Doki Doki Salvation Remake | The Only DDLC Mod That Disappointed Me

This video only addresses my thoughts about why I don't like the mod. No hate is involved with anyone or anything. Just a simple rant as to why I don't like Salvation Remake so far. Simple as that.
What are your thoughts about Salvation Remake? Comment down below and keep it civil and keep them strictly in this video only.
Related to: • Salvation Remake Dev D... - by ‪@SavageSentral‬
/ a_formal_goodbye_and_t... - by 12gizguy6
Music used:
Menu Theme - Ego Death (by Tune Eternal)
Ambient Time OSTs (by OSC)
Timestamps:
00:00 - Intro
00:49 - About the Mod
03:54 - Reason/s Why
10:12 - Regards to the Creator
12:48 - Conclusion

[@12gizguy6]

Hey finn. Hope youve been doing well. First and foremost, thank you for checking out Salvation Remake and giving it a fair shot. Like OG Salvation and my other works, I greatly appreciate you taking the time to sit down and read through my stuff, regardless on your feelings on it. After seeing your video, I had a few things I disagreed with on the problems you have with the mod. One of them isn't even a problem anymore in the latest version of the mod. In fact, I should mention for clarity sake that it was *because* of the SS stream and some of the members in the chat that allowed me to reassess some creative decisions I made with the mod and improve on them as best I could. For starters in Version 1.2 (uploaded just 3 days after i took it all down), I completely revamped act 1 to remove all instances of Monika messaging MC. I actually agree that having her be the one to wake him up and check on Sayori removes any agency he himself has as a character, which is objectively worse than OG Salvation. This has been addressed and I tried my best to also improve the confusing nature of Monika's motives when she talks to Sayori at the end of Act 1. The misconception that the SS stream made me leave is a big one, and I wanna make it clear that my decision to leave was a result of my own mental health not being so great as well as not being able to handle criticism on a massive scale. The criticisms came from all sides, with even my own discord server having some of them. Nobody did anything wrong, and this was entirely my own decision and feelings. I needed a break to understand myself and what my own work meant to me. I don't want to pretend like some criticism didnt hurt. It absolutely does. My problem is I lack the skill (skill issue lol) to handle that. I do not like attention and finding myself getting so much of it in such a short amount of time was a strange time. But I've been working on it. I digress tho Act 2 is definitely one of the more mixed bag acts. Mixed bag as in I can see how many people would ADORE this kind of writing. While some... not so much. After much reflection and viewing my work with a more critical (yet gentle) eye, I can see where I went wrong for the latter portion. I stuck too closely to OG Salvation's format of storytelling while also trying to add details that didn't need to be there. I can see how all this shit would be extremely repetitive, and honestly, I agree. Watching them go to school, get lunch, go to club, rinse and repeat can get pretty boring. The only problem with this is while writing, I had a fuck ton of fun writing them doing those mundane things. It was fun to write them acting... human. I do firmly believe that this isn't inherently bad on its own, and it's why I can't fully take accountability for this decision. It was what I intended for it to be. But like you said, you don't have to like it. And it's just that simple. I believe you framed this opinion well, always making sure to make it clear that it is your own feelings, not an objective statement. The only thing I wish I could've done was made those scenes a bit more interesting visually. Maybe lunch on the roof, or maybe skipping some lunch scenes that dont need to happen. idk. Let's use the Monika scenes for example. Those were written and planned from the very beginning. I do believe the execution isn't perfect, but I think that it does what I wanted for it to do, which you also seem to understand. The idea was to show her side of the story and her struggles. OG Salvation did this too, albeit on a much smaller scale, using jump scares and stuff. Salvation was always meant to be a story for *all* of the girls. I felt that OG Salvation wasn't enough for Monika. So she became a focus. In the same vein that you believe criticism of any work is important even tho it is subjective, allow me to offer mine in regards to your thoughts on this aspect. This is also subjective, because I can only go off of what you stated in the video. You stated at 9:55 that the scenes were repetitive to the point of "not caring about them anymore" as well as asking the rhetorical question of "do WE care about this?" and following it up with "No." It's this framing of the video that I felt could've used a bit more clarification. From my POV, the Monika scenes do exactly what I wanted for them to do for a reader. However, the portion where you ask if "WE" care about it seems to imply that you think NOBODY cares about those scenes and her arc as a whole. This opinion, is simply wrong. The opinion that opinions can't be wrong... is wrong xd. There are too many people on the internet who don't know what the fuck they're talking about when giving thoughts on media, I'm sure we can both agree on that one. (not saying you're one of those of course) The next issue I had was the idea that this isn't Sayori's story, according to the thumbnail. As someone who has nothing but love for the MCSayo dynamic, I believe that it *is* a Sayori story. It's just that the other stuff simply wasn't for you. But Salvation was never just Sayori's story. It was about all of them. To imply that the remake isn't Sayori's story seems a bit silly to me, as it completely misunderstands the entire goal of Salvation and the story both versions wish to tell. Of course, I don't want to act like I did all of this perfectly. Far from it. I know this shit drags on way too much for its own good. Story themes are muddy at best sometimes, and god DAMN I may have gone too far with the filler. Just seems like a side effect of working on this project entirely solo. Another thing I'd just like to give clarification on is Monika's back and forth with Yuri and Sayori in Act 1 and early act 2. While execution is not perfect, she is written to feel that conflict. She has all of this evidence that they do feel and hurt like she does, but also is so hardass in her previous mindset of believing they aren't real. She doesn't want to fully commit. That internal conflict was the foundation of Salvation Remake's idea for Monika. SO while it could be argued that the execution isn't perfect, her back and forth is entirely by design, and I'm sorry you didn't enjoy that. My only other issue overall with the video is it's definitely a rant video, as you did stated. But I've always believed that criticism shouldn't just be about what you dislike about a creative work. It should be about finding out what the author/artist wanted to tell with their work and analyzing how well they did that. Of course, it's entirely your opinion, and you will always be entitled to it. I don't wanna take it away from you, not even like I could anyway. But In the same way that ironing out issues with my writing and understanding good story telling takes practice, criticism does as well. I don't even say this for my own work, but for how you view other creative works as well. It is entirely possible that you can misunderstand what a story is going for simply because it does things that you don't like or agree with. But other than that, I had no real issues with your thoughts. They are all valid. But it's impossible for me to make the slice of life/mundane moments feel interesting to you, because that's just how you feel. It's impossible for me to have created an experience that curated specifically to your tastes, because that's just not feasible. And really... I'm only throwing that in for my own understanding. A part of me wishes I could've made you happy with my work, much like I did years ago. A part of me is sad that I disappointed you with my own work, despite you seeing my previous work as something to be loved and cherished. But like I said in my reddit post, there was nothing I could've realistically done for you. All I can say is I NEVER intended to replace or "overshadow" the original work. And I don't think that'll ever happen. Thank you for acknowledging that this is a passion project. I put many hours of work and love into Salv remake, and you being able to acknowledge that despite it's problems earns me nothing but respect for you. Before I released my work, I was so afraid that this would happen. But I kept telling myself that even if someone dislikes my work, all I really wish is for them to acknowledge the work and passion that I have for this franchise. I can only give thanks for you being willing to see this project to completion and form a full opinion on it as a whole. Act 3 does increase the MCSayori moments by a large margin. At the same time, the Monika focus also increases immensely. You may not enjoy it if you're not already enjoying the Monika stuff in Act 2. In conclusion, I believe my work, despite it's flaws, is a success. My mental health was leading me to believe it wasn't, and it's about time that I take the good with the bad. To appreciate EVERYONE that decided to try my work for themselves. Criticism is important, lest you can never improve. For me, criticism of my work helped me understand the importance of it. How to weed out the good from the bad. But it also helped me appreciate my own work for what it is. It's not perfect. It's a flawed piece of story telling that had the main goal of saving Sayori and giving the entire club a happy ending. But it did that. And that's what matters to me at the end of it all. Thank you again for giving my work a shot. It will never stop being amazing when people sit down to play my dinky ass writing. It's always super fucking cool. and seeing a video like this was honestly super fucking dope too. Anyway, because I wrote a god damn essay, here's the obligatory: "Aw hell nah I aint readin all at. Sorry that happened or congratulations. Quit yappin mf" I am open to discuss anymore criticisms you may have and to give clarification on my reasons for some stuff, or hell, maybe even help me find problems that DO need fixing xd. I'd love to hear them. Thanks for all your hard work, Finn. All the best, 12gizguy6

[@OfficialFinnTDK]

Oh hey! Glad to see you and having you back once again after you got better after... all that happened. :) First of all, I would like to appreciate how you took the time and effort watching my video and listening to my response extensively. Second, I don't mind reading long ass comments because where's the fun in that if I'm just going to leave a short response and call it a day? That would make it completely boring and uninteresting, and I don't want to disrespect you by doing that as it would feel like an insult to both of us. Third, thanks for the respect despite some of my criticism and qualms I have about the mod. While most of it are stuff that I don't like, there still some things I like about it. Then again, to iterate that I still don't have my full thoughts on it because I haven't finished it. Despite me conflicting if I want to play it or not, I'll still do it nonetheless because this is both my job and hobby. It's fun to dissect and analyze something good and bad within something, otherwise I'll just be praising it like a glorified commercial. With that said, I'm glad that you took it like a champ and I'm happy that you acknowledge it by heart in a civil way and I respect that. :) I'll definitely reach out to you at some point whenever I'm done playing the mod! Stay awesome and have fun~

[@TheOfficialPowerNineLord]

For Me, This Mod Was Tolerable, But I Do Understand Your Criticisms Here. Also, What You Said About Criticism & Opinions Is Really True, We All Don’t Have To Like Or Hate The Same Things, We All Have Our Own Opinions & Criticisms On Everything, And I Respect That.👍

[@OfficialFinnTDK]

Thanks! :) Glad you respect my opinion

[@welcometodokidokiliteratur3706]

That's fair. While I enjoyed the mod, I'm not going to hate your opinion. Do what you think is best.

[@OfficialFinnTDK]

I appreciate it :) thank you

[@anthonyolivares5236]

At least it's better than Vigilante imo. I mean no harm but, the the way that gizzguy handled the drama was pretty stupid and it just makes him look cowardly towards the public opinion but at least he accepts it unlike AfroZero.

[@OfficialFinnTDK]

That, I can heavily agree on and made me lean towards to Salv Remake a lil' bit more. Major props and respect to gizguy handled it prior like a champ :) and yeah, from what I heard about Vigilante and Zer0, that's on him and his loss for not listening properly.

[@KNUKLES54X]

That was a good review. In my opinion, I don't think Salvation needed a remake to begin with since there was nothing wrong with the original. To me, OG Salvation is a great example of a perfect DDLC mod, especially with how good of a job the mod does sticking to the source material of the base game and empathizing with Monika. So to make a remake of a mod that had no problems doesn't make any sense, It just comes off as them butchering something already great. It's like the saying goes, If it ain't broke don't fix it but that's just me.

[@OfficialFinnTDK]

Thanks! :) Although, this is more or less my thoughts about the mod than it is an actual review because I haven't finished playing it and have yet to form my full opinion and verdict about the mod. And I wholeheartedly agree; why fix something that is already good? If a remake shouldn't work and suffice, a remaster would be a perfect solution; leave the story untouched and to be up to date with some mods in recent memory. Well said!