diff --git a/src/dusk/asset/loader/cutscene/assetcutsceneloader.c b/src/dusk/asset/loader/cutscene/assetcutsceneloader.c
index 55524e6c..5475a44b 100644
--- a/src/dusk/asset/loader/cutscene/assetcutsceneloader.c
+++ b/src/dusk/asset/loader/cutscene/assetcutsceneloader.c
@@ -58,13 +58,6 @@ errorret_t assetCutsceneParseItem(
   errorOk();
 }
 
-// First pass over the parsed "items" array: sums the exact pool bytes
-// ENTITY_WALK_TO/MAP_AREA_WAIT items will need, so the real parse pass can
-// allocate the pool exactly once up front rather than growing/moving it
-// (which would dangle pointers already written into earlier items). Any
-// item with an invalid/missing type is silently skipped here - the real
-// error for that gets thrown later during the actual per-item parse pass
-// in assetCutsceneParseItem, this first pass is pool-sizing only.
 size_t assetCutsceneComputePoolSize(yyjson_val *itemsArr) {
   size_t size = 0;
   yyjson_arr_iter iter = yyjson_arr_iter_with(itemsArr);
diff --git a/src/dusk/asset/loader/cutscene/assetcutsceneloader.h b/src/dusk/asset/loader/cutscene/assetcutsceneloader.h
index 05128f4f..1eb9609a 100644
--- a/src/dusk/asset/loader/cutscene/assetcutsceneloader.h
+++ b/src/dusk/asset/loader/cutscene/assetcutsceneloader.h
@@ -12,9 +12,6 @@
 #include "rpg/cutscene/item/json/cutscenejsonpool.h"
 #include "yyjson.h"
 
-// Above this, something is almost certainly wrong (or malicious) rather
-// than a legitimately large cutscene - matches ASSET_JSON_FILE_SIZE_MAX's
-// role in assetjsonloader.h.
 #define ASSET_CUTSCENE_FILE_SIZE_MAX (1024 * 64)
 
 typedef struct assetloading_s assetloading_t;
@@ -37,18 +34,8 @@ typedef struct {
   size_t size;
 } assetcutsceneloaderloading_t;
 
-// Runtime-loaded cutscene, parsed directly from the cutscene's authored
-// JSONC (no separate compiled binary format/build step - see
-// assetCutsceneLoaderSync). `doc` is kept alive for the entry's whole
-// lifetime rather than freed after parsing: every pool-string-shaped
-// field (item names, markers, modal option text, ...) points straight at
-// yyjson's own internally-owned string storage instead of being copied
-// out, so freeing doc early would dangle every one of those pointers.
-// `pool` only exists for the handful of fields that need a packed native
-// array yyjson can't hand back a pointer into directly - entityWalkTo's
-// worldpos_t positions and mapAreaWait's uint8_t areaIds.
 typedef struct {
-  cutscene_t cutscene;   // .items points at the items array below
+  cutscene_t cutscene;
   cutsceneitem_t *items;
   uint8_t *pool;
   yyjson_doc *doc;
diff --git a/src/dusk/console/console.c b/src/dusk/console/console.c
index 035cd526..edbe3b4d 100644
--- a/src/dusk/console/console.c
+++ b/src/dusk/console/console.c
@@ -17,8 +17,8 @@ console_t CONSOLE;
 
 void consoleInit(void) {
   memoryZero(&CONSOLE, sizeof(console_t));
-  // CONSOLE.visible = false;
-  CONSOLE.visible = true;
+  CONSOLE.visible = false;
+  // CONSOLE.visible = true;
   threadMutexInit(&CONSOLE.printMutex);
 }
 
diff --git a/src/dusk/rpg/cutscene/cutscenesystem.c b/src/dusk/rpg/cutscene/cutscenesystem.c
index 1abe3b57..56fab869 100644
--- a/src/dusk/rpg/cutscene/cutscenesystem.c
+++ b/src/dusk/rpg/cutscene/cutscenesystem.c
@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@
 #include "util/memory.h"
 #include "util/string.h"
 #include "assert/assert.h"
+#include "asset/asset.h"
+#include "ui/overlay/uifatalerror.h"
 
 cutscenesystem_t CUTSCENE_SYSTEM;
 
@@ -61,6 +63,21 @@ void cutsceneSystemStartCutsceneAndGoToMarker(
   cutsceneGoTo(marker);
 }
 
+void cutsceneSystemLoad(const char_t *file) {
+  char_t path[ASSET_FILE_NAME_MAX];
+  stringFormat(path, sizeof(path), "cutscenes/%s", file);
+
+  assetentry_t *entry = assetLock(path, ASSET_LOADER_TYPE_CUTSCENE, NULL);
+  errorret_t result = assetRequireLoaded(entry);
+  if(errorIsNotOk(result)) {
+    errorCatch(errorPrint(result));
+    uiFatalErrorOpen(NULL);
+    return;
+  }
+
+  cutsceneSystemStartCutscene(&entry->data.cutscene.cutscene);
+}
+
 void cutsceneRestart(void) {
   assertNotNull(
     CUTSCENE_SYSTEM.scene, "cutsceneRestart called with no cutscene running"
diff --git a/src/dusk/rpg/cutscene/cutscenesystem.h b/src/dusk/rpg/cutscene/cutscenesystem.h
index 823285d0..b4c1f4f3 100644
--- a/src/dusk/rpg/cutscene/cutscenesystem.h
+++ b/src/dusk/rpg/cutscene/cutscenesystem.h
@@ -96,6 +96,22 @@ void cutsceneSystemStartCutsceneAndGoToMarker(
   const char_t *marker
 );
 
+/**
+ * Locks, loads and immediately starts a cutscene asset by file name,
+ * e.g. cutsceneSystemLoad("main_menu.jsonc") loads and starts
+ * assets/cutscenes/main_menu.jsonc - same lock/assetRequireLoaded/start
+ * sequence as sceneInitialInit's INITIAL_CUTSCENE_ENTRY. The entry is
+ * locked forever (never unlocked), same lifetime convention as
+ * LOCALE.entry - it's fine to call this again later for the same file,
+ * it'll just resolve to the same already-loaded entry. Opens the fatal
+ * error overlay (see uiFatalErrorOpen) instead of starting anything if
+ * the asset fails to load.
+ *
+ * @param file Cutscene file name (with .jsonc extension), relative to
+ * assets/cutscenes/.
+ */
+void cutsceneSystemLoad(const char_t *file);
+
 /**
  * Restarts the currently running cutscene from its first item,
  * preserving whatever interact/interacted entities triggered it.
diff --git a/src/dusk/scene/initial/sceneinitial.c b/src/dusk/scene/initial/sceneinitial.c
index ddcb4a2a..2242f142 100644
--- a/src/dusk/scene/initial/sceneinitial.c
+++ b/src/dusk/scene/initial/sceneinitial.c
@@ -12,12 +12,6 @@
 #include "display/screen/screen.h"
 #include "console/console.h"
 #include "rpg/cutscene/cutscenesystem.h"
-#include "asset/asset.h"
-
-// Loaded lazily and kept resident for the rest of the process - this scene
-// only ever runs once at boot, but there's no reason to unlock it (same
-// lifetime convention as e.g. LOCALE.entry).
-static assetentry_t *INITIAL_CUTSCENE_ENTRY = NULL;
 
 errorret_t sceneInitialInit(scenedata_t *sceneData) {
   assertNotNull(sceneData, "Scene data cannot be null");
@@ -29,18 +23,7 @@ errorret_t sceneInitialInit(scenedata_t *sceneData) {
   // Runtime-loaded from assets/cutscenes/initial.jsonc, parsed directly at
   // load time (no separate compile step) - checks for a save device,
   // retrying on failure, then hands off to the main menu.
-  if(INITIAL_CUTSCENE_ENTRY == NULL) {
-    INITIAL_CUTSCENE_ENTRY = assetLock(
-      "cutscenes/initial.jsonc", ASSET_LOADER_TYPE_CUTSCENE, NULL
-    );
-  }
-  errorret_t result = assetRequireLoaded(INITIAL_CUTSCENE_ENTRY);
-  if(errorIsNotOk(result)) {
-    errorCatch(errorPrint(result));
-    assertTrue(false, "Failed to load initial scene cutscene asset");
-  }
-
-  cutsceneSystemStartCutscene(&INITIAL_CUTSCENE_ENTRY->data.cutscene.cutscene);
+  cutsceneSystemLoad("initial.jsonc");
 
   errorOk();
 }
diff --git a/src/dusk/ui/debug/CMakeLists.txt b/src/dusk/ui/debug/CMakeLists.txt
index 74e31662..52d8095a 100644
--- a/src/dusk/ui/debug/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/dusk/ui/debug/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 target_sources(${DUSK_LIBRARY_TARGET_NAME}
   PUBLIC
     uiconsole.c
+    uicutscene.c
     uifps.c
     uiplayerpos.c
 )
diff --git a/src/dusk/ui/debug/uicutscene.c b/src/dusk/ui/debug/uicutscene.c
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..94bdf321
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/dusk/ui/debug/uicutscene.c
@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright (c) 2026 Dominic Masters
+ *
+ * This software is released under the MIT License.
+ * https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT
+ */
+
+#include "uicutscene.h"
+#include "util/string.h"
+#include "display/screen/screen.h"
+#include "display/text/text.h"
+#include "display/spritebatch/spritebatch.h"
+#include "display/color.h"
+#include "rpg/cutscene/cutscenesystem.h"
+#include "rpg/cutscene/item/cutsceneitem.h"
+
+uicutscene_t UICUTSCENE;
+
+errorret_t uiCutsceneInit() {
+  uiLabelInit(
+    &UICUTSCENE.countLabel,
+    UICUTSCENE.countText,
+    UICUTSCENE.countSprites, UI_CUTSCENE_SPRITES_MAX
+  );
+  uiLabelSetX(&UICUTSCENE.countLabel, (float_t)SCREEN.scanX);
+  uiLabelSetY(&UICUTSCENE.countLabel, (float_t)SCREEN.scanY +
+    (float_t)FONT_DEFAULT.tileset->tileHeight * 2
+  );
+
+  uiLabelInit(
+    &UICUTSCENE.itemLabel,
+    UICUTSCENE.itemText,
+    UICUTSCENE.itemSprites, UI_CUTSCENE_SPRITES_MAX
+  );
+  uiLabelSetX(&UICUTSCENE.itemLabel, (float_t)SCREEN.scanX);
+  uiLabelSetY(&UICUTSCENE.itemLabel, (float_t)SCREEN.scanY +
+    (float_t)FONT_DEFAULT.tileset->tileHeight * 3
+  );
+
+  errorOk();
+}
+
+errorret_t uiCutsceneDraw() {
+  const cutsceneitem_t *item = cutsceneSystemGetCurrentItem();
+  if(!item || !CUTSCENE_SYSTEM.scene) {
+    stringCopy(
+      UICUTSCENE.countText, "Cutscene Inactive", UI_CUTSCENE_TEXT_MAX - 1
+    );
+    UICUTSCENE.itemText[0] = '\0';
+  } else {
+    const char_t *name = CUTSCENE_ITEM_CALLBACKS[item->type].jsonName;
+    if(!name) name = "???";
+
+    stringFormat(
+      UICUTSCENE.countText,
+      UI_CUTSCENE_TEXT_MAX - 1,
+      "Cutscene Item Count: %d",
+      (int_t)CUTSCENE_SYSTEM.scene->itemCount
+    );
+    stringFormat(
+      UICUTSCENE.itemText,
+      UI_CUTSCENE_TEXT_MAX - 1,
+      "Current Item: %s",
+      name
+    );
+  }
+  UICUTSCENE.countLabel.dirty = true;
+  UICUTSCENE.itemLabel.dirty = true;
+
+  errorChain(uiLabelRender(&UICUTSCENE.countLabel, COLOR_GREEN));
+  errorChain(uiLabelRender(&UICUTSCENE.itemLabel, COLOR_GREEN));
+  return spriteBatchFlush();
+}
diff --git a/src/dusk/ui/debug/uicutscene.h b/src/dusk/ui/debug/uicutscene.h
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..07fa9441
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/dusk/ui/debug/uicutscene.h
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright (c) 2026 Dominic Masters
+ *
+ * This software is released under the MIT License.
+ * https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT
+ */
+
+#pragma once
+#include "error/error.h"
+#include "ui/widget/uilabel.h"
+
+#define UI_CUTSCENE_TEXT_MAX 64
+#define UI_CUTSCENE_SPRITES_MAX UI_CUTSCENE_TEXT_MAX
+
+typedef struct {
+  uilabel_t countLabel;
+  char_t countText[UI_CUTSCENE_TEXT_MAX];
+  spritebatchsprite_t countSprites[UI_CUTSCENE_SPRITES_MAX];
+
+  uilabel_t itemLabel;
+  char_t itemText[UI_CUTSCENE_TEXT_MAX];
+  spritebatchsprite_t itemSprites[UI_CUTSCENE_SPRITES_MAX];
+} uicutscene_t;
+
+extern uicutscene_t UICUTSCENE;
+
+/**
+ * Initializes the cutscene debug labels.
+ *
+ * @return Any error that occurs.
+ */
+errorret_t uiCutsceneInit();
+
+/**
+ * Draws the currently running cutscene's item count and current item
+ * type as two lines ("Item Count: %d" / "Current Item: %s"), or a
+ * single "Cutscene Inactive" line if no cutscene is running. Renders
+ * below UIPLAYERPOS (see ui/debug/uiplayerpos.h).
+ *
+ * @return Any error that occurs.
+ */
+errorret_t uiCutsceneDraw();
diff --git a/src/dusk/ui/overlay/uifatalerror.c b/src/dusk/ui/overlay/uifatalerror.c
index e5c75a34..53305e48 100644
--- a/src/dusk/ui/overlay/uifatalerror.c
+++ b/src/dusk/ui/overlay/uifatalerror.c
@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@
 #include "ui/widget/uiframe.h"
 #include "ui/widget/uibutton.h"
 #include "engine/engine.h"
-#include "assert/assert.h"
 #include "util/memory.h"
 #include "util/string.h"
 #include "util/math.h"
@@ -40,11 +39,11 @@ errorret_t uiFatalErrorInit(void) {
 }
 
 void uiFatalErrorOpen(const char_t *message) {
-  assertNotNull(message, "Message cannot be NULL");
   // This is the last line of defense - it must never itself fail, so a
   // second fatal error while one is already showing is silently dropped
   // rather than asserting.
   if(UI_FATAL_ERROR.open) return;
+  if(message == NULL) message = UI_FATAL_ERROR_GENERIC_MESSAGE;
 
   stringCopy(
     UI_FATAL_ERROR.messageText, message, UI_FATAL_ERROR_MESSAGE_MAX - 1
diff --git a/src/dusk/ui/overlay/uifatalerror.h b/src/dusk/ui/overlay/uifatalerror.h
index c392960c..043b58c1 100644
--- a/src/dusk/ui/overlay/uifatalerror.h
+++ b/src/dusk/ui/overlay/uifatalerror.h
@@ -14,6 +14,9 @@
 #define UI_FATAL_ERROR_MESSAGE_SPRITES_MAX UI_FATAL_ERROR_MESSAGE_MAX
 #define UI_FATAL_ERROR_ITEM_COUNT 1
 #define UI_FATAL_ERROR_QUIT_LABEL "QUIT"
+#define UI_FATAL_ERROR_GENERIC_MESSAGE \
+  "An unexpected error occurred and the game must exit. " \
+  "Please contact support if this issue persists."
 
 typedef struct {
   bool_t open;
@@ -46,6 +49,10 @@ errorret_t uiFatalErrorInit(void);
  *
  * @param message The error text to display; copied internally, safe to
  * be transient. Truncated to UI_FATAL_ERROR_MESSAGE_MAX - 1 characters.
+ * May be NULL, in which case UI_FATAL_ERROR_GENERIC_MESSAGE is shown
+ * instead - useful for callers with no specific error text to report
+ * (or that don't want to risk formatting/locale-lookup failures of their
+ * own right before calling this, the last line of defense).
  */
 void uiFatalErrorOpen(const char_t *message);
 
diff --git a/src/dusk/ui/screen/mainmenu/uimainmenu.c b/src/dusk/ui/screen/mainmenu/uimainmenu.c
index ca05dee7..29e06cce 100644
--- a/src/dusk/ui/screen/mainmenu/uimainmenu.c
+++ b/src/dusk/ui/screen/mainmenu/uimainmenu.c
@@ -26,17 +26,7 @@
 #define UI_MAIN_MENU_INDEX_QUIT 2
 
 uimainmenu_t UI_MAIN_MENU;
-
-// Loaded lazily on first activation and kept resident for the rest of the
-// process - it's tiny and reused every time, so there's no benefit to
-// unlocking/reloading it between attempts (same lifetime convention as
-// e.g. LOCALE.entry). The persistent cutscene is normally already running
-// by the time this screen is reachable at all (chained straight from the
-// initial cutscene's own CUTSCENE item, see assets/cutscenes/initial.jsonc
-// and CUTSCENE_ITEM_TYPE_CUTSCENE in asset/loader/cutscene/
-// assetcutsceneloader.c) - this lock just gives uiMainMenuStartGame a
-// stable pointer to restart it with if that run already completed.
-static assetentry_t *MAIN_MENU_CUTSCENE_ENTRY = NULL;
+assetentry_t *MAIN_MENU_CUTSCENE_ENTRY = NULL;
 
 void uiMainMenuQuitConfirmed(const bool_t result, void *user) {
   if(result) ENGINE.running = false;
@@ -59,7 +49,7 @@ cutscene_t *uiMainMenuLoadCutscene(void) {
 
 void uiMainMenuSelectSaveResult(const uint8_t slotIndex, void *user) {
   if(slotIndex == UI_SELECT_SAVE_RESULT_NONE) {
-    uiMainMenuOpen();
+    cutsceneSystemLoad("main_menu.jsonc");
     return;
   }
 
@@ -75,10 +65,6 @@ void uiMainMenuOpenSelectSave(void *userData) {
 
 void uiMainMenuStartGame(void) {
   if(CUTSCENE_SYSTEM.scene == NULL) {
-    // The menu cutscene already ran to completion once (e.g. the player
-    // backed out of the save picker back to this menu) - restart it
-    // landing straight on NEW_GAME rather than replaying the idle/BGM
-    // setup from the top.
     cutsceneSystemStartCutsceneAndGoToMarker(
       uiMainMenuLoadCutscene(), "NEW_GAME"
     );
@@ -86,11 +72,6 @@ void uiMainMenuStartGame(void) {
     cutsceneGoTo("NEW_GAME");
   }
 
-  // Armed unconditionally, whether this just (re)started the cutscene or
-  // jumped one already running since boot (chained straight from the
-  // initial cutscene - see assets/cutscenes/initial.jsonc) - that first
-  // run is never otherwise armed by anything, so setting this only in the
-  // restart branch above would silently drop it on a fresh boot.
   cutsceneSystemSetOnComplete(uiMainMenuOpenSelectSave);
 }
 
@@ -107,7 +88,6 @@ void uiMainMenuSelected(
       break;
 
     case UI_MAIN_MENU_INDEX_OPTIONS:
-      // TODO: options.
       break;
 
     case UI_MAIN_MENU_INDEX_QUIT:
@@ -151,9 +131,6 @@ errorret_t uiMainMenuInit(void) {
   MENU_BUTTON(UI_MAIN_MENU.optionsLabel);
   MENU_BUTTON(UI_MAIN_MENU.quitLabel);
   MENU_END(UI_MAIN_MENU.items, 1);
-
-  // The main menu is the root screen once past the initial boot check -
-  // there's nothing to back out to, so back/cancel does nothing here.
   uiMenuSetDisableBack(&UI_MAIN_MENU.menu, true);
 
   errorOk();
diff --git a/src/dusk/ui/uielementlist.c b/src/dusk/ui/uielementlist.c
index 3a0426a5..9f3783dd 100644
--- a/src/dusk/ui/uielementlist.c
+++ b/src/dusk/ui/uielementlist.c
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 #include "ui/overlay/uiloading.h"
 #include "ui/overlay/uifatalerror.h"
 #include "ui/debug/uiplayerpos.h"
+#include "ui/debug/uicutscene.h"
 #include "ui/overlay/uicrop.h"
 #include "ui/transition/uitransition.h"
 #include "ui/debug/uiconsole.h"
@@ -156,6 +157,7 @@ uielement_t UI_ELEMENTS[] = {
   { .init = uiConsoleInit, .draw = uiConsoleDraw },
   { .init = uiFPSInit, .draw = uiFPSDraw },
   { .init = uiPlayerPosInit, .draw = uiPlayerPosDraw },
+  { .init = uiCutsceneInit, .draw = uiCutsceneDraw },
 
   // ===========================================================================
   // Null terminator