idkmybffnirvash | (no subject)

The game was over here!

Overall, Eureka’s heart was straightforward and simple. The core of the game was presenting issues or concerns that Eureka had often or was dealing with. There wasn’t a right answer, because Eureka largely did not have answers on her own; these issues were left open for players to answer however they wished to. Some of the common themes were the sky and communication. Whenever the sky appears, it is an indication of freedom. The more the sky can be seen, the greater freedom and internal control Eureka feels over an area. Communication played heavily in that there were non-player characters everywhere. In order to do the most you could, you would have to speak and influence whomever you came across, like how Eureka learns from interaction. In that sense, each area had its own corresponding character, often someone from Aather and someone from her memories as the two places are equally formative to her. So, Eureka’s two “homes” are represented equally, unless it did not make sense for someone from one area to appear within a location or that figure did not have an equivalent.

The game also doubled to recreate some of Eureka’s experiences for players. She arrived to an area without any instruction about what to do with an unusual companion. So, players were not given much direction, but they did have Nirvash riding back seat to give its two cents to players while being very opaque. In seeing differently, players could trace Eureka’s path more easily rather than listening to what Nirvash said as the two were often at conflict at where people ought to go. Eureka only quietly appeared underneath Nirvash’s presence at select times.

At the start of the game, Eureka appeared in her actualized form with her book. This was her complete and perfected self which she has not arrived at through memories nor experiences, but she could be awakened once other areas were completed. Her book comes from her canon symbolism as a blank book, and being able to write something of her own in it is one of her greatest achievements.

From there, the areas were laid out rather randomly and could be reached in any number of ways if someone left the beaten path. The areas were:

a. Past with Eclipse and Holland. This focused on when Eureka allowed others to decide and guide her rather than deciding for herself. They would clear the path for a player if given enough time. If a player took it in their own hands, they would see some of what Eureka ended up faced with while following others before they escaped.

Natasha found her own path out of the cave which reinforced the fact that Eureka should decide for herself, even if it is difficult or messy, rather than allowing others to decide for her.

b. Change with Renton, Maurice, Maeter, and Linck. This area was a nondescript location that focused on Eureka’s need to have and burgeoning sense of agency. Eureka here comes from earlier in the series where she was simply changing who she was listening to from Holland and Eclipse to Renton. Thus, Renton pushed this fact at whoever came in order to draw attention to and put a stop to this behavior. The weathervane was an indication of her having a desire of her own to follow.

Natasha pushed towards Eureka gaining her own agency while also presenting herself as someone to work on that with. She also added to the concept of friends as someone who understands your limitations and respects those.

c. Loneliness with Ao and Amethysts. This area was special in that Nirvash did not appear here, while Amethysts were not easily visible but were felt. Ao was the only character that could be easily interacted with, and he was hostile from his experiences of being isolated as far as Eureka recalls.

Shinji used his ability to inspire momcon to get Ao to admit that he did not want to be alone even if he was not able to spend much with others. This reinforced what Eureka had come to understand with the coming and going of others, but she had shied from truly accepting it.

Barnaby annoyed a small child . . .

d. Desires with Eureka. In contrast to her form that appears in another area, this Eureka was more depressed, feeling that she had been betrayed and hurt by others. Finding her own desire, own initiative, and fighting for it was the central conflict for the heart and Eureka.

Tim drowned the two of them, so Eureka became determined not to let either of them die. She had already faced her own death and was afraid of that, but her desire to protect Tim was encouraged.

Lyra trusted Eureka to help her out of the dangerous situation which had the same effect as Tim had. Together, these two increase Eureka’s desire to protect Amethyst which she had previously written off as impossible . . .

Lambda used Nirvash to frustrate Eureka enough to fight back in order to be understood as well as understand. This will apply in general to communicating with others.

e. Aather. This area did not feature any character as well as being one of the more difficult areas to “solve”. The light and dark halves of the cave were equal with either side gaining ground wherever a character went. However, the darkness nor light could be extinguished. (Eureka sees Aather as an endless conflict between two forces that will continue with or without people to fight for it.)

f. Amethyst with Jill and Solstice. Like Renton, Jill was an NPC who could give a lot of answers if asked the correct questions. As a positive, she was balanced by Solstice who represented the weaknesses or negatives of the team. The cut into the tree was from Eureka trying to break away from the team, but the mending showed her growing reconciliation with the team.

Lyra insisted that Eureka has been supporting Amethyst even if Eureka does not how she does so. (I admit to messing up with how Eureka understood support, since she had a definition that did work, but that is neither here nor there … ) Eureka will do what she believes right for the team, since she has been supporting them all the while.

Night neglected to give a straightforward answer, but did encourage being ready to disagree and to listen to your own desires. So, that is what will happen there!

g. Shrine with Mischa and Haruki. This area tackled an issue that Eureka overcame with her being inhuman. Mischa could offer insight on Eureka and how she functions as well as her history and what is expected of the Coralian. Haruki reflected Aather’s approach to Eureka’s inhumanity by instructing people to treat her equally, and how to ease communication and understanding with her.

h. Love with Terra. This area was situated above the central issue as it was how Eureka usually avoided or sought refuge from it. While Terra was obtuse, he worked from the same angle as Renton in slightly pushing characters to realize what they wished to do which translated to Eureka’s situation.

Corvus attempted to bring Eureka to Terra, but she said that he should come to her. So, he was brought to her . . . This encourages Eureka once more to follow her own desires, making her more willing to push for her own feelings with others, while also slightly changing the role that Terra had with Eureka.

And, last but not least, the survey was a way to ease communication in both directions. Characters could translate what they were trying to do in the game without dealing with symbolism, while anything taken from that symbolism could be noted as something to communicate clearly.

A-All of the surveys were great, and I need to pick them for specific details. However, the general theme was asking for help, deciding for herself, going for what she wants, and attempts at understanding which are all also going to be boosted for Eureka.

. . . So, um, Eureka has been really enabled in every sense of the word. You all created this monster. I’m scared.