The first season of Mi’pu’mi Games’ episodic narrative-driven adventure, The Lion’s Song is finally released in all its four-part glory. That means all the seemingly small choices and inconsequential details of the story have come full-circle in a satisfying conclusion. Of course, a large part of the reason fans have found the conclusion so satisfying is the developers were able to weave meaningful connections between the game’s characters. So, how’d they do it? According to their dev log, it all comes down to the large impact of small details.
“There is a saying here in Vienna which roughly translates as “Vienna is a small village”, meaning that everybody seems to know one another.
In The Lion’s Song, we tried to depict these moments in life where fate and chance intertwine, and people connect without being aware of it.”
As an example, in Episode 1: Silence (which you can download for free on Steam), our protagonist is a talented young composer named, Wilma. When Wilma finds herself troubled by a thunderstorm, players have the choice of seeking support from her friend Leo. This action will strengthen their friendship. Conversely, players can choose to have Wilma rely on her own resolve to silence her fears. This decision subtly effects the owner of a portrait of Wilma painted by Episode 2’s protagonist, Franz Markert.
Since many of the connections laced throughout the story have several possible outcomes the developers have added a bonus ‘Connection Gallery’. Here players can revisit these key moments at the end of their playthrough.
Changing Fates
For different outcomes, players can also visit the decision screen at the end of each episode. Here they are given the option to ‘decide again’ to allow them to experiment with the outcomes of their choices.
From the very beginning, Mi’pu’mi Games have teased that player choices would impact the story-line of past and future episodes. Now players can finally see how the overarching narrative of The Lion’s Song brings the lives of the characters together in small, but important ways.
