Some things only revealed in bad/neutral path

[jjbproductions]

Hey everyone!! I am working on an unannounced visual novel, and am wondering about your opinion on this:
There is one character in it ( I will call this person PA) who is sad for a majority of the game (whether or not you are on PA's bad/neutral path) but you only learn why he is sad in the neutral and bad ending(s). In the good endings the character becomes happier but never completely explains his sadness. Also, in my game there will be more than one neutral/bad/good ending so not all the bad and neutral paths might end up with him explaining to you why he was sad. In a different characters route you learn the reason for PA's sadness no matter what ending you get, but in PA's route you only learn about it in one (or two) of his bad and neutral endings.
And to clarify a few things if my post made no sense:
The neutral and bad endings will be separate endings
There will be many good, bad, and neutral endings, so not all neutral and bad endings will end up with PA explaining to you why he was sad.
And yes... that means there is some backstory about PA that you only learn in a different characters route and in PAs bad and neutral endings.

[LateWhiteRabbit]

Of course some info should only be available on a bad or neutral path. Otherwise what reason do you have to go down those paths? Besides, learning stuff you wouldn't have known about the characters otherwise can ease most of the pain of getting a bad ending.

[jjbproductions]

Of course some info should only be available on a bad or neutral path. Otherwise what reason do you have to go down those paths? Besides, learning stuff you wouldn't have known about the characters otherwise can ease most of the pain of getting a bad ending.

Thank you. I know that in visual novels there should be some things you only learn in the bad/neutral endings, however PA's sadness will be a pretty big part of the story, so I didn't know if people wouldn't like that you could only learn something important about him in the bad/neutral endings.

[Anna]

Think of it like this; not everyone will get a bad ending, so there will always be people who miss that part of your story.

Is the information you placed there important enough to you, the author, that you wish everyone needs to know it so they can fully understand and appreciate your story? If yes, put it in other places too, if no, leave it in the bad end - it's only an extra now.

We don't know your story well enough to be able to make this choice for you.

[papillon]

Of course, some games put required information in bad paths AND require you to complete those bad endings before being able to get the good ending, that way guaranteeing that you'll see it.

That needs to be handled carefully or it can get frustrating though.

Depending on circumstances, I can see stories where it makes sense that only on a neutral path do you really get into the horrifying backstory of Traumatically Depressed Guy, because his backstory brings down the mood so hard that it would feel awkward to go straight to a happy ending from there.

So perhaps on your first attempt to pursue him, this neutral ending is the only way things can go... but at the end you are notified that a new destiny for him has been unlocked - and now when you play his path you can choose to steer away from all that and end up with things in a happier place. The player will still feel that the conflict of his misery has been resolved because the _player_ understands what's going on, even if the character has to handwave a little bit with things like "I don't care about the past, I only care about right now".

Of course, this really depends on the story.. how bad the sad thing is, how in-depth you want to go into it in the not-good ending, etc.

[jjbproductions]

Think of it like this; not everyone will get a bad ending, so there will always be people who miss that part of your story.

Is the information you placed there important enough to you, the author, that you wish everyone needs to know it so they can fully understand and appreciate your story? If yes, put it in other places too, if no, leave it in the bad end - it's only an extra now.

We don't know your story well enough to be able to make this choice for you.

Well, in PAs good endings he is happy and the main characters curiosity for why he was sad is now almost non-existent. If the player is still curious, he could try get the neutral and/or bad endings. Including, people might not intentionally get the neutral/bad endings.

Of course, some games put required information in bad paths AND require you to complete those bad endings before being able to get the good ending, that way guaranteeing that you'll see it.

That needs to be handled carefully or it can get frustrating though.

Depending on circumstances, I can see stories where it makes sense that only on a neutral path do you really get into the horrifying backstory of Traumatically Depressed Guy, because his backstory brings down the mood so hard that it would feel awkward to go straight to a happy ending from there. And most of the good endings will go as you said, however I don't want to require people to play through the neutral/bad endings to get the good one.

So perhaps on your first attempt to pursue him, this neutral ending is the only way things can go... but at the end you are notified that a new destiny for him has been unlocked - and now when you play his path you can choose to steer away from all that and end up with things in a happier place. The player will still feel that the conflict of his misery has been resolved because the _player_ understands what's going on, even if the character has to handwave a little bit with things like "I don't care about the past, I only care about right now".

Of course, this really depends on the story.. how bad the sad thing is, how in-depth you want to go into it in the not-good ending, etc.

I am not going to have it so you can only proceed to the good endings once you have played the neutral/bad endings. The reason why is because I don't like requiring people to get a neutral or bad ending to see the good ending. In real life, you might make someone else who was normally sad happy without knowing why they were sad. And you are correct about PA's backstory bringing down the mood so much that a happy ending wouldn't work from there. Also, you are mainly right about how most of the good endings will be like, however I don't want to require the player to play through the neutral/bad endings to get to the good endings.

[jjbproductions]

Think of it like this; not everyone will get a bad ending, so there will always be people who miss that part of your story.

Is the information you placed there important enough to you, the author, that you wish everyone needs to know it so they can fully understand and appreciate your story? If yes, put it in other places too, if no, leave it in the bad end - it's only an extra now.

We don't know your story well enough to be able to make this choice for you.

Well, in PAs good endings he is happy and the main characters curiosity for why he was sad is now almost non-existent. If the player is still curious, he could try get the neutral and/or bad endings. Including, people might not intentionally get the neutral/bad endings.

Of course, some games put required information in bad paths AND require you to complete those bad endings before being able to get the good ending, that way guaranteeing that you'll see it.

That needs to be handled carefully or it can get frustrating though.

Depending on circumstances, I can see stories where it makes sense that only on a neutral path do you really get into the horrifying backstory of Traumatically Depressed Guy, because his backstory brings down the mood so hard that it would feel awkward to go straight to a happy ending from there. And most of the good endings will go as you said, however I don't want to require people to play through the neutral/bad endings to get the good one.

So perhaps on your first attempt to pursue him, this neutral ending is the only way things can go... but at the end you are notified that a new destiny for him has been unlocked - and now when you play his path you can choose to steer away from all that and end up with things in a happier place. The player will still feel that the conflict of his misery has been resolved because the _player_ understands what's going on, even if the character has to handwave a little bit with things like "I don't care about the past, I only care about right now".

Of course, this really depends on the story.. how bad the sad thing is, how in-depth you want to go into it in the not-good ending, etc.

I am not going to have it so you can only proceed to the good endings once you have played the neutral/bad endings. The reason why is because I don't like requiring people to get a neutral or bad ending to see the good ending. In real life, you might make someone else who was normally sad happy without knowing why they were sad. And you are correct about PA's backstory bringing down the mood so much that a happy ending wouldn't work from there. Also, you are mainly right about how most of the good endings will be like, however I don't want to require the player to play through the neutral/bad endings to get to the good endings.