No Secret Messages Are Gonna Get Past Me Before Being Turned Flipped And Everything Under The Sun - Tumblr Posts

Just finished the first case in the first game and wow…poor Sayaka and Leon. I know the game does a lot to both justify and villainize them both, and let me say, I really appreciate the nuance.

Spoilers below:

In situations like these, when both were thinking the same thing and only one did it successfully, there is nobody in the right or wrong. It’s too nuanced to simply label Sayaka as just a victim, or even Leon despite the self defense because he went out of his way to finish killing her. Sayaka wanted to kill Leon and frame Makoto because of the motive video: obviously wrong. Yet she also(like many of the people in this game) are victims of poor circumstances of a “kill or be killed” game. And like Leon, had the same idea to kill, except she planned hers while Leon was caught off guard.

Speaking of Leon, there’s also his side. He gets caught off guard with a knife, so he fights back. He would have been a victim just like Sayaka. However, Celeste makes that point of Leon breaking down the bathroom door to kill her anyway. It’s unclear if he just saw the opportunity for murder and just took it, or if he was more driven out of fear just like Sayaka but in a different way: the fear of everyone turning on him in favor of Sayaka when he did say the truth.

In all, that’s just the thing about complex and morally gray characters, how dire situations can cause them to act so differently than how they normally would. It’s great, and I applaud the game for such a wonderful first trial! I’m pumped!