thankfully the only thing that determines the endings are the email games. You get the regular/true ending as long as you get at least one of the options right on either email minigame. The other minigames only really determine the dialogue that follows. We really wanted to get a cheat system and save system working but it all broke before we submitted :/. As for the side characters, it was definitely a risky maneuver but we felt it'd be really silly to keep them funny looking. Especially to emphasize Stella as the MC's main focus. I do agree that if we fully flesh this out after the jam that it'd be nice to clean them up. Maybe have a toggle for silly and serious mode. I'd also like to implement an in game tutorial. Thank you for trying our game! We appreciate the feedback and glad you liked it!