this was so great!! one of the most unique horror games in style and writing that i've played in a while :D
(SPOILERS)
i really love how intriguing the plot is, i genuinely had no idea where it was going at any point haha. made it super interesting to slowly put the pieces together. and even the way it's presented is really creative; love how the perspective changes from this one guy, to some reporters, to mysterious words appearing onscreen, to different devices' screens... it not only elevated the presentation, but also made the story really memorable. it was overall just really compelling and interesting to follow. and it tackles its themes in creative ways too! love how this pathogen views humans as being in a constant state of misery (which is proven to be not entirely untrue), and that's how it lures them into being infected; and how it's contrasted with how gloria sees her children's "birth" as something amazing and beautiful. it's definitely an exaggerated (that word sounds kind of reductive... "elevated", maybe?) way of portraying these themes, but it works really well considering... well, that the strory isn't trying to be super subtle haha (not saying that it's a bad thing ofc!). the plot and how it's presented is really creative and intriguing overall :>
and the gameplay! mannn whenever i see a quasi-3D sequence made in rpg maker my brain explodes haha. so so so cool. i really appreciated how the only times you could turn left or right was when the game told you so, i usually struggle with 3D movement in games like this so that was nice lol. i think sometimes it was a bit unclear what i had to do, partly cuz of elements like the police car not being visible from afar (tbf drawing that would probably be a nightmare lol), but it wasn't really an issue to figure everything out. the feeling of walking across this street is excellently done, and having to walk everywhere manually makes everything feel more real, if that makes sense? definitely felt the inspiration from the REC movies in that way :D
and OMG the art is so cool!! i love this color palette of extremely saturated red and pink, it's such a striking visual presentation that works really well with the overall vibe of the game. also love how detailed everything is, from the character design to cutscenes to miscellaneus objects and locations; it makes everything, again, feel a lot more real. speaking of which, the character design is really great! really dig how everyone looks, and the little movements they have then they talk or do basic actions are really well done. but what REALLY sells me on the presentation is the huge amount of small touches: the intro sequence with the fake browser (SO awesome haha), the "REC" layouts that appear, the way the screen glitches and changes color and the screwed up text that shows up after, the way the dialogue boxes change depending on who is talking, and of course... the gore :D!! :D (srsly tho that was also really well done and creative, and it was really clever how it used colors different than red so it'd stand out!) the presentation just POPS with such an incredibly creative visual style, great stuff.
if i had to mention any problems i had, sometimes the dialogue would go on for a bit too long, and it was especially frustrating cuz it doesn't let you skip until the character stops moving their mouth. not a big problem since the dialogue is overall very compelling to read, but i feel like some lines could've been cut for conciseness. also i got stuck at one part of the map and couldn't move or turn around; i don't remember the exact sequence of events but it was on the far end of the street. sorry that i can't offer much detail as to what happened haha, but i thought i'd mention it. other than that, i had a pretty seamless experience.
overall this game was so unique and well made!! i think it would've done really well at the jam, but i really respect working on it longer so it could be the best version of itself :> really good job all around!
TLDR: "we hope that the condemnation of this reality was worth fucking our mother" is the hardest line of all time.