#A lot of the things said here were wordled weirdly so sorry again for my english 🙏🙏

[cnl0400]

(Don't worry, the truth is that the arguments you wrote in your post were very interesting to me, also, forgive me because my English is not really good, so this will be all over the place too 🙏🙏🙏)

(Tangent #1)

I don't have much to say on the first tangent, as I agree with you on the difference in approaches that OG and NB have, one of the things that was already known since before NB came out (something they responded to on Reddit AMA) is that the devs said that the brothers would act more in line with their "celestial" counterparts, so I already knew that we would not have the S1 brothers again.

So even if we never go back to the dark fantasy that was S1, I'll be satisfied as long as they still have interesting dynamics and don't try to "water down" the characters in favor of "safer" plots.

I completely agree, OBM could really benefit from having an antagonist, that's why I didn't really care that the new characters in S4 were rude, that little "rivalry" Mephistopheles has with MC was one of my favorite interactions in S4 (I'm a sucker of that kind of dynamic tbh), I think the devs think it's easier if all the bad characters are faceless characters, so players wouldn't want another character to date lol.

All "explicitly bad" characters will always be non-sprite characters. Maddy, the little demons that sometimes cause trouble, the Boogeyman, the Grim Reaper (Thirteen on S2), God/Father, currently Nightbringer and my favorite example: Raphael on S3

Comparing how the brothers talk about Raphael in S3 to basically every interaction they have in S4 is so funny, reading S3 (including the cliffhanger that it ends) you get the impression that Raphael could be an antagonist next season, then you read S4 and he's harmless most of the time lol. Sure, he sometimes is rude and violent, but not as much as S3 wants to paint him lmao

TLDR: The moment a character starts to have a canon look, that's the moment the developers will try to stop antagonizing them, because it's harder to empathize with something you can't "see" (Also the devs are alergic to conflict, at least Solomon's whole humanity thing Is trying to change that)

That's also why I didn't care for "Raphael" in NB, all his actions fit the S3 description, pushing every "bad" trait Raphael could have to Michael feels really cheap (I don't think Michael is intentionally malicious either, and people who call him evil don't Get It™)

(Tangent #2)

As a Thirteen fan, I totally agree with you, I also didn't like how the OG was allergic to Thirteen interacting with the main cast (how she's the only exchange student besides MC who doesn't live in Purgatory Hall feels so wrong tbh), and seeing how she didn't have much promotional material when NB was announced along with the reception she got in the Japanese fandom, I was really surprised how well she was handled, I still have the problem that she should interact with characters other than Solomon/ Mephistopheles/Raphael (her interactions with Barbatos were so cute tbh) but hey baby steps lol at least she's the one of the new trio that has the most romantic chemistry with the MC, that's a win in my book

Even if Mephistopheles didn't have many romantic interactions with MC, they at least further expanded on his relationship with Diavolo and how he feels left out with the arrival of the brothers. I think it sucks that he's still a jerk to MC. But seeing Thirteen's comments in the last few lessons, I'm guessing they're going the tsundere route with him, I hope they do more with him in S2.

But to me, what they did to Raphael was truly inexcusable. Rereading the Lessons where he "appears", there were some hints that he might not be the real Raphael, but they are so small that even when you know the truth, it feels so… wrong? Fake Raphael interacts almost the same as the OG and no one suspected it was someone else (not even Diavolo? Barbatos? Lucifer??) So I almost wonder what the point of this plot twist was other than to tease Michael for S2. Maybe if they had given more obvious hints that this wasn't Raphael it wouldn't have bothered me, (I guess Michael's secret talent is also acting? lmao) But now it's more fun to read the scene where Fake!Raphael is talking to Luke/Simeon showing them in gifts and almost begging them to come back because "Michael misses you two so much and can't complete his work because he keeps asking about you both" apparently one of his defining characteristics is that he is too clingy with his sibling /ex-siblings in general? tbh that's something that I find very cute and pathetic at the same time lol.

(Tangent #3)

Actually, I think it's an interesting question, I'll admit that in OG, I'm not up to date with the hard lessons lol (I'm still on HL60, I think?) Mainly because I'm really lazy, so my goal in NB was to do the hard lessons the same week the lesson arrived, because if I let them pile up, I'd be too lazy to complete them later (besides I'm noisy and I love to talk and share things about this game lol) but I still admit that a good/bad HL is something quite subjective, I saw many players who really liked this HL20 for example.

For me the role of the HL/Unlockables is to reward the player who strives to be good at the game (either having luck in the Nightmares, being good at the rhythm game or having $$$ to invest in your cards), without them there is no reason to get S ranks or trying to unlock the HL, so for me their role in the story should be important enough for you to learn something new (a behind the scenes detail, worldbuilding or explaining something that wasn't possible in the main lesson) or they can be good opportunities to give more screen time to characters who are not participating in the main plot (For example in NB, the Luke exploring HOL subplot, Mephisto/ Thirteen meeting at the bar, or the unlocked lessons about Solomon talking with Nightbringer), personally the lessons about the brothers doing something mundane (Like the HL of the brothers playing games) I consider them "filler" because it is an oversaturated topic in the main lessons and you don't really learn anything new, personally it makes me feel like I wasted my time.

Then we have this rare case where the hard lesson gives a too important detail to omit in the normal lessons, OBM is a gacha game first and a rhythm game second, it's unfair to "punish" players who haven't had the time/luck/money to be "better" at the game, like you said this plottwist changes the way you see Raphael/Michael a lot, it's something you wouldn't find out unless you played HL yourself, because the main lesson gives insignificant hints about this reveal that it's not something you can figure out for yourself, now that I think about it, maybe this should have been the post-credit instead of the Nightbringer scene

(re-reading the main lessons, I could only find this dialogue in 20-A, maybe there's more but I personally don't see it)

I think the other time I felt that something should be in the main lessons instead of the Hard Lessons/Unlockables was in several S2 lessons (personally the season I like the least, precisely because of the decisions on what to show and what to block in the hard/unlockable lessons, but that's another topic lol)

By the difficulty in which you unlock the lessons, my verdict from most important to least important would be:

Main Lesson (everything important should be here) > Unlocked A/B/C (Sometimes they unlocked choice trees in the OG, I think it's a creative use for them) > Hard Lessons (there might be times that something important Is shown here, but not enough that you'd miss a lot of context if you don't play it or it's something you can figure out on your own)

(??)

Anyways, I see things more clearly than Yesterday so I'm not that mad at this twist now (I still don't like It) but I guess it's a good opportunity to explore Michael motives? This show us that Michael Is very selfish and isn't considerate of what others think (Taking Raphael's likeness without his permission, suggesting the brothers leave Satan behind, war crimes, etc) I still think this should be the OG Raphael but what's done it's done lol.

No but fr fuck that Hard lesson, Raphael stans keep losing I guess 👎👎👎