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Rooster is the best, and Dragon has been cool too. Snake + Rooster > Pig + Monkey is the route where I think we get to learn everything, so I hope we do that one next. It'll probably be more interesting than the Sheep's Clothing > Second Caw path. Easy escapes are boring.
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Apr 21, 2023 05:11
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ApplesandOranges posted:I can't believe Horse was the real mastermind all along! Not Horse, just a horse. It’ll be like the dog ending all over again. Mix. posted:still much better in terms of general cleanup than quantum suicide was, where literally two routes just were flooded with mistakes to the point i felt like i was doing editing work lmao It is astounding just how godawful Quantum Suicide was. Makes this game even better by comparison, really.
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Apr 21, 2023 08:13
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Junpei posted:So that's all of our 12 member's routes completed. Who, right now, is your favorite? Monkey's; it's fun to have a route that seems like chaotic nonsense if you get it early but makes perfect sense if you know the players and their motivations already.
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Apr 21, 2023 13:45
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Mouse was the most interesting for me, even though it clearly wasn't going to end well for everyone involved.
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Apr 21, 2023 15:37
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Mouse’s route was probably my favourite too. It feels the most different from the others. And Rooster’s a good teammate for traitor Mouse. Monkey’s is also pretty good. But feels a bit more contrived. Bifauxnen posted:Snake is up there for me too, but I think mine is Dog. His cynicism won me over early, and his conflicting self-preservation on principle versus not giving a poo poo about gambling with his life is a fun dynamic for someone in a death game. He's in a close battle with Rooster though, which surely needs no explanation. I mean I’m a sucker for Kaiji style gambling battles and I like Dog as a character but in his route itself it felt like everybody else was forced to act like a moron and just let Dog rush into another room to start taming attempts. Which was okay the first 2 times. But felt ridiculous the 6th time it happened. And it made things drag on too. So that knocked that route down a few notches for me. Routes: S: Mouse, Monkey A: Snake, Rooster B: Dog, Dragon, Bunny C: Tiger D: Ox, Horse E: Pig, Sheep As for characters: Good: Rooster, Monkey, Snake, Dog Decent: Mouse, Tiger, Dragon, Bunny Hella Mid: Pig Wasted Potential: Horse Weak: Ox, Sheep Funniest: Rooster Funniest to watch get clowned: Snake Most Dislikable: Bunny. He’s definitely the most dislikable but I do think he does a good job at being dislikable. Most Likeable: Probably Tiger or Mouse Least Consequential: Probably Pig. Yeah horse dies right at the start of a lot of routes, but that’s because they’d have to write around him a lot if he didn’t. Pig blends into the background a lot even when she’s around a long time. Most Noticeable: Probably Snake. He has some big centre-stage moments even on other people’s routes. Though they usually end badly for him. e.g. Beating Dog at Russian roulette then getting immediately shot in the face. Worst written: Ox. I just think he’s incredibly inconsistent. Most of the time he ignores rooting out traitors in order to hunt after trinkets. But sometimes he randomly does the opposite. It also feels like we’re supposed to think he’s smart but it doesn’t really feel like he makes smart decisions at any point (except maybe when he uncovers traitor Mouse). Contrast with Snake who’s clearly written as ‘smart but not nearly as smart as he thinks he is’. Best written: Maybe Dog? He’s the character with the most distinctly different but coherent layers to him (apathetic facade and bitter/depressed core). Most Mysterious: Monkey. Feels like any number of things could get revealed about her. Least Mysterious: Horse. If there’s a reveal that Horse was hired muscle for Bowen that will be the least surprising thing ever and whether he is or isn’t makes almost zero difference to his character. Any other reveals will would feel kind of bullshit. Mix. posted:The final branching point is if you fail to talk Dragon down at the end. ...Unfortunately, like the first ending, there's almost nothing to show here too, since a wrong choice immediately has Dragon lunge at Mouse and beat her to death with the pipe, no matter which choice it is you make wrong. 100% mortality rate for this bad ending I believe. With a possible exception of if Monkey is an accomplice and has a way to avoid execution. Think that’s the bloodiest route we’ve seen so far. And RedQuestionMarks doesn’t seem to have much to say about it, usually he has some comment about better routes being available if almost everybody dies.
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Apr 21, 2023 19:12
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It's not quite 100% mortality, it seemed like Dragon had the possibility to survive in the good ending. If she just murdered Mouse and Ox here, she could probably escape? It seemed like the knife solution basically broke the execution mechanism in her collar, so even if she used her teammates' tablets and set off the execution, her collar might not go off.
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Apr 21, 2023 20:26
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Elite posted:Most Dislikable: Bunny. He’s definitely the most dislikable but I do think he does a good job at being dislikable. Agreed. Bunny is written well as a character the player wants to hate, and is an excellent representation to the player of the crooked cops on the force. He's extremely manipulative, quick to jump to violence as a solution, especially when it's not strictly necessary, and his primary motivation is to get himself out of the situation alive, drat the consequences. One thing that's neat is that because this isn't a VN where the player character is time traveling or otherwise experiencing each scenario, and each scenario is experienced fresh from the characters' perspective, you can see how Bunny's manipulation is fantastic for a one-off trust game, where if you he were to have to play multiple rounds, he'd almost certainly change tactics.
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Apr 21, 2023 20:48
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I don't think we're supposed to think Ox is smart. I think we're meant to think Ox thinks he's smart. And like, he's educated and stuff, as a lawyer. But...yeaah.
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Apr 21, 2023 23:15
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 Many people in the thread have pointed out that there are thirteen cards in a suit, not twelve, and they would be correct. Therefore, despite us being twelve routes down, there's still one card type we haven't touched yet... until now. The Aces. It is, in fact, possible to get onto the Ace path pre-emptively, but in addition to requiring a specific combination of choices early on you'll also need some other information in order to actually make progress – you'll see what I mean when we get there. For now, let's get started... In Round Two, Mouse will go explore with Horse and Sheep in the workout room. There, the trio will eventually find a Major Trinket – Sheep's Clothing. After this, the trio splits up to vote, and returns to the cafeteria. After Mouse talks with Sheep, the rest of the group returns and the results are posted – everyone ran, of course. For Round Three, Mouse decides to go explore with Bunny and Dog, and the three go to a large, forum-style classroom. A true or false puzzle is there, and after some time the trio solve it and gain access to another Major Trinket – The Second Caw. They then split up again to vote, and return to the cafeteria. The whole group continues their pattern of everyone running... only to witness the additional rules given after Round Three ends: ACCOMPLISHED can only win if they finish first with no more than two other people, and WEAK wants to finish last, which will result in only the two of them surviving. Like before, the Jade Emperor gives everyone 15 extra minutes to process this new information... [BGM: Mousetrap]   Is he serious? Probably. Then people are going to have to die, aren't they?Was that true? Then what was the point of all of this? It seemed to undermine everything Brian had said up until now. Unless... [BGM: Silence]   Wait a second, everybody... Mouse? There's something wrong here. What are you talking about?What was I talking about?  I said in the previous update that it was going to be the last Bonus Update until the story is finished, and I meant it – but that doesn't mean that the Ace path doesn't still have its own collection of ending paths. ...That being said, most of the endings on this path are functionally just a lock to check if you've either been paying attention, or if you've seen enough routes that you can progress, and that's it. They're all basically an immediate death for Mouse, so there's not really anything to show off – I'll just quickly summarize and show the ending card, and then we can move on.  If Mouse fails to find the loophole that will let the twelve escape as one, the group brushes her off and eventually they split up, with Mouse searching a classroom next to the cafeteria – which leaves her as the first target for one of the traitors (..who is Sheep, obviously). That's it.   [Ending – Ace of Clubs] Anyway, the obvious correct answer is, well... The rules don't actually mean two people have to die. Wh-what?! Er, Mouse, I'm beginning to question your listening comprehension. Wasn't it pretty clear that the accomplished and weak personalities couldn't work with the rest of us? Correct. People with those personalities can't win with the group. So you're defeating your own point! No, I'm not.[BGM: That Pesky Rodent]  If those personalities are the problem, then let's just get rid of them. Can we do that? I saw no such rule. Well, I did. Sheep, Horse, and I found a Major Trinket which allows somebody to replace their information with another person's. At first, I thought this just meant they could steal somebody's ability. However, I now realize that it could also be used to overwrite a personality. Hey... Mouse is right! That'll totally work! How intriguing. For real?! Great thinking, Mouse!  With this, there is a peaceful path ahead of us. Hold on. There's an issue. Why do you always have to be such a downer? If I remember, that Trinket was one time use. Which means we can only save one person. Seriously?  drat it! Even when it looks like there's a path to safety, it gets snatched away! It's alright, Pig, things are still under control. Because there's still a way to save everybody. Well then, let us hear it. Dog, Bunny, and I found another Major Trinket. That one allows you to re-use the last item that was input. In other words, it allows you to copy an item, not a personality. If we combined the two... I believe I'm beginning to see the picture. Hmm. Yes, this should work. A good thing, too. I'm not sure what I would have done had there not been a solution like this. So that means...? Correct. I have the accomplished personality. Had you not worked out a solution, Mouse, well, things would have gotten far more complicated for me. So I thank you for that. Uh, you're welcome. I-If, uh, if this is really going to work... Then I'll also admit that I'm the, uh, the weak personality. ...But we can fix that, right? Of course we can fix it! With these items, we'll be able to work together as a team! Hoorah! Yes, hoorah indeed.[BGM: Dog Days]  It was incredible how quickly the atmosphere morphed from one of defeat to accomplishment. There was a palpable feeling of positivity, like we had beaten Brian at his own game. We had worked out a loophole in his design, and instead of turning against each other, we could all survive. For my part, I felt quite smug about piecing the whole thing together, but I tried to remain humble. Instead, I took out the Major Trinkets to help coordinate things. We decided that Horse's ability and personality would be the safest to copy. And before long, Ox and Sheep returned from their classrooms, attesting that it had worked perfectly.  It is fascinating though. What is? The obvious plan for a team would be to search the entire school for Minor Trinkets. In that search, it is almost certain that we would have found both of these Major Trinkets. It would not take too much thinking to put the pieces together and save those with a special personality. So Brian was accurate when he said that this was a trial of our character. And he was truthful when he said we could all get out together. If we were all really virtuous and level-headed, the accomplished and weak personalities would out themselves, and help the group search for trinkets. Then, when the group found those two Major Trinkets, we would realize th at everyone could survive. However, I wonder what would have happened had we not found those Trinkets before the announcement even played. I think it not improbable that instead of banding together like this, things would have devolved into chaos, resulting in very few of us surviving. What is the purpose of this thought experiment? I suppose there isn't one in particular. Then let's get back to business. We might have thwarted the Jade Emperor once, but let's not forget we're still in grave danger. We don't know what other tricks he may try, and we still need to actually find the 12 Minor Trinkets. He gave us an extra 15 minutes to try and sort things out, but it's definitely been longer than that. We need to get back to our search. Agreed! Let's split up again and search throughout the school. Yeah! We got this! Let's clear this game in style! My, what a festive mood. This morale should help our effectiveness. Or it'll make us complacent. Whatever, whatever, we need to start searching, let's start searching. And start searching we did. The group fanned throughout the school, turning over every room with great efficiency. And, sure enough, we found a fair share of Minor Trinkets. One in a safe in the auditorium, another in the Nurse's office, a third in a locked trophy case. And it wasn't just Minor Trinkets, but Major Trinkets we found too. Blinders which shuffled everyone's positions on the board and made everybody's piece anonymous, a mousetrap which let you move backwards as much as you wanted... Rooster even found a pistol in a classroom on the second floor. ...He did a lot of posing with it before Bunny confiscated it from him. We continued to update each other on our progress by meeting in the cafeteria at the end of each round. [BGM: Silence]  Then, in the sixth round, I found something interesting in the computer lab on the third floor. One of the computer screens in the fourth row was open. I figured I should try checking it out. Looking at it, the screen had a PNG file of a giant '9' minimized. ...Weird. Curious, I tried turning on a bunch of the other computers. Most of them were powered off, but 3 of them turned on. One in each row. The 3 that turned on were locked. They all needed a username and a password. ...But I couldn't help but notice the fact that the profile picture of these three computers were all unique. The first was a picture of an Ox. The second, a picture of a Tiger. The third, a picture of a Bunny. That couldn't be a coincidence. I looked around the computer a bit more, before finding a sign that seemed pertinent. How to Start a Computer: A Guide: The username will be the owner's first name. The password will be their role. Possible roles: tool, complicit, judge, killer. Note: Capitalization Matters. ...Yeah, this was definitely one of Brian's puzzles. I didn't quite get it, but I figured there was no harm in giving it a shot. As you can probably guess, this is the main “lock” keeping players from hitting this route too early, as it expects you to have played enough of the other routes to know the answers. If you fail to unlock any of the other computers, Mouse goes back to the only one that was unlocked and starts digging around, trying to find anything. However, before she can find anything of note, a mystery assailant grabs Mouse from behind and chokes her to death. That's it.  [Ending – Ace of Diamonds] Anyway, let's actually unlock the other computers – we have all the information we need. Starting with the computer with an ox on it, the username is Davis (his name, which we learned on Mouse's route) and the password is tool, as he was used as a tool to get the guilty verdict, being someone easy to fool. Mouse unlocks all three computers before bothering to actually look at any of them, so we'll do the same – the second computer with a tiger's username is Zahara, and its password is killer, because of the rumors about her springing from the incident with her mother. The last computer, with a rabbit on it, is Gerry, with the password complicit, as he willingly took the fall for others' corruption and is willing to turn a blind eye to stuff. Also, before anyone starts thinking about whether this is meant to be some kind of timeline-jumping weird pseudo-knowledge stuff... Nope, it's just Mouse doing her best to remember the names of some of the people involved with the case (information she would have learned considering her father was the defense attorney) and then trial and error-ing her way through. [BGM: Queen of the Jungle]  I had done it! I wracked my brain hard, remembered the names of some of the people who had been involved with that case, took some guesses... and got through. Though the results were slightly concerning... more importantly, I had gotten all the computers open! It... was weird that the fourth computer was already open, and that there was still a word left unused... Had someone opened that computer already? ...Eh, that didn't matter right now. What mattered was the fact that I had three computer screens to check. I checked all of them, and found the only thing on each of them was an open .png file. The first computer had a 2, the second a 3, and the third a 4. Combining that with the 9 I had found earlier, it was a code of some sort. But... for what? As soon as I checked the file names for all the images, I figured out what it was. Put together, it spelt 'Pig Minor Trinket'. It was... unorthodox, but I had gotten my hands on another Minor Trinket! Yes! My escapade had helped make even more progress for the group. But I wasn't alone in finding Trinkets. By the start of the seventh round, we had found 10 Minor Trinkets. It really looked like we were on a roll. ...However, it was at that point we ran into a bit of a problem. [BGM: Lucky Foot]  So, hold on a second. We spent that entire round, and we didn't find anything? That's like... really bad, isn't it? We are starting to run out of time. It'd be an awful shame if we weren't able to find enough trinkets by the end. It would, so why are you saying it like that?? Like what? Whatever, whatever, I don't have time to deal with you. We've been rather methodical in our search up until this point, have we not? Nobody's been going over ground that's already been searched. If we continue to look for trinkets in vain... ...things could become quite vexing. You're telling me! We've already done a full tour of this place. What's next, going back to places we've already seen? How... dreary.  Have some of y'all not been doing your fuckin' job? How hard is it to find these things? Perhaps they are being found, but simply not shared. Wh-what are you talking about? We are currently under the assumption that everyone is on the same page. However, it is pos– Oh, can it, would you Snake? First of all, we only need one more Trinket. I can use my ability to hitch a ride on one of you guys. I'm sure there have been places we haven't checked yet, so let's keep looking. I understand the concern. If a mere two Trinkets are entirely out of reach, the entire enterprise falls apart. I'm not entirely unconvinced Brian forgot to label one of his Minor Trinkets. What are you talking about?[BGM: Ox's Logic]   Earlier, I found something in the library which has the same shape and build as a Trinket. But there's nothing written on it. No code or anything.A blank trinket, huh? Hmm... was there anything else notable about the scene? Not really? There was a written message that was odd. “I have stolen blood from my kin.” I didn't really get it, though. Stolen blood from my kin, huh...?A thought crossed my mind. Something that had stuck out like a sore thumb to me was the fact that certain Minor Trinkets had specific numbers written in red. Hey, everybody, could we pool our Minor Trinkets on the table right here? I want to try looking at all the ones we've got so far. I asked, and the group complied. There were three instances of a number in a sequence being colored red. Once on the first digit, once on the third, and once on the fourth. It seemed too important to be coincidental. If the missing Trinket had a red digit as well, that'd be four numbers. Like a four digit code. So, what, was I supposed to just take whatever number was written in red and put that in the place for an original 12th trinket? If that were the case, then we wouldn't be able to solve this Trinket until we found the missing one. But... that solution seemed overly simplistic. And I felt like there was some pattern I was seeing with the numbers, something I couldn't quite put my finger on. I spent some more time looking at all the Trinkets. Some of the others had already split off to look for more Trinkets themselves. But I was onto something... Suddenly, I realized the pattern I had been overlooking. All the four digit codes without a red number were divisible by 9. Every single one of them. And every four digit code with a red number wasn't. So that meant... Perhaps the red number was some sort of “false number”? And the real number would be the number that made the four digit code divisible by 9? So for the code 4376, with the number 6 written in red... The real number should actually be a 4. If my theory was correct, then the Minor Trinket Ox found should end with a 4.  I worked out the other red numbers, and got the code '5X24'. '5X24', huh... now if I only had that last number... ...Wait, what was I talking about? If all the codes were divisible by 9... I had solved it! I had pieced together an eleventh Trinket! ...Maybe. Honestly, a lot of my deduction was based off of guesswork. I had no assurance that I was actually right in my line of thinking. Well... there was really only one way of telling for sure. This was originally an actual puzzle the player had to solve, but Themis took it out at some point because I guess it was deemed too much of a headache. I made my way into an empty classroom and took out my tablet. I pressed the ITEM button. And I typed in '5724'. When I submitted it, I was worried I would be met with an error. However, to my surprise and delight, the code had worked. YES!!I cheered audibly. What is it?[BGM: Friendly Bunny]  Ox entered. He had been watching me work in silence for some time now. I figured it out. I just input the code for the 11th Minor Trinket. Oh? Well, good for you. It appears we'll be able to finish things in the next two rounds, thanks to you. Very solid work. Aw, thanks. However, I must say – weren't you supposed to use your ability on one of us? What now? Oh, er... well, you can use your ability. I'll move first, so you'll move one space after me. And then you can use the code I just input next round and I'll use my ability on you. That should get everything sorted, right? Indeed, it should.
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Apr 22, 2023 00:02
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content warning: suicide, implied child abuse [BGM: Friendly Bunny]  And like that, we had a plan! After a brief celebration, we gathered everyone back in the cafeteria and told them the good news. Needless to say, everybody was very enthused that the nightmare would soon be over.  Let's go! Thank god, this will finally be over. I must say, there wasn't much of a climax to the action. The tension just kind of... slowly fizzled out. Well, thank god for that. Uh, anyways, I suppose that means we should all use a Minor Trinket this round, right? Correct. Two more rounds, and we're done. Two more rounds.[BGM: Stripes]  Two more rounds... but it wasn't like they were anything to be worried about. There were no more obstacles in the way of group unity. People hung around in the general area of the cafeteria, going to private rooms to input their actions at their leisure. While there was still some tension, people were far calmer than they had been before. I heard a number of people breaking into conversations. I just don't get why my dog can't learn basic tricks! They're not hard at all – I could do them! See, this is why cats are better. They're just chill. They don't do tricks, and you don't expect them to. Tiger, have you been using positive reinforcement when teaching your dog a trick? What's that? It's training a brain to connect positive stimuli with a certain pattern of behavior. Pavlov actually made great strides in this field by– This is going to be boring, isn't it? I-I don't think so. So the answer's yes.Monkey frowned. …  I guess I just don't get it. Aaron Morris did kill Amadeus Bowen, right? I thought that was proven. Of course he did. I proved that myself. There really isn't any other way for it to have gone – I investigated all the suspects myself. You included, Mr. – er, Rooster. To be honest, I thought it was the secretary at first. Good thing for her that that artist's testimony backs her up. So if it's all so clear, why is this guy so sure his dad was innocent? Delusion, most likely. A son couldn't reconcile his nice father with the act of murder. His dad wasn't a bad person, so the bad people had to be elsewhere. A childish mindset through and through. Even if he killed Amadeus, that doesn't make the man a bad person. I mean, there's that saying about ill dead people or whatever, but gently caress that dude. He sucked big time. Really? I don't know so much about that... All I know is that the public certainly loved him. For once, Rooster's right. I certainly don't condone murder, but I didn't exactly weep for Amadeus Bowen. After looking into the case, there are certainly many bad stories about that man. Ox gets it! Dipshit refused to ever invest any funding into my films. Artless cretin. Well, that wasn't exactly what I was referring to, but... whatever.… [BGM: Silence]  For the most part, I kept to myself. I was just going over everything in my head, overwhelmed by it all. When the round ended, everybody moved 11 spaces, except for Ox, who moved 10. That was that then – one more cycle would settle things. We were finally reaching an end. Enough time had passed, so I decided to go into a nearby classroom to use my tablet. Finally. Finally, with this, the nightmare would be over. It was the last thing I needed to do to settle things once and for all. I walked into the room and activated my ability on Ox. Simple as that. Things were now settled. However, before I could leave the room, a voice crackled on over the speakers. [BGM: Rat's Awakening]   Well, are you happy Mouse? Happy that you were all able to band together, to finish things without any casualties? I imagine you aren't. You think so little of me. Mouse, you must understand, this too was an outcome I intended to be possible. Granted, I didn't think it likely. Still, it was always on the table. If you all were truly innocent of heart, you wouldn't be easily swayed by my words. You'd be calm, rational, work as a group, and evade the traps set for you. And we did just that. Doesn't that prove you wrong – prove that you going through all this trouble was for nothing? ...Perhaps. However, I wonder how many times you would've had to fail before you could get a success like this. Had to fail? The hell does that mean? Had this outcome been the result of a cosmic dice roll, I was just wondering how many times God would have to roll those dice to see something like this. I imagine... quite a few times. I imagine, more often than not, your sin would doom you. Sounds like a lot of bullshit coming from a sore loser. I don't know how little you think of us, but I know for sure that no matter how many times you'd put us through this, we'd always band together. If you say so. You can only act smug for so long, Brian. Soon enough, we're gonna be out of this place, and then you're going to jail for a long time. Indeed. I imagine the police won't look too favorably on all of this. My only regret is that I won't be able to land a punch on your face myself. You know, if you really want to, I'll let you.For a second, my body froze. What... do you mean? Outside the school, there's a football field. There's a small building right beside the fence surrounding that field. I've been using that as my base of operations. So if you want to come find me – to get justice yourself – that's where I'll be. And you're telling me this because... Think of it as a reward for a perfect victory. Tch. Do I look dumb to you? This smells like an obvious trap, no way in hell I'm gonna go there by myself. Suit yourself. Just thought you might like to know.And with that, the speakers cut off. Jeez. Even after his game has failed, Brian still found ways to piss me off. What did he think he was doing, telling me his location like that? It just didn't make any sense. Whatever, why bother thinking about it for too long? [BGM: Silence]  I strode out of the classroom I had taken shelter in, back to the cafeteria. There, I continued to wait. As the Round's deadline got closer, more and more people took excursions to separate rooms. All presumably inputting the code for their Minor Trinket, bringing them closer to victory. I didn't pay them too much mind – I was still busy fuming about Brian. However, something in particular caught my eye. And that 'something' was Dragon angrily pulling Snake down the hallway towards the very end of the round. That didn't look good. I knew it wasn't my place, but I thought it strange, not to mention a little disconcerting. Conflict of any kind, this late in the game, didn't sit well with me. I thought about following after them to see exactly what the matter was, to see if I could perhaps resolve it.  This is the last choice for the Ace route. The wrong choice is to intervene here; following Snake and Dragon results in Brian coming in over the speakers to chide Mouse for being nosy. Before she can even begin to wonder why he's upset all three of their collars activate, leading to their death. Weird! This is also the only ending on the Ace path where the ending dialogue is worth showing, since this ending isn't a lock...  Almost there. We're nearly there. However, Mouse's presence in the fight between Snake and Dragon will muddy things up. There's a better way to deal with her.So, she just won't get involved. After thinking about it some more, it really wasn't my place to intervene in every single petty squabble that happened. They were both adults, they could work things out themselves. Best to let things play out naturally. So as the two walked down the hallway, I didn't pay them mind. ...However, as the minutes passed, I couldn't help but notice that they hadn't yet returned. Even as everyone else was gathered around the TV, even as the round end announcement was about to go off, they weren't here. The hell? Before I could think about it too much, the screen finally came on. Here's the moment of truth.What shouldn't have been tense suddenly felt as such. Round 9 has ended. Now, let us see how the race has progressed. The Rat has hitched a SNEAKY RIDE on Ox. The Ox has used a minor trinket. The Ox has moved to the finish line. Thanks to the SNEAKY RIDE, The Rat also moves to the finish line. The Tiger has used a minor trinket. The Tiger has moved to the finish line. The Bunny has used a minor trinket. The Bunny has moved to the finish line. The Dragon has failed to input an action. The Snake has failed to input an action. The Horse has used a minor trinket. The Horse has moved to the finish line. The Sheep has used a minor trinket. The Sheep has moved to the finish line. The Monkey has used a minor trinket. The Monkey has moved to the finish line. The Rooster has used a minor trinket. The Rooster has moved to the finish line. The Dog has used a minor trinket. The Dog has moved to the finish line. The Pig has used a minor trinket. The Pig has moved to the finish line. The finish line has been crossed. The winners are Mouse, Ox, Tiger, Bunny, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig. Congratulations! Anyone who has not won has lost. Prepare for execution.*click* [BGM: That Pesky Rodent]  What the hell was this? I didn't even register the fact that the collar around my neck had become unlocked. That couldn't... That couldn't possibly be right, could it? No, no way, it just wasn't possible. We had won. We had worked together, we had beaten Brian's game. So why... Why was it ending like this? Why did we still have two casualties?? The others looked similarly confused. What on earth...? Hey, uh, is there a mistake here or something? This isn't good. We should go check on those two, to see what has...Monkey didn't finish her sentence. She didn't need to. We got the picture. Everybody, they went this way.I took the initiative, leading the group to where I knew Dragon and Snake had gone. I hurriedly walked to a scene that I didn't want to see. Unfortunately, as I peered into an open classroom down the hallway, my fears were confirmed. NO!!The others crowded around to see the executed bodies of Dragon and Snake. I didn't need to do a thorough check to know what had happened. The blood on the floor, around their necks. It painted the picture just fine.   Wh-wh-what... Why didn't they input their actions? Those guys... drat it! Were they seriously so caught up in an argument they didn't notice the time limit for the round?! This is why I said we should've all input our actions at the start of the round! Heh. If that's what happened, then that's a pretty dumb way to die. And believe me, I've seen a lotta dumb ways. Oh, for the love of – Shut up, Dog! Actually, I don't think that's what happened. Look... Dragon is gripping onto Snake's tablet, and vice versa. So what are you saying? They got their tablets mixed up? There's no way! Each tablet has its respective animal drawn on its back very clearly! Maybe they forgot what their animal looks like? A dragon's kinda like a snake, when you think about it. Rooster, I do not believe jokes are appropriate at this time. Right. And? ...Never mind. I don't think this is a simple mix-up. The two were arguing before, right? Maybe one deliberately operated the other's tablet to kill them. What?! It's possible. If you wanted to kill someone, this would be the prime time to do so. B-but, uh, but both of them are dead. How do you explain that? Perhaps whoever was killed lunged out and operated the other person's tablet as they were being executed. Is that possible?! I'd think so. Especially if the first one down was someone vengeful like Dragon.[BGM: The Undying]  All these words were blurring together. I had stopped listening a while ago. Instead, I was just... Seething. Hating. I was just... angry, very angry with Brian. Furious with him. Furious with his bullshit game. I remembered his smug voice when I told him that we had won. Did he expect something like this would happen? ...Did he instigate it...? Regardless of the truth of the matter, Brian had now crossed a line. To kidnap us was one matter. To kill two of us, something else entirely. But how to... … … ... I took off my collar. Hey, Mouse, where are you going? Mouse! Wait up!I walked faster. Er, Mouse? Not sure if this is the time for a dramatic exit. Eh, let her do her thing. Probably needs to blow off some steam.Their voices were getting quieter. I was getting farther from the classroom. Closer to the door at the front of the building. Soon enough, I was at the entrance. ...Or rather, the exit. I grabbed the doorknob and pulled. I expected that it would be locked. However, to my surprise, I was able to open the door quite easily.  I suppose the collars on our neck were the real deterrent to leaving the building. As I walked outside, I could once again feel the sun on my skin. I could breathe fresh air. I was free. I could run straight back home. ...That's what I'd normally be thinking. However, none of those thoughts crossed my mind. Instead, I had a single goal in mind. Now... where did Brian say where he was?  I looked around, and soon enough, I saw the small building by the football field he was referring to. I strode towards it confidently. A punch? He thought he was only going to get a punch from me? He thought his sins were worth a punch? No, no. I was going to teach him how it felt to be choked out. I stormed towards the building with such frustration. However... as I actually stood by the door, I hesitated for a moment. Was I being stupid? Could I really confront the Jade Emperor? ...No, no. This wasn't the Jade Emperor. This was just some sick kid. A kid in need of punishment. Time slowed down. I gripped the door handle. I began to open the door. I felt some... weird resistance, as I pulled it open. What was this feeling? My eyes darted downwards. Was... that a wire in the door crack? As I began to think about what all of these sensations mi– *BLAAAAAM!* … … … … … … [BGM: Lamb to the Slaughter]  ”The news surrounding the incident that took place at XXXX High School is still incoming as we get more information surrounding the incident. Truly, this appears to be the story of the year. News of the purported 'death game' has been sweeping the nation, as millions are eager to know what exactly happened. Luckily, it appears the mastermind behind this event has already passed away. Still, it is a true tragedy. The bodies of a local community leader and a respected teacher at the high school were found inside the premises, apparently executed by a crude mechanical device strapped to their necks. Additionally, a young law student was caught in a fatal explosion, killed by a device rigged inside the operating base of the mastermind. Police suspect that the mastermind intended to die alongside whoever came to capture him in a final act of terrorism. Indeed, the body of the mastermind was found incinerated inside the base. Perhaps most shockingly, this mastermind has been identified as one Brian Morris, a senior at the very high school the incident took place at. The motive for such an act of terror? The boy was purportedly vengeful for his father, whom he considers 'wrongfully executed'. Indeed, the victims of the mass-kidnapping incident all have some connection to another mysterious case from years past. Many are skeptical that such an absurdly complex act of terror could be carried out by a single child. However, investigations into the matter highly support the idea that Brian acted alone. Records of him manufacturing the bizarre collars used in the incident, as well as getting his hands on a variety of dangerous weapons have been found. This has re-sparked a long held debate in this nation regarding restricting access to such things. Additionally, proof that Brian directly kidnapped at least nine of the victims the night before the incident has been found, with heavy circumstantial evidence remaining for the final three. Notebooks owned by Brian show the frightening process in which he concocted the idea for the 'death game', as well as the various 'items' he would hide, where he would hide them, and additional details. A thorough sweep of the high school reveals that most, if not all of the ideas Brian had written down were, in fact, present. These notes show that Brian was apparently considering a handful of other candidates for his sadistic game. The alternate candidates incude the judge responsible for handling the sentence of Aaron Morris, Chief of Police Oliver Bowen, and Anna Redd, an associate of the late Amadeus Bowen.  The system used to operate the entire endeavor has also been poured through. A frightening amount of forethought went into coding the system on which the 'death game' ran. Analysis reveals that a majority of the game was handled automatically, with plenty of voice clips being pre-recorded. However, other aspects of the 'game' were manually operated via a custom app the mastermind installed on a burner phone. With all of this evidence combined with the testimonies of the survivors, the police are currently concluding that Brian Morris acted alone in this unprecedented act of terror. While the official investigation into this incident may be coming to a close, the public is still left with many questions. Early inves–“ *click*  [Ending – Ace of Spades] The perfect sequence of events. The only casualties are the necessary ones. A highly reliable path, with minimal room for error. Should be easy to arrange, and sets the stage perfectly. The intended result.…  The deck of cards are dropped back onto the table. I've got it. Are you sure? I mean, I know you've been shuffling through that deck of cards for hours now, which... creepy, I might add. But you weren't actually doing much. Oh, I was doing plenty. I've died, what, a couple dozen times at this point? More? I wasn't keeping track, but that's besides the point. Um... okay then. So... are we good now? Of course. I've mapped out the perfect sequence to take care of things just the way you want. Fantastic. I knew I could count on you.  So what now? Things should already be in the process of being put into action at this point, correct? There's not much left. For now, I'll handle capturing the mouse, and you get the rest. Think you can handle that? Of course I can! Don't condescend to me. I wouldn't dream of it....And like that, the room had one person in it. [BGM: Sleepy Sheep]  It's funny, mapping everyone's lives on a board like this. Moving them like pieces. Having them completely under my control. It's... liberating. Now, I'm the one that makes the decisions.…  Psychiatrist: I take no joy in reporting this to you, however... Guardian: What, what's wrong with the brat? Psychiatrist: I don't know how else to put it. I believe your child is suffering from an inability to feel emotions – or at least, a severe impairment to do so. Looking at things historically, this is often a symptom of the brain lacking– Guardian: Hold on, I don't give a drat about the science of it all! Are you telling me that my kid's a freak?! Psychiatrist: Now hold on, I didn't say freak. Let's be careful with terminology. Guardian: You're saying they can't feel emotions? That's... sociopathic! That's the epitome of being a freak! …  The doctor was wrong. It's not that I couldn't feel emotions. It's just that I didn't need to feel them unless I wished to. I had control over them... in a very literal sense. Really, this was an advantage. Wasn't it? ...No, there were drawbacks to it. I learned pretty quickly that my reactions weren't like the others. That I was viewed differently than the others. To remedy that, I got better at leaving them 'on' all the time. For a time, that was perfect. I was able to blend in... more or less. It took me a while before I came to the painful realization of how careless I was being, leaving them on like that. Since then, I've learned. … Why am I thinking about that person, now of all times? This is unproductive. Well... maybe I could sympathize with them a bit more, now. After all... It really does feel good to be in control of other people's lives.
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Apr 22, 2023 00:02
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Okaaay. This definitely isn't where I saw things going!
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Apr 22, 2023 00:17
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Yeah, that's one way to handle multiple paths. Wow. So if I'm reading that right, green ??? is in fact our Jade Emperor. Red ??? ... My gut feeling is Rooster, but it could also be Monkey. Clever pronoun-dodging at the end there.
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Apr 22, 2023 00:33
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But... the only time we've heard about this "turning emotions off" stuff before was with Mouse.
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Apr 22, 2023 01:04
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Using Sheep's Clothing and Second Craw to undo the traitors' personalities was a brilliant move. Plus we got to learn 2 more Major Trinkets and their effects, so that's just 3 left (Mouse's major trinket would have been terrific for the personality that needs to come in last). We may get to learn what they are since I have a feeling that this is not yet over...
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Apr 22, 2023 01:29
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Well, that wasn't happy. Why did Dragon and Snake have to die?  The computer room had #9 already unlocked, which is Monkey's (given that 2, 3, and 4 were Ox, Tiger, and Bunny). So does that make Monkey the judge? Or maybe she judges her patients too much. Monkey was also the one who caused Dragon and Snake to double die during her route. Perhaps she instigated the same problem in the Aces route. As Rooster would say..., "I have questions."
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Apr 22, 2023 01:50
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Yeah, for some reason I didn't think of simply erasing the bad personalities. Oops. I would be surprised if Red ??? isn't Monkey. Brian has no reason to hang out with Rooster, but has every reason to be hanging out with Monkey. He also seems deferential, which some clients would be to a trusted therapist. The question is "why did Dragon, Snake, and Mouse have to die?" My guess would be those were the only three who would be able to figure out what Monkey did after the fact. Mouse and Snake by general intelligence, Dragon by some connection they have as yet unrevealed. Or they just used Dragon to get rid of Snake. Tallgeese fucked around with this message at 02:03 on Apr 22, 2023 |
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Apr 22, 2023 01:59
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quote:Blinders which shuffled everyone's positions on the board and made everybody's piece anonymous, a mousetrap which let you move backwards as much as you wanted Well the second one is obviously Mouse's Major Trinket. What's the first one? The animals left whose trinkets are unidentified were Tiger, Bunny, Horse, Monkey. It doesn't sound like a Tiger trinket, so that's out. You could make an argument for any of the other three - Bunny could hop everyone's positions around, Monkey is mischievous, and Horse blinders are a thing. Anyway, that's a pretty interesting route. Dragon being identified as a 'community leader' too, rather than a gangster. Those three being the 'necessary' deaths... yeah I have no idea. We know Dragon's confused as to why she was brought into the game, but hrmm, not sure about Snake. Anyway, Green ??? definitely sounds like Rooster, that speech pattern matches. Red ???... honestly sounds like Monkey, to be honest. Seemingly composed, great at manipulating people. And we also learned her real name... but we didn't use it.
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Apr 22, 2023 04:53
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Red ??? is almost certainly Monkey, there has been more than enough suspicious moments from her in general, and as Brian's therapist she'd be in the perfect position to help him plan this whole thing or even manipulate him into it in the first place. I like the framing of the different routes being her planning out how things will go with people pushed in different directions by the trinkets and traitor roles. Green ??? ought to be Brian, but there might be more of a twist there. The way that the news report was so very insistent that Brian did everything all by himself is suspicious. Dragon, Snake and Mouse being the optimal deaths eludes me at the moment. The only explanation that works that I can think of is the one that points out that Snake and Mouse are the ones most likely to figure Monkey out. Dragon might then fit into that if Rooster is collaborating with (or is) the Jade Emperor, so her elimination as the one most directly responsible (in Rooster's eyes) for his parent's deaths would be a condition of his support/silence. It feels a bit of a flimsy theory, though.
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Apr 22, 2023 08:33
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The fact the news were so insistent on blaming everything on Brian kinda gives the feeling the masterminds are involved in the conspiracy imo, and not just the ??? covering their tracks. Also Brian is absolutely dead all along, the fact the game used prerecorded stuff + a burner phone that anyone could have was used implies as such. Together with the ending covering up the truth. I do like how the game hasn't taken a swerve into pseudoscience (yet). It's funny to think that all along the Red ??? were just making predictions on how the game they work if they found X and not simulating or something similar, and theyvdialog at the endings was the extent they knew. Meaning Mouse is gonna have to take a wild turn to truly end this if there's more to come.
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Apr 22, 2023 08:54
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Ace of Diamonds bad ending has someone kill Mouse even after she’s shared the strategy for getting everyone out alive. So someone in the building must have motives beyond survival. The computers Mouse opens are: Ox, which shows the number 2 Tiger, which shows the number 3 Bunny, which shows the number 4 There’s a computer already unlocked which shows the number 9. Ox, Tiger, Bunny are the 2nd, 3rd, 4th players in the game. So who’s the 9th player, who’d match that 4th computer? It’s Monkey. So that means Monkey is the “judge”, so is presumably involved in setting up the death game. Pretty confident on that. I’m less confident on why Snake and Dragon died but my guess is that maybe Snake opened that 4th computer? His route makes it clear that he thinks Brian/JE has some accomplice, so he’s the most inclined to search for incriminating evidence on other people. Then somehow Monkey instigated Dragon to fight Snake because he was getting close to uncovering her? Snake is pretty suspicious most of the time anyway, even more so if he’s off working on his own investigation instead of trinket hunting, and he’d likely explain himself badly if Dragon was suddenly pressing him for answers. Points to consider 1.Dragon drags Snake into a room a few minutes before the end of the round. 2.Snake and Dragon haven’t input any actions when the round ends. So initially I thought they got distracted by their argument and forgot to input actions and got executed due to that. Which is a pretty stupid way to die but seems more likely than them both operating each other’s tablets at the same time. 3. However Mouse also gets executed in the Ace of Hearts bad ending. And Mouse had already input her action before the argument between Dragon and Snake started. So now I’m thinking JE just executed everyone in that room for some reason. Which doesn’t seem entirely sporting. Maybe there’s a Major Trinket which has that as its power, which would be slightly more sporting. But basically Mouse couldn’t have been executed due to not acting and it really doesn’t sound like anyone else operated her tablet so there must be some third explanation.
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Apr 22, 2023 10:12
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Makes no difference to the race or ending, but Ox used Stampede to hop behind Mouse last round so he should be 1 tile behind the group. Odd error considering that the game very directly pointed that out itself.
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Apr 22, 2023 10:21
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Elite posted:Ace of Diamonds bad ending has someone kill Mouse even after she’s shared the strategy for getting everyone out alive. So someone in the building must have motives beyond survival. It's pretty clear the reason Mouse got executed is that she was gonna break up the argument, and that argument leading to Dragon and Snake dying is important to the plan AND Mouse is meant to die! ??? says the outcome where Dragon and Snake get killed and Mouse dies to the bomb is the ideal. So the mastermind broke the rules to ensure the scenario still happened in that route, but it's less ideal since it would make everyone suspicious.
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Apr 22, 2023 10:25
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GiantRockFromSpace posted:It's pretty clear the reason Mouse got executed is that she was gonna break up the argument, and that argument leading to Dragon and Snake dying is important to the plan AND Mouse is meant to die! ??? says the outcome where Dragon and Snake get killed and Mouse dies to the bomb is the ideal. So the mastermind broke the rules to ensure the scenario still happened in that route, but it's less ideal since it would make everyone suspicious. Hmmm. Tiger’s route also has ???’s say: “In that scenario, likely the only victims will be Dragon and Snake. An almost flawless victory. Theoretically ideal. However, this scenario is highly unstable. Let's find a more solid path to walk.” Originally I thought it was ‘almost flawless’ because only the traitors Dragon and Snake died. But it might be calling it close to ideal because Dragon and Snake died.
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Apr 22, 2023 10:46
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As an aside, I got morbidly curious how many kills each racer racks up over the course of the thirteen routes so far, across their good ends, so here's the (I think) tally of who they've killed, not including indirect kills like prayers or the taming whip. This is of course assuming that it's a mutual Dragon-Snake kill in the Monkey/Ace routes... which may be suspect, of course: Mouse: Ox, Dog, Horsex2* Ox: Bunny, Rooster, Dog, Pig** Tiger: Dragon, Snake, Sheep Bunny: Horse Dragon: Bunnyx2, Snakex2, Rooster, Dog Snake: Tiger, Sheep, Dragonx3, Snake, Horse, Rooster, Dog Horse: Tigerx3, Bunnyx2, Dragonx2, Snake, Monkey, Rooster*, Dogx2 Sheep: Dragon, Horse, Dog, Pigx2 Monkey: None Rooster: Oxx2, Bunnyx2, Snake, Dragon, Horsex2*, Sheep, Monkey, Pig Dog: Snakex2, Sheep Pig: Pig * Depending on choice made in the Mouse route. It either goes (Horse kills Rooster, Mouse kills Horse) or (Rooster kills Horse). ** Depending on choice made in Ox route. Either Ox kills Pig, or he indirectly commits suicide via Kavka's Poison. Despite Horse's murder spree in the Mouse route, Snake has nearly the same kill count, and Rooster is on par. For a more comprehensive tally: Mouse: Kills Ox in Mouse route. Kills Dog in Dragon route. Kills Horse in Horse route. Optionally kills Horse in Mouse route. Ox: Kills Bunny, Rooster and optionally Pig in Ox route. Kills Rooster in Dragon route. Tiger: Kills Dragon and Snake in Tiger route. Kills Sheep in Monkey route. Bunny: Kills Horse in Monkey route. Dragon: Kills Bunny in Bunny route. Kills Snake in Monkey and Ace routes. Kills Rooster in Rooster route. Kills Dog in Dog route. Snake: Kills Tiger, Sheep, Dragon, Dog and Snake in Snake route. Kills Horse in Dragon route. Kills Dragon in Monkey and Ace routes. Kills Rooster in Monkey route. Horse: Kills Tiger, Bunny, Dragon, Monkey, Dog, and optionally Rooster in Mouse route. Kills Tiger, Bunny, Dragon, Snake and Dog in Horse route. Kills Tiger in Monkey route. Sheep: Kills Dragon, Horse, Dog and Pig in Sheep route. Kills Pig in Monkey route. Rooster: Kills Bunny, Snake, Sheep, Pig and optionally Horse in Mouse route. Kills Ox, Bunny, Horse and Dragon in Rooster route. Kills Ox in Monkey route. Kills Monkey in Pig route. Dog: Kills Snake in Dog route. Kills Snake and Sheep in Dragon route. Pig: Suicides in Pig route. ApplesandOranges fucked around with this message at 13:29 on Apr 22, 2023 |
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Apr 22, 2023 11:35
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There's another question that I have. Remember how on Mouse's route, she learned that she was a last-minute substitution for the judge? Based on what we learned in this route, it implies that information was a lie since Mouse has been involved in every route. So, was this conversation happening after the judge's death and they were trying to find the perfect substitution? Or was the idea that Mouse was a substitution just used to make her willing to fight for her life in the event she was named a traitor?
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Apr 22, 2023 15:31
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quote:After Mouse talks with Sheep I presume this is the 'decide if Sheep trusts the group or not' decision, so what happens if Mouse tells Sheep not to? I mean, Mouse outs the presence of Sheep's Clothing anyway.
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Apr 22, 2023 18:52
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ApplesandOranges posted:I presume this is the 'decide if Sheep trusts the group or not' decision, so what happens if Mouse tells Sheep not to? I mean, Mouse outs the presence of Sheep's Clothing anyway. No difference either way. That decision is only relevant when it comes to Sheep and Horse's routes, and otherwise never changes anything else really.
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Apr 22, 2023 20:07
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You know, if Monkey really is the one who's setting up this scenario, it would retroactively make her route really funny. Sure, you're definitely a master manipulator who can maneuver everyone else into killing each other off and then disappear mysteriously, I totally buy that.
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Apr 22, 2023 22:55
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if Monkey is the one who's setting up this scenario then whichever board certified her should be shot preferably out of a cannon
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Apr 23, 2023 00:36
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Just the newest line of exposure therapy.
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Apr 23, 2023 05:19
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Elite posted:Hmmm. It's only almost flawless, too, because Mouse lived.
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Apr 23, 2023 14:52
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I'm still not sure why on that route Brian couldn't tell just Mouse "well done, I'm down by the track if you want to know why those two still died" and then just pick her up on the spare just like on the Ace route, though?
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Apr 23, 2023 15:03
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dervival posted:I'm still not sure why on that route Brian couldn't tell just Mouse "well done, I'm down by the track if you want to know why those two still died" and then just pick her up on the spare just like on the Ace route, though? Probably because Tiger was the one who killed them on that route. Here Brian seemed to be directly responsible (or at least the circumstances surrounding their death are murky).
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Apr 23, 2023 15:08
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dervival posted:I'm still not sure why on that route Brian couldn't tell just Mouse "well done, I'm down by the track if you want to know why those two still died" and then just pick her up on the spare just like on the Ace route, though? Or from a more meta-perspective, that route never actually 'happened' and was just Monkey/Red ??? planning out how she expected it to go down. It was considered unstable because it depended highly on Tiger's state of mind, so once she reached the end of the 'simulation' she discarded it rather than go for the triple kill. eta: Another meta point that is bothering me, but it could just be me overthinking things. The last update has a content warning for suicide, but there is no onscreen suicide in the update unless I'm blind and missed something. Snake/Dragon are executed, Mouse is caught by a trap, and Brian is reported to have been incinerated but with no indication whether that was self-inflicted or done by the ???s. It's a bit weird, but I wonder if it indicates something about one or more of the deaths. Sybot fucked around with this message at 15:23 on Apr 23, 2023 |
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Apr 23, 2023 15:16
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Sybot posted:Or from a more meta-perspective, that route never actually 'happened' and was just Monkey/Red ??? planning out how she expected it to go down. It was considered unstable because it depended highly on Tiger's state of mind, so once she reached the end of the 'simulation' she discarded it rather than go for the triple kill. Ah, I don't think I was awake enough to think of it from it from that perspective - I think that also clears up what I was missing from from kvx687's post earlier, so thank you for that!
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Apr 23, 2023 15:24
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Sybot posted:Or from a more meta-perspective, that route never actually 'happened' and was just Monkey/Red ??? planning out how she expected it to go down. It was considered unstable because it depended highly on Tiger's state of mind, so once she reached the end of the 'simulation' she discarded it rather than go for the triple kill. Assuming Brian is one of the ???, which I think the game is setting us up to believe here, then it seems likely he set the trap, killing himself. But then I'm also not convinced he was alive at that point, so...who can say. Probably just Mix being cautious. 
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Apr 23, 2023 15:28
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if anything even seems like it could be construed as suicide i tag it as such just to cover my bases, and since they're talking about how Brian killed himself along with Mouse, well i'd rather play it safe than miss something that could upset someone lol
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Apr 23, 2023 15:36
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Fair enough, it must have just been my brain on full red-string mode.
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Apr 23, 2023 15:37
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So let's get wild with some theory here: Our framing device seems to have revealed that the entire game up to this point has been something of a mental simulation. At this point we can be certain the green ???s are Brian, with red ???s being the person who is going to help ensure the game goes the way they want. So who is Red? Well, Rooster and Monkey are both strong contenders. Rooster is just a little too eager to kill, has his own personal revenge motive beside that, and is often conveniently absent when the game would require the Jade Emperor to know what exactly is happening to enforce a rule. Monkey, of course, has her manipulation and disappearing act at the end of her route. But Red mentions they also have the ability to turn off their emotions, and if the entire game has been framed by Red mentally simulating how things could play out, then there really is only one person Red could be: Mouse herself. After all, it's the player's decisions as Mouse that determines the route--meaning that Mouse is ultimately determining how things go. This ending reveals that there were other options available to connect to the case if that was Brian's wish. Why go with Mouse, whose only connection is being the daughter of the man who defended his father? The only reasonable option then is that she's a plant. And of course, there's the fact that there is no Mouse in the Chinese Zodiac. It's a nickname because she didn't like her actual moniker, which was maybe a bit too on the nose for her: Rat. My guess is that the reason Mouse has to die at the end is that she's faking her death somehow; an explosion conveniently kills her so no one ever suspects Brian had help. Maybe both deaths are faked; maybe Brian was offed by his help. There's obviously still plenty of mysteries to unravel. Why did Snake and Dragon have to die? I'm not too sure about Dragon, but my hunch is that Snake is the actual killer of Amadeus Bowen. He mentioned himself that he made the art inside his office; perhaps the key to the mystery lies with that? Or maybe the reason's entirely different, and the connection Aaron Moriss's trial is entirely a red herring to cover the real motive, which is yet to be revealed. Another interesting bit is that the news claims that nine of the participants were kidnapped the night before the game; I have trouble believing that could've been done by just one or even two people. Which means either there are more participants hiding their involvement in the game, or Brian has more help than he's let on.
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Apr 24, 2023 16:47
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| # ? Jun 1, 2024 22:07 |
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I hope they do not go down the "Mouse is secretly a traitor" path because that seems like a Heavy Rain level narrative cheat, given that we've been inside Mouse's head the entire game. What would the premise be? "I imagined all of these possible scenarios, in every one of which I somehow went into a fugue state and became a completely different person"? The fact that there's not one but THREE "alternates" identified suggests that there are possibly up to two collaborators in addition to or aside from Mouse. King of Bleh fucked around with this message at 17:23 on Apr 24, 2023 |
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Apr 24, 2023 17:20
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