Board 8 > Raging Loop: A KCF playthrough topic

(+) Yeah! (+)

As it has become increasingly clear how linear this is, I assumed that people have been keeping quiet for that reason.
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There have been many times when I wanted to say something, but couldn't because of spoilers. I'm sure we'll all discuss it when you're done.

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I wonder which VN started the trend of having an actual, tangible route map with "fast travel"? Generally with a key system as well.

VLR is the first one I can think of (not counting 999 adding it in the rerelease)

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UshiromiyaEva posted...

Just want to say that I am thoroughly enjoying these writeups, and the only reason I'm not commenting is that this is one of those games where you can't talk or comment about literally anything without it being some type of implied or vague spoiler.

Same.

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I'm clearly not an expert on the human body, as I didn't catch on when examing Kaori's body that both her finger positions and the location of her message were impossible based on the conditions. Despite the little detour, Kamo and Chi eventually confessed and then just went psycho and planned on killing everyone then and there. I'm calling major bullshit on them somehow concealing those big ass guns without anyone noticing. Unfortunately, me calling the game out on that falls on deaf ears as they just waste several characters. Those are hunting rifles/shotguns right. I can't imagine that they can hold more than one or two bullets/shells at a time, so I have more issues about the plausibility of recent events.

Ultimately, everyone died except Chi. She even murdered Kamo because he was about to violate an arrangement they had where Chi wanted to be the one to kill Haru M. I feel like this ending futher cements my belief that the various legends concerning what the point of the feasts does not reflect the reality and is what I have been calling bogus.. No matter which side is Yomi under the various legends, the behavior and stark difference between the two groups thus far, of the wolves doesn't support any singular legends. It also just seems like there will be an endless cycle of the mist/feasts, so that if this were a two sided affair between Yomi and not Yomi, then it would go on until the end of humanity.

I could go back and do things that I haven't done yet, but I am going to press on and use the #15 key on the recent late-night Rika conversation. Things began playing out as they did previously, and they revealed how Chi/Kamo hid the guns. They just simply put them in their sleeves. LMAO what nonsense that this group of people didn't see any sort of bulge or hear any odd noises or see any weird movement when Chi or Kamo were walking about all day. This time though, the bullets were swapped out. Haru M said it took a few loops to successfully swap out the bullets, so I'm a little curious on how his failures went down.

The strong, negative reaction by everyone present when Haru M suggested in order for no more town members to, the wolves' limbs should be broken or cut off was a bit startling to me. Clearly there is a special reason behind this and of course they are going to hold off on revealing that info. I haven't been able to make a connection, but just in case I do eventually, the sound of water was heard when Kamo was hung. Chi planned to commit suicide, and again, this doesn't make sense based on the local legends because I feel like she should be compelled to want to live and fight for her side until she no longer draws breath.
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Well, the morning after Chi jumped off the cliff, the mist was gone, so I guess she did kill herself and the feast does end when one side is eliminated. There was mention of Chi's pendant during the psycho Chi end, and now I see it as what I believe to be the Ookami symbol. Three in all. In the end, Meiko was taken to safety, Nos went crazy and killed everyone, Haru M killed Nos and then committed suicide as the mist came back. So uh, yeah, that was something. For the mist to come back in a matter of days or weeks suggests that something triggers the mist/feast event to occur in the first place. What that is, I have absolutely no theory as I am still struggling to separate fact from fiction and comparing competing beliefs.

Reaching the second ending, I looked to see what the newly acquired #16 key was used for. Based on the scene name, I want to say that I can now change housing assignements with Hashi. First though, I went back to the third day of the feast to do different actions. Not revealing that I was the snake yet got Haru M hung. Revealing Kamo instead of confirming Nos as town got Kamo hung, but presumably, the spider did not protect Haru M that night. Weird. It seems likely that Meiko disobeyed Rika's suggestion to heal Haru M at night. The why only makes sense if Meiko is not who she seems to be. I mean that is kind of a given for many reasons, including, but not limited to, she's never been confirmed to have been killed before, and there are some things concerning her that could be interepreted as her being some sort of deity.

I finally went and swapped places with Hashi. When Haru M went to sleep, he felt a strange pain. Uh god, this is the sign that this the wolf/badger path isn't it? Oh man, this is a weird, red environment. This is totally that. Kaori and Haru F are here, so that seems like a wolf team to me. After seeing the three-eyed wolf creatures through the mist, we most definitely are wolves. Not exactly the most convincing propaganda, but they basically say the humans are dead, all of creation is Yomi and must be killed. They also confirm the existence of the badger.

While I am expecting Haru M's mind to eventually succumb to his role, his inner reflection of not feeling compelled to follow his instructions does make me optimistic. Otherwise, this route is going to become super uncomfortable for me having to decide/watch/carry out the murders of so many people, as well as worry about being inevitably found out.
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i'm following as well. =) just a lurker

Well this is new, a bunch of dead canines were placed in the middle of town. The topic of dead wildlife didn't stop there talking about dead wildlife, as I got to hear a wonderful walk down memory lane regarding Kamo and pets. It feels like Tom has already spoken almost as much in this route as he's done in the others combined. I really don't know what to make of that given he's not a wolf and probably not the badger. Maybe he actually has a guardian this time.

With Kamo (and Hashi) coming out as a monkey, I believe that is our first presumed role repeat. With previous wolf teams including talkative and/or "helpful" characters such as Yasu, Kamo, and Chi, it just feels like Haru F and Kaori are a disaster in comparison. I just hope that they don't implicate themselves. The best case scenario is that someone like Kanzo/Takumi/Yasu is the badger. Speaking of Kanzo, I remember him saying that the previous feast had only two survivors, Tom and himself, but the group brought up Gen like he was also a survivor.

In a long discussion, Hisa mentioned about how legends are often shaped and re-shaped by local politics. I wonder if the unsual and shrouded relationship that Kami and Yasumizu have goes beyond their differences in the legend and plays/played a major role in the feasts. I shouldn't say wonder because it's pretty much confirmed that Kami knows quite a bit about what's going on and when the mists will come in.

So the wolf team doesn't turn into a wolf, transform into anything, or have any sort of increased physical power. We just wear a costume that I supposes makes us looking intimidating and larger than life, perhaps with the assistance of the mist. If a god were truly behind this, or rather if the purpose was truly about getting rid of Yomi, I cannot fathom that this is the best they can do. Also, this doesn't explain how the bodies of previous wolf targets could be in the condition that they were found in if the wolves do not possess the natural strength nor tools to create the end product that we've seen. There's definitely something else going on.
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This whole needing to clean and spreading the water to ward off unknown creatures also is perplexing and only makes sense if that there is disconnect between these creatures/corruption and whatever is putting us up to murder as wolves. Whether there are multiple deities or whatever, I have to assume that separate entities are responsible for each group. The wolf meeting was another one of those situations where I had to pick dumb options that led to my immediate death and gave me keys to unlock the final, correct choice. Unless all of these keys actually amount to something in the end, it just seems like a waste of time.

In the end, we decided on Yasu being the first target. There was some blood already here at the dorm, and then Chi came out and just blew her brains out. I first thought she was the badger and wanted to meet us, but that's clearly not the case. Was all of this blood her killing someone or something? That could mean Hisa/Yasu, but if it's her blood, there was no mention of any noticeable wound or blood on her clothes/body, then what did she do to get injured? Wait, we aren't killing tonight because Chi died. I don't follow. Well, I do, but they are making it sound as if the rule is that one person can be killed at night, not necessarily by the wolves. That doesn't make sense based on the previous two feasts, unless they are implying that those who presumably died to the corruption (like Yoshi in the first feast) occurred after the wolves got their target. I probably won't go back to check the exact wording, but this course of action just seems like it was based on an incorrect assumption.

Before the night was over, Haru F was taken over by the unknown entity again. They mentioned that there are three gods, and that the Ookami were all made into a single god. Among the other two gods, one is worthless while the other is the enemy. Meiko could be the Ookami god given she has never been proven to have died, let alone by the Ookami. I still think the convience store employee is in on this, and maybe this unknown entity speaking right now is the other god. This is assuming of course that all three are present in the game in corporeal form, and since this is a Japanese work, I would have to assume so.
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5/14 Wednesday

Okay, so the wolves are short slept. You mean to tell me that every character here is incapable of looking for signs of sleep deprivation? Haru M believes that his first death was by someone in the wolf costume, but that doesn't check out unless he's an unreliable narrator. I distinctly remember him mentioning that he was killed from their claws at least once or both of the times he was killed via them.

Chi was the only one who lost their life. With what few details they gave me, it is hard to believe that all that blood was hers. If she also had one of her knives on her, maybe she cut someone and thus they have a wound. Possibly more important is that her body was in a state similar to either Hisa/Hashi in the pre-feast deaths or Yoshi/Hisa in the feast deaths (they didn't specify, but my impression was the latter). That means that their body is tampered with after they die, calling into question all previous non-wolf deaths, and what they witnessed. Actually, you might be able to question all previous deaths because it there is absolutely nothing known at this point that corroborates with the belief that the wolf team have the means to crush a human body.

Quite a few characters are acting noticeably different this game. Meiko is the most glaring, but Kanzo is being more talkative, and Takumi is being more reserved. It seems like those three probably have a role of some sort. So you could be outside until 8 in the evening, not that this will help me since they don't give you anything to know what time it is at any given point, and they keep reiterating that one simply can't force themself to stay awake. I basically have three questions that I keep thinking about:

- What happened with Takumi's death in the first route and Kaori's in the second route since there are signs that they were conscious for their demises?
- What happened to Tom and Kamo in the first route? Every other death you can glean something from but that one. I thought murder/suicide, and while that it is still a possibility, the only thing thing even remotely related to that was that Rika the next day became something like a Yomi.
- How did the wolves' targets end up in the state that they did if the wolves aren't capable of doing that? I figured that the answer would finally come this route, and if Chi's death is of any indication, something else tampers with the body after the fact.

There are of course other, more pressing and significant questions, but those are probably things they will probably be answered whenever the game feels like it or obviously telegraph it just before the reveal.
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During the feast, I had the option of raising my hand to be investigated by the snake or not. If I do, I will buy myself at least another day, and if I don't, I will probably be one of the leading lynch targets. The choice seems obvious, so I raised my hand. I was leaning toward Kanzo being the badger, which would be good since Haru F is a wolf, but Haru M seems to chalk her unusual behavior to being the badger. That makes sense, but god I hope not.

Tom was eventually the choice, and Kanzo again punched Tom and demanded that he do hang him alone. Eventually, the wolf team got together and narrowed the choice to Takumi or Hashi. While Hashi has been a huge asset to town, he is a monkey. The immediate goal is to take down the snake/guardian and to have someone claim that role, so Takumi is definitely the better candidate, and that is what I decided. I will find out the result when I play next.
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Haru M mentioned that previous murders by the wolves haven't been beyond human ability? What are you talking about. Either I am completely misremembering things, he is an unreliable/poor narrator, or he is straight up lying, but I could have sworn multiple deaths (Kanzo first route and Haru F second route?) were described as the body being totally crushed from the neck down or something of that nature. Back to the task at hand, I'm not comfortable with Haru M saying that murder "wouldn't be a problem" and that both Kaori and Haru F gave a round of applause after murdering Takumi. And now Haru M is mutiliating the corpse in great detail. This is unbearable. Haru M is the cruelest wolf of them all. Fantastic.

Seeing Haru F "transform" into the unknown entity from the final night of the first route, it does check out. I did mention back then that it could have been Haru F since she was alive then. I guess that her hair color looking more like Rika's was due to the night sky obfuscating its true shade. When she died in the second route, whatever was possessing her was freed and able to communicate as a disembodied voice or whatever. I assumed that they were a god. I originally thought the Ookami god given how they entered Haru F's body during a feast, but they claim to be the "powerless" god, the badger.

Hearing Haru M describe himself after that conversation ended, I am reminded that he is the protagonist, and I have no inkling what is so special about him to make him the protagonist and be able to go through all these loops. I honestly have no idea. I would have said he could have been the "powerless" god, but if this entity is that, I can't imagine that he's actually one of the other two gods.
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5/15 Thursday

With Takumi dead and him presumably with a non-vanilla role, I have to assume that I will be roleclaiming one of spider/snake/crow...well we can scratch crow since that is what Yoshi claimed. I guess that I don't even have a choice as Haru M simply claimed snake. Kanzo briefly lost it I guess because Haru M got into his head earlier about Yasu and Haru F being a thing. This village is totally insane for not just wasting a fast day hanging Kanzo for that but also because they are murderering him over something like this.

I had another choice of who to kill tonight, Yoshi or Yasu. Yoshi has claimed a role that nobody counter-claimed, so he could be a spider target tonight, but would spider actually protect him over someone like Haru M who claimed a higher-priority role? Yasu technically could be the spider, meaning that he would maybe protect his brother, or even a prime spider candidate himself since he is now the defacto male leader of the village, and Yoshi could go ballistic if Yasu were to die. Yoshi feels like the better play of the two since I can't go after Tae/Nos/Hisa whom I expect one to be spider.

5/16 Friday

Kaori couldn't wait to kill Yasu, so uh, this might be bad. Hashi has a plan too, so I probably made the incorrect choice. Crap. Haru M, inorganically, slipped up talking about the state of Yoshi's body despite having not been in the dining hall yet. I guess that I'm going after Yasu now. Oh, he was protected. This will somehow work in our favor, but that still sucks. I'm convinced that the spider is one of Tae or Nos, leaning toward the former.

Not that I think it really matters narratively, but it was decided that Haru M would now lead the feasts because he's an adult male and technically a villager. The ageist nature of the village strikes again as Tae was the execution choice this day.
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Okay, my choices tonight were Kamo, Hashi, and Yasu. Kamo seems like a waste of a choice. Sure, he may be onto everyone, but he doesn't really have any influence or possess the ability to make a rational, coherent argument. Hashi lacks trust being an outsider and all, but he does have communication skills some influence, moreso now that the elder townspeople are now deceased. I'm kind of afraid to attack Yasu. He doesn't possess a guardian, unless he's inexplicably the badger. I'm assuming that Tae was the spider, because she would protect a long-time villager over an assumed newcomer snake, but if I am wrong, then he could be protected again. He has clearly lost influence, and given how untrustworthy Kaori is. I don't really have any faith in her to not lose her composure. For that same reason, I did choose Yasu in the end because if we do not successfully take down one of her kids, Kaori might do something desperate to ruin everything. As it turns out, my choice didn't matter as Kaori already unlocked Yasu's door before the meetup. This woman...

I spoke to "worthless" badger god again after killing Yasu, and they called Shin'nai detestable. When they mentioned three gods before, I wasn't counting Shin'nai as I thought they were a higher form than the other gods, but if they are all lumped together, could they be the god that is Haru M's enemy?

5/17 Saturday

Well, even with all the wolves still alive at this point, this feast has been getting out of hand, and it seems like victory is slipping away. I'm so hoping that I am correct about Tae being spider, though now that I think about it, she never claimed it to save her life. Meiko was looking to be the hang target until Kaori purposely, or maybe she just lost it, tried to kill Yoshi. With Kaori now gone, I was not liking how I no longer could choose who to attack at night. They went with Hashi. I honestly might have gone with him as well since we want Yoshi to confirm that Kaori was a wolf to make Haru M look like the legit snake.
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5/18 Sunday

Hashi set up a camera in his room, but it mysteriously did not record anything incriminating. They did have their costumes on, but I suppose that maybe everyone has distinctive heights that just aren't articulated in the character still images that could implicate Haru M and F. Haru M made his boldest move in calling a living townie a wolf. Kamo clearly doesn't give a shit as in a suprisingly good bit of dark humor, he broke a stalemate and switched his vote to hang Nos.

After the hanging, the topic of discussion was the location of Chi's gun. I totally forgot about it, but I can't imagine that has much importance right now. Where are they going with this... oh, I see. It was an excuse to show the flashlight Haru M gave Haru F in her room. Despite being beaten and tied up, things were good to go come night time. At this point, any target should do as they all suspect the Harus as being the remaining wolves. I guess this means that if Meiko is the badger, we need to reveal ourselves to her. Maybe Rika should be the target then? Then again, Yoshi and Hisa are past the point of ever being on our side. Hmm, the badger god says that telling everyone that we are wolves wouldn't result in our victory, so I guess I will do what she thinks is best, which I guess includes knocking me out and dragging me somewhere.

5/19 Monday

It is implied that Haru F killed Yoshi on her own, and boy did she have one hell of a plan. She revealed her possessed self and went on fake claiming to be the Ookami god so she would be lynched. When she was about to be hung, she said something that I feel was important. She said that Ookami/gods/Yomi/whatever rise up because that is how they live. That makes it sound like a deliberate act by a higher being, like this supposed god that is an enemy of mine.

As everyone believed that all the wolves were dead, things were pleasant after the hanging. The biggest thing was that Meiko was no longer acting antagonistic toward Haru M, which I feel conflicted about. If she was badger and led to believe that all the wolves were killed, wouldn't she be upset? Did the badger god possess her after its previous vessel died? I had no choice who to kill, but Hisa was the target.
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5/20 Tuesday

Well, we admitted to everyone that we were the last wolf. Rika simply left, and discussions with Kamo are always odd, but this resulted in a game of rock-paper-scissors where Haru M wasted Kamo with Chi's gun. Uh, why would he violate the rules now of all times? I thought that he wanted to survive, but I guess we will now be seeing exactly what happens to wolves when they violate the rules?

Well, the badger god did possess Meiko, and I need a lot of keys for this scene in the dining hall where Meiko says that something is outside. Welp, time to face my death head on. The mist has been cleared, but there's this enormous monster here comprised of corpses/body parts, from the river maybe? It's not even scary, just bizarre and out of left field?

The sheep makes an in-game appearance, and everything about it screams the convenience store employee. They are calling this a dream created by a dreamer. I don't know if that's god talk, but I'm clearly not supposed to understand what they are talking about. The sheep helped keep my memories intact through the loops, but they are not the reason why I am looping in the first place for they do not wield that kind of power. That is due to the dream/dreamer. They mention not knowing the brat, which I have to assume is Meiko. Maybe Meiko really is the Ookami god that has reduced power/amnesia/something because of this dream/dreamer.

The sheep refers to itself as a dream wielder, and will do not final act to prevent this corpse monster cataclysm, but it will alert the dreamer that their dream has been tampered with. Said final act was to kill me via sheep smothering.

Ending 3.
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Honestly, this third route was kind of a letdown. The first two were good at providing thrills and an unsettling atmosphere, but this one just didn't seem to build upon anything or do much with the wolf team perspective. It's like they phoned it in to get to what they viewed as the main attraction in the surprise reveal of the giant monster. Perhaps if they focused more on its more interesting characters with a shred of depth (like Nos or Takumi) or if its world-building wasn't so odd (intentional vagueness and contradictions aside, they are extremely detailed in some aspects and very sparse in others), they could do a better job at getting away with things. With how this one ended, I have serious doubts that I will be content with the answers to the game's biggest questions.

Anyway, now that I have the coveted #20 key, I'm looking over things that I can do now. I can, and I am just basing this on memory, tell Chi in her apartment the night before the mist comes in on the first route what "her objective" is. I can also choose how to pass the time in the second route, with the context being I think this was after hanging someone, thus everyone had some time to kill. I can also go back to other choices I didn't make in the event that I unlock a new key.
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The real game starts here.

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I went through the non-key related decisions that I previously didn't make, and nothing was ultimately useful, though I did find it interesting that when I chose to persist in victory at the end of this past route, that the Hisa and Rika's plan was to claim that they were the wolves to get Meiko to side with them.

I try to balance re-telling of events and my personal reactions/insights because if it would be unrealistic to expect people following this to know the precise context of everything I talk about. I bring this up because using the #20 key in both situations that had new choices unlocked were basically large exposition drops that I won't bother going into and instead talk about my thoughts about the combined info.

The lack of spider gods in local mythology is probably important, but the comparison of dreamcatchers to spider webs is what I am focusing on. Rika is the last remaining member of her family, one whose guardian is the spider. I wonder if the fact that her family adopts people into it and thus does not have the long lineage blood ties of the other three families signifies that someone very important or even sinister came to become an Uematsu, or however it is spelled. The dreamcatcher bit I think can be interpreted differently. They can filter the dreams. Theoretically, that would mean that the good go through and bad stay stuck or whatever. I don't know anything about the purpose of actual dreamcatchers, so I apologize if I am being dumb. Anyway, if Rika were the dreamer, she could pick and choose which dreams (aka loops/paths/routes) go through, or rather become reality.

This would mean that Rika is the prime villain candidate. Hisa did say that spiders in mythology often depicted them as women who manipulated/trapped/seduced or specifically Hisa said "did things" to men. Seeing as she was prominently featured on the cover art, that would check out. It could also mean that she's actually protecting the village/world and could in some way trigger loops when things go amiss. Curiously, Rika has never been killed by the wolves. She has turned into a Yomi, been hung to her presumed but unconfirmed death, or had the unusual hanging of a different kind in the second route ending. Maybe Rika is actually a (benevolent) god or something. The major knock against calling RIka the villain or a god of any sort, is that she has died well before the loop was triggered. It was established that since Chi also experiences looping (which calls into question if everybody is experiencing it or if they just chose Haru M and Chi to force some romantic crap angle), their deaths do not trigger it but likely the dreamer/villain's death/failure.

Again, the convience store employee could be a dreamer candidate, but the way the sheep spoke at the third ending when the monster showed up, I am convinced that they are the sheep/dream wielder, and they purposely had Haru M go to the village to disrupt the dream/loops. The likeliest candidate though is Meiko. She has never been confirmed to die. I struggle to think how the monster wasn't triggered in the second ending but did in the third. The only thing that I can think of is that Meiko had to be the badger, and the wolves had to win, but I digress. Anyway, since Meiko has not been confirmed to die, her death could never trigger the loop, but if whatever set of circumstances needed to trigger the monster didn't happen, that would mean failure, and she would start over again. When Chi was describing her numerous loops, she said that Meiko entered starting on the 58th or so loop for inexplicable reasons. Maybe Meiko felt that she needed to include herself to allow a new set of data points, thus more possibilities and maybe additional chances/higher odds to trigger the monster. Of course this could also implicate the convenience store employee for adding a new player to the mix, but I'm convinced of my sheep theory.

Just a note about the monster, but from what I can see from that still image, it possesses many what I would call legs. Could it be eight, thus an arachnid/spider? Is the trigger to get Rika to absorb enough corruption to turn into that thing? And not just any corruption. Chi explictly mentioned and inconveniently chose to hold back details that there are multiple kinds of corruption. Perhaps one type of corruption turns Rika into a Yomi like she did in the first route, which was caused by her taking in Chi's corruption when Chi killed Tom after Tom killed Kamo. Maybe it is this one of these mystery corruptions that she needs to take in. I could be mistaken, but I believe she absorbed some corruption from Haru M in the third route after believing him to be human. Perhaps she needs to absorb corruption from the wolf team? I mean, Rika was alive in the route the monster showed up, and she conveniently chose to hole up in her home, so I think that has to mean something.

I don't really understand the ghost leg lottery, or rather I should say that it is a new term to me, and I don't understand how the dreamer had no control over guardian assignments since it was believed that they are handed out due to housing assignments. Does that mean the dreamer isn't a god or maybe I am just coming into this with much more elevated thoughts about a god's capability than is warranted.

The final thing that I have to say before I eventually start using the #3 key that I acquired is that I have long been aware of Haru M's evasiveness regarding discussions about himself prior to this, specifically his education/area of study. He talks about his ex-girlfriend, friends, family, and where he's from, but when he talks about him being a grad student, he doesn't go into detail, and when someone asks if he's in sciences or whatever subject, he basically just says, "Yeah, something like that." They put that on the forefront toward the end of the Chi conversation when she noted that he said, "Umm" before telling a lie, and one of the examples was his education/area of study. I don't know what to exactly take from that, but it is probably the key to why he got caught up in all of this/is capable of looping and retaining memories.
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I used recent keys to get go through two more exposition-heavy endings to unlock two more keys that involved solo-conversations with Nos and Kanzo.

In the scenes with Nos, the diaries revealed that the feasts were created by Kami to keep Yasumizu in check, and it wasn't until 60 years ago that they included deadlier, "supernatural" elements that were allegedly creations by Kami. The fact that the mists entered Nos' mansion and caused them to lose consciousness, and eventually die, lends credence to the theories presented during this time. Of course, this doesn't explain possession, the giant monster, and time-looping, so not everything will have a "logical" explanation.

What actually interested me the most was the reference of brief serial killings about 60 years ago. Someone confessed to the crimes and was executed, but it seemed disingenuous. I was half-joking about my serial killer line way back in the police station in the second route, but if a past serial killer actually has any bearing on the events of this, it seems like Tom could be a serial killer. He knows how to use a blade as he got the drop on Kamo in killing him in the first route. In subsequent routes, he tried to hold off on his hanging but was punched out by Kanzo. I don't know if there's a supernatural element to Tom or his potential serial killings and any correlation between that and the changes to the feasts.

It was also mentioned in the Kanzo discussion that the two previous feasts ended with only one wolf being discovered. I don't know if that suggests that Kami wanted specific people to be gone or were seeking some other criteria, or if let's call it a third party tampered with the game.

I'm not really concerned/interested in the topics discussed in these endings. I can go into more detail later, but while I am a fan of "realistic" explanations for bizarre, seemingly supernatural happenings, the way they went about it in this was lazy and clumsy at best, resorting to a random fussy set of scenes late in the game that only strengthened the value of show-not-tell (something that has been in short supply).

My next option is to choose not to enter the outhouse when the mists first came in the first route and to look for "him." I'm assuming him is referring to Tom and we will be discussing potential serial killings/his feast history/stuff like that. Maybe he's the dreamer somehow, I don't know. I will find out next time.
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I cant wait for you to finish so we can talk.

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It was Tom whom I was trying to find, and we did discuss his past as a serial killer and during the feasts. The feasts as they are now are because he stole proof of human trafficking, and he somehow turned that into lifetime of protection. Haru M thinks that the humanoid wolf he saw during his first death was Tom in costume. He's fucking 95 years old. I don't care how scared you are in the moment, he was far away from that werewolf, and down some steps no less, that he should have immediately noticed that something was off when the werewolf came for him.

5/10 Saturday

Okay, this is apparently the final stretch. Convenience store employee was in fact the sheep, so that's one identity down. I notcied she asked how long Haru M was going to continue his act. It could be something innocuous, but I'm thinking this has something to do with what he's been hiding about himself.

I actually had a hard time conceptualizing where Haru M was during this early portion. I mean, I get that there was the river, and he was below the tree where people were executed, but from what I gathered, there was part of the rock wall here that was a cave where people were buried under sand? Anyway, the "Ookami gods" were buried here, and he found a relic. It turns out that in a reveal with a still image I just laughed at, the relic was just the same or similiar enough kind of mask and mane or whatever that the wolves of the feast wear. It freaked everyone out, but I'm a bit confused. Did everyone have that kind of reaction when they found out they were wolves and each time that they had to put on the costume at night? I was never under that impression, so hence the confusion.

Anyway, I stopped here before he inevitably was going to go into a long story to get everyone to not conduct the feast. I noticed that Rika was not shown when the townspeople showed up. She might not have been the only one as I am blanking on Haru F as well. Anyway, I earlier said that the dreamer was almost certainly one of Meiko or Rika, believing the former to be the likeliest candidate. I'm having doubts now that Meiko is here and Rika isn't, and Rika is in fact the dreamer. Meiko might be the catalyst because Rika really took it upon herself to look after her. Perhaps she orchestrated whatever events it took for Meiko to start looping here, and something about Meiko, maybe her needing to be on the winning side and surviving, is needed to for this maybe spider monster to show up? Maybe Rika is both the dreamer and monster. I don't really have anything specific in mind, just that general idea.
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Making up this story, Haru F, or rather the badger god chimed in. I'm not sure if they were playing along, but they said that they fell under the womanservant. Consider that another strike against Rika. Hmm, Haru F as herself also called Haru by his name, so maybe she's another character that retains memories across loops. With Haru M and Meiko playing as 2/3 of the wolf family, and Chi is right here, I'm guessing the sheep must be playing the last wolf, though I thought she mentioned earlier that she had to run from/hide from/distract the dreamer, but I guess you can do that in plain sight. In a strange turn, the sheep is actually Haru M's ex, which just leads to more questions/plot holes that I have serious doubts will be answered.

Seeing how Tom died betrayed by his own aged body, I'm more convinced that there is no way he was the humanoid wolf at the first bad end. That being said, I did laugh at the silliness of his death, as gruesome as it was.

Bingo, Rika is the dreamer, and uh, the monster is the manifestation of sin/curse from a historical massacre and her raping people (I laughed at her disgust at doing so to Tom) to put her babies in them or something. I don't know, the explanation was weird. The only condition for summoning the monster was that all of the Yasumizu residents had to die except Rika. Seeing as Haru M is a resident in the second and third routes, with him having been "healed" by Rika during the latter, that can't be right. Then Haru M admits that isn't his real name, and uses that as a technicality to renege on something he said to Rika in the second route, which I guess forced her hand to do something, then the lights magically turned off and she was punched and no more monster inside of her? This scene has just been downright bizarre.

Then I was subject to quite the tonal shift as Haru M, Chi, Hisa, and Hashi beat up crazy Kami residents. Another blatant fake story later, and everything was accomplished, Haru M was revealed as a writer, and the game was done.
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So, a few scattered thoughts:

- Meiko ended up just being a giant red herring despite all the flags. I won't say that I am disappointed, but if that was the case, then I definitely wanted a completely different character in there instead of her.

- It was kind of refreshing in a way that the three actual supernatural elements (God, monster, and looping) were kind of put to the backseat in favor of the "real" at the end.

- I have pointed out several, but there are some noticeable plot holes and unrealistic revelations that require a level of suspension of disbelief that I just won't give. That being said, I think that abstractly, I really enjoyed the plot. They just didn't structure or deliver it in the way that it needed to be. It doesn't help that the overwhelming majority of characters are very thin and glorified plot devices. I feel like that, the lack of nuance, and the minimal value placed in the show-not-tell ideaology are common issues with Japanese works like this. They put significant effort to craft a complex plot full of twists, but apparently in order to pull that off, the trade-off is that is has to be inhabited by characters with one or two traits that they use ad nauseum for dramatic and comedic purposes. While a puzzle/adventure game and not a pure VN like this, I feel like I am not out of bounds comparing this to the game Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors (999) given they have some key similarities. I will always be fond of the game for its different approach to storytelling than I was accustomed to with Japanese games with its level of nuance, character depth, and writing quality along with, and maybe this is a bit hyperbolic, masterful misdirection.

- I wasn't a fan of Haru M's overall narration because it made what might have been quality reveals/twists into some underwhelming moments. In the earlier portions of the game, I wouldn't say that they were believable moments either because there was little to suggest that he should have figured out some critical things. In the latter portions, he had gone through so many off-screen scenes or entire loops that we were just supposed to accept that he figured everything out.

- While I may have just given some harsh criticism, I did really enjoy the first two routes as a whole, and as for the final chapter, I am slightly positive leaning toward just because of how weird it was and ultimately didn't lean on pretentiousness like I expected. They did a great job at invoking an unsettling atmosphere that kept me on my toes, which is key for me to be invested in something with minimal or in this case, no gameplay.
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If you ever feel like revisiting it (or just fast forwarding through most of it) there's an option that'll sometimes show you the thoughts of other characters. There are also some side stories, one of which discusses Meiko's deal a bit more, but that won't be very satisfying for you (or anyone who hasn't played the Japanese-only VN it ties into.)

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I was considering using that revelations mode until I saw a star next to virtually every scene on the chart, which I assumed meant that revelations mode could be used there. I ended up just looking online on how to find alternate endings using it, and just did those.
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There's a lot, yeah. If you fast forward through text, it'll stop on anything new, though.

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Important note

You need to watch the extra scenes that open up, the four bonus chapters, to get info on what happened. One is particularly important.

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I'm not opposed to re-downloading it and going through that, but where are the bonus chapters located exactly? Using Google hasn't been very fruitful.
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It's in bonus content or something. Three of the chapters aren't important, but one of them is absolutely mandatory. I don't know why they did it this way.

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They're in extras on the main menu.

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Since nobody has anything to say/add/ask, I will hopefully go through these extra chapters (assuming they are short) at some point today.
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Okay, these are not short. In almost an hour, I'm probably early in the second of five. Also, I have written down just two things thus far lol.
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Haha

I wish they hadn't done it this way.

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So ranking the four irrelevant extra chapters:

2 > 3 > 1 > 4

A story involving the closest to a fully realized character this has (Nos) and the funniest character (Rika) was virtually guranteed to come out on top. The funniest scene/line in Raging Loop is still Haru M's initial reaction to seeing the "wolf monster" in the first necessary bad end, but this story had most of the runner-ups thanks to the womanchild that is Rika.

Hisa and Yasu's story was oddly compelling for awhile. Eventually I stopped caring, but it held my attention for a good while.

The twisted relationship between Haru M and Chi can be interesting, but the story itself was so thin and could have accomplised everything it needed to in less than half the time.

I appreciate them going the full comedy route, but it just wasn't my kind of humor. Kamo and Haru F don't really have good chemistry to pull off a story focused on them.
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KCF0107 posted...

I appreciate them going the full comedy route, but it just wasn't my kind of humor. Kamo and Haru F don't really have good chemistry to pull off a story focused on them.

This side story was probably the only thing in Raging Loop I didn't like.

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As for the fifth and relevent extra story, okay? Putting it aside that they once again decided to place all of this info into a static exposition dump devoid of any entertainment value, why should I care about this church/jinx stuff after the story has ended? Are there plans to turn this into a franchise? That's the only way this has any merit, and even then they could have presented this in any number of ways other than this.

More importantly, this didn't clear up most of the questions/plot holes that I had in mind. The only things that I think it answered were:
- Meiko's deal (a test subject with powers dubbed Black Goat ("baa")
- How Rika lost her power (presumably Meiko "ate" Rika's monster thing)
- How Chi could loop/remember things (actually, they didn't really explain it as Haru M could only do it because of the sheep, but I'm assuming it is because she also has jinx powers).
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This is planned to be a franchise I believe, yes. This was their first game like this, and there is another in development.

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The exposition dump is to retroactively cover up any plot holes (like how Chiemi turns to ash when she passes the river). Meiko's shtick is explained in another game that this was a spinoff from, but the first game isn't available in English, so she just makes no sense.

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