Ariel (Ari) Vaugh Route Review
Title: Gilded Shadows
Creator: Steamberry Studio
Where to Buy: Itch.io: https://steamberry.itch.io/gildedshadows or Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1875950/Gilded_Shadows/
Warning: There will be some spoilers in this route review. I will keep them at the bare minimum, but if you don’t want any spoilers then just play the game before you read this
In the Gilded Shadows walkthrough, Ari is the recommended first route. Personally, I played through the recommended order and it was a good experience. Each route is unique but the background knowledge from each consecutive route builds on each other. It’s not necessary, but following the suggested order of routes will help you avoid accidentally giving yourself spoilers.
The writer of each route is Lisa Eshkenazi, who (I believe) heads Steamberry Studios. Gosh, I am such a fan of her!! Her writing is so detailed and vibrant! As I said in the overview, the main character you play as in Gilded Shadows is one of my favorite characters from any story I’ve ever read.
That extends to all of the different routes available, too. Each romantic interest has something completely distinctive that makes each and every route compelling and intriguing. I hope you get the chance to explore the amazingly imaginative and engaging world of Gilded Shadows!
Favorite MC Color Combinations:
Skin Tone: Light I or Medium II
Hair Colour: Strawberry or Raven Black
Brow Colour: Dark Brown or Black
Eye Colour: Grey-Blue or Purple
Favorite Name: Nothing that ends with y since Ari’s nickname end with the long “e” sound. But I don’t really have a favorite name for Ari’s route, it changes every time. My most recent pick was Crysta
Powers Developed: Psi-bursts, Telekinesis, Teleporting, Clairvoyance
Favorite Quote: “My mentor once said learning to fall means learning to view the situation objectively, thus gaining insight from each failure. This allows you to accept what happened, get up, and continue on.”
Major Route Themes: Jealousy, Emotionally Stunted ML, Overpowered ML, Ex-Boyfriend
All About Ariel (Ari) Vaughn
From a purely aesthetic standpoint, I think Ari is the most attractive of the love interests. Don’t get me wrong, they’re all ridiculously hot. However, when it comes to CGs pretty much any color combination you give your character will look phenomenal. Dark, medium, or light skin tones; blonde, red, brown, or black skin… they all look great with Ari.
The two color combinations depicted above are my personal favorites. Really though, you can’t go wrong no matter what you choose. Maybe it’s because his coloration is so neutral. Medium skin tone, silvery hair, gray eyes… any color will pop against that backdrop, I suppose.
Ari is 36 in Arcalis years, which means he would be 24 on Earth. He is one of the highest-ranked Espers of Endgame, an organization whose purpose is to promote peace across the planet.
He is a Fairy-Class Knight Esper. His psychic abilities include an insanely wide clairvoyant “sphere” that gives him unparalleled teleportation capabilities and other knight skills such as psi-shields. He also has a special skill he calls Space Distortion. It shields whatever he focuses on from view so others don’t notice what’s going on. He uses this skill in the common route when he and Caleb “kidnap” the protagonist.
At first glance, Ari seems closed-off and almost robotic. The protagonist’s (I’m just going to call her Crysta in this review) first impression of Ari in the common route is ambivalent. She inwardly reflects that “he was kind of an odd man – Kind, but also sort of quiet and remote.”
Throughout the route, his facial expressions hardly ever change. His outward calm and collected mask hides a plethora of wonderful personality traits, though. He has layers to him that make him a joy to get to know.
Something that seems natural for a person as calm and mature as Ari is, is that he’s a neat freak. Not a naggy one that gives you death glares if you made a print on the floor, though. Ari is the quiet kind that will pick up whatever loose clothes are on the ground and neatly fold them. Even if they aren’t his. I find this aspect of his personality quite cute.
Unsurprisingly, he is not much for small talk. He also does not drag out goodbyes. Once he decides he’s finished somewhere he just leaves, which can be quite amusing.
Ari is also a steadfast voice of reason. Since he has a hard time grasping emotional responses, he looks for logic in a situation. For example, Ari tries really hard to help Crysta view her new circumstances of being stuck in Endgame as something not so different from what she wanted with archaeology.
His arguments made logical sense but also missed the mark on an emotional level. However, they did make her reflect. With a broader perspective now, she expresses herself in a way that Ari eventually comes to understand. That’s the thing with Ari. He’s a bit dense and takes a while to process why something is upsetting to Crysta. Yet he does genuinely want to understand and help her.
Some surprising aspects of his personality include that Ari is a closet sweetheart. He truly cares about the people around him and will not hesitate to do whatever he can to help them. He doesn’t make a big deal of his help though so many times people don’t even know until after the fact.
Since he’s a secret sweetheart, it stands to reason that Ari also has a protective streak. This protectiveness comes out a lot around Crysta. For example, although he tries to dissuade Crysta from some of her acts of stubbornness, he readily defends her decisions to others. Even if he receives a scolding for it. Ari even vocally rebuked Magnus for calling Crysta an outsider, when normally he wouldn’t even consider talking back to the highest-ranked Esper of Endgame.
Ari also has a fantastic vocabulary! One of my favorite lines in his route is when he is trying to convince Crysta to accept being a part of Endgame. Ari says, “It is an erroneous assumption that all we do is fight or try to avoid being killed by other people.” This is probably just me being a word geek, but I love how casually Ari uses big words like ‘erroneous”. He doesn’t do it to make himself seem intelligent; that’s just his normal speech pattern and I very much appreciate it!
Another great quality is that Ari is quick to apologize when he recognizes he is in the wrong. Since he is usually pretty dense this surprised me a bit. It’s nice to see that he isn’t prideful though and is willing to apologize without a fuss.
He’s also reckless to a worrying degree. He seems to have no sense of self-preservation and willingly throws himself between danger and those he protects. You can see a sneak peek of this behavior in the common route. In their first meeting, Ari shields Crysta from shattering glass and waves off her attempt to examine the cut he got from it.
A big part of Ari’s personality comes from being Fairy-Class (a naturally mutated Esper instead of being affected by the nanites.) Fairy Espers powers are more affected by their emotions than Nano Espers. Ari’s psi developed when he was only a toddler so he had to be taught to control his emotions. This is why he comes off as cold and unfeeling at times. Jack even created the nickname “Sticks” for him because he was so stiff when they first met.
Ari is a multi-faceted character with many sides to him. Those sides come to light little by little as the story goes on. It’s almost like you’re unwrapping a present every time you see a hint of emotion get past his iron wall. If you like your men strong, cool, and secretly sweet, Ari is the route for you.
Route Main Characters
Each of the nine routes of Gilded Shadows has a cast of side characters that often overlap. The major characters in Ari’s route include the First Guard and Heidi from Endgame. As well as three researchers from Sirre: Trent, Matt, and Gina.
The First Guard is divided into sections, the King’s Guard (Magnus and his protectors) and the Queen’s Guard. Queen’s Guard consists of four Espers: The Queen (Crysta), the Queen’s Rook (Caleb), the Queen’s Knight (Ari), and the Queen’s Bishop (Van).
This team is the cream of the crop of Esper elites. Their main responsibilities are to protect the King Rank (the highest rank and most valuable Esper in Endgame). Since they are typically the most powerful Espers, they also go on the most important (and dangerous) assignments. Endgame hasn’t had a Queen rank Esper in over a decade. The high-ranking position thrust on her is understandably overwhelming to Crysta. Yet she is immediately surrounded by her three protectors who become her closest friends.
I’ve already talked about Ari so I’ll briefly describe the other two members. First off, Vanessa aka Van. I love Van so much. She is one of my favorite side characters! Van is a Bishop who specializes in telekinesis and psi-bursts instead of post or precognition. As she says, “[I’m] the kind that is incredibly good at telekinesis! All of that brain stuff just makes my head overheat.”
Van reminds me of a cool aunt or older sister. She can be snarky and teases everyone mercilessly, but she also has moments of impressive maturity. Van has lots of wise advice to offer those around her and is extremely loyal and protective of the people she loves. She is also happily married to her wife, Mara, who serves on the King’s Guard as Magnus’s knight.
Then there is Caleb. Caleb is a potential love interest and has his own route (one of my favorites actually). He plays a big role in Ari’s route, though. He’s cranky, cantankerous, and is always looking for a fight. As a Rook Esper, he uses biokinesis, which amplifies his physical abilities. He specializes in hand-to-hand combat and surveillance.
I really love how Crysta and Caleb’s friendship develops in Ari’s route. Although they don’t appear to get along at first, Caleb eventually approaches Crysta and offers to help with her training if Ari is too busy. It’s a bit like waving the olive branch and Crysta recognizes it as such. Once they both let go of the frustration from their first meeting, things get much better between them. They actually have a cute dynamic, kind of like a teasing older brother and an annoying younger sister. It’s sweet.
Heidi is Crysta’s self-proclaimed rival. She is an infantry-level Esper, but she is training super hard to hopefully become qualified for a psi-expansion that could make her a Queen rank. She’s also got a not-so-subtle crush on Ari. Unfortunately, Ari believes she is overestimating her abilities and doesn’t return her obvious feelings for him so he refuses to train her.
Heidi sees Crysta as a threat to her dream job and she’s pretty malicious about it. Heidi seems to take pleasure in tearing Crysta down, calling her an “outsider” and acting immature whenever she can.
The other major characters in Ari’s route are the research team from Sirre. Trent (the one in the middle) was introduced in the common route. He and Crysta dated in the past. When he got an opportunity to join a research team on Sirre (the moon) to study Fairy Espers he immediately joined them. And then like a complete and utter jerk, he ghosted Crysta. For a year!
In the common route, he sends Crysta a birthday card saying he is coming back to Arcalis for a bit and wants to see her. And what do you know? His reason for coming planet-side was to access Endgames archives.
Matt is the leader of the research team up on Sirre and he is not exactly a happy guy. He’s always grumbling about the restricted access Endgame has granted them even after coming all the way to Arcalis. Gina is another researcher on the team. She is quiet, polite, and extremely motivated to discover more about Fairy psi-waves.
Important Plot Points
Warning: Here be spoilers. (Although no major details) Skip if you don’t want them!!
One thing that I really love about Gilded Shadows is how unique each love interest’s route is. The main conflict is completely individualistic. They give you a wide view of Arcalis, how different people view the planet, and the social constructs present. In Ari’s route, Crysta has become an integral part of Endgame. The leaders of Endgame, known as the “Council”, are eager to involve Crysta in missions. Her guard does all they can to protect her from the political maneuvering she is subjected to.
One thing that I appreciate about this story is how naturally good mental health practices are brought up. When Crysta feels overwhelmed with grief and guilt about the whole situation that brought her to Endgame, Ari suggests she speak to a counselor. And she agrees almost immediately. I think it’s great that there are little examples like this to help people feel comfortable seeking help from mental health professionals.
Crysta is understandably frustrated and sad about her life being upended because of powers she never wanted in the first place. Something she said to Van really stuck with me. Crysta says, “But in the end, you’re right. If it feels like everything is broken now, then my only choice is to rebuild it into something new.” Even though she could have a bad attitude and wallow in self-pity, she pulled herself up. Crysta tried her best to find the good in the situation which I find very admirable.
Ari is selected as Crysta’s main trainer in this route, which gives Crysta many opportunities to interact with him. Through their training sessions, he often seeks to help her emotionally process this abrupt change in her life. He is a patient and methodical trainer, never getting angry or frustrated with her. Although he does occasionally express a “dad-like disappointment” which is an effective motivator for Crysta.
Although he is responsible for training Crysta, Ari is also constantly pulled away to transport small teams and political parties to Sirre. During this route, there is a major political upheaval up on Sirre that Endgame is trying to mediate. Crysta begins to worry about Ari, who is obviously overextending himself with all of his trips to the moon while still making time to train her.
Heidi appears at this point and stirs up some internal conflict, insisting that Crysta is an outsider and finding every opportunity to make her feel inferior. Usually, I get annoyed quickly with immature drama like this, but surprisingly, I like this aspect of the story. It lets Crysta’s personality as a confident, emotionally intelligent woman shine.
One of my favorite parts of this route is when Heidi goes after Crysta looking for a fight. Ari refuses to train Heidi and she immaturely wants to blame Crysta for it. Crysta has every right to be angry and bitter with Heidi because of her unfair treatment. Yet Crysta is exceedingly patient with her, taking the time to see things from her perspective and recognizing that Heidi is younger and less mature than her.
When Heidi is doing her best to rile up Crysta by claiming she isn’t taking her role’s importance seriously, Crysta’s retort is incredible. It shows an enviable inner confidence that I wish I had. Crysta says, “I didn’t ask you or anyone else to judge me for not meeting whatever expectations you created for me. I’m sorry you don’t like that I’m here – but if I have to live with it, so do you.”
I love that Crysta is generally kind and wants to be helpful, but not to the detriment of her mental health or self-esteem. Crysta knows her worth isn’t determined by others and she refuses to become upset because of someone’s immature tantrum.
Once Crysta feels a little more comfortable as Endgame’s Queen rank, she is pulled into her first assignment. A small group of Sirre researchers are due to arrive at Cor Solaris (headquarters for Endgame) to look at their archives and try to further their research on psi-waves. They want to create new medical technology using psi-waves from Fairy Espers which they’ve found to be easier to replicate than Nano Espers.
Crysta learns that the research facility these people are from has possible connections to human experimentation and the rebellion in Sirre. Naturally, Endgame wishes to investigate and confirm whether this intel is correct. With Sirre caught up in a tense political situation, they want their investigation to be as discreet as possible. So, because one of the researchers happens to be Crysta’s ex-boyfriend, they ask Crysta to be in charge of their group and pry for information.
As I listed at the beginning of this review, jealousy in many different forms plays a huge factor in this story. For one, Heidi and other low-level Espers are jealous of Crysta taking a coveted position in the Endgame hierarchy. Also, Ari has his first experience with jealousy when Trent shows up and tries to rekindle things with Crysta. Trent is jealous of Crysta’s new friends. And to an extent, his colleagues are jealous (more covetous) of the sensitive information that will help them improve their inventions.
Usually, I am not a huge fan of jealousy as a plot device… but thanks to Crysta, there is open and heartfelt communication throughout the story. The displays of jealousy never lead to ridiculous misunderstandings or frustrating possessiveness, which I appreciate a lot.
Crysta has to navigate trying to get useful information for her assignment while not giving Trent hope that their relationship could be rekindled. As she muddles through, things begin to subtly shift between her and Ari. Crysta respects and admires Ari as a trainer. As they get closer, Crysta notices how much the council expects him to shoulder because of his unique abilities, even to the detriment of his health. She becomes protective of Ari and scolds people for teasing him too harshly. It’s really sweet to see their relationship grow so naturally.
The climax sheds light on the human experimentation that Endgame feared was happening. You’ll have to buy the game and read the route to find out for yourself how everything resolves, but I can assure you that it will have you gripping your seat with anticipation. Be careful though, depending on your choices Crysta could face a truly awful end.
The thing with the true (passionate) ending of this route is that I honestly wasn’t super happy with how the conflict was resolved. And yet, it was realistic. True, I like a perfect “happy ending” when everything is wrapped up tightly with a pretty bow, but that’s not how life works. The ending does, however, make perfect sense if you factor in the grand scheme of things.
Plus, Crysta and Ari are obviously happy in the passionate ending. Their bond, based on trust and affection, is stronger than ever and incredibly heartwarming. You just know that the two of them will continue trying to protect the world one step at a time while keeping each other as close as possible. And that, in my books, is a pretty delightful ending.
Romantic Relationship
Warning: Potential spoilers. Skip if you don’t want any!
I wanted to highlight a few things about the romantic relationship between Ari and Crysta that really made me love this route. Their relationship takes some time to move beyond co-workers and friends, but when feelings begin to blossom it really is a sweet and tender journey.
First things first, Ari is in an incredibly unique situation. Even though Ari is fully grown, in some ways he’s almost child-like since he experiences many emotions for the first time with Crysta. When he was a child, his emotions were medically repressed because he was a danger to everyone around him if he lost control of his powers.
Therefore, it’s scary and unsettling for Ari as he battles his attraction and possessiveness towards Crysta. I genuinely love how understanding and gentle Crysta is with him as he works through these new, difficult emotions.
Crysta and Ari have many personality traits that seem to oppose each other but make them a great couple. Such as Crysta being an open book. People mention it several times in different routes, but with Ari, who is typically expressionless, it’s a nice contrast.
Perhaps because this is all new territory for Ari, once he identifies his feelings as romantic in nature, he is open with Crysta about them. He genuinely wants Crysta to understand where he is coming from, and he wants to be conscientious of her feelings as well.
Crysta listens without judgement and she really makes the effort to take things at a pace where Ari can feel comfortable and secure. This seriously makes my heart flutter so much whenever I read this route! Ari and Crysta are such a sweet couple.
Concerning her relationship with Ari, Crysta says, “I think part of caring for someone is understanding their needs.” This is such a true and impactful statement! A relationship with Ari is not easy since he lacks a basic emotional foundation. Still, Crysta is willing to put in the time and care to understand where he is coming from and help them through it.
Without giving any specific spoilers, if you are pursuing the passionate ending, Ari is a gentle and considerate lover. Crysta is his first love so everything is new to him and he can be hesitant and unsure, but he is a fast learner. When the trust between Crysta and Ari has built to the point that they take the next step of physical intimacy in their relationship (if you choose) it is a tender and highly emotional experience that will make your heart flutter.
If you make the right choices the relationship between Crysta and Ari becomes rock solid. The trust between them is inspiring and when they work through their differences it’s so sweet to see how much they care for each other. As Crysta says so beautifully, “A foggy part of my mind whispered that he was the one thing I never realized I needed… I truly believed I was exactly where I was meant to be.”
Conclusion
Ari’s route of Gilded Shadows is full of character growth. Crysta grows as she tries to fit in this new place filled with Espers while Ari has to face many personal challenges as he grows close to Crysta. It also showcases the sweet feelings of first love that come with all of the mess and uncertainty of experiencing new emotions. It is truly an enjoyable and marvelous story to read. I hope you enjoy Ari’s route as much as I did!
If you’ve played Ari’s route, what is your favorite part? Thank you for reading! Have a fluttery day
