|
|
Post by planguy on Mar 30, 2016 19:49:33 GMT -8
Given the episodic nature of the games I figure a good idea to handle romance routes is to split them up. A game has content for romancing, say, 3 of the available ladies. Major plot points are effected by who you are romantically involved with. There is also specific options to just not involve yourself with any of the ladies who are available in that particular game. Further games in the series could have variables like [game x love interest], [game y love interest] and [game z love interest]. Petty side note, reveal that the Chigara forced route was the result of mind control. Someone literally forced Kayto on that route. |
|
|
|
Post by Somasam on Mar 31, 2016 11:31:02 GMT -8
Honestly, I am still partial to the idea that the final romantic choice should be done at the end of the main story. The other installations are all technically a 'common route' while you build up your relationships and learn more about all the characters as the story progresses. That way you can learn more about everyone and see how they all change rather than lime-lighting one person and leave the rest completely out of the image. We all saw how that turned out when Kayto focused only on Chigara and hardly talked to Asaga, causes major tensions.
Not to mention, there are a lot more than 3 girls in sunrider. Even if we only look at the main team and none of the other factions' ladies we have: Ava, Asaga, Chigara, Icari, Claude, Sola, and Kryska. That would be 7 routes already. The amount of work for Samu to have to write and code 7 times the normal amount of work just so each girl gets her own part of the story. That's why I think it'd be best to not break the main story up into routes until the very end, where it could be more of an epilogue: "what happened to Kayto and his chosen girl after Cera is finally saved?"
For a spin-off game, like Sunrider Academy, that is completely fair game. And if Love in Space want to make more spin off games that focus a lot more on specific characters, that'd be totally fine. But as long as we are talking about the Main flag ship series, I feel it'd be best to not implement routes quite yet.
|
|
|
|
Post by SharrOfRyuvia on Mar 31, 2016 12:14:58 GMT -8
Honestly, I am still partial to the idea that the final romantic choice should be done at the end of the main story. The other installations are all technically a 'common route' while you build up your relationships and learn more about all the characters as the story progresses. That way you can learn more about everyone and see how they all change rather than lime-lighting one person and leave the rest completely out of the image. We all saw how that turned out when Kayto focused only on Chigara and hardly talked to Asaga, causes major tensions. Not to mention, there are a lot more than 3 girls in sunrider. Even if we only look at the main team and none of the other factions' ladies we have: Ava, Asaga, Chigara, Icari, Claude, Sola, and Kryska. That would be 7 routes already. The amount of work for Samu to have to write and code 7 times the normal amount of work just so each girl gets her own part of the story. That's why I think it'd be best to not break the main story up into routes until the very end, where it could be more of an epilogue: "what happened to Kayto and his chosen girl after Cera is finally saved?" For a spin-off game, like Sunrider Academy, that is completely fair game. And if Love in Space want to make more spin off games that focus a lot more on specific characters, that'd be totally fine. But as long as we are talking about the Main flag ship series, I feel it'd be best to not implement routes quite yet. Nobody said one person had to be lime-lighted - just that there's at least inclinations. Dinner, an exclusive scene here and there, ect. Second point's also redundant - he knows there's more then three. He was suggesting splitting them up to have three routes available per game. You know, since it seems like Sunrider has at least two more games planned? That way there wouldn't be a rush to cram like seven different routes into one game? |
|
|
|
Post by SharrOfRyuvia on Mar 31, 2016 12:28:22 GMT -8
It's no secret by this point that I wish the Chigara thing had been done better. That said, if executed well, it can have many interesting possibilities using an archtype we rarely see in these kinda games - entering a romance off the back of a recent one that not only failed spectacularly but may arguably have not even been anything real. I could really see each girl having different reactions (brace yourselves - this is gonna be a long one);
- Icari; If there is in fact an option to have her be with Kayto and the stuff with Kryska is just a cock-tease (figuratively speaking of course ), then I think Icari in particular would probably be very understanding of Kayto post-Chigara - in her begrudging, sarcastic tsundere way that is. Because, by her own admission in MoA, she’s been here before - doing things she came to regret when she fell into an emotional rut. Hell, it's even arguable that the pirate-guy she mentioned in MoA was a mirror to Kayto and Chigara; a romance she inadvertently started as a dependence tool back when she was learning to cope with her own emotional issues. Plus, her pushing the relationship between Kayto and Chigara as far back as First Arrival might make her feel somewhat responsible for how it ultimately turned out, both with Chigara and with the actions Asaga took.
If I could pick a 'theme' I think an Icari romance would follow, it would be 'Acquiescence'; coming to accept that what happened happened and that it's pointless to dwell because it can't be changed.
- Asaga; She would probably be the same as Icari in this sense - more accepting since she's also guilty of having let emotional neediness and want land her into doing something she wouldn’t really have chosen to do. However, unlike Icari, the wounds would be fresh, so she might have an easier time emphasizing with a Kayto who is still reeling from it then someone who's got a few years hindsight like Icari does. The two could also have a very intimate bond coping mechanic regarding Chigara herself - they both knew her and cared for her in their own way, and her fate might serve as something the two could bond over, be it through regret or acceptance of what happened. It would also be nice to see Asaga have to come to terms with the fact that the girl she thought of as a sister ultimately met the very same tragic end Asaga herself had wished for back in her embittered state. She could also feel guilt over the possibility that she's still just wanting to see Chigara as a willing traitor because she doesn't want to admit her best friend suffered and she couldn't do anything about it, meaning she could pretend like she didn't fail anyone and was 'right' about Chigara all along. That in turn could tie into Kayto's guilt of having not seen it all coming or having let Asaga's hate fester without ever seeing it, and they start to heal each-others pains.
If I could pick a 'theme' I think an Asaga romance would follow, it would be 'Absolution'; learning to forgive oneself of failings and others to move past guilt to a new day for those that remain.
- Ava; The commander would probably more complicated then the others - she's always been a very up-front person when it comes to her opinion of Kayto doing something wrong. So, even with the reconciliation in V2.00, she might not hesitated to deem Kayto all manner of things; selfish, emotional and ultimately having proven her right about his endangering the crew just to try and prove some point to everyone (including himself) about his faith in Chigara not being a dependency act for his own security. Yet in the end, if anything between them were to happen, Ava would probably have to also confront the idea that her own failure to be Kayto’s support from the very beginning - her inability to be the grounding, open, unreserved and emotionally-reassuring second that Kayto himself had been to Ava as school president - might have been part of what lead him to that sorry state. Effectively, a Kayto/Ava pairing would require she'd have to accept that her trying to keep things neutral and unchained only resulted in feeding Kayto's need to have someone accept him without judgement, effectively giving him a persecution complex, and then keep building upon it from there.
If I could pick a 'theme' I think an Ava romance would follow, it would be 'Resolution'; how long-standing feelings can twist events simply because things were left unspoken or unfinished and that how it ends is what matters.
- Sola; Having likely seen death caused by far less, Sola would perhaps be a bit more neutral then anyone else and liken it to this being a general failing of people, which in turn would play into what she'd told Asaga in LibDay; having emotions always risks them going astray. She may likely not agree with how Kayto potentially fell without thinking into a relationship with Chigara, yet might not fault him for it - she would arguably be a far more unbiased judge for character and circumstance in events like this and that vices are very common. In short, Sola would probably be denote that such things were why she works to keep her own ties to others impersonal - yet, ironically, that might also make Sola one of the first to assure Kayto that his weakness of the heart and falling into things probably makes him MORE human, not less. This is something that would likely be a prime issue Kayto would need to confront as questioning his humanity was always an issue for him from MoA onward, as well as likely being a key element in grappling whether or not he was just using Chigara's love for him to comfort his own insecurities.
If I could pick a 'theme' I think a Sola romance would follow, it would be "Introspection"; looking at oneself and possibly seeing their past and present actions with new definitions, thus redefining what is or isn't a fault or strength.
- Claude; If she actually does turn out to be an option, I really imagine she'd either wouldn’t mind or wouldn’t care that Kayto had been with someone else - in fact she's already said so to Alpha in regards to going after Kayto herself. In fact, if you want to get character development for Claude in there as well, it could be that she would be the first to advocate that Kayto WASN'T WRONG to have had that brief relationship with Chigara. By that, I mean Claude would probably say that, even if it ultimately didn’t end well and she herself wished to be with him, being with Chigara helped remind Kayto that he didn’t need to shoulder every burden on his own and that everybody in the world needs someone or something to lean against - it reminded him that he was not a mountain but a man; that he's still human no matter what and that humans need emotional support because they simply are not and never will be perfect. I also think Claude also could possibly be the first to advocate that what happened with Chigara doesn’t mean he can’t trust anyone else with his heart or that he should forever abstain from another relationship, because bottling those feelings up without release was what lead him into over-dependence on a release (his bond with Chigara) the moment he had one - or in short that Chigara was the ice-breaker in teaching him how to be unguarded, as well as a cautionary to remind him what is and/or isn't real love.
If I could pick a 'theme' I think a Claude romance would follow, it would be "Progression"; acknowledging not just what happened but that perhaps that it was needed or even for the best because you learned from it either way.
- Kryska; I think she's regarded largely as a 'bro' character the way Chigara was, though is also far harder to anticipate since she's basically the only girl besides Cosette who's expressed no romantic attraction to Kayto. That said, if something like this did happen, I would imagine it would largely focus on the two's definitions of duty and responsibility - how they both became blinded by the idea the people they fought for (Chigara and Gray respectively) were incorruptible and how their emotional devotion caused them to inadvertently betray the very people and ideals they fought so long and hard to protect. That in turn could play into how the two react to the prospect of trying to find a new cause to fight for in the Sunrider crew in the absence of the Alliance and Cera and the hope of restoring those old goals and integrity, which in turn leads the two down a path together.
If I could pick a 'theme' I think a Kryska romance would follow, it would be 'Determination'; resolving to not let a personal failing defeat them and strive to not repeat it, learning how to keep walking in spite of the hits.
- Chigara; If this is resumed at some point, I really doubt the Chigara Ashada that it's with is anything like the one before the end of LibDay. Between the fact that;
A- that her entire past was a lie because it was all actually lived by someone else (Alice/Arcadius)
B- that her father was an unapologetic sociopathic monster of a scientist
C- that her very existence betrayed Kayto, Asaga and everyone she cared about
D- whatever trauma DYING might have done to her mind
E- her failed romance with Kayto and the belief that it might have simply been him stress-venting with her as a convenient outlet
F- possibly that she knew or suspected the relationship wasn't actually "real" on Kayto's end and did it anyway just to make him happy, sacrificing her own happiness for it
G- assimilating traits from Lynn or Alice in whatever hive-mindstream the Prototypes are all connected to
;Whatever's going to be seen has a really, really low chance of still being the same Chigara from before. In turn, Kayto would have to confront the fact that he not only failed her because of her death but because, without even realizing it at the time, he'd manipulated her for his own comfort and took advantage of her unconditional love and effectively ruined her. Any future relationship between the two would have to deal with not only the implications of what that original bond really was but on how to try and move past it, as well as whether or not the two even really still feel for each-other and if they ever actually were in love to begin with. Chigara also, no longer protected by her innocent naiveté in the shared memories of the Prototypes, may probably come to understand something she might never have truly felt before; bitterness and angst. This might help to tie into Kayto's own feelings of it and make her realize that perhaps she wasn't quite so understanding of his full feelings as she believed, as unconditional affection isn't always the answer and can even make things worse. That would make her question whether her prior "love" was just empathy, and in turn she and Kayto would have to find out if it was or wasn't real and where they'd go from there.
If I could pick a 'theme' I think a Chigara romance would follow, it would be 'Devotion'; staying the course one has previously taken out of obligation, a sense of responsibility or love regardless of what transpired before.
|
|
Hot singles in your local solar system! 
