itch.io

The problem most people have with the game is not because of not reading the warnings or whats going to happen (which actually orginally was the case because in the first build, in which most people played, it had not contained any and instead they were hidden on the itch.io page, which is not an adequate place to put content warnings for something as sensitive as this.) but the fact of how poorly written it is and how it was done in a way that was not well researched, well thought out or well done. 

Firstly, no it is implied he committed suicide because of the hate comments and harassment he was getting. If it truly didn't bother him in some way, which it seemed to, why on earth would he do it? Was him ghosting the MC and hiding himself away because it hurt and stressed him out also not of his own volition like you seem to be saying? YOU are the one who seemed to miss "hints" right in front of your nose. The thing most of us don't understand is why Jenny decided to go about it this way, if it was truly just Ryuks doing, it was not thought provoking or well done in any way, shape nor form. In fact, we still know nothing about Ryuk, the cat was not in the story besides very brief implications and thats why we are confused. Ryuk feels very out of place in the grand scheme of the story and like the horror aspect was an afterthought. Its very lazy writing in terms of horror, and slapping a "give me 5 thousand reviews to revive him" at the very end and half assly explaining plot and story beats at the very end is HORRIBLE writing. The main point of writing is showing and not telling, which this game fails miserably at, from one writer to another. We see a lot of issues with this because writing needs to be shown adequately so things can be explained and neatly wrap up plot threads, this game needed a lot more revision and time in the oven and should not have been done for a game jam where these topics need a lot of understanding and grace to be done properly. Just because stuff isn't always explained irl doesnt mean that should be an excuse for horrible writing on a game about a complex topic. 

Secondly, NOBODY IS HARASSING JENNY!!!!! And if they are, its not any of us. I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and just say you are making a lot of this stuff up in your comment. Nobody is attacking or harassing Jenny, we are critcizing her writing because it depicts something very sensitive and something that needs to be thoroughly researched which in this case it wasn't. I actually scrolled and did not find a single comment saying what you seem to be implying, just well rounded critcism from people who struggle with depression or have lost those they love to suicide or murder, which Jenny has not which is why people are offended and hurt by the writing and how insensitive it is to people who suffer from it and most of us went in knowing the content warnings, just expected more nuance. Also, only one person compared it to DDLC, one person and the difference is that Sayori is actually well written and Zilas isn't. Your acting as if a majority of us said these things when we didn't to prove a point, which you aren't. We are allowed to criticize and give our takes on very real world issues and stuff we suffer with on a published product. Part of being a game developer is accepting criticism and recoginizing when YOU release a product or project into the world, people are free to do what they like with it and just because the developer is a smaller one doesn't negate them from any and all criticism, what stupid reasoning. Your failing to realize the difference between harassment and criticism when most, if not all, of us want Jenny to be a better writer and still stand behind her because she has worked on amazing projects and knows how to write good and thoughtful stories, which is why most of us are disappointed in how she went about this and went about addressing it. Jenny isn't an "uwu poor vicitim" getting harassed, maybe read the reviews that seem to be 'harassment' to you and recoginize the game dev and lead writer has done problematic stuff and deserves criticism for her actions instead of writing it off as harassment.

For someone who claims to not be defending the lead writer and producer, you sure seem to be ignorant to a lot of what people are saying and ignoring most of our points for the sake of defending said writer, and making an account just to protect them tooth and nail kinda shows what side your actually on. Good grief.

Comment sections are not just for blanket outpourings of love and support for whatever the dev creates. Creatives can't adequately grow and learn without criticism. Not sure where you're getting harrassment from, but I've not seen it on this page and have read every critical review posted so far (even the ones I've had to google translate).

Also, (ignoring that the content warnings were initially hidden so the author could have their gotcha moment) I sort of mentioned this in a previous comment, but suicide in games rarely bothers me (as someone who has attempted and almost didn't survive, since we're sharing). When written well, it can even be incredibly cathartic. For example,there's an interactive fiction game on steam in which you can choose to have your MC struggle with suicidal thoughts. The difference is that the author of that game either struggled with similar thoughts themselves or actually did research, as everything came across as very realistic and relatable to me. It wasn't pulled out as some ending plot twist, but was included as something the MC grappled with alongside their myriad other struggles. The absolute best part is that it's completely optional. All that to say, suicide in media isn't a problem for me when written about knowledgeably and respectfully.

And a content warning for suicide (when one can actually find it) doesn't excuse the writer from criticism if it is written poorly.

Edit: Deferring to and agree with Miru's critique of the plot.

As a guy who's seen death note, I flipped out, extremely excited when I noticed the death note references. I thought this game would be long and interesting, and end in Ryuk somehow being involved in his death. As someone who got the yandere ending, some part of me wonders if Zilas really did have a deathnote and was using it to make us kil- him. Perhaps that's why he said that 'he can explain'. I believe there's a major connection between this game and death note, and I refuse to believe there's no explanation.