Hi! I hope you’re doing great, Rivian 
. I recently finished Cerulean Crescent (recently as in, probably a month or so), and had been meaning to share my thoughts, but work (customer service, IYKYK) barely left any time for me to interact in this forum that I literally just joined.
I will try to be brief. Let me figure out how to hide details to avoid spoiling anything… (fair warning there’s spoilers in this post there’s your warning ok let’s go):
The Characters
Nothing makes a game more enjoyable to me than when the characters themselves are enjoyable and drive the plot to some crazy places. I’m thoroughly pleased with the cast- loved a handful of their stories and backgrounds, each was unique and fun in their own way. Favorites? My main girl Ellerie and GOSH, Mince, I crushed so hard on him by the end of the game I’m not even kidding I need that man to break the 4th wall NOW (THIS INSTANT). Orianna and Tower were a fascinating duo as well.
Another thing I loved is the teams splitting. It really drives home how not everyone was fully on board with Ellerie’s plans, not even some most of the people who stayed with her. Shows some autonomy and diverse character motivations, even if some were a little simpler like Iosaf’s (another favorite of mine, loved my boy getting his good endings) or the twins. Particularly, I loved the tension between Basil and Thyme- have I mentioned Basil is one of my favorite characters mechanically? Certified tank boy.
Story and Tone
Honestly, I liked a good chunk of it. I cannot deny however, I was exponentially more invested with Ellerie’s whole revenge on the Mainland than the political turmoil she stirred the Crescent into (my girl did that). However, things really picked up after the groups split.
Holy molly. Qiulan. That is all. I was AGHAST (me when I’m aghast) with surprise, I felt my heart fall out of my butt. What I reaaaaally loved is how subtle and over the nose so many details were, and yet, I didn’t quite catch up on them until this moment. And then the scene with Murky at the end was equally as shocking. My girl sure has a body count, just not THAT kind of body count.
The humor was good as well. Felt there were funny interactions where needed, and serious moments where needed, too. Sometimes the Item descriptions threw me off a bit, but whatever, just some of those personal nitpicks. But gosh, Mince somehow always found a way to make tense moments lighter and more enjoyable- have I already mentioned I crushed on him? Well. Let me say it now. Egghead got his charisma that’s for sure.
Music and Design
Probably a bit more of a nitpicky section. I personally am not familiar (me when I’m not familiar) with some of the arrangements in this hack, but I must say the prep music for the first few chapters got… jarring, pretty quickly. Guess I’m more into calmer, rather inoffensive tunes during my preps, because I micromanage A LOT during my preps, and that theme sometimes felt so… loud, it legitimately felt distracting. The theme we got later though, chef’s kiss.
Overall, I felt the music was rather… inoffensive, for the majority of the maps. It was good, in an OK way, not quite popping, but there it was. Some honorable mentions of tracks that completely blew me away though, are Chapter Number I Don’t Remember where you run from the Saltsworn who are coming from two different ships and there’s another landboat being built, and Chapter 10? 11, wait, I think 10. Ok well, anyway. The chapter after you get the airship and are forced to land- holy. molly. jesus. I am ADDICTED to that track now. Then, the chapter where you’re heading to the Buried City with Orianna, and Ellerie’s chapter versus her cousin, have great music as well.
I honestly liked the movement tech granted to the characters. My main girl Ellerie, and Orianna, in particular, had rather game-breaking tech at their disposal- Ellerie had a full-way dance, and Orianna, capable of refreshing herself, and having such immense stats… amazing choices, I must say- and reading the thread for a while now, I’m surprised to know their current skills weren’t always designed like this. I think these were the smarter choice for sure.
In my opinion, some of the more “niche” abilities, such as Lindros’ Lunge and Mince’s Swarp, fall out after the first four or five chapters. Since the majority of the characters will be mostly relying on dodging and abusing the weapon triangle, there hardly is any unit that can properly withstand two hits without plopping dead on the ground. I know these abilities are more or less strategic, but my playstyle is pretty much Juggernauting, so, I didn’t see much use for them if I couldn’t throw in one or two more units who could singlehandedly wreck the remaining enemies.
The tools at our disposal are also great. Many cool personals such as Ellerie’s lance, Iosaf’s rock, Murky’s staff, Gecko’s pan, and so on- honorable mention to my stinky boy and his personal runesword sorry i only got to use him after route split and his tenure was short so i cant quite land his name rn. Also worth noting I made myself a Mogall at the Workshop whom I named Thunder and proceeded to hand it every one of my Light tomes. Not to be confused with Lightning.
Final Thoughts
teleports behind you. nothing personnel, kid
I cannot quite comment on anything I found particularly off-putting regarding the cast. I will say, the connection between the gods being so obvious was really cool, particularly regarding the whole Qiulan ordeal. Every one of them had Chinese names- herself included. Makes me wonder where Rosetta may have found the Fengyan? And what was Muoxing’s fate, anyway? He inserts himself in our notes three times, but unless I missed it, there’s no way to figure anything out about him. More than a nitpick this was super intriguing to me and would like to know a bit more about this deity (me when I want to know).
The story… I cannot lie; I skipped a lot of it after the Workshop chapters. I didn’t entirely know we were headed there beforehand, but I was aware Ellerie was planning some manner of revenge on her detractors. Still… everything got so… convoluted, afterwards. I legit didn’t read a good chunk of it until both plots consolidated after the route split. I didn’t necessarily care about the whole conflict between the Crescent factions because… I didn’t know any of them. Some scenes felt eternal, and I just wanted to go on with the game, so I skipped them- so there’s that. Even if I would have gotten some eye-opening explanation about these conflicts, guilds and people, I totally missed it because it was so difficult to follow I just didn’t bother at some point. Honorable mention though, the Cooking Cabals would have been fun if more expanded upon.
This also rang true during the Rosetta chapters. Which is weird and slightly contradictory, considering I had grown so fond of Ellerie’s ploy- she drove a good chunk of the plot for me and legit became my motivation to keep on playing after a while. I failed to connect with Rosetta’s crew, or herself, at all. Again, it was all so… tangled up, I couldn’t follow, and with scenes feeling so long and drawn out, I couldn’t be bothered trying to understand. All I know is she betrayed Ellerie in some manner, and the rest is history.
I truly loved the whole ordeal surrounding Plucker. It was extremely well done and, when getting to that part of the game, I felt visceral fear and intrigue. The matters surrounding the Princess, Seguradez, Hightide, and the origins of this sinister god… the point was truly well-written. Especially if you train Vermillion (why wouldn’t you), and you get to figure out a couple more things about this entity. Great job with this one.
MAYBE just a Cerulean Crescent: If, the way I could see things being more manageable:
- Mince had some kind of connection to the Cooking Cabals, who were pulling strings in the Crescent’s conflicts- particularly among the more religious groups
- Some of these groups… straight up didn’t exist. They searched for the Buried City and just didn’t return, a rumor Orianna has clearly heard about
- Introduce the Buried City sooner to give Orianna’s route a more apparent motivation. She’s an adventurer, clearly, she must be after this mega city with valuable treasure as well
- Introduce Rosetta sooner so we can better understand Ellerie’s motivations. I feel my main girl is a rather polarizing character among the players- not like this is meant to create any sympathy, simply, more understanding of her morally gray methodology
- A hill I’ll die on: Route split should’ve happened after getting the airship. Send Orianna off to her own adventure against the Green Tide and Ellerie off to acquire more knowledge and tools for her plan. This would’ve given players the chance to try other characters that, given the tight Deployment slots, would be benched otherwise
- idk, probably forgetting more stuff that i was really throwing a tantrum about. been obsessed with TMGC so details are a blur to me rn
Ellerie
Easily one of my favorite FE lords. I’m not even kidding.
I don’t know what it is, but I legit love this girl. She’s a ruthless woman, working hard to see her otherwise questionable plan through- even if it invites criticism and division. There’s a life lesson here somewhere.
I wouldn’t say she’s necessarily an “anti-hero”, though she does check some boxes, but she’s rather… machiavellian. A go-getter who will stop at nothing to see her way, and I can really respect that.
As I said, she really drove the plot for me. I just couldn’t wait to see what her scheme would turn into- and boy, I was not disappointed. She’s snarky and “quick with it”, and definitely grows to be a warlord as the game goes on, but never losing that human side of hers that more frequently shines through when Mince, Orianna, Pomelo or Krynia are at the scene- I mean, her conversation with Krynia after Rosetta falls is freaking masterful. There was respect, authority, empathy, self-doubt, self-loathing, sorrow, satisfaction… all in one scene. Easily one of my favorite bits of the game.
In other words I’m an Ellerie stan. I think we can all learn a little something from her.
I can confirm Ellerie was indeed put in a situation.
Thank you so much for reading. Naturally, this is all just personal preference, so meh, don’t let the opinion of some internet person stop you from creating and driving your art however you wish. Be a little like Ellerie 
