u/allstarwastaken

(Potential spoilers for the original game in the post & picture provided)

(Also, TL;DR warning. It's a long post.)

In a previous post, I discussed some things about the game's routing structure and had thought about how it could be improved. I had posted a picture similar to this just to get my thoughts out there and see what other people think, but it doesn't seem like there were any easy answers. The "tree structure" of the game's original routing was the biggest issue I wanted to resolve

Thankfully, after some time to think for myself, I was able to get the majority of the routes envisioned, including a fan-inspired route that gives a huge focal point on Kyoshika. Right now, I'm sitting at a ballpark range of almost 70 confirmed endings.

All I need help with is getting some route ideas on some of the branches that I have started with. If you can think of anything after reading through this post, feel free to let me know.

Below are descriptions of each incomplete route to give you an idea of what's happening so far:

Spare the Traitor -> Reveal Nothing -> Tell Kako the Truth

The traitor is spared and imprisoned. When Sirei explains the situation to everyone, Takumi chooses to keep his mouth shut. Sirei brushes off the subject and respects Takumi for trying to keep the future predictable in order to maintain a tactical advantage over the enemy. On the way to 2LDA, Takumi is alerted by Sirei that LDA is being attacked. Takumi then blurts out, "But it's only day 8!" Kako is here when this happens and immediately suspects that there is something Takumi knows that he isn't telling anyone. Takumi tells Kako the truth about his coming back from the future and trying to protect everyone. Kako was puzzled and a little skeptical at first, but she eventually believed Takumi. Takumi informs Sirei about Kako, and the three of them work together to keep the enemy from breaching the school. The good news is that Kako and Ima can have a good focal point in this route, whereas in the original game, there isn't really a route that focuses on developing their characters for the better. In the future, Ima may or may not want to butt in on what Takumi and Kako are doing together. Also, in this route, V'ehxness doesn't know about Takumi's time-traveling powers, and everyone, up to this point, is still alive.

Spare the Traitor -> Reveal Everything

Takumi tells everyone that he is from the future. However, unlike in the "Reveal Time-Traveling" route, Takumi doesn't stop at just proving he came back from the future. He tells everyone all the details about what happened in the previous timeline, including the traitor's stance on the mission. Sirei decides to brainwash the traitor into fighting for the team, but he does this while Takumi is on his journey to save 2LDA. The enemy attacks LDA during this time. As a result, someone from the team is killed and absorbed by V'ehxness. In contrast to the "Reveal Nothing" route, V'ehxness knows about Takumi's time-traveling powers. After mourning the loss of a soldier, Sirei decides to kill the mood even more and confront Nozomi for not being an official LDA member. Takumi claims that Nozomi is not a traitor, and Sirei pressures Takumi into revealing her secret. I envision that this branch can bring a lot of potential screen time for Moko and Kurara.

Reveal Nozomi's Secret

Takumi tells everyone about Nozomi's past to take the pressure off both him and Nozomi. However, Nozomi is very upset about this decision. Everyone else feels skeptical about Takumi exposing someone's deepest secrets. Sirei drops the subject and decides to trust that Nozomi will fight for humanity.

Hide Nozomi's Secret

Takumi reprimands Sirei for wanting to know about Nozomi's past, especially by pressuring him into spilling the beans. Takumi makes it clear that it's up to her to decide when she wants to discuss this matter with everyone. Nozomi & everyone else admire Takumi for defending her, but now Sirei is suspicious of both Takumi and Nozomi. Days later, Sirei declares that Nozomi can't fight with everyone until he finds out what she is doing here. Nobody is happy with this.

I've always been intrigued by how other people would consider rewriting the hundred-line while keeping the plot somewhat reasonable. I've done this myself and have constantly pondered the consequences of rerouting, editing character personalities, and adding OCs to the story. After watching Zeke-Freek's critique video, I had some new ideas for the main "Truth Route" branch. One of the topics in the video is how the structure of the routes in the game feels oversimplistic and how the routes branch out like a tree rather than a small bush, where the decisions at the start of the game should have a huge impact on which ending you get. I agree with this, and I also believe the game would be better if it had more routes that had fewer endings. The video I've posted is one of my concepts for a rewrite. However, I've discovered that figuring out the routes from there is a lot more difficult than it looks.

What would you guys add past these decisions?

Here are the links to the previous posts I have made for custom V'ehxness sprites:
Vol. 1

Vol. 2

I think this is all I can do for V'ehxness, unless someone is skilled enough to make blushing sprites. I've tried something like that, as well as adding tears to sprites, and it didn't work out too well. Let me know what you guys think.

Do keep in mind that I'm not an expert artist, so some of these images may not "pop" the way I wanted them to. You can edit these images and even send them to me if you want to show some revisions you made. I have also updated some of the custom sprites from the previous post. They are listed in the image descriptions.