OK - so hear me out. This is just a thought experiment:
What if this game featured "Noel" and "Kelly" instead? I was thinking about Apollo Justice and how 50% of that game's problems get solved immediately if Hobo Nick is a completely new character instead of Phoenix Wright. How much is this game improved if it's set in the same world as TLOU but doesn't feature Joel and Ellie? Obviously this means that Abby's dad isn't the doctor from the first game, but is instead a brand new character. Maybe Noel is a former firefly who killed Abbys dad trying to escape or something, whatever.
Honestly, and I'm mostly interested in Biscuit's take on this - how does this affect your opinion of the game?
I think that this would've been a much better approach, especially if you don't blatantly lie to your fans and tell them that Joel/Ellie are going to be back.
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"undertale hangs out with mido" - ZFS Smash Ultimate Switch Code: SW-6933-1523-8505