ANNA WHAT IS THIS ESSAY FGHFHFHFGFHGF I'M SO HONORED??? AND IT IS SO WELL ORGANIZED AND THOUGHTFUL??? 😭😭😭 (Reading this again I am tearing up, thank you so much for taking the time to write your thoughts out like this, gosh 😭😭😭) (and your top 5 games is too kind fghfhf thank you) (apologies for the late reply as I wanted to make sure to respond thoroughly)
I won't linger too much on the technical aspects, as I don't think there's too much to say, but I'm very grateful that you enjoyed the narration! The voice acting was never something that I originally intended to add, as I did intend this to be a game quite small in scope, but I'm very glad that I came up with the concept, as I think that it really contributed so much to the final experience. All of the voice actors did such a stellar job; they really are some of the most talented people that I've had the opportunity of working with. (And honestly as a person currently in an audiobook phase, I VERY MUCH appreciate the ability to lean back and enjoy as the audio plays out on screen!)
And your comments on the GUI are TOO KIND gosh 😭 especially coming from a master of GUI such as yourself. I can't do anything too fancy but I tried to make it look at least a bit cleaner and more cohesive than I usually do 😂 I would like to work harder at making the feel of the GUI a lot more satisfying in the future 💪 (I won't lie, after I coded in the start menu buttons I spent a couple minutes just hovering over them, it was so fun...)
===SPOILERS===
DFGDFGDFGD I AM VERY GLAD THAT YOU WENT ABOUT THE GAME THE WAY YOU DID, it was actually exactly the way that I hoped people would go about it. That, when faced with this man with obviously warped perceptions, you would first try to correct him, to speak your mind - and be punished for it. The feeling of "violation" at being unable to choose is EXACTLY what I wanted to convey (honestly even in the words that I would use), and I'm really happy that it came across to you 😭 (and obviously while I do expect a lot of people "grow wise" to the trick and proceed to play along, I'm very happy that you also got angry and started pushing back - because that feeling of helplessness and growing dread, slowly leading up to the conclusion - is what I hope players would experience first, so that they can enjoy the slightly happier endings later 😂)
You truly outlined the game excellently and SO THOROUGHLY, I have no notes. You really pinpointed my intent spot-on, even down to the usage of the narrators (I'm so honored that you took the time to analyze it so well 😭) And I very much agree with you. In Ending 1, Yumeko's lack of agency is almost a kindness - she doesn't feel pain, she doesn't have free will, she just loves and is loved by the Doctor - so while she can't choose, at least she's not suffering 😂 whereas in Ending 2 she is completely cognizant, staring her future straight in the face, and choosing to comply because she can't see another future for herself.
YOU'RE TOO KIND, YOUR COMMENT IS LITERALLY KILLING ME FGHFGHFGHFGHFG I am not deserving of such praise (please don't shoot me), but thank you so much 😭😭😭 and thank you so much for beta-testing, your feedback was so helpful!