A quick fix like that would be acceptable at this stage, I think.
It's a shame this game had so many problems, with both development and sales. Of all the different WW games I played, this was definitely the most interesting and mature. Every choice had consequences and as a player, I felt thoroughly responsible for what happened to my characters. The first ending I got was "Swan Dive" and it left me very shaken emotionally. I had to get myself a hard drink before attempting another path.
I've read some reviews elsewhere on the internet criticising the characterization and the overall message, but I disagree. It was a great experience, even if collecting all the endings became a bit tedious towards the end. Keeping track of all the branching variables was a nightmare, even with the walkthrough.
On that note, I really think that 26 endings was too much -especially considering how similar some of them were. Fewer endings (around 4-5, definitely less than 10) with a higher emotional impact would be better, imo. It would make the game a more manageable size for development and debugging and the player wouldn't have to go through the entire game over 20 times to see the whole story. Quality over quantity, etc.
Still, I bought this game on a whim and I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. The first game read like an ultra-campy Blade Runner with lots and lots of fan service (
), but the second one was miles ahead in every aspect. Rebooting the first Bionic Heart in the style (presentation and narrative tone) of the second would be beautiful, but considering the commercial performance, I'm not holding my breath for it.
Out of pure curiosity, how many units did the game sell? If you don't mind sharing, of course. I'm really curious as to what constitutes a "flop" by small indie standards.
UPDATE: I just went through the game again with the Parallel Plots turned off and I still couldn't obtain these two endings. In fact, the game just skipped the endings I would normally get as well (like, "No Trust" for example). So yeah...taking these two endings off the list might be the best option after all