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[birdy51]

Doing some research, all of their files contain little secrets, though not all of them are picture based. They end up leading to some really creepy pasta shit once you go down the rabbit hole far enough.

That said... Thoughts!

I like to think that this game has sort of changed my views on people suffering from mental illness. It helps to think that sometimes, there is a bit of Monica pressing down and making things worse for a person. Only, instead of Monica, it's their own bodies playing hell on them. The only thing one can do, I to simply be with them. Sometimes their illness gets it's way and other times their true personality soars.

[Egan_BW]

On a considerably sillier note, I want to point out how the end part of this game follows the same arc as Portal 2.

So, the main antagonist has the player trapped in a space which she has total control over, and wants to hang out / test with you forever and ever.
Player doesn't like that, and does some stuff to depose the villain. As a side effect, a other, seemingly harmless character is put in the same position of power, and pretty much instantly turns to evil. Probably even worse than the antagonist, because they're not intended for that spot.
Original antagonist returns and helps the player depose the new antagonist, and decides to let the player go rather than try to trap them or take revenge. And sings you a nice song.

[Jimmy]

Finished this game in one sitting last night, regular ending, not secret ending since I didn't use spoilers for the playthrough.

Thoughts:

I don't usually (read: ever) play the dating sim genre, but since I knew going in there were plot twists, I decided to give it a shot. There's a huge amount of text and 90% of the game is pressing the left mouse button to get the next text bubble, which validates my previous opinions of the base game genre.

The game makes heavy use of anime tropes in order to subvert them later. I don't much care for anime of this genre either, but again I was prepared to go through it to get the twist at the end.

When it came to gameplay, I immediately locked on to the character Yuri for the choice of who to show interest towards during the main game sequences. Mostly because at the start, she was the only one that looked even remotely adult, and towards the end, because who wouldn't want to date a girl that's completely devoted to your happiness and has a thing for kinky fetishes?

Anyway, left clicked my way through the game for a few hours, got the first restart after losing Girl Next Door to teen angst, got to start to see the subversion of the genre in the next playthrough with glitch goodies before Yuri comes to a sticky end. The sequence here got me for a moment until I discovered the Skip command, and I really enjoyed the time lapse sequence you're rewarded with during this phase, especially the subtle changes in the static Yuri image.

The style choices in the creepypasta portions weren't something I found too emotionally triggering, but then I don't suppose I was ever going to become emotionally invested in the characters in the first place. I enjoyed the meta level of the game with deleting Monika's file, which raises the bar of the total game and does something interesting beyond left clicking.

Overall, I'd rate this game favorably. I feel like the game does a decent job of playing with the structure and expectations of what a game should be, through subverting established tropes. The plot wasn't able to get me emotionally invested to any great degree, but that's likely due to personal taste more than anything else.

If I had to pick a metric for comparison, I'd rank this against The Stanley Parable. Both games use stylistic choices within the game to allow breaking the 4th wall between the player and the game's character. Both use subversion of expectations to create disunity between the expected course of the game's narrative and the true outcome. Both utilize restarts as a tool to allow progressive exploration of the game content. I think The Stanley Parable does it better, but that's just, like, my opinion, man.

I also liked the poems. Would have liked to read more of those during the game instead of creepypasta.

[Derpy Dev]

Haven't finished yet, but here are some slightly spoilerific notes and questions I have. And I'm not really looking for an answer, I just wanna chat about what I have in mind. So thoughts so far:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

First, this is before the festival, last time I saved was right before you go in to help Natsumi bake. And I've written all my poems so far for Natsumi too.
Now I almost cried when Sayori explained her depression. I haven't talked about this before, but that's probably the most relatable thing in this game so far. It's not uncommon for me to feel super depressed for one reason or another but try to keep a smile, and hearing her say that she did the same broke my heart
Also, this is where the game becomes horror for me, because now I'm actually worrying about these characters. I worry about Sayori's well-being so much and am terrified of the thought of something happening to her. Enough so that it makes me almost not want to open the game again because I know this is a horror game and what comes next might not be something I like. I can only pray that things go well for her.
Other notes and questions:
Is Natsumi being abused? I mean, she keeps talking about her father in a way that makes me feel like she's in a sour spot family wise.
Does Monika know she's in a game? The first clue to this theory was her first poem, Hole In The Wall.

Her saying it was inspired by an "epiphany" just adds more fuel to this theory. And she keeps saying other things too, just adding more and more fuel to this fire. Like how she said that a joke, "lost it's meaning in translation." Like what does that even mean in universe? Since it follows some many anime tropes, could this possibly be, in universe, a Japanese dating sim that got corrupted during translation somehow?
That's my spew about this game so far. I'm really loving it and am super invested in these characters. I just hope nothing bad happens to them,
 even if I know it's inevitable.

EDIT: Oh, and I forgot to mention this, but I found this in the game log:

Screen sizes: virtual=(1280, 720) physical=(1184, 666) drawable=(1184, 666)

That's right, the physical and drawable screen sizes are 1184 by 666. If that isn't on purpose I don't know what is.

[Egan_BW]

Hehe. [REDACTED]
Okay, I typed some stuff, but really it's probably best if you don't know anything.

[heydude6]

Well Derpy, I don't want to ruin your experience, but if you want to find out more about Natsuki, you should continue writing poems for her after the festival. Also, don't read anything else in this thread. It will spoil you like it spoiled me (I only got slightly spoiled thankfully, I was still suprised by the horror and mostly got the intended experience. Only one moment was weakened).

I'm just curious, but what version of the game are you using? The steam version or the one downloaded off of the official website?

PS: Hang in there, the game gets very tough at some points, but it's worth it if you stick with it until the end. You'll know when you see the credits

[Derpy Dev]

Well Derpy, I don't want to ruin your experience, but if you want to find out more about Natsuki, you should continue writing poems for her after the festival. Also, don't read anything else in this thread. It will spoil you like it spoiled me (I only got slightly spoiled thankfully, I was still suprised by the horror and mostly got the intended experience. Only one moment was weakened).

I'm just curious, but what version of the game are you using? The steam version or the one downloaded off of the official website?

PS: Hang in there, the game gets very tough at some points, but it's worth it if you stick with it until the end. You'll know when you see the credits

1. Spelled her name wrong apparently lol. Thought it was Natsumi.
2. Thanks for the tip, I'll do that.
3. The version you download off of itch.io.

[Egan_BW]

Wait, where was this game very tough? I just clicked Forward a bunch of times and horrible things happened to other people. Which is about par for videogame stories, really.

[Jimmy]

Yep, it's mostly an interactive novel. The game as such isn't especially challenging or difficult to complete.

Welp, I went back and did a replay of this to get the special ending. Not much changed overall, except a bit of backstory to Natsuki that I didn't get on the first run. If you wanted to know her lore Derpy, pick Natsuki to focus on writing for after the first reset, then pay attention to Monika's replies when you show the group your poems.

Still a decent way to spend a few hours killing time. My favorite animation definitely has to be the single frame Natsuki vomit splash on the day of the festival ver. 2.0.

[Derpy Dev]

OH MY GOD.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

...
...there are no words.
No words that can describe this.

Nothing I can say will fully express how terrible I feel right now. I... just...

Okay! First! Thought dump!

First thought: WHAT THE ACTUAL ****.
Second... okay so. Monika. I'm looking at you right now you sick creature. What did you say to her? What did you do? Don't think I didn't catch that line Monika! WHAT DID YOU TELL SAYORI?
Third: I mean... I actually feel like crying right now. That was just too awful. Everything just feels so hurt inside... I knew what was going to happen to as soon as I told Sayori I'd always be her best friend... I feel like such an asshole. Oh god... Undertale has taught me that I probably can't just reset either can I? This just corrupted my save file didn't it?
Fourth: WHY IS HAPPY MUSIC STILL PLAYING RIGHT NOW? I AM IN GRIEF AND THIS IS HOW YOU TREAT ME GAME. WHY.
Fifth: Two new game files just popped up. One is called hxppy thxughts and is the creepiest picture in the world. The other is a traceback file with the following data:

RestartTopContext: Oh jeez...I didn't break anything, did I? Hold on a sec, I can probably fix this...I think...
Actually, you know what? This would probably be a lot easier if I just deleted her. She's the one who's making this so difficult. Ahaha! Well, here's goes nothing.

If you flipping delete Sayori I swear to god I'm uninstalling this game.

Played this at like 9:00 PM too... I'm gonna need to sit down and think for a bit. Note to self: don't play horror games before bed.

[Egan_BW]

Yeah. This is where things get FUN~
Don't feel too bad about your own actions. This is definitely someone else's fault.

[Dorsidwarf]

I went into this really enthusiastically with high hopes but after over an hour in I suddenly realised where the game was going, and that i just wasn't invested at all in the characters.

And if I don't care about the plot that's being laid on really thick for me, and I can't bring myself to care about a single one of the characters (yes even you Monika), I guess there's nothing to make me want to keep playing a graphic adventure... novel... game... however you describe it


On the other hand it was free, and I like free things.

Overall rating: Don't See What The Big Deal Is About/10

[Derpy Dev]

I've decided that I can't possibly wait till morning to continue this, so I've decided why not, I'll continue this right now. This is what happened.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

So I'm gonna start by pressing new game... or rather, the garble of characters taking the place of the new game button.

Wait that's supposed to be Sayori's dialogue isn't it? Yeah that is! Oh god she really was deleted wasn't she.
Yeah it's replacing her name with random characters. Oh god.
wut. Didn't have enough time to screenshot that but... wut. You probably know what I'm talking about, she showed up and her picture just flashed with random graphics and the music started flipping out.

Hatter(I named my character that):Meanwhile, I've always walked to school alone.

Bullshit.

Oh hello there. What's going on? Did you enjoy a good suicide pun recently you monster?

Monika: Oh my goodness, I totally didn't expect to see you here!

Oh really?
Game flipped out when she said literature club. I feel like this'll happen a lot.

If you think I'm buying that sick smile for even one second Hatter you're wrong.
Might have had a heart attack because of the most recent glitch-out.
Okay interesting... both Monika and Yuri caused the game to glitch when they showed up, but not Natsuki? Is it just because I pursued her storyline?

Natsuki: So let me guess... You're Monika's boyfriend right?

No. Way. In. HELL.

Monika: And this is Yuri, the vice president!

Wait, Sayori was the last vice president. Is Yuri going to die now?
I like how Hatter is completely oblivious to the fact that I'm glaring daggers at Monika... for once, he is the oblivious one.

Yuri: Isn't it amazing how a writer can so deliberately take advantage of your own lack of imagination to completely throw you for a loop?

...this game literally threw me for a loop because I reset. Holy hell that's meta.

You see that smile Hatter? That's the devil's smile.

...this is getting more meta by the second. Excuse me? What does that mean? Mind explaining? What? I'm guessing Sayori is the third party. She's the one who... er... anyways you get what I'm saying. But does that make Monika the first girl? Probably.
Oh wow this is the first time I'm noticing because I'm trying to save... it deleted all my save slots. Guess I really can't reset. Sayori is just freaking gone. Oh God.
Okay picking between Yuri and Natsuki... if I had to guess, Yuri is the right answer because I think she's dying next. So I'll see if that can work out.
Well I'm done with this mad house of a game for now. This is just a single post special I bet... unlikely that I'll do a post like this again. So don't expect another update like this for a while.
Bye for now. I need to think.

EDIT: New notepad appeared called, "CAN YOU HEAR ME". This game sure does love its creep factor.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

"There's a little devil inside all of us."

Beneath their manufactured perception - their artificial reality - is a
writhing, twisted mess of dread. Loathing. Judgment. Elitism. Self-doubt.
All thrashing to escape the feeble hold of their host, seeping through every
little crevice they can find. Into their willpower, starving them of all
motivation and desire. Into their stomach, forcing them to drown their guilt in
comfort food. Or into a newly-opened gash in their skin, hidden only by the
sleeves of a cute new shirt.
Such a deplorable, tangled mass is already present in every single one of them.
That's why I choose not to blame myself for their actions.

All I did was untie the knot.

O.o
I want to draw attention to one specific line thought:

Or into a newly-opened gash in their skin, hidden only by the
sleeves of a cute new shirt.

I called it didn't I? Natsuki really is being abused isn't she?

[Egan_BW]

ACTUALLY

[heydude6]

Wait, where was this game very tough?

I mean't emotionally speaking. There are people out there who literally cannot complete the game because it's too devastating for them. I'm not one of them, but I do feel sorry for those who can't experience it in its fullest.

Stay calm Derpy. I also had to take a break after Sayori died.