You should at the least aquaint yourself with the storyline from Cross, if you are unable to play the game. RD not as much, since it is a parallel dimension.
What loops did you mention? I don't see them in this thread, can you quote them for me? I don't want to have to go on a hunt for them.
EDIT: I reread your post, there has to be a begining timeline, or the whole time traveling structure of the game would not work at all.