Doppelganger : Dawn of the Inverted Soul [Guide up]

[blahblah0625]

Please wait as I fangirl.
EDIT:
Question-
The paths (like Path 1 or Path 2 etc.)
do they correspond with the boys?
I'm really confused.

[azureXtwilight]

Please wait as I fangirl.
EDIT:
Question-
The paths (like Path 1 or Path 2 etc.)
do they correspond with the boys?
I'm really confused.

Yeah, sort of~ It would also affect who are the vital "characters" in the path:

Crimson tyrant : Lee, Yuzhu, Chunxiang
Death of a Self-Proclaimed God : Raphael, Zhuang
Reverse Lies : Yuri, Jun, We also get to know about Nia
White Moon Reminiscene : Clifford, Shuang
Broken Cresendo/The Unsuspecting Musician : Blake
End of The Inverted Soul : Final, everyone are highly involved, with Blake as exception.

Some people are asking why

Blake

even has a path. It's an optional path for people who wants to take a breather and want to enjoy a generic otome plot for a change. Besides, he seems to be popular, considering the fanarts that I received.

[whiteserenity]

First, I wanted to say congrats on the release of Doppleganger. I'm enjoying it quite a lot so far. I'll write up a review when I get a chance.

Meanwhile, I have a game-related question since I'm stuck on this:

So far, I got the following endings for End of the Inverted Soul:

1. Coward
2. Sister's Chains
3. The Sickening Sunset
4. My Final Present
???
6. Feast of the Inverted Soul
???

I know that I'm missing the true ending so I'm holding off on that for now. What's the other ending and how do I get it?

[azureXtwilight]

That's Yin and Yang, to get it:

Follow the dawn of inverted soul walkthrough, only the difference is pick "You have to get rid of the past" when lee asks you at the hospital near the end.

I forgot to include it in the walkthrough.

[Feteo]

OKAY! I finished the final path, maybe I'll go for the rest of the paths. (Two or three are still missing.)

To be honest: At the beginning, I didn't expect the story to be that good. Turned out, that I was - fortunately - very wrong. What starts out pretty okay-ish, goes in a whole epic direction. More of that later.

The problems I mentioned in my first (rather offensive) post still remain: The GUI is way too gory for most scenes; the music is very good (the epic tracks come late in-game), but they aren't used properly, often enough cut in the middle without proper fadeout and sometimes an ample difference in sound volume; sounds, I'm sorry to say so (again), but they sometimes ruin the mood completely. The explosion-sound, when Yuri dies in some paths, it is just... no. It is loud, it isn't well recorded, it is just plainly said bad. So are some other sound effects ; then again transitions, while I have to admit, that the fighting scenes are pretty good with all the transitions, you usually switch (outside of the fights) the scene too quickly and sudden, which usually breaks the atmosphere in a horrible way; again, Lucia: Actually my main problem with her is, that (in some paths) she seems to be somewhat sudden, unexpected and untrue to her nature. I think, that's often the problem, when she doesn't explain, why she feels the way she does. (That happens pretty much in Raphael's path, she doesn't really "think" there, but rather "acts" and that makes her in a way different from the original impression.) On the bright side: In the final path, that problem doesn't really occur, it seems to work out there much better.
Well, the problem with the introduction of the characters kind of isn't there any more, when you spend much time with them. Still: At the beginning, it is somewhat difficult to keep track of everybody, so that could have been done in a better way. You could have spent more time on the prologue.

So what's new from my side? I'll leave a short review for every path:

Reverse Lies:
This route is one of the more interesting routes. To be honest, I can't really sympathize with Yuri, but I nevertheless liked the idea of the route. It's original, refreshing and very unexpected, that Yuri turns out to be... well, you know. Also the only route (apart from the "true" route), where Jun really is the center of attention. All in all pretty good.

Death of a Self-Proclaimed God:
Kind of the "bad girl" route. It was interesting, but my main problem was here the somewhat missing insight into Lucia. She doesn't seem to be the original protagonist in this route and... I don't know, she acts just weird and odd for her usual introduction. Refreshing as well, but the writing could have been better.

The Crimson Tyrant:
I really hate this route. Although it provides the most endings, these endings are somehow all similar and always end with some kind of fight between Lee and other people. I don't know, if it is Lee's psycho-behaviour or just the plot in general at that route, but it doesn't appeal to me. There is also not really a good ending for both of them. (Unless I forgot?)

White Moon Reminiscene:
This one was pretty good. Good plot, understandable reactions from Lucia and sympathetic character, you're aiming at. It also revealed very much to the player, so the route felt in conclusion rewarding.

Broken Cresendo:
Somewhat non-necessary route. Blake is the least important character and never really does anything, the route was kind of interesting though. It just didn't really reveal anything, I guess, but oh well. You said it yourself, that Blake is more the "I'm gorgeus"-type than the "I'm important"-type.

End of The Inverted Soul:
Well, the final path was... Wow. Incredible storyline. It is wonderful, how all the strings were pulled together. I was really thrilled at the ending and the revelations and... Just wow! Only thing, I didn't really get: At the final fight, I believe Yuri was there the whole time? He didn't do anything? Or was Jun alone? I don't know, it seemed strange.

So, what do I think of the whole VN? I would recommend it, I certainly would. But at the same time, I feel one word mentioned earlier by another user sums up pretty much my thought on the quality of it all:

Rushed.

I mean, you can get used to the art, that is not the main problem, the horror-GUI doesn't really get in the way, although it seems extreme (mainly textbox and NVL-Box) and the sound effects are like not the most important thing after all, but... oh man, you should totally slap your beta-testers for not noticing mistakes like missing periods at the end of the sentence or spelling errors or misplaced quotation marks or wrong narrators (there was in the final path something, Lee was supposedly saying, but I think, you ment the narrator) and so on. I have no idea, how these things get past somebody, who had to beta-test your game. It was their job to took care of these mistakes, to some extent yours to don't make them happen. And really, that is definitely something, where you can't come up with "people should be grateful, it's free, etc.", because it's nothing about money. After playing most of the paths, I can say, that this was seriously something unnecessary.
Another thing, I already mentioned were the transitions. Usually much too quick and sometimes buggy. There were some random fades to black and back without any explanation or idea, what is going on. Also the picture sometimes fades, switches to NVL-mode, you can clearly see the NVL-box, it disappears all of a sudden, some background animation and then again it reappears.
Then again... the sound effects, oh man... Most of them were good or okay. But the explosion sound was really... ouch. Then something else: The "voice acting", as in the laughing... either everything is voice acted or nothing. The screams... I don't know, I felt they were kind of unnecessary. And the laughing/cackling of Zhuang/Chunxiang were kind of... it seems somewhat odd, if you haven't heard one voice the whole time, and then you hear those two laughing/singing.
Also about the endings: In my opinion, there are way too many endings and way too many redundant endings. Some endings go like this: "A or B? Let's choose B, fade to black, a little bit of narration, end." And I was sitting there like: "So... that's it? Route finished, that's the ending?" Something like bad endings would have been better, I mean really something with a game over screen, so that you actually feel like you have done something wrong and that it is not a good ending. The way, you designed it, it felt like: "Wrong path. Well, whatever, still got an ending!" I know, this one's completely based on taste, but yeah, it's my opinion. Still, the endings, which are too similar or don't bring up anything new, may have been cut out, especially some of those in Lee's route. I think, most people prefer looooong good rewarding endings over short, "different outcome" endings.
Other more technical problem: Sometimes, you weren't able to skip already seen text. I guess, this is the fault of unfortunate scripting, where you just copied and pasted the text into a different route. It is not the end of the world for the player, but it still shouldn't be.
Then again, the transitions between the music... But I already mentioned it, so I won't repeat myself.

Since I think, I have mentioned enough problems, I'll state some things, that were really good:
- The main menu, how it changes through the routes, at the end the change of the music... Really great idea, well executed and good eye for detail!
- Character design was also pretty good, you really thought them all through and most of them were sympathetic and unique. (Except maybe Blake, he seemed somewhat "boring normal", but who cares about him? )
- The music you picked was very fitting for the situations and "you didn't run out of songs", as in you didn't reuse the same songs all the time, but always mixed new ones inbetween them.
- Many CG's. That's always good and they aren't that bad.

In conclusion I'm really glad, I played it. It was worth the time and I feel like there should be a remake in some years, in order to get some problems right.

Oh, uhm, and... something different. I stumbled upon this. Well, now, it's nice to see you have a fanbase and so on (I will refuse to say anything about some questionable posts there and I'm not buying it, that this journal entry came before my post, since I checked the time), but as I said before: This is not about destroying your work or hurting you. If your game had been bad, I can seriously assure you, that I would not have gotten past the Prologue. I just want you to improve and to actually get better in making in VNs, because I see a great potential there, otherwise I would have bothered writing a long review (as you may have realized). You know, I think good comments like "THIS IS AWESOME!!!!!!" are just as bad as "THIS IS SO HORRIBLE!!!!!", because in both cases, you don't know, what was good or bad. It doesn't help you to improve in any way to know, that people enjoyed it, and I think, that's what you want to do, right? Improve. Now, I have heard, you have come along a whole way, and hey, you made a VN, that is pretty good and so on. Still, it can be better and it always will. But don't get thrown back, just because I was criticising your game in a questionable way. I think, I provided enough explanation in my comment, may it be your taste or not.
And me (or somebody else) not being grateful, because it is free, and so on? This is not about being grateful or not. This is about you wanting to entertain us, entertaining people you don't know. Why should I be grateful, because you devote your time to making a VN and releasing a story? I can turn this one around into "I'm actually wasting my time thinking about it.", especially if your VN hadn't been a great experience. Sure, you don't get money, so? "Juniper's Knot" is also free to play. If you think, I'm wrong, if you don't listen to my complaints, which I am serious about and actually writing, so that it doesn't happen again... Whatever, suit yourself. I'm sure, fanatic fangirls won't notice. I think I have said enough about this one.

Something, I'm really wondering about: Will there be some kind of soundtrack release? And did the composers specifially compose the music for the game?
(I hope you got down here with reading!)

[azureXtwilight]

Phew! I actually enjoyed reading your comments this time. It was more civil in wording, and for some reasons I can agree with some of your points. There is a lot of things I am rushing with the game, of course. But I guess I'm glad that some of the parts are enjoyable. *azure's laptop sound is quite small so she amplified the sound effects*

About the ending being cut fade-to-black, is because I personally think it's more dramatic. *shot* And then again I am the type to not focus on details... But I guess there should be explanation somewhere.

About the journal though. It was a rant from somewhere before you said sorry about the choice of words. I guess I just wanted to rant and bitch XD If you feel offended I think I'll take that one down though.

About the music, they are actually under the non-commercial rights in which I am able to use them as long as I don't sell them. So no, they are not original.

[Feteo]

Well, you didn't mention my name, so it's okay.

Can you still, you know, make a package of all the music, so that we can download it? I know, it's fanservice, but eh. xD I just enjoyed some of the themes.

[Seriea]

These are the screenshot of what I missed, about the CG, I think it's the one from ending my final present, but then again, I can't find it in the image gallery..

[azureXtwilight]

Ah, it was some glitches that the beta-testers missed. Sorry about that, I'll fix up a patch when everything was settled

[Genesislove]

Ohmigosh, the true, true (At least I hope Denouement is the real conclusion, most of the other ones are too heartbreaking.) made me cry so many manly tears. This was such an amazing game, probably one of the better indie ones I've ever played.
The part I most enjoyed was the music, I think. The more lighthearted themes were super catchy and the battle themes were really awesome.
Your art and characters have definitely gotten much better. If I had to rate the guys I think it would go like this: Yuri > Neo> Lee > Clifford> Blake > Raphael. Ralphie was constantly making me sick but I think that was kinda what you were going for, huh? And this might sound sadistic but even though I liked him I kinda wanted Blake to suffer more, it just seemed like he got off easy compared to everyone else. But he's pretty much the only totally innocent main character left...
Anyway, my favorite character definitely had to be Yuri. He's so cuuuute!>///<

I sort of like guys who try to seem tough but are actually gentle and domestic. He kinda reminds me of Oswald, I really wish there had been a more romantic ending with him but I guess "Bonds" is as close as we're gonna get, though that could be interpreted as pure friendship if you ignore their earlier conversation. To be honest, I thought Lucia suited him a lot better than Jun. Something about their interaction was just more adorable. But I don't really like girls like Jun anyway, she's just a tad too loud.
I felt pretty bad that you couldn't save Ignatius in any of the routes...maybe if you ever remake this he could be an optional path like Blake? Or is his death just imperative to the story?
I loved Lucia as well, what a great protagonist! She's strong and smart, yet kind as well. I pinched myself everytime I got her killed in a bad ending.
After Raphael's "Free" ending, it was obvious that Zhaung was a pretty shady figure, I feel like you could have toned that down a little or waited just a tad longer to reveal it. I guessed the big reveal when Lee was mentioning how similar Shuang and Zhuang were in Cliffords endings, I thought it was just me noticing their similarities. Maybe I just have a weird thought process.
I really liked Lee's endless dedication, but I was quite disappointed in him when her injury made his feelings for Lucia completely disappear in a couple of his endings. I guess he values his pride over his or his beloved's happiness but that made me think he never really liked her in the first place and she was just a replacement for Lin, is that really how he feels?
Actually I think Lucia goes better with all the guys than their canon love intrests, maybe 'cause I like her so much.

[azureXtwilight]

Thanks for playing!

I really thought that people will hate Yuri after knowing he's actually a really domestic guy, I guess I am just bored of the gangster stereotype that I want to twist it... a lot XD

As for Blake, like I said above, he's just there because people seems to like him a lot. So I added an extra path so they'll be happy, and as for Iggy he will never come back. I need someone to be a casualties aside from Rico and Ann (yeah, horrible person here!)

As for Lucia being with other characters, I enjoy writing Neo and Lucia's interactions so much. Maybe it's just me being picky or she finally stops her whining once she's with him XD

Raphael... Yes, he is like a "True evil" sort of character. We have Lee who is broken but he still have his time to make up for it, and Zhuang's not human. So there has to be someone human who is actually twisted although he's the last person to expect. It's ironic that he can actually kill everyone when he wants to even though he died in other paths.

I really liked Lee's endless dedication, but I was quite disappointed in him when her injury made his feelings for Lucia completely disappear in a couple of his endings. I guess he values his pride over his or his beloved's happiness but that made me think he never really liked her in the first place and she was just a replacement for Lin, is that really how he feels?

Yeah, more and less like that.

Lee, despite being so proud and look stable needed someone strong enough for him to depend on since he saw his mother died. After seeing Chunxiang broke, he tried so hard to forget her that he has to project all the feelings he has for her to someone else. Hanging on to someone strong gives him a reason to live. When that person becomes weaker than him, Lee will see no reason to hold on to her. Which is why, at the true path, he'll crawl back to CHunxiang since she proves herself to be much, much stronger than him.

[Genesislove]

I see. In a way Lee's the saddest character of all...

Rico and Anastasia were surprisingly the couple I cried the most for despite having relatively no screentime. Their love was so touching.;_;
/Uh-oh, I'm tearing up again.

Although Raphael was one of my least favorites I can't stop listening to his theme, it's so very catchy.XD

[Seriea]

Thanks for the help

[blahblah0625]

I just need to finish the rest of the endings then I would be done with the game.
I absolutely adored Blake's path. It just seemed fitting that at least one person can stay alive and live on even if the rest is dead or broken. Lucia was at first a know-it-all and selfish person who only cared for herself...but she acts like any other person would've acted if they were suddenly theown into a situation like this. There were grammar mistakes and some spelling but all in all, great story and writing. I do have one question though in the

Case XX, who's doppelganger killed all those innocent victims including Bertha? And the father of Neo and Nia (Im assuming Niel and them were adopted?) was taken over right?

And the true ending is denouement?

[azureXtwilight]

The person who killed Bertha and the others will be revealed in the end of the inverted souls, and yeah, it's sorta the true path.

Though if you wanna know:

Niel isn't adopted, but his family was going to adopt both Nia and Neo after their father was taken over, although the Lee family was the one who finally adopted Neo. The one who killed Bertha and other people back then was Neo's doppelganger.