Disappointed with Altered Fable

[Arkham51]

I only bought this collection in order to play Altered Fable. After finishing Altered Fable I feel disappointed by it. Altered Fable doesn't have any actual routes like Extra. What it has boils down to being a mini route for each girl that occurs after the volleyball section of the story but none of these mini routes ever amount to anything since they all occur during a dream sequence. The ending doesn't do anything to change the status quo either which makes Altered Fable essentially just a filler episode.

[SilverRaven]

I disagree, but understand where you are coming from. Heavy Spoilers ahead.

I think an important part of my enjoyment of Altered Fable was my framing of the narrative from Alternative Sumika's perspective. After all, this world only exists because she created it. While Takeru has a well defined and compelling arc through the trilogy It's important to remember that the Takeru we end up with is NOT the same Takeru we started with. Picture this from Sumika's perspective in Alternative.

In Extra, We follow an alternate universe Takeru, lets call him Takeru-E, who lives a comedic if basically normal life before branching off with the romance options. Sumika, from her jar isolation, would view this Takeru as a kind of ideal. Her Takeru is dead, eaten right in front of her. She will never have a happy normal life with him, never get to be a normal girl he falls in love with. She literally wants him to be in her life so badly, she crafts a version of him out of pure will, an amalgamation of all the best parts of Takeru-E from every romance route.

That's why Takeru has those flashbacks, he's remembering the lives of the several different Takeru's Sumika made him from. He isn't the literal Takeru somehow transported to this new dimension, he's a brand new, whole cloth, Takeru-U.

But Sumika still isn't done, because even this Takeru-U isn't able to love her. In fact, he isn't able to do much of anything but watch the Alternative program fail. Sure, he falls in love with one of the various girls in his life, has a kid, dies a hero, but she is still just a brain in a jar. She doesn't get her happy ending.

So she tries again, or really, tries for the first time. Crafting a second new Takeru in a second, different universe where the best parts of Takeru-E and Takeru-U mix together to make Takeru-A, the Takeru who actually CAN love her. We, and by that I mean Takeru-A, only exist because Sumika desperately, reality bendingly badly, loves her Takeru, the Takeru who died. She wants him to come save her like he couldn't when the BETA were there.

So then all of Alternative happens, she gets what she wants, she feels loved, she saves the world, and then she realizes that despite all of that, she's not happy. She's not happy because the Takeru she now has, Takeru-A, lives in a bleak, devastated, horrible world. A world that, as saved or not saved as it may be, was never meant for him to suffer through. She decides, ultimately, to let go. To give Takeru the happy, normal life she wanted them to share. Call it a reward for his work or an apology, why exactly she changes her mind is kind of up to interpretation. But why ever she does it, she makes a whole universe just to give Takeru a happy ending. And all her friends too,

That's why Katsumi thanks Sumika when she looks at you. She knows that theirs no reason for her to exist here. She's not even really a true human being, her life the result of genetic tinkering and inbreeding of people who might not even exist in this timeline. But here she is, and here you are, and no matter how horrible this timeline ends up being for her it will NEVER be as bad as the Alternative timeline. She can't hold back her tears.

Now with all that being said let's look back at Altered Fable. The Takeru we have here probably isn't the literal Takeru-A. Of course, you're free to think he is. It's not like the text says one way or the other. But I personally find it difficult to believe Sumika would erase Takeru-A's memories. But that's just me.

Anyway Takeru-ST then follows the destany Sumika laid out for him. He lives an extraordinary, happy life. He lives in a world where his only experience holding a gun was from a paint ball tournament he firmly won. Where he gets to go on vacation skiing with all his friends and lovers, where Meya has her sister back and her parents in her life. Where Katsumi has real friends and Sumika-ST isn't a brain in a tube. Where Kei and Class Rep... well if not get along at least tolerate each other. Where Mikoto isn't always being kidnapped by her dad.

A filler episode? Change the Status Quo? This isn't Takeru's story anymore. It's the story in the head of the girl who loved a boy so much she made a universe for him. Where she in the form of a dozen girls gets to shower him with love and gifts. Where she can give her friends everything they wanted out of life. Where even though it's impossible, even though it makes no sense, even though it means she has to share, she can respect the memories of Takeru-E and Takeru-U who deeply, passionately loved all of them. This isn't an anime where the protagonist has to remain single because picking one of the girls would end the show. This is a hand crafted, idealistic, perfect universe that has more right to be fantastical then nearly any other. The Dream sequences don't amount to anything... the whole NOVEL is a dream sequence. None of this happens without Sumika-A wanting it to. The whole story functions to answer the question "What does Sumika-A wish her life could have been like?" and maybe also "What can I give the man who gave me everything?"

[MrHydrated]

Originally posted by SilverRaven:

In Extra, We follow an alternate universe Takeru, lets call him Takeru-E, who lives a comedic if basically normal life before branching off with the romance options. Sumika, from her jar isolation, would view this Takeru as a kind of ideal. Her Takeru is dead, eaten right in front of her. She will never have a happy normal life with him, never get to be a normal girl he falls in love with. She literally wants him to be in her life so badly, she crafts a version of him out of pure will, an amalgamation of all the best parts of Takeru-E from every romance route.

That's why Takeru has those flashbacks, he's remembering the lives of the several different Takeru's Sumika made him from. He isn't the literal Takeru somehow transported to this new dimension, he's a brand new, whole cloth, Takeru-U.

Wow, not sure how, but this completely escaped me.. Given who Takeru already was in the beginning of Alternative, this is completely plausible. It really begs the question though, why would Sumika let Kasumi completely remember and Walken partially remember?

Given how how the girls reacted in the epilogue of Alternative, as well as their off hand remarks, it is safe to say that all of their memories are still there, just sealed away.

Just curious why she didn't erase them to begin with. Assuming that she could.

[SilverRaven]

Originally posted by MrHydrated:

Originally posted by SilverRaven:

In Extra, We follow an alternate universe Takeru, lets call him Takeru-E, who lives a comedic if basically normal life before branching off with the romance options. Sumika, from her jar isolation, would view this Takeru as a kind of ideal. Her Takeru is dead, eaten right in front of her. She will never have a happy normal life with him, never get to be a normal girl he falls in love with. She literally wants him to be in her life so badly, she crafts a version of him out of pure will, an amalgamation of all the best parts of Takeru-E from every romance route.

That's why Takeru has those flashbacks, he's remembering the lives of the several different Takeru's Sumika made him from. He isn't the literal Takeru somehow transported to this new dimension, he's a brand new, whole cloth, Takeru-U.

Wow, not sure how, but this completely escaped me.. Given who Takeru already was in the beginning of Alternative, this is completely plausible. :ex1yuuko: It really begs the question though, why would Sumika let Kasumi completely remember and Walken partially remember?

Given how how the girls reacted in the epilogue of Alternative, as well as their off hand remarks, it is safe to say that all of their memories are still there, just sealed away.

Just curious why she didn't erase them to begin with. Assuming that she could.

So their is a lot of interpretation here so please do not take me as an authority, but here is my take on your questions. Spoilers ahead

Sumika allowed Kasumi to retain her memories because she didn't exist in the world of Extra. Their is no "default" version to reset her to. So unless she wanted to completely make up a new person, she didn't really have a choice.

I think she absolutely could have erased the memories if she wanted to, but then it wouldn't really be "her" versions of the girls would it? Not to get too in the weeds but their are a few possibilities to consider as to whats going on.

Option 1: All of the Girls, Takeru, the adults even, aren't wholly new people created for this universe and instead are, like Takeru-A and Takeru-U before them, amalgamations of people from other timelines. So the memories of the Alternative universe are there because Sumika-A created these people at least partially from their counterparts in Alternative.

Option 2: NONE of the people in this universe are real besides Takeru. They are just different masks Sumika wears in this prison of a dimension she's made to pamper Takeru in. When Takeru wants the company of a specific girl, Sumika just assumes that girls body and lets him have his way. If this is the case then the "memories" of those characters come from Sumika's mind reading and projection selectively referencing moments from Alternative as either mistakes on her part since that is her home universe after all, or intentional references meant to appeal to the portion of Takeru-ST that was once Takeru-A

Option 3: Altered Fable isn't a new timeline at all, It's a coma dream in the head of Takeru-A who is laying in a hospital bed twitching while Sumika tries to repair his shattered brain after the encounter with the Beta Hive Leader. I do not like this option.

Their are a few other possibilities but these are to me the most likely. I hope that answers your question.

[MrHydrated]

Originally posted by SilverRaven:

Originally posted by MrHydrated:

Wow, not sure how, but this completely escaped me.. Given who Takeru already was in the beginning of Alternative, this is completely plausible. It really begs the question though, why would Sumika let Kasumi completely remember and Walken partially remember?

Given how how the girls reacted in the epilogue of Alternative, as well as their off hand remarks, it is safe to say that all of their memories are still there, just sealed away.

Just curious why she didn't erase them to begin with. Assuming that she could.

So their is a lot of interpretation here so please do not take me as an authority, but here is my take on your questions. Spoilers ahead

Sumika allowed Kasumi to retain her memories because she didn't exist in the world of Extra. Their is no "default" version to reset her to. So unless she wanted to completely make up a new person, she didn't really have a choice.

I think she absolutely could have erased the memories if she wanted to, but then it wouldn't really be "her" versions of the girls would it? Not to get too in the weeds but their are a few possibilities to consider as to whats going on.

Option 1: All of the Girls, Takeru, the adults even, aren't wholly new people created for this universe and instead are, like Takeru-A and Takeru-U before them, amalgamations of people from other timelines. So the memories of the Alternative universe are there because Sumika-A created these people at least partially from their counterparts in Alternative.

Option 2: NONE of the people in this universe are real besides Takeru. They are just different masks Sumika wears in this prison of a dimension she's made to pamper Takeru in. When Takeru wants the company of a specific girl, Sumika just assumes that girls body and lets him have his way. If this is the case then the "memories" of those characters come from Sumika's mind reading and projection selectively referencing moments from Alternative as either mistakes on her part since that is her home universe after all, or intentional references meant to appeal to the portion of Takeru-ST that was once Takeru-A

Option 3: Altered Fable isn't a new timeline at all, It's a coma dream in the head of Takeru-A who is laying in a hospital bed twitching while Sumika tries to repair his shattered brain after the encounter with the Beta Hive Leader. I do not like this option.

Their are a few other possibilities but these are to me the most likely. I hope that answers your question.

Thanks for your interpretation of events, as well as the various options.
Option 1 - probably the most likely option

Option 2 - This is the most horrifying and fascinating option, that I could totally see as being a part of the upcoming Integrate game. It is also on brand with Sumika's subconscious wish, of having Takeru in her life.... no matter what.

Option 3 - kinda invalidates the whole final part and all the reveals, in the final chapter of Alternative, it would also be a huge cop out I'd say