- Sep 20, 2018
- 3,367
- 13,965
It's a difficult question to answer for certain.Can anyone explain to me why this game is so insanely popular on here? It looks interesting, but I'm curious for your reasons.
First off, the obvious: BaDIK is a polished game. The models are very attractive, the text has been proof-read, the soundtrack is fantastic, and the game is generally bug free. The main gameplay has a lot of work put into it, with numerous cool features added over time. The mini-games have a lot of variations, and most importantly, they are optional. The MC gets lots of choices, and while there are definitely limits on what he can do, a lot of those choices will be reflected in large or small ways going forward. So as a game, it's off to a good start.
But I think the BaDIK's real strength comes from the characters and narrative. The story (thus far) is a fairly straightforward raunchy college hijinks movie, but a lot of time is spent getting to know the various characters and building up the setting. The game has a big cast, too, with 5 main Love Interests and a large number of side-characters who also get significant screen time. That means there's almost always someone who will catch your interest and keep you coming back for more.
On top of that, the game designer, DPC, is a firm believer in cranking up the drama and putting his characters through the ringer. I think he overdoes that at times, but it does mean that if you ARE invested in some (or all) of the cast, you will very much want to see what happens to them and to try to help your favorites make it through to their (hopeful!) happy ending.
Finally, the game is nowhere near complete (best estimates are about 31% of the the way through), and it drops a lot of hints about what might be coming. Since the game is at least partially planned in advance, it's possible to guess future events by paying close attention to the right clues. Much easier said than done, of course, but it provides a real incentive to play through the game multiple times in multiple ways and look for interesting patterns/anomalies.
Now, if you combine all of those qualities (high production values, characters you care about, good replayability, and meaningful speculation) you have the perfect fuel for ongoing internet discussion. Which, I think, is why this thread is so ludicrously active.