Idolmaster 2 (7)

Cleared my first playthrough.

Wut.

Defeated Jupiter with Little Match Girl.

Got i to #2.

Numbers, post-Jupiter.

Finished off with My Song at IA.

Results.

Numbers, post-game.

As you can see, I was going with Vo > Da >>>>>>> Vi. Had an amulet equipped which slowed down the loss of interest in Vo and Da a lot and ended up just spamming Vo non-stop (by the end, Vo at 1-1.10 was still getting more points for me than Da at 1.50).

Judging from that D on my results for high score, though, looks like my levels were too low. That or not enough memories.

Probably both, actually.

So anyway, yeah, that was pretty good. The story (and writing in general, really) felt pretty odd, though. And there was way too little of it, too.

What the hell was Jupiter there for, anyway? They barely do anything and hell, the two guys besides Touma don't even show up until like week 40 and even after that don't do anything at all until the showdown, where they lose to you and disband Jupiter and don't show up again.

Cameo from an upcoming Idolmaster GS or something?

Ryuuguukomachi though... Gah.

I can see why they wanted to cut down on characters, it's the whole "unity" theme.

Previously, even when you had a duo/trio unit it was exactly the same as having someone solo, just that you could choose one of the members whenever there's something to do. The members themselves wouldn't interact with each other at all.

In 2, the members interact with each other. A lot. Sure, plenty of it is purposefully written so that it can be used on anyone, but there ARE a couple of conversations and stuff where the characters really talk to each other.

This of course means way too much work if there are too many characters. Hell, it's a feat even with 9.

But.

From what I've seen so far (and I've cleared the game once!), the story sequences for your leader (the character-specific ones, not the Ryuuguukomachi, then Jupiter stuff which is so thin it might as well not even be there)? They involve just her. The other two members don't show up at all.

Now, what's the fucking point of having multiple characters when all but one aren't involved in the story at all?

This is just stupid. They might as well have just kept it as it was, seriously.

If it ain't broke, don't fucking fix it.

Oh, and Chihaya's story is a bit silly when you consider the old ending.

Will be starting on my second playthrough soon, not sure if I should go with Makoto or Hibiki next. Disgaea 4? Er, maybe later.