I downloaded this game Saturday morning (the revamp, then the rough version), at first for the NSFW part, but... wow ! I just kept playing for the whole day, barely finding time to eat, and I finished it on Sunday night.
Like both characters, I've asked myself a lot of questions when I was younger. I'm now a 40 year-old man, I've been with my boyfriend for 14 years, and this game made my realize how lucky I am today, and how much I love him.
This game left me with the same feeling I've had finishing great books or great TV series : I just don't want the characters to leave, and I feel I need to know more about them. Looking back on the first pictures of Braden moving in, I already feel nostalgic !Straight!? was truely a very personnal experience, and I think leaving this comment is for me a way of finding closure after finishing it.
If I had improvements to suggests, I would say :
1. not being a native English speaker, some dialogues were long and tiring to read. Maybe, in some scenes were all the dialogue isn't necessary to the plot, you could offer the "Nothing else" option a little more often, in order for us to skip not so relevant parts.
2. another solution would be to have translations, but I've read in other comments it's a option that has been considered
3. I love the fact that not everything is perfectly smooth, and for instance I love Braden's design, with a very realistic body. In the last NSFW scene, the fact that everything doesn't go as planned, and the "checking on your phone" part was really funny. However I was frustrated at the end of the game not seeing this scene going well : I think it could really be a climax of their relationship (how distressing it is the first time you ARE ready but still fear how it's going to happen) and I felt something was missing to fully end their story. Unlike other comments, I don't want to see a sequel because I like to think the characters are going to live their lives on their own, in this imaginary world we all build differently in our head, but I feel a last NSFW scene would "help" me in knowing they are on the right track and that they will enjoy themselves.
That being said, it is one of the most moving game I have ever played (reminded me of "That dragon cancer" or "Firewatch" in some sense) and, I'll just wait for the full revamp version to play the game again. Really, you did (and are still doing !) a great job, keep it like that !
Heya, thank you for the well written note and I'm stoked that it impacted you in such a way as to give you a new perspective and renew some love for your bf. Also, congratulations on 14 years. that's a pretty long time and should be respected and i hope it continues to grow for you both.
in terms of your suggestions: yes, i plan on translations eventually but i think it will be difficult just because i apparently write with sooooo much slang. i never really expected non-english speakers to even get through it originally so it's been incredibly rewarding to hear that people are motivated enough by the project to wade through this thing, lol. I do plan on trying to work with people on the discord to get it as accurate as possible but we'll see. languages are complex and inconsistent obviously so who knows how that translation will turn out.
i see what you're saying with dialogue and maybe that's something i could add. there's a few spots in the later parts of the game where i did that. i just very much see all the random stuff that seems less important as still being character development or giving you background that may come into play later. when i sit down and read books, i usually like massive ones with a ton of details. but i also think that conversation is how relationships naturally evolve so i really focused on a lot of dialogue that spans everything from serious to existential to anger to teasing the crap out of each other. I definitely think it's a lot for a non-native English speaker to struggle with 'cause i get really wordy sometimes :p
things like that may come after the revamp project is completely finished where i may be able to go back and just do some touch-up updates and stuff :)