gets involved with the war when she really doesn't have to. She has money and she has choices, but she makes the decision to do what's right, and help people as much as she can, and I love that so much about her.
I need to get more screenshots of all those scenes where she patches guys up and stuff, because I like that. (Those are some of my favourite parts to play, honestly.)
... Okay, somewhere along the line this became an Anna love-fest. Which is totally legit because ANNA IS AWESOME but I love all of the other player characters too.
Speaking of characters I love - Karl and Marie, oh my god, seriously.
Kind of an odd image to use when talking about those two, since this is a very "bad news" scene and the subtitles pretty much say it all, but honestly, they don't get many happy moments in this game in general, so. SERIOUSLY these two kids I just - and they really are kids, well, not kids, but they're so damn young. I did the math once and at the beginning of the game Karl is something like 18 at most, and Marie is younger. They were just getting their life started together, and then suddenly he's booted out of France, and then shortly after that the war starts, and it's just one thing after another.
... But anyway, I really like the way Marie looks in that scene. She doesn't get a lot of on-screen time, so I get pretty happy whenever I see her. I still wish there had been a part where you could play as her, though I don't know quite how that would go.
Speaking of scenes that I like-
Emile and Freddie's first meeting in the train station is wonderful. It made so much of an impression on me and I was SO happy when we got to see more of Freddie not-much-later in the game. Their friendship is so awesome. And I especially like that there are later times when this "Merci, mon ami" scene is repeated (under much different circumstances). ... And I love the way Emile looks in his flashy uniform; too bad they were so visible on the battlefield, er....
Oh, I was speaking earlier about little details. WELL this one is just a tiny part in a cut scene, and it's just background, but I love it:
It starts more distant than this, but then it gets CLOSER AND CLOSER and suddenly you realize it's bursting with movement and what looked like ants is actually a ton of people and this mass of activity is the war itself and - yeah. That one small but of a cutscene really made an impact, I guess.
AND THEN THERE IS WALT.
... Actually, I don't have a lot of good screencaps of Walt, what's up with that?
Well, let's not forget that one of the nicest little "extras" in this game is that you get to pet him after he fetches things for you. :D
Anyway. I have a lot of feelings right now. Though admittedly, as usual, a lot of the boil down to "Holy shit, I really love Anna". There's also a lot of "Emile is too old for this shit and Marie and Karl are so fucking young and I wish there could be a way to keep all of them safe" buuuut... we all know how that turns out.
I have a lot fewer "Oh no, I want to protect you" feelings about Freddie, because he didn't have to fight; he is an American who volunteered for it, and the USA wasn't even involved in the war when he made that decision. I do feel terrible for him regarding everything that happened to Margaret, though, especially since what little we get to see of her and read about her in the profiles indicates that she was a real swell woman... and his letters to her are really touching.
Oh, speaking of Margaret-
Freddie's memory of her on their wedding day. <3 Before, um, plot happened. I haven't researched the details of how common a marriage like theirs was at this point in time, but on the other hand I don't care, because they're just too sweet. (Freddie looks so happy, ahhh D: )
I should stop now before I post my entire damn screencap folder.
And I also want to write a ton of fic.
I love this game so much. Excuse me while I go cry into my pillow over the fates of fictional characters.
This entry was originally posted at http://yuuago.dreamwidth.org/3413161.html. You can comment here or at the original entry.