I played this not knowing anything else about the creator, and am glad that Z is alive and doing extremely well and bringing games to people to this day! I am always happy to see people portray their personal experiences through games, as it is an excellent medium for getting a real, visceral look into someone else's life.

Stories about illness are difficult to tell compellingly, but this one succeeds. There is a sense of tension  and horror as Z learns more about his illness and the diagnosis gets worse and worse. The moment his nosebleed begins again in the hospital is brutal. Art and music are both excellent as well.

I do think the writing could have used some more serious/professional editing, with tense shifts being a major issue throughout. A weakness of the storytelling is that we are largely just told what Z was like in the past, but the present offers no opportunities to actually see the less likeable aspects of his personality in action. The game could have benefited from more flashbacks threaded throughout. The ending also becomes somewhat preachy, which I don't think was the most effective method to send its message home. It's great and inspiring to learn about Z's great success years after this incident; I think a scene to that effect could have worked well.

At any rate, the team seems to have come quite far after this title, and I will likely be playing more Serenity Forge games in the future!