Attention mates!@ spoilers lie here within as I was to excited to include them as I wrote, you've been warned ⚠
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TL;DR:
This game is fucking Amazing, if u want a quick fap....look elsewhere, however IF you love well developed characters (pun intended ), professional world building, gorgeous assets & an excellently crafted story that may just punch ya right in the feels, Hillside is an outstanding project that you shouldn't let slip by!!
Ok 1st off I'd like to say WOW...as I have no other words. I somehow found 2 or 3 bad review/post(s) for this game....I almost deleted it before even trying it. I told myself how bad can it be & that I'd liked games that had a few bad reviews before so why not? Not trying this game would've been a HUGE mistake.
When I started it I kept asking myself how?....how could this have bad reviews...its decent so far. By Ep. 4 I Loved the game, by Ep. 9 I knew why......haters...but haters of what? Adorably Cute blondes? Smoking hawt supermodel milfs? Excellent writing? Masterfully crafted emotional hooks? I could go on with the sarcasm but the gist is this is an AMAZING game and one should Never dismiss a game based on a few bad reviews. I've never cared what folks think of me so I've always been able to provide maybe too honest of a review/ praise/ criticism like this: I'm not sure what responses you're going for as a dev/writer but when players are emotionally vested in your characters it provides a much more immersive / enjoyable expirence imho.
You've done this in spades! I'll happily admit this game got me teary-eyed quite a few times, I even cried a couple times...not bawling like a baby mind but the rawness of specific scenes (not even all the ones someone may think were tear-worthy) just hit home. Also the pacing is about as realistic as I'd imagine it can get, in other games a character like Emma, in which it was the writings intent to make you feel a familial bond before sexual/romantic attraction there was always a point in which I'd go 'ok that was where it went from 'I need to keep her safe & love her' to 'Omg I need dat bootie'. I can see the pathing to her as a L.I. but tbh, for the 1st time Ever I'm caring more about her as a father figure than a L.I. Kudos to you for the project on the whole and i hope the writer feels pride at this, Please keep up the phenomenal work!!!