Don't apologize, everything came through fine! 🧡
I feel like this kind of misses the mark on some of the problems people have with this game, though and would like to add some of my own thoughts.
- Suicide was very (unnecessarily even) graphic and sudden, with a full on CG of Zilas hanging himself, and was a complete mood shift within perhaps a minute of gameplay, maybe less. For writing, building up to moments like this and treating it with care is very important, especially given the potential to be upsetting or triggering to others.
I also think the absurdity over what got him cancelled or criticized really doesn't help build up to this sudden suicidal depression. If it was that easy to cancel someone, no one I watch would still be streaming. Even if it was written to make more sense, it was still quite a leap to me, especially considering he had so much support and understanding from the main character, at least how I played them. I genuinely wish I'd had someone have my back like that in the past. Would've made a world of difference
- I get that the cat, Ryuk, appears to be at fault in one of the endings, but it only confused the overarching narrative even more for me. Other than feeling very out of place and shoehorned in, the use of someone else's character and IP in an otherwise original story is a really strange decision.
- Three endings are mentioned in the description, but the only two endings for Zilas are the murder and suicide ending. There are no good endings for people wanting to tough it out and save him or "Help him achieve his dreams!" as the game blurb advertises under the really cute thumbnail of Zilas. He dies. That's it.
- One of the most repeated criticisms I've seen is the fact that Jenny chose to write in something as delicate as suicide into her game within such a short timeframe. It really needed more time, care and research. Otherwise, it would've been better to leave it out.
- There were initially no in-game content warnings. They were only added nearly two months after the release of the game.
- The request at the end for 5000 ratings is completely unreasonable and comes across as incredibly exploitative of Jenny toward her fanbase.
Many are making alt accounts to post false ratings to try and hit this goal and some of those have gotten banned. For anyone reading this: itch.io will ban all of your accounts and IP ban you if they catch you doing this.