MLA

Day 3 of reading

Muv-Luv Alternative

The Prologue already gives us info we've been waiting for for the entirety of MLU. We find out that the brain tube came from the local BETA hive that was wiped out... and that there was more than one of them.

Episode 1

We start in the same situation as in MLU. We retain both our body and all our knowledge we had at the end of MLU and decide we have traveled back in time and are trying to recreate the previous scenario since we know what'll happen and will attempt to make Alternative IV successful. Expected stuff so far.
Meeting Yuuko goes differently and she even pulls a gun on us, but has the same end result.
We get into squad 207 and we are suddenly super amazing instead of totally useless. Kasumi seems less shy right at the start already and says we're "normal". Maybe everything else is alien to her? More to the theory that she's Sumika from the Extra world, somehow.
We still don't learn what Alternative IV actually is, which is unsettling. Brains in tubes are usually not involved in happy-feely endings.

Episode 2

The improved animations and the almost cinematic feel of the game make me understand why MLA was ranked so highly under "good visuals". It seems the bgm is still mostly the same, which hasn't been terribly outstanding so far.
Basic training is progressing and we convinced Yuuko to change history by influencing the defense against the BETA incursion towards Yokohama base. Looked like she's taking us for full now.

Episode 3

The Comprehensive Combat Skill Evaluation has started and now the others are getting suspicious of Takerus skill and foresight. It looks like the differing relations between Takeru and the other members could result in differing outcomes down the road.
I just noticed, but Ka-su-mi uses the same syllables as Su-mi-ka. I'm stupid for not noticing before, am I? It's probably really obvious in Japanese.

Episode 4

Kasumi brings us the drawing of a gameboy for our birthday again and demonstrates knowledge of something she couldn't possibly have.
If I had to recap until now, it's taken a while just to go through events we've already seen, nothing really exciting has happened yet. Of course our focus now lies elsewhere then it did in Unlimited, so it's not boring, but it's not world-changing. I assume gradually bigger changes will happen as we approach Christmas, at which I hope the game doesn't end, but rather, begins in earnest. Hell, the opening showed Meiya in the purple mech and I doubt she'll use it in training (but Takeru might convince her to use it so she gets used to it to maximize potential), so there has to be something coming up after.
We're really preventing some character development by taking the easy way out: preventing the HSST from ever threatening the base and creating better mech controls so Takeru's team can win against Meiya's.
We meet a "subtly suspicious" intelligence agent who is Mikoto's dad in Yuuko's office before she comes back. Yuukos preventive actions have aroused suspicion and he talked about some power struggle in Japan. This might be where the "political intrigue" part this game is supposed to have comes into play later.

Episode 5

Kasumi appears to have some power over our dreams, which aren't dreams but our mind existing in the Extra timeline. Yuuko also has a handy device for transporting you into your parallel world for just a moment, but it doesn't seem to work all that well and time travel seems kinda implausible with it. I'd like there not to be full-on time travel and worldline jumping, something more discerned like the observation mentioned here seems quite appropiate.
Yashiro also moves in with us, in a somewhat more classical juvenile fantasy way. She spoon-fed us at breakfast and the other girls were jelly as fuck (It was great).
Kasumi is racking up a lot of cute points rather quickly now.
Yuuko explained what Alternative I-III were, but still doesn't explain what IV actually is. I still have a feeling we won't quite like it. She also explained about Yashiros background, with her being a specifically bred ESP (sigh). That explains some of her behavior. I suppose she's always reading that brains thoughts, then.

Day 4

MLA's intro and main menu are much more epic than the game has been so far. It feels like an extension of Unlimited so far, which was a rather good ride already until now, but not as epic as to warrant such a heroic bgm.

Episode 6

Some happenings have happened because of our previous meddling, and there is now a civil war. Takeru isn't happy about his first battle likely happening against humans, doesn't look like he got that Yuuko is trying to exploit this situation for her benefit.
There is a lot of talk about the characters backgrounds and they are all personally involved in this mess. It's going on about their convictions, and Takeru is somewhat myopic with this focus.
We stumble upon the Shogun in seemingly nowhere after being sent there for seemingly no reason by Yuuko. Yoroi-the-elder is there too. And of course the Shogun is a cute girl too.
Those American military voiceovers are some of the most unintentionally hilarious shit yet.
This whole ordeal was pretty damn tense. I'm glad I played through Extras Kei route and knew a bit more about Sagiri, but what was really admirable was Meiya and Her Highness again. All characters were deeply affected, so it remains to be seen how they react to it.
It feels like the game has finally begun, and may no longer feel like an extension of Unlimited.

Episode 7

Shit is continuing to get underway with large-scale tests of the new OS and having the squad graduate. They get to form a new special operations unit together! really surprising, amirite?
The Yokohama base doesn't feel empty anymore now. In the last arc we saw that there were actually other units being deployed from there, and now with Takeru speaking with a few veterans with some personality it doesn't make sense it's just Marimo, Yuuko and the squad all alone on that base anymore.
The BETA showed up. Probably from the underground hive, for all I know. It was tense. In the end, the cadets were just babies before the real soldiers who paid the price for surviving.

I've always wondered what people could possibly be talking about when they were talking about "that" or "the" scene of MLA. Tbh, I expected it to be a masterfully executed plan by Yuuko until now, maybe something where she shows her true colors or where we learn what Alternative IV exactly is. I've read people say that they'd "never be the same after seeing that". I wondered what that could only be which would prompt such a reaction. I wondered why MLA was regarded so highly. I assumed that it had to be something where you know it when you see it, so I kept reading on, hoping to eventually stumble upon it. I had feared overestimating how much to expect from MLA or being to unattentive to really notice it the way I should (when I got to the Coup D'etat arc my reading speed significantly slowed so I wouldn't miss anything). After reading Unlimited I mainly wanted a continuation for all the loose ends, not the "highest rated VN ever", so that helped.
The battle before it happened. was tense. The ongoing training exercise was standard procedure, not expecting much from the second round. I thought it'd be bad if they had a large portion of the base's units play with training weapons if the BETA attacked. Then the BETA showed up. The feared enemy, who we had never seen before today, had made it's entry on the stage. Tension built immediately. I haven't forgotten the fear Takeru (and me) had when they showed a silhuette at the end of a simulation in early Unlimited.
The real difference between the soldiers showed right away and Takeru lost his mind. That hypnosis scene was creepy as fuck already, which only added to the tension. Seeing the soldiers and the squad react, as well as Takerus (now also drugged) state of mind only served to put more unease into play. Shit was going wrong, fast. He charged alone at the BETA, almost got Meiya killed because she tried to save him - and then got KO'd. TSF dead.
The BETA were still banging on the damned thing, crushing part of it. Takerus internal monologue of fear didn't help. It was about to end, we could die now. Everything was possible. They kept banging and a noise like someone trying to open his cockpit appeared. No. The BETA have no specific will, no reason to take interest in Takeru. The hatch was openening slowly... Everything was possible now. We were gonna see the enemies ugly face, and we have no idea what they'll do with us - except that we won't like it. At all. I suppose Takeru himself was more afraid of his death, but I didn't expect the story to just end there, after all.
My heartbeat was faster than it has been in weeks by the time I could see the sprite of the allied mech in the light. Cue my relief, and me calming down.
Takeru was, as to be expected, a total wreck after that disaster. The BGM that played during the following, touching scene was both a new and a good track. Better than the rest of the BGM of the game on average as far as I've given it credit so far. It kinda reminded me of Saya no Uta's soundtrack.
I cried for 10, maybe 20 minutes when Marimo-chan eventually showed up to tell her story. Her telling me she wanted to be a schoolteacher killed me, as I am sure it did kill Takeru. It was just too sad to listen to Marimo-chan's story, and her wish.
When Takeru turned around, and the screen only showed Marimo-chan's torso, I had an inking of what would transpire next. I had feared the sudden appearance of our enemies gruesome sight to some degree beforehand already, but boy, I was not ready.
I heard myself say "no", as in "no, that didn't just happen." All the tension and fear from before was back, and they were screaming. I thought we were back in the cockpit for a moment, that the fighting never stopped. I was clicking through it, more or less on autopilot. Completely in shock. Heartbeat higher than it has been in months. Shaking, even. All that I had feared before had now transpired. We've seen the ugly truth of our enemy... up close. Through Marimo-chan's face. As the screen showed more and more of the BETA monster which just committed this... act, fear mounting immensely now, I found myself feeling something I haven't felt before, in VN's or elsewhere. I was afraid of clicking past the current scene. I did not want to see what kind of horrors the BETA had in stock for us. I did not want to see more of that monsters body. I did not want to see more of Marimo-chan being ripped apart by it. I did not want to see what they'd do to Takeru, but I proceeded anyway.
I continued in the following drugged questioning scene (why were they doing that? Not just to confirm Marimo is dead, but maybe to confirm something... more menacing?) until they ended asking questions. I was afraid of them showing this gruesome scene again and making Takeru relive it. I was still shaking.
I decided to do something I hadn't done before and took a break from the game for a reason which wasn't to fulfill biological needs, social responsibilities or because I got bored. Sure, I leaned back for a couple minutes just before and made it rain over Marimo-chan's story, but I never felt too agitated, or even too scared, to continue. I used the time to write down my thoughts and catch my breath. I couldn't get that BGM or the alarm sound effect out of my ears for a while.

Takeru wants to run home now, doesn't accept advice. I'm still feeling anxious about everything that could happen. A few flashbacks of Marimo-chan getting maimed didn't help. Who knows if Yuukos horror machine will actually put me in the world I want to go to (though staying is a bad idea anyway and Kasumi will try to keep a lifeline to you weakling for as long as possible) and not into the demon's den?

I am writing this from my desktop PC because I actually slammed my laptop shut and noped the fuck out of there again. After the three hours it took me to regain my composure after it's initial... destruction and me sorting myself out and writing everything down I decide to just get back to it and continue. I managed about one hour before this happened.
Right after I stopped to write the above paragraph, Takeru stepped into Yuukos machine and we got ourselves a nice and juicy flashback. The worst thing is how you could see it coming. Takeru thought about Marimo-chan in his empty mental landscape, then she turns away... and then we hear gnawing sounds. The next click we're hearing the alarms and see the screen moving up on Marimo-chan's torso again. NOPE! Out of here, see you later thankyouverymuch. I proceeded the other day (sleeping without any nightmares I remember) in a well-lit room. Very well lit.

Day 5

Back in the Extraverse he bawls his eyes out as soon as he sees Marimo-chan. He still can't be just accepted back the way he is right now. He sleeps there, which means Alternative-Yuuko's machine won't be active anymore, but maybe Kasumi is still holding out for her weakling.
Marimo-chan died here too now - a causality he brought with him, she said. If so, BETA should be landing soon in that world too... It would appear he did jump into hell, not heaven, indeed.
Meiya has forgotten what she was doing at Takeru's place, and it seems others will too. We keep getting more reasons to finally go back.
After trying to keep her from us, we tell Sumika about our secret. The next day, she forgets. And almost dies. Turns out she was already forgetting earlier, but kept remembering herself.

Episode 8

Okay, we went back. Yuuko kept infodumping on us for quite a while previously, and heroically sacrificed her career to send us back to to where we came from.
More importantly, our return was fueled by being concious of our love towards Sumika, which proves that she exists in this timeline. Even if we're not aware of that? Oh well. Not sure if we'll like whatever form of existance she has either.
Yuuko completed the 00 Unit, and we'll be interviewed to see what we're gonna do in this world. We'll be shown the unit and be interviewed at the same time, it looks like. So the unit may well be something alive, possibly involving that brain, Kasumi or Sumika, however that'll happen.
Yep, it's straight up Sumika. No weird cyborg or half-BETA or brain or anything. Except she's saying scary things about killing BETA. She turned out to be the brain in the end after all.
Reunion and the new squad seem nice.
It appears obvious that Sumika saw Takeru killed by the BETA before she was "killed" herself, I wonder what Kasumi talked to her about in brain-form if she's like that now? Let's hope little Kasumi hasn't taken all her hate and rage to heart and will start rampaging one day.

Day 6

Last day of the marathon. Already had some stuff planned yesterday and didn't read more than about an hour or two, after today regular schedule will proceed.
I've been speaking with others, and from telling them what point I'm at it seems the whole arc I'm going through (Sadogashima, iirc) only marks the halfway-point for the VN - great! I was "concerned" before it would end as abruptly as it's predecessors after 10 episodes, but the way it's been going lately it's clear that the game's afoot for real now.
Sumika is making progress, we're preparing for a large offensive on Sadogashima and as it turns out Yuuko, Sumika and likely others are receiving memories from their Extra-world counterparts. Since this is supposed to be in connection with their memory losses over there, I assume Meiya will be affected much more, as she forgot everything about Takeru and the others didn't have as much contact.
Sumika seems almost normal now, but it's evident that there is still a bunch that needs to be done. At any rate, she'll probably be introduced to the unit soon since they need to fight together.

Episode 9

Wow, they're putting Sumika into a proper, huge-ass generic superweapon allright. Kinda bugs me that it's technology and the thing itself has been "sitting there" for almost 15 years, but they derived the G-bombs from it. I guess they do have the technology researched but unproven, mainly because they simply lack the advanced materials only produced by the BETA.
I still wonder what Yuuko's motivations are. They have been helping humanity so far, but she plans ahead. Maybe the BETA were her own mistake?
We've begun attacking the hive and the infiltration units got thoroughly ambushed by a surprisingly large force coming from even further below. Uh oh...
It's pretty much confirmed that the Sadogashima hive has a secret waiting to be uncovered.
Sumika's new toy has a Big Fucking Laser, but went offline without any immediate reason.
The BETA reacted to Sumika waking up while being extracted - indicating that they do indeed react to her and recognize her in some form.
In the end, they blew up the whole island - Extra Yuuko had such a scenario on a test as was mentioned while he was in the Extraverse again, but back when I read it I didn't think we'd actually wipe it off the map despite knowing there was a lot to follow in the sequels.
So Sumika's Superbot3000 fell over because she was in shock as she read Takeru suddenly remembering his escapades with Meiya in Unlimited. Similar memories have been coming to him in Unlimited already, so it's easy to assume memories or "causalities" flow to him from other possible timelines - another possibility I thought about earlier is that this is not the second time he's been reset, but that he's been looping until he died for some time longer.
Looks like they'll just build another Superbot3000. Sumika is going to join our squad, which should be interesting.

Day 7

Sumika read map info on all hives of the world and they're planning to attack the next hive before the BETA information spread cycle. What worries me is that there was no mention yet of why there were so many more enemy reinforcements at Sadogashima than what was expected of a phase 4 hive. Also, I wonder what her contact with the mind of the BETA was like.
Sumika rejected Takeru, which is of course better for character development than a "happy ever after". There have been heavy conversations and development nonstop for a while, and it looks like we're going to continue. Takeru changing from a child into an adult has been the central theme of the series so far, and naturally he, as well as Sumika now, are not the same innocent people anymore they used to be in their shared or not-so-shared childhood. It looks obvious right now that Takeru might eventually come to love Meiya for her qualities which he already admits to admiring for a while, but with Sumika outright rejecting him a love triangle might not appear. It remains to be seen how Takeru and Sumika handle the current situation - which should also be of some contrast to behavior which might be expected from Extra's Takeru.
It seems she thinks she's not worthy of him due to her being some kind of artificial life form, justifying it as putting her mission first. As a more immediate threat, she wants Takeru excluded from the unit.
We heard Sumikas story with the BETA and she accepted us. She can still enjoy fucking with us, though, so everything is good. Again we have to thank Meiya.
Apparantly she was drowning in bliss all the time (or at least initially?) as a brain, which doesn't really match what Kasumi has been reading from her all that time, which was nothing but hatred towards the BETA.
As with any sex scene, afterwards we get called to battle. A large bunch of BETA, presumably Sodagoshima survivors, are approaching the base, having travelled underground, with the likely intention of retaking the Yokohama hive. Worst thing, it seems they're getting smarter. Because of their human experiments or the contact with Sumika, most likely. This also happened to some degree during the Sadogashima attack, so the contact with Sumika might well have triggered it. In any case, the future looks bleak if they are to use tactics all over the world.
We barely managed to survive the BETA attack on Yokohama base and all of our predecessors are either dead or out of action, leaving the old squad to take over. Sakaki is now A-01 commander, and we'll try attacking Kashgar within a couple days time in an insane suicide mission. A lot will hinge on Sumika here, and everything is barely sufficient. We still don't know for sure what caused Sumikas latest breakdown which coincided very well with the timing of the BETA attack.

Day 8

The upcoming missions sounds like the final fight in a lot of ways, if we succeed and cripple the BETA on Earth with our attack, we'll still have the part with the Causality Conductor and the different worldlines remaining. Yuuko was suspiciously quiet when the topic of what made Takeru one came up, and at the end of the Unlimited world she implied she was responsible for causing Takeru to appear in that world in the first place. It's possible we'll learn something about that and/or the intentions of the BETA deep down in the original hive, and we might not like it. Alternatively, we might face some human infighting and intrigue afterwards as we approach the truth.
The final battle is at hand. We had some talk and were given better mechs by Tsukoyumi's unit. All that remains is to execute the plan and see who remains standing in the end.

Episode 10, Day 9

Reentry was already made harder by the BETA exhibiting intelligent behavior and we've used the engine and more supplies than intended already, but are as of yet undamaged. It was obvious the battle wouldn't go according to plan, but there are still a lot of BETA between the squad and the core.
The plan for getting past the main hall doesn't sound very good. It assumes retarded BETA behavior and intends to juggle them around in a blob, while there is nothing stopping them from spreading out and attacking everyone at once while also being less vulnerable to AoE.
Looks like we survived and the enemy wasn't quite as intelligent as assumed - yet. What great mystery will we uncover in the main chamber...?
There seems to be an unwritten law that the commanders of A-01 have to blow themselves up during a mission. Still, poor girl Ayamine :-(
They're hiding their death and other facts from Takeru to keep him from hesitating, but of course he's suspicious already - will it come down crashing onto their heads? At the point where they are all supposed to jump into the A-01 he should learn.
A huge BETA drilling machine just arrived. That's how they were able to do some tricks previously, and will probably mean that closing the barrier species' was a waste of time.
Everyone but Meiya is dead, and she's still pretending everyone's alive. We're entering the core hall now...
The core has tentacles and it's molesting us!
To be exact, it's molesting our ESP's in the back and it seems we've established communication.
Meiya rushed in and we saw a zombiefied Tama and Meiya was pinned against us and we had to fire the cannon after Sumika regained control.
We won, at the cost of everyone but us being dead. Even Sumika had a countdown running for her - the real reason the operation had to happen so soon.
Sumikas ODL purification was what gave the BETA access to information on humanity, not contact during reading at Sadogashima.
Sumika was the cause for the causality conductor from the beginning, and we leave the world. Her power of love amplified by the G-bombs were what caused the initial fuck-up in the worldlines.
The ending is... somewhat expected. I'm a little disappointed Yuuko didn't turn out to be evil and not reaching a peaceful solution with the aliens after establishing communication are maybe unexpected, but not bad.

The Final Episode was heartwarming. An exquisite piece of joy. Takeru gathers the ultimative harem. I want to play this, now.

Final Thoughtage

The visuals of the game made the experience a joy. The game kept using sprites well to give an impression of the characters in a three-dimensional space and at times there were even simple 3d backgrounds and animated scenes seamlessly integrated into the action. The widescreen and getting rid of the text box gave it a thoroughly cinematic feel at times. General prettification, more graphics and stuff like the lips moving when characters talked were nice too. This game knows how to get it's point across to the reader.
I haven't praised the bgm much previously, but Alternative sure had some more impactful tracks and made good use of sound effects. Can't find a complaint for the VA's either, for that matter.
Technically it doesn't feel like a VN that was released ten years ago. I wonder what the Kickstarter version wants to improve, as it already was great from a production-value PoV.
There was no extras menu on the main menu yet, do I have to unlock multiple endings? Is there a peaceful resolution or endings in which the squad doesn't (entirely) die? Seems unlikely.
I have to admit that my immersion was somewhat broken after the chomp, simply because I didn't trust the game again for a while. Nothing after that had a particulary great impact on me all the way through the final battle. I wonder if I hurt my own experience here a little, as I enjoyed previous parts a lot.
Now, this VN made me feel feels I never felt before, and that alone is noteworthy already. In the end, that is what I want when reading these, so... mission accomplished.
In the end a lot of my theorycrafting was either plainly obvious and not much of a reveal (Sumika was our causality conductor you don't say) or some things just never had much of a twist. In the end it's not "needed" to have a dramatic twist to every development, and stuff like the possibility of a diplomatic solution arising as with Sagiri or the "Demon Pineapple" but not coming to be may just be more realistic in the end.




"You were passionate because you fell in luuuuv, Takeru. And this luv moved you deeply. Muved you even." - /u/falafel_eater