Appreciate the comment after all the spam I've had to deal with the past few weeks. I'm working on an update at the moment, but, my job is taking up a lot of my time because of staffing issues which keeps delaying the update.
I do feel like the quality of the tech is objectively better than what we had in the 2000s, but the passion isn't there in the same way as it was back then. I could have a big discussion on why I think that's the case, but I do think part of it is that people live in a constant state of paranoia online where they believe that at any point if they express an opinion or share something they've made someone will step out of the shadows and say a mean thing to them. Everywhere online are the shadowy and sinister 'haters' that we need to be mindful of at all times. I feel like so much of modern internet culture makes a lot of sense if you look at it from that lens.
As for this project in particular, it definitely showcases my influences, which tends to be the weirder side of ComDotGames with stuff like Bunny Farm. I like to go into projects with the mindset that Grant Morrison said makes outsider art appealing, which is that there should be a 'whoa' factor in at least some of the work. Basically, I try to make certain things that make people say 'whoa' while going through the visual novel. As one comment pointed out, Jirachi and the Vaporeon are an example of a 'whoa' moment.
Thanks for the support and comment, it means a lot and I hope you have fun with this visual novel. I'd also probably recommend Adore The Doll since it's the Halloween month and people seem to really like that one, mainly for the TITular main character.