Going against the order

[Mr. Manual]

Would it really be so bad if I did Marie's route before Kei's? Like, would it make Kei's route completely obsolete? I don't have the Act 2 DLC because I'm poor, but I want more of this novel.

[monoestate]

I wouldn't say completely obsolete. Of course all the routes are completely diffirent from each other. The fights and finale are all diffirent and should be experienced even if out of order, though you probably will be dissapointed in Kei's ending sequence compared to Marie's. And then you might also be left with questions that were answered in Kei's route as well.
As you progress through the routes ends become even more grandiose. This is usually why people recommend the route order, so there's a gradual buildup and hype for that "Just how much wilder/hype can this get?"feeling.
For consolation, if you choose to go ahead and read Marie's route you'll be experiencing the way it was released all those years ago. The first version of DI was just Kasumi's and Marie's route(though many fans did beleive they got a somewhat incomplete experience because of that though). The second edition finally brought Kei's and Rea's route. And then in the third edition did we got another ending for Rea.

[Jason Wander]

Yeah, Kei's route leaves alot of unanswered questions at the end of her route, but as I like her character I was content.
All the guides and previous people who've read it say to read in the recommended order of though. But in the end it's your choice.

[FEGuy]

To some extent, they cover different characters' backgrounds, and while Marie's route feels much more like a real ending, it barely touches on some of the important stuff from Kei's route. Certainly some small things would make more sense if you read Kei's route first, and some of the revelations in Kei's route will be less impactful having read Marie's route first, but I don't think it'd totally ruin the experience.

[vn_weeb]

I highly recommend NOT going against the recommended route order. The story was built to be experienced in that order. The way information is given out, the way it is written(each route essentially expects you to have knowledge from the previous ones), the way the confrontations keep getting intenser and the scale expands(so if you take a different route order, the finale can feel like a wet fart), the way a route actually goes out of its way to rib you, the way the story foreshadows future route developments...

Basically, just don't do it if you can help it.

The one major problem I have with this vn is how they packaged the routes. It's utterly bizarre they packed Kasumi with Marie. Or maybe it can be considered outright mean.

[Mr. Manual]

Originally posted by vn_weeb:

The one major problem I have with this vn is how they packaged the routes. It's utterly bizarre they packed Kasumi with Marie. Or maybe it can be considered outright mean.

Not bizarre at all. It's a sales model. Disrupt the order so you'll end up buying both DLC, because Kasumi's route alone wasn't satisfying enough.

[f-sh96]

Kasumi&Marie is the original japanese release so i assume that why they put Kasumi and Marie first even though you should have Kei instead

The release order is a mess

[Mr. Manual]

Screw it, I'm going for it

[kilicool64]

Interesting approach. Can't say I've seen a lot of people try to please their masochistic urges by going out of their way to experience fiction in the least enjoyable way possible.

[Mr. Manual]

Originally posted by kilicool64:

Interesting approach. Can't say I've seen a lot of people try to please their masochistic urges by going out of their way to experience fiction in the least enjoyable way possible.

Even if that's the original intent of the writing?

[kilicool64]

It's not. The first two versions of the VN (which only had Kasumi's and Marie's routes) were unfinished.

I don't really know too much about its development, but apparently, it was originally envisioned as a linear VN with Marie as the sole heroine. When fans demanded routes for other characters, the writer, Takashi Masada, was forced to turn it into a multi-route VN. Apparently, he got writer's block at some point during the rewriting process, so seven additional writers were brought on board to finish the VN for him. The result, Also Sprach Zarathustra, was widely agreed to be a disaster.

So much so that light threw out everything these seven guys wrote and had Masada rewrite Kasumi and Marie's routes for the second version, Also Sprach Zarathustra ~Die Wiederkunft~. However, this version apparently still felt like it wasn't really finished.

So Acta est Fabula was made, which received additional routes for Kei and Rea, and ended up being the first complete version of the VN.

After that, Amantes Amentes further expanded the VN with some side stories and an alternate ending for Rea's route.

As you can see, this VN has quite possibly one of the most convoluted development histories the medium has ever seen. It's hard to tell how much of it represents Masada's original vision, but this version was apparently very clearly made with the order Kasumi -> Kei -> Marie -> Rea in mind.

[Mr. Manual]

Well suck a **** Kei I'm doing Marie's route first anyway (apparently in the 18+ version she does)

[f-sh96]

Originally posted by kilicool64:

It's not. The first two versions of the VN (which only had Kasumi's and Marie's routes) were unfinished.

I don't really know too much about its development, but apparently, it was originally envisioned as a linear VN with Marie as the sole heroine. When fans demanded routes for other characters, the writer, Takashi Masada, was forced to turn it into a multi-route VN. Apparently, he got writer's block at some point during the rewriting process, so seven additional writers were brought on board to finish the VN for him. The result, Also Sprach Zarathustra, was widely agreed to be a disaster.

So much so that light threw out everything these seven guys wrote and had Masada rewrite Kasumi and Marie's routes for the second version, Also Sprach Zarathustra ~Die Wiederkunft~. However, this version apparently still felt like it wasn't really finished.

So Acta est Fabula was made, which received additional routes for Kei and Rea, and ended up being the first complete version of the VN.

After that, Amantes Amentes further expanded the VN with some side stories and an alternate ending for Rea's route.

As you can see, this VN has quite possibly one of the most convoluted development histories the medium has ever seen. It's hard to tell how much of it represents Masada's original vision, but this version was apparently very clearly made with the order Kasumi -> Kei -> Marie -> Rea in mind.

Pretty much this

[f-sh96]

Originally posted by Mr. Manual:

Well suck a **** Kei I'm doing Marie's route first anyway (apparently in the 18+ version she does)

It's not so big deal to read marie's route before Kei's it just some point won't make sense and out of place, you can always buy the second DLC and fill the losing ends

[Klipwc]

Kasumi's route is deffintly not a happy ending
Kei's route is a major cliffhanger which has no continuation
After finishing Maries route, read the alternate story unlocked from clearing her route Its the first proper ending (that and it gives you heartburn)

I havent done Rea's route yet so NC on this

So yeah if you do marie route before the other two, both Kei and Kasumi route will feel pretty lacking, also unlike kasumi and kei route where the other stories unlocked were past events, the other story in marie route is a continuation which despite it being shorter, gave me heartburn.

To be honest, no matter which route you start with you are gonna end up with alot of unanswered questions before you read the others. If you read marie or rea first you arent gonna understand everything or why did certain events happen that way. Same for if you read kasumi / Kei first


Dont view the pic unless you dont mind getting spoiled, its from the extra story at end of marie route
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=957224025