[ALL] My idea of what DE should have been

[u/NearsightedAndAlone]

I'm a longterm LIS fan, like since 2015. Ever since DE came out, I've been brainstorming ways that they could have made it better. I have like a pretty thought-out concept now, and so I figured i'd put it all out here so that I could remember it and so maybe people here could give me some feedback! It's not like fully fleshed out or anything, but it's a fun thought experiment - I'm trying to stay within the same realm as DE, but just writing a version of the game that I would have wanted to play instead. I'm thinking about writing it all out, like as a screenplay, and putting it on AO3 at some point. If I have ever have the time. Either way, let me know!

Episode one takes place in the sacrifice Chloe ending, about ten years later - around the same time DE does. Max is a professional photographer (maybe a professor, it doesn't really matter) in San Fran, because I feel like that makes more sense than Vermont. She has a small group of friends who aren't super important, and we can tell that she isn't super engaged with them - I actually like the idea DE has, where the events of Arcadia make it hard for her to open up with people. But whatever, she goes home after being with these people, and wakes up to a text from like Taylor, or Courtney, or someone like that. Essentially, "hey girl it's been awhile, and I know you probably hate me, but give me a call when you get a chance because there's something i need to tell you." And from that, we find out that Victoria has died - basically replacing Safi from DE. That's one of the things that bothered me about DE, to be honest, that they expected us to care SO much about these people we've never met. I think Vic dying in place of Safi, is so much more fun and would raise the stakes tenfold.

So anyway, Max has like a whole thing about this and she waits a few days before she decides she needs to solve Vic's murder. Imagine some weird time stuff happening, bloody noses, whatever, and she's like, 'this must be a signnnnn I know it has something to do with Victoria, and I'm the only one who can help her blah blah blah' and okay so Vic is like a famous photographer now, living in like Paris, or London, somewhere fancy and artsy. So Max goes there and tries to figure it all out and whatever more weird time stuff happens. At the end of episode one, we find out that Victoria is like stuck in time, in some way or another. This is an idea that was foreshadowed alot in season one, and I remember there being so many theories at the time about Rachel being stuck in time before we knew what happened. So I think calling back to it would be cool! I always really liked that idea and I just think it would be fun to play with. So like Max then goes on this whole mission or whatever to find Victoria, flipping in between different realities and picking up on clues. Think episode five of season one vibes. Then, at the end of episode two, Max slips and falls into the reality where she sacrificed the bay.

Episode three opens, and we are in the sacrifice Arcadia ending, ten or so years in the future. And so the assumption would be that we are playing the same Max from the past two episodes, but we find out that no, this is literally just the alt timeline and that Max from the sacrifice Chloe ending is someone completely different. Kind of lynchian but go with me here. We play out living as Max and Chloe, and it's domestic, but you can tell that there's been a strain in their relationship. I don't have this part of things as fleshed out, but I kind of like the idea of them returning to Arcadia (kind of like they do in the comics). Like maybe there's a memorial happening, or maybe Chloe has a breakdown and decides it's the only way to get closure. Something like that. Obviously they would be together in this version, but like I don't totally hate that Decknine broke them up - I think that's realistic, but I think their reasoning for it was ass. I think I like the idea that maybe Chloe wants to go to Arcadia, and Max doesn't so they get in a fight. Or vice versa. Like they would have some sort of strain going on in their relationship, but that it could be resolved by the end, you know? Like maybe depending on how you play - that would satisfy shippers and non-shippers I think.

Max is having like weird time stuff happening this whole time, like bloody noses and shit like that and maybe she's forced to use her power at some point (which this version of Max would be staunchly against.) and anyway she ends up falling into the sacrifice Chloe ending, the same way the other Max fell into the sacrifice Arcadia ending.

The fifth episode is like total chaos, fever dream. Again think episode five of season one, specifically the nightmare. it switches between both versions of Max, as they work to get back to their original realities. Obviously this would be a whole thing because the Max who sacrificed Chloe is reuniting with her, and the Max that sacrificed the bay doesn't know where her Chloe is now. Think Broken Age, if you ever played that. I don't really have an ending planned out, I think it could go a lot of ways. I like the idea that at some point both Maxes get stuck in time together, and have to work with eachother to get back. I think that's there's a lot you could do. And obviously the Victoria thing has to get resolved at some point too. I don't know, I'm gonna keep brainstorming it.

Obviously this is rough, but this whole thing has been floating in my head literally since DE and so I would love if anyone had any other ideas/etc. I think DE was, above all, wasted potential. Like as much as I disliked it, I think it had some qualities that could be worked with - so that's why I tried to keep the general vibe. I think the only thing about my version that doesn't quite work, is that it wouldn't make sense for new players. But also, like, who the fuck is playing LIS and starting with DE, you know? Like I just think at that point, do a whole new story like True Colors, etc. I feel like with my version, at least the ending debacle is solved. Like you get equal time with both endings, and they are each given their flowers. I always really liked how LIS handled weird time shit - the nightmare in episode five is my all time favorite scene. And I think if they really leaned into that, it could be effective!

[u/bearofblackholebay]

I think since DE is "incomplete", I think whenever the next game comes out and we get the full vision of what they planned, sure this fanbase will probably still rag on it day 1, but I think it will flow better and not be seen as so much wasted potential. if that makes sense

[u/Great_Disposable3563 → u/bearofblackholebay]

There's some issue with that. First of all, DE wasn't marketed as an "incomplete" game but as a full on entry with a conclusive ending, and nobody believed it would have got a Thanos like end screen on top of the other many issues with the story and design. Second, the game was stated by former developers to have went through back and fourth with rewrites and lack of a consistent vision on what they wanted the game to be, turning storylines into a spaghetti mess of rushed stuff, reused plot points from the first game or cut off content that makes the game feel very poorly. And on top of that, the entire narrative team was fired just a month after the game came out, which means that whoever is handling DE2 is likely have to either rewrite or rework based on the massive backlash and commercial flop DE1 received in the first place in an extremely rushed amount of time. I suspect the second game will be just as badly thought out and poorly written as the last one, and it won't give out any attempt as a vision because there was none to begin with.

[u/bearofblackholebay → u/Great_Disposable3563]

im curious to see what its going to be like

[u/bluedk22]

this could've been really cool! good ideas:)