I have to admit that I didn't fully read the game description before hitting play so that reset genuinely startled me after Jo's last loop. Me AND my character out here going ???????????? LMAO
I think I made it to 10 loops before I finally decided to stay. Maybe 11? I don't think I saw every possible iteration of the timeline (a combination of an unwillingness to be callous and a desire to make sure everyone is if not happy then at the very least alive) but I unlocked a significant portion of the lore, so I'm happy with it.
I surprisingly ended up at the Epilogue with Esteban! Not sure how that happened: one moment we're vandalizing public property and the next we're happily living together. He's so cute... I love me a soldier boy with a sentimental soul. <3
The game is wonderful. It genuinely made me emotional and I ended up falling in love with ALL the characters on all the routes, minor or not. (Alive or not.) I can't imagine what it must feel like for the main character to spend their entire lives in love with someone, creating a home together, and when the comet hits realizing that the only proof that those years ever happened are the memories that you hold. I don't think I'd be able to stay sane, after that. I think that's why I decided to end the loops so quickly: my character was starting to fray at the seams.
Explains Jo at the start, though. I hope they managed to find some peace after their loop. (Or maybe Jo remembers, after a while? In the History route they mention feeling like they've seen things before so...)
I never did end up going south! I stopped to grab a snack and ended up finding a new family and a cat. Something for another loop, perhaps? I did save just before I decided to stay, after all. ;)