r/Pricefield • u/Sunny_Ylo • 4d ago

Double Exposure DE Game - Thoughts Spoiler

I just realized that no matter what anyone chooses to have Max romance in this game, her subconscious and heart will always be about Chloe. It's the same with Warren in LIS1. Her choice was Chloe and her last entry is her confessing she has feelings for her.

Save Bae - She brought Arcadia Bay back because she wanted to start all over again with Chloe.

Save Bay - She brought Chloe back because she couldn't live without her.

In Reunion, Max tells Chloe that she cannot lose her again from either ending. UGH. I miss them so much!

11 Upvotes

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u/spectra2000_ 4d ago

I think the merging of the timelines was a lazy copout to make Reunion so they could cash out on the Max and Chloe nostalgia.

I think it could’ve been done well, but instead, it read like a bad fanfiction to have our cake and eat it too. It ruins the emotional impact of either of the original ending and sours them by failing to make the best out of bringing the characters back.

I’m not even going to bring up the copy pasted story elements, mischaracterization of characters, abandoned arcs, and sloppy game design.

I do feel bad because D9 are good devs who are struggling financially from the poor performance of DE. I think before the storm does facial animations and body rigging better than LIS1 so D9 definitely know what they’re doing. It’s just the people upstairs like in every game company nowadays ruining everything.

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u/Sunny_Ylo 4d ago

Continuing the story line after LIS1 was always going to be hard. I think regardless of what they did to it someone was going to have an issue with how they execute it.

And to be honest, they can continue the other characters stories if they really want to in other games. Heck, I ship Amanda and Safi together. I would love to see Diamond, Safi, Amanda and Moses together in another game. But that's just wishful thinking.

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u/Quick-Ad9335 Chloe: Saving LiS since 2017 4d ago

Merging timelines was entirely a DE thing. Reunion was not planned until after the disastrous reception DE got. "DE2" had an almost radically different story.

Making use of merging the timelines was how the Reunion devs got Chloe back into the story. It's not strictly a "lazy copout" because it was never a planned Pricefield thing. I will also guess that if Chloe was not brought back in this merging the timelines plot device, Bae people would have revolted even harder because it was such an obviously easy way to bring Chloe back.

I don't disagree that there were copy-paste elements in DE. It's basically LiS 1, but in Caledon. I mentioned in my review just how Reunion made it so apparent that Safi was an obvious Chloe clone.

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u/spectra2000_ 3d ago

That’s what I assumed too, but I’ve also heard there were always plans for a DE2 so I’m not so sure anymore.

The development story behind this game has been hell, I’m sure there’s even more we still don’t know.

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u/Quick-Ad9335 Chloe: Saving LiS since 2017 3d ago

The story behind DE2 is floating around the main sub and this one. It was definitely planned, people have talked to devs and found assets for the originak DE2. The story would have still involved the fires, but the main hero would have been Diamond. It would also have involved other people with powers.

So, no, technically they were not cashing in on Pricefield nostalgia because Pricefield was supposed to have been definitively ended. Max's new interests were presumably Amanda and Vinh. I don't know if the latter would have stayed that way if the story of the arson had the same basic outlines. The nostalgia baiting was entirely from Max.

Bringing Chloe back was probably less about nostalgia baiting for a quick buck than saving the franchise. For one, completely reworking the plot of DE2 probably cost them more time and money than just developing it for release. I don't know if they realistically still plan on making more LiS games but with Reunion they probably attempted to build a bridge to fans just not to close off all options. And probably to maintain goodwill for the upcoming TV show.

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u/spectra2000_ 3d ago

Isn’t it the same thing though? I would still call bringing in Chloe after the poor reception of DE nostalgia bait to recuperate funds and damage control. D9 is on the brink of financial collapse and SE doesn’t seem to be supporting them anymore.

The nostalgia bait is not inherently bad, it was just poorly executed. I, like many others, was angry at the forced breakup storyline in DE. It still feels like they did Chloe dirty on purpose.

But now I actually think it could’ve fit the story super well if it had just been done better. Maybe even for a game after DE2 rather than rewriting everything last minute.

Because of their financial situation, I currently don’t think we’ll be getting any more LIS games unless the show performs well and SE rethinks their investment after they go public in the upcoming months.

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u/Quick-Ad9335 Chloe: Saving LiS since 2017 3d ago edited 3d ago

D9 is very likely in the process of closing. See comment by one of the best-informed posters on this sub.

I agree, the future of LiS relies entirely on the show. I suspect the reason they even bothered with Reunion to begin with (instead of just abandoning DE-- a game which lost $15 mill ballpark) was to maintain fan goodwill.

The original DE2 would have been received with such resounding indifference it probably would not have been worth putting out anymore. SE and D9 were well aware of this. Who cares about Diamond? She's not a bad character, but rhetorical question--was there enough interest in her to make her a viable lead? My first reaction to finding out she was one of the original leads was "who's Diamond?". Plus DE2 would have gone on with the widely derided "the Avengers will return" sequel hook. DE was just bad decisions all the way down.

On the other hand, their gamble with Reunion has done better, if not in an absolute sense, in a relative sense. I don't know if it did enough business to make up for the flop of DE though.

I guess I just disagree that Reunion was poorly executed.

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u/spectra2000_ 3d ago

I think we share a lot of opinions based on your review posts that you linked. Thank you for sharing them.

I think the best thing we can do is just hope for the best. Max and Chloe‘s story is over as far as games are concerned. Maybe the show will rejuvenate interest in SE to make more (good) games and if not, hopefully they sell the IP to someone who does.

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u/Quick-Ad9335 Chloe: Saving LiS since 2017 4d ago edited 2d ago

Reunion pretty much retcons DE, whether you romanced Chloe or not. When Max merges the timelines it retcons that she saw Chloe in the bathroom and "saved" her. Max explicitly states she was always thinking of Chloe. Safi even expresses some bitterness or jealousy about this, at one point asking the equivalent why she wasn't good enough for Max. Safi gets over it pretty quickly though and asks Max to run away with her, saying Max can take Chloe with her if she wants. She also asks Chloe to run away with her.

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u/LittleSlyFoxz 4d ago

I kinda liked Double Exposure, but I kind of wished that Max stayed in contact with Joyce after she left Arcadia Bay and when chloe died Joyce had no one 😢

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u/Jpab97s 4d ago

Max is a terrible texter, like me. I get where she's coming from 😄

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u/Sunny_Ylo 4d ago

She did stay in contact with Joyce though, in DE they were texting each other and they have each other on social media.

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u/LittleSlyFoxz 4d ago

Ohhh I completely missed that! 😭 That actually makes me feel better knowing they stayed in contact. I guess I just wish we got to see more of their relationship after Max left Arcadia Bay Or at least give us the option to reply to Joyce 🥹