Putting the 'role' back in role-playing games since 2002.
Donate to Codex
Good Old Games
  • Welcome to rpgcodex.net, a site dedicated to discussing computer based role-playing games in a free and open fashion. We're less strict than other forums, but please refer to the rules.

    "This message is awaiting moderator approval": All new users must pass through our moderation queue before they will be able to post normally. Until your account has "passed" your posts will only be visible to yourself (and moderators) until they are approved. Give us a week to get around to approving / deleting / ignoring your mundane opinion on crap before hassling us about it. Once you have passed the moderation period (think of it as a test), you will be able to post normally, just like all the other retards.

[LP CYOA] Spiral

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
Hmm, maybe the change of stage is due to Uehara succeding in collecting all the talismans, or maybe the Juunimon talisman made the trick?
Heavily implied, if not stated outright, that the Juunimon talisman was the 100th and the last of them.

Our previous successes in solving these ' puzzles' doesn't bode well for future ones.
That's why we should try harder.

Besides, we weren't doing that bad on the puzzles themselves when we encountered them, we are just getting sidetracked constantly. Blame the Codexian attention span.

Unless treave grant us infinite reloading the 'whole' story could become very short and unfinished.
Could be, if we keep doing things just for lulz when the situation does not call for it. But that would be the problem with all cases, no?
 

Kz3r0

Arcane
Joined
May 28, 2008
Messages
27,026
All right, flopping to:
C

Time to retake our loli book from Seji.
 

Akkudakku

Arbiter
Joined
Mar 17, 2014
Messages
1,125
After reading Nevill I think he is right in the storytelling arc here. Ammending to straight C.
I want the full thing +M
 

treave

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Jul 6, 2008
Messages
11,370
Codex 2012
A small clarification: this isn't a teleportation choice to send you right back to Kaimei, or to skip right into the heart of the world. As Ei says in the update, you're not at the exit yet.
 

a cut of domestic sheep prime

Guest
ah, I see, we are just going to get more exposition on whatever we pick then? In that case...I have to flop to a>b for now.
 

treave

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Jul 6, 2008
Messages
11,370
Codex 2012
ah, I see, we are just going to get more exposition on whatever we pick then? In that case...I have to flop to a>b for now.
Hard to say until you pick it. :M

The way you set up the 12 in the previous choices will also have some consequences here.
 

a cut of domestic sheep prime

Guest
Uh oh...

Rex Feral Him and Shino are cut from the same cloth. I wonder though whether or not he sees the inevitable betrayal coming.
 

a cut of domestic sheep prime

Guest
Oh, but this time, the Theseus will be Seiji, I think - if he has his way, that is. :M
 

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
A small clarification: this isn't a teleportation choice to send you right back to Kaimei, or to skip right into the heart of the world. As Ei says in the update, you're not at the exit yet.
Hm. I wonder what the choice is, then, if not us wanting to be a part of a certain era.

Is this still a part of the puzzle?

The heart of the mystery is still the mansion. The next eras only add layers on top of it. So if we are asked where we are led by the answers that were revealed to us, A might be the right call.

I suppose the choice of the place and the connections we've made determines where the others are, to some extent. Kayano, Taketatsu and Mori all have business in Ikei. Tokigawa has business either with Ward 169 or Kaimei and the gold that was left there. Sakaki and Amanozaki were searching for the Yomiki village.

Rex Feral Him and Shino are cut from the same cloth.
He is not mad, though. It will be his downfall.
 
Last edited:

treave

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Jul 6, 2008
Messages
11,370
Codex 2012
I suppose the choice of the place and the connections we've made determines where the others are, to some extent.

Not exactly, but as you've pointed out, each choice does have certain people more connected to them than others. You could think of this choice as a flag that contributes to a route choice later down the road.
 

Kz3r0

Arcane
Joined
May 28, 2008
Messages
27,026
Not exactly, but as you've pointed out, each choice does have certain people more connected to them than others.
And this explain why we didn't find Mori in Kaimei.
Now there are only three logical choices:
1)If we think that is necessary to drag everyone with us we shoul choose D, problem is that Mitsuki already disappeared there and we don't know how rescue her.
2)Unfinished business, return to Kaimei and continue from we left, C.
3)Jump straight to the end game, there the people with the strongest connections are Uehara, Seika, Amazonaki, probably Ei and Fox guy too, hence A.

B doesn't make any sense, is the era of which we know the least, only person with strong connections to it is Maeda, and she is out for all we know at the moment.
 

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
Ah. It appears that my initiial impression was incorrect, and that the current choice does not have to do with getting a complete version of the story.

Therefore, I am summoning my DISCUSS-oriented bros, Lambchop19, Baltika9, Tigranes, Kz3r0 and Rex Feral to consider a few things that might be of importance:

1) Where the members of the initial 12 might end up?
2) Is there a particular character-related route we want to pursue?
3) What might be our end goals?

My own considerations are as follows:
- Taketatsu is interested in his own survival, and to the less extent, in surpassing Seiji. He will likely be in Ikei trying to shutdown or reprogram the supercomputer that he might suspect guides this experiment.
- Kayano is more likely to be found either in Ikei, trying to get out, or sticking close to Juuzo in hopes he will let her tag along when he escapes.
- Uehara will try to reach Seika at the heart of the labirynth, wherever that is. It might not be in either of those places, but it is implied that Sakaguchi Mansion is the closest.
- Sakimura will be following Uehara.
- Juuzo will be following Uehara and probably Mitsuki.
- Mori's interests lead him to Ikei - he does not seem to have an agenda other than locking Shinoharas behind bars and preventing them from harming children, but his quest might lead him towards Mitsuki and Ward 109, which I think is connected to the dismemberment mystery.
- Tokigawa will be found either in Kaimei, or in Ward 109, depending on where the gold is. It is implied that it was buried somewhere in the hospital, but it was put there during the war. Is that a source of the Maedas' power?
- Okuyama will be with Tokigawa. The doc shared his plan with her, and it's not like there are many others in this place she'd rather be with. Although there is this 'external factor' that was mentioned earlier...
- Mitsuki - as a key figure she is likely to be on the two lower level of the hospital. A possible captive by Juuzo. Not sure if pairing her with the doc changed anything.
- Sakaki and Amanozaki will be getting to the bottom of the story surrounding Yomiki village and its curse.
- Maeda has no strong ties to either time period, only to us. Perhaps linking her with Uehara and Sakimura tied her tighter to the main plot?
- Sawada will be where Seiji is.

So...

Ikei: Taketatsu, Kayano (?), Mori (?)
Kaimei: Tokigawa, Okuyama, Mitsuki (?)
Ward 109: Mori? Mitsuki? Maeda? Not sure anyone fits here.
Sakaguchi Mansion: Uehara (?), Sakimura (?), Juuzo (?), Sakaki, Amanozaki.
Do we want to stick to a certain route? I am not talking about romance here - after all, even Mori has his own, and I doubt anyone but Baltika wants to enter a relationship with him. What I mean, are there characters whose goals we are ready to share and assist them, even to the detriment of other characters?

Personally, I am still strongly on Uehara's side. She has the deepest connection to the overall plot (or at least to the part that we managed to discover), and following in her footsteps is bound to lead us to a crossroads where we'll find Seiji, Juuzo and Mitsuki. Every one of them has some business with Seika or another, it is unavoidable. It is likely that we will come to the same crossroads anyway by following a different route, but hers offers the most involvement with this particular plotline, and it so happened that I care about it more than about others.

Or we can align ourselves with Mori and fix the reason children go missing in the area. It will likely involve helping Mitsuki and crossing Juuzo as well. Or we might choose someone else. Our goals do not even need to coincide with those of the chosen character, but I assume our chances to achieve a proper ending would go up dramatically if they do.

The question is, what is our goal? I can draft a few:
- To save certain people.
- To screw our detractors and make sure they fail. Perhaps it's Juuzo, perhaps it's Seiji, perhaps it's their goons Kayano and Sawada, or perhaps it's all of them.
- To lift the curse and purify the place.
- To prevent a similar tragedy from happening again.
- To escape.
- To become the one who controls the place.

Some of them might sound similar, but they can be mutually exclusive. For example, if we forever lock this world from the world of the living, we might prevent further incidents at a cost of trapping both the 'living' and the dead in this hellhole for eternity. If we save Seika, it might mean dooming the others to die for that purpose. If we save the others, Juuzo might still come out as a winner, etc etc.

So what is it that we are trying to do? Sure, we have only been gathering information so far, but it would be good if we start considering our potential future as well based on what we have learned.
 
Last edited:

a cut of domestic sheep prime

Guest
Kz3r0, not sure if you - or I for that matter - understand this choice fully, but treave did just say it wasn't about teleporting to the endgame or anywhere else. This is just another choice in the maze, like the choices we just made. Thing is, it connects to the other choices somehow - though it will, in part, determine our exit.
 

Kz3r0

Arcane
Joined
May 28, 2008
Messages
27,026
treave is this another choice similar to when we chose which people to connect?
Meaning that we will get some exposure of what happened in that particular era/building?
 

a cut of domestic sheep prime

Guest
It's a choice that also depends on the previous choices - as Ei said: Where have the connections lead us?

Nevill - maybe over simplifying things here again, but:

“We’re not at the exit yet, Acchan,” says Ei. “This is merely the next level of the labyrinth… so, what do you see? Where are we now? Where have the connections you made between the twelve led you?
The connections between the twelve - where did they lead us?

Originally, they lead us into the loop of the hospital...but it couldnt be that simple could it?

But then there's the thing about the establishing a route... I need time to think about this one.
 

treave

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Jul 6, 2008
Messages
11,370
Codex 2012
Well, this wasn't planned to be spelled out clearly, but I guess I'll have to do it in further detail anyway so you guys have a clearer idea of what's going on.

So, we started out this chapter on this endless expanse with a visible curvature on the horizon, right? If you think of the world that the hospital exists in as a sphere, you are now on the outside of the sphere. Everyone else - Seiji, Amanozaki, Uehara etc - are all on the inside, where the hospital is located. You are still on the outside, and the exits will bring you to the inside.

Whatever, or whoever you see, in the upcoming sequences, are not actually any of the souls currently trapped within the sphere. They are fragments of memories. However, the things you do out here can have an influence on those still inside. For example, discovering a certain piece of information will allow you more options when confronting a related character should you finally find the exit. Or perhaps the mere act of observing certain events at a certain time can induce shifts in a character's disposition or decisions.
 

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
The connections between the twelve - where did they lead us?
That was my first thought after treave's clarification, that there is a simple logical assumption to make that would put us on a right track.

But as far as I can see, there isn't one. The characters all have different goals and reasons for being here. The question is, what are ours?

All roads lead to the Witch, the Juunimon tree and the curse. That's the intersection that we will come across no matter which path we follow. The question is, how do we approach it? As someone who wants to save Seika (Uehara)? As someone who wants to stop Juuzo&Seiji (Mori)? As someone who wants to lift the curse (Amanozaki)?

The ones who want to go full 'Inception', Sakaki and Amanozaki, think that the Yomiki village contains the root of the problem. As I find the Witch and her role in the story far more interesting than everything else, I am inclined to follow A. But I am waiting to see what the take of others is.
 
Last edited:

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
Whatever, or whoever you see, in the upcoming sequences, are not actually any of the souls currently trapped within the sphere. They are fragments of memories. However, the things you do out here can have an influence on those still inside. For example, discovering a certain piece of information will allow you more options when confronting a related character should you finally find the exit. Or perhaps the mere act of observing certain events at a certain time can induce shifts in a character's disposition or decisions.
Ok, so our people aren't actually in these time fragments, but the information we can find there might change the nature of our interactions when we finally find them. Makes sense.

In which case, I vastly prefer A. That's where Tendou and Sakaguchi families intersect (meaning more choices related to Uehara/Amanozaki down the road, which are the only two routes I heavily consider), and that's where we suppose Ei got involved in this business. Either way, the Witch is strong with this choice.
 
Last edited:

Kz3r0

Arcane
Joined
May 28, 2008
Messages
27,026
Let's make a logical assumption, yeah, with black magic involved, we are just dealing with the ghosts of the past, any resolution will lead us to the modern world, no time travel, no undoing of past events how I thought.
Every spectral plane has its own ghosts tied to a certain event and time period, this seems to apply to the twelve people involved as well.

Said that, all we uncovered until now leads to the Yomiki Village, more specifically to Sakaguchi Mansion, of all the people we know of these have the strongest connections to it:
Uehara and Seika, twins descendants of the medium that helped the Baron.
Ei, my hypothesis is that she is one of the Baron's twin daughters,
Amazonaki, her family is from Yomiki Village, other connections unknown.
Maeda her family is tied to the Baron's family, possibly they are from Yomiki Village as well.
Furthermore, Seika is the Observer in the Experiment and Amazonaki helped to open the gate tha unleashed this whole mess.

Without overthinking too much A seems the most logical choice, both from what we know and from the number of people with strong connections to the Yomiki Village.
I think that proceeding as we already did is the only option, start from what we know and see what we discover along the way, unless someone managed to figure out what's happening and has better suggestions..
 

As an Amazon Associate, rpgcodex.net earns from qualifying purchases.
Back
Top Bottom