Idk man... so far they reeeaaally seem to like me. :P
I've gotten 4 endings. Unless there's some super secrets, I doubt I missed anything.
The game has a very interesting 90s aesthetic. I feel it could be even more apparent with color (for example, if Rose's outfit were yellow like Alicia Silverstein's Clueless get-up), but I'm trusting that the black&white sprites were a conscious decision -- especially since the two ending CGs were in color.
The characters.... grew on me, but it took a bit of time. Maria seemed a bit inconsistent, playfully teasing me about canoodling with Rose one moment, and then being pissed the next moment I choose to stay with Rose. And then apologizing for being angry, saying she totally understands why I would choose Rose. ???Que???
Perhaps this is because it's the playthrough where I tried to be a good friend and hang out with them equally. I understand Maria has mixed feelings, but still, maybe that could have been shown a bit more through dialogue.
There's a Very Special Moment after the Campfire Drama happens, if I side with Maria, go talk to Rose, and uh... still side with Maria? I reminded me of another game that I won't name, and I couldn't help wondering if the game would take a darker turn. But so far, that was the only Special Moment I found.
Transitions for both sprites and music are a bit abrupt. I'd recommend trying out something like "with dissolve" and "fadein 1.5" respectively. Especially when the static overlay of disapproval starts -- it'd be good to still have a little music fading out.
There's a very nice narrative touch when Maria goes quiet if you choose to bitch about your parents.
One complaint: when searching for the matches, I wanted to stay at camp by myself. Rose could just go with Maria... It seemed like a good compromise to me! lol. But when I elected to stay at camp, the narration unfortunately assumed I was choosing Rose. :(
Some playtesting notes:
Since I played as a girl, there were a could of missed gender-cues.
Maria "Her not-boyfriend just took some other girl's side in an argument." (And then the next two subsequent lines. Boyfriend boyfriend boyfriend lol.)
Also: "Like, in high school, you didn't want to be the kid who talked about his parents."
And a couple typos:
"Afraid I'll peak?" Should be "peek" I think lol.
Maria "Well, okay Rose, two option here." Should be two options.
This was all I could find; at the beginning I was too busy trying to get a feel for the game and didn't let myself get distracted my any minor errors. About halfway through though, I was pretty confident that nothing was out to get me in the dark woods, and was comfortable jotting down some notes.
Overall, I had enough fun that I would be down to see these characters again. Had a bit of an iffy experience naming myself "Mia," though, since we sounded like triplets born to confuse people lmao. Maria, Mia, and Rose.... It's like a tongue twister.
When the next DTIPIJDLY comes out I'll definitely be named something else. :)