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(+3)

I just finished up my own playthrough an hour or so ago, and I had a lot to ruminate on I think. I think as you've said, the feelings and situations Magda goes through resonate really deeply with a lot of people, particularly the already marginalised. Ironically despite being agnostic, the place I escaped from that isolation and judgement was a Catholic school, haha. I really lucked out with mine. Before I get real personal I just want to take a moment to say that the layout of Bad Faith being reminiscent of Fate/Stay Night and other older VNs in terms of its narration (intentionally?) really drew me into the sort of massive VN phase I had during my high school years, and it was welcomely nostalgic. The amount of effort that went into producing this story is incredible; I enjoyed every aspect of the prose, the art, and the atmosphere you created in the Haven. I don't get genuinely unsettled by VNs much, but the world you wove was frighteningly real. Thank you for all your hard work!

Potential spoilers ahead

I have to be honest, playing Bad Faith is not something I could call an 'enjoyable' experience, but I absolutely do not mean that in a bad way. The story was gripping and delivered in a manner that was just like... The slow march to the unavoidable finale. I feel like I knew what was going to happen to Magda from the very moment I met her, and all I could do was watch her slow descent, because it's a path I've been down on. I think many of us have been down on. Everyone was a product of the community here, even the characters I feel absolutely no sympathy for whatsoever, but naturally Magda feels like the pinnacle of that community. "I must be good" felt like being stabbed every time she tried to remind herself. There was no happy outcome from the beginning, because the community was designed to isolate everyone. Even the Heads who thought they were special and immune were isolated from one another, no matter what they might have thought. There was no hope for anyone on that island no matter how deserving or not, because there was no support. Though Magda was the most isolated (and really, what easier way to drum up a false sense of community than picking the easiest target to hate, only to turn on whoever comes after them?) not a single true friend existed on that island. Even Grace, for all she thought she was doing good, knew she had done wrong. And seeing her on the end in that boat, alone, almost bargaining with Haven itself for the hope of just one person left to be part of anything she ever knew broke my heart. No matter if they're alive or not, Grace has no one anyway. 

The third act was a difficult thing to go through, and not just because of my very delicate stomach! But the hardest thing was watching Lilia, because it was like watching what I could have been. Not with the, you know, cannibalism and torture, but I dealt with anger in my isolation with violence. I was hurt physically, I did do a lot of hurt back, but it had never felt like enough at the time. There were many times that I wished I could have done what Lilia did, to mirror every bit of pain and hatred and despair they put me through. Watching Lilia to what she did to Cerise and Eve was cathartic and sobering at the same time. Watching her gradually grapple with her waning anger, to watch the consequences slowly dawn on her, and then to watch her be forced to be complicit in revenge she never asked for hurt. But this is a story about consequences for everyone, and Magda is not exempt from that. None of them, or us, are.

On a side note, I loved Nils. They were perfectly monstrous from start to finish, and even their kindness was tinged with their sinister intent. Reaching out to Magda in the cell was gut-wrenching, because I just knew it couldn't end well. As Magda said, Nils could never understand humans - perhaps they never even wanted to. And though they were deeply wronged, didn't they just plan to impose their will and ideas on humans the same way Lady Amaris cultivated the Haven? I'm not sure if that's what you were going for with them, but I loved that there was no brushing over the creature they had become. Fantastic character, would love to date and be killed by them/10.

This has been really rambling and disjointed but I really did love my experience with Bad Faith. Was it enjoyable? It was like watching someone get ready pull out my teeth individually. But like, I liked watching them get ready to do it! Let's not unpack that. Sorry for dropping this absolute novel of a comment here. Thank you for creating and sharing Bad Faith with us all, I'm really looking forward to whatever work you put out next!

(+2)

Thank you for the incredible comment! I'm really glad Bad Faith could impact you in this way.

Yes, the layout and narration of Bad Faith was intentionally reminiscent of older VNs. In fact, Fate/Stay Night was a massive influence on the  for this game; it's one of my favorite stories ever, and legitimately made me want to write serious, long visual novels (though I love Kinoko Nasu's/TYPE MOON's works in general, haha). I'm really floored that you've compared Bad Faith to FSN in that regard, thank you. 

SPOILER ZONE

I really do love your analysis on Bad Faith's overall plot - with its themes of isolation, and the inevitable tragic conclusion. I especially loved your comments regarding the third act. I'm sorry I can't say more right now - but you've really analyzed the game well! You're right on the money with what I intended to talk about with the third act: wanting to enact revenge on/hurt people because you've been hurt, in turn - and then facing the very real consequences for doing so afterwards. As you said, Bad Faith's world is one where actions never come without consequences - even for the protagonist of its story. 

Also I'm glad Nils came across as intended - they were definitely one of my favorite characters to make too! I was worried that they didn't come across as inhuman enough while writing them, so seeing that they did exactly that for you makes me really happy... Funnily enough, I actually didn't realize that their decision to control humanity was similar to Lady Amaris's cultivation of the Haven - but looking back on it, it does make sense, doesn't it? Writing is funny like that.

Anyhoo - I'm really happy that you liked Bad Faith as much as you did! I love receiving big comments like this - so I was really pleased to see yours today. ^^ 

I'm tempted to use your pulling teeth analogy for future promotional stuff too LOL - I thought it was a pretty apt description of what playing this game was like - but only if you want me to! Is that okay?

(+1)

Gosh, I'm pretty honoured that you'd want to use something I've said for promo materials! Please go ahead and use it any time. c: