I found two endings for ‘The Princess of Vestria’ but am stuck on the third. I got the ‘companion’ ending and the ‘magic’ ending, but not the ‘if you have neither’ one.
Here’s my thoughts so far:
I was told that it had to do with the ‘conversation’ options. This surprised me, as this was what I used to get the ‘companion’ ending, but hey.
The in-game hints claim that the result here is to collapse the cliff. If you shoot an arrow at it, it tells you you need a lot more power. Which I’ve seen before: the witch herself has called lightning that I think would be powerful enough.
With that in mind, I now think I have to get her angry?
But I chose all the ‘angry’ options I could find, and no luck (sigh lack of transcript, but from memory: telling her Julia deserved it, that the witch was the reason the engagement was called off, and maybe something from the secret room? That didn’t seem to enrage her much, though.)
So: hints from anyone who’s found this one? I’m also happy to give hints if anyone needs them for the companion/magic endings.
-I consistently chose the conversation option that seemed to lead to a non-violent solution, maybe even peaceful understanding.
-After a while, the choice comes up whether to sacrifice your own life for that of your brother.
-Once you drop your anti-magic cloak, the witch prepares to kill you. RUN AWAAAY!
-She’ll shoot and miss, hit a tree which then falls and kills her.
Like I told the author, I thought this was a bit bait and switch.
This was a challenging puzzle to design (3 different solutions and a few different moving parts), and the bait and switch idea wasn’t intentional (though I can see why it felt like exactly that). My thinking was, “Ok so some players will shows up to fight the witch having failed to (or chosen not to) acquire any skills or allies. They need to have a way to win, but it would be quite fitting if it were not particularly heroic… Hopefully by trial and error they will realise that a particular conversation sequence unlocks a new option (take off magick-shielding cloak) and then, again maybe by trial and error, and/or possibly with the benefit of a hint or two, figure out the solution.”
I think perhaps the design failure here is not allowing the player a truly sympathetic path with the witch. Or at the very least some way of making amends towards her (even after her death).
Having played it now, I can see the switch that Rovarsson is talking about. What if the result of getting her to promise not to kill Alex revealed a postlude that showed that she kills him anyway?
Then you know that there’s no shame in going back on your own word, either?
I don’t yet see how this would work in practice, but it would tie together the two opposing goals:
-realizing she’s too far gone in her rage and madness to be left alive.
-acknowledging her grief and anger to be at least partly justified.