BloodyMares wrote:@tlaero, this is just my observation but I don't think having bad path unlock something extra is the issue. I think the reason behind a negative response to it was extreme nature of this bad path and the fact that the Bonus Scene has nothing to do with it. As the commenter above said, some of the choices are hard to go through and upon completion the player feels the ultimate sadness.
However, nobody complained about doing the same in DwE, right? IMO it's because the "bad" path isn't really bad, just pervy. The Bonus Scene had everything to do with the way Jason behaved at Delfino's on this "horny" path and without it the context would be lost.
My point is, I think it's okay to make a "bad" path mandatory if it's done DwE style (pervy bad) and doesn't make you feel like a terrible person for playing it (not overly dark).
If you want, you could even set up a poll about it to get a more accurate opinion on the subject.
Since I started this particular conversation, at least this time, I want to say that BloodyMares summed up my feelings perfectly. The "bad" path in Elsa has you act in a way I personally would not want to behave in real life, but you also never push past boundaries without getting permission to continue, unless you want to lose the game. In Jessika, that is not the case. I mean, step one involves you crossing a line with someone that was explicitly established in no uncertain terms. I'd have done that if there was an achievement directly connected to that, but that walkthrough I checked to figure out those achievements showed there was a LOT of game left after that point. If it hand all fallen apart and landed you with an achievement for that quickly, or had taken you down some really different options, I'd have been up for that. I think its just that I felt the consequences tied to that action weren't severe enough, or something. I'm not quite sure since this may be the first time I've really thought about this longer than it took to say to myself "I can't do that to Jessica, let alone to Sarah and Sylvia."
On the other hand, now that I know how to activate the debug menu, that has opened up a whole new way to play that game. Specifically, how many button pushes will it take to steer the game around that first hurdle? I'm glad I don't need this in any of the others, but having a new way to explore one of my favorites in the series is actually kind of exciting! I'm really glad I spoke up.
@ShadyGroves: Thanks for the PM. I only just logged back in, and I checked the thread first, so Tlaero technically beat you to the punch. All the same, I appreciate it.
NOTE: I'm posting this rather than continue to mull over it. That first paragraph is starting to meander, and I don't have the time right now to get all introspective and figure that out. Not if I want to post what I already have before the end of February.