Code:Realize - Guardians of Rebirth Impey Barbicane Character Analysis
Impey is the genius engineer of the gentlemen. As it turns out, he is an excellent cook as well, making him a bit of a jack of all valuable trades.
Even Van Helsing acknowledges Impey's abilities.
Initial Impressions of Impey
He seems very flirtatious and flippant. The other gentlemen also do not seem to take Impey seriously. Many of his inventions seem to fail or end up in flames as well. However, his inventions and products succeed when push comes to shove.
Impey is flirtatious, but is actually suprisingly reliable.
Activating Impey’s Storyline
Impey is a bit different from the other gentlemen. His line is activated like the other gentlemen. In chapter 3, have Cardia choose to be around him.
However, once his route is activated, Impey’s line will not lead to immediate game overs if Cardia/the player give a bad response. He is the traditional bane of visual novel games. He will let Cardia court him to the end, but based upon responses gamers will get either a good or bad ending.
I wrote out the correct responses to get Impey’s good ending and describe the bad ending in more detail in the article linked here.
Spoilers Below
Pros and Cons to Impey’s Storyline
Impey is very sweet to Cardia. Overall he is a great choice.
Pros
- Impey is very kind to Cardia and always manages to uplift her. This is a great character trait for a romantic interest.
- Impey always manages to pull through when it matters most with his inventions and ideas. His incompetence is mostly just a bad impression he makes to make a lighter atmosphere for others.
- He is actually very powerful at combat. This ensures Cardia will remain safe in his presence despite the powerful enemies she has.
- He is more intelligent then he initially seems. He knows how to handle situations utilizing either emotional or mechanical intelligence.
Cons
- Impey is flirtatious. This can sometimes be off-putting since it is unclear if he is being flirtatious to just Cardia, or if he would say amorous things to other ladies if they were around.
- Impey can give a “bad” ending. This is more of a gameplay comment, but since he unexpectedly breaks the mold gamers can get caught in a bad ending they don’t foresee. Have fun replaying his entire story to amend any mistakes.
Impey is Kind and Lighthearted
This is Impey’s biggest strength. He is a jokester and sometimes not taken seriously, but this has a very uplifting effect on everyone around him. In some ways, he is the glue among the gentlemen since he is the rally point everyone can make fun of safely.
Everyone likes to poke fun at Impey.
For Cardia, Impey is very invested in making it clear he will stay by her side and always gives her uplifting comments. When Cardia is afraid that she is not even capable of emotions, he immediately jumps in and makes the point that science doesn’t really “know” much about emotions either. So if a scientist (such as Nemo) makes comments about her soul or emotions it isn’t a statement she should take seriously. He states that she is before him and he “feels” her emotions and intent. That is proof enough for him.
Impey gives supportive and very real-world advice when it matters most.
In addition, even though he is revealed to be a vampire he doesn’t let that fact rule his life. The prince of the vampires wants him to help get vengeance against humans due to their brutal defeat in the last war. Impey refuses, and states he pursues science to show others what can and should be done in the world. It is his personal way to break the cycle of hate and destruction.
So not only is Impey nice to people around him, he aspires to change the world and show it more fascinating and beautiful aspirations.
He wants to literally go to the moon one day. He intends to use science and his engineering mind to accomplish this one day and refuses to use his mind as a tool of destruction against others.
Impey is Reliable
...when it matters.
Since he invents and tinkers with established machinery, this kind of attitude is actually quite sensible.
However, he is the team’s only engineer. If he failed or his automobiles, planes, or airships failed it could kill everyone onboard. Cardia included. However, this never happens. When he is entrusted with everyone’s life directly or though his machines, he always comes though and keeps everyone safe.
In addition, at a critical point in the story the team engages in an airship race. Impey of course is in charge of the machine, both its pilot and its engineer. It is true he got the ship’s modifications done dangerously close to the due time to enroll for the important race, but he did it. This is a great feat considering he has to do this all alone.
Impey is Good at Combat
Impey is shown to have a great deal of strength throughout the game. As it turns out, his power comes though his vampire blood.
As a note, it is nice Impey answers Cardia when she asks him. He doesn't try to evade or hide this important information about himself.
Due to this lineage, he is much faster and stronger than normal humans. This is vitally important, since Cardia has many trained warriors after her. He can overcome many opponents without getting terribly injured himself.
And since he is kindhearted and supportive, his strength will never be turned against Cardia. As mentioned in other articles, Van Helsing and Saint Germain are powerful but abusive towards Cardia. Their strength is as much a danger as it is a salvation.
Impey is Intelligent and Adaptable
As it turns out, Impey is able to adapt to a variety of situations.
When Impey and Cardia go to visit some seedy characters to get information on Nemo, the boss offers to give information in exchange for Cardia. The context makes it clear he would likely use her as a "lovely lady" in ways that would dishonor her, but would end up making his money back. (To dance around all of this lightly...)
Impey moves himself between Cardia and a mob boss without inflaming the situation.
In addition, Impey is great at quickly analyzing situations in ways only an engineer could. Even a toilet seat can be dangerous in his hands.
Impey is Flirtatious
This is listed as a negative point because even though Impey promises himself to Cardia, there are no other women around routinely. It is impossible to tell if he is reserving this amorous behavior just for Cardia, or if his eyes can stray.
In addition, it kind of feels like he is casting out the net to see what he can find. It just happened to be that he caught Cardia. It makes it feel less impressive to catch him romantically.
The good thing about Impey is that he seems to try and be honest about everything.
Impey’s Gameplay has a Bad Ending
The other gentlemen respond to a wrong answer from the player by blocking the player from proceeding though the story. Not with Impey.
This kind of gameplay is a standard for visual novel games, but since Impey is so different from the other gentlemen in this game it is a larger shock to get his bad ending. In other words, it can come suddenly and without warning.
As another negative to this point, players need to replay his story in part or in its entirety in order to amend their mistakes. Again, this is standard for visual novels, but it is out of place to suddenly have one of the gentlemen do this when the others do not.
It is very interesting, but not really cohesive when considering the whole of the game.
Final Thoughts
Impey is a fantastic choice and has a very robust character profile. He is not abusive towards women or Cardia at all either. So far, Victor is the only other one that fits this bill.
In addition, he has amazing ideals and it is interesting to listen to his aspirations. The writers did a fantastic job of making Impey’s character and motives intriguing.
Impey is a perfect example of a guy that seems flippant in the beginning, but really just dances to his own tune. I definitely recommend checking his route out, since this article only touches on some of Impey’s strengths.
Thanks to the creators of this game. Code:Realize - Guardians of Rebirth belongs to Aksys Games, Idea Factory, Design Factory, and Otomate. I make no profit off of this website or from writing this, and hope this article was informative. Please support this game and check it out for yourself, since these articles do not capture the full allure of these great characters.
