ROGUE

Don't worry about being too harsh, you certainly weren't that and I don't feel attacked or hurt in any way. I ask because I genuinely want to know the opinion of people who play/read my stuff in order to improve later down the road.

Why is it meant to be unpleasant? I genuinely think that there's something interesting in exploring unpleasant scenarios, that's all. It's a bit selfish from me, I suppose, but I mostly write for myself, and then just release it into the world, since people sometimes enjoy it for some reason. You say that nobody likes an unpleasant game, but statistically, the most unpleasant games I ever wrote tend to be the most popular ones. I guess it all boils down to personal tastes? I completely understand if the things I make aren't for everyone (and I actually keep reminding people that they shouldn't read my works if they're uncomfortable with certain topics).

You can say this is not a game; to be fair, I wouldn't call it one either. I chose the "visual novel" designation because of the format the story is presented in is reminiscent of the way traditional VNs are formatted. There's "kinetic novel" tag attached to this game because it doesn't have any choices on purpose. You are powerless in this situation and the brain frying is inevitable, therefore I thought implementing choices would take away from hammering that point home. However, I do agree that the story could be better with some dialogue choices in there! I might look into that and maybe make a better edition in the future. I also agree that the issue's not presented in a very nuanced matter. Still, I need to say that I don't see visual novels as a "way to express yourself" as a player, but more like a vehicle with which a story is told. That's a personal philosophy thing though, I suppose.

Before I answer the last point, I'm going to say this. It's fine to dislike the experience! I don't consider it a particularly polished or well-made work either, but it's been made on a VERY short notice. Not that it excuses lack of quality and such, but it's an explanation for some things. I just made it for fun in a very short timeframe, according to the theme of the jam which revolves around men/men-adjacent characters who have a drive to kill and will act on it. If it's not for you, that's absolutely fine and I understand it. Also, thank you for taking your time to tell me what you disliked in a polite way! I'm making notes for the future projects.

Now, to the power trip part. I like to explore a variety of character types in my works to try and understand mindsets different than my own, and this includes people who are terrible. Rogue is no different; I wrote him because I wanted to explore an eccentric murder guy mindset (which probably didn't come across that well, considering how surface level it was...). This story is Rogue's power trip, I can't deny that; he killed many people before, he'll kill many people in the future, and he's never been caught or stopped. But this is Rogue's power trip, not mine. I didn't deliver a lot of enjoyment from putting myself in this scenario, I don't particularly want to be in Rogue's place here. I'm not Rogue. As to profile picture similarities: they might seem similar because they're made out of simple shapes. The character in my profile picture is called Little Guy, and they're my persona that I use for my dev "work". For every game premiere, I switch the Little Guy for a game-specific variant: in case of te/ra/to/ma and ROGUE, it's a monochromatic, dithered variant, consistent with Decker aesthetic (usually, Little Guy is rendered in color!). Little Guy design was also made way earlier than Rogue's. Little Guy's made out of a face for a circle and a rectangle for body; they don't have ears or mouth, and their eyes are lines. Rogue's a bit more "realistic" with his body shape, he has ears (though in the wrong place, so you might not notice it on the first look lmao) and mouth, and his eyes are ovals. They're only similar because their designs are simple on purpose, but other than that, I can't see anything else. 

Either way! Thank you for taking your time to reply to me. Sorry for the essay, too.