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TheMcD
May 4, 2013

Monaca / Subject N 2024
---------
Despair will never let you down.
Malice will never disappoint you.

Quiet and Peaceful Time: 10/05/2020, 15:26





A certain day exactly a year after Natsuhiko's father had passed away. After the anniversary of his father's death, Natsuhiko and his mother headed home... Once they had finished visiting his father's grave, Natsuhiko walked through the park with his mother hand in hand. His mother whispered to him in a gentle voice.



♪ BGM: Anxious Times of Rokumei City

I made up my mind not to cry. You were good too, Mom. You didn't cry either.
Hee hee... I made up my mind not to cry either. I did cry in front of you a year ago, though...

That had been the only time Natsuhiko had seen his mother cry in his life at that point. He wanted to become stronger so he could stop those tears. In place of his strong and gentle father.

...But still, Dad was always smiling. That's what I loved the most about him. Even when he got sick and thin... he never stopped smiling.
You're right... He never lost his cheerfulness. He was like the sun.

She looked to the sky as she said that. And she smiled nostalgically.

...Did you know, Natsuhiko? That smile's saved your mother time and time again. Even back when your father and I first met.
When you first met...?

Now that he thought about it, he had yet to hear his mother talk about how she'd met his father. Ever since he was born, his parents had always been ''Mom and Dad'' to him, so he never even imagined they had a past he didn't know. He became a little curious and decided to ask her about it.

Mom, when did you and Dad first meet?
It's already been about eight years now, hasn't it...? It was back when l was still at home.
At home?
At the home I was born and raised in. You haven't met them, but I have parents too. I was still living with them.
I see... So they're grandma and grandpa?
Yes. But... I had a sort of a problem with that family. They were big on formalities, but familial bonds and love... were a little lost on that household. So I was forced to live a horribly uncomfortable lifestyle. The only memories I have from childhood are about studying. They didn't acknowledge the free will of children... It was like a prison.
Huh... Is that so...?

His mother's words were difficult to understand, but he somehow understood that she once had it rough.

...You must've had it tough, Mom...
I loved academics, so I'm grateful to some extent for them sending me to get special education for gifted children, but still... However, your father saved me from that household.
Dad did?
I had already published several papers at that time, and he came to meet me after taking interest in them. When we first met, well... to be honest, he was a little creepy.
Huh, really!?
Well, it kind of felt like he was trying to flirt with me. He acted overly familiar, and he'd always joke around... Plus, he'd shower me with absurd amounts of praise over how I was such a beauty of a genius physicist. At first, I thought 'What is he trying to do? Didn't he come here out of interest for my papers?'.
Haah... But I guess that's just like Dad, huh?
Indeed. Begrudgingly enough, that's just how he was.

She chuckled as she said that.

Anyway, that's why I didn't like him at first... but as we talked, I understood how he seriously was interested in my theses. Because he was a Level 4 Communicator, which was a rarity at the time, you see. He wanted to solve the mysteries of the ability he was born with somehow or another. Including from a physics standpoint. I was interested in his ability as well, so we decided to work for a solution together.
Um... so you mean you wanted to solve the mystery of Dad's BC?
Yes. Because it was a very interesting research topic. And as we advanced our research together, we came to talk about various things. I still hadn't completely relaxed my guard around him at that time... but I did gradually begin to talk about my family situation. So what do you think he did? He suddenly cried.
Huh? Dad cried?
He was somehow empathetic... He had no relatives, so my story actually really left an impression on him, apparently. But there I was, just talking indifferently, and he suddenly started crying. That's just confusing, isn't it? ...My confusion continued for a little while after that. For him to cry at a story like mine was a little... well...
What?
...It's nothing. In any case, our relationship slightly changed after that. Enough for me to let him read my mind with empathy. And once he learned my innermost thoughts that I hadn't told anybody else, he smiled at me and said 'Don't worry, I'll do something about it'.
Ah, that was Dad's favorite phrase, wasn't it?
It was. Because he was basically a reckless man. But when I saw that smile of his, I oddly felt like I could leave it all up to him.
Yeah, yeah, I can understand.
So, skipping all of that confusion... in the end, he took me away from that household by force and made me his bride. I was only 18 when we were married... I was young, in a lot of ways.
I see... Dad was kinda cool, wasn't he?
He really was... Looking back, I feel like the day I met your father was the day my life truly began.

Miyoko looked at Natsuhiko as she said that.

♪ BGM: Words of Healing

...You know, Natsuhiko... You're the gift that Shun gave me. My most precious treasure. I'm not good with words, so I don't know if I can convey this well, but... I love you as much as I loved Shun, but in a different way.
Hmm, that wasn't hard to understand at all. I love you too, Mom. Just like I loved Dad.
You're right... I love both of you too.

Natsuhiko's mother embraced him gently. Then she grasped his hand and spoke.

Now how about we head back home? Our home.
Yeah!

Natsuhiko answered cheerfully and walked with his mother.

Tips posted:

TIP: Natsuhiko Tenkawa
Category: Fiction

A boy enrolled in Rokumei Academy as a first year high school student. A Rank S Aptitude, Ability Level 6 Communicator, an extreme rarity even in Japan.

He was once a cheerful, mischievous young boy, but nine years ago, he got himself and Yuuri caught in the ''Subject N escape incident'' and his personality turned completely around. He then distanced himself from others and lived a calm, quiet life, but as he joined forced with Mashiro to prevent a terrorist attack on Rokumei City, he returned to his former self so as to not repeat the same mistakes of the past.

After surviving the series of events that happened once again in LABO, he worked alongside Yuuri, Mashiro, and Salyu as living witnesses testifying against the dark side of Rokumei City and LABO while migrating all around Japan to avoid Q's pursuers.

The higher a Communicator's level, the more susceptible they are to brain diseases and premature death. Knowing this truth, Natsuhiko realizes his future prospects are anything but promising, and yet he still looks to the future with a hopeful smile. As if to tell his deceased father Shun just who exactly Natsuhiko is.

Tips posted:

TIP: BCAD
Category: Fiction

There is a book entitled ''Beyond Communication is the Advent of the Dawn''... Simply put, the book is hogwash. Allow us to skim through a few passages.

--There is an expression called ''locked away in your own world''. That which we call the world is, in essence, thoughts. Consciousness. A ''spirit'' if you are so inclined to call it such. Qualia aren't the only things we see that others can't. We as humans each see an entire world that others can't. Or perhaps we couldn't, until now that is. Because now, it's all made possible by the existence of BC.

Miyoko Tenkawa, the physicist who first proposed the informational field hypothesis, stated that the true form of the human consciousness is the M particles that have copied the information on the brain. In that case, everything inside the skull is another world. While all people live in the same world, each person has their own different world that nobody else can understand. BC therefore allows for communication between parallel worlds, which means BC still has much potential left to uncover.

The worlds in other people's heads aren't the only worlds that we can't perceive. Take Hugh Everett's many-worlds interpretation. The omnipresent, human-intervening Third Man factor... These could all possibly be explained by BC. If we put empathy to practical use, we could perceive unknown parallel worlds and paranormal existences... no, perhaps we could even communicate with those things. I know this might sound crazy. But think about it. Just 20 years ago, even BC was laughed off as crazy talk--

Observing parallel worlds and communicating with unknown existences... Perhaps BC does indeed have that sort of power. In any case, if those things were to hypothetically exist, then perhaps only the most exceptionally powerful of Rank S Aptitude Communicators could reach the level necessary to contact them. It would require the emission of tremendous amounts of information energy to even transcend the ''boundaries'' of the world. If only there were a Communicator who could pull off such a feat. A Communicator, or perhaps even something else entirely...

These were the last tips we get to see. The only thing left for 100% completion is scene titles.

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TheMcD
May 4, 2013

Monaca / Subject N 2024
---------
Despair will never let you down.
Malice will never disappoint you.

Dear Friend: 05/11/2030, 16:10





The Tenkawa's housekeeper resigned, and since Natsuhiko was having trouble preparing daily meals, Mashiro started to come by. It was a memory of just a minor commotion that happened during that time...



♪ BGM: Quiet Days of Rokumei City

Mashiro called out to Natsuhiko.

Hey! Classes are over! Let's go, Natsuhiko!
Huh? Go where?
What are you talking about? I promised to cook for you starting today, didn't I? We need to do groceries and it might take some time to prepare, so let's hurry up and go!

Mashiro hurried Natsuhiko and started walking. Right as Mashiro left the classroom, the classmates around them started to make a commotion.

Male Student 1: ...Huh? Hold on just a second, Tenkawa. What was that!? She promised to cook for you starting today...?
Male Student 2: Wait, Tenkawa, are you going out with Ms. Toba!?
No, no, it's nothing like that. My mom's just really busy. We had a housekeeper up until last year, but she resigned, so... So Mashiro's going to cook meals at our place instead. That's all.
Male Student 1: What!? Whaddaya mean 'that's all'!? You get to eat Toba's home cooking, don't you!? Be a little grateful, you lucky bastard!
Huh, what makes me a lucky bastard?
Male Student 2: Don't you know!? Ms. Toba has a lot of fans!
Male Student 3: And she's always playing hard to get. Last year she turned down Benizaki from Class B, as well as the 2nd year Kamiya, and also Tanaka from the baseball club too.
Ah, well, I knew about that... but really, it's not like that. We're just childhood friends. And my mom's paying Mashiro, so it's more like a simple part time job for her.

A girl who was listening closely nearby cut in.

Female Student 1: Is it now? Normally, I don't think a girl would go to a guy's house to cook food for him just for work, even if they were childhood friends, you know?
Huh, really?
Female Student 1: Really. When a girl cooks for a guy, it's something special, you know? Girls get all worried if the guy's all like 'this is disgusting', see? It takes a lotta guts just to do it once. But Mashiro's gonna do this every day, right? And you two are gonna be alone too, Tenkawa. So I'm thinking~ maybe~ that means she's really got a thing for you, then, eh Tenkawa?
...

Natsuhiko fell silent at those words. They wouldn't be ''alone'', but correcting her would've complicated things even further, so he swallowed his words. And right around then, Mashiro came back to the classroom and spoke up.

Hey, Natsuhiko, what are you doing? I said let's go!
Female Student 1: You see? She's really into it. Hurry up and go.
R-right.

Flustered, Natsuhiko stood up and left the classroom with Mashiro.

Male Student 1: Gh... I'm still jealous...!

Natsuhiko left with those resentful words at his back.



And then they went home together.



♪ BGM: Family and Friends

Awwrighty! Then today, Ms. Mashiro here's gonna put her cooking skills to the test~! To celebrate this momentous first occasion, I'm going to make your favorite cream stew and salad! And while we're at it, I'll make Yuuri's favorite juicy omelettes too!
Oh, that's great. But can you really start off doing three dishes at once?
No worries! I've liked cooking since long ago, and I've always helped my mom. I'm used to it. Awwrighty, first I'll cut the ingredients and light the stove--

As Mashiro talked, she looked around the kitchen-- and stopped in horror when she saw the stove.

Waagh! Th-that burner's different from the kind I know! That's not gas burner, is it!?
Nah, it's some sort of cutting edge electromagnetic cooker, apparently. Mom and I don't cook at all, so we don't really know about it... Is it bad?
...! I-it's all good! No problemo! Same principle, right!? Not like it's gonna change how to make something as simple as stew!
Sh-should I help?
I appreciate the feeling. But just sit back and watch, Natsuhiko!

And with that, Mashiro slowly prepared to cook with a look of anxiety on her face. --But when she actually began to cook, she ran into various troubles.



♪ BGM: Foolishness

W-wait!? Wh-where's the oil!?
Uh, ah, where is it, again? I always left the kitchen to the housekeeper, so...
Is it here? No, here?

Mashiro fumbled through the kitchen cabinets.



M-Mashiro! The pot's smoking!
Huh, ah, awawawah! Gotta lower the heat! Wait, what!? How do you lower the heat on this thing!?
I-I don't know! Isn't there a button somewhere!?
Roger! Keep it simple!



Maybe that button increased the heat! Try the other button!

--The commotion continued just like that.



♪ BGM: Helper / Theme of Mashiro

I was worried there for a moment... but it smells delicious.
I know, right? Now then, next up is the salad. Simple enough, eh? There's no way to fail here.

Mashiro quickly cut the vegetables. She always helped her mother out, so she was certainly skilled with the knife. In just a few minutes, she had plated three vivid servings of salad.

Awwrighty, everything's A-OK! Natsuhiko, Yuuri, how's this!?
Oh, excellent. Right, Yuuri?

----

Heheheh, you flatter me, Yuuri. Now then, all that's left is to add the dressing. What kind of dressing do you have?

Mashiro opened the refrigerator-- and her face froze.

N-none!? Does this household not use dressing!?
Huh!? Ah, no, we're just out... Sorry, I didn't notice.
Wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-what do we do!? I didn't prepare for this kind of trouble!
Calm down, Mashiro, you're panicking way too much! I'll just go buy some at the convenience store, so wait here!
P-please do!

Natsuhiko dashed to the convenience store. He bought dressing and went straight back home.

Mashiro, I bought the dressing! How are things on your end!?
I'm making the omelettes. I've already gotten two of them done!

As Mashiro answered, Natsuhiko saw two plates topped with beautiful spindle shaped omelettes.

Oh, that's amazing! These are excellent too!
Omelettes are my specialty~ I can make them with my eyes closed. I'm about to finish the third one, so just wait.

Mashiro winked with the frying pan in hand. She quickly started whipping her wrist, gathering the egg onto one side of the frying pan.

Now for the highlight of omelette cooking, the frying pan flip~
You mean that thing where you flip eggs in the air!? You can do that, Mashiro!?
It's not that hard once you get used to it. Well, just watch.

Mashiro grasped the frying pan tightly as she said that. Then she flung the egg into the air--

Achoo!

But she sneezed intensely mid-flip.

That tired old gag!?
N-no, some of the smoke just got in my nose...! Wait, ah!

The third omelette flew out of the frying pan and onto the electromagnetic cooking surface. Its beautiful, painstakingly formed shape was now completely ruined.

...Mashiro, were there any eggs left...?
No... that's the last of them...
...I see.

Mashiro's shoulders drooped in disappointment. When Natsuhiko saw her like that, he was reminded of what that girl told him in class earlier. Natsuhiko walked up to Mashiro and gently tapped her on those drooped shoulders of hers.

...Mashiro, don't look so down. I don't care if they're mashed up.
Huh!? But it's dirty now that it's fallen onto this cooking surface, you know!?
It's always been cleaned up, so it's fine. Besides, it's the first meal you've ever cooked for us. I don't want any of it to go to waste.
...! ...I'm glad to hear that, but... serving mashed up food to other people is just a little, you know...
Huh, is that it?
Yeah, that's it. So let's just throw it away. But still... thanks, Natsuhiko.

Mashiro cleaned up the mashed up omelette. --Afterwards, they redivided the two plated omelettes into three servings. Then, after they brought the stew and the salad to the table, they each took a seat.

Okay! We had some minor issues along the way, but it's finally complete!
Yeah, looks delicious!
Okay, everyone, put your hands together--
Thanks for the food.

Natsuhiko got to work on eating the meal. First, he got a mouthful of stew. The taste was somewhat different from what the housekeeper had always made, but it was still delicious in its own right. But Mashiro's face suddenly soured when she took her first bite.

H-huh...? It tastes kinda burnt...
Huh, really?
Did I burn it with too much heat!? Then the omelettes...!?

Mashiro quickly tried the omelette. Natsuhiko followed suit. Her face darkened even more.

Aahh... it's a little hard on the inside...! It's not fluffy and juicy at all...! Gas burners and electromagnetic surfaces heat things differently...!

Mashiro seemed to be on the verge of tears. Natsuhiko gently spoke to her.

Don't worry, Mashiro. It's all delicious.
R-really...?
Really really. I think it's better than the housekeeper's cooking.
R-really...? That's good, then..
Thanks, Mashiro. It's a good dinner. I can't wait to eat food like this every day.
...You're right. I can't wait either. I'll work hard starting tomorrow!
Yeah, I've got high hopes for you.

The two of them smiled at each other. Their calm, friendly time passed by slowly...

TheMcD
May 4, 2013

Monaca / Subject N 2024
---------
Despair will never let you down.
Malice will never disappoint you.

Thoughtless Actions: 09/13/2030, 18:50





Before Natsuhiko had known about the terrorists targeting LABO. Even when he heard about it from Mashiro, he still didn't believe it. Mashiro got mad at Natsuhiko, and--



♪ BGM: Anxious Times of Rokumei City

She left the house after shouting that.

H-hey, wait a second, Mashiro!



You told me I shouldn't pry into other peoples' fights, so I won't say anything more than this. But you guys are friends who have matching names. I think it's best you get along.

And even the phantom Yuuri spoke to him--

...Maybe Mashiron wants you to return to being the Hikorin you were in the past? I think she's sad because she's realized just how much you've changed from the righteous Hikorin who stood up for justice in the past.

--Both of them admonished him. ...Natsuhiko's memory of that day cut away a little while after that. At that point, the phantom Yuuri suddenly changed and returned Natsuhiko's consciousness to reality. But that wasn't the ''truth''. That was a memory created by the real Yuuri through Senses Sympathy. ...But the truth was that his day went on a little longer after that. In other words, the following is the ''true'', unaltered memory. An absurdly pleasant memory that Natsuhiko had pushed far away from his conscious mind...



He thought he'd drink some hot milk to help himself calm down a little.

Good grief... I can't stand it unless I drink some milk.

He grumbled about Mashiro's unintelligible outrage as he took the milk carton out of the refrigerator. Just then, he heard the sound of the door opening behind him.



♪ BGM: Individualist / Theme of Louise

Oh, Salyu. Done with your training?
Mm. Worked up a sweat.

Salyu's skin did appear to be slightly sweaty.

Good work. You want to drink some hot milk too?
No, I'll have it cold.

Salyu then took the milk carton away from Natsuhiko. After she glugged it down, she slowly spoke to Natsuhiko.

Delicious. Now get out of the house, Natsuhiko.
...Huh!?

For a second, he had no idea what she just said. Flustered, Natsuhiko asked for clarification.

H-hold on just a second! Why do I have to leave all of a sudden!? I mean, this is my house, you know!?
I said I worked up a sweat. I want to use the bath. Your presence is a hindrance to my bathing.
Wha!? How so!?
Dr. Tenkawa said 'You must absolutely never let Natsuhiko see your naked body'. So I can't let my guard down while you're in the house. Can't rule out the possibility you'll peek.
I won't peek! Do you really think that's the kind of guy I am!?
I can't trust you. Because I'm not good at imagining other people's emotions.
It's not that sort of problem, is it!?
Anyway, just get out quietly.
H-hey! Hold on, Salyu!?

Salyu grabbed Natsuhiko by the arm and started dragging him--



She then pushed him out of the front door.

You can come back in after about an hour. Bye.

Salyu then shut the front door. Natsuhiko just stared at the shut door in blank amazement.

...No, no, no, no. I'm not having any of that, Salyu. I can't say I don't understand how you feel, but there's no way I can keep putting up with going outside every time you take a bath... That's just unreasonable! I'll give her a piece of my mind!

With an indignant heart, Natsuhiko opened the door. Upon which--



♪ BGM: Foolishness

He saw Salyu.

See. Told you so. Can't trust you after all.
Wh-why are you in the entranceway!? Weren't you taking a bath!?
I was on guard because I thought you'd come back. I was right. In any case, it looks like you really do want to see me bathing. That really bothers me.
I'm the one that's bothered here! You've got it all wrong, I'm telling you!
No excuses. Dr. Tenkawa also said this: 'Natsuhiko's in the middle of puberty right now, so you can never be too sure. If you feel your body is in danger, then feel free to suppress him with brute force.' I will execute that command in order to acquire peaceful bathtime.
Wait, wait, wait! By 'suppress me with brute force', you mean--

Salyu quickly wrapped around behind Natsuhiko before he could finish. And the very next moment--

!?



--
----
------ His consciousness was in an endless darkness.

???: (Where am I...?)

He had no idea. His mind was a void.

???: (Why...? Why did this happen--)

He desperately tried to find the reason, and eventually he heard a voice echoing in his mind, though he couldn't tell whose it was.

???: ... I overdid it a little. Natsuhiko, um, are you okay...?



♪ BGM: Individualist / Theme of Louise

Natsuhiko snapped up to his feet. His senses and memory mostly returned, but he seemed to be missing just the memory of a few minutes ago.

H-huh...? If I remember correctly, I opened the refrigerator to get some milk, and...



...I'm sorry. I hit you on the back of the head and you passed out. I didn't want you to peek on me bathing.
You knocked me out? You're joking. With that slender arm?

Besides, Natsuhiko had no intention of peeking on Salyu bathing anyway. Which meant there was no reason for Salyu to knock him out, either. Perhaps he just dozed off on the sofa. With that thought in mind, Natsuhiko asked Salyu a question.

--Oh, right, you said something about a bath. Have you already bathed, Salyu?
...Not yet, for various reasons.
Hmm? Umm, could it have been... that you couldn't take a bath because I was in the living room?
Y-yes. It's very difficult. What should I do?
I see. I'm sorry. I'll go stay in my room, so tell me when you're done.
You won't peek?
No, I won't. If you're that worried, then just bar my door with something.

For some reason, he had the feeling he should just say that and get it over with. Salyu sighed in relief at those words.

...Thank you, Natsuhiko. I feel ashamed.
Hmm? What's this all of a sudden?
I learned something. It's important not to judge other people with unreasonable suspicion. Otherwise you can't live with them.
Hahah, that's a little exaggerated... but, well, if you ever need me for anything, don't be afraid to ask. Somehow or another, we've ended up living under the same roof. So I want us to have as good a relationship as possible.
Mm.

Salyu nodded quietly. And then Natsuhiko went to his room and Salyu went to the bathroom.



As Natsuhiko thought about Mashiro in his own room, he heard a voice from the other side of the door.

Natsuhiko, I'm done bathing.
Ah, okay, okay. I guess I'll take a bath too.

Natsuhiko then left his room with a change of clothes.



It seemed she had already returned to her room.

She's kinda keeping her guard up, huh... But I already said I wouldn't peek.

As Natsuhiko muttered that, he caught a gentle aroma drifting through the air. He saw a cup of hot milk placed on the living room table. Beside it was a handwritten note apparently from Salyu. There was only one word written on it--

'Sorry'...? Wait, sorry for what?

He wasn't quite sure, but now that he thought about it, he did miss out on drinking the hot milk he intended to drink. Salyu most likely prepared that cup for him. Natsuhiko took that cup and gently brought it to his lips.

Hot...! That's too hot, Salyu.

Natsuhiko smiled wryly as he looked at the cup. But contrary to his words, the warmth of the milk gently spread through his heart...



A certain lump of information energy rises up from some corner of Natsuhiko's brain. That energy then takes form... And manifests as information in Natsuhiko's unconscious mind.





Hmm? What's this then?

TheMcD
May 4, 2013

Monaca / Subject N 2024
---------
Despair will never let you down.
Malice will never disappoint you.

Out of all the lines in this game, I think "I will execute that command in order to acquire peaceful bathtime" is one of those that will really stick with me.

Haifisch
Nov 13, 2010

Objection! I object! That was... objectionable!



Taco Defender

TheMcD posted:

Out of all the lines in this game, I think "I will execute that command in order to acquire peaceful bathtime" is one of those that will really stick with me.
Salyu is just the best. :allears:

OddHaberdasher
Jan 21, 2016
Honestly, how did Salyu get her skills? It's one thing for LABO to concoct a harebrained scheme to steal business secrets and conduct corporate espionage with her, but why would they need/want to steal all that combat knowledge? Or did all of the people's memories she had put in her head take martial arts classes?

Cyouni
Sep 30, 2014

without love it cannot be seen

OddHaberdasher posted:

Honestly, how did Salyu get her skills? It's one thing for LABO to concoct a harebrained scheme to steal business secrets and conduct corporate espionage with her, but why would they need/want to steal all that combat knowledge? Or did all of the people's memories she had put in her head take martial arts classes?

Stealing knowledge for fun and profit. Also probably to test whether stealing combat knowledge would actually do anything.

SatansOnion
Dec 12, 2011

I figured the military would be really interested in the potential to essentially copy someone's expertise and load it into someone else's brain without all that tedious training up soldiers the old-fashioned way

Mraagvpeine
Nov 4, 2014

I won this avatar on a technicality this thick.
Is muscle memory stored in the brain?

EponymousMrYar
Jan 4, 2015

The enemy of my enemy is my enemy.

Mraagvpeine posted:

Is muscle memory stored in the brain?

Better question: if BC is informational energy and muscle memory is stored in the muscles, can we use BC to turn someone into The Hulk!?

TheMcD
May 4, 2013

Monaca / Subject N 2024
---------
Despair will never let you down.
Malice will never disappoint you.

EponymousMrYar posted:

Better question: if BC is informational energy and muscle memory is stored in the muscles, can we use BC to turn someone into The Hulk!?

Muscle memory does not equal muscles, so we can't manipulate the actual body in order to make somebody get swole as gently caress via BC.

However, yes, the way the game posits it, muscle memory is stored in the brain - or rather, the information particles surrounding the brain. Now, muscle memory and actual memories are split IRL - amnesia makes you lose memories, but not muscle memory. However, that could just mean that amnesia just attacks a particular type of information particle. To use the computer analogy the game is so fond of, if information particles are files and amnesia is a virus, the virus can for instance just attack .EXE files and leave other files untouched.

So yes, we could hypothetically create super soldiers this way. Take a strategic genius, an elite marksman, a close-combat expert, etc. and copy all their memories via Senses Sympathy, then put those memories into one person. Boom, instant super soldier. Just look how much poo poo Salyu was able to wreck by just learning hand-to-hand combat techniques while still being in the body of a 13-year-old girl, and now imagine more on top of that.

However, we now know that this idea has flaws - primarily that the Communicator that performs this operation has a shelf life. They can only make so many super soldiers before they get N-ified.

Now, imagine that LABO was even more unscrupulous than they already were. Imagine they worked out how exactly the aptitude raising via WX particle inundation worked. They could, in essence, create people capable of Senses Sympathy at will. Imagine the poo poo they could be capable of.

TheMcD
May 4, 2013

Monaca / Subject N 2024
---------
Despair will never let you down.
Malice will never disappoint you.

Communicator: --/--/----, --:--





♪ BGM: The Truth is Revealed

...Hmm? Oh. You've gotten this far in, huh?

She looks this way after saying that.

Looks like you really wanted to know a lot about us, huh... That's embarrassing as hell, but thanks. Well, since you've come all the way here, how about we talk a little?

...Hey, what's with that clueless look on your face? Maybe you're thinking... 'What's she doing in Natsuhiko's room? This memory can't possibly exist'... Well, you're right. This is no ordinary memory. So what do you think it could be, then? 'Traces of Subject N's BC energy'...? 'Lingering malice in Natsuhiko's mind'...? 'An imaginary memory that Natsuhiko made up himself'...? Sorry, but none of those are correct. Obviously, Natsuhiko isn't infected with malice, and it's nothing as complicated as you'd think. That said, it's a little hard for me to explain too... Well, the point is, I'm similar to 'this girl' over here.

As soon as she says that, another person suddenly appears beside her.



This girl's Yuuri Kotono. But not the real Yuuri herself. She was born from Yuuri's BC and lived within Natsuhiko's mind... She's that 'phantom' that supported Natsuhiko those nine years.
My role's now complete, you see... so I disappeared from Hikorin's sight. Everything will be okay now since the other me's there for him. And so are Mashiron, Salyu, the professor, and everyone else, too.
...Allow me to thank you one more time on behalf of Natsuhiko. Thank you for all the things you've done these nine years.
No, it was my pleasure. Please take care of Hikorin and the others for me, okay?

The phantom leaves the room after saying that. Leaving me alone with her.

...She's gone again, huh. But it's not like she's vanished forever. Even if he can't see her anymore, she'll keep living here in the depths of Natsuhiko's mind. Just like me, see? Just to set things straight, it's not like this occurrence is unique to us Communicators. Far from it. It's a very normal occurrence that can happen when people simply come in contact with each other.



And living in the 'world' inside your head are all the people you've ever come in contact with. In the form of 'memories', see. 'All bodies of energy mix upon contact'... The same goes for human thoughts and emotions. The people you've met. The people you know. All of them live within you. Even if those people die... Even if you never see them again... Those people certainly remain within you.



You've touched her emotions through Senses Sympathy, haven't you? And while it may not be to the same extent, she had to have left something in your mind, too. In the same way that Mashiro is in Natsuhiko's mind, Mashiro is in your mind as well.









I bet your impression of Watase kept changing. Though I can't even begin to imagine what sort of impression you have of him now.







Thus, everyone's ideas and emotions propagated into your mind... and live inside of it. And personally, even I'm happy about that, but... Unfortunately, it's almost time to say goodbye. All information energy has to dissipate sometime. You... probably don't have much time left to intervene in everyone's memories. In just a trifling amount of time, you touched everyone's minds and established a faint connection with them... It was a pretty weak signal to begin with.

...Come on, no need to be so sad. That doesn't mean this is our final farewell, you know. As long as you remember us, we'll live inside your memories. C'mon, don't you remember what Nagisa said? - -'Just remember, and you can see me again any time', right?











...well, here we are. We've now come to the end of Root Double, with 100% completion! But before we totally wrap things up, there's one last thing we need to take care of...

VOTING

So, remember the end of Route Before, about four months ago? I had a round of voting where you from the thread gave your opinions on which characters you liked the most and which ones you liked the least, as sort of a half-way point opinion poll. Now, it's time for the second round! How much will your opinions have changed now that we've gotten the full picture on everybody? And for comparison, here are your rankings from back then summed up:



You like spreadsheets? I like spreadsheets. Anyway, just like the last time, assign a number from 0 to 8, with 0 being the lowest and 8 being the highest, to the following people:

Keiji Ukita
Mashiro Toba
Ena Tsubakiyama
Louise Yui Sannomiya
Watase Kasasagi
Kazami Tachibana
Natsuhiko Tenkawa
Jun Moribe
Yuuri Kotono

Like before, splitting it up so that every number is given out once is optional. But furthermore, I decided to give the extras a bit of opportunity to shine - if you want to, you can single out a character that is not those nine that you either particularly liked or particularly disliked, if you have one. Of course, I'm partially doing this because I want to do it myself. So here's my rankinngs:

Louise Yui Sannomiya: 8 (previous: 8)
Salyu still gets the conventional top spot. Nothing in the second half really changed how I feel about her, largely just reinforced what I already thought. She's an adorable killing machine, determined to the core to protect those close to her, constantly gives everything her all, always tries to better herself in spite of her mental condition... quite frankly, Natsuhiko should be thanking his lucky stars Salyu likes him, because he sure as hell doesn't deserve her. Also, given that she spent most of her life locked up in a research facility, going on a world tour with her would probably be the most amazing thing.

Jun Moribe: 7 (previous: 7)
Much like with Salyu, nothing really changed about Jun in the second half of the story. If you already liked her, nothing much is going to change your opinion, same if you already disliked her. I liked her, and so I still do. Not having a real big ''secret'' to carry around and have revealed means she kind of takes a backseat to others during the second half, but she's still Best Buddy Jun with every thing I liked about her in the first half - a chipper attitude and devotion to rescuing people and justice make her a reliable force you can count on.

Watase Kasasagi: 6 (previous: 6)
Watase maintains his ranking despite his terrorist background. What primarily brings me to this conclusion is that Watase, at his heart, is still a thoroughly virtuous person. During the entirety of his planning, he always took care to make sure nobody innocent is hurt, and when things did go wrong, he went above and beyond in order to get them out alive, throwing himself into danger after danger out of nothing but a pure sense of doing the right thing. He's competent, has a noble goal in mind, always puts others first... in a tough situation, having Watase as backup would be incredibly valuable.

Keiji Ukita: 5 (previous: 1)
This one might turn some heads, and probably requires some explanation. Ukita's massive jump in these rankings is founded primarily on two things. One: Most of what I said about Watase also applies to Ukita. Now with the full picture, we can see just how Ukita's abrasiveness and distrust were logical conclusions and primarily served the purpose of protecting the others in the group from danger, be it from Watase or LABO. Two: He decided that something needed to be done about LABO, and he *did it*. And he did it despite knowing that they have mafia-esque abilities for making people disappear. That gives him the biggest balls out of anybody in this story. LABO is a combination of an inhuman research facility, a criminal corporation, and a corrupt government, and together they have a stranglehold on Rokumei City that no proper channels can break without a radical event outing just what LABO is. Ukita might not be the most competent guy around, but he's the most principled by far, and he's got balls so big they drag. If your cause aligns with his, there won't be a more determined guy on your team than him.

Kazami Tachibana: 4 (previous: 3)
Kazami marks the part in my rankings where things become a bit more muddled - the next three are grouped tighter than the others. Kazami leads this group as a competent rescue worker with a knack for staying cool under pressure. However, as it stands, Kazami didn't exactly end up doing a lot to stand out the way somebody like Jun does. Kazami didn't stand out primarily because standing out is something that gets in the way of being a competent, cool-headed rescue worker. Still, she was probably the most interesting character when maliced, and made a good antagonist of sorts for a while by virtue of being a maliced Communicator, so she moves up one spot.

Ena Tsubakiyama: 3 (previous: 4)
Ena mainly drops because other characters went up, if that makes sense. Her turning out to be a badass BC commissioner was an interesting twist, but really, Ena's major development as far as her trust issues primarily came in the first half, so she doesn't really go anywhere with the exception of her twist. Even her having fallen for Watase somewhat had already been put into motion at the end of Route After. So all that remains is a good person eager to help, but that doesn't go far when most other people also fall under that category.

Mashiro Toba: 2 (previous: 1)
Mashiro... well, she still tries. Once again, she just can't compare to those that came before her by virtue of being a high school girl and not a rescue worker or BC commissioner or axe-murdering super-genius prodigy. Still, her heart is firmly in the right place, and she's got the guts and determination to match, even if her skill is not up to snuff. So she gets points from me for that, even if she's vastly inferior to Salyu. Then again, who isn't? And still, even though she only gets a 2, I'd say that I like Mashiro. So it's not like I think she's a bad character or anything.

Natsuhiko Tenkawa: 1 (previous: 0)
Oh, Natsuhiko... you just still haven't managed to connect with me. All those minds you've connected with, but mine just wasn't on the list. The hell of it is that even with now knowing the full picture, I still can't pinpoint exactly what it is about Natsuhiko that makes me dislike him. It's just this general feeling of ''you kind of suck as a protagonist, and if you didn't happen to have BC superpowers, you'd be basically worthless'', and I can't shake it no matter how much the game wants to tell me otherwise. Sorry, Natsuhiko. I'm sure it's not you, it's me.

Yuuri Kotono: 0 (previous: 5)
OK, this one also needs some explanation. Honestly, this comes entirely down to how Yuuri acted in the final part of Route Double, with Watase and Natsuhiko having their final confrontation over whether Yuuri goes along with Watase to Q, or if she stays with Natsuhiko. When we held the voting for the Senses input there, some people said that we should let Yuuri have actual agency in this decision. There's something I wanted to say, but I didn't want to be needlessly confrontational - still, I'll have to say it here to explain this drop. I don't believe Yuuri should have any agency. She simply can't be trusted with it, and this decision is a prime example why. She screams about not wanting to be away from Natsuhiko when he decides to go with Watase in her stead and insists she goes along as well, but if Natsuhiko doesn't make that call, she just says that she'll go along with Watase without giving a single poo poo about how Natsuhiko feels about all this. She's a walking contradiction with a messiah complex.

Here's another hot take for you: I think that Natsuhiko made the right call when he made Yuuri see a phantom of him, and the very same scene shows exactly why - the moment Yuuri realizes the truth, she immediately decides to once more jump headlong into danger because she has to save Natsuhiko, just like how she did back when she ''died'', and how she wanted to when she decided to go along with Watase. If you don't force Yuuri into a situation of peace, she'll simply charge into the shittiest situations simply because she feels she ''has to'', and even though Natsuhiko tried to get through to her and tell her that sacrificing herself is just going to make things worse, she just won't have it. Yuuri is basically as mentally hosed as Salyu is, but shows no actual progress in overcoming that mental block. And while there's more than enough blame to go around for this state of affairs, a fair share of it falls on Yuuri's shoulders.

Honorable Mention: Subject N
Most of you have probably already seen this coming. Subject N doesn't just occupy my ''particularly liked side character'' slot, but actually my ''favorite character in the entire game'' slot as well. I've already mentioned that I have a writing fetish for manipulative antagonists, particularly those that manipulate in such a way that leaves the manipulated completely convinced what they've been manipulated to do is the right thing, or maybe even that they're the one that came up with the idea in the first place. The concept of malice contamination might seem a bit simple, but to me, it's brimming with potential.

Honestly, if there was a story based around a city that has gotten seriously hit with the malice contamination and has become quarantined because of it (a possible situation if the idea of using N-ified Communicators as a human weapon actually got developed), where not a single person can *really* be trusted and you can't even tell whether you yourself have become infected or not because everything keeps making perfect sense to you if you're infected, I'd be all over that poo poo.

Overall, Subject N has become one of my favorite antagonists, period - and that's quite the accomplishment, given that she has a relatively small role, all things considered. At least on a personal level, she hits all the right notes.

Dishonorable Mention: N/A
Honestly, I just couldn't come up with anybody in particular that stood out here. Sure, there's one particular character that a lot of you are almost assuredly thinking of - Miyoko Tenkawa. However, as it stands, I don't give her as much poo poo as some of you did. So really, what I come up with is going to pale in comparison to what you come up with. And apart from her, I can't really think of somebody except maybe obvious terrible people like the other Area Zero administrators and that kind of stuff, which doesn't really count. So I'm calling an N/A on this one.

I'm very interested in seeing what you think.

CirclMastr
Jul 4, 2010

TheMcD posted:

However, we now know that this idea has flaws - primarily that the Communicator that performs this operation has a shelf life. They can only make so many super soldiers before they get N-ified.

Is that the issue? Because it seemed to me that the issue was that they could only absorb so many memories before getting N-ified. To once again go to a bad computer analogy, it's like a hard drive where you add so many files to it that you start to overwrite the system OS files.

I bet if you stop at two or three experts, like the described super soldier, the Communicator could paste that poo poo onto a lot of recruits without taking in anything else.

TheMcD
May 4, 2013

Monaca / Subject N 2024
---------
Despair will never let you down.
Malice will never disappoint you.

CirclMastr posted:

Is that the issue? Because it seemed to me that the issue was that they could only absorb so many memories before getting N-ified. To once again go to a bad computer analogy, it's like a hard drive where you add so many files to it that you start to overwrite the system OS files.

I bet if you stop at two or three experts, like the described super soldier, the Communicator could paste that poo poo onto a lot of recruits without taking in anything else.

What also applies is the melt effect, which comes into play when the Communicator writes to somebody's memory. You need to engage Senses Sympathy for that, and that means some of the target's information particles are going to end up in the Communicator's head due to the connection.

It might not be as bad as actually reading all the memories, but it's still going to add to the load of information particles that don't belong to the Communicator, and that load can only go so far before we get N-ification.

CirclMastr
Jul 4, 2010

Anyway, to answer the actual poll at the end, first here's my previous ratings:

CirclMastr posted:

8 - Kazami Tachibana: Confident, strong, rational, but with a tender side.
7 - Jun Moribe: Best Buddy Jun is only hampered by rage virus.
6 - Watase Kasasagi: Actually does things as the protagonist, seemingly has a decent backstory as terrorist, amnesia is still a crappy plot device.
5 - Ena Tsubakiyama: Does nothing in Before except dump exposition, but at least had some good moments in After.
4 - Louise Yui Sannomiya: I kept waiting for the plot twist that she's a robot.
3 - Yuuri Kotono: She is the worst kind of mystery, but at least she wasn't actively harmful like...
2 - Mashiro Toba: Oh my god why are the stupidest characters always the ones driving the action? Can she just stop?
1 - Natsuhiko Tenkawa: Mashiro drives the action because Natsuhiko is too bland and boring - but of course super talented with new powers as the plot demands - to be an actual protagonist.
0 - Keiji Ukita: If he had died in the car accident, literally everyone would have been better off.

And here's how I would update them:

8 - Jun Moribe: Some would argue that Best Buddy Jun not having a dark secret plot twist makes her a less interesting character than the others. I disagree wholeheartedly. I'd wife her but I know her heart belongs to Engine Cutter.
7 - Louise Yui Sannomiya: Never got the plot twist that she's a robot, but she definitely grew on me.
6 - Ena Tsubakiyama: I don't mind her background so much, and she's the only adult in this list who tries to address the whole PRC issue from a legitimate angle. I can definitely appreciate someone demonstrating a middle ground between "the city is great" and "loving blow it all up."
5 - Kazami Tachibana: A big drop for me, mostly because I didn't care for her being a secret Communicator the whole time. Still had the best malice infection scene though.
4 - Watase Kasasagi: For all his talk about preserving life and such, it took him way too long to realize that terrorism is bad. And it wasn't even terrorism being bad that did it; if none of Q's attacks affected him personally, I bet it wouldn't convince him to reject terrorism.
3 - Mashiro Toba: I almost hate to rate her this high, but at least she has agency.
2 - Yuuri Kotono: Sacrifices herself more than Optimus Prime, and ultimately ends up a bad plot twist and Macguffin put together, but still isn't as actively harmful as anyone below her.
1 - Keiji Ukita: I am ready to admit that maybe he shouldn't have died in a car accident. But he's a fanatic, not just about joining Q but even how he worked before then. He just has to have one conversation with someone and he will take on their ideology and crank it up to 11.
0 - Natsuhiko Tenkawa: You are just the worst, Natsuhiko. And you didn't even go for the harem ending.

Logicblade
Aug 13, 2014

Festival with your real* little sister!
I don't think I actually submitted an initial rating. Hmm. Well let's give this another go.

0. Natsuhiko (You're such a dumb dense boy and I feel sorry for you, but man do I not like you and your attitude.)
1. Yuuri (Yuuri stop doing a bad, live for you, you pushover.)
2. Ena (I don't know, I just didn't connect with Ena very well. Secret undercover agent just didn't work for me for whatever reason)
3. Ukita (He's a naive boy, but his heart was in the right place, and he did try his very best.)
4. Watase (The real driving character of the plot, and the reason why Route After and Route Double were so much better than route before. I have my issues with him, but I can appreciate that he's just a real serious guy who got manipulated into making some really bad calls.)
5. Mashiro (Mashiro was great. She probably suffered the most from Natsuhiko's whle trauma because the dude couldn't possibly be made aware he was talking to a ghost for 9 years, but Mashiro had to be quiet and play pretend to protect her friend's mental health. It was really god drat sad, and this sweet angel of a girl deserves better than Natsuhiko.)
6. Best Buddy Jun (She is our best buddy, but she can't kick butts like Salyu, and she wasn't as interesting as Kazami was)
7. Salyu (Salyu was great, she was a breath of fresh air, and her constantly clowning the group was great. A+)
8. Kazami (The most interesting character of the bunch, had the best twists surrounding her, and turning into a S class communicator was really cool. Also she's cute. So more points for that.)

Cyouni
Sep 30, 2014

without love it cannot be seen

CirclMastr posted:

Is that the issue? Because it seemed to me that the issue was that they could only absorb so many memories before getting N-ified. To once again go to a bad computer analogy, it's like a hard drive where you add so many files to it that you start to overwrite the system OS files.

I bet if you stop at two or three experts, like the described super soldier, the Communicator could paste that poo poo onto a lot of recruits without taking in anything else.

To put a counterpoint to it, Alice Enflamme didn't do much memory-stealing, but she did do quite a bit of modification. She stiil got N-ified.

Regarding the poll, I'll probably have to think on it for a while before I make my decisions.

OddHaberdasher
Jan 21, 2016

OddHaberdasher posted:

0 - Yuuri. I just don't feel a reason to care for her. She (supposedly?) died early enough that we don't get a sense for who she was, and who she is (in either Before or After) is a person who never explains anything and seems to be mysterious for the sake of being mysterious (especially in After, where she probably doesn't have the excuse of being the hallucination of a boy desperately deluding himself for years). Not to mention it is usually when she disappeared in After that everything went to hell. And something about her character rubs me the wrong way. Everyone has brief moments of Doing Something, where she remains the delicate wallflower, however justified that may be.

1 - Natsuhiko. Probably a bit unfair to him, but Watase made such an effective "what is that!? what's going on?!" character that going back to someone with little knowledge was frustrating (though his casual views on things like BC gave some new insight). He gets a lot of poo poo throughout the game, both for his beliefs and just for trying to help, but the end result is that you unfairly end up feeling frustrated at him. As far as his character goes, aside from his one mental issue he's pretty much the straight man to the others respective brands of silliness, which makes him feel a bit flat compared to the others. Also, he's probably behind half the things Watase deals with over After according to Currents synopsis, so gently caress him.

2 - Kazami. Very trustworthy, definitely not going to be the villain, but she seems rather flat. Someone needs to be the voice of reason, and some things just don't need to be talked about in After's state of emergency, especially with your amnesiac ex-boyfriend. But ultimately it leads to a character for whom, like others have stated, "Watase's ex" is the only descriptor of note.

3 - Mashiro. Pretty much anything I could say against her has already been said.

4 - Ukita. Is he suspicious as hell? Yes. Is he involved with the bombing in some fashion? Almost certainly yes. Is he attempting to cover his rear end, both for the bombing and other misdeeds? Almost definitely yes. Did he work with Q for ultimately moral reasons? I think he thinks he did at least. Did he expect to get a rabid dog like The Captain? Hell no. There's something to note how, when he is infected with rage and more likely to be forthcoming, his reason for killing Watase was due to disgust at The Captain's actions. The desperate rationalization of a man being driven to kill people? Maybe. But I want to believe the best of him.

5 - Ena. I just like her, with her desire to protect the children and the way she geeks out over BC. Some suspicious activity, but as the previous number one Ena basher, I have grown to like and trust her.

6 - Watase. Amnesia Watase is the perfect viewpoint for the player new to Root Double. 90% of the time, what he was thinking was what we were thinking, and while his route has only one true ending, it still felt as though we were impacting how things would end up, as opposed to Before where the setup bled away most of the tension. Others have spoken of Watase's positive qualities, such as his earnest desire to save everyone or his obvious Martial Arts training by the like of Leon "kick your face off" Kennedy.

7- Jun. The original Best Buddy, and only narrowly beaten out by Salyu. Her bubbly, energetic nature made a much needed change from the serious nature of the situation, yet she still has her own connection to the plot and her own scars to bear. Only turned on us due to Rage and a desire to enact bloody justice, and in both the actual endings we got (as opposed to 'game overs') she attempts to serve that upon who she believes is a more deserving target eventually. Hopefully she will reinstate Best Buddy status. EDIT: Admittedly, not the sort of person I'd be comfortable putting my life in the hands of in real life.

8 - Salyu. A taciturn girl with a too-similar name to Yuuri at first, with a penchant for axe murder, she has soared to the top of this list. Considring the circumstances, her loyalty is remarkable, and as her list of feats grew (culminating in taking a bullet while causing a distraction for Nat and others) so did my fondness for her. Her list of feats is a little too large, but sometimes sheer awesome stops objections in their tracks. You just gotta love someone who, finding their fallen comrades body in enemy territory, then embarks on a single handed guerilla campaign, destroying the enemies resources, introducing dissension in their ranks and, when they split up and start searching with, among othr things, a gun and an engine cutter, killing them all with a fire axe held in the hands of a twelve year old. In one version of events, anyways.

0. Yuuri. Like McD says, ultimately her role in this story is simply that of a Plot Device, with very little decisions and agendas of her own. Natsuhiko had an evolving character and motivation. Yuuri doesn't.

1. Natsuhiko. Nearly everything I said back then (including him being responsible for a few of After's problems) is true. The later chapters also gave him a strong sense of dumbass when he was demalicing everyone. A weak character, with actual character though.

2. Mashiro. If you didn't like her in Before, you won't find a reason to like her later when she has nothing to do.

3. Kazami. Ultimately she gets a few more descriptors, but most of them are still for 'others relation to her'.

4. Ena. Some have praised her for her devotion to law, and that's fine, though I suspect this game would not be so interesting if it were just about her inspection, would it? The things I said above still hold true (with the added bonus of another badass with a gun), but the main reason she went down is because others went up.

5. Watase. Watase certainly became a more interesting character after he regained his memories, though he doesn't seem to be a person I would like in person. It doesn't help that he seems to have joined this terrorist plot and kept with it for purely selfish motives like revenge, though to his credit he realizes this when he asked for Ukita's motivation. The Amnesiac was very likable and a good character to start this ride with, The Captain was someone who we never were sure what to think of until the end, and Watase more than made up for Natsuhiko all around. Still, there are more admirable characters...

6. Jun. Best Buddy Jun didn't have much to do after Engine Cutter Buddy was taken from her, huh? Still, I will always carry the days when the few things we could agree on were Best Buddy Jun and F**k Ena in my 'world'.

7. Ukita. Ukita, while perhaps picking the wrong allies, is a very principled man whom I can find no fault in his reasons for concocting the LABO raid. Even when he was under Malice, he only acted to kill Watase (killed people and thus corrupted the plan, not to mention Watase's own Malice spree that followed), Ena (impression she was Security Sector Six) and possibly Jun in that one ending (engine cutter). If you excuse the complicity in the bombings and the unforeseen deaths in his own plan, truly one of the most upstanding characters in the game.

8. Salyu. Simply Salyu.

GeneralYeti
Jul 22, 2012

Look at this smug broken asshole.

GeneralYeti posted:

Now, for character rankings:

0 - Keiji Ukita. He was a non-entity in After, and I hate him for being a total poo poo in Before.

1 - Mashiro Toba. Honestly, the only reason she's here is because this was the last slot open and she was the last character. I dunno, I just feel like a lot of After's problems are because she decided to investigate terrorism herself instead of talking to the authorities. Then again, one of the authorities was terrorist, so :shrug:

2 - Ena Tsubakiyama. She'd be higher, since she's a good teacher and stuff, but I can't help but not like her because of how useless she is during most of Before.

3 - Watase Kasasagi. Kind of a dumbass, though a lot of times that's because we voted wrong for Senses, but seriously. Also is a terrorist.

4 - Yuuri Kotono. There's something up with this girl, but I don't really like her. She didn't do anything in After, and Before she was just a character there. Current might fix that, but at the moment she's here.

5 - Natsuhiko Tenkawa. While there's plenty of things to talk about re: Natsuhiko's Mom and Terrorist Hunt, I think most of his responses were valid given the situation (despite what the game seems to think).

6 - Kazami Tachibana. She's calm, competent, and trustworthy, though maybe a little too much so at times.

7 - Louise Yui Sannomiya. She's an adorable little gumdrop and I can't help but like her, especially her blunt responses to basically everything from suddenly suplexing Natsuhiko to being able to murder the gently caress out of Watase. What a cute axe murderer.

8 - Jun Moribe. Aside from the brief murdering stint (which I'm 90% sure is caused by an outside force) she's Best Buddy Jun.

Updating on these:

0 - Ena. She dropped ranks for me after I saw her backstory. I mean, I get that she had her reasons, but at the same time she just kinda annoyed me with her backstory.

1 - Yuuri. Nth-ing the consensus that Yuuri seems to be a matyr without a cause. She just wants to sacrifice herself for some reason.

2 - Natsuhiko. While a lot of his problems are problems the game insists are problems, I no longer feel as much sympathy for him. Yikes, boy, get over yourself.

3 - Ukita. Big jump for him here, and I'm proud of the guy for trying to do something about LABO, but he could have planned things out better than 'join terrorism -> commit terrorist attack'.

4 - Watase. Guy's got reasons for what he did, though I think he swung a little too far on the rear end in a top hat scale after his sister died.

5 - Mashiro. I still think it was a lovely thing to do to lie to Natsuhiko the entire time, but she had her reasons, and let's face it, they're better than the others.

6 - Jun. Honestly, she only dropped because Kazami went up.

7 - Salyu. Her background just makes her more sympathetic, and she's not wallowing in her self-pity like Yuuri, Natsuhiko, Ena, or Watase. She's actively trying to integrate and move forward with her life. (Although, her taste in boys leaves something to be desired.)

8 - Kazami. Aw, she's so strangely adorable when tripping over herself with her first crush.

Dishonorable Mention: Natsuhiko's Mom. Yes, you're trying to protect your son, but that doesn't excuse poo poo.

Honorable Mention: Subject N. Heck yeah, she's great. What a shame she went insane.

Seraphic Neoman
Jul 19, 2011


SSNeoman posted:

Well let's start from the bottom:

0: Ukita He is a total gently caress and by far the shadiest person in our entire crew and that's before he got rage-virus'd. He also kills all the cool people so fukhim. He's definitely the closest thing we have to a villain.

1: Mashiro She's devoted to Natushiko but I just can't trust her not to do something stupid. Natushiko may have appreciated all the lies she told him, but I don't. Despite spending all her time inside Natushiko's head, she really doesn't understand him at all. I dunno if that's part of her character or just bad writing. Yeah gently caress it bad end me for this

2: Yuuri Directly responsible for Watase's death several times, also a ghost. Not to be trusted, but higher than Mashiro cause I wanna know what her deal is.

3: Watase Terrorist turned amnesiac, also shot Natsuhiko. He's proven to be reliable and helpful, and genuinely seems to want people to get out of their predicament.

4: Ena Seems to really know much more than she's letting on. I refuse to believe her about survival games and we still have no idea how she ended up in LABO. She didn't shoot anyone but is still suspicious.

5: Natsuhiko :geno:

6: Salyu Fine she grew on me. She's straightforward and dependable, though I don't appreciate how inorganically the game forced us to trust her. Still, she proved her worth so she takes this place.

7: Jun Best buddy Jun is best buddy on both routes. But she got Rage Virus'd so we might wanna give her some space for now.

8: Kazami The most level-headed person in the group and is extremely competent. I can't see her being involved in the conspiracy (though I have some suspicions) and she seems to genuinely wants to help. Cool and competent so she takes first place.

0: Yuuri Holy poo poo Yuuri you hosed everything up. Everything. I understand why you'd do what you did initially, but 9 years later of this charade is insane. There comes a point where her actions just started to feel self-serving to me. Like she used Natsuhiko to experience the outside world instead of just doing what is best for her friend. I get that might be the point, but the writing tries to justify this with her insane martyr complex so I get the feeling that's not the story's intention. The major twist associated with her is just...oof. It wasn't great for me and it took me out of the story.

1: Ukita I get what you're doing, but drat dude. drat. You need to just like, stop and think things through sometimes.

2: Mashiro She went up from rank 1 by virtue that Yuuri dropped. I just don't feel like she cares about Natsuhiko, but is instead going after some idealized Natushiko that exists in her mind. Considering she's been inside his mind for years, it's strange that she knows him the least. All of her positive qualities feel like a VN writer trying to manipulate his audience into liking her more (INTO ANIME, IS WIFE MATERIAL, etc)

3: Natsuhiko Can actually put up and be compelling, but he still suffers from :geno: syndrome. He's honestly only this high because his ending where he pulled a Yuuri was something I legit wasn't expecting.

<There is a laaaaarge rift here>

4: Salyu Oh am I ever gonna catch poo poo for this one. Her fall in the rankings just came from a lot of people becoming way more interesting and involved in the story while she remained static. She also helped out on the "vindicate Miyoko" squad so that might be doing it for me too.

5: Watase He really made a mess of things but his role in the story was genuinely compelling and he seems to bring out the best in Natsuhiko. He's also shown to take responsibility and is otherwise a cool person outside of his Q activities.

6: Ena I appreciated what she tried to do and her role in these events. She's definitely the adult in the crowd and is desperately trying to do the right thing. She's not perfect, but I wished I could see more of her story since it was honestly quite interesting and I'd check out a VN just about that. I just wish she wasn't so loving wordy.

7: Jun Provides levity to the story and regularly helps people snap out of their funk. Her SSS affinity scenes were some of the highlights of After and she remains a cool character throughout.

8: Kazami By far the best twists are associated with her. I really appreciated her character and her arc within the story. She also helped by amping up the tension when she got malice'd. I'm not sure how I feel about her ending up with Watase, but eh, I guess they both have a lot on their plate to come clean about. I like her, she's cool. Also her Xtend scenes were cute.

Honorable mention: Subject N a genuinely well-executed villain who was slowly revealed as the plot went on. Very well done by the writers and her powers and arguments led to a lot of interesting moments. Though I wish it was against someone who was not Natsuhiko Tenkawa. OTOH even she made him actually stand up for himself, so I guess that says something about her as a villain. Her effects on Kazami were probably the most tense parts of the story.

Honorable honorable mentions: the BC-users in the school. Their little arcs and stores were honestly one of the highlights (if not the highlight) of Before for me. It added a lot to the story and world-building.

Dishonorable mention: Miyoko Tenkawa So hey remember how I called Yuuri's martyr complex "self-serving"? Multiply that by 5 for Miyoko. I said it before, but I despise this VN trope. It's rarely, if ever, executed well and the character who is vindicated by it never learns their lesson. Miyoko is even worse though because she knows she's hurting Natsuhiko. She knows their relationship is rocky. But she does nothing. We never see how the two drifted apart, which would have helped a lot. Seeing Natsuhiko live with a ghost must heart-wrenching for a mother and she probably sees her deceased husband in her son. But she does nothing. Several characters remark how she is throwing way too much of herself into her work in lieu of spending time with her son. But she does nothing. Everything is she does and justifies to herself seems tailor-made to make herself feel better about her mistakes, her organization's mistakes and so on. I just don't feel a single bit of care coming from her throughout 95% of the story. Then in the climax she comes in and suddenly she cares and has a plan to get the heroes out of their predicament. My, how convenient.

EponymousMrYar
Jan 4, 2015

The enemy of my enemy is my enemy.

EponymousMrYar posted:

Jun Moribe: 8. Jun is a bro sis Bro as ordained by Brosidon Lord of the Brocean. Is very consistent about this.

Ena Tsubakiyama: 7. Good Teach is Good and also knows how to handle a gun so is probably a secret agent or something I don't know, Teach is cool.

Louise Yui Sannomiya: 6. Crazy Strong and Action Oriented, but she has a little too much going for her. Alice being a tool to help her with being emotionally shut down? Ok. It also being a weasel? Ok. It being able to hack all of the gibsons with a simple voice command? Uhhhhhh.

Watase Kasasagi: 5. Is a pretty ok dude when he's not a terrorist. Also the second-deadliest person in the cast aside from Salyu. Sticks in my mind as 'Whoops I accidentally your head asplode Watase' for all of the bad ends where that happens :allears:

Natsuhiko Tenkawa: 4. Once he stopped being a wishy-washy layabout he got pretty good and his thoughts and actions make sense (even if the game is like 'NO YOU MUST BE THE PROTAGONIST BECAUSE'.)

Mashiro Toba: 3. While her heart is in the right place her head isn't. I mean sure, go ahead and enable Natsuhiko to keep his brain from breaking itself before he can handle it, but terrorists? By yourself? This ain't your animes gal! And then there's the whole 'all of my character portraits must have my right finger extended in some fashion!' The first thing I thought of when she hurt her finger was 'OH NO WHAT WILL I DO WITHOUT MY FINGER!?'

Yuuri Kotono: 2. Are you a ghost? Are you a girl!? GASP! A GIRL GHOST! With girly ghosty cooties.

Kazami Tachibana: 1. Watase's ex-girlfriend. Uh, I had to remind myself who she was aside from this, so this isn't an indication of dislike but of lack of staying power.

Keiji Ukita: 0. He's in too deep at all levels of this and has repeatedly displayed preference for LABO over people's lives. Hint: people make organizations.

Boy howdy.

Jun Moribe: 8. Best Buddy Jun remains the Best Buddy there ever was. This is in no way influenced by my tendency to moonlight as a Metaphorical Engine Cutter (RIP AND TEAR :black101:) and mostly influenced by her relationships with everyone else, especially:

Kazami Tachibana 7. Now that Kazami actually got some really good backstory I feel she's one of the more holistic characters in the game. Her losing Nagisa sets up a parallel between her and Natsuhiko only in her case she had Best Buddy Jun to ground her in reality while Natsuhiko... Also that event firmly ties her into the core of the conflict when before she felt like an extra to me. Also I'm a sucker for love stories with happy endings.

Watase Kasasagi: 6. WATASEMANIA RUNS WILD! WATASEMANIA PERFORMS AN EXCEPTIONAL FACE TURN! WATASEMANIA SHOWS INTEGRITY EVEN IN THE DARKEST TWILIGHT HOURS! He also still makes me chuckle at all those bad ends in the first part :allears:

Louise Yui Sannomiya: 5. The perils of BC memory alteration given form. Not just with wiping out her personality and her history but with exploring a potential use of BC and it's effects. At least it didn't sap her completely of snark! Also explains where she got her Weasel-bot and why it was so effective on LABO's systems. BUT THEN A BACKUP APPEARED DEUS EX WEASELBOT I'M ONTO YOU!

Ena Tsubakiyama: 4. Teach was actually a spy for the Government. Teach was also actually a decent person doing her best during all of this. Teach's memories were also exceptionally wordy so that loses her a few points :mad:

Keiji Ukita: 3. Congratulations Ukita your backstory also vindicates you of so many things (that you were middle management and not a Senior Fellow) and that you also tried to do something about what was being done at LABO and warn everyone else about finding out too much. Now if only you hadn't resorted to Terrorism...

Mashiro Toba: 2. Heart still in the right place, head still not and it turns out she's nowhere near as good as Best Buddy Jun at this whole 'help someone get over the trauma of losing someone they care about a lot.' I mean you even got the easier case in this Mashiro! Yuuri isn't a blood relative of Natsuhiko and you still cocked it up! Then again Yuuri is a girl and Natsuhiko is a boy... Also didn't help that your efforts were dragged down by Yuuri so the real problem is all of your character stuff being front loaded so you barely had any impact in the eve of the story.

Natsuhiko Tenkawa: 1. Well Natsuhiko, you started being Wishy-Washy again. And then you started falling for the same tricks again. At least you managed to stand up for yourself even if it was for the wrong person!

Yuuri Kotono: 0. You were far better as a mysterious girl ghost with girl ghost cooties. Now you're just a locus of confrontation and misfortune. And you're playing it seriously! The only reason these are bearable is because of the schadenfraud/black humor associated with them in the first place!

Honorable Mention: Subject N. Poor Nagisa, at least you got to become a pretty savvy villian who forced Natsuhiko to not be wishy-washy about something important.

Dishonorable Mention: Miyoko Tenkawa. Hey Natsuhiko's mom, I understand what you're trying to do but I now also see where Natsuhiko got his detestable wishy-washyness from and you have a serious case of 'wanting your cake and eating it as well' in regards to trying to stop LABO while helping them BC research. At least you did mitigate some things (IE with Salyu) but in terms of actually doing so you're not even half an Ukita.

EponymousMrYar fucked around with this message at 23:54 on Jun 30, 2017

Haifisch
Nov 13, 2010

Objection! I object! That was... objectionable!



Taco Defender

Haifisch posted:

Watase Kasasagi - 5. He seems like a key part of understanding the plot, and has a lot of vaguely-hinted backstory to cover. On the other hand, he's a goddamn terrorist.

Kazami Tachibana - 6. She's level-headed enough to trust her, but not super interesting.

Jun Moribe - 8. Very likeable all around, assuming she gets over her murdering spree.

Yuuri Kotono - 4. She's mysterious and all, but I honestly don't care that much about her either way as a character. She'd be ranked lower if she didn't seem like another key plot character.

Ena Tsubakiyama - 7. She's pretty rad, although obviously hiding something.

Keiji Ukita - 0. Because gently caress him.

Natsuhiko Tenkawa - 7. Natsuhiko Did Nothing Wrong, although the game doesn't see it that way.

Mashiro Toba - 1. She's an impulsive brat. Her only saving grace is that she legitimately cares for others, but it takes more than that to get high Senses in a life-or-death scenario.

Louise Yui Sannomiya - 8. Route:Before really sold me on her.

Yuuri Kotono - 0 Ugh. I can't loving stand the "too weak-willed to make their own decisions or stand up for themselves" character type. She spends more of her time deferring to whatever the guys/adults around her want(or what she thinks they want) than actually doing stuff. The only reason she's here in the first place is as the big plot point/mystery surrounding a different character. If she was a real person I'd be yelling at her to get some therapy so she starts valuing herself instead of constantly sacrificing herself for others.

Mashiro Toba - 1. Still a pretty weak character whose only role in the story is "token cheerful girl/love interest". Maintaining the lie was slightly less ridiculous when Miyoko and Yuuri were conspiring to keep it that way too, but that's about all I can say for her.

Keiji Ukita - 2 He...existed, I guess. He became more sympathetic after we got to see his backstory, and I actually agreed with a lot of what he did, but he just wasn't that impactful to the story.

Watase Kasasagi - 3 I get what he was going for, but drat he could have stood to stop and think a minute. Also dived into shady assholery after his sister died..

Natsuhiko Tenkawa - 4 OK, he did a few things wrong. How the hell did he fall for Subject N's poo poo multiple times? Still, most of the things he did 'wrong' pre-LABO imprisonment were actually other people's faults.

Ena Tsubakiyama - 5 The most levelheaded of the bunch, and a badass to boot.

Jun Moribe - 6 Best buddy, good role in the story, good character

Kazami Tachibana - 7 Interesting character, big role in the story. I like that she's managed to be both heroic and antagonistic without turning into a flat character or cliche - something many other characters couldn't manage.

Louise Yui Sannomiya - 8 The real MVP. Gets things done, actively trying to improve herself.


Honorable Mention: Subject N. Her storyline was executed extremely well, especially compared to...

SSNeoman posted:

Dishonorable mention: Miyoko Tenkawa So hey remember how I called Yuuri's martyr complex "self-serving"? Multiply that by 5 for Miyoko. I said it before, but I despise this VN trope. It's rarely, if ever, executed well and the character who is vindicated by it never learns their lesson. Miyoko is even worse though because she knows she's hurting Natsuhiko. She knows their relationship is rocky. But she does nothing. We never see how the two drifted apart, which would have helped a lot. Seeing Natsuhiko live with a ghost must heart-wrenching for a mother and she probably sees her deceased husband in her son. But she does nothing. Several characters remark how she is throwing way too much of herself into her work in lieu of spending time with her son. But she does nothing. Everything is she does and justifies to herself seems tailor-made to make herself feel better about her mistakes, her organization's mistakes and so on. I just don't feel a single bit of care coming from her throughout 95% of the story. Then in the climax she comes in and suddenly she cares and has a plan to get the heroes out of their predicament. My, how convenient.
Seconding this for my dishonorable mention. The whole "I was doing all this research for you!" schtick doesn't work when she's leaving her son to rot in the meantime. She just spends a lot of time wringing her hands over how she really wishes she could do something & has good intentions, but never does anything hereself.

TheMcD
May 4, 2013

Monaca / Subject N 2024
---------
Despair will never let you down.
Malice will never disappoint you.

Definitely feeling the Jun, Salyu and Kazami love here. And don't mind me just unsubtly giving the thread a bump and asking for more votes because opinions about the games I LP make my heart tingle.

But that's actually not the only thing I'm here for right now. I'd like to pose a bit of a question to those of you that have still stuck around - I have two games I'm considering to LP next. Both of them are RPG Maker games, but they couldn't be more different. I'm asking what would be more interesting to you. This isn't a formal vote or anything, but I'm curious, as always. I'll probably do both, but this could decide which I do first.

GAME A: VAMPIRES DAWN 2



Click here for a trailer video

Well, you had to figure this was coming. This is the sequel to Vampires Dawn, the game I LP'd before I did Root Double. It's a direct sequel that takes off from where the canon ending of the last game left things off. I'm not going to talk much about the story, since if you haven't read Vampires Dawn yet, it would basically spoil the ending for you - though the trailer is probably confusing enough that you won't be spoiled too much by it.

What I am going to say is that I consider Vampires Dawn 2 to be the magnum opus of what I call the German RPG Maker Renaissance. The scope of the game is absolutely immense, and it does a lot of things that you would not expect from an RPG Maker game, including implementing a strange sort of territory control minigame, statpoints for all sorts of different boosts, making a minigame out of sucking blood compared to the simple option it was in the first game... and all around, the presentation and assets are just amped the gently caress up, with a whole lot of actual custom stuff for graphics and music instead of just using RTP assets and video game MIDIs from the Internet (though don't get me wrong, there's still a ton of video game MIDIs, this is still an RPG Maker game from the 2000s, after all). I don't actually remember how well it plays, but I don't think I'm going out on a limb when I say it does everything the first game does, but bigger and better.

Pick this one if you hate me and want me to die from having to translate and type out an entire massive RPG's worth of text.

GAME B: THE CLOSER: GAME OF THE YEAR EDITION



Click here for a trailer video

Now, this is something completely different. The Closer is a very simple story at its core - to quote from the announcement for this game: "This is the tale of a young relief pitcher who gives up the winning run in game 6 of the World Series and goes on an epic quest to regain his confidence before a decisive game 7. Along the way, he encounters bar trivia contests, Japanese PC games, pop-Marxist philosophy, and existential terror. In no particular order."

The Closer is not a game you play for its gameplay. There is gameplay and a fairly interesting battle system, but that's not what's important here. The story and characters are the most important part, and The Closer tells one hell of a story. The #1 thing a story can do right, to me, is to keep me engrossed by keeping me guessing, and this story does that incredibly well. There's constant twists and turns strewn about that don't feel out of place, but instead just feel like one more natural step on this crazy ride. All in all, I think The Closer tells one of the most interesting stories I've seen in a game period, and that's largely because it just goes balls-to-the-wall with it. This bit from the announcement post sums it up pretty well to me: "But this is a game where Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Zizek can get into a debate about feminism with an elevator operator to infiltrate Twitter headquarters. So, c’mon, you’re curious."

Pick this one if you hate me and want me to die from having to explain the intricacies of baseball and sabermetrics to the LP subforum and in the process lose 95% of my audience.

I'll be back at some point down the line for the wrap-up update, and then I'll submit this monster for archival and give Baldurk a heart attack.

CirclMastr
Jul 4, 2010

Do Vampires Dawn 2 first to get a huge audience to alienate when you follow up with The Closer.

NGDBSS
Dec 30, 2009






I'll vote for Vampires Dawn 2, both to compare it to VD1 and to UiD.

Seraphic Neoman
Jul 19, 2011


Vampires Dawn 2

Krabbeln in meiner Haut
Diese Wunden werden sie nicht heilen

LJN92
Mar 5, 2014

I think you know well that everyone wants you to do Vampire's Dawn II.

SystemLogoff
Feb 19, 2011

End Session?

The Closer, even if it's after vampires II electric dawn.

OddHaberdasher
Jan 21, 2016
Do The Closer because then I can read the first Vampire Dawn without a clock over my head, and also because quite frankly after the occasionally overwrought drama Root Double could be we need a break (which the vampire thing, from my experience with such things, will probably not give us).

HerpicleOmnicron5
May 31, 2013

How did this smug dummkopf ever make general?


The Closer for sure. Looks interesting.

Gatac
Apr 22, 2008

Fifty Cent's next biopic.
Vampires Dawn 2.

Mraagvpeine
Nov 4, 2014

I won this avatar on a technicality this thick.
I'd like to see more vampires.

TheMcD
May 4, 2013

Monaca / Subject N 2024
---------
Despair will never let you down.
Malice will never disappoint you.

Odds & Ends: 07/09/2017, 17:45

♪ BGM: Convergence

Well, it's been quite the ride, but alas, it seems like it's about to come to an end. Still, in my newly found tradition, I'm going to close out this LP with a wrap-up post. First of all, let's take a look at how you ranked the characters now:



Well, it turns out that not a lot changed! Compared to the last one, the top five are exactly the same, and at the other end, Natsuhiko and Yuuri took a dive and are now taking up the last two slots, meaning Mashiro and Ukita went up a bit. Still, overall, you've stayed true to what you said before. I like that consistency you're showing. The honorable and dishonorable mentions were also remarkably uniform - 100% of the honorable mentions were for Subject N, and 100% for the dishonorable mentions were for Miyoko Tenkawa. I kind of expected the latter to happen. Now, here's some closing thoughts:

The LP:

- The one thing that has to be said about this LP is that I would not have finished this without OCR software. I'm so loving grateful I ended up using that - it can't be overstated how much work that saved me. The errors it introduced were few and far between. I highly recommend anybody looking to do SSLPs of any text-heavy game look into OCR. It's a god drat lifesaver.

- There's a few regrets I do have with this LP. For one thing, the voting was kind of superfluous at times, and I was really just having it because I felt like I should have it. From Route Double onwards, voting was basically a formality that only slightly changed the order in which I posted updates - and then I went and posted multiple updates in the same day, making it even more moot, especially since I deliberately hid correct votes from you as well. Alas.

- Another thing I regret is that I basically stopped having actual commentary in the LP at a fairly early point. I just did the necessary formalities, like saying when a scene would change or something like that, but overall, I just let the game be the game. I mean, I guess that can also be interpreted as a good thing.

- Looking at the metrics, I'm pretty sure this is the most popular LP I've had on these forums so far. And really, looking at the games I've LPed, I guess an anime visual novel is probably one of the more "mainstream" things I've done. My LPs are weird, is what I'm gathering.

The Game:

- This game will hold a special place in my heart. It does a whole lot of things I like in stories, but what I particularly like is that it's a story that doesn't have a primary antagonist. Sure, LABO and Subject N play the roles of the antagonists, but neither were planning on this happening. LABO would have preferred it if none of this happened, and Subject N was just a force of nature that was unleashed due to a plan going wrong. None of this was *supposed* to happen, and nobody was *supposed* to be here. This is all the result of people loving up, and I like that.

- Another thing I liked was the Senses Sympathy System. There was a lot of backlash against the system for being a vague mess that throws you into bad ends without really giving you a reason, but to be honest, that's exactly why I like it. I like the lack of being in control, just having a single thing you can do by telling the main character "you like this person" and "you don't like this person" without having any real knowledge of what exactly that's going to make the main character do. One good thing is that there's not a lot of penalty for loving up - with most decisions, you can just reload and you're at best set back about five minutes. There are some rather crippling setbacks (having to "save more time" in Route After, getting thrown back several chapters in Route Before because you didn't trust people enough), but overall, it's not too big a problem, and the feeling of not really being in control of anything makes for some fun times.

Overall, there's not a lot to be said here compared to, say, The Political Machine. The game itself sort of just petered out with the Xtend Episode, and as such, we've all sort of already come to terms with the end of this, and this is kind of just a formality. I guess I just can't resist putting a bow on top of things.

Still, I'm glad there were a lot of you that enjoyed this game and this LP. I hope to see you around for my next project - which is probably going to be Vampires Dawn 2. I guess that only makes sense - it's the one real loose end I still have left open. So tying that up is going to be fun. See you there!

LET'S PLAY ROOT DOUBLE -BEFORE CRIME * AFTER DAYS- - THE END

Seraphic Neoman
Jul 19, 2011


I think your style worked very well for this game, you let it speak for itself, for better or worse. Voting is also a great way to get your thread traffic, since people sometimes just don't have a lot to say about what happened on screen. Ya did good! It was a great LP :)

OddHaberdasher
Jan 21, 2016
I'm a bit late for this, but I personally enjoyed this. Perhaps there could have been a bit more commentary, but I think that the game did a good enough job being itself that more would only have been distracting. The voting sometimes was a bit unnecessary, but having the option to vote for something (even if it's obviously the wrong thing in the context of the story) does have it's own value, seeing what the story has put down resonate, seeing people draw conclusions and make their own beliefs as to what's the right thing (that final choice with Watase and Natsuhiko as an example). I have complained, but at the end, I don't think I'd change anything about this LP. Now if you excuse me, I have a vampire LP to hurry up and read...

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TheMcD
May 4, 2013

Monaca / Subject N 2024
---------
Despair will never let you down.
Malice will never disappoint you.

So here's a final epitaph for this LP. You might have been wondering when this LP would end up on the LP Archive. Well, we know the answer to that now, and it's "never". I went through the archival process and Baldurk posted it up, only for him to get a takedown demand from the localizers of this game, citing a pinned topic on the Steam Discussions page that states that there are no LPs allowed that go past Route After and Route Before - so, y'know, like the whole second half of the game.

Turns out we've been copyright infringing all this time, but nobody told us because the paywall protects us. Who knew?

I could have had the post on the Archive edited to be only the first two routes, but what's the point in that - all it means is that somebody that reads the first two routes will then have to buy the game and then slog through those same first two routes all over again to get to the actually new stuff, and I can't imagine that I could be arsed to do that. Those two routes are long.

So that's the ultimate end for this LP. The forums archives will be its only resting place.

Meanwhile, I've started working on my new LP, Vampires Dawn II. It's the sequel a surprising amount of people asked for!

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