@backtothedawn
At this point, I would like to say that since you do not intend to provide further explanations or add new content, I will not ask for anything anymore. However, I would at least ask that you complete the “narration ending” that you yourselves have already mentioned.
I will continue to follow your work, create fan works based on it, and most likely continue, from time to time, to share my thoughts and evaluations of it. But this will no longer be in pursuit of answers or explanations—only as a way to make peace with my own feelings.
After all, setting aside the narrative, I genuinely still appreciate its gameplay and design.
Thank you for creating such a work, and thank you as well for your patience and tolerance toward my words.
And, happy new year.
@backtothedawn
Dear Back to the Dawn team
I am writing to respectfully ask about your official fan content policy.
I want to commission a small, custom-made plush of the character Shar pei Rocky purely for my personal collection and as a tribute to the game. There is absolutely no intention for sale or commercial use of any kind – it would be a one-off piece just for myself.
Before proceeding, I want to ensure that this kind of fan activity is acceptable to the creators. Could you please let me know if there are any guidelines or permissions required for such non-commercial fan crafts?
Thank you for your time. I sincerely appreciate any guidance you can provide.
@backtothedawn
Dear Developers,
I understand that over the past few months, I have repeatedly and publicly expressed my opinions about your work.
This is not an ideal way to communicate, and I would like to apologize for that.
However, to be honest, these concerns have never truly faded.
So I would like to take this opportunity to restate my thoughts and questions in as clear and concise a way as possible.
My personal understanding of CRPG is:
players are granted genuine agency — the ability to judge the conflicts presented by the narrative, and to let those judgments, made by the player alone, determine how the story proceeds and how it ultimately concludes.
It is a narrative structure that allows players to actively participate in the construction of the story.
At the same time, CRPG is not simply about “providing many dialogue options.”
What matters more is that it builds player identification with the protagonist by requiring the player to take responsibility for their choices, and to share the consequences of those choices together with the character.
Players do not come to identify with the protagonist because the character is written to be morally correct or noble enough, but because the player personally made that choice, understood it, and was willing to bear the outcome it produced.
This is precisely what I experienced in the Fox route.
In my actual experience with the Panther route, however, the moment I found most difficult to accept — and ultimately the moment that completely broke my trust — occurred at the ending.
I chose to shoot Surt because I did not want to shoot Rocky.
I did not know that after shooting Surt, the protagonist would still shoot Rocky.
Then he said that everything happened because — he is a police.
At that moment, I realized that my decisions — going to find Finny, breaking out of prison, taking each step along the way — were not driven by my judgment as a player at all, but simply because:
“he is a police.”
He disregarded the conflicts already posed by the narrative, depriving me of the right to think;
he performed actions I did not intend, depriving me of the right to choose;
and he passed judgment on the outcome for me, depriving me of the right to take responsibility for my choices.
At that moment, my experience felt less like playing a game, and more like watching a film —
a tightly paced, well-produced Hollywood movie full of twists —
a work of linear storytelling.
I approached the Panther route with the mindset of experiencing a CRPG.
I tried to think through the conflicts raised by the narrative;
I tried to make choices that aligned with my own judgment;
and I was prepared to take responsibility for the outcomes those choices would lead to.
Because at that stage, I genuinely believed that you were capable of creating an excellent CRPG.
But in the end, my thinking was invalidated, my judgment was overridden, and my responsibility was taken away from me.
What I received was a linear narrative work.
Over the past few months, there has really only been one question that continues to trouble me:
“You gave me a linear narrative experience, yet continued to present your work as a CRPG.
Why?”
This is the question I would like to ask seriously.
I do not intend to accuse or negate you or your work.
I respect the choices you made, and I understand that creative decisions always involve trade-offs.
But as a player who supported this work because it was presented as a CRPG, I need an explanation.
I love CRPGs, and I am willing to support creators who remain committed to making them.
I still want to support you as well,
and I sincerely hope to better understand your thinking at the time.