OK show me the impacts. I may be getting you wrong but you seem to be arguing the point that BaDIK is a choice driven game and that the choices have consequences. That's just not the case. When you compare it to other games with branching path's BaDIK just fails to measure up, it's a story on rails.
Branching a game early is a rookie mistake.
Why so many games on this site don't even make it half way through the story before the creator has to go back and redo everything.
Right now, there's no branching or at least there isn't consequences to the branching, but let's reopen this conversation in a few episode when the game passes the 50% point.
I'm an old man, I won't be alive when this game reaches the half-way point. DPC is saying 16-20 episodes now, when he realizes just how much he can soak the rubes it'll be 24-30, then 30-36 and etc.
Also, games have actually been written and completed with branching path's. Seek and ye shall find.
Branching early just increases the workload, it's not necessarily a mistake, as long as the developer realises what they are getting themselves into.
Games with massive branching arcs can be great, especially for replayability, but DPC has stated this game is mostly a linear story, and he was aware that branching would have a massive impact on either his development time or episode length. It is what it is.
You can't criticise something for being what it was intended to be. It's like if you prefer sci-fi, you don't go criticising fantasy stories because they aren't sci-fi.
If DPC was making a big deal about how amazing his branching was, then sure, he'd be wrong, but he's not doing that.
As far as consequences, there are definitely consequences to the mc's actions, are they long-term consequences? We don't know, the game isn't over yet. But some random consequences:
- Be in a relationship with Maya and Josy, the following sexual relationships are closed to you:
- Have a sexual encounter with Cathy, the following relationship is jeopardised:
- Stay with Derek or Bella, the following sexual encounters are missed:
- Stay with Bella or Sage, the following sexual encounters are missed:
- Sex with Rose during the second visit to the Pink Rose
- Turn down Quinn's restaurant offer, miss out on the following sexual encounters:
- Camila anal sex
- Riona blow job
- Sarah sex at the DIK party
- Quinn & Riona threesome
- Miss out on sex with Sarah during gender studies
- Don't be a DIK
- Miss out on sex with Sarah during gender studies
- Be a DIK
- Miss out on first kiss with Jill in the tennis showers (not actually in the shower unfortunately)
And so on...
None of the above derails the main story, because that isn't the intention, but they are still consequences.
These are only minor branches in this game so far (depending on your perspective - missing out on sex with a girl as a consequence of your actions sounds pretty severe actually), and they all converge back on the same path eventually.
I just hope there will be romantic routes for DIK/not-so-romantic/horndog MC as well. Or maybe some sort of attunement later where you get to re-open some paths under certain conditions.
I basically picked the roleplay choices I'd personally would have gone for ("followed my heart", heh) and lost Josy/Maya and Bella and most likely losing Jill as well (seriously Josy, telling the other girl that that's my dick in Tybalt's presentation?)
Would be sad if the ending would be "oh you had lots of different women, as a punishment MC ends up all alone in the end"
Everyone talks about DPC punishing the players, it's just a fun story to me, with high replayability. Once it's complete I'd surely have played all possible outcomes anyway (unless I suddenly stopped liking the game and didn't want to, but given the current situation, I can't see that happening).