I just answered an ask about this on my Tumblr, but I think it would make sense to post it here as well.
I’m going to explain some key changes in this post. There are no big spoilers, but if you DON’T want to go into things with any prior knowledge about the game or don’t want to know what happens in the original version for whatever reason, please don’t read the rest of this post! I’ll blur parts of it too, just to be on the safe side.
I began the old rewrite because of my personal dissatifaction with the story. I didn’t have a clear picture of what exactly I wanted; I just knew I wanted it to be different. But the new, current rewrite is being created because of ideas that have developed in my mind regarding the setting and overall story. I’d say that the “shadow world” is a bit more dangerous, uncertain and that the threats that hide there are not immediately easy to determine, if that makes any sense at all. The original has you going from point A to point B and have everything explained to you, which leaves the MC with little to do and decreased agency. One of my aims is to let you explore the world in more dynamic ways than through exposition dumps and also giving you more choices and include more branching due to those choices, both big and small.
I was pondering what it might be like to enter a world like this and I think it would be a strange mixture of terror, surrealism, loneliness + a need to either depend on whoever you can, even if you don’t trust them. Or alternatively, pretend like you depend on others while only really depending on yourself. That’s not to say that TSS is a horror game now haha, I don’t even know how to write horror 
but my hope is that it feels like a more personal and intriguing experience rather than purely an “isekai” kind of story.
The MC
I didn’t get far with the old rewrite, but I focused more on fleshing out the MC’s hometown and M’s background. While the new rewrite has a bit more added to chapter 1, I’ve kept some things that I previously tried to present more thoroughly purposefully vague for a reason this time around.
The MC is somewhat different, too. One thing I’m dissatisfied with in the original is the lack of an established past for the MC. There was your job and your father’s accident, but not much more than that. And yes, there were hints at something more, but you didn’t really get to delve deeply into that during book 1.
In this version of the rewrite, I think the MC is a bit more jaded. You can absolutely play an optimistic and happy kind of MC, but there are pieces of their past that have affected them and are currently affecting them to a lesser or greater degree depending on how you play. Ex. The death of their father is going to play a larger part throughout the story and will be depicted as something that haunts the MC rather than just being something that happened when they were little. The changes that have happened as they grew up - losing most of their old friends and ties as well as being curtly left by their closest friend/ex - has also affected them. The MC has some lingering abandonment issues there but it’s up to you how the MC has developed because of them. There is a point in chapter 1 where it’s mentioned that they currently find it difficult to grow close to people, but I’m going to update that section and offer different options that determines whether you keep an optimistic outlook or not soon.
The supporting cast/main cast
The relationships and characters are still at the center of the story. I want to make the bonds with them feel more organic and less “choose flirt, friendship, or rivalry” every time you interact with them.
In the original, the MC is thrown into this world together with M, and the group is (iirc) being very vague and generally unhelpful. I included romantic and friendship-raising scenes before you even knew anything about them, which is something I’m changing this time around (you still have romantic options during your first meeting with A and G, but they are not full romance scenes as such and only included because it fits the characters in question).
There’s no longer a need to spend time with just 1 character and pick 1 right option. Instead, I want to include a lot of opportunities for you to get to know them, grow closer if you want to and keep your distance if you don’t. I’m still in the process of developing this more, but all in all I want to include different branches for the relationships that aren’t necessarily always as clearcut as friend/lover/rival, at least in the beginning when you don’t know them well. Once the MC and the characters know each other better, I think more established roles like that will show more.
And about the romance, for those of you interested: I hadn’t written much in the way of romance back when I wrote the original TSS. I actually think TSS is the first romance-related story I wrote at all. It was very much an exercise in writing in a lot of ways. Now that I have more experience I feel more confident in writing different kinds of romances, and there’s going to be more romance-related content in the remake for those who choose that route. Those who aren’t into romance have the option to get more platonic scenes, though!
In the original I interrupted scenes and threw in stuff that would delay certain revelations just for the sake of delaying, and the pacing, plot and characterization imo suffered as a result. The remake shows a group that is very much fractured, just like in the original (maybe more so now). They obviously know more than the MC does, but they all have different levels of knowledge and personal motivations that even others in the group don’t know about. A and R know each other from before, as do Q and A. But other than that it’s very much a group that works together out of perceived necessity and their own motivations. Most of them don’t trust one another either. They are also quicker to offer certain information and explain the situation to the MC since THEY also find themselves in a situation they didn’t really predict due to unforeseen changes in their plans.
Basically they are a bit out of their depth at end of chapter 1 and chapter 2, and so they’re on a bit more even ground with the MC in certain ways.
The Shadowman/Shadowlady is introduced a bit differently in chapter 2, and the main cast’s backstories - and to some smaller extent, personalities - have been reworked/updated/changed.
The plot
Though I won’t go into what happens in later chapters for obvious reasons, the narrative/plot is presented a bit differently. For example: in the original you met the group, had a 1 on 1 talk with one of the characters where you could raise friendship, romance or rivalry, then it was announced that you have to leave the house because it’s no longer safe and the rest of the story takes place in the hideout and A and R’s old home. But now that feels like a waste of an interesting story, because so much of the MC’s past and so many secrets exist IN your old childhood home. That’s why most of the book 1 remake will take place inside the house itself.
It may sound less exciting, but it’s not your typical house - while you need to stay in it for now, you’ll soon realize that it sort of has a life of its own and can lead to places it shouldn’t. I think it makes for a more intimate and personal experience as it allows you to explore more of your own character while giving you the option of growing closer to the other characters as well.
This got super long, but I hope all of that makes sense? If you (or anyone) has any questions regarding any of the info I’ve given just let me know!
I hope you have a great day!
thank you, I hope you’ll enjoy the remake!
for now a shorter version is included in chapter 1, but I’m also adding more reactivity and continuity content in chapter 1 and 2 for the update that’s going to release later this week.
