#character: archangel nowhere monarch

[cassettebeastssource]

To celebrate the 1-year anniversary of Cassette Beasts' release, Jay Baylis of Bytten Studio has made a Twitter thread to share some behind-the-scenes stuff about Archangels:

[demispark]

Alright, I'm giving you a Cassette beasts character too! And who's better for this than Aleph, the Bill cypher wannabe!

favorite thing about them

- He's such a strange guy! For most of the game he kinda just rolls up to an archangel after you beat them and is like "you're my friend now, we're having soft tacos later!" and eats them.

least favorite thing about them

- Alongside Lenna and Helia, he's one of the few bosses you can't rematch :(

favorite line

- "OH NEAT, A BIG SKELETON GUY! EVERY TEAM NEEDS ONE OF THOSE."

brOTP

- Conquest is besties with Capitalism (Mammon) and Consumerism (The Nowhere Monarch), they're all terrible together :3

OTP/nOTP

- Should I put his divorced wife in OTP or nOTP?

random headcanon

- His like glass triangle head is easily breakable. It doesn't really hurt him all that much, but he'll just go "Well now, that wasn't very nice of you!" if you break it mid-fight. He's just weird like that.

unpopular opinion

- The Cassette Beasts fandom is made up of like five people, what popular opinions do we have about this guy that I can even disagree with? I'm gonna say that my unpopular opinion is that he isn't that great of a villain. He just kinda shows up to be strange and ominous but does not really affect the plot in any meaningful way until the end of the game.

song i associate with them

- Arrow of Time, of course! I think Deus Ex is his theme, but I'm gonna be honest I don't remember at all what that song sounds like-

favorite picture of them

I know I'm the one who made this but I think it's really funny okay

[kanohivolitakk]

Close finishing Cassette Beasts and I think I have cemented my partner preference:

Excluding Barkhley, my partner preference is Felix > Meredith > Viola > Eugene > Kayleigh. A few of these are interchangeable, but this is what I think I'm soldified with.

Felix is easily my favorite character-wise. I love his laidback outgoing personality that feels very grounded and beliveable: I geniunely think I'd get along with him (before you ask yes, I plan to romance Felix thank you) . Not just that, Felix had my favorite story-quest to boot: his storyline with Kuneko resonates with any creative who has had those cringy OCs in their youth and man...I feel seen. TBH the only issue I have with Felix is his signature tape: while Fungogh isn't bad it's so dependent on its gimmick that your mileage will depend on how much you like it and...truth to be told I don't like Fungoghs gimmick at all to the point it was the only partner tape I benched. Sorry Felix, you're stuck with Triphinx now enjoy. (I could've gave Felix Kuneko but as a Ramtasm user it'd be redunant to have two AStral types on team, no matter how OP Astral type is).

I LOVE Merediths design and personality so much, but I think she has one of the weaker questlines? Like its not bad and I do love how it adds to the themes of nostalgia and art as sources of memory Cassette Beasts has going on, but it just feels so...insignificant compared to other questlines. Not to mention her Archangel boss felt...so insignificant to her character arc? Like yeah, Nowhere Monarch did prey on her weakness, but it didn't really feel earned thin my book. Beyond that though I do like Meredith: her design is really good, her serious no-nonsense personality is extremely tsundere without being unrealistic (she's arguably the most realistic character besides Felix) and like said, I love what she adds to themes. The best part though? Her signature beast. Like I'd argue Cat-5 is one of the best mons in the game period (especially in the early-game), and thus having her as your partner is always good, even if you don't like her character.

Viola has probably my favorite quest-line next to Felix and easily with the most fitting Archangel boss fight. Like yes, Robin Goodfellow is a b*tch to fight if you're unprepared, but its the one Archangel fight that does actually fit to the character. I love the twist of her being actually a fictional character and just the way she denies that and goes "Who cares if I'm fiction in someones world I'm real and I will show you". Her personality is great too. My only gripe with Viola is how late you get her: both Viola herself, and the ability to fuse with her. Since Robin GoodFellow is one of the last archangels you fight (if not even the last) you don't really have much time to use Viola by the time you beat her archangel and "properly" get her. So that is a really big drawback against a really solid character.

Eugene has really good design and is extremely likable and...that's it. His questline is one of the most frustrating to go through due to the LandKeeper offices being hard to keep a track of. Not to mention, while he is the second partner you get, he has the same problem as Viola where you fight his archangel so late, you don't really use him that much. Its even worse since you can't even bond with him due to partner relationships activating once you're able to fuse with them. Robindam is okay (if a bit too slow), but man is it pain to remaster as Clocksley is outright useless. I also feel that while Eugenes shonen protagonist "be gay and due crimes" personality is endearing, its also unrealistic: compared to the other more grounded and believeable partners it does stand out like a sore thumb. I still like him, but he just isn't for me.

Kayleigh is...solid. Solid design, insanely likable, simutanesouly quirky and relatable, solid quest, has one of the best signature tapes that's really good early-game, geniunely invested in the MC and their quest, is the bestly integrated to the main arch-angel plot....and that's kinda the problem. She has the "poster-girl" syndrome going on where her character is fine, good even, but since she's the first character the player encounters she's designed to be the most widely-appealing character. She gets relagated to the "vanilla" "default" option, and if you're anything like me, that is instantly a downside. Her status as the first/default partner just makes her look boring compared to the other partners, even if shes still an enjoyable character. I also have the issue with her where she's not as grounded as Meredith or Felix, and if anything has kinda the most nonsensical plot with the whole cult stuff going on. I also feel Kayleigh doesn't really have any motivations on her own, and just follows MC because shes attached to them...which is deeply ironic considering her story arc. Good character, just don't like her as much as others.