- Jun 2, 2017
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Keep in mindThe way this worked out makes me wonder how DmD's going to end. I mean, it probably doesn't matter, since any player can "cheat" the relationships right there in the menu, but I suspect people will be livid if the game takes a "she knows if you've been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake" approach to the ending(s) and ignores the player-controlled relationship settings. "Ha, see? You should've been faithful to D all along. Sucker!" I mean, I'd laugh hysterically if they actually did something like that, but I also wouldn't bother to replay the game to get the different ending.
Like many here, the division between Melody's good and perfect endings never really made much sense to me. It's only there for out-of-the-blue forced replayability, which is my least favorite kind. If there has to be branching, I prefer it to come with klaxons and strobe lights, like in Deliverance, or be subtle and intertwined but still obvious, like in Depraved Awakening. Melody's version is somewhat unfair, in that if you're actually playing the game (rather than following a walkthrough or using a mod), there's no in-game dialogue cautioning you that you can't have sex with Isabella, Amy, or Rebecca. (Especially as you can have sex with all three of them...just not past a certain point.) Moreover, Melody enjoys sex with Sophia and Xianne, which is hardly something that interferes with her ability to tour.
I can easily understand the logic behind unexpected pregnancy arresting her career, and the game does signpost that possibility by introducing a discussion regarding fertility and then giving players the choice of where to come, but the game never once suggests why a willingness to engage in threesomes and/or foursomes with two of her best friends should lead to the same ending. Worse, why in heaven's name would Koko object to sexual adventurousness? Hell, she'd be more likely to ask to join in. It's a made-up, out-of-thin-air content gate, and an illogical one.
At the time the were still not in process of wrapping up DMD so this was their first game ending
They gave paths to live happily ever after with characters other than Melody who the game was named for and is the focus of/reason for the story. That was kind of rare for these types of games. Really rare. But they wanted the best career payoff "Superstar" to have some gates. That isn't too strange if you are fair and look at other games. It just didn't match what some others might have felt was best. Having kids, a loving family, and still paying bills with music is the BEST ending to some players. Having a regular 4some and making it well enough to live off music may be BEST for others. That is why they called that one Superstar and not best. So you cannot have it all 1. Baby plus superstar or 2. 4some plus superstar. They learned from that and the new game has the main goal of the Hotel separated and the women are far, far more flexible in being a main LI who can stick around to the end.
Plus they knew they were going to Have Xianne and Sophia be a canon thing, so they go off on their own in any ending and the 4some doesn't last.
So could they have made it easier to get it all?
Certainly
Did they need to?
Not really
Just complete a game, establish the dynamic to pay for DMD to continue and finally finish, and learn for the next project what options to consider or to force.
I mean:
If I had my way, Sophia would have become a redhead and married the MC and we both would have been sleeping with Rock Star Melody as part of her team...... but you know, not my game.
PEACE