Cate and Armstrong...who actually owed the other?

[CoLdOwN]

No one may have brought this up before. It's a subtle detail that is easily overlooked, but it's a seemingly inconsistent detail in continuity between Nolf 1 and Nolf 2.

In Nolf 1, Cate is confined in a cell but convinces Armstrong to let her out and fight her. After Cate beats him, she says "I owe you." and Armstrong replies "That you do. Don't forget it either." Cate even asks "one more favor" of him by convincing him to tell her where the Baroness keeps the List of Names. The game is clearly saying that Cate owes Armstrong, not to mention the fact that Armstrong had also previously spared her life 3 times.

Fast forward to Nolf 2, when Cate asks Armstrong to help her infiltrate Harm's India branch. He hesitates, saying he pretty much washed his hands of international intrigue. But Cate replies "You owe me." and Armstrong replies "Ah, don't start." but then he gives in and helps her out. Nolf 2 completely flips the script by saying it's Armstrong that owes Cate. Why? Because she gave him a reason to leave Harm and didn't have him arrested?

It still doesn't make sense to flip the script like that. Even if we were to weigh the things they've done for each other at that point, it seems Armstrong had done more for Cate than she had for him, so she should've still been the one owing him. Or at best, they'd be even. Maybe the developers made a mistake in one of those cutscenes? It doesn't seem like the sort of thing that'd be done on purpose as a joke. You'd have to realize what was said and by who in Nolf 1, and it's likely to just cause confusion since you still wouldn't know why it's inconsistent.

Edited March 14, 2021 by CoLdOwN

[Larry]

Not to sound facetious but perhaps it was 2 different writers or the writer forgot their original intent, either way all these years later I doubt they lost any sleep over it. lol

I've played these games many times and I didn't even pick up on it but I usually don't give stories in games much attention, I'm usually just trying to stay alive.

[CoLdOwN]

3 hours ago, Larry said:

Not to sound facetious but perhaps it was 2 different writers or the writer forgot their original intent, either way all these years later I doubt they lost any sleep over it. lol

I've played these games many times and I didn't even pick up on it but I usually don't give stories in games much attention, I'm usually just trying to stay alive.

Forgetting or not being aware of the original intent would indeed mean the writers made a mistake. I doubt they lost any sleep over it either. But all these years later and seemingly no one had pointed it out yet, I thought I would and see what others think, and if anyone else had noticed. At first I didn't pay much attention to the story either, but at some point I did and I've played through these games a lot. It was a long time ago when I first noticed though.