Is there a true route in Rewrite?

[Satsuki]

I just think it could have been handled a bit smarter. It kind of sticks out like a sore thumb. And with the common path being what it is, it shouldn't deviate in this manner if it the story was any good. But as you know, it's my first VN, so i don't know how most VN handles heroine paths and such. Fortunately the heroine paths are interesting thus far, so i think i'll continue until i've finished it!

Well, you will have to get used to it, because this is how the majority of VNs go: the choices you make will totally change how the story goes, not just the heroine. There is rarely any VN with the style of "same story, different perspective" (actually, I know none).

[mjriedstra]

Well, you will have to get used to it, because this is how the majority of VNs go: the choices you make will totally change how the story goes, not just the heroine. There is rarely any VN with the style of "same story, different perspective" (actually, I know none).

 

I think the reason for this is that ultimately, it's not very interesting to watch the same events unfold multiple times in slightly different ways. The Endless Eight arc of Haruhi, for example, is one of the most hated story arcs in anime history despite being part of one of the otherwise most-watched shows.

 

I do think it's possible to keep certain elements consistent between routes if the developer really wanted to try, and at times I've also been jarred by story elements disappearing from one route to another for the sake of plot expediency. However, it's best to think of most VNs as being several different stories packaged on top of one common setting and character set, which it is the job of the common route to introduce, rather than to think of them as an over-arching narrative told through multiple routes (which usually isn't the case).

 

I've personally struggled with this a lot. The game I'm developing takes consideration of the strange genre convention of replaying a common route over and over to see different stories later on. I've never loved that convention, so I'm not using it. But I still wanted the player to be able to experience each different branch of the story as a unique experience. Figuring out the best way to structure it has been a challenge.

 

One game I respect in that regard is Majikoi. Its "common route" is actually a series of sub-stories that allow you to choose which heroine's route you want to see without ever replaying the same content.

[Stormwolf]

But this title does somewhat try to be a different perspective title, it just somewhat stumbled in the process. That's how i feel. Most things have been consistent with the first route thus far, taking into account that you're somewhere else doing something else of course.

I think the reason for this is that ultimately, it's not very interesting to watch the same events unfold multiple times in slightly different ways. The Endless Eight arc of Haruhi, for example, is one of the most hated story arcs in anime history despite being part of one of the otherwise most-watched shows.

 

I do think it's possible to keep certain elements consistent between routes if the developer really wanted to try, and at times I've also been jarred by story elements disappearing from one route to another for the sake of plot expediency. However, it's best to think of most VNs as being several different stories packaged on top of one common setting and character set, which it is the job of the common route to introduce, rather than to think of them as an over-arching narrative told through multiple routes (which usually isn't the case).

 

I've personally struggled with this a lot. The game I'm developing takes consideration of the strange genre convention of replaying a common route over and over to see different stories later on. I've never loved that convention, so I'm not using it. But I still wanted the player to be able to experience each different branch of the story as a unique experience. Figuring out the best way to structure it has been a challenge.

 

One game I respect in that regard is Majikoi. Its "common route" is actually a series of sub-stories that allow you to choose which heroine's route you want to see without ever replaying the same content.

 

It's just the leadup to the separation that boggles me that they change. It should be the same before you head off with your chosen heroine, unless you do something really different in the common path of course. Which hasn't happened here. People just acted differently which felt really weird.

[Satsuki]

"Before you head off with your chosen heroine" = Common route.

[Stormwolf]

Yeah, i know. It's the very beginning of the heroine path that changed even though the events leading up to it are the same. One time everyone leaves you and your memory is lost, next time half of them are there and your memory is in tact and then they leave. While i can buy Kotori wiping my emotional memory of her during her path, i can't really understand why the rest of the group are acting so vastly different at the very start of the heroine path. They should have stuck with everyone vanishing and focused on how you got back in touch with your chosen heroine and had a complete separate story from there on out. Just changing such things kind of detaches you from the story. Did so for me at least. But as i said, heroine paths are fun and interesting anyway.

[Decay]

This kind of thing is very common in visual novels. It's just how most branching ones are designed. The larger plot points are still the same but the smaller details differ heavily, such as the individual character actions. These don't necessarily have to happen due to the player's choices. VNs don't try to be simulation games, or adventure games where you affect the plot, but basically multiple stories where  your choices dictate which story you read. So it doesn't need to be consistent in this regard. Consider the different routes to be completely different timelines.

 

If it makes you feel better, they DO actually construct plot points that tie the routes together and allows you to make sense out of some of the differences, which most VNs don't even bother attempting to do. This happens during the true route.

[Hakuoro]

True route is Oppai Ending, the only one where nobody dies ! 

[Technos]

As far as I understand, the Moon Route acts as a bridge between possibilities of an ensured apocalypse and a single ray of hope, and Terra Route (The true end) implements this ray of hope.

 

 
All heroines routes (no matter if you reach good or bad ending) leads to the destruction of the Earth in long term, because these routes do not solve the paradox that gives meaning to the war between Gaia and Guardian.
 
Terra Route is the ray of hope which is originally discovered in Moon Route when Tennouji-san and Kagari-san were investigating the Theory of "Life in Earth".
 
...in simple terms, Tennouji-san discovered that he was the opposite of the Key in all the alternate worlds (he always lead the Key to destruction in one or other fashion), and a way to solve the riddle in this theory was to act opposed to what he was doing (according to his own memories collected from all these alternate worlds). These memories always led him to think that the Key was a divine entity unable to understand human emotions, but in the Moon he discovered that Kagari was in fact able to love (This emotion was the basis for evolution, this is explained when he used his Rewriting abilities to achieve higher level of comprehension). After he was able to get a shed insight about this fact, he made a simple wish: "I hope to see you again someday ~Tennouji Kotarou". In fact, in this point of the Moon Route, Tennouji-san already knew that he loved the Moon Kagari... and in fact, Moon Kagari also was having feelings for him. This wish was manifested in the Terra Route, a place where Tennouji-san took a different path: He decided to protect the Key at all costs, using his own life in the process. Also, in Terra Route, he was not killed by the Key (in the common Route, Tennouji-san was partially killed by the Key, but Kotori manages to save him). When Tennouji-san decides to be loyal to the Key no matter which costs were involved, the miracle occurs, and the prolongued cycle of destruction is wiped out, awakening the ray of hope that Moon Kagari was searching for. This branch was possible due Tennouji's wish to see Moon Kagari again.
 
Now, if you check Moon Kagari's reaction, when Tennouji-san created that wish and discovered the possibility she was searching for, Kagari was not happy at all... in fact, she was sad. After Terra Route, you discover the reason of this reaction: In order to save the planet, Tennouji had to led a life of suffering (good memories for the Key, ugly memories for Tennouji)... Moon Kagari felt deep sadness, this was a direct conflict between her fate and her feelings.
 
This ensures a bittersweet end.
 
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This told, there is an easier way to understand both Moon and Terra Route, even without thinking about the alternate worlds: Watch the first opening of the game, and the Ending of Terra Route.
 
I'll write some key lines which gives meaning to all routes.
 
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Opening
 
0:56 (song) - "If it could be granted, I would wish to be a different person from yesterday"
 
Comment: This explains the existence of alternate worlds.
 
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1:08 (song) - "The life we led until today is dissappearing"
 
Comment: These alternate worlds are meant to end
 
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1:43 (background) - "Time spent with good friends. A calm, ordinary life"
 
Comment: Knowledge given form about human relationships, needed by the Key for the day of judgement
 
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1:52 - 1:56 (background) - "But they don't know yet... It never ocurred to them... that they all might be connected to the truth"
 
Comment: This is a direct metaphor. The Truth is Tennouji himself, in order to ensure the possibility of a future Tennouji had to become a martyr (Pink note: This is implied in Chihaya's route, since Sakuya shares the same fate)
 
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Ending
 
4:53 (background) - "If anyone ever reaches the sky, I want them to find the girl on the Moon, find the girl crouching all by herself, I want them to walk up to her... That is... my only wish"
 
Comment: Fate played a harsh joke in this point. Tennouji's wish turned out to be fulfilled by the former Occult Club Members (but human Tennouji), which summoned Tennouji as a familiar in order to reach their final destination: Moon Kagari.
 
In the end, the Tennouji who held a human heart never managed to fulfill his wish. Familiars are only a manifestation of the Earth or their summoners, they only wield memories of their former selves, but their essence is not the same.
 
His former wish was selfish, but the outcome was in fact, eternal salvation itself. In the end, what met Moon Kagari was not Tennouji, but the result of the efforts of his memories.
 
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