Thank you! It's good to be here!
It would seem that Drifty had a clear vision for this game. There are games where the crazier 'kinks' would fit with the story, or where it doesn't matter because it's about having fun and not about emotional depth. I think it's natural to want more at the end of something when you have enjoyed the journey. But wanting more of the author's own work is different from demanding that the author deviate from the story to cater to events/kinks/etc that do not fit the narrative is unfair. (For example a 'harem' ending. Some games, yes. Not this type of game.)
I really connected with LoF. No, it's not 100% realistic (getting invited to a multi-millionaire popstar's mansion for the summer on a whim is pretty fantastic), but the characters feel real. That said, I tend to connect to strong emotions, especially sadness, and I have an easy time connecting to virtual characters... Movies/Games/Books. In cases like LoF it's even easier, where the characters
aren't real but
could be real.
I enjoyed it so much that I want other people to go into it as 'blind' as I did and find out for themselves if they Enjoy it. I only found this game because I saw it pop up on sale on a completely different platform. It was a VN that got all 5* reviews, which is frankly a rare thing. I didn't read much about it before deciding to give it a try. I'm glad that I did. And I am SUPER glad that it was completed already when I discovered it. Because boy, I would have been upset if I couldn't play the whole thing in one sit-down.
I think you hit the nail on the head with what you said about Acting Lessons. It's been a while since I played it. But when I did, the ending hit me hard. It was the loss of control. Of being unable to do
anything.
But games like this remind me of Sam's speech in LotR:
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You have to stick through the dark parts to get to the good.