HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhHHHHHHHHHHhHhHH
Oh my gosh this was a rollercoaster of emotions for sure. I'm pretty sure it wasn't the intended effect, but I started crying after a few minutes. I have been in a similar situation to Chloe, albeit much younger, and, while our experiences where fairly different I connected with her as a character. There is no "perfect victim" because there is no perfect person. As such, people who want to blame the victim will always find something to pick at. While Chloe was pushy at times, she was not the one who initiated the relationship, nor did she truly have any power in the relationship. She constantly felt like she had to measure up to expectations of her "maturity", and while it may seem obvious to anyone outside of the relationship that it was toxic and doomed from the start, Chloe was being groomed. A major part of grooming is the distorted worldview the groomer feeds the victim. She was given a point of view where Matthieu was not in the wrong, society was.
Matthieu was an absolute trainwreck of a human being. Every time I almost fell for his self-pity routine, he would double down and continue with the behaviors he claimed were vile and rotten. After a certain point his breakdowns also felt like they were less genuine and more manipulative. Kinda like he just wanted to be reassured that he wasn't doing something immoral. He is absolutely at fault in the situation, not only by making the first move, but by not firmly setting boundaries with Chole (e.g. You're a child, I am not interested.) However I do appreciate that he seemed normal on the surface. Had I not known what this game was about I probably wouldn't have suspected him until later in the story. Most of the people who do prey on children are fairly ordinary, at least, most wouldn't be suspected of pedophilia/ephebophilia.
I really liked the GUI. The way it changed depending on the situation created an unsettling atmosphere. The music also helped create the mood, so it was easy to get into scenes. Along with the technical aspects of the game, the writing flowed well. the dialogue felt natural and the characters fit nicely into the story. However, I do have one question. Is Bastien a member of the LGBTQ+ community? I know it was mentioned that he was bullied because people thought he was, but I'm not entirely sure.
Should anyone be heading into this story, be prepared to take at least a few breaks. The subject material is heavy, but it was written with accuracy and poise. I started crying before things really got bad, but I'm a crybaby, so take that with a grain of salt.
Thank you for an amazing game. This was truly handled with grace, which I deeply appreciate. I apologize for not wording this well, I may edit this later, but I have a headache after crying lmao.