AWW CARROT THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE KIND WORDS, I'm very glad that you enjoyed it 😭 the feeling of "suffocation" is absolutely what I wanted to convey here - as your "ability to speak" is slowly taken away from you.
I'M GLAD THAT YOU ENJOYED THE GUI, in general I think that GUI is not a main focal point of my projects, but as a "quasi-chatsim" I really wanted to emphasize it here! I tried hard to come up with interesting little effects 😂 it was fun coming up with the different variations! FGHFGH I'M GLAD THAT YOU HAD CHILLS, I think it was the first time that I genuinely tried something very "classically horror" so I wasn't sure if I managed to get the vibes right 😭
And thank you for the comments on the effects!! It was so fun designing this game, I really love this aesthetic 😭 (and I wish that I would stop planning medieval fantasy projects because the aesthetic brings me no joy...) And I'm glad you picked up on the change in format! Honestly I really love minimalistic "text boxes" like this (just simple outlined text overlaid on the CG), but I worry about the text not being visible enough so I always refrain 😅 luckily this one only had a few CGs and relatively muted colors (in the real world) so I didn't have to worry too much about that, however!
THANK YOU, I really wanted to try to come up with something that utilized the visual novel format well 😭 I always just make long-ass novels with pictures and barely any choices 😭 and I'm very glad, that "suffocating/claustrophic" atmosphere is exactly what I was going for! Even though none of the things that he says individually are that hurtful - they weigh on you, over and over, without the ability to say anything back - "carving" you away into a hollow shell.
😂 I agree with you, I do find the Doctor pitiable, and I actually considered a variation in which Yumeko escapes without killing him. But I found an ending in which she runs, or simply "sternly tells him off and orders him to fix himself," to lack the sense of catharsis that you mentioned. Ultimately I decided that, in the end, this was never a story about Pygmalion and lingering too long on "fixing him" would hurt the overall message, so I nixed it 😂 Though I do like such "redemption" narratives, and would like to tackle them in the future (it just didn't fit this project in particular!)
OHHH HAHA, I DIDN'T INTEND THAT, but honestly the wording was absolutely inspired by Pinocchio! I like to think that that's the thing that finally turns Yumeko into a "real person" - having the chance to fight back against her abuser (of course my solution is ✨violence✨ and honesty, of course...). And OHH I'm very glad, the Wife ending is actually the one that I enjoyed writing the most, and I think it would also be "my" ending. (Ultimately, it's the one I find the most realistic and true to life 😂)
Again, thank you so much for taking the time to play and leave such a thoughtful comment 😭 😭 😭 I always love reading them!!!