KAFRO'S PROFILE

author=Kylaila
Yeah, I've been there. And the lower left door is blocked by the shadow, lower right turns me right back (probably was already there), but when I go back through the upper left door, go back up and check the door, it says "still locked"

Sorry for all the trouble.

Apologies, but what you're describing is not possible. While there is a similar hallway on the second floor that has a room on the lower right which turns you around, the door on the first floor is only coded to allow players to go inside. Are you sure you didn't get the two confused?

If you could perhaps upload some visuals of what you are experiencing that would be helpful, of course.

I'll have to take my leave for now, but I'll be back later tonight (Pacific Time) if you're still having trouble. In the meantime, if I may suggest a potential solution, redownloading the game and copying your save files over might work. Thank you very much for bearing with the game despite this conundrum!

Hello! Thank you so much for taking the time to review my game. I'm terribly sorry that I did not notice this review sooner, especially since I somehow commented on the game's main page on a later date without noticing it. I'd also like to apologize if my following response comes off as too wordy, defensive, or otherwise odd in any manner — it's been a while since I've made anything creative and received critique for it.

(A note to other readers: This response contains slight spoilers.)

To begin with, quite frankly, the majority of the game from the second stage onward was produced within the last week before the IGMC deadline, give or take a few days. I ended up rushing out designs and dialogue with minimal editing (save for a few conversations I typed down beforehand), and while I'm not entirely unhappy with the finished product, I definitely felt my lack of time and experience was obvious even on the day I made it public.

I'm happy to hear that you found Suit's character arc engaging, even though I had to give up on several opportunities to further embellish his character. In particular, I feel as though I could have foreshadowed his true dilemma better, further explained his distrust for getting help from professionals he does not know personally, and made the "Happy Place" in the third stage actually have a place in the narrative. Along with that, the idea that Suit could solve his true dilemma without remembering it is complete garbage, but unfortunately I was literally a day away from the deadline when I coded that part down.

This dissatisfaction is, of course, in addition to all the glaring inconsistencies about the technology utilized in the game. (Why does the coyote notice them when humans do not? What exactly are the logistics of singling out a state of mind as opposed to a memory? Whose bright idea was it to make literally fighting memories a requirement for the procedure? Why are mind zombies?)

However, while I can certainly agree that I could have written Glasses's character better — especially with respect to his attitudes toward his profession — I never particularly saw the need to give him layers or a form of inner conflict. After all, this is Suit's story, and I intended Glasses to be a comparatively calm, stable individual to Suit, as well as a source of (perhaps blunt) positivity to his negativity. In essence, I meant for Glasses to adopt the kind of stance I imagine a well-meaning but not wholly placating friend would take if they were to respond to Suit's rather standard regrets.

The other ending was another idea I had in mind when beginning the project that turned out half-baked by the end. It's the kind of ending that only adds to the narrative if you see it first (which works against itself since I made it easy to meet the conditions for the longer ending), and even then only barely. In its current state it doesn't particularly give another interesting perspective to the plot or characters, so it's fine that you skipped it.

Lastly, I'll address the rather light take on the agreeably dark subject matter. While it was never my intention, the idea for this game's story ended up somewhat similar to a story-based game that also involved memory-changing themes, To The Moon. That game, while also lighthearted at many points, utilized its memory-changing technology in a more controversial procedure and addressed it thusly. Consequently, I felt that giving focus to the contentious aspects of the procedure in Null Regrets would be retreading old ground, and instead I thought about how such technology could be used in a more justifiable form — which is why the memory-wiping in Null Regrets is stated to be primarily used to aid victims of abuse and PTSD. Perhaps I could have done more to imply that the casual use of the procedure is atypical, but I felt that the comments about 'tiers' sufficed.

That isn't to say that I ever expected players to completely empathise with the game's procedure or characters though, nor did I ever intend for the message of the game to be "regrets are something that should be banished along with the memories that induce them." I simply set out to create a short story grounded in reality involving a debatable subject matter; I wanted to let players decide their own level of empathy or disdain towards its progression and conclusion, despite how the game itself only focuses on one angle of the affair. While I may have failed at conveying that, I am nonetheless very glad to hear that, in the end, the game made you ponder its themes after you finished playing, even if only for a moment.

A couple more minor things I'll list that don't really fit into anything above:

• 'Suit' and 'Glasses' are honestly even less than nicknames. I was originally going to have no form of nomenclature attributable to both allies and enemies, but that made battle targeting harder to read.
• I'm happy to hear that you enjoyed the in-game manual. I did that on a whim one day solely because I thought it would be funny.
• A question: Did you happen to experience the bug wherein the game would crash during battles? If so, I'd like to know so I can gather more information that could potentially help me fix the issue.

Dang, sorry that this response wound up so long — hopefully it was insightful in some form. Again, thank you very much for taking the time to review my game. I sincerely appreciate it.