ワンド オブ フォーチュン 2 ～時空に沈む黙示録～
Completion date: May 15, 2026
Summary of the common route – I don’t consider this part spoiler TBH as it’s pretty much advertised in the introductions of the game:
The sequel takes place after the base game, where Lulu doesn’t end up with any of the guys and becomes the master of all elements. Bilal decides to go back to his home country Faranbald. Everyone takes a group picture for commemoration of their friendship together. However, as the shutter flashes everyone somehow gets transported back through time and meets Fata Morgana and someone by the name of Solomon – both “ancient ones” who are capable of all elements of magic and wield great power. Lulu’s wand breaks. Solomon gives Lulu a jewelled makeup compact as her medium for magic for now and tells her she needs to collect various magical ores around the area and fuse them into stones to fix her wand and travel back to her time period with her friends again.
Follow this guide religiously. Do not try to be a smartass like me and cut corners by saying oh I can 精製 later. For example, in Bilal route you must 精製 around turn 22 and ensure you have >20 stones or you will miss out on a whole scene and the later completion CG.. What’s more frustrating is the Japanese guides don’t explicitly tell you this; it wasn’t until I stumbled across a traditional Chinese guide where they said “please do this or you will miss out on a CG!” So just follow lol. You do not need to clear the tragic ends unless you’re personally interested (I didn’t find them adding all that much; there isn’t variation it’s just they don’t end up confessing and Lulu doesn’t end up with the guy who chose to hide his feelings) – doing the happy ends only will give you all CGs and access to 大団円 ending.
Disclaimer: I did NOT clear the 大団円 ending due to the RNG and me rerolling THIRTY times and not getting big harvest in turn 12. I unfortunately couldn’t see myself doing this for another 40 turns. I would just resent this game too much so I decided to end it on the high note that was Solo’s route.
Pros:
- Gorgeous art and ample CGs. One of the best for me and this game was released over a decade ago.
- Plot expands on the first game and dives into the backstory of characters that you already know and love
- Solomon route
- Strong heroine
- One of the rare otome games where there is RPG element
Cons:
- RNG element. I applaud whoever actually cleared the harem end. Cuz it ain’t me.
- Compared to some other otome classics the story may appear superficial.
- Sprites are outdated
Table of contents:
Salo-mon/Solomon (for the love of God play him last)
**SPOILERS BEGIN**
In general, the plot follows the following structure: following what was mentioned above, Julius/Noel focus on studying the existing books in the era, concluding they were teleported 350 years back in time, before the Great War between their school (Mills Clea) & humans. Bilal/Lagi routes revolve around meeting a powerful water dragon by the name of Zes – who was the one who cursed Bilal’s home country to suffer from drought; Lagi is just shook to meet a real dragon at all lol.
Everyone in the base game gets “reincarnated” into different roles in R2. Cynthia’s trio become maids that were turned from birds by Fata Morgana. Ami becomes a mysterious ancient-one chained up in a tower, who is extremely afraid of people, and slowly befriends Lulu while she combines the ores into stones for her. The teacher Elbert becomes “Elwin” who is someone who spreads the word of magic to the common folk, venturing outside the city, working under Fata Morgana. Mathew is a swordsman who travels with Elwin. Edgar (the kid who pressed the camera shutter and transported everyone) is a teacher here.
Regardless of the route, the great war breaks out because Fata Morgana refuses to give into demands of the humans to serve them with his magic (the concubine who traveled as an ambassador also bears an uncanny resemblance to Vania). Some blame him for even giving humans the idea that magic existed as it was originally exclusively known to the ancient ones but Fata Morgana befriended a human and taught him magic, then created Lulu’s school to teach whoever is interested in magic.
Even though Fata Morgana imposed strict rules on the appropriate use of magic, once the skill is learned it was out of his hands what people wanted to do with their power. Solomon in most of the routes also comes out and declares that he’s going to “delete” the ability and memory of magic in humans and says something about it’s his fate to oppose Fata Morgana but he always gets talk-no-jutsu’ed out of this idea in the end by Lulu and her friends 😅 so there, that’s a speedrun of the plot.
Julius (CV: Sakurai Takahiro)
Mr. Fortner’s route could never be bad because he had my favourite design & seiyuu in this game. However, as much as I enjoyed his aesthetics and voice, his route’s writing just fell flat compared to the others. Yes, we know you’re a big nerd, that you love magic. The first game it was endearing seeing you nerd out. The second game, it started to feel empty especially without a specific motivation. Noel and Bilal for example both had specific reasons for loving magic but Julius’ story is just kind of like “I was born a prodigy and somewhat stereotypically on the spectrum/a savant type of person so I love magic and hate human interaction to the point I even neglected my own sister”. But somehow he will talk to Lulu.
While he remained extremely rational I found it difficult to empathize with him when he said he’d rather allow the great war to happen all again without intervening because that’s how history should be. I get it: it’s like how humans are not supposed to intervene in nature when a cute baby animal is getting eaten by its predator.
He and Lulu had cute moments for sure. The main selling point of their relationship is that Julius is either actually oblivious to the female touch/gaze or secretly knows what he’s doing (as Alvaro pointed out when he slept on Lulu’s chest that he was faking being asleep). It’s actually so ambiguous it’s hard to tell. I think this is part of his charm and gives me Nil Ado Rui vibes (fully knowing WOF came first by far). I just wish there was more dimension to his life and story. We also get a random makeout CG right before the war breaks out, wtf lol.
In the time skip, he becomes a researcher of magic and asks Lulu to marry him. Anyways, this route was like a 6/10 and only gets a 6 because he is so hot lol.
Noel (CV: Suzuki Chihiro)
Noel’s route was a good continuation from the first game. He continues to act like a peacock puffing his chest around Lulu only to blunder but Lulu loves him anyway and gives him lots of affirmation such as Noel is Noel and doesn’t need to compare to anyone else. There was even a scene pretty early on where some oneesan hits on Noel who obviously had no idea he actually had such an effect on women, and Lulu jumps out being like “NO HE’S MINEE” aww lol.
In the finale, Noel steps up and actually protects Lulu with his earth magic. Playing Julius/Noel first made me expect a magic casting CG with every character, but that turned out to be not true.
In Noel’s story, shit gets real towards the end when Noel actually kills a human soldier in defence when the soldier was about to harm a village woman and her child. Not wounding. No revival. Full on killed. This quite literally breaks Noel who starts doubting his entire existence and why he even learned magic in the first place, as Fata Morgana’s doctrine stated magic should never be used to harm others. This combined with his pre-existing insecurity compared to geniuses like Julius makes Noel want to give up being a wizard all together. Compared to Julius’ (initial) stoicism, Noel focuses on the practicality (just like his earth magic) and wants to devote his energy to saving as many lives as possible. This renders him especially hard to forgive himself when he inadvertently takes someone’s life, even if it’s the enemy’s.
Lulu stays by Noel’s side and remains his biggest cheerleader from day 1. Eventually, Noel comes around & the village woman later formally thanks him for saving her and her baby’s lives. Noel realizes he cannot live without Lulu.
The confession kiss CG was just… gorgeous… I was almost in tears when I saw it… thank you Usuba-sama…
After the time skip, both Noel and Lulu become grand wizards or whatever the title gets translated to. Noel even becomes a wizard leader meaning he truly has excelled in his skills compared to his peers. Alright I’ve said enough let’s just look at this completion CG. 8/10 route.
Bilal (CV: Takahashi Hiroki)
To preface, I get why so many people dunked on Bilal after the first game because he can appear creepy towards Lulu especially as an older man and may have given some players the heebie jeebies. None of this happens in the sequel. If anything, I think the sequel managed to present a very convincing conflict and tell a beautiful story and choice he made in order to demonstrate he is truly willing to move the world for Lulu.
He meets Zes who says because Bilal’s ancestor pissed him how somehow, he cursed Bilal’s family that no matter where they go, the land they step on will be deprived of water. Zes was also getting pretty pissed at Bilal until Fata Morgana intervened and said hey he’s my guest, so Zes gives Bilal a water djinn who is super disobedient towards him because she’s pissed she has to serve a human instead of her water dragon master. The water djinn fixes Bilal’s annoying foreigner accent that we had to sit through for the entire first game so whew.
Eventually, Bilal wins the djinn’s loyalty by showing his leadership traits and truly caring about the djinn and her habitat. He at one point genuinely told the djinn that he is willing to set her free so that she can return to her lake and get rid of the poison and save her sisters. The djinn is the only way Bilal can use magic in this world btw. This moves the djinn so much that she temporary severs the contract between them but creates another lesser djinn with her old name, then asks to be bound to Bilal again with him as her only master, and given a new name that Lulu chose: Li‘An. You guessed it, the djinn that was causing them trouble in the first game was also called Li’an. She also wingwomaned so hard for the two. It’s all coming together.
Zes will not let go of his grudge against Bilal’s ancestor, who tried to attack him and took his dragon scale after he refused to help a mere human, 350 years before Bilal’s era. He tells Bilal that he will only take back the curse on two conditions: return his scale; and to pay a price that will “quell his rage”. That price is making a choice between his country and “what’s most important to him” aka Lulu. Li’An discusses this with Lulu, who is coming to the realization what Zes is making Bilal choose. She has the option to wish Bilal “a dream come true” vs. “Bilal’s happiness”. Lulu decides that for both their sake, she wants Bilal to pursue his own happiness instead of taking the burden of the entire country all on himself. While Lulu is asleep, Bilal embraces her and whispers that he’s made his choice, the night before they are teleported back to present time.
Lulu and co. return. Lulu finds Bilal the night before he leaves and tells him, hey I love you, please don’t go back to your country, I want to be with you. She literally tells him “please choose me”. We see so many heroines who are considerate or quietly want what they think is best for the LI. I really enjoyed how Lulu got to be childish and all ワガママ because this is who she is: strong-willed and always knowing what she wants. Now add the older man/younger girl dynamic in I think it’s especially cute that she gets to pout to someone who has always spoiled her…
Bilal’s choice was to give up his “pride”. In exchange for Zes lifting the curse on his clan and country, he promises to never step foot on Faranbald again. He gives up his cultural dress code and adopts the “western” or Lulu’s world’s clothing. His older brother, the future king of Faranbald visits the couple at Mills Clea on a diplomatic mission and announces that he plans to open an academy of magic in Faranbald, a country that historically opposes magic.
Overall this was a 9/10 route for me. #justiceforbilal How can anyone dunk on him after this route? I loved everything about it. From his inner conflict, to the plot finally revealing the origin behind Faranbald’s curse, Lulu’s confession, and finally Bilal’s huge sacrifice to be with the woman he loves. They just yearn for each other so much it’s so beautiful.
Bonus CG O_O
Lagi (CV: Kakihara Tetsuya)
Our favourite half-human-half-dragon who cannot use magic returns – albeit only in chibi form for one scene – in the sequel. Lagi continues to be a cute tsundere who yearns for Lulu’s affection yet isn’t straightforward about it. Upon meeting Zes with Bilal, Zes immediately senses that some dragon – probably Lagi’s father who went out to get milk since he was a kid – had sealed his dragon powers for some reason. Zes is willing to help a fellow (half-)dragon out and asks Lagi if he should go ahead. Without reading the terms and conditions, Lagi immediately agrees. Lagi transforms into a real dragon startling Lulu a bit but is able to control his powers and return to human form.
Lagi tells Lulu that since the restriction on his powers were lifted, he continues to want to sleep and eat all day. He thanks Lulu for staying by his side all this time and becoming the reason why he still stays attached to the human world and Mills Clea. He gifts Lulu a dream catcher that he had as a child. He also gains a loyal follower – a fire salamander who is drawn to his fire powers.
Dragons are creatures that stay to their own and known for being prideful and lonely. They do not mingle with other races, certainly not humans. Lulu asks Lagi that when he awakens into a full dragon, if he would leave everyone. She asks if she can finally give him a hug without him turning into chibi. The two share an embrace.
The Great War begins. A fire breaks out in the suburbs. Lagi learns that this is due to the imbalance in elements. Him awaking his fire dragon powers drew a lot of fire salamanders to the area and broke the balance. At the same time, Zes tells Lulu to leave Lagi alone because this is the way of the dragon – her staying with him would only become his burden. Lagi is forced to make his decision: whether he wants to live as a human or as a dragon and away from civilization forever.
The human soldiers discover the two. A squadron leader mocks them that Fata Morgana set rules for magic users that they can never use magic to hurt another. So they laugh in their face and literally stab Lulu… Man why you gotta do Lulu so dirty… what did she do… Lagi awakens his full dragon potential and says fuck his rules I’m a DRAGON. However, Lulu uses her last breath to beg Lagi to not kill anyone else or “I’ll hate you”. I hate this trope in otome games ugh. Especially when other routes the LI kills people with no problem (Bilal, Alvaro, even Noel route Lulu was justifying his reason) but it suddenly is an issue with Lagi? Give me a break.
Zes uses his powers to save Lulu’s life. While she is encased in a bubble looking like she’s going to be the next Sailor from Sailor Moon series, Lagi kisses her from the outside and cries saying how much he loves her and wants her to wake up and be together with her. Lulu hears his call and pops the bubble – naked, earning a loud “PUT SOME CLOTHES ON, B-BAKA” XD
What really elevates Lagi’s route is that we get a “how I met your mother” segment where Lagi’s mother met his father by stumbling into his area of the forest. Lagi’s mother was also pretty feisty so I guess this family’s men all got a type – though Lulu isn’t exactly feisty this route.
After going back in time, Lagi uses his dragon powers to call for his father, Kada, who makes an appearance. Lagi’s loyal salamander was turned from Kada’s scale. He has been watching over Lagi all this time. Because of Lagi’s late mother (Teia)’s wishes for Lagi to live a peaceful human life, he stayed afar. Now that Lagi has found his path and lover, he congratulates him and Lulu and tells Lagi to live his life to the fullest.
Lagi’s route has a lot of hugging CGs which is quite wholesome:
Post timeskip: LAGI DIDN’T WRITE BACK TO LULU ONCE IN THOSE THREE YEARS BRUH WHY. Dude just went out to get milk just like his dad did, after confirming his feelings with Lulu… He finally visits Lulu who accidentally takes him for Kada because he literally looks like his dad now in build and looks. Lagi’s like BAKA don’t take me for my dumbass father. He’s like I’ve been meaning to contact you, but every time I start a letter, I don’t know what to write. He then proposes to Lulu who happily agrees. We moving real fast here guys but ok.
Overall, the story, despite the flaws in detail, was really satisfying where we learn about Lagi’s parents. However, has he fully matured? The fact he didn’t write to Lulu for three years and let home girl yearn was a bit… Regardless, he will remain many people’s favourite tsundere hothead. The writing is not perfect but I had so much fun I’m still willing to give it 8/10.
Alvaro (CV: Suzumura Kenichi)
So I liked Alvaro the least out of the base game. I even translated his post-route monologue in my first review because I struggled to understand his motivations. He is the “jester” of this game (think Hisoka vibes from HxH) who doesn’t align with good or evil, and is loyal to his desires… of what? This route gives us more explanation and some actual backstory. Does this change that his route is still my least favourite? No. But a bit more tolerable and less ???? I still don’t like his and Lulu’s dynamic. Lulu in this route actually isn’t supposed to venture into the most dangerous places on the map, if she wants the plot to move forward and get the best ending. She is constantly kept in the dark/one step behind Alvaro which is not a dynamic that I personally enjoy – too insecure.
Similar to the base game, Alvaro plays this lovers game with Lulu where he pushes on her boundaries (yet people dunk on Bilal, alright lol) such as kissing her under the moonlight and literally showing up to her chambers at night and pushing her on the bed ????
He tells Lulu that he trusts no one here, including Fata Morgana and Solomon, that he wants to find out the truth behind it all, and go his own way. He finds Lulu who is honest and good – the complete opposite of him – very entertaining, saying that she brings a different kind of thrill to his life that he’s never experienced before. Basically, typical bad boy flirting with good girl bullshit.
From the base game, we know Alvaro is from ZA GIRUDO or some kind of shady organization. Lulu asks Alvaro what’s on our mind which is what kind of environment he grew up in that shaped the man he is today. Alvaro tells Lulu that he doesn’t know who his parents are. He was born into the underbelly of the world where crime is an everyday occurrence. From a young age, he learned to kill or be killed. When he turned 12, he was given a choice between the higher ups to either be in a “blissful hell” (?an allusion to drugs and being controlled to do their bidding?) or “hell of freedom” where he retains his lucidity but is thrown into danger and can be eaten alive at any moment by the rules of this world. He chose the latter without looking back. Lulu says “I know you’re free, but why do you say you’re living in hell?…” implying that Alvaro is not enjoying life as much as he lets on.
In the middle, we see a few scenes of Alvaro being really possessive around Lulu, pushing her to make him her “only” instead of “one of” her good friends. The entire disconnect I have with this route and Alvaro as a character is I fail to understand why he chose Lulu as his target. Boredom can only explain so much. He goes pretty far and desperate for Lulu almost? … He does tell Lulu in game “I know we are way too different. That’s why I ‘love’ you.” However, I feel it’s an issue with the writing where I fail to be convinced that this is a simple case of opposites attract.
Anyhow, he and Lulu find that the humans are acting suspicious around Mills Clea with spies and quiet transportation of a literal army for a surprise attack. They also accidentally save Linus – the future king of the human kingdom that idgaf about the name of. He is just a little prince who is sickly and clearly under the tyranny of his controlling mother, a consort of the current human king. Alvaro wants to use Linus as a bargaining chip to protect Mill Clea but Lulu disagrees (I mean.. ok fine) so he is returned safely.
Before the final days of the war, Alvaro and Lulu have the “talk”, in Lulu’s room at night. Alvaro tells Lulu this is his final bet with her which is cryptic but basically boils down to if Lulu is smitten and in love with him, and believes he “loves” her despite him being a liar all game. He pushes Lulu on the bed again (bruh). Lulu cries basically confessing that she loves him, but she knows Alvaro is playing with her. “What you wish for is not “me”. The one who is looking for what’s not there is not me.. That person is you, Alvaro..!” Alvaro gives her one last kiss and says he’s lost the bet, then leaves. My interpretation (and I suspect there will be many to this cryptically written scene) is that Alvaro is so empty inside he seeks people to fill this void like Lulu. While Lulu has grown to love this dangerous and unpredictable side of him, a major upgrade from the base game is that she’s no longer delulu at least.
In this route, Lili (Cynthia) who is turned from birds by Fata Morgana and her friends die protecting their sanctuary and entrust Lulu a magical egg. Solomon also drops the bombshell to Lulu that Alvaro never planned on returning back to the present time with the rest of the group.
Lulu demands an answer from Alvaro… under plain daylight and becomes surrounded by human soldiers. Alvaro says fuck Fata Morgana’s rules I don’t work for him, I do what I want and kills some of them. Before he could wipe them all, Lulu chants her all-elemental magic and stops Alvaro. As a result they become captives of the humans. If it wasn’t for their favour to Linus in the past, they probably would have been tortured or killed. I really hated this segment of writing. Lulu just dropped her brain and shows mercy to her enemies “noo but hurting humans bad”. If I were Alvaro I would have left her on the spot. Maybe he does love her lol because he stuck around and even bargained with the concubine that he’d work for her if she guarantees Lulu’s safety. The consort grows interested and asks what “are” they. Lulu instantly blurts out that they are lovers but Alvaro denies it saying Lulu is delusional.
Alvaro again tells Lulu that he is a good-for-nothing liar and cold-blooded killer. Everything he said to her were lies, including his confessions of love. Lulu instead says she doesn’t think Alvaro wants her “love”. Instead, he is looking for something that “lasts forever.” All his life, Alvaro has searched for adrenaline and thrill. However, nothing ever lasts. The dopamine rush always comes to an end. Like a drug addict developing tolerance to his highs, he is desperate for something that will stay in his system forever. His solution to this is to stay in this era forever while Lulu returns to the future, so that what they have (had) becomes immortalized and frozen in time and unable to be changed.
There is some resolution about Linus’ escaping from his mother and how he is not the real Linus but a body double, but seriously who tf cares?? This route and my synopsis has been dragging on for too long.
Alvaro technically works for the consort. If Linus insists on escaping, he has no choice but to kill him. I mean,.. Alvaro/Lulu/Linus are all out, can’t they all just escape to Mills Clea lol?
Lili’s egg hatches and some SSR bird flies out. Solomon comes and says this bird is extremely rare and can grant its owner a wish. Lulu wishes for “everyone’s happiness” because of course that’s what she would want.
Lulu kisses Alvaro under the sunset and asks him to not leave her behind and return with her. He agrees. I don’t get what all that drama about the consort/Linus/this random ass bird is about at all. I’d much rather they focused on her dynamic with Alvaro because this ending basically played out like I kith you I ask you to go back with me and you say ok. So anticlimactic like – I feel the writer ran out of words to actually depict their relationship so they want to distract the reader with one after another plot event to make this route seem “full”.
Time skip: I have no idea why Alvaro dresses like a hobo but I like this angle of Lulu. I do also enjoy that she takes leadership of this relationship after Alvaro ran circles around her in the base game and first half of this route.
Overall, I kind of get where the author is going with Alvaro but unfortunately I have to give it a failing grade. A route done right for example would be Yori from Uchronia. The writing was not there. The setup was not there. The author threw random plot events that nobody cared about to distract her and make us think wow this route is taking me a while so it must be good right? -_-
Est (CV: Irino Miyu)
Oh yes, get ready for screenshot galore and me gushing over best boy who is a cute little tsundere who quietly cares for Lulu and yearns for her TvT. He ate in the CGs this game too. Recap of the first game was that Est loathed himself because he was from a cult. Now IIRC I believe he was some kind of “creation” in the base game like not a human e.g. some kind of cursed doll/being that came to life? This could have all been figurative because it is confirmed this route that he is human in flesh and has parents lol – they were just fanatics of the same cult he escaped from.
Est and Solo routes share the same major event which is Solomon randomly deciding to lift the seal on Est which causes the markings to show on his body and lift the restrictions of his magic abilities. Solo’s explanation is “nobody can escape fate” (more on this in his own route…) Est like Lulu is also able to use all elements of magic.
Est hates this because even though he is accepted here, he can’t go back to the future with these tattoos because he will outcast. For the next 50% of the route we run in circles around why Est seems to harbour such intense hatred for all ancient ones even before Solo fucked this up. It has to do with his cult which has a predecessor 350 years ago in the past.
They uncover more about a cult called the “Origin” who placed a magic curse on Lato (teacher at the academy). The Origin are a group of people who disapprove with Fata Morgana’s act of teaching humans magic. They believe magic is a power that belongs to the fairies and ancient ones, and would cause calamity if humans used it, because they will inevitably use it incorrectly and to hurt others. Lato was one born into this cult, but escaped and devoted himself to study magic. Like Lulu, he also believes in the power of magic and how it will bring happiness to everyone around him and make people’s lives better. Unfortunately, the cult has found him and marked him as a traitor. They later send him threatening letters telling him that he will pay the price for betraying them.
In the meantime, Est continues to hate his tats. Lulu is like nooo we are all here for you Est bb boi I am here for you. Est is like nooo (pouts). Lulu then takes his palm to her face asking him to feel her warmth because she believes this will bring peace to his heart. Weird Lulu but you do you cutie pie.
Est appreciates Lulu’s kindness. He tells Lulu to stop being sad for his sake and that he wants to see her smile.
Est has his suspicions that “Origin” later evolved into his cult in the present day. Eventually, Solomon takes him and Lulu to meet a purple ancient one who resides in the catacombs or somewhere. Basically, this purple ancient one disapproves of Fata Morgana falling over head over heels for Cornelius (the human) and teaching him magic, so quietly supports Origin to fear monger and stop humans from mass learning magic. However, Est’s cult deviated from Origin’s goal – in the present time, they are obsessed with obtaining power that exceeds even the ancient ones, hence all the experiments they did on him as a child.
He and Lulu are both capable of using all elements of magic. He tells Lulu, who starts crying for him hearing what he’s gone through, that he’s happy from the bottom of his heart that he was the experimental subject and not Lulu, that again he wants her to live under the sun and be happy. That is unfortunately not going to be his fate. They are destined to walk separate paths.
Origin eventually gets to Lato and casts a deadly curse on him almost killing him. The curse is proportional to the subject’s magic abilities. For a magic teacher like Lato, the curse is especially painful and dangerous whereas the curse on a random human may do nothing at all. Est starts loathing magic and says this is all magic’s fault, and that maybe Origin is right and magic should have never existed among humans. ?????????? Est my boy it’s time to take some escitalopram those hormones are running a bit wild. Lulu is more tactful than I am and calms him down and tells Est that everything will be okay, and that he’s done a great job in supporting Lato. “
Anyways, our boy wakes up in the last minute and blesses us with this gorgeous CG. He basically has a talk with the purple ancient one and tells him what happens 350 years later. The ancient one was like ah well I may have been wrong but we all ded by then so oop
“I will not be lost anymore. No one can decide my fate…!”
Translated literally, it means “All I want (for Christmas) is you”
I guess the magical kiss broke his tats? I’m pretty sure he said in this game that the tattoo is his magical medium but he is still able to use magic after so lol I guess not
Est’s memory as a baby fragment as Lulu travels back in time. After they return to the present, Vania and Ivan tell the two that Solomon left them a letter asking them to grant the two “all-element children” a wish. However, Solomon is nowhere to be found. Nobody knows if he is dead or alive. In the end of the present time, Lulu is seen stuffing Est, who says he wants to stop being a shota and grow taller, with chicken.
Time skip. Oh my god hottie who are you?!
Est is a master of magic and aspires to go back to inherit the cult as a leader and use its resources for good I guess? He is literally called 魔王 (demon king) with Lulu saying it’s going to be really hard to explain to her grandmother that she’s going to be the bride of the “demon king”… Est smiles and pulls her in for a kabedon in the library instead. I WANT TO PLAY THE FD NOW SO BAD WITH THIS VERSION OF EST
Overall, the writing really isn’t the best. Like it’s okay, it gets the story across. We learn a bit more about Est’s backstory but nothing groundbreaking compared to what we learned in first game. I’m just biased towards him. He initially acts sooo tough and mean towards Lulu but when push comes to shove, he would always do acts of service for her such as escorting her home and looking out for her aww. I don’t think we will see the tsun Est in the FD anymore but I’m ok with his next stage of life hehe
Solomon (CV: Tachibana Shinnosuke)
Seriously, does anyone call this guy “Salo-mon” like the in-game English does?
This route is hyped up by so many gamers that played the game. After completion I too have jumped on the hype train. From the past 6 routes, Solo struck me as the manic pixie dream girl of the game. He is whimsical, seems to operate under a different morality system than humans, and keeps talking about abstract things like fate and the futility of human resistance to it.
After he reveals the tattoo on Est and breaks Est’s heart, Lulu demands to know why Solo would butt in others’ business like this. Solo appears genuinely surprised that both of them are upset, but says he will not apologize because “all I’m doing is revealing the true form at the right time”. He also starts beating around the bush and asks Lulu about her thoughts on humans using magic, and whether she would be “afraid” that some humans would use it for their own gain and bring destruction to their own kind. Lulu remains positive, stating that she thinks it’s good that humans use magic.
Upon unlocking one of the locations, Lulu asks Solo how long he’s known Fata Morgana. Solo replies they’ve both lived for so long that he’s lost count. Fata Morgana on a separate occasion asks Lulu to take good care of Solo, as from the beginning of the game he is known to randomly pass out on the side of the road seemingly forgetting to eat, rest, or sleep.
Lulu also asks Peru, Solo’s dwarf friend about him. Peru tells Lulu that Solo doesn’t take care of himself at all. If he is found in a bad state and even if he were to die from it, he would say this was his fate and continue to do nothing about it. Lulu then turns to Solo saying aren’t you just running away from your problems? Solomon says, I just don’t think I can do anything to change my fate. If the world still needs me, then it will keep me alive somehow. If I have fulfilled my role, then I will die. Hence, I do not need to do extra things in order to live or seek death. You humans call those wants “desire”. This is something I do not possess.
As a thank-you to Lulu’s continuous efforts to cheer him up, Solo takes Lulu to his sanctuary. He tells Lulu that he doesn’t remember his parents. He tells Lulu about the good old days where the ancient ones, like the dragons sticked to themselves, where they had this land all to themselves and cohabited in harmony with the fairies. He tells Lulu that he likes to rest under a certain old tree that is the last of its kind. Just like how Peru is the last dwarf on this planet as well. He tells Lulu that all good things, lineages, and species come to an end. They live on and on and on. Eventually, something small begets larger problems and takes them off the right path, leading to their destruction. Lulu hugs Solomon saying she does not allow him to say negative things like that. She exclaims to Solomon, listen, just like me you have a beating heart as well! We are both living. We are not that different.
Lulu shares with Solo that she used to blunder when using magic. However, going to Mills Clea and meeting everyone helped her master all elements. Magic changed her life and transformed into something so much better she wouldn’t even dare imagine. Solo tells Lulu that he is happy to hear that magic is the source of happiness for her. He then cryptically asks her if magic stopped existing in this world, what would happen to you? Lulu tells him that even without magic, she will find a way to be happiness, because it comes from within, and that even without magic, she will find a way to be happy.
Through these exchanges, Lulu becomes attached to Solomon. Eventually, she asks him if they will meet in the future, knowing that even Fata Morgana died at some point. She starts crying when the answer is likely negative. Solomon tries to console her, saying Lulu will meet so many people in her life, and he is just one of the many passengers of her journey. Lulu asks if Solomon will miss her and feel lonely after she leaves. Solomon is shocked at this question because he has not experienced this emotion in a long time. After some silence, he replies that he think he will miss her because he really enjoyed talking to her. However, he will not feel “sadness”. He has lived much longer than Lulu and any human on this planet. He has gone through so many farewells with souls that came into and exited his life, that he’s learned such is the way of an (almost) immortal life. He is numb to it all.
Other than Lato’s events, Ami also goes berserk in this route. Lulu, who has befriended her slowly and earned her trust, manages to calm her down as a human. Ami used to be imprisoned by humans and forced to forge items for them (girl where your powers go?? fight back??), so she has PTSD and usually doesn’t allow humans near her vicinity. She even voluntarily locks herself in the tower knowing it is an absolutely safe spot. She was willing to give up her freedom for the rest of her long life if it means being free from humans. Witnessing Ami’s transformation (who eventually takes off her chains and walks out of the tower) likely gave Solomon some food for thought about how people’s fate can be changed through acts of kindness.
Peru tells Lulu that Solomon feels so powerless against the power of fate (such as all those inevitable farewells with beings that lived shorter than him) hence why he stops “fighting” or having “desires” all together, not giving a care if he passes out from hunger or lack of sleep etc. In fact, this is how Peru met Solo – through rescuing him. The two then became companions both as lonely souls.
Peru asks Lulu to liberate Solo from the cage he has made for himself and bring him happiness and warmth, as he believes she’s the only one who can do it. Lulu also sees a memory fragment of how all the major ancient ones had a meeting (including the purple one in Est’s route) to judge Fata Morgana. Given Fata Morgana was the leader of ancient ones, they allowed him to teach Cornelius magic, but wanted a safety measure. That measure is Solomon. If humans started deviating with their way of magic, Solo had the power to erase or take away magic from them as a whole.
Solo and Lulu meet under the lonely tree that flowered for one last time and finally dies in front of their eyes. Solo tells Lulu that he is a walking soulless shell at this point without emotion or desire, and that she has a bright future ahead of her. Lulu rejects this and tells him that he is also capable of emotion and happiness. She tells him that she loves him.
The day of return arrives. Lulu learns last minute from Fata Morgana that time teleportation is an extremely tolling type of magic that reduces the life of its user. However, Solo is the only user of time magic so Lulu and co. have no choice but to let him use it and hasten his death. Lulu tells Solo that she will never give up. She will wait for him 350 years later in the future.
Fata Morgana, who has observed Solo’s not yet realized feelings for Lulu, decide to help him along with Ami. They share some of their powers with him so the spell isn’t as taxing on his body. Lulu and her friends return to the future.
We then see what happened to Fata Morgana – who chose to sacrifice himself to cast a powerful protection curse over Mill Clea; Peru – who asks Solomon to seal and immortalize his soul into the mask (that talks to Lulu in the weird item shop) before his body died; Solo – who took over as the guardian of Mills Clea after Fata Morgana’s martyrdom and eventually appointed Ivan/Vania – the last two children of ancient ones as the headmasters of the academy, and embarks on a journey without an end in sight. The last words we hear him saying were, Lulu, I want to meet you once again. He cries.
To Lulu, she barely spends much time after her arrival. To Solomon, he has been waiting for this for 350 years. They meet once again in Peru’s shop…
This time, Solo hugs Lulu tightly and tells her firmly that he loves her and wants to be with her.
Solo stays in Mills Clea to run Peru’s shop. Lulu goes on a tangent about “what happens if I become a granny but you don’t age” (girl just ask him if he would still love you if you were a worm lmao). Solo says he is happy to grow old alongside her. What is not mentioned post time skip that a farewell with Lulu, whose life is finite, is also inevitable giving this relationship a sad undertone.
For now, they hold hands and look into the future, trying to make the most out of their short decades together.
Thoughts: What a finale to this game! What a beautiful story. Solomon is also a complex character with entirely different experiences than Lulu or other humans. As a coping mechanism he learned the easiest way to live is to not resist anything at all. This results in him being extremely passive and nonchalant. However, Lulu’s warmth gets to him and gives him hope once again – even if short-lived – to yearn for happiness and love. I love how he learned and developed as a character and grew to have emotions and desires. Unlikely Alvaro route, this route has all the appropriate setup and deep conversations where we can tangibly trace his growth. It did not come as sudden at all. 10/10 route for me and best story out of all routes hands down. The other LIs really didn’t stand a chance how do you compete with this??
Final Thoughts
If you enjoyed the first game and grew attached to the characters, then this game is a must-play for you. It expands on what’s already been established in the first game. Most of the characters had growth and depth added to their profile. Julius and Noel… not as much but at least they are hot, cute, and you can enjoy the CGs?
Solomon is a newly added character. However, his story alone makes this game worth playing. Please save him for last as it wraps up the history of Mills Clea as well.
The art is breathtakingly gorgeous. For a game that is released one decade ago, the quality still holds up. I personally prefer this style of Usuba’s compared to the more simplified style in Variable Barricade/Radiant Tale. I think they excel when there is a lot of extra detail, can make the art lavish, yet the personal features (eyes/face) remain sharp. I look forward to their Hakuoki Ibun set to release this summer (def a game where I bought for the art instead of story lmao) as I think the style for that game will be between simple (recent works) and fancy (WoF/RdF).
Story ranking: Solo >>> Lagi > Bilal > Est > Alvaro (I didn’t like it but still had more depth than the nerds’) > Noel > Julius
Character bias ranking: Est > Noel > Julius > Lagi > Solo = Bilal >>> Alvaro
Rating: 7/10 [unfortunately needed to deduct points for the RNG system/slightly laggy interface/lack of development in certain routes.]
otome hitorigoto 