u/FanganProject

I will preface this with I don't know which writers wrote what, so this isn't a "let's hate _____'s writing post". However, with how big of an emphasis the team placed on keeping information private (not telling 90% of them), it is kinda funny how obvious their abundance of foreshadowing made key plot points. If they were so insistent on it being a well-written production its only fair it can be critiqued.

Leaks feedback was mainly "this is bad writing" or "this was predictable". I'm focusing on how the team made a fair chunk of key plot points obvious within Chapter 1, promo/online posts and character symbolism.

I'm also not really talking about the meta aspects of writing a fangan. For example, fangan writers generally try to do something new, so I figured Jean would be a killer because theres never really been a water based execution. Thats just fans knowing the genre.

Edit - Since the above is annoying people, bodies of water and water itself (baptism, water to wine, Noah's arc and God flooding the world and two of each animal survive, parting of the Red Sea, Jesus walking on water, Jonah and the whale) is very prevelant in the Bible. Eva's execution was inspired by a bible verse describing the "Furnace of Affliction". Jean having a water based execution (his canon one seems based on Baptism) based on the Bible is a pretty clear option, especially considering the foreshadowing he got in Chapter 1.

For Chapter 1 and the prologue obviously they to set up Chapter 2 and beyond. It was done it a way that clearly was intended to have people go back to Chapter 1 and sees all the clues. However they were fairly obvious and led to people accurately predicting the events of the game.

Some key examples

Putting everyone into duos.

Most character plotlines involve them to be in the pairs established in the prologue and Chapter 1. Like Mark and Jett have a plotline? Shocking. I would like to point out though that the shared plot outline obviously doesnt mention the hours of other screentime other characters will have together. Are we surprised though that Desmond and Eloise end up having a case revolving around each other? Or Mark and Jett? Or Toshiko and likely Ingrid back to back?

Desmond and Eloise's relationship.

It was obvious to most that they knew each other prior to the game and most people correctly geussed it was through the olympics. Generally, a lot of events were predicted based on how much emphasis was put on putting the cast into pairs

Cassidy being the Mastermind.

Cassidy never took the game seriously. She was inexplicably involved in key events llike the gaming tournament and finding the room to the Traitor perk that led to Eva killing Wolfgang. She never seemed like someone actually involved in the game as an abductee. Shes only one of the few characters that makes sense to have the resources to pull this off based on her backstory.

Jean being a criminal.

Since Jean kills Ulysses in Chapter 2 I would be more lenient as it was good set up if not too obvious. Jean makes so much vague references to sinister events with his crew and knows a lot about drugs, in a way that doesn't make much immediate sense unlike Ingrid knowing about lithium being volatile. The guy was obviously hiding something being hidden behind a nice persona.

Ulysses 2nd victim by poisoning.

Is there anyone who didn't immediately think this would happen? Ulysses, like Jean, had plenty of references to the poisons. Ulysses also has disabilities/disorders that make him a pretty easy victim. He lacks a sense of smell (and likely diminished taste) and has a form of sleep disorder. He maintains a notebook of all information which a blackened would want destroyed too. So much info points to him dying which everyone caught.

Pausing it there because I think I made my point.

The next issue is the animal symbolism. Obviously, the motifs were significant to each character. The problem is this really narrowed everyone's focus on the character's possible roles in the story, and the plotline highlights that most predictions were right or in line.

Wolfgang was a reference to a wolf in sheeps clothing. Damon's a snake that influences others in the game. Eva was recognised for her intelligence but socially disliked, like a crow. Cassidy was always related to some sort of web. Jean's a dragon so something about his persona would be fake or "mythical". Desmond is a shark, perceived as dangerous when shark attacks arent common. Eloise is a swan, so shes peaceful yet a fighter and associated with love/her partner (Desmond). Kai is a butterfly, he is a symbol of transformation, and beauty while also being insecure and frail. "Like a Chameleon I will adapt", Diana will change her outer appearance but remain the same within.

In one way, fans actually predicted a lot of this for the characters based only on their motifs and basic background. On the other, we can easily see how their motifs link into their plots within the game and where they end up, with few apparant exceptions.

To keep it short, the animal symbolism was a cool idea but a lot of it was a bit on the nose which made it somewhat expected.

Finally, the online promo by the team.

I think the most obvious ones would be Nifast Greentail's Imitation art. Great artworks, really clear symbolism with great ways to interpret them. However, you have a character in the prologue and the Chapter 1, you have their Free Time Events, background and animal motif, and then their Imitation art that basically reveals their inner feelings and conflicts which would become evident in later chapters.

I think I've made my point here as I'm only really focusing on the art's meaning and not the art itself.

Theres also the other side where its the team teasing events or giving vague spoilers. I think the most clear case is someone asking for a spoiler with no context. A team member replied with a gif of a girl eating bread. Now, obviously we would assume this is referring to a death and it was actually Uylesses' death. Sometimes things get obvious.

Overall, they definitely tried to foreshadow too much. This did make a lot of plot details way too easy to predict. I get the appeal of trying to leave in hints but we would be waiting years for the game to finish while we already had most of the lore