I don’t need every game needs to have a happy ending, or even be “fun”, because gameplay isn't everything when it comes to enjoying a game experience. A lot of walking simulators for example may have miserable gameplay experiences (looking at you, Pathologic), but the story and exploration of the world is what keeps the player interested, engaged and coming back for more. But when the player isn't engaged in the characters or the world - when the game gives nothing to care about - any attempts at invoking emotional reactions from the player falls flat.

Unfortunately this game falls flat. It's a very short, unsatisfying game (an intentional choice by the developer) which tries to convince the player that they have the choice to treat their T-Gotchi girl well and then blames them for the inevitable death of the girl. Ultimately, this is a story of the player being an abuser and the T-Gotchi being abused. This experience hinges on the player feeling empathy for the T-Gotchi, but I just didn't care about her. The character feel incredibly one-dimensional and there's hardly any dialogue to get you to be emotionally invested, leading to a sense of nothingness when she inevitably dies. It feels like the endings were there to evoke that emotional response from the player without doing anything to actually earn that response.

While it's an interesting concept and it's clear the developer has big ideas they want to explore, I think that overall this game doesn't live up to its potential, especially because it's so short (approx. 5-7 minutes). Hopefully Garage Heathen decides to re-explore these ideas and bring the concept justice!

Awesome game if you love feeling physically sick. Still love all the animations and endings. very charming despite well, the entire plot of it.