OH MAN. oh mannnnn where do I even start ;______; it took me a while to get around to playing this, so sorry for the late review but. TOO MANY FEELS AUGHUGH
I got Ending #2,
kind of afraid to try again because hOLY FRICK what if I make a wrong choice and something.. really bad happens to Michael omg cry
Guess I'll start from the beginning!! Or at least from after the demo -- I really liked the art style of the sprites, BGs, CGs etc; everything fit together really well and fit the theme/story really well too. * v * The GUI was simple but really nice and fitting; it did its job while looking great basically, haha. I really like how the music room is structured; it's great that the credit for artists is pretty central, and you even give us the album cover and name. Your music choices were super interesting!! Honestly didn't expect them; actually listening to the music room as I'm typing this rn lolol, my favorites so far might be from the Yukiai no Sora album and Cuori Nel Vento~~ They're all great though and fit the mood really well!!
As for the plot/characters, OHMAN. Just going to put this all under spoiler lol;;;
ughhhh. ughhhhhhh I DONT EVEN KNOW HOW TO BEGIN DESCRIBING HOW I FEEL RIGHT NOW. obviously I cried at the end, I WAS SCREAMING AT EMMETT TO GO ON, GO SAVE MICHAEL, IF YOU DONT MOVE RIGHT THIS INSTANT YOUNG MAN i will crash into this game somehow and make you ohmygod-
but yeah I had a really bad feeling when Michael was like "I'm cheating on you" because it just.. IT JUST FELT WRONG. Because obviously Michael wouldn't cheat on Emmett, and judging from his self-hate and depression and just- it obviously felt like he was just pushing Emmett away again, except this time in a much more extreme way because something terrible had happened. The bits from Michael's POV were.. this is really corny haha but they were really heart-wrenching? I really liked the CGs/images when he was thinking about Emmett, even though it made it even more painful ahrhghghhg. But it just felt like you weren't just hearing his thoughts, you were literally seeing things from his point of view too? Like everything's crashing down, he can't even see straight, can't think clearly -- it was really, really great.
For the Roger scene!! omg, absolutely didn't expect that LOLOLO WHAT EVEN. it was kind of cute and I'll admit, I'd ship RogerxEmmett HAHA.... it was kind of sad that Emmett just left him like that, not even a 'Thank you' or anything; but it's understandable given the situation he's in. The scene where Emmett is at Skyy's house, reaching for the alcohol -- that was really terrifying because I could easily see Skyy giving in, maybe "just this once," and just.. I don't know, everything spiraling downhill for Emmett too? Also because I've kind of been through a similar situation (friend drinking in high school) and it's really.. scary, idk. It's hard to describe but that was a pretty raw moment, arhghghh.
And finally the last scene, ohgod. Ohmannnnnnnn. I don't think there's much else I can say other than that I cried a lot, I was so scared for Michael, I was preparing myself for.. well, yeah, and I was worried Emmett wouldn't get there in time or Michael would become agitated and y'know, do it anyway and aGRGHH I COULD CRY AND DID AT THE END OUT OF RELIEF OMG. Even though it wouldn't have been realistic, I almost hoped for a fluffy "everything's going to be ok now" ending because I feel like there might be a repeat in the future, omg ;_____; So it was kind of bittersweet and made me cry even more buckets haha, but I liked that you made this decision; it's also kind of comforting, in a way, to think that Emmett knows this isn't the end? To not be content and think that everything's ok now? Because that means he'd watch out for Michael still, and keep trying to find out more about him, and pay attention to signs etcetc.
This is becoming super disorganized ahaha, but CHARACTERSS. Gosh, Emmett's mom is so so great ;_____;; I'm really glad that we got to see a bit more about her; the scene where she advises Emmett is really really great. And although it was worrying, I actually liked that Emmett didn't just pour everything out to her -- it keeps the responsibility on himself, which.. I'm not sure is the best thing to do logically, but it was the most realistic thing that could have happened? So it was pretty refreshing, even though at the same time I was like "ARGHHH EMMETT I'M SURE YOUR MOM DOESN'T CARE IF YOU LIKE A GUY, IT'S MORE IMPORTANT THAT MICHAEL GETS HELP OMGGMOGM"
I also liked Skyy!! I wish I could have seen more about her, but I understand that the game's already pretty long as it is u v u And in a way it kind of makes sense, psychologically? Like as soon as Michael enters Emmett's world it's all about him; so from Emmett's point of view, he'd think about Michael a lot more. It was a bit strange that Jose sort of just disappeared after the beginning, but I'm not going to complain because there was enough drama as it is, haha orz (not that it's a bad thing!!! Just would make me feel even worse for Emmett and Michael, having to go through so much ;___;;; )
Roger was also lovable yesssss.
Overall you dealt with a lot of really sensitive topics (like whoa, there was.. a whole lot more than I'd expected ack) and honestly it was.. painful to go through? Definitely not in a bad way, but just. UGH. Like the alcohol thing I mentioned earlier, I think you touch on a lot of experiences that people might be able to relate to/would strike a nerve kinda, which is honestly really amazing already. Yet you also handle these realistically, which is even more painful hAHA, but also that much more amazing.
Sorry this is super incoherent and rambly and REALLY REALLY LONG ackkk, BUT TL;DR THAT WAS REALLY GREAT, EVERYTHING FIT WELL AND NOW I HAVE A LOT OF FEELS THAT IDK WHAT TO DO WITH UGH. Will probably give the other endings a try later - would you maybe consider putting up a walkthrough at some point..? ; v ;;