hi E_bagel, may be it was because your antivirus prevent the game to start? You can rest asure about the game's cleanliness, i used a 3rd party software to protect the game's assets, if you're still worried about virus, you can use https://www.virustotal.com to test the file for virus (Free, the file is going to be tested by 64 different antivirus softwares) Or you can send the file to AvastLab for testing https://www.avast.com/report-malicious-file.php they're a famous atv company but it may take awhile for they to reply to you.
If you want to try the game right away, you can just add the game to WindowsDefense exclusion list follow microsoft's instruction (it's very simple) https://support.microsoft.com/en-hk/help/4028485/windows-10-add-an-exclusion-to-...
:D thank you for interesting in Mel's Saga