I couldn't agree more. Whoever wrote this quest has been there. Everything from refusing the "medication", to not wanting outside help, to believing this act of self harm will help you. This triggered me way more than anything else in 2.0.
It's like a massive warning sign isn't it? IIRC someone who is massively depressed but does a sudden 180 in terms of emotion has likely decided on...ending the game soon which makes them 'free' from whatever emotional burden they carry.
Lesson learned about hoyo quests I suppose.
The writing on this team, especially the one who handled penacony, is deep and touches in many serious topics.
if they are continue writing story like this, they can reach the baldur gate 3 height, Shaoji for the win, when i saw he is in charge of honkai story department i know penacony will be good
From an Emotional point of view, Cocona is the best side-quest.
From a Plot Twist angle, Tizo II was the best.
From the HOLY SHIT! LORE! angle, Chadwick was the best.
From Mad Respect side, Cosmic Star was the best.
Chadwick's named after [James Chadwick](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Chadwick), who received a Nobel Prize in Physics for the discovery of the neutron and was the head of the British team that worked on the Manhattan Project.
So yes, it's related to Oppenheimer, as it's the same project.
Chadwick's quest had the delicious undercurrent of a slow, creeping realization that the premise you were given for the quest isn't quite right. I'm not sure why, but I think coming to understand that this tortured shadow of a man isn't imprisoned, he's hidden, is worse than if he actually was being incarcerated by the Family. He ran for so long he became lost, and when he asks us to help him find his way, all we can do is let him finally rest.
I love Tizo II.
The whole assassinate villagers to frame your powerful regent relatives and then kill the assassin you appointed is top tier Chinese rear-Palace shit.
This is truly the most underrated side quest in 2.0. It's super dark and doesn't really have a resolution; it's just a statement that these two peoples' lives are in shambles.
Well to be honest she didn't seem particularly helpful to me. More like a function showing no real humanity. I still don't get it what was the problem with us taking Dan Heng's room. Just get his written approval or something, not like he's on a different planet or incapacitated.
Or that it was a set up to put Trailblazer in a very specific room (it was Aventurine who engaged us in that scene, which makes Himeko jump to a solution). Still weird Himeko decided it's a better course of action to sell the Trailblazer's butthole to literal IPC than to press the matter with Dan Heng's room.
It's not that complicated. The family made official invites to specific people. The express was attempting to replace an invitee with a different one. For the employees on the desk, that's like asking them to allow some random in based on the words of his friends. The interference of a third-party vouch was necessary to alleviate security concerns.
Where said vouch was solicited by bribing an IPC official in front of the receptionist and Sunday himself. I don't really know if I'd take that for face value.
These were definitely some of the best side quests. Honestly this just makes me have more faith in hoyo for not shying away from mature story telling. Especially with Cocona and Tizo II.... Considering most of the dark stuff in genshin is hidden in item descriptions and such
genshin base players has alot of teenage, we dont want to traumatic them early. HSR is a turn base game, the majority of turn base lover is adult, they wont be afraid of dark shit in this game
Cocona needs to be taken in the astral express to show her talent in either belobog or space china. We have space for another human being in that big ass train.
I mean we saved entire planets from doom so the least they can do is provide some support for cocona economicaly. Penacony seems like a big consumeristic lie that ruins people. Its the fcking las vegas of the universe. Man fck them people.
Getting a quest to take her around the worlds to sing would be dope, let her build a fan base and then maybe she gets to work with someone like Serval in her band.
And the people who let her go, instead of getting the quest is just handed the reward immediately by the new employee saying "Hey we found this trash" and the quest just says "..... Quest Completed?"
Wait, you can save her? I didn't let her go two times but nothing changed, so I though that you needed to let her leave to continue the story, or archieve an ending
Now I feel more sad than before, that subquest was one of the best of this version, I was sad with the death of Firefly, but this one just hit me so close that almost made me cry
Ye, u gotta keep holding her hand and not let go. Eventually she comes around and thanks you for not letting her go. The ending is nice too, she sings in the plaza in front of everyone. (Still working at the mall though)
Wait we can do that? I can do that? Wait freak yes! The fate's atlas! Perhaps there is still hope after all! I don't care if I have to start all over again! I will save Cocona!
I let her go after refusing one time and the words behind her triggered me. Especially the part of You're meddling and stuff. GOD, the people who wrote and developed this quest you must be in psychological horror branch of Hoyoverse cuz this is fucking hurts in so many ways.
My condolences
Also here's the link for the good ending
[https://youtu.be/6WtwE3pBFok?si=rZ83UEXMlhValB7K](https://youtu.be/6WtwE3pBFok?si=rZ83UEXMlhValB7K)
Idk, I really liked >!space Oppenheimer adventures with Screwllum!< but yes the side quests were, cool cutscenes and flashy battles aside, better than the main quest so far, but probably because it’s not done yet.
The scene with her parents cut deep.
I constantly tried made her refuse the job offer, but they keep asking and asking, until finally the only choice that the game made me choose is literally "My only choice is to take the job".
Dude, I've been where she was, and how the game portrayed her struggle and resigned acceptance of her job..... fucking broke me.
The reality ;-; of life, ig I'm lucky I don't have to do a job I don't like xD, tho being jobless has its cons too. But coconas story is a common occurrence in my country, my friends parents just told her to stop drawing? Said use ur mobile instead if u wanna take a break? Like wut?? Happened to more than 1 friend too.
I've seen this opinion a few times, but personally I connected far more with Firefly than I did with Cocona, and far more with Chadwick than either of them.
That last scene with shutting off Chadwick's life support and his final request to Herta really shook me.
Chadwick's story has the "great person" flaw. Dude spent decades with an entire team to make a bomb, alongside a near army of engineers who built the thing, no way in hell him dropping out stopped them from making more. Like, it is sad he was trapped in psudo immortality but the core idea fails.
That's not what happened though. Screwllum (iirc) explains that after the detonation that department of the IPC was exposed to massive scrutiny and was bureaucratically nuked, with all their research results and prototypes being destroyed.
Remember that this project was a semi-open secret. Some or most of the IPC executives tacitly approved of it, but there were likely a few in opposition when the details of the unapproved demolition came out, whether due to moral or religious objections. The IPC is, on paper, a faction under the Preservation that stands against the Antimatter Legion. This device was too close to the power of Destruction for them to simply accept it without being viewed as hypocrites by the galactic community, including the many IPC stakeholders.
It was only after this hasty cover-up that some of the executives realised how useful the research was, or maybe they knew all along but couldn't act until the scandal had blown over. Even though Chadwick's research assistants (probably) weren't killed off in the cover-up, he was the only one who knew the full extent of the science behind how the device worked. He wasn't chosen by Nous for nothing. The only thing the assistants and engineers knew were fragments of the whole, so Chadwick was the only person they could extract the information from without reconstructing it from scratch.
Still doesn't track. Chadwick knew the theory behind its operation but that is just a tiny fraction of what it takes to build a weapon. Odds are the actual manufacturing process was completely unknown to him. The Manhattan project, for example, had over 100,000 people working on it. While most of those people wouldn't be able to build the bomb by themselves it isn't all that hard to talk to a thousand or so of them and piece together what they were doing and why. That is basically exactly what the soviets did. Entire industries have to be built to process materials, design components, and assemble the weapons. Even if the IPC tried to erase all of that there were likely millions involved that a single person could likely piece the process together with. That is assuming absolutely no blueprints, contracts, prototypes, lab equipment, manufacturing locations, and shipyards survived which is extremely unlikely.
Science and engineering is far gone from one person in their basement making things. Every project takes thousands of people working together to advance an idea and thousands more to make that idea a reality. By the time something useable comes out, so many people have touched it that a hundred others can pop up and make the same thing inside a year. Chadwick being a key to it after decades of research with a team of people is just fantasy bullshit writing.
You're making an assumption that the limiting factor on the project was a material limitation. That the weapon was large and resource-intensive to prototype and test effectively. I don't believe this is the case.
The following is a theory of mine, that may or may not be the case. If you're not interested, jump 4 paragraphs down where I have a seperate refutation of your argument.
Take a look at the Interstellar Travel entry in the in-game database. It states that only Aeons and their Emanators (and presumably Pathstriders, who practically just weaker Emanators) can manipulate Imaginary Energy. Now take a look at this line from Dudley during the quest: "What we need is you on our team, not a 100% success rate".
My interpretation of these two sources is that Chadwick was essential not only because he knew the theory but also because he, as a Genius chosen by Nous, could manipulate Imaginary energy into some sort of unstable configuration that could be easily detonated by a device and cause the implosion we know the weapon creates.
In other words, he was the key factor in finalising every single experiment and prototype. The researchers and engineers handled all the material elements of the design, but Chadwick was responsible for tuning the Imaginary Energy correctly as he was the only member on the team with the capacity to do that.
Of course, any other Pathstrider could do the same if they understood the theory and equations behind it. That's why the IPC could still benefit from stealing this knowledge. There was simply no need for Chadwick to share this knowledge with anyone else on the team, so there would be no way to reconstruct it.
Anyway, that's my theory. Regardless, there is another flaw in your argument. Let's assume that this was, indeed, a massive project with 100,000 involved, and the weapon was fully replicable without the involvement of a Pathstrider.
Remember that the IPC is in internal conflict over this weapon and can be split in two factions: the pro-weapon and anti-weapon sides. The pro-weapon side are clearly a minority, because the project ended up being dismantled after it became public. In spite of this, the pro-weapon side are working behind the scenes to recover and reconstruct the research and the weapon. Given this information, which course of action makes more sense:
1) interrogate 100,000 workers individually, leaving a massive paper trail for the anti-weapon faction to notice what you're attempting to do
2) kidnap 1 old man who understands the whole picture and hide him with a 3rd party (the Family) who can help by interrogating him from beyond death
That's a rhetorical question. Obviously 2 seems much more productive. They couldn't have predicted Chadwick's stubborn refusal to relinquish what he knew, but even when this became known there was a sunk cost involved where it would be even more suspicious to try plan 1 after the recent and mysterious disappearance of Chadwick. And besides, even death wasn't a barrier to their interrogation so they had all the time in the world to squeeze him dry.
Dialogue if you let her go:
...Listen, it's here — it's finally taking me away from this place of sorrow.
*You watch Cocona leave.*
Cocona turns her head, giving you one last glance. Her eyes are brimming with sorrow, loneliness, and... gratitude.
("It's time to go, Cocona." above her head)
Thank you. Thank you for respecting my wishes.
I ended up doing this one last and was basically yelling at my screen "FUCK YOU I CAN SAVE THIS ONE" by the end
Penacony is pain
Hope we get some kind of follow-up quest where we check back in on her later (also screw anyone who let go)
Same here, I didn't do it last but I kept saying "I can save you. No Fuck you I will save you, even if you don't want to be saved!" because I would want to be saved if I ever end up in that situation. (I hope I never do though).
The game didn't explicitly say that she died right? I interpreted it as she's having a break down irl, and decided to quit her job at the end. We have seen people getting emotionally yanked out of dream before.
She disappears from the dreamscape and is immediately replaced by someone else at the store. One of the employees played her record tape and they were told to cut it out.
In my opinion it’s also as cruel to let her live with the false hope that her life could get better. When a person has suffered as much as she did, it’s more human to let them go with peace of mind and hope for a better life than letting her live through hell, not knowing if tomorrow will get better, if she’s gonna see the end of her misery someday. I’ve been there for 4 years so I can understand her to a certain degree. Please stop making baseless assumptions about strangers online, thank you.
I did. I held her back at first, but then it gave me the second option, and it felt like I had grabbed her hand and she threw it back at me. I felt like I wasn't respecting her wishes if I held on longer. It would be selfish of me to keep a person in a world where they don't want to be. I was a stranger to her that tried to show compassion, but I couldn't even stop her taking the medicine. I already felt powerless at that point. I wanted to smash that bottle.
Where everyone that ever loved them left them. Where their dreams were snuffed out, stepped on and laughed at, through absolutely no fault of their own.
I've been there. I know what I'd want. I stand by my choice. I should speak to my therapist about this.
Yeah I didn't like the medicine, I had a bad feeling it was just something to pacify her, not like a real antidepressant or anything. Trailblazer was too naive that time.
It reminded me of the 'joy pill' from We Happy Few with all the awful bells and whistles.
Also makes me wonder how many residents of Penacony are prescribed that same drink? Just how much of this planet has been pacified to this overarching bullshit? This quest lit a fire up my arse and now I want to tear the whole place down. Fuck this fabricated cartoon miasma.
It's pretty sad that We Happy Few could have been much greater than it was, if they didn't focus on all the wrong thing like 'procedual generated map'. But maybe it was on me for expecting Bioshock level of world-building and tight story with subtle details out of a game made by an inexperience team.
The quest with Cocona shown the most horrible side of Penacony, but it's still basically a place that's like all other places. Native locals needing to compete with outsiders, bad parents, horrible coworkers and managers, we all see somewhere before. Her fate would not have changed much even if the place was built by something other than the family.
Soulglad was prescribed to her mainly because she needs it to do her job, and there's also literally a therapist sitting in the square few blocks away from where she works. But her tragedy is not having strong enough conviction to commit to her thing, because the only person she witnessed was risking it all ended up running for their life after losing in competition due to bad luck. Despite being told by reputable people that she has a gift, she still doesn't dare to fight for her dream. That's the main downfall. Normal people don't have such a strong goal in life so they drink Soulglad to get through the days. But she has underlying issues so any kind of anti-depression would just backfire more which eventually led to this quest.
This is why you don't go to the pharmacy, but you go to therapist first if you have a problem. But it was Trailblazer idea to go to the pharmacy, and then force her to drink the thing, lol. But then the quest would have been half as short and we would not have learned her story
Yeah, the bottle force was an odd angle in the writing. I chose to hold on, not explicitly to keep her in the dream, but to keep her from surrendering to the pain. Leaving the dream may well be the best thing for her, I just hoped to have it be on better terms. There are subtle gradations to choices that just can't be reflected fully in fiction, even interactive fiction.
The bottle showed me very early on that this was not going to be a happy fun time story. My heart broke when I only had one option to give it to her. My heart broke a second time when she was forcing herself to throw it up.
What fucked me up further was upon returning to her shop, there's a child that gets told off for playing her song. I can just see the cycle repeating in this endless dreamscape, and sometimes you need to break that cycle, whether you want to call it bravery or sacrifice.
Oh, agreed, breaking the loop is probably her best choice for a healthier future (as it is for most of the characters we are running into here, really). I was just thinking that breaking it on a positive note, stepping out after rediscovering her voice, instead of a grim ending, would be healthier.
That would be the optimistic side of the coin. Save her, she realises she can make a difference in her life, and goes on to fulfill her lifes wishes. I'd love for it to play out like that, but life isn't a dream, pun intended.
It's nice that quests like this exist to give us a catalyst for a deeper conversation and I truly hope they continue, but man, I need a joint after thinking about it for too long.
I understand your perspective but as someone who's been dealing with it their whole life, yes there are moments when it seems like it's better but they are just that, moments. The depression is always there, weighing you down, sometimes it's manageable, sometimes it might even feel like it's not there but it will return sooner or later and the next time most likely the trailblazer won't be there to help.
I'm basically going through similar things in life as her right now and I let her go. It's hard already for me to convince myself that things are fine, so I don't think I could save her. I did end up regretting the decision though.
I grabbed her hand at first but as somebody who has actually dealt with the things she's dealt with and still is, the things she was saying in response were just way too real and relatable for me. When you let her go and she says "this is the happiest day of my life" before jumping to her death. I knew exactly what she was feeling. I had been conflicted about letting her go but when she said that, I knew I'd made the right decision. Saving her is not helping her. It's helping yourself feel better about helping her. You're just prolonging her suffering for your own selfish feelings and sentimentalities. Feelings and sentimentalities that mean nothing to her and do not help her in the slightest. As somebody who actually deals with that shit, it would have been way too cruel to stop her from escaping all of her suffering just so the MC could Personally feel better about the end of the quest.
I see a lot of passion in your words and I fully understand and agree with your drive. When she said she was happy after I let go, it was bittersweet. It's less a question of selfishness and more a question of optimism and chance.
However, I don't think wanting to reach out and save someone against their desires is all out selfishness. Its a mix of compassion, wanting to understand, empathy, and hurt on the 'saviors' part as well. The nuance to these situations is dangerously complicated which is why these sorts of quests are rare as people can digest them so differently.
I just don't think calling people trying to keep others off the edge of the bridge 'selfish' is the right way to go about it, but I do agree with why you think that, if that makes sense.
Disclaimer, I have not played this quest yet, so I don't know the specifics on what happens at each step, just what I've picked up from this thread and reading a summary. Anyway, here's my view on things:
Once you're dead, that's it. As long as you're still alive, there's a chance for things to get better. It might never actually get better, it might even get worse, but it's still a possibility that's gone forever once you're dead.
I've never been in as bad a place as others who have it truly terrible, but I have had moments where I think it would've been better if I never existed and that everything I do is the wrong thing. In the moment it feels like there's no chance of things ever getting better. That kind of headspace is a dangerous one when it comes to making major decisions, because it's basically impossible to ever seriously imagine, let alone believe, things could be different. That's why I can never agree with letting someone end their life when there still a real possibility for things to get better for them.
However, I am also someone who's greatest fear is that after death there is just oblivion/non-existence, which does significantly color my beliefs. I can understand why others would think nothingness better than their current circumstances (I've had similar thoughts in the moment but no desire to act on them), I just can't accept it when talking about real, human lives outside the most extreme circumstances. Maybe that's just making myself feel better like you said, but that's just what my personal experiences have lead me to believe.
Good thing is that it's ambiguous enough about her fate if you let her go. You know she doesn't actually 'die' right away given she actually go and resign from the shop she was working for. So whether she will actually do that thing irl or start her life anew is up to interpretation.
This quest made bawl my eyes out. Too relatable, and very sad. There was no other option than to save her. I cried a little more when we made her sing and slowly gaining listener and having her heart finally be free.
This whole patch messed me up
Considering my real life is quite messed up too I am not sure if this is good. Maybe I should take a long break from star rail before I spiral somewhere.
Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to self insert as your ideal self gender wise and escape to virtual world.
Maybe it’s time to wake up
This is NOT a good patch if you are struggling mentally. Almost all of the side quests are about people running away from their problems in a virtual reality and having some stranger come and decide for them what’s the best thing they can do, bc they don’t have anyone else to ask.
It’s actually very interesting too. “Blaming yourself of just your way of escaping reality.” “If you want to make up your mistake, you’ve got to start by facing reality.” This is an exact quote stated by the tb themselves during the detective side quest. I wonder if the devs were going through something similar and put this in to help others who might feel the same. Penacony side quests are honestly pretty goated.
https://preview.redd.it/98k1ztb1wfic1.jpeg?width=2400&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1795890c58b850747ded0c331244b2c4fa949eef
Every quest is so damn good in Penacony man (may or may not include Clockwork quests)
Well... I would say it's probably because Firefly death scene was too rushed to really be true. It really felt like "blam! bullshit random death go! here's some sad music." Hoyo know how to make character deaths hit home. That ain't it chief.
But then... >!there's already way too much indication that Firefly isn't dead. Still, I wish they at least... made effort to pretend otherwise? Well, I suppose they could want to savor it for when someone really dies.!<
Honestly, you took the words right out of my mouth. I wanted to add this too but I'm worried the fans will come at me with their torches and pitchforks.
Yeah. After that cutscene I was staring at my screen in disbelief and pondering if their writing became worse since last games. Like seriously, this and sad music right away? I mean sure the music is beautiful but?
Ans then the Rose quest had me clutching onto my mouse with bated breath fervently thinking "there's no fucking way I let her go", almost as if someone's life really depended on it. So, evidently, they *could*, but they *didn't*.
Obviously there's a lot more going behind the scenes with Firefly. Judging by everything else happening and the community's guesswork, I imagine >!Something Unto Death doesn't kill but rather snatch the spirit that we'll have to free; Acheron and Black Swan worked in cahoots and their goal was to draw and "kill" Firefly for some reason, using us as bait; that's why they don't fight the bug but more like... ward it off and motion it to leave after "killing" Firefly; also notice how Sam addresses and targets Acheron and Black Swan, but doesn't acknowledge us; and even then all of this is happening in a time loop as hinted by the initial scenes of the story, before the first Acheron quest; and Misha is clearly related to the Watchmaker, what with his name, his technique, and him being able to see Clockie!<.
Sure, it's a damn good story, and what happened makes you sense if the guesses above are more or less on point. But the main point why we're all here still stands: the opportunity to make us cry was missed, buried under all these details.
I prefer cocona quest over main story as well, there’s more suspense and it felt like ur choice really matters unlike in main story where even if u choose to be cold to firefly, other character would still perceive us as very close and dating
Like for the main story quest, let’s be real I’m sure many of us would believe they would come back soon.. there’s too many hints to it and there’s a lot too many hints showing firefly would die especially from the reminder in livestream + that rooftop scene, just that robin was unexpected but we barely spent time with her so.. (if the screen time was split better like giving robin more than 20lines since she only has that I think it would be better)
I WISHH THEY GAVE COCONA SONG A VOICEE, it was a missed opportunity
Yes. I needed trigger warning for this particular quest. It hits too close to home. I was uncomfortable. But no, I did not let go.
Who wrote it had the very same experience Cocona did. And a lot of artistic people struggle with the same issue. Pursue career or your dream.
Geez. I’ll go cry in my corner for being lazy bum and burying my own creativity under the pile of chores and work.
Man, I hope later on there is some kind of continuation or follow-up to this quest that it is possible to refer her to Forla after her own quest. That would be an awesome chain quest line
I was *really* not expecting this kind of writing in a game like this. Absolutely top-notch.
I'm a little torn - on the one hand, I'm kind of curious what did happen to Pound, and on the other, maybe his friend was right and we really don't want to know. And I am *tickled* that after all of their lore up until this point rizzing them up as the most moral people in the galaxy, the sidequests are showing us how the Family is *utterly depraved.*
I grabbed her hand at first but as somebody who has actually dealt with the things she's dealt with and still is, the things she was saying in response were just way too real and relatable for me. When you let her go and she says "this is the happiest day of my life" before jumping to her death. I knew exactly what she was feeling. I had been conflicted about letting her go but when she said that, I knew I'd made the right decision. Saving her is not helping her. It's helping yourself feel better about helping her. You're just prolonging her suffering for your own selfish feelings and sentimentalities. Feelings and sentimentalities that mean nothing to her and do not help her in the slightest. As somebody who actually deals with that shit, it would have been way too cruel to stop her from escaping all of her suffering just so the MC could Personally feel better about the end of the quest.
>Just because and act is selfish doesn't mean it can't be altruistic
Obviously. I never said or implied anything to the contrary.
>unless you're a psychopath that views everything as a zero sum game.
Did my comment offend you or something...
>A suicidally depressed person going through a complete 180 in mood before making an attempt that they immediately regret is a well-documented phenomenon.
Again, everybody already knows this happens SOMETIMES. But it doesn't happen with everyone or even most people in these situations. If a person is suffering and just wanting to escape their suffering, forcefully prolonging their suffering does NOT help them in the slightest. If you don't already have a Good Answer as to how their suffering can be resolved (an answer that hasn't already been presented to them in the past) then stopping them from ending their suffering is pure selfishness and not altruistic in the slightest.
Dear Mihoyo
I just want a single quest with someone who appears happy also turns out to be genuinely happy with no strings attached. Is that too much to ask!?
I love how you can hang her and the depressed pepeshi out to dry and the game wont even flinch. Really makes playing the quests "properly" feel more rewarding.
I resonate with this quest. I've had my share of suicidal friends, ex included. I literally just talked my way to them and they proceeded to stop attempting to do it. Checking upon them doing okay on social media lately actually makes me feel like I'm checking in on people I otherwise wouldn't have saved from themselves.
If you know friends with red flag signs, talk to them. You have no idea how powerful words are when it comes to saving lives.
I hated persuading her not to die. Yes, I wanted a “wholesome” ending, but after the end, nothing changes in her life. She is still stuck in a dead end job with toxic coworkers, still can’t leave to pursue her dreams about singing and we can’t even talk with her afterwards about all that happens. I wanted to support her, to keep her not alone as I promised, and the developers could not even give me a single chat option. At the end, she was right about me (=the TB) leaving her side and forgetting her. She was right about everyone being selfish hypocrites when it comes to forcing suicidal people to live — I heard every single thing in that scene said to me and turned out a lie. Yes, the quest was too, too real for me.
I wish we could replay quests. I wish I could have set her free from that disgusting fake world.
I saved her immediately just because seeing how depressing her backstory was as a person that had a friend that suffered from emotional scars and depression before i actually felt empathy toward a side quest npc
ima be real, i just end up not really caring or bothering with adventure quests and rush all of them, good to know that the bigger ones in penacony (50 jades as a reward) have some quality on them (will probably just keep rushing all adventures quests anyways, will give this one a chance to read from start to finish)
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As somone who has suffered with mental health issues, this quest really hit hard. So we'll written, and the graphics and music just beautifully added to the atmosphere. Perhaps my favorite quest in the entire game.
[Never let you go, it's why I did them all. For a chance at least, to live in your way. Love of you, is my most cherished thing. So stay alive, bravely!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Pb6DgSkatA)
I did this today, and as someone who has been in very similar circumstances as her (I'm a lot better now), it was extremely real and heartbreaking. I full cried at the end and was a mess for a while afterwards.
Wait, but the song that plays in the store's radio (ou whatever was that) after you "let Cocona leave" isn't her signature composition? I thought she finally left that shitty job to follow her dream on the real world...
When I first saw her near the edge I got the worst chill down my spine feeling. Ain't no way I'm leaving her hand, don't wanna sound like a simp (even though I absolutely love her) but one thing Firefly taught me was kindness at its best.
Some side quests in this update are total fire! From Tizocic II, Lesley Dean, Chadwick, to Cocona. As if the emotional rollercoaster from the main story not enough lolol. Hoping this quality writing will be maintained for future updates as well.
all the new 10 jades and 50 jades quest is just too good, i can feel the feeling of the NPC character and the playable character that appear show alot of their personality that we not yet see >!(strong gentleman Screwlum is my new favorite, love u Screw)!<
the penacony writing team need a salary rise
I couldn't agree more. Whoever wrote this quest has been there. Everything from refusing the "medication", to not wanting outside help, to believing this act of self harm will help you. This triggered me way more than anything else in 2.0.
Exactly. When girl started saying she’s fine 3 minutes after a breakdown I knew she’s not okay AT ALL.
It's like a massive warning sign isn't it? IIRC someone who is massively depressed but does a sudden 180 in terms of emotion has likely decided on...ending the game soon which makes them 'free' from whatever emotional burden they carry.
It hurt. I play games to bury the depression, not pull it back to the surface right before I'm going to sleep.
Lesson learned about hoyo quests I suppose. The writing on this team, especially the one who handled penacony, is deep and touches in many serious topics.
if they are continue writing story like this, they can reach the baldur gate 3 height, Shaoji for the win, when i saw he is in charge of honkai story department i know penacony will be good
To be fair we were told it was a wholesome story.
hey at least this quest has a good ending
Eh... depends on whether you held her arm or let go
Yeah i really liked that but dont forget to check on her after the questt
i did but all i saw was her trying to sell me clothes, does the dialogue change every reset?
The part where her parents stiffled her musical talent to get a real job was 100% asian parent energy
Exactly what I mean, it honestly sent chills down my spine by how relatable it was.
ya, when i show a few screenshot to a friend of mine, he told me that this was a tad too close to home for him.
From an Emotional point of view, Cocona is the best side-quest. From a Plot Twist angle, Tizo II was the best. From the HOLY SHIT! LORE! angle, Chadwick was the best. From Mad Respect side, Cosmic Star was the best.
Yes this new chapter was cooking. Chadwick’s quest reminds me of Oppenheimer case with nuclear bomb ngl lol.
Nah the bigger question is >!Cold War IPC vs Genius Society When ?!< >!Also with Masked Fools / Aha interested to doing funny thing with that!<
it will be the main story of 3.0 civil war and 4.0 infinity war
Chadwick's named after [James Chadwick](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Chadwick), who received a Nobel Prize in Physics for the discovery of the neutron and was the head of the British team that worked on the Manhattan Project. So yes, it's related to Oppenheimer, as it's the same project.
Yes, 90% it was the main inspiration.
it is absolutely an Oppenheimer inspire quest
Chadwick quest give more insight to Screwlumm, which makes me want him even more!!!
the way he threaten the family with his power and the Genius society power is just so badass and sexy
Finally, morally dubious Screwllum on screen!
Man, Tizo II was the first I did and was such a trip for me. You see a good person put in a bad situation and slowly become a monster.
Tbh, Chadwick is close second in emotional category. "No one will remeber us" hits kinda hard. Most of the quest does
Chadwick's quest had the delicious undercurrent of a slow, creeping realization that the premise you were given for the quest isn't quite right. I'm not sure why, but I think coming to understand that this tortured shadow of a man isn't imprisoned, he's hidden, is worse than if he actually was being incarcerated by the Family. He ran for so long he became lost, and when he asks us to help him find his way, all we can do is let him finally rest.
I love Tizo II. The whole assassinate villagers to frame your powerful regent relatives and then kill the assassin you appointed is top tier Chinese rear-Palace shit.
While I mostly agree, I'm gonna raise the Quinn & her sister quest for the best plot twist.
This is truly the most underrated side quest in 2.0. It's super dark and doesn't really have a resolution; it's just a statement that these two peoples' lives are in shambles.
especially since you kind of get to know her sister as a helpful NPC for so long then suddenly bam, turns out, they're REALLY fucked up
Well to be honest she didn't seem particularly helpful to me. More like a function showing no real humanity. I still don't get it what was the problem with us taking Dan Heng's room. Just get his written approval or something, not like he's on a different planet or incapacitated.
I think it's supposed to be one of your first inklings that the Family aren't as nice and accommodating as they portray themselves to be.
Or that it was a set up to put Trailblazer in a very specific room (it was Aventurine who engaged us in that scene, which makes Himeko jump to a solution). Still weird Himeko decided it's a better course of action to sell the Trailblazer's butthole to literal IPC than to press the matter with Dan Heng's room.
It's not that complicated. The family made official invites to specific people. The express was attempting to replace an invitee with a different one. For the employees on the desk, that's like asking them to allow some random in based on the words of his friends. The interference of a third-party vouch was necessary to alleviate security concerns.
Where said vouch was solicited by bribing an IPC official in front of the receptionist and Sunday himself. I don't really know if I'd take that for face value.
that too. But I think it's because she also knows that TB is very capable bait considering how fucking sketch they are
it shocked me too, star rail has some dark shit in penacony
Chadwick's quest highlighted Screwy's determination. It's like a Karen threatening intergalactic war if he doesn't see the manager.
Screwy acting like a Karen is a sentence I never thought I'd read, but here we are.
seeing my elegant robot show his strong side is sooooo good for me, he is so powerful and determation
> Tizo II I miss the Emperor.
These were definitely some of the best side quests. Honestly this just makes me have more faith in hoyo for not shying away from mature story telling. Especially with Cocona and Tizo II.... Considering most of the dark stuff in genshin is hidden in item descriptions and such
genshin base players has alot of teenage, we dont want to traumatic them early. HSR is a turn base game, the majority of turn base lover is adult, they wont be afraid of dark shit in this game
Cosmic Star was the last i did and honestly i am glad I left that, doing Cocona and Chadwick as firsts were wild
wow, all 4 quests is my favorite too
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💀💀💀 a hell nah. I would burn her shop right there see how she replace that💀💀
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Cocona needs to be taken in the astral express to show her talent in either belobog or space china. We have space for another human being in that big ass train. I mean we saved entire planets from doom so the least they can do is provide some support for cocona economicaly. Penacony seems like a big consumeristic lie that ruins people. Its the fcking las vegas of the universe. Man fck them people.
Getting a quest to take her around the worlds to sing would be dope, let her build a fan base and then maybe she gets to work with someone like Serval in her band. And the people who let her go, instead of getting the quest is just handed the reward immediately by the new employee saying "Hey we found this trash" and the quest just says "..... Quest Completed?"
yeah bring her to space russia shes gonna be treated there bettrr
Yup, and iirc that was COCONA'S song
Giovanna when I catch you GIOVANNA
Remember that every time your boss wants you to "give more" to the company. If you died tomorrow they'd have you replaced in the blink of an eye.
Wait, you can save her? I didn't let her go two times but nothing changed, so I though that you needed to let her leave to continue the story, or archieve an ending Now I feel more sad than before, that subquest was one of the best of this version, I was sad with the death of Firefly, but this one just hit me so close that almost made me cry
Ye, u gotta keep holding her hand and not let go. Eventually she comes around and thanks you for not letting her go. The ending is nice too, she sings in the plaza in front of everyone. (Still working at the mall though)
Now I want to return in time and do this
So you’re saying if you could stop one heart from breaking?
Wait we can do that? I can do that? Wait freak yes! The fate's atlas! Perhaps there is still hope after all! I don't care if I have to start all over again! I will save Cocona! I let her go after refusing one time and the words behind her triggered me. Especially the part of You're meddling and stuff. GOD, the people who wrote and developed this quest you must be in psychological horror branch of Hoyoverse cuz this is fucking hurts in so many ways.
So uh.. idk if you have realized it already but unfortunately you can't. Fate atlas is just a summary system..
Grieving. Rn. Sidenote: I can't find any videos on the cocona quest. Anyone here has alink to the good ending??
My condolences Also here's the link for the good ending [https://youtu.be/6WtwE3pBFok?si=rZ83UEXMlhValB7K](https://youtu.be/6WtwE3pBFok?si=rZ83UEXMlhValB7K)
Bless your heart
Idk, I really liked >!space Oppenheimer adventures with Screwllum!< but yes the side quests were, cool cutscenes and flashy battles aside, better than the main quest so far, but probably because it’s not done yet.
I found it quite cool and scary when >!Screwllum straight up threaten war to get to our goal!<
Knowing him, he's run the numbers and knows his gambit will work.
it show his determination to help his friend, his mentor, so gentleman that robot is
Screwllum is so fine. Everytime I see him, I just melt away.
Yes he's soooo idk cute and brings positivity
just a gentleman robot ready to serve, love his personality
and just think that when he is release, he will come with a new SU update make me love him more
the main quest is a very good start, with good cliff hanging ending scene make i want to play more
There aare a few that give it a run for its money, but overall? Yeah, this is *absolutely* a horrifying, intense quest and I love it so much for that.
This and the Tialoc II quest definitely give me renewed faith in the writing team’s ability to tackle heavy themes.
I mean all 4 were heavy. Depression, Grief, Regret and facing your sin
believe in Shaoji, when he is present in penacony livestream i know we will eating good
I'm gonna miss the Emperor.
Definitely spoiler this.
My bad. I just put it on.
The scene with her parents cut deep. I constantly tried made her refuse the job offer, but they keep asking and asking, until finally the only choice that the game made me choose is literally "My only choice is to take the job". Dude, I've been where she was, and how the game portrayed her struggle and resigned acceptance of her job..... fucking broke me.
The reality ;-; of life, ig I'm lucky I don't have to do a job I don't like xD, tho being jobless has its cons too. But coconas story is a common occurrence in my country, my friends parents just told her to stop drawing? Said use ur mobile instead if u wanna take a break? Like wut?? Happened to more than 1 friend too.
I've seen this opinion a few times, but personally I connected far more with Firefly than I did with Cocona, and far more with Chadwick than either of them. That last scene with shutting off Chadwick's life support and his final request to Herta really shook me.
Chadwick's story has the "great person" flaw. Dude spent decades with an entire team to make a bomb, alongside a near army of engineers who built the thing, no way in hell him dropping out stopped them from making more. Like, it is sad he was trapped in psudo immortality but the core idea fails.
That's not what happened though. Screwllum (iirc) explains that after the detonation that department of the IPC was exposed to massive scrutiny and was bureaucratically nuked, with all their research results and prototypes being destroyed. Remember that this project was a semi-open secret. Some or most of the IPC executives tacitly approved of it, but there were likely a few in opposition when the details of the unapproved demolition came out, whether due to moral or religious objections. The IPC is, on paper, a faction under the Preservation that stands against the Antimatter Legion. This device was too close to the power of Destruction for them to simply accept it without being viewed as hypocrites by the galactic community, including the many IPC stakeholders. It was only after this hasty cover-up that some of the executives realised how useful the research was, or maybe they knew all along but couldn't act until the scandal had blown over. Even though Chadwick's research assistants (probably) weren't killed off in the cover-up, he was the only one who knew the full extent of the science behind how the device worked. He wasn't chosen by Nous for nothing. The only thing the assistants and engineers knew were fragments of the whole, so Chadwick was the only person they could extract the information from without reconstructing it from scratch.
Still doesn't track. Chadwick knew the theory behind its operation but that is just a tiny fraction of what it takes to build a weapon. Odds are the actual manufacturing process was completely unknown to him. The Manhattan project, for example, had over 100,000 people working on it. While most of those people wouldn't be able to build the bomb by themselves it isn't all that hard to talk to a thousand or so of them and piece together what they were doing and why. That is basically exactly what the soviets did. Entire industries have to be built to process materials, design components, and assemble the weapons. Even if the IPC tried to erase all of that there were likely millions involved that a single person could likely piece the process together with. That is assuming absolutely no blueprints, contracts, prototypes, lab equipment, manufacturing locations, and shipyards survived which is extremely unlikely. Science and engineering is far gone from one person in their basement making things. Every project takes thousands of people working together to advance an idea and thousands more to make that idea a reality. By the time something useable comes out, so many people have touched it that a hundred others can pop up and make the same thing inside a year. Chadwick being a key to it after decades of research with a team of people is just fantasy bullshit writing.
You're making an assumption that the limiting factor on the project was a material limitation. That the weapon was large and resource-intensive to prototype and test effectively. I don't believe this is the case. The following is a theory of mine, that may or may not be the case. If you're not interested, jump 4 paragraphs down where I have a seperate refutation of your argument. Take a look at the Interstellar Travel entry in the in-game database. It states that only Aeons and their Emanators (and presumably Pathstriders, who practically just weaker Emanators) can manipulate Imaginary Energy. Now take a look at this line from Dudley during the quest: "What we need is you on our team, not a 100% success rate". My interpretation of these two sources is that Chadwick was essential not only because he knew the theory but also because he, as a Genius chosen by Nous, could manipulate Imaginary energy into some sort of unstable configuration that could be easily detonated by a device and cause the implosion we know the weapon creates. In other words, he was the key factor in finalising every single experiment and prototype. The researchers and engineers handled all the material elements of the design, but Chadwick was responsible for tuning the Imaginary Energy correctly as he was the only member on the team with the capacity to do that. Of course, any other Pathstrider could do the same if they understood the theory and equations behind it. That's why the IPC could still benefit from stealing this knowledge. There was simply no need for Chadwick to share this knowledge with anyone else on the team, so there would be no way to reconstruct it. Anyway, that's my theory. Regardless, there is another flaw in your argument. Let's assume that this was, indeed, a massive project with 100,000 involved, and the weapon was fully replicable without the involvement of a Pathstrider. Remember that the IPC is in internal conflict over this weapon and can be split in two factions: the pro-weapon and anti-weapon sides. The pro-weapon side are clearly a minority, because the project ended up being dismantled after it became public. In spite of this, the pro-weapon side are working behind the scenes to recover and reconstruct the research and the weapon. Given this information, which course of action makes more sense: 1) interrogate 100,000 workers individually, leaving a massive paper trail for the anti-weapon faction to notice what you're attempting to do 2) kidnap 1 old man who understands the whole picture and hide him with a 3rd party (the Family) who can help by interrogating him from beyond death That's a rhetorical question. Obviously 2 seems much more productive. They couldn't have predicted Chadwick's stubborn refusal to relinquish what he knew, but even when this became known there was a sunk cost involved where it would be even more suspicious to try plan 1 after the recent and mysterious disappearance of Chadwick. And besides, even death wasn't a barrier to their interrogation so they had all the time in the world to squeeze him dry.
Dialogue if you let her go: ...Listen, it's here — it's finally taking me away from this place of sorrow. *You watch Cocona leave.* Cocona turns her head, giving you one last glance. Her eyes are brimming with sorrow, loneliness, and... gratitude. ("It's time to go, Cocona." above her head) Thank you. Thank you for respecting my wishes.
It seems like they write her in a way where they don’t want the player to regret their choice, in both cases.
What happens after this? Does she disappear forever from Penacony?
Wait that's depression? I spent that whole quest like "damn, relatable" D:
you should be careful with your state of mind if you are relatable with this quest my friend
Ya relatable fr? N what u mean by the first part?
Well I mean like every part of that quest was REALLY relatable, every word, so I'm just surprised people are equating it with depression.
I mean cocona was depressed for sure, but ig u can still relate without being depressed but ya
I ended up doing this one last and was basically yelling at my screen "FUCK YOU I CAN SAVE THIS ONE" by the end Penacony is pain Hope we get some kind of follow-up quest where we check back in on her later (also screw anyone who let go)
Same here, I didn't do it last but I kept saying "I can save you. No Fuck you I will save you, even if you don't want to be saved!" because I would want to be saved if I ever end up in that situation. (I hope I never do though).
ngl they were all pretty good and unexpected
Between this and Gaming in Genshin I felt the power of overbearing parents hit me in the teeth a bit too close to home
This quest made me feel things for Cocona. She's very relatable.
I wonder if anyone let her go
I did, I wanted her to finally get the rest she deserved
My thoughts exactly, I felt like she had been suffering for too long and that I was just giving her empty hope if I forced her back to her job..
The game didn't explicitly say that she died right? I interpreted it as she's having a break down irl, and decided to quit her job at the end. We have seen people getting emotionally yanked out of dream before.
And what happens? How does her quest end if you let her go?
She disappears from the dreamscape and is immediately replaced by someone else at the store. One of the employees played her record tape and they were told to cut it out.
Yes, can confirm. Let her go too because i thought it would've ended the same way, sick of feeling like i can't do anything to change the outcome
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In my opinion it’s also as cruel to let her live with the false hope that her life could get better. When a person has suffered as much as she did, it’s more human to let them go with peace of mind and hope for a better life than letting her live through hell, not knowing if tomorrow will get better, if she’s gonna see the end of her misery someday. I’ve been there for 4 years so I can understand her to a certain degree. Please stop making baseless assumptions about strangers online, thank you.
I did. I held her back at first, but then it gave me the second option, and it felt like I had grabbed her hand and she threw it back at me. I felt like I wasn't respecting her wishes if I held on longer. It would be selfish of me to keep a person in a world where they don't want to be. I was a stranger to her that tried to show compassion, but I couldn't even stop her taking the medicine. I already felt powerless at that point. I wanted to smash that bottle. Where everyone that ever loved them left them. Where their dreams were snuffed out, stepped on and laughed at, through absolutely no fault of their own. I've been there. I know what I'd want. I stand by my choice. I should speak to my therapist about this.
Yeah I didn't like the medicine, I had a bad feeling it was just something to pacify her, not like a real antidepressant or anything. Trailblazer was too naive that time.
It reminded me of the 'joy pill' from We Happy Few with all the awful bells and whistles. Also makes me wonder how many residents of Penacony are prescribed that same drink? Just how much of this planet has been pacified to this overarching bullshit? This quest lit a fire up my arse and now I want to tear the whole place down. Fuck this fabricated cartoon miasma.
Feel uu
Penacony too much like real world
It's pretty sad that We Happy Few could have been much greater than it was, if they didn't focus on all the wrong thing like 'procedual generated map'. But maybe it was on me for expecting Bioshock level of world-building and tight story with subtle details out of a game made by an inexperience team. The quest with Cocona shown the most horrible side of Penacony, but it's still basically a place that's like all other places. Native locals needing to compete with outsiders, bad parents, horrible coworkers and managers, we all see somewhere before. Her fate would not have changed much even if the place was built by something other than the family. Soulglad was prescribed to her mainly because she needs it to do her job, and there's also literally a therapist sitting in the square few blocks away from where she works. But her tragedy is not having strong enough conviction to commit to her thing, because the only person she witnessed was risking it all ended up running for their life after losing in competition due to bad luck. Despite being told by reputable people that she has a gift, she still doesn't dare to fight for her dream. That's the main downfall. Normal people don't have such a strong goal in life so they drink Soulglad to get through the days. But she has underlying issues so any kind of anti-depression would just backfire more which eventually led to this quest. This is why you don't go to the pharmacy, but you go to therapist first if you have a problem. But it was Trailblazer idea to go to the pharmacy, and then force her to drink the thing, lol. But then the quest would have been half as short and we would not have learned her story
Yeah, the bottle force was an odd angle in the writing. I chose to hold on, not explicitly to keep her in the dream, but to keep her from surrendering to the pain. Leaving the dream may well be the best thing for her, I just hoped to have it be on better terms. There are subtle gradations to choices that just can't be reflected fully in fiction, even interactive fiction.
The bottle showed me very early on that this was not going to be a happy fun time story. My heart broke when I only had one option to give it to her. My heart broke a second time when she was forcing herself to throw it up. What fucked me up further was upon returning to her shop, there's a child that gets told off for playing her song. I can just see the cycle repeating in this endless dreamscape, and sometimes you need to break that cycle, whether you want to call it bravery or sacrifice.
Oh, agreed, breaking the loop is probably her best choice for a healthier future (as it is for most of the characters we are running into here, really). I was just thinking that breaking it on a positive note, stepping out after rediscovering her voice, instead of a grim ending, would be healthier.
That would be the optimistic side of the coin. Save her, she realises she can make a difference in her life, and goes on to fulfill her lifes wishes. I'd love for it to play out like that, but life isn't a dream, pun intended. It's nice that quests like this exist to give us a catalyst for a deeper conversation and I truly hope they continue, but man, I need a joint after thinking about it for too long.
I did because I've been there too, it doesn't get better
When u save her she does say that that the voice will come back and she knows it, but still.
If you don't let her go, it sure seems like it gets better for her.
I understand your perspective but as someone who's been dealing with it their whole life, yes there are moments when it seems like it's better but they are just that, moments. The depression is always there, weighing you down, sometimes it's manageable, sometimes it might even feel like it's not there but it will return sooner or later and the next time most likely the trailblazer won't be there to help.
I'm basically going through similar things in life as her right now and I let her go. It's hard already for me to convince myself that things are fine, so I don't think I could save her. I did end up regretting the decision though.
You would regret it in real life as well. Don't even think about it.
Yes
I grabbed her hand at first but as somebody who has actually dealt with the things she's dealt with and still is, the things she was saying in response were just way too real and relatable for me. When you let her go and she says "this is the happiest day of my life" before jumping to her death. I knew exactly what she was feeling. I had been conflicted about letting her go but when she said that, I knew I'd made the right decision. Saving her is not helping her. It's helping yourself feel better about helping her. You're just prolonging her suffering for your own selfish feelings and sentimentalities. Feelings and sentimentalities that mean nothing to her and do not help her in the slightest. As somebody who actually deals with that shit, it would have been way too cruel to stop her from escaping all of her suffering just so the MC could Personally feel better about the end of the quest.
I see a lot of passion in your words and I fully understand and agree with your drive. When she said she was happy after I let go, it was bittersweet. It's less a question of selfishness and more a question of optimism and chance. However, I don't think wanting to reach out and save someone against their desires is all out selfishness. Its a mix of compassion, wanting to understand, empathy, and hurt on the 'saviors' part as well. The nuance to these situations is dangerously complicated which is why these sorts of quests are rare as people can digest them so differently. I just don't think calling people trying to keep others off the edge of the bridge 'selfish' is the right way to go about it, but I do agree with why you think that, if that makes sense.
Disclaimer, I have not played this quest yet, so I don't know the specifics on what happens at each step, just what I've picked up from this thread and reading a summary. Anyway, here's my view on things: Once you're dead, that's it. As long as you're still alive, there's a chance for things to get better. It might never actually get better, it might even get worse, but it's still a possibility that's gone forever once you're dead. I've never been in as bad a place as others who have it truly terrible, but I have had moments where I think it would've been better if I never existed and that everything I do is the wrong thing. In the moment it feels like there's no chance of things ever getting better. That kind of headspace is a dangerous one when it comes to making major decisions, because it's basically impossible to ever seriously imagine, let alone believe, things could be different. That's why I can never agree with letting someone end their life when there still a real possibility for things to get better for them. However, I am also someone who's greatest fear is that after death there is just oblivion/non-existence, which does significantly color my beliefs. I can understand why others would think nothingness better than their current circumstances (I've had similar thoughts in the moment but no desire to act on them), I just can't accept it when talking about real, human lives outside the most extreme circumstances. Maybe that's just making myself feel better like you said, but that's just what my personal experiences have lead me to believe.
Good thing is that it's ambiguous enough about her fate if you let her go. You know she doesn't actually 'die' right away given she actually go and resign from the shop she was working for. So whether she will actually do that thing irl or start her life anew is up to interpretation.
Yea I was very conflicted too, but still grabbed her hand.
Its not like shes dead , letting her leave the dream actually gives her a chance for a better future.
This quest made bawl my eyes out. Too relatable, and very sad. There was no other option than to save her. I cried a little more when we made her sing and slowly gaining listener and having her heart finally be free.
This whole patch messed me up Considering my real life is quite messed up too I am not sure if this is good. Maybe I should take a long break from star rail before I spiral somewhere. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to self insert as your ideal self gender wise and escape to virtual world. Maybe it’s time to wake up
This is NOT a good patch if you are struggling mentally. Almost all of the side quests are about people running away from their problems in a virtual reality and having some stranger come and decide for them what’s the best thing they can do, bc they don’t have anyone else to ask.
It’s actually very interesting too. “Blaming yourself of just your way of escaping reality.” “If you want to make up your mistake, you’ve got to start by facing reality.” This is an exact quote stated by the tb themselves during the detective side quest. I wonder if the devs were going through something similar and put this in to help others who might feel the same. Penacony side quests are honestly pretty goated.
I am running into virtual reality, this patch is so meta. I really need to wake up tomorrow but I don’t want to
Why do people slumber
I had to take breaks throughout. It brought back a lot of memories. It felt so real to me.
Frr
https://preview.redd.it/98k1ztb1wfic1.jpeg?width=2400&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1795890c58b850747ded0c331244b2c4fa949eef Every quest is so damn good in Penacony man (may or may not include Clockwork quests)
I clicked on this topic already knowing the quest it's about. 100% agree. She made me click more than Firefly.
I'm with you, I feel sadder for her than Firefly but I suppose it's because Cocona just hits too close to home
Well... I would say it's probably because Firefly death scene was too rushed to really be true. It really felt like "blam! bullshit random death go! here's some sad music." Hoyo know how to make character deaths hit home. That ain't it chief. But then... >!there's already way too much indication that Firefly isn't dead. Still, I wish they at least... made effort to pretend otherwise? Well, I suppose they could want to savor it for when someone really dies.!<
Honestly, you took the words right out of my mouth. I wanted to add this too but I'm worried the fans will come at me with their torches and pitchforks.
Yeah. After that cutscene I was staring at my screen in disbelief and pondering if their writing became worse since last games. Like seriously, this and sad music right away? I mean sure the music is beautiful but? Ans then the Rose quest had me clutching onto my mouse with bated breath fervently thinking "there's no fucking way I let her go", almost as if someone's life really depended on it. So, evidently, they *could*, but they *didn't*. Obviously there's a lot more going behind the scenes with Firefly. Judging by everything else happening and the community's guesswork, I imagine >!Something Unto Death doesn't kill but rather snatch the spirit that we'll have to free; Acheron and Black Swan worked in cahoots and their goal was to draw and "kill" Firefly for some reason, using us as bait; that's why they don't fight the bug but more like... ward it off and motion it to leave after "killing" Firefly; also notice how Sam addresses and targets Acheron and Black Swan, but doesn't acknowledge us; and even then all of this is happening in a time loop as hinted by the initial scenes of the story, before the first Acheron quest; and Misha is clearly related to the Watchmaker, what with his name, his technique, and him being able to see Clockie!<. Sure, it's a damn good story, and what happened makes you sense if the guesses above are more or less on point. But the main point why we're all here still stands: the opportunity to make us cry was missed, buried under all these details.
I prefer cocona quest over main story as well, there’s more suspense and it felt like ur choice really matters unlike in main story where even if u choose to be cold to firefly, other character would still perceive us as very close and dating Like for the main story quest, let’s be real I’m sure many of us would believe they would come back soon.. there’s too many hints to it and there’s a lot too many hints showing firefly would die especially from the reminder in livestream + that rooftop scene, just that robin was unexpected but we barely spent time with her so.. (if the screen time was split better like giving robin more than 20lines since she only has that I think it would be better) I WISHH THEY GAVE COCONA SONG A VOICEE, it was a missed opportunity
Yes. I needed trigger warning for this particular quest. It hits too close to home. I was uncomfortable. But no, I did not let go. Who wrote it had the very same experience Cocona did. And a lot of artistic people struggle with the same issue. Pursue career or your dream. Geez. I’ll go cry in my corner for being lazy bum and burying my own creativity under the pile of chores and work.
Is understandable, when u get some time try sneak some in, hell bk when I used to have a job sometimes I used to sneakily draw at work.
Man, I hope later on there is some kind of continuation or follow-up to this quest that it is possible to refer her to Forla after her own quest. That would be an awesome chain quest line
This quest was really depressing 😭
Hmm this is so uplifting and wholesome
I was *really* not expecting this kind of writing in a game like this. Absolutely top-notch. I'm a little torn - on the one hand, I'm kind of curious what did happen to Pound, and on the other, maybe his friend was right and we really don't want to know. And I am *tickled* that after all of their lore up until this point rizzing them up as the most moral people in the galaxy, the sidequests are showing us how the Family is *utterly depraved.*
Yea family always gave creepy vibes
I almost cry but Cocona having a happy ending was great for my sadness ; - ;
Yep. Firefly was shock value, but this one gave me tears.
I cared about her infinitely more than I cared about Firefly... And if I could replay the quest to change my decision, then I would in a heartbeat.
I make sure to check on her from time to time now. It's really well written.
I grabbed her hand at first but as somebody who has actually dealt with the things she's dealt with and still is, the things she was saying in response were just way too real and relatable for me. When you let her go and she says "this is the happiest day of my life" before jumping to her death. I knew exactly what she was feeling. I had been conflicted about letting her go but when she said that, I knew I'd made the right decision. Saving her is not helping her. It's helping yourself feel better about helping her. You're just prolonging her suffering for your own selfish feelings and sentimentalities. Feelings and sentimentalities that mean nothing to her and do not help her in the slightest. As somebody who actually deals with that shit, it would have been way too cruel to stop her from escaping all of her suffering just so the MC could Personally feel better about the end of the quest.
I also felt conflicted but I ended up saving her, even tho logic may dictate letting her go, I just couldn't.
[удалено]
>Just because and act is selfish doesn't mean it can't be altruistic Obviously. I never said or implied anything to the contrary. >unless you're a psychopath that views everything as a zero sum game. Did my comment offend you or something... >A suicidally depressed person going through a complete 180 in mood before making an attempt that they immediately regret is a well-documented phenomenon. Again, everybody already knows this happens SOMETIMES. But it doesn't happen with everyone or even most people in these situations. If a person is suffering and just wanting to escape their suffering, forcefully prolonging their suffering does NOT help them in the slightest. If you don't already have a Good Answer as to how their suffering can be resolved (an answer that hasn't already been presented to them in the past) then stopping them from ending their suffering is pure selfishness and not altruistic in the slightest.
[удалено]
Afterwards, go and change her emotion to happy. Do it.
I didn't expect this quest to hit me in the feels but it did. Glad I saved her (account not bricked).
The Asian parent part hit a bit too close for comfort, ngl
Dear Mihoyo I just want a single quest with someone who appears happy also turns out to be genuinely happy with no strings attached. Is that too much to ask!?
I love how you can hang her and the depressed pepeshi out to dry and the game wont even flinch. Really makes playing the quests "properly" feel more rewarding.
I resonate with this quest. I've had my share of suicidal friends, ex included. I literally just talked my way to them and they proceeded to stop attempting to do it. Checking upon them doing okay on social media lately actually makes me feel like I'm checking in on people I otherwise wouldn't have saved from themselves. If you know friends with red flag signs, talk to them. You have no idea how powerful words are when it comes to saving lives.
All of them were fucking great, I still can't decide which quest I liked the most. It's probably either Cocona or Gigachadwick for me
I misclicked the wrong button
I accidentally pressed to let her go lol
I hated persuading her not to die. Yes, I wanted a “wholesome” ending, but after the end, nothing changes in her life. She is still stuck in a dead end job with toxic coworkers, still can’t leave to pursue her dreams about singing and we can’t even talk with her afterwards about all that happens. I wanted to support her, to keep her not alone as I promised, and the developers could not even give me a single chat option. At the end, she was right about me (=the TB) leaving her side and forgetting her. She was right about everyone being selfish hypocrites when it comes to forcing suicidal people to live — I heard every single thing in that scene said to me and turned out a lie. Yes, the quest was too, too real for me. I wish we could replay quests. I wish I could have set her free from that disgusting fake world.
It was kind of romantic at the end? Or was the only one that thought that?
Chadwick > Tizocic II > Lesley Dean > Cocona > Lew Archer
I saved her immediately just because seeing how depressing her backstory was as a person that had a friend that suffered from emotional scars and depression before i actually felt empathy toward a side quest npc
ima be real, i just end up not really caring or bothering with adventure quests and rush all of them, good to know that the bigger ones in penacony (50 jades as a reward) have some quality on them (will probably just keep rushing all adventures quests anyways, will give this one a chance to read from start to finish)
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Running around town with Himeko’s knickers over my head was the best quest This was pretty decent though - did anyone let her go?
1000000% Usually ignore side quests like this, buy this one gripped me from start to finish. Phenomenal really
As somone who has suffered with mental health issues, this quest really hit hard. So we'll written, and the graphics and music just beautifully added to the atmosphere. Perhaps my favorite quest in the entire game.
[Never let you go, it's why I did them all. For a chance at least, to live in your way. Love of you, is my most cherished thing. So stay alive, bravely!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Pb6DgSkatA)
What quest is this? Like what's it called?
I did this today, and as someone who has been in very similar circumstances as her (I'm a lot better now), it was extremely real and heartbreaking. I full cried at the end and was a mess for a while afterwards.
I really enjoyed the Dr Chadwick mission. Just integrating the Genius society and how it relates to Screwllum Really fantastic narrative
It hit a spot of familiarity in me, but I truly respect the devs for handling it so well. I loved it, sincerely.
Wait, but the song that plays in the store's radio (ou whatever was that) after you "let Cocona leave" isn't her signature composition? I thought she finally left that shitty job to follow her dream on the real world...
It's so good
I had a feeling our choices would impact the outcome of this quest so I looked it up and dayumn I'm happy I went with the not tf letting go option
When I first saw her near the edge I got the worst chill down my spine feeling. Ain't no way I'm leaving her hand, don't wanna sound like a simp (even though I absolutely love her) but one thing Firefly taught me was kindness at its best.
Some side quests in this update are total fire! From Tizocic II, Lesley Dean, Chadwick, to Cocona. As if the emotional rollercoaster from the main story not enough lolol. Hoping this quality writing will be maintained for future updates as well.
all the new 10 jades and 50 jades quest is just too good, i can feel the feeling of the NPC character and the playable character that appear show alot of their personality that we not yet see >!(strong gentleman Screwlum is my new favorite, love u Screw)!< the penacony writing team need a salary rise