Oo that really explains a lot actually! And I'm glad you put so much time into your response,
Now that you've clarified the focus on this game specifically, it's clear what your goal was. And I can say wholeheartedly you completely succeeded in those goals. The presentation was amazing.
Also yes, fleshing out the characters, giving them depth and including the family, would've made the script jumbo long so it's good you didn't go that far for just a jam :^) I was simply critiquing the game outside the context of the jam as someone who wasn't inside your mind while writing. Knowing that you knew the writing felt 2D too but couldn't get to it because of time... that checks out 👍
> I... did know some people out there who can be loving, caring, and stuff, but the very moment you mentioned something that goes against their belief, their stance changed suddenly, like what you see in the story about how dismissive Itsuki become, cause it’s not just him, the whole family had that belief, so (according to the family) Kiyomi is actually the outlier here.
Me too; I know people who when I bring up certain topics, they become completely defensive about it like they are a different person. It's a totally different theme that actually I want to explore in my writing at some point in depth. That same characteristic wasn't communicated enough for me to register that in Itsuki but pulling that off woulda been extra style points in a 2-week jam >:) And yeah it would explain Itsuki's behaviour very well esp. when family is involved.
You put a lot of thought into this VN