hi!
I want to express my endless admiration for your hard work on this fangame. Starting such an ambitious project is one thing, finishing it and publishing it is another. I once saw your progress reports on it - back in March, if I'm not mistaken. And a few days ago, well, I was pleasantly surprised that the fangame finally saw the light of day. Again, this is a a huge achievement. I admire you not only as an fellow Norwells fan now, but also as an another content creator. I hope you are proud of yourself!
That being said, the game itself is quite intriguing. It looks nice, it's simple and short; the plot, sprites, interface design - all of it had been done and put in together very neatly. It's clear that a lot of effort and passion was invested into the creation of this game.
To avoid spoilers, I will refrain from commenting on specific aspects of the plot, but I want to say that you managed to fit everything into a short running time quite competently. There are tangible conflicts between characters, outside and inside turmoils; there's a logical starting point, necessary bits of backstory, but most importantly, the endings.
Oh yeah. THE endings.
Again, I'm doing my best to refrain from spoiling, although I really want to just... start yapping and praising your writing. It's almost like I'm back in better times, when Norwells used to give me hours of pure brainrot. Wow. Just, wow. Thank you.
Each of the endings really fit into the story. I was absolutely ecstatic that you were not afraid to explore all these topics that are usually called either extreme or simply problematic. Hell, I absolutely needed to dive into something more entertaining and complex than the usual Idv stuff I'm seeing. Studying characters and their motivations from such perspectives is so fun.
Also, maybe because of that, the 3rd ending seemed... unexpectedly naïve to me at first, you know? But Nathaniel’s last line put everything back in its place. SOMEHOW. I'm still not sure whether it was an intentional thing or not, but. Your big brain never ceases to amaze me. This game is sooo good - and that's exactly what I've been saying this whole time. You did AMAZING. This game is amazing. YOU are amazing. Thank you a million times. I'm afraid no words would be enough to properly express my gratitude.
I'm sure that you've already faced some amount of hate for posting such content. I’m also sure that you don't need me writing you long encouragement posts - at this point, you probably already know how to deal with all this crap. Which is good.
What I'm saying is, you are likely to receive more attention than usual in the near future - both positive and negative. Unfortunately, the Internet can be a nasty place. As much as it can be a good one.
I wish you enough confidence to not pay attention to the haters and lots of inspiration for your future projects, be it Idv-related or not. Take care, dear author!
And thank you, again. <з