#one thing I've seen others point out was that CN had more character than AoM because the cast shared a past together

[nightwonder7]

What are your thoughts on the new Hullabaloo content?

AAaaaahhhh sorry it has taken me so long to get to these asks! 😭 I've been too eepy to properly articulate any replies ;u;

The short of it, it was so good!!! O0O I liked the story a lot more than I expected. Like gosh, the writing, the presentation, the animation, the voice acting (Joker's performance at the tent gave me chills)! Everything was so impeccable and much more than I thought it would be :0 Certainly a breath of fresh air and an upgrade from the diary stories of game 4 and 9 (I wouldn't mind at all if the devs revisited those with the same caliber as Closing Night 👀 at least it seems all the stories from now on will be presented this way)! While character and essence trailers tend to be very poetic and ambiguous, Closing Night was pretty straight forward in the plot, which was really nice.

The characters themselves and their dynamics were probably the most striking to me. It's one thing to read the lore through letters and deductions, but seeing the characters actually perform in real time gives more insight and adds layers of depth and complexity that are hard to perceive through other formats. Even the little things; the way they speak, their demeanor, their body language, how they act towards each other in different situations... Like how Mike tends to use grandiose gestures while he speaks, or how Violetta talks with such softness and meekness in her voice (she is definitely the kind of person to apologise if someone else were to step on her toes... okay, bad analogy, but you get what I mean gfhjgdg). It's these details I'm so grateful to have witnessed in these characters. (Emphasizing that these characters come from a media where most of the lore is tucked away in written documents that a lot, or even most players, don't bother to seek out. It's nice that the later story installments to IDV have enabled more of them to learn more about the lore, cause it's all so very interesting and a shame to miss out on) It was an absolute treat to see them all interact with each other and the environment!

I love how the point of contention was building up through it all, and how it all came to a head at the end. I loved Mike's development as he realised what was truly going on at Hullabaloo. His perception of his perfect childhood paradise practically imploded on him in such a scale that he could no longer handle it ;-; All of them were victims to the circus and each of them had their own sets of trauma from the abuse. You could understand why they all acted the way they did, even if some of their actions weren't always the best. Man, the writing is so good!

Overall a very good story and presentation that I really enjoyed! Lots of angst, which I love 👀 I feel like I've gotten a better understanding of these characters now too; just hoping I'll also manage to portray them somewhat similarly fgdshjfsd XD Anyway, I'm looking forward to game 0 now! (but plz I want more Ashes of Memory first 😭)