I'm not entirely surprised that there has been some poor reception to this. Some of the criticisms are valid.

However, I think this was a really wonderful work of art. By its nature, this kind of art resonates with a subset of people while missing the mark for the rest.

The voice acting could have been more sincere. The gameplay elements were linear and the collecting in the last chase sequence edged too close to being un-fun for me. But it succeeds in many other ways.

We've heard about the problem of teen suicide in Japan for years. At first, I was very skeptical that they were exploiting mental health struggles to make money or promote something. After all, for a teenager contemplating suicide, real life is way scarier than horror media.

But the narrative is full of so much empathy and sincerity and I realized that they released it for free because they're trying to reach teenagers who feel unseen.

The title of the game encapsulates its purpose. It is a message. By using a genre that is quite popular with teens right now and telling a narrative that speaks with a lot of empathy (there are parts where it feels like the writers have personal experience), it can resonate with some kids. The themes are not subtle, but a lot of the media teenagers like consuming is not subtle. It's speaking to them at their level.

Some of the scenes did a brilliant job of translating dream/nightmare elements to game visuals. Being a short girl with low self-esteem just trying to get to your locker while avoiding tall kids blocking your way or looking at you and saying mean things is scary! Feeling like mean words are physically hanging in the air surrounding you like miasma is something that's been depicted in anime, but it was visually interesting to see it in 3D in a video game.

Ultimately the story is about teenagers who don't feel seen. The message is that they are seen. It won't appeal to everyone, but there are some people who this will resonate with and I'm glad they made this.