Hi Ducksrock!
Thank you so much for playing Doki Doki Dollmaker and sharing your feedback! If you (or any other players) are interested in knowing the reasoning behind some of the writing decisions that were made, I’d be happy to share my thought process with you. Spoilers ahead, of course!!
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I’m sorry your experience with the solo route did not end as anticipated, but I am confident that the full group good ending will meet your expectations! The full group good ending is the TRUE ending, with the potential for Lyle to end up with any (or all) of the dolls after the events of the story.
The passage of time between scenes in Doki Doki Dollmaker is not always clear, which is common in the “slice-of-life” genre. Weeks, months, or even a year could have passed between Lyle leaving Mr. Mendoza’s shop and having his private scene with the individual doll (in Desifer’s case, the scene where Lyle is made late for school). When the epilogue screen finally appears, where the dolls are pictured on the desk as Lyle reminisces, it is meant to show not only that Lyle still thinks of the other four dolls, but that he misses them, too - after all, he still talks to them even though they are gone. To me, Lyle continuing to meet with them as time passes is his guilt. I imagine the dolls are at Tilly‘s house because Lyle can’t bear to see them sitting on his desk, knowing that he could never give them the life they deserved or repay them for their friendship, but players can interpret this however they choose, since it is not explicitly stated.
I hope my perspective was an interesting read. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts - I appreciate your detailed comment and hope to hear from you again in the future!
Karitsa