I thought YIIK was very explicitly critical of the way true crime & communities surrounding it tends to be fetishistic.

Especially in this entry from Y2K II, linking offsite for anyone who hasn't gotten to that point ingame: https://i.imgur.com/Rmvy588.png Obviously Y2K II is very recent but I do think criticism of that behavior is present in even the original release. Chondra is a good example of this, if I recall correctly.. I'm still replaying, and anything beyond the first couple chapters is fuzzy in my head. 1.0 is a slog to play through.

I also think the way they decided to use her case as inspiration was incredibly disrespectful. Specifically, having that gif on ONISM look so close to the original. They should've changed it in IV. I actually think it's strange that they didn't, considering they revamped the earlier scene and removed the blood & bones. It is a lot worse in earlier versions. I think there's a way they could have included something similar involving Sammy, but having it be so close to reality is disgusting.

I don't think Sammy was intentionally meant to be based on Elisa, but she is because of how closely intertwined that case is with the game & its development. If that makes sense.

I agree with @insomniacatgirl that it's not inherently wrong to have something be based on a real life event, but the way the Allansons went about it was wrong. It was absolutely done with purpose, to criticize people like Alex & the people on ONISM, but it was still disrespectful.

...But I disagree that pointing out the way they used her case was disrespectful is "harping on about it."

I get that maybe it might get irritating to have people constantly criticize something you like, but it's something that SHOULD be criticized. With a complex game like YIIK, I think a thread about it should be open to criticism and discussion of said criticism. Especially when it's something that is so important to the game.

ADDL: They've been open about her case being an inspiration for the game itself since it was in early development. Here's a 2014 dev forum written by Brian Allanson. https://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=39985.0

And here's the original reddit thread that earlier screenshot is from. It's not deleted at all.

https://www.reddit.com/r/earthbound/comments/3560h3/yiik_a_postmodern_rpg_a_video_game_i_am/

Unrelated, I don't feel like double posting: Have any of you read Deviation Perspective I & II? I would really like to, but I'm holding out until I can buy the physical book. And if they release a physical copy of Deviation Perspective II, last I heard it was only on YIIKcord. Whhhyyyyy.

..sorry if my formatting is poor, by the way.