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(+1)

i downloaded this mid-january and didn't remember much about it before playing it a couple days ago in february.

i had gone into it expecting a fairy-tale romance and was startled at the dark turn the story took... not in a bad way!! i think it might say a lot about how i was expecting a man to sweep amaia off her feet. how i was expecting horacio to finally see what azaiah was. how i was looking forward to seeing how caleb's part in amaia's life would change. how, at first, i never thought to look at amaia's feelings.

i think happho also made me realize some things too!! 🥲

the ending caught me tearing up because while i thought amaia would continue happho's legacy verbatim, it was really a show of HER growth and HER true self (and not horacio or azaiah or caleb's influence). which, like i said, is something i didn't consider when starting this game.

AND WHEN AMAIA HEARD SIR VASSERELLI'S DAUGHTER'S WISH OHHH MY HEART!!!! the way it was presented was BEAUTIFUL!!

i feel really silly because i don't consider myself good at "getting" the bigger meanings in works of fiction so i hope i'm not making a fool of myself! 😭 this was a great experience and i loved it. 🩷

(also reading your dev log was a lot of fun (you're really funny) and i'm excited to play your other games!)

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AAAH thank you so much for giving the game a try and for sharing your thoughts!!

I'm really happy the game subverted your expectations! I had a lot of fun setting Caleb as a stereotypical love interest (like he's genuinely nice, and I'm a SUCKER for the childhood friends to lovers trope, literally my favourite romantic trope), so it was indeed tempting  to make Amaia not love him (+ it allowed me to say things about Caleb still having some sort of oppressive expectations for Amaia; the main difference however being that Caleb accepts Amaia's decision).

But yes, you got it: the idea was truly for Amaia to find the strength to save herself and to become herself; and Happho, by not expecting Amaia to become like her (even for the stone thing, she mostly suggests this so that Amaia can fight back against Azaiah at this point in the story), was offering a much needed countermodel (since the only guy who didn't have such expectations for Amaia is KAPUTT).

And gosh, knowing the ending got you teared up means the world to me because I really am fond of this climax (from the moment the boys enter the tower to the final line), and I did find it emotional too!

And honestly, you got the meaning of it loool, so don't worry!! And even if not, it's always interesting to read other perspectives on something you create (as it can highlight shortcomings or instead show that your work was richer than intended etc.)

(And thanks, I had a lot of fun writing this devlog looool; and currently brainstorming the game I'd like to make for NaNoRenO 2026... a romance this time (albeit a toxic and tragic one lol), and I just hope I can pull it off as well as I did the Dragon Princess, but I'm trying to find a good climax to the story lol 😭😭)

Thanks again for your comment and your kind words, it shot an arrow straight to my heart!!