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Dec. 26th, 2018 02:56 amI’m not gonna give Trillion: God of Destruction a full Fiction for Utilitarians writeup, because frankly, it doesn’t deserve it. It’s Compile Heart trying to rip off Disgaea, and that means a low budget, repetitive combat, and gratuitous hot springs scenes. But I respect this game’s fuck-you attitude to A Million is a Statistic. "We killed off ten thousand nameless generic soldiers in the span of a minute, and you didn't even blink. So here's a plot contrivance that means only one champion can fight the enemy at a time. We'll build them up over a span of in-game weeks, show their flaws and virtues, and force you to care about them. Then, when you inevitably screw up and get them dismembered, we'll move on to the next doomed heroine without so much as time to mourn."
There's a double-edged question here, both what each protagonist cares enough to die for, and what you as a commander are willing to sacrifice them for. No cost is too great to save your land and your people, is it? And maybe the next offensive will succeed where the last one failed. Maybe this time, you're not just sending them to their deaths. But four or five gravestones in, the cemetery is looking a little crowded, and it's hard to argue that you're still making a dent. Some of your noncombatant characters question whether to even keep fighting, while others have to be talked out of a futile charge at the enemy, both of which are suicide by a different name. And for that matter, the game doesn't shy away from the pathos in its "piggies," disposable soldiers almost guaranteed to die in each battle, all of whom volunteered while knowing the stakes.
(There's also an essay to be found in the game's use and subversion of the seven deadly sins. The designated "greedy" character gives generously, the "wrathful" character makes cool-headed decisions, the "lustful" character loves purely and wholly, etc. But it's fucking Compile Heart, so I won't put that much effort into it.)
There's a double-edged question here, both what each protagonist cares enough to die for, and what you as a commander are willing to sacrifice them for. No cost is too great to save your land and your people, is it? And maybe the next offensive will succeed where the last one failed. Maybe this time, you're not just sending them to their deaths. But four or five gravestones in, the cemetery is looking a little crowded, and it's hard to argue that you're still making a dent. Some of your noncombatant characters question whether to even keep fighting, while others have to be talked out of a futile charge at the enemy, both of which are suicide by a different name. And for that matter, the game doesn't shy away from the pathos in its "piggies," disposable soldiers almost guaranteed to die in each battle, all of whom volunteered while knowing the stakes.
(There's also an essay to be found in the game's use and subversion of the seven deadly sins. The designated "greedy" character gives generously, the "wrathful" character makes cool-headed decisions, the "lustful" character loves purely and wholly, etc. But it's fucking Compile Heart, so I won't put that much effort into it.)
