r/dispatchgame

For some context, I'm a teenager living with my Ma, and one thing we like to do on her days off is playing choice based games. Like your Telltale games, Detroit Become Human, Dark Pictures Anthology, Until Dawn, As Dusk Falls, Heavy Rain, stuff like that. She just watches me play, but I feel like she might not like Dispatch mainly because of the slower style of it, and the actual Dispatch sections. Because she likes the more action pack one's like House of Ashes. But she also likes the story of the games, and coincidentally her two favorite Telltale games were The Wolf Among Us and Tales from the Borderlands, which coincidentally are the same people who made Dispatch, but what do you think?

I had the urge to draw Blazer, and it became unintentional almost-redraw of something I drew earlier this year haha

I still think she's just so cool!

Bluesky Art Link
Twitter Art Link

Grip was born in 1973 inside the clandestine laboratories of Axiom Defense. Because the technology of the time could not stabilize his arachnid mutation, his life became a cycle of cryogenic suspension and experiments spanning decades. He was frozen for the first time in 1974 and awakened in 1981; then frozen again in 1986 and thawed in 1993; frozen once more in 1996, awakened in 2001, and finally thawed permanently in 2007. This fragmented journey through time caused him to absorb a unique dialect from the international scientists who cared for him in each era: his speech is 50% Mexican slang, 24% Chilean expressions, 2% intimate Peruvian words, and the remaining 24% is neutral Spanish with common phrases that are not tied to any specific culture. He escaped at the biological age of 16 after causing the facility to collapse, and he is currently 19 years old.

Beneath his physical mutation and criminal background, Grip lives with autism and ADHD. His mind processes his surroundings at lightning speed, and he finds his best anchor against overstimulation in music. Although he is proactive, warm, and possesses great emotional intelligence, nerves or the presence of someone he is attracted to can trigger a slight stutter at the beginning of his sentences. His personal philosophy is built upon almost mythical emotional resilience; he possesses an unbreakable heart capable of regenerating affection and tenderness no matter how many times he is hurt by blows or words. This transparent emotional openness defines both his greatest strength and his most exposed vulnerability. However, his capacity for devotion is not blind: betrayal is the one line he will never allow to be crossed.

His record includes multiple robberies, extortion, and a couple of lesser homicides. It is essential to understand that Grip never acts out of greed or malice; if it were up to him, he would never take anything from anyone. His state of abandonment and his complex biological needs force him to commit crimes in order to survive. In fact, he lives hidden inside an abandoned underground station that he has transformed into a sanctuary, filling it with stolen objects and climate-control technology that he needs to stay alive. The killings on his record were never planned but were instead tragic accidents: moments when he was under extreme stress and, because of his tremendous arachnid strength, his "hand slipped."

Grip operates under a high-risk, high-reward dynamic due to his hybrid anatomy:

On one hand, his four arms grant him devastating gripping strength at close range, making him ideal for restraining or hurling enemies with ease. In addition, his body is so resistant to fasting that he can go for months without eating.

On the other hand, his lower torso is extremely fragile; falls from great heights or direct blows to his lower abdomen are fatal to him. Added to this is his extreme dependence on climate. Because he has no sweat glands and moves through an internal hydraulic pressure system, heat is devastating to him: above 40°C, his metabolism accelerates and consumes twice as much energy; above 42°C, he suffers severe dehydration; and upon reaching 45°C, his locomotor system completely collapses, leaving him paralyzed where he stands for hours before his organs begin to fail.

off the first meeting too

Credits to @3arth_o

Hey folks,

I hope you all have a great summer so far and a great time ahead!

After some consideration and thought I brought myself to make another post to how I believe Season 2 might operate/be approached with all the Info we got so far and also by the impression of Games made by AdHoc's Developers.

First of all: Spoiler warning, this post contains spoilers about Dispatch's Endings and Story.

Second: This will be a longer one, so I will structure it in parts. The Main Chapters are protrayed in bold, while sub ones are portrayed in italic.

Third: This isn't a prediction, but rather a theoretical assumption based upon the in-game build of Storytelling, Choice-Consequence-Reach and the current pieces of Information which were gathered in the past months over several medias.

With that let's begin!

The current pieces of Information

So far Season 2 is all but officially confirmed, there is no Teaser neither a social media post which states a second season to be in production. The official Statement is that the Studio "considers" a second Season to be on the table. However over the past months there have been several Interviews by the Developers, in which a second season was briefly mentioned. To start off early this year an Interview with AdHoc's Writers mentioned about the intention to "explore the Relationships" between Dispatch's Characters.

In early February Nick Herman was the guest in a The House of the Dev Episode, which was primarily dedicated about Storytelling and Choices. For a brief moment Nick talked about Season 2, in which he confirmed that no canonic ending is to be set up and he intends to consider at which Level/reach our choices can be ported over. Also mentionening he sees ways to continue the Story with the Villain Invisigal Ending while an early converging of all endings takes place.

The most recent Interview with AdHocs Team at the Gamescom latam in Brazil mentions about their intention to "continue the Project sooner than expected" including options for "more stories of the Universe" while acknowledgeing to explore "the Backstories of the Characters". The right now step by AdHoc is to "figure out how far the Franchise can be taken".

AdHoc's History in Games

As a good majority of you know parts of AdHoc's Team have been involved in similar games to Dispatch. Notably The Walking Dead, The Wolf Among Us, Batman and Tales from the Borderlands.

Connecting Dots: How I believe Season 2 will operate and which mechanics it will feature

This part is speculative but after my Playthrough of Batman: The Telltale Series and Batman: The Enemy Within I suspect we will see a similar Story-Structure for Dispatch's potential Season 2.

The Carry Over of Choices

My theory goes that the Devs will attempt a similar approach to how Telltale handeled its sequels. That means over Sequels your choices are ported, but don't affect the main story as a whole. That being said I assume we will see two methods:

• A save file transfer option -> Reads out variables (RMC, Romance_variable TRUE/FALSE, Cut Member,...)
• A manual Recap Mechanic -> Offers you a set of choices in form of a gimmick (HR-Form for example)

These two options have been proven to work in similar titles and I suspect this will be approached likewise. My theory is they'll limit it to 4 or 5 Ending variables, which are:

• The romance -> Invisigal, Blonde Blazer, None, Both
• The fate of Shroud -> Killed, Spared, Killed by Invisigal
• The cut member -> Sonar, Coupé
• Did you forgive your cut Member -> Yes, No

Since the Reach of choices will be limited my assumption goes to a mix of a semi-canon and non-canonic state. What do I mean by that? While your choice will be ported, there will be a certain path which led to that choice/variable. To reduce the production I suspect them following a semi-canon Tree, which means Robert did a certain set of Choices which led to that outcome.

Example 1: Romance

• Invisigal: Episode 4 Movie -> Episode 7 lean in
• Blazer: Episode 4 Dinner -> Episode 7 lean out
• None: Episode 4 Movie -> Episode 7 lean out
• Both: Episode 4 Dinner -> Episode 7 lean in

Example 2: Invisigals Ending

• Hero: Episode 7 defended, Episode 8 cut loose and on the Team picture
• Villain: Episode 7 cut, Episode 8 not cut loose and missing on the Team picture

Example 3:

• Cut member forgiven/forgotten
• Forgiven: Saved the City Forgotten: Failed to save the City

The Converge of Endings

As handeled in similar titles the Endings will most likely converge to provide a unified storyline. That means your choice ends up in a similar or identical situation. Over the course of the game we already had this with the choice of Phenomaman and Waterboy. Both of them end up in the Roster of Episode 8.

My theory is that certain choices (see above) lead to a similar outcome. So an event leads to the same conclusion but different context.

Example: Invisigals Ending

• As a Hero she gets shot in the shoulder -> gets transported to the Hospital -> On Medical Recovery until cleared for Duty
• As a Villain she kills Shroud -> disappears -> gets injured during a fight -> ends up at the Hospital by the Authorities -> On Medical Recovery until Reinstatement

Second Example: Cut Member

• If you welcomed the Cut Member back, Sonar/Coupé will be pending for Reinstatement under Probation due to Robert's Success to have saved LA (Called in favor)
• If you forgot about the Cut Member, Sonar/Coupé will be waiting for Reinstatement after agreement with SDN under Restriction due to Robert's failure to save LA (Exit through Negotiation)

Third Example: Romance

If you romanced Invisigal, Blazer or stayed Single these three paths will continue respectively. If you fell for Both this path will lead to being Single Robert, Visi finding out about the Date with Blazer and flipping him off.

The more complicated one I see is in connection to both Visi Variants, this can go either way: Visi's bad Ending leads to a auto-failure of the romance or only affects it initially.

The Relationship Mechanic

As mentioned above one focus of Season 2 might be to explore the Relationships. If we want to take a similar mechanic Telltale's Batman: The Enemy Within featured such one. In the Sequel your choices and Dialogues influenced the relationship to a Character and how he/she reacted to Bruce over the course of the Story and determined his/her ending. One example is Jim Gordon, who either felt betrayed or supportive of Batman. Another example is Catwoman, who depending on your choices reacts differently (Key Decisions and Dialogues) throughout the game.

I can imagine such a mechanic to be implemented for Key Characters (Invisigal, Blazer) with the choices we have made while a Loyality Score (30 Max) counts in the Character Status:

Example: Invisigal

• Heroic (RMC > 45): Trusted (20+5)
• Villain (RMC < 45): Distant, Hostile (10-5)

-> Depending on your Relationship (Romanced Yes +5, No +0, Both -5) Status that Score gets influenced at the start and throughout the game (+ for Romance, No effect if No and - when falling for Both).

Character Decisions: Make a key decision as "Robert" or "Mecha Man"

Another decision mechanic featured in both Batman games is to go as "Batman" or "Bruce Wayne", this alters Scenes and leads to different outcomes depending how you the Player played as Batman or Bruce in the respective Chapter before.

If we transfer this to Dispatch given the conclusion Robert gets the pulse back and with it the Suit is now operational again. So why not use it in the story? One aspect of implementing it might be within the Gameplay (As a Insta-Win Token, a new Mechanic when every Hero is on cooldown?) however why not also use it for Diversion and Key decisions?

Example: SDN Gala

• Go as "Robert the Dispatcher": With this decision SDN's higher ups are disappointed for Robert not agreeing to be present as a Posterboy, leading for the whole Team being into Focus instead. -> As a consequence within the gameplay the whole Team gets a Morale Boost with no Addition of Mecha Man Token.
• Go as "Mecha Man": With this decision Robert goes along with SDN's higher ups to volunteer as the Posterboy, leading to the focus clearly being on him on expense of the whole Team. -> As a consequence within the gameplay the whole Team gets a Morale Nerf, but we gain Mecha Man Token (An Insta-Win Item) as compensation.

This could also lead to different effects on the above mentioned Relationship mechanic, going up to affecting the Romance.

The Story and it's "accidental" Deuteragonist

As stated by Nick himself Dispatch's Story never explicitly features a Deuteragonist (the second most important Character after the Protagonist) but instead puts "a Character into the spotlight", which connects to the direction and theme of the Story. As Dispatch itself dedicates itself to the questions of "Redemption" and "Second Chances", there is a possibility the Sequel might be dedicated to the topics of "the Past" and "Identity".

This is so far in glimpses teased, however one of the main questions of the game is whether Courtney adds a "-gal" or "-bitch" to "Invisi-", which we determine via Choices and our Dispatching-Skills in the Robert_Mentor_Counter (RMC).

Within this range the probable candidates for such a spotlight or "accidential" Deuteragonist role might be:

• Blonde Blazer aka Mandy
• Coupé
• A newly introduced Z-Teamer

Given the current Discourse and Discussions by the Developers I believe the Spotlight would go to Blonde Blazer, this fits Interactions with her Character in the 8 Episodes while also opening up possibilities for the Z-Team's Backstories to be explored.

Futhermore would it perfectly compliment the above featured Mechanics (the Relationship Mechanic and Character Decisions) while opening up possibilities for Players to choose (Does Robert want to be Mecha Man? Can we as him handle a Relationship and juggle between Duties? Which kind of role do we prioritize for him if it comes down to it?) upon.

The Villain, who ties it all together

As Dispatch features Shroud as the Main Antagonist he is strictly tied to the Main Events of the Story, leading to several events which bring Robert to the start of the Story. Furthermore he is connected to Invisigal, who is Season 1's Spotlight Character. During the course of the Story we see Shroud as a Antagonist, who is obsessed with Prediction and having the upper Hand in conflictive Situations. He is silent, arrogant but also respective of Blonde Blazer.

If we tie down the theory of how the writing is based upon (Deuteragonist <-> Story <-> Antagonist) the next Villain would be connected to the new "Deuteragonist".

This means theoratically the incoming Villain is connected to Blonde Blazer, while potentially having a different picture to important figures of the Past (This might very well be Robert's Father or Mother). While Shroud was connected to the cause of Robert's Trauma, the new Villain might be in connection to reveal another side of Robert Robertson II. or has knowledge about the Story of Robert's Mother.

If I have to guess on how such a Villain might be designed and how his motivations are built up my assumptions are as following:

• Personality: Extroverted, Taunting
• Strategywise: Reserved, commands a Team similar to us
• Appearancewise: Physically Powerful
• Goal: Acquiring the Amulet

The new Villain I could imagine for the group to encounter is unlike Shroud extroverted and physical powerful. He knows how to defeat everyone of them by his own Team/Legion while taunting them due to his Skills. He could furthermore possess Knowledge which allows him to gain advantage against Characters like Robert, Mandy or also Courtney.

If you need a Visualisation or Comparison the best Option would be to see him as a Combination of Borderlands 2's Handsome Jack and DC's Black Addam .

Summary and my thoughts

I'm aware this is quite a lot and if you read this I'm happy you've decided to give it a try!
This Theory is mostly built upon former Games, which involved the work of AdHoc's Staff and Writers but also to how their Choice-Games evolved over time.

In Summary I believe Season 2 will follow up a consecutive structure similar to many Games, which involved the Work of Nick Herman and his Team. If I apply the elements of Batman and The Wolf Among Us Dispatch already follows that structure, so as Batman: The Enemy Within is after TWAU one of the latest titles to be featured it might be a blueprint on how a Second Season could be set up.

However since this is all Theory! Do not take it for granted to be featured, it "could" follow such a structure or go in a entirely direction (While I personally think the first one is the more likely).

In the end as always: How are your thoughts? And try to be respectful please.

"Nothing says 'Employee of the Month' quite like a top-tier asset intercepting a ballistic projectile for an SDN dispatcher. Please welcome INVISI-GAL to the active Z-Team roster—her past has been officially redacted, and the drips on the logo are currently undergoing internal HR review."

All done with Photoshop + mouse, inspired by one of the posters from 'Superman Returns' (2006)

A brief animation I made in the style of a visual novel.

@Sidonus_Art

Art by thatwinningdude or marissa_quinn on Discord

Name: Thomas Hayward/Nevermore
-The Raven poem resonates with him on a deeply personal level
-Transfered to LA by request of Blonde Blazer after Mecha Man went into a coma
-Spanish/Australian heritage
-Loathes every member of the Z-Team
-Former Mando de Operaciones Especiales
-Autistic
-Part of his character arc depends on wether u choose Waterboy or Phenomaman to be on the Z-Team