#evoland Reno

[quibbs126]

I can finally post this, after weeks!

But yeah, this here is something I made to celebrate the 9th anniversary of Evoland 2

Some people may remember this work in progress from weeks ago, but now I can finally show the finished product. Which I finished 2 weeks ago

It’s based on the 3D picture you get when you finish the game, specially the 100% completion, and more specifically, my screenshot that I took when I first completed the game and got 100%

Though I should probably also note that this was the only picture I had of the beach scene until I was mostly done with the picture, so there are some inaccuracies between it and the original. Except for Reno in place of the Prophet, that was completely intentional

This game was I think the first (and will probably be the only) game I’ve ever 100% completed, and when I did it the first time, it was just because I knew that games would have extra things for those who 100% it, and I wanted to see what the game would give me. It’s the only time I was so invested in a game that I had to know what I’d get if I got everything. It’s also the only game where losing nearly 10 hours of progress due to a (maybe) glitch does not make me give up the game in frustration, but instead complete the entire thing within a single school week

I may gripe about my issues with the game, but I absolutely love it, and I have a lot of fun playing it. Well, aside from the parts I’m bad at, but that’s just because I’m bad at them. I feel like I have next to nothing to complain about from a gameplay perspective (which is in part because I don’t know how to critique gameplay, but also because I think any issues I have are my own fault), it’s just narrative stuff. And even then, I wouldn’t nitpick it so much if I wasn’t so invested in the world, story and characters

Maybe today I’ll start replaying it again, seeing how I’m pretty sure I’m free today from any schoolwork

I’m still holding on to some admittedly delusional hope that a 3rd game could release one day, even if I know it’ll almost certainly have nothing to do with this one, but even if it never does, I’ll still have this game to play over and over again, so I can accept it

I was disappointed that I missed the last two, since I first played the game in 2022, but not this year, I remembered!

Now to just talk about the art itself, the reason there’s two versions is because I originally made the background lineless, but after finishing the characters I thought it maybe clashed a bit too much, so I made a duplicate of the picture to do a lined version. But I also spent so long on the lineless version that I didn’t want to just leave it in the void, so I’m showing it too

Admittedly now I think I can say the lined version probably is the better one, but I can still show off both

I used the card colors for the characters, since all of them have cards for reference, but now I’m looking at the colors and thinking they look somewhat wrong. At least on Menos

Also as mentioned prior, I switched out the Prophet for Reno. I know I’m biased but I really think he’d fit in this picture of all the main characters far more than the Prophet, considering he’s kind of the reason the plot started, the second half happened, and he’s the main motivation for one of our party members. I mean, I see why the Prophet’s there in the original. He’s really the only other semi-important character with a 3D model, and Reno never had one, so they’d have to make an entirely new one just for this extra thing. Also it doesn’t make sense for him to have a 3D model in the first place, especially not of his Present era self. But not only is this now a drawing where I have the power to do what I want, this scene isn’t canon in the first place, so put Reno in the background there!

Overall though, I’m honestly surprised the piece turned out as good as it did. Those who follow me know that I was really struggling with drawing during the summer, more specifically drawing people and the Evoland 2 cast. But despite all that, I think the characters turned out pretty well. Certainly not the best, but better than I was expecting. And not only that, but the background turned out so much better than I thought it would, especially since I don’t usually do backgrounds. Though I suppose it does help to have a reference for all this though. But yeah, there was a reason I was so proud of how the sketch turned out, and while the final product may not have entirely been what I was hoping for after the sketch, it still turned out pretty good

As long as I can remember it next year (which I really hope I can, considering that’s the 10th anniversary), I’ll try to make something there too, hopefully with much improved drawing skills, since I’m still trying to figure all that out again still

Not sure what I’ll draw then. Maybe I could redraw the beach scene, or make an entirely new beach scene concocted by my brain. But it’s also the 10th anniversary next year, so maybe it should be something more special

Ah well, that’s next year’s problem. For now, have this to celebrate the game’s anniversary. For the minuscule amount of people who actually play this game, I guess

[snimbusjavy]

AKA, the “Characters that deserved better” day

Day #18 is Misfit:

We have our friend Alex of course. He’s had it rough, seeing his home taken by corporations, people he loved die right in front of him, and on top of it all his head is worth millions. Luckily, he has someone to watch his back...

And then we have the three survivors of Demonia, the edgelord himself Reno and the twins Cherry and Plum. I won’t say a whole lot more due to spoilers, but let’s just say they too, had it rough :p

[too-kay]

10 fandoms 10 characters

Thanks to @velazarus for tagging me, I’m gonna do this as well.

Undertale - Papyrus

A lovable skeleton who gave me laughs and chills

OFF - Batter

Like a janitor, just purifying everything

Tavros - Homestuck

A pretty underrated Troll in my opinion, he deserved much more canon content

Peridot - Cucumber Quest

The witch and villain we know and love

LISA - Brad

I’m feeling so sorry for this dude, he deserved so much better

Pearl - Steven Universe

I haven’t seen most of the episodes yet but responsibility and beauty is a nice combination Acolyte - Lady of the Shard

Truly one of the most lovable characters here

Goal - Deponia

The name says it

Ratman - Portal

A mysterious person who’s been doing all the work in the background

Reno - Evoland

The misunderstood demon boy

[quibbs126]

So basically I made this due to me looking at sprites for too long

So I was getting sprites for all the characters I would assume I need for drawing, and I was able to find Young Reno’s sprites, along with some others

And one thing I noticed when I was looking at the sprites in Procreate is that he doesn’t seem to wear shoes. His feet color are the same as his normal skin tone, so I can only assume that he doesn’t have any

Young Ceres also doesn’t wear shoes, but I can excuse that since she literally just escaped a laboratory where she was being experimented on. I doubt Giro was providing her with footwear when she wasn’t supposed to ever leave. Reno though doesn’t really have an excuse. Like Menos, Arthus, one of you, get the child some shoes! You’re his dad and grandad, make sure he has proper protection from the wild attacking his feet!

I know it doesn’t mean anything realistically, but it just led me to making this. Specifically because I was out with my friend today and didn’t have much else to do

It’s just a silly little thing I thought was funny

I used Reno’s overworld sprite as a reference more than his talk sprite, since that was where the feet thing came from

But also just a note because I’ve been looking too much at sprites, the Past sprites have a couple inaccuracies

Young Reno has a jacket like he does in the Present, but his talk sprite does not, Young Ceres has a pink outfit in her overworld sprite while her talk sprite wears blue, and Arthus is mostly just wearing a red cloak over his outfit, whereas in his card and the intro cutscene, we see he wears mostly black/blue and wears no cloak, instead having black fur(?) lining, as well as a red cape in the card design. I mean, maybe with Arthus they just wanted to be lazy, considering we wouldn’t see him ever again. Not sure about the other two though

And I know all that is entirely inconsequential, but I know it and have no one else to talk about it with, so now you do too

[quibbs126]

So I decided I needed a break from that beach picture I’m working on (yes I’m still working on it, right now I’m making two versions because I thought the lineart and background didn’t match), so I just decided to make this

Yes it is based on the Toy Story meme

Anyways, I did this for two reasons. One, because I realized that Reno and Ceres are basically the instigators of the game’s plot; Reno the first half and Ceres the second half. It’s also different in that Reno was unintentional; he just wanted the power of the Forest Guardian, and accidentally made the Magilith activate, causing Kuro and Fina to time travel and the story to happen. And then later when they get back to the present he’s the person they’re trying to stop from unleashing the Great Disaster. Ceres meanwhile very intentionally instigated the second half of the plot as she was the one to inform the group about the existence of the Magi Key and what it could do, as well as where to find the pieces

Second reason is just that I really want them to interact, because I think it would be really interesting, especially since likely, Ceres knows of their connection, while Reno doesn’t

I have also come up with this alternate plot where the story starts because Ceres approaches Reno and his group and has them start the time travel, which our heroes then get wrapped up in. And in doing so, we see their dynamic, which is basically that Ceres tries to interact with Reno and deep down wants to be close to him, even if she knows she’s just using him for her goals, but meanwhile Reno, whom she does not tell about their relationship (because he absolutely wouldn’t believe her and it’d probably ruin her credibility), sees her as more of a work partner, and while he goes along with her plans he isn’t fully trusting of her. And at the very end where he comes to his senses and turns on her, it does hurt her in a way he wasn’t expecting (he fully believes that Ceres doesn’t care and has no clue why she does), but she ultimately gets him out of the way because her mission is more important than her feelings, and she may or may not reveal to him their true connection

And that whole scenario is kind of one of the other reasons I wanted to draw them together. I’ve just been thinking a lot about the two of them interacting and wanting to draw that

I think I got carried away, what was I talking about? Oh yeah, drawing I made. Well might as well pivot over to the drawing process itself now

So I’m using a different brush here. I was looking for a brush for my big beach drawing, and someone suggested the Syrup brush on Procreate, and I actually had fun with it (and it is the reason I’m making two versions now), so I wanted to use it again here, and I think it turned out pretty well

I will say though, I had no clue what I was doing on the sketch with the bodies. I don’t think it’s super noticeable in the final product, but it was a mess in the sketch. I really need to figure out how I’m drawing anatomy, I swear. I can’t just keep doing guesswork

…You know actually, I don’t think I have much else to say, so I guess we’ll end here. It was a bit of a haphazard description, but I’m scatterbrained, what you gonna do?

I do want to draw more of the two interacting, I just don’t have ideas yet. Maybe in the future though

[quibbs126]

A thought I had just now, if Reno were to live to the Future era, he’d likely be around the same age if not a bit older than Menos

I don’t know for certain the math on that, considering all we know is Demons have longer lifespans than Humans, that 60 is considered young for them (but still old enough to be in the military), and that Reno went from a small child to (I think) young adult in 50 years. Personally I use a 3:1 ratio for years, with Demons having triple the life span, though we technically don’t have solid evidence. But regardless, I’m pretty sure Reno being around that age range would hold up

Now it makes me wish that at some point we saw a Future era Reno and have him and Menos interact. Hopefully on good terms so that Menos doesn’t get more emotional damage, but it would probably still be disorienting for him to meet his son at around his own age, especially when he’s only ever seen him as a young child

I know why we couldn’t have had it, since Reno basically dies during the Present era story and the events that caused it don’t get reversed until the very end of the game, at which point there’s no real point to re-introducing him, especially in this new era with a whole new model and potentially even a talk sprite. But now I kind of want it, especially since he’d probably be the only other character in the game outside of us time travelers who could be around in all three Eras, given the Demons’ lifespans. Well, not taking into account his death that is

Well I mean, I guess Jatai can also be in all 3 Eras, since he was, but he doesn’t count considering how relatively minor of a character he is

[quibbs126]

I decided to make this today, mostly because I needed something to do that wasn’t sitting in my room

I think originally the pose was going to be different, but I couldn’t remember it by the time I started drawing, so I ended up with this instead. I think it’s still fine though (crap I messed up one of the fingers)

I just wanted to draw the two of them before the game, when everything is good for them and the horrors haven’t happened. You know, for angst purposes like what people do with drawings of young Dark Cacao and Dark Choco. But also I just wanted to draw Menos happy, I don’t draw enough of that with him

I also gave him a shirt, and also by proxy, it’s kind of supposed to be his pre-capture design. I made it earlier today on that page I keep showing stuff from but never finish. At this rate it’s only gonna be Demons on there I tell you. Anyways, admittedly it isn’t the most regal looking, but I also don’t really know what outfit to give him, and for the more casual setting, this outfit works

Okay, I’ve kind of forgotten what else I was planning to say. I’m at an event for an organization, and they just said we’ll be wrapping up soon, and with that, all the thoughts in my head just flew out the window

But I think I’ve covered all I want to say, so yeah

If I don’t fluff and/or angst art of these two, I guess I have to make it myself. But it won’t be that great because I don’t really know how to draw two characters interacting with each other

[quibbs126]

I don’t know if the full page will ever be done or posted, so I might as well post this design now

So this here is supposed to be my design for Reno’s mom (who is conveniently the character out of frame there) and Menos’ first wife, whom I have named Scarlet

I gave her the name Scarlet because of Reno. See, I don’t actually know where Reno’s name comes from, since as far as I can tell it doesn’t match Menos and Arthus’ name schemes (that being from mythical kings), but I am aware that there is a Final Fantasy 7 character with the name Reno, and also that ff7 was a big inspiration for the series, so it could come from there. So for Scarlet, I just gave her the name of another member of Shinra that would sound nice, and so I did Scarlet. However I know next to nothing about either original character since it’s been a good 5 years since I got anywhere in Final Fantasy 7, so I couldn’t tell you if the name fits

In universe, it’s probably because of her hair

I based her design almost entirely on the Demon trading card, since I think I said prior that I think the design would work for Reno’s mom, especially since we don’t see this design anywhere else. It isn’t exactly the same, but it’s fine

Everything else I mostly lifted from Reno. It helps that Reno looks very little like his dad

I did try to give her relatively calm and wavy looking hair, with the idea that Reno’s spiky-hair-ness comes from his dad’s side

I’m realizing that her covered horn is placed wrong, and it’s too far on one side, and it’s bothering me now. I’ll fix it later

Anyways, now on to Scarlet’s character

So I’m going with the idea that she and Menos were an arranged marriage. She was the daughter of a leader from a smaller (though significant) town within Demonia, and her and Menos’ marriage was a mutual agreement between both parties. She and Menos got along perfectly well, they respected one another as individuals, but they never really fell in love. Eventually the two of them had Reno (since you know, married to the prince and heir to the throne for a reason), but Scarlet ended up dying pretty early on in Reno’s life, for reasons I never really figured out. Disease or something probably

Menos never really talks about her because they weren’t married for very long, only a few years until her untimely death, and she died quite a while ago. He feels it’s not really right to talk about someone this long after their death when he didn’t really know them, especially when they had other people who did. He does feel bad about her death, and he did at the time, but it’s more so about the fact that her life was cut so short and she’d never really get to be there for her son, whom she loved just as much as Menos, than his feelings towards her. Their relationship was starting to become more than “we are an arranged marriage”, and then she died. All of these things combined leads to him never really mentioning her, at least not to the party. He might explain their history if they were to directly ask, but he’d probably end it with saying he’d just rather not talk about her. Reno asking about her would probably be the only exception, considering it’s his mother and Menos wouldn’t want to deprive his son of knowing about her

It’s not really much in terms of her actual character, just her history and relationship to Menos, but like, I kind of made her just to fill in that gap of “who is Reno’s mom/Menos’ wife?”, and also she’s dead by the points in the story I care about, and I really like the relationship between Menos and Velvet instead, so you know

I guess what I do have is that she’s probably also a relatively serious character, ultimately preferred her home over Demonia Castle but accepted things anyways, genuinely dearly loved Reno for the short time she had with him (her and Menos’ shared love for their son was leading them to be a bit closer to each other), and I want to say was either an archer or magic user, but I’m not sure which

And yeah I think that’s about it. I just wanted to show you

[quibbs126]

Random Evoland 2 fic premise idea:

So we can finally revisit Nibiru Village after we erase the Weapon, and according to Finrost we only would have left a couple hours ago or so. We also know that Reno and the twins were also there recently, as stated by the innkeeper

So basically, the premise is that for whatever reason, the party all goes to Nibiru after it finally gets restored, and while going around town, they hear about the Demons who stayed at the inn, and through Fina’s observations, they realize that it was indeed the Demon Trio who were there, and based on what she knows, Fina thinks that maybe the three are still close by, like in Spelbuk Forest or something, like they were originally. And so Menos takes the opportunity to try and see if he can actually meet with this older Reno, whom he hasn’t seen since the attack on the Demon Camp. And he does end up finding him, and how their interaction goes, I don’t know

It popped into my head as a possibility and I think it’d be neat. I don’t want to write it since I don’t know how I would, but I also realize it’s unlikely there’s anyone else in the market to write this fic. So if I really want this fic, I’m probably going to have to make it myself

[quibbs126]

Random, though it’s probably late night weirdness as I try to head off to bed and get my last Evoland 2 thought out for the day

But for some reason I yet again take the stance that, at least from a purely design standpoint, I would believe that Plum and Cherry are Reno’s sisters, and by proxy, Menos’ other kids

Like just look at them next to Reno and Menos, they look like some sort of in between, like with the three of them you could reasonably construct what comes from Menos’ side of the family and what comes from their (hypothetical) mom

And I’m not gonna lie, I am intrigued by the narrative possibility of such a thing, with Cherry and Plum being presumably Reno’s older sisters, and again, by extension, Menos’ other children

But at the same time, how it is in canon, I don’t think I’d go with it. Considering that I can’t really make much of a canon plausibility for it unlike Matchos, with Menos never even referring to Plum and Cherry, which he would definitely do in this scenario if they were his kids

Also referring back to Matchos, I already like to headcanon Matchos, and by proxy his brother Lousos, as Menos’ maternal cousins. If I were to say Plum and Cherry are related to Reno in any way really, then that’s basically me making it so that all important/named Demons are related in some way, and that just makes the world feel so much smaller. Kind of sucks that there’s so few Demon characters when you lay it out like that, but oh well

Also it’d be really fucked up because you know full well that the pair die. So it’s not just that you killed one of Menos’ kids, you killed all three of them, and you don’t even have that sliver of hope that maybe Reno somehow survived the Weapon, we’re told the other two fully died

Though now I’m imagining this scenario in which post Laboratory, Menos is talking about the Demons he wonders survived, and he out of nowhere brings up that he in fact also has two daughters that the rest of the party hasn’t heard about (let’s just say it’s because as far as he knew when meeting the group, his daughters were fine in Demonia Castle, since he had only taken his youngest son to the peace treaty before everything went to crap, so they weren’t as pressing of a concern at the moment). And then he says that their names are Plum and Cherry, and it dawns on the rest of the party that they definitely killed these two, meanwhile Menos is none the wiser. It’s funny in my head, but it’d probably be more angsty than anything. Because you’re telling your friend that you unknowingly killed his other children

But in any case, I would kind of like this idea in an AU/rewrite scenario. I’d want to see where it goes

[quibbs126]

So because I was drawing Reno and Ceres earlier when I was waiting at my dentist appointment (I meant to post what I had drawn but I’m too lazy to now), I decided to just look at theirs and Menos’ sprites to compare their designs and similarities

And while I don’t know how clear I’ve made the spoilers of this game, this technically would count as major endgame spoilers (and mid game for Reno technically), so I’ll just put the rest under the cut to be safe

Okay first off, I just want to question why Menos’ sprite is so small, at least relative to his proportions. Like, it’s very noticeable in the sprite sheet I have. I’d say it’s because he’s because a bigger character, but other big characters like Lothair and Dalkin have sprites that don’t look shrunken, why does Menos? I don’t know, it just bugs me

Anyways, back to the actual topic, yeah no, Menos shares very little design details in common with his kids

I actually went and also did a thing with both similarities and differences on a OneNote page, and the differences between them far outweigh the similarities, especially with Reno, who really only has a bit of his hair and the scowl

Maybe if Menos and/or Ceres were to ever undo their ponytails, there’d be a bit more similarity? Like, Menos’ hair puffs up to look all spiky like Reno when he takes it out. I don’t know

Also, I had another conclusion based on this little experiment (but I thought the other conclusion was funnier)

Because like honest to god, Ceres really does have more similarities to her dad than Reno does. On my OneNote page, Ceres comes in with about 5 similarities I could find, while Reno only has around 2-3 similarities (the - is due to the fact that I don’t know if Reno having somewhat of an angular head counts or not. It’s more similar than Ceres, but it’s not what Menos’ head looks like and is more rounded). And quite honestly, I don’t know how much the scowl counts either. I feel like if you were to ask someone which of these two is Menos’ kid (while providing the context of additional family members like Arthus and Velvet for Ceres), they’d be more likely to say Ceres

Though granted, some of those similarities do have to do with the fact that Ceres is a half Demon, while Menos and Reno are both full, so Demon traits would have to come from Menos and those things wouldn’t apply with Reno, but she does still look more similar

And I have to ask, why is that? Why does it feel easier to tell that the character that we aren’t supposed to know the parentage of until the very end is Menos’ child than the character whom, at least when first named, we are explicitly told is his child?

I feel like the reasons Reno look so different boil down to A: they wanted to keep the twist for mid game and not make it super obvious from the get go, and B: Reno was designed to look like what he default Demon looks like, considering that his design has so many of the typical Demon traits (though he still looks distinct in his own right)

I mean I can definitely see where the designers would be coming from with the second option, considering he, Cherry and Plum would be the first Demons you ever meet, and some of the only. However, despite the limited amount of Demons, we actually do see other, standard looking Demons when we visit the Demon Camp, so the point kind of falls flat

Also, Reno’s Past design, the one we first see when he’s named and told to be Menos’ son, already looks incredibly similar to the Present design, so if you didn’t forget the Present Demons (which I think you are supposed to, since a lot more happens in between these two meetings, enough to forget, but maybe that’s just justification for me because I always forget by that point in the story), you’ve likely already figured out the twist. So like, why not just have Reno look more like his dad? It’s another couple hours before we see him again anyways

I don’t necessarily need him to look like a mini Menos clone (though the immediate image of that in my head is funny to me), but give him at least something, right? Like, the eyebrows maybe at least?

I feel like Menos actually has this down with his own dad, where they noticeably share similarities but are still pretty distinct from one another

You could also maybe apply this to Ceres, she also doesn’t look much like her dad, but I can at least justify it by her being a hybrid, the fact that we aren’t supposed to know her heritage until literally the ending scene, the fact that she is being carried by (presumably) recessive genes color wise, and probably also the fact that they’re different genders. Reno has less excuses

I mean, I guess none of this really matters, but it’s just like, you keep taking this man away from his kids, can they at least have some of his looks?

Maybe I should try redesigning them with that in mind, but that’s a thing for later

[quibbs126]

I was just drawing this concept, I’m still not sure if I want to do much with it

So basically, it’s been an idea semi percolating in my head to make another kid for Menos and Velvet. Specifically, this came from the fact that I’ve noted that Menos’ kids look so little like him, so the idea was to make one that just looks like a smaller Menos. The genes just came in at full force. But then later, when I made the post about forgetting that Ceres is half human, I realized that I should probably add in some non Demon features too

I only made him yesterday because I was bored at work, and I couldn’t think of what else to draw. And I thought he turned out pretty good, so I translated him into digital drawings

I would show you the original picture, but it was drawn exclusively in pencil, and it’s on a darker cardboard sheet, so it’s practically impossible to capture on photo. I just really liked how the pencil sketch came out (my manager came in during my break and sharpened my pencil, so it was darker and less blunt), and I didn’t want to potentially ruin it with my somewhat shaky pen, and I had bright light so I didn’t realize it wouldn’t show with a darker lighting

It also kind of screwed me over when I was trying to translate into the digital sketch (that would be the top left), since it was night time, and I only had my lamp light. So it looks weird, but I had the basic appearance down, and I could refine it now, which is what I did on the top right

But yeah, I guess we talk about design things

So his hair style mostly comes from one of Velvet’s concept hairs, and I thought it works as an in between for Velvet and Menos

But I do wonder if it looks too different from Velvet’s final hair, and if I couldn’t have came up with something more unique for him. But moving on

The non Demon features I decided on are him not having horns, as well as having shorter ears than Demons, though they’re still pointed. Also I had the pink nose originally, but I took it out to make it less similar. I also wanted to give him black sclera, but make his eyes blue like his mom. Though I made it brighter because the regular color didn’t feel right

I also wanted to give him the bicolor, but I’m still working on what his secondary color should be. I asked on Discord, and the pink he has in the top right was what we settled on, but Velvet has pink secondary hair color already, so I debated going back to the dark blue, which is what I did on the bottom. I still don’t know which I should stick to honestly

I’m also not sure if I should give him glasses or not. I think it looks fine, I just haven’t decided on it. He does for now though, and I made it a different shape from Velvet’s as well

Overall, I think he succeeds at looking like Menos while not being a complete clone. I was drawing him, and I think he’s like a softer Menos

But I also wonder if I’m playing it too safe

With the kids in Evoland 2, while I may say that Reno and Ceres don’t look like their dad, I think the designs really succeed in having them look similar to their parents, but while being very much distinct. They are not copies of their parents, they’re their own people

Ceres I think is an excellent example of that. You can tell who her parents are by her design if you look hard enough, but she’s different enough that she looks her own person. It may be in part to aid in the twist about her heritage, but the final product really does exemplify this

And it’s like, by comparison, I feel like I’m not doing enough, like he looks too similar, too obvious who his parents are, and that I’m not being creative enough

Maybe I'm being too harsh on myself, considering the point of this character is that he's supposed to look super similar to his dad, but I feel like I'm not doing enough

It also doesn't really help that I don't know what to do with his character. I have an idea of him being more book smart, and/or he deals more in politics than any sort of fighting, but I feel like maybe it's still too similar to Velvet or something. Like he should be something entirely unique, but I don't know what

And by proxy, this goes for his outfit. I can't really make an outfit without knowing the general idea of the character (at least most times), so I don't know what'd be good there. I just slapped something together on the bottom left

I know this character likely wouldn't feasibly ever exist (I mean, maybe he could, and he was born right before Ceres was taken or something, but it's unlikely still). In my head, he'd exist in some alternate timeline where we had another ending after the canon ending, where we destroy the Project, the timeline no longer loops, and everyone can go home or something, with Velvet and Menos getting together and living in Demonia with their kids (still unsure if they'd be going to the Past or Present, since Fina and Kuro would be going to the Present). Also, the Ceres we know died, but she was born again in this new ending and doesn't get kidnapped. So, like, this kid would in context be the 3rd kid of Menos, 2nd kid of Velvet's, and a prince in Demonia, or what remains of the country as Menos tries to rebuild it, and his life is mostly normal outside of that

I also really don't know what to name him. Maybe I give him a Roman god name like his sister? Or make it a Greek god maybe? Or a mythical king like his dad and grandpa? I'm not sure. A concept in my head is maybe he's named after his grandpa, being Arthus II, but that feels uncreative

Note as I'm finishing this, the name Janus popped into my head. Maybe that could work?

Hmm, I don't really know what else to say honestly. I think I had other points, but I don't know how to work them in

I guess the point of this was, here's this concept I've been working on, I want to show off completed work but also I don't really know what I'm doing with it

He probably needs more refining in his character, but I don't really have ideas to work with either. It'll be a struggle, and that's if I choose to continue with him

[quibbs126]

You know personally, I think this line would be so much less confusing if it were Velvet that gave this line (and then letter suggestion)

We don’t really know anything about her social life, she very well could be inexperienced in romance, and I don’t see her suggesting writing a letter about Robert’s feelings to be unreasonable. Heck you could even take it as a little nugget of foreshadowing for her and Menos’ relationship (I mean it technically could be for the original line, but it’s more confusing than foreshadowing to me)

Sure, you’d miss out on these lines

But the line would at least be said by someone who isn’t the one party member we know has canonically had sex and was most likely married

[quibbs126]

You know, it really does feel like Evoland 2’s missing a chunk of the game

Like, the way it ends is technically fine; granted it means all our characters are going to end up meeting horrible fates and also that we effectively have changed nothing. If the game was going for an ultimately depressing tone of “no you can’t truly change things, even if you can change a little”, that would work, but that doesn’t feel like that’s what it’s going for

It would work better if that were instead like a Neutral Ending scenario in Undertale, or like OneShot, where it can technically be the end, but there’s actually a True Ending to the story, and by continuing the game, we get that final chunk of the game that wraps up all the loose ends and gives us a happy ending, like the time loop ending and everyone getting a better outcome

It would be nice if the developers gave us that final story in the future, like some sort of update or patch to the game (though tragically I wouldn’t be able to play it, at least not for a while because I play on Switch). Unfortunately, considering the game came out like, 9 years ago and it technically already has a remaster/port with the Ultimate Edition, not to mention the game itself is pretty obscure, I don’t think it could ever get that ending

I can be delusional and dream though

[quibbs126]

And speaking of Ceres and Reno, I feel like they should have interacted in game, considering their significance to the story

(Might as well note major Evoland 2 spoilers for anyone who cares)

They’re both essentially the closest we have to major antagonists in the game, Reno for the first half and Ceres in the second, and not to mention they’re half siblings, which is something never touched upon in game since again, Ceres’s reveal isn’t until just before credits. Like Reno doesn’t even know he has a half sister running around, and it’s debatable whether Ceres knows of him or their connection, though regardless she never makes any mention of him

Like, maybe have the two working together? I don’t know why they’d be working together, their goals are different, but maybe tweaks the plot so that they are? It’d be a way to tie our two main overarching antagonists together, and also maybe it could even tie in that they’re siblings, though whether they know or not I’m not sure. Maybe Ceres knows but doesn’t tell him for whatever reason

Oh regarding the “no other antagonists” thing, I just remembered, I suppose we do have Great Magus as an antagonist. But also like, he’s more just a villain we need to stop and isn’t necessarily tied into Ceres’ plot. I suppose Reno’s story is also self contained, but I think I’m giving him a pass in my head since I’m convinced he’s supposed to be more significant than he was

[quibbs126]

It kind of irks me how Reno basically disappears from the story of Evoland 2 after the first half. I mean, yeah, technically he has a reason to not be in it, but there’s time travel and he’s important to two different eras, so he should have at least shown up in one of them

Like maybe it’s just me, but he feels like he was supposed to have a bigger role in the story, considering his ties to Menos (and technically Ceres), as well as him getting his own page in the artbook. But no, he’s gone after the lab

Like at least have him and Menos meet again, whether in the past or present (though I feel like a present meetup would need more buildup. Also timey wimey shenanigans considering)

Something about his story feels incomplete to me, and that frustrates me