Oh what a ride! Let's be blunt: when it comes to all things narrative, the Diamond Route was my favourite of them all. I dreaded playing it at first, yet I needed not. It offered me an amazing piece of storytelling that blended claustrophobia, suspense and emotion in equal parts and ended up being deeply engrossing and moving. This route's exclusive focus on interactions between Toma and my character was enthralling, and a welcome change from all the mundane chit-chat with secondary characters I had to tolerate in all the other routes. Once again, the outcomes of the Diamond Route were tied to my behaviour in an utterly logical way. Although Toma's actions are obviously designed to elicit a modicum—or an abundance—of suspicion and uneasiness, it is up to the player to decide whether they trust him against all odds or not. If the player treats Toma like the creep he seems to be and vent their hatred and contempt towards him, little Toma will go over the edge and start acting like a psychopath in earnest. This will lead straight into the open arms of the "We'll be together forever" ending, which is without a doubt the most gruesome and disturbing ending of the whole
game. If the player decides to trust Ukyo upon a chance meeting instead of sticking with Toma, they will be killed once again in the "I'll take you with me" bad ending. On the other hand, should the player decide to give Toma the benefit of the doubt and show a modicum of kindness towards him, they will manage to escape mostly unscathed through the normal ending. Last but not least, if the player decides to trust Toma with their guts and to show some unwavering love and kindness towards him, they will be rewarded with a blooming love story in the good ending. I really liked the grittiness of that outcome: both Toma and the main character are obviously volatile people that have been nurturing a totally unhealthy fusional relationship for years, but they admit that much and decide to live with it. Their story of mutual unrequited love was actually quite touching, all the more so as unlike the other bachelors, Toma bottles up his feelings until the very end. It's pretty obvious from the start that he loves you, yet he won't bring himself to admit it, and that makes his final confession in the good ending all the more precious and moving.
I lapped up the Diamond Route allright, but that doesn't mean that I deem it perfect. I have a serious gripe with it, and that gripe is related to the existence of an extra Parameter Gauge that is exclusive to that route. This gauge measures a parameter called 'Doubt', a confusing name with an inherent ambiguity that prevented me from uncovering the good ending on my own. When I discovered that gauge, I automatically assumed that it was supposed to measure my suspicions regarding Toma's creepiness and that I had to keep it to a minimum while maxing up the Trust and Affection Gauges if I wanted to unearth the good ending. Unfortunately, it didn't work; and after several failed tries, I capitulated and resorted to following an FAQ. As I was progressing, I checked the Parameters and was utterly shocked to see that the Doubt Gauge steadily filled up along the Trust and Affection Gauges, until all three were nearly full at the end of the run. That's when I realized that my initial assumption had been erroneous and that the Doubt Gauge was actually measuring my suspicions regarding the fact that
Toma was in love with me despite faking the opposite. Really, game? How was I supposed to assume that? Sure, I could have guessed it, given that the gauge filled up every time a telltale event revealing Toma's buried feelings for me occurred; but I have to admit that it was a trifle too far-fetched for me. Sure, I could have tried to max up the Doubt Gauge when I saw that keeping it to a minimum didn't yield the good ending; but it didn't dawn on me, so sure was I to be on the right track. This will remain my biggest regret regarding the Diamond Route; to uncover the good ending all by myself at the end of that favourite route of mine would have been the cherry on top of the cake. Oh, well.
Next and last is my report on the Joker Route, and then I'll be done with
Amnesia Memories. Until that final post, thanks for reading, and be my guest anytime!
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