Warning: Incoming Wall of Text. Despite following Being a Dik since its release, being a big fan of Acting Lessons before then, and reading the posts in this thread pretty regularly, I don’t think I’ve ever posted in it before. Well, I guess this is making up for lost time.
For the past several updates (5, 6, 7, 8, and Interlude), I had only been playing the new chapters as they released with my existing saves. That had worked fine for unlocking scenes, but I was starting to feel that I was losing some of the overall story. So, for episode 9, I bit the bullet and restarted a clean game, going from the beginning of the game to the end of 9 with all my routes.
When planning, I did use some of the routes outlined by SteveyP in the “Save Files” section under “Extras” as a guidepost, though I didn’t use the save files themselves (THANKS, btw!). I did a total of 5 routes at first, and, after some consideration, I added a 6th. The first five routes were:
DIK route – Sage and ALL available side girls, committing to Sage in Chapter 8 and being faithful to her from that point onward.
DIK route – Sage and ALL available side girls, not committing to anyone in Chapter 8. Complete man-whore route.
Neutral route – Maya and Josey, keeping my time split between the two as evenly as possible. I committed to the “throuple” relationship when given the opportunity. Never slept with any other girls during the game*.
CHICK route – Jill only. No other girls*, and never went to visit Bella, to avoid all her scenes. Committed to Jill.
CHICK route – Bella only. No other girls*, and I did as little with Jill as possible to avoid leading her on. Committed to Bella.
At this point, I went back and did one additional run:
DIK route – Sage ONLY. No side girls at all*.
* “Never slept with any other girls” does not include the CUMpetition in chapter 2. I just don’t have it in me to eat that condom.
Anyway, after finishing this epic endeavor, I would like to share my current preference ranking of the major LI’s as well as some of the side girls.
Major LI Paths
1. Sage. At this point in the game, Sage is my favorite girl. That wasn’t the case before I went back and replayed everything from the beginning, but it is now. Sage gains a LOT from going through all of her content at once. Her lewd content is some of the game’s hottest, and I find her character to be the most enjoyable and (overall) drama-free. She also grows a LOT from the player’s perspective, starting the game as a generic “leader of the popular girls” and revealing herself to be an intelligent, kind, funny, and generally interesting character. I particularly enjoyed her scenes in chapter 9 (both lewd and non-lewd). The fact that her character model has always been my favorite in terms of sexiness doesn’t hurt her case at all. I also think that she is one of the two characters who are most likely to push the envelope on vanilla sex scenes in the future (which also appeals to me). I found myself liking Sage so much, that I added the “pure” route for her out of fear that a certain side dalliance might completely derail her path in the future.
2. Bella. I almost have a tie for 2nd place between Bella and Jill, but for now, I am putting Bella ahead. Before my recent replays, Bella was my number one. I have never been a huge fan of her character model (I don’t like overly large boobs/butts), but I am a sucker for a good resting bitchface – specifically, the challenge of getting past it. I like Bella’s humor, and her first
is still one of my favorites. I also enjoyed her path quite a bit in chapter 9. The biggest problem I have with Bella is the almost certain difficulty that her path will face in the future.
3. Jill. For most of the game, Jill was my bottom girl. I have never been a fan of the innocent virgin type, and I was mostly bored by how generically “good” Jill was. However, as the game has progressed, and Jill has come out of her shell a bit, I find myself liking her more and more. Her final
was a big turning point for me, and she gained even more points when she
Obviously, the fact that she is now getting some noteworthy lewd scenes is nice as well. The recital scene was great, and I am also curious to find out more about her sister and the foundation she is trying to set up. Jill might have passed up Bella at this point if it wasn’t for the ending of chapter 9.
4. Maya & Josy. Maya and Josy just keep getting better for me. Unlike a lot of the folks here, I never went through a phase where I hated either of them, and I am not bothered at all with the idea of a sharing “throuple” relationship. If anything, I thought that the MC was massively overreacting to the whole situation. BUT… the amount of drama hanging over this path (mostly coming from Maya) made it a bit bothersome to me. From a pure mechanics standpoint, the fact that you need to keep your rep balanced to access certain points of this path is kind of a pain, as is trying to keep your attention balanced between the two of them. None of the other paths have required this kind of “bookkeeping.” If, at some point in the future, the option to pursue the girls individually becomes available, I will probably go back and try to do dedicated runs for each girl. Anyway… things ARE getting better here. I enjoyed their content in chapter 9 quite a bit, and I am a somewhat hopeful that things might finally start to run more smoothly in the future.
I like ALL of the major LI paths that I have played. I enjoy some more than others, but I had fun with every route. DPC has done a nice job of making all of these characters interesting in their own way, and one of my favorite things about this game is that it offers different paths for different preferences.
Other Character Notes (Not specifically ranked)
Quinn. In the early days of this game, Quinn was my number one girl. I still think that she is both hot and interesting (well-written), but I have been forcibly distancing myself from her for some time now, because I think her chances of either becoming a major LI option or surviving to the end of the game are pretty slim. I know that with DPC, no character is safe, but getting invested in Quinn just seems likely to be setting myself up for pain. That said, I do enjoy my time with her on my “side girls” playthroughs. I think there is a small chance that Quinn might open up as a viable main route before the end of the game, but I’m not counting on it. I think that if Quinn was ever going to be a primary LI, more of her “secret” doings would have been hidden from the player as well as the MC.
Zoey. I did not like the interlude, but I like Zoey. I think that a main route for her will open up going forward, and I look forward to giving it a shot. I would also like to see the opportunity to possibly push her towards a relationship with Jacob or Derek for paths where the MC chooses not to pursue her.
Riona. In my opinion, Riona actually has a better chance of becoming a viable main LI than Quinn does. The MC has had several opportunities to bond with her on both sexual and platonic levels over the past few updates, leading to a much deeper rapport than can be attained with any of the other side girls. Unfortunately, Riona is at the very top of my “DEAD” list. I think that we are being allowed to bond with her to make it more painful when she meets a tragic fate. She is likeable, sympathetic, and in a perfect position to be killed off as a sacrificial lamb once the blood starts flowing. I like Riona a lot, so I hope that I am wrong about this.
Sally. I kinda wrote Sally off at first, but the past few episodes have me thinking that there is going to be a significant amount of content available with her before the end of the game. I don’t think that she will ever be opened up as a major LI, but I think we’re going to get some good stuff with her for those not on a committed path. Also, she is the other character, besides Sage, that I think might allow for some freaky non-vanilla content. Fingers crossed.
Jade. FUCK Jade. Before my replays, I had never done a route where I rejected her advances in the classroom. Even if I didn’t meet up with her for the first sex scene (because I was pursuing Maya and Josy), I did as much of her content as I could.
Elena. The last of the side characters that I will highlight is Elena. I don’t think that she will ever become a viable LI, and I really don’t want her to, but I really like her a lot. I hope that at some point the MC gets the opportunity to jump into a threesome with her and John Boy. And hopefully Jacob will do that painting for her.
I could talk a bit more about some of the other side characters (Lily, Envy, and Becky notably), and I might at a later point, but I’ve already probably rambled for so long that most people won't read this anyway. Sorry.
