Who is Mike? [Mystery/Thriller] NOW ON STEAM!

[ColaCat]

Thanks Cat! You deserve praise as much as I, of course! You helped build this thing

Ah... Don't say that >_< I wouldn't want people to expect too much! This makes me nervous ._.

^_^ I did little compared to you! *shines spotlight*

Ah, you have nothing to be nervous about, don't worry! Be confident! The world is almost in your reach! Soon you shall dominate all...mwahaha!

[idkwhatusername]

I'm not getting the option to deny or come clean... I did download the 2nd beta version because the other one wasn't working? Would that have something to do with it?

[ameliori]

I'm not getting the option to deny or come clean... I did download the 2nd beta version because the other one wasn't working? Would that have something to do with it?

The full game isn't working? What exactly is happening that's preventing you from going there?

[csky]

I'm also having trouble with getting endings 7 and 8. I think I just keep not choosing the right options.
Never mind, figured it out.

Absolutely great game by the way. It looks really nice.

[ameliori]

I SEE THE PROBLEM!! There's an error in the walkthrough! To get 7 and 8:

Agree with Mike.
Tell a lie

Sorry everyone!

[csky]

Yeah that must have been it. I only was able to figure out after looking at the conditions in the script.

I really liked the variety of endings. My favourites were 7, 4, and 6.

However there is a question left unanswered, and that was why Mike deteriorated right away in endings 9 and 5 rather than it taking a week.

[ameliori]

Yeah that must have been it. I only was able to figure out after looking at the conditions in the script.

I really liked the variety of endings. My favourites were 7, 4, and 6.

However there is a question left unanswered, and that was why Mike deteriorated right away in endings 9 and 5 rather than it taking a week.

For Ending 9,

it is supposed to be a dud ending, a sort of punishment for leaving the game early lol. Too many questions and you didn't venture to ask any of them after all!

As for Ending 5,

I would imagine that the monster got really nervous about Mike returning. That was a pretty close call after all. So I'd think he found a way to speed up the process as much as he could. How he does it I couldn't say. That said, he doesn't seem very smart. I'm sure Sarah would find it weird that the other Mike didn't return the next day. She'll probably investigate. There wasn't anywhere in the ending that said the real Mike died right away. He was just feeling the symptoms faster. There's hope for Mike in that timeline yet!

[Googaboga]

I thought that part in the walkthrough didn't seem right since that's not how I got those endings. I was gonna mention that in my comments but it's already handled X3. Anyways! Onto the question answers.

1. Did you enjoy the story and characters?

Yes, Mike and Sarah were fun as individuals and as a couple. And I imagine it's rather hard to have the same person carry a conversation with themselves but you did a really good job. As for the story-

Stories like this can be hard to do with multiple paths because there is generally just one right answer; one is fake and one is real, they're both fake, they're both somehow real. Once you know the answer the story can struggle to know where to go with other paths. This game does have one truth (with one being real and one being fake) but changing which one was real was a really neat way to keep the paths interesting. It was also fun having to first worry about making sure you were real and then still having to convince Sarah of that.

I am a little confused as to why, in one ending, the fake talked about Mike seemingly having violent thoughts deep down when that didn't really amount to anything/show up anywhere else and ultimately real Mike is supposed to be pure of heart. If the fake was just trying to get the real Mike to keep attacking it can be a little confusing for players since it's never directly said.

2. How was the pacing of the story?

I'm not very good at judging pacing >.>. For the most part I'd say it was good.

Sarah getting past the two Mike thing did go a little quick since there wasn't much dialog between her leaving and coming back. Maybe just adding a few '...'s and/or fading out and back in to show that some time had passed would help? And I do think that it seemed odd for Sarah to pick a fake in some endings. In quite a few endings she is able to figure out the fake for sure so it makes sense that she'd single him out. But then in other endings she really didn't know but picked anyway. That didn't make much sense since, as far as they knew, there was no rush. So singling one out, even temporarily, didn't seem like a wise choice.

3. Which ending did you like the most?

I liked 1 & 7 the best, personally, cause they worked out the best for the people involved. Though 6 was also pretty cool because when I got that I hadn't found out that you the player could also be the fake depending on how it went. At the time I had only been the real Mike.

4. Did the story flow naturally to the ending?

Other than those ends where Sarah picked a Mike too soon I'd say so.

5. Any general comments?

I really liked it . The character designs and expressions were fantastic-

especially all the fake Mike expressions

Overall I just though it all came together great and I'm really looking forward to your future projects :3.

[ameliori]

@Googaboga: Thanks so much for playing! ^^

You're right about the violent thoughts part. When I wrote that, I was thinking it's human nature to think violent thoughts from time to time, and the monster was just trying to get a rise on Mike. It did seem disconnected and lacking explanation though. The review I got in VNsNow also lamented the missed opportunity to delve even deeper into who Mike really is and build his character with the choices. You guys bring really valid points. Now I learned to be careful what you throw out there because readers are going to pick up on it.

Good call on the Sarah thing! I'd imagine she'd go out for a smoke or whatever to calm down. I'll have to look for a less awkward way to present this passage of time tho.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and your support from the beginning

[Catlip Candy]

Hi! I'm never good in answering questions and I'm not really professional on critique but ....

1. Did you enjoy the story and characters?
Yes! It's my first time reading something like this. It's a weird story and it's something you don't see everyday. It's not cliche for me! The characters are funny despite of the genre! I love their humor even when they're at that kind of weird scenario

2. How was the pacing of the story?
I think it's good. It's not boring. The only time I get bored is when I'm searching for the other endings by pressing the ctrl button.

3. Which ending did you like the most?

I love the Ending 7 - The Stranger. It is still a happy ending but not for me. It's for the real Mike. Because the Player turned to be the real monster. I like it how questions and mysteries get answered. Though there's still a lot of mysteries behind the creature... It's a sad ending for the monster... They need to eat humans to survive... *cries This reminds me of Tokyo Ghoul *cries even more

4. Did the story flow naturally to the ending?
Yes.

5. Any general comments?

Another VN I've fallen in love with kyaaaa~ I've said it! *blush

You chose the right music and it suits the mood!
By the way, may I ask... What's the title of the music that play whenever the fake Mike shows his personality? I just wanna know....

[ameliori]

You chose the right music and it suits the mood!
By the way, may I ask... What's the title of the music that play whenever the fake Mike shows his personality? I just wanna know....

Thanks so much for playing, Fake Existence! Your little comment at the end warmed my heart XD. I'm glad you liked the music as well. I'm very particular about it because I know it adds a lot to the story. Here's the free music I used for fake Mike. Title is "Vanes" by Kevin Mcleod:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzY9sKHYtFc

[sasquatchii]

Wow!! I just played this a handful of times AND ITS REALLY FUN

Congrats on finally finishing this! I remember lurking this work in progress thread a while ago and being quite excited for it. It was totally worth the wait!!

[ameliori]

Wow!! I just played this a handful of times AND ITS REALLY FUN

Congrats on finally finishing this! I remember lurking this work in progress thread a while ago and being quite excited for it. It was totally worth the wait!!

Thanks sasquatchii! I remember you too! I think we were newbies together.. I think XD I'm thinking of it as VN freshman class of 2014 : haha. Anyway, glad you really liked the game!

[juniperandlamplight]

I've only been able to get 4, 5, 7, 8 and 9. I feel really stupid having to ask, but... Looking on the walkthrough,

when exactly is the point you're supposed to agree/disagree with Mike? Is it the the agree/battle it out? Does it matter what you choose before that? Does it matter to which question you 'lie' or 'tell the truth' and/or are you supposed to 'lie' or 'tell the truth' to multiple questions after the agree/disagree decision? No matter what I choose after the agree/battle it out decision, unless I've lied through the whole 20 Q I get the calm down/attack decision leading to the innocent/the fallen. Maybe it's just because it's almost 3am my time, but I'm confused...

In any case, I'm enjoying the game a lot. It's suspenseful, and the music is great. The atmosphere is very effective even playing it in windowed mode with my aversion to fullscreen, haha.

[ameliori]

I've only been able to get 4, 5, 7, 8 and 9. I feel really stupid having to ask, but... Looking on the walkthrough,

when exactly is the point you're supposed to agree/disagree with Mike? Is it the the agree/battle it out? Does it matter what you choose before that? Does it matter to which question you 'lie' or 'tell the truth' and/or are you supposed to 'lie' or 'tell the truth' to multiple questions after the agree/disagree decision? No matter what I choose after the agree/battle it out decision, unless I've lied through the whole 20 Q I get the calm down/attack decision leading to the innocent/the fallen. Maybe it's just because it's almost 3am my time, but I'm confused...

In any case, I'm enjoying the game a lot. It's suspenseful, and the music is great. The atmosphere is very effective even playing it in windowed mode with my aversion to fullscreen, haha.

Hi there person with cool but long username I will not type out not because I don't like it, I like it a lot, but I might misspell it but eh what the heck, let me start over...

Hi there juniperandlamplight (wasn't that hard to spell in retrospect)! Thanks for playing the game! To answer your question,

if you notice how the questions are phrased, it is always a matter of agreeing or disagreeing with your double. It doesn't explicitly say it, but it's always "Yes, that is true." or "No way!". For example, when you are asked about your anniversary, saying "February 26" when Mike says "February 26" is agreeing with him. It's a little tricky but that's all there is to it. The more you agree/disagree the more likely you get a different ending! I admit it was a bit cheeky of me to do that lol! The people who got the pattern had the added bonus of patting themselves in the back Really that's it haha

I'm really glad you're enjoying yourself though Let me know when you've gotten the rest of the endings