Baby Dreams

short and sweet :) the pace is fast, but it gets to the heart of the matter with each of the characters quite well I’d say. I like the difference in approaches each of them have, playing Nikki’s route second was especially surprising with how bold she is. really nice art too, especially the best endings :3 and thank you for making the protagonist gender-neutral!

one thing that bugged me though was the blackmail gambit in Nikki’s route. I get the impression that she wasn’t serious about it, or only meant it as a defense, but the protagonist is repeatedly worried about it for the whole route. even though the game is clearly lighthearted, it feels oddly manipulative- though the issue to me is more that it doesn’t fit the tone of the game, rather than there being something wrong with writing about such a dynamic. plus, perhaps ironically, the good ending has a brief exchange where Nikki says she’ll drop it, but the best ending leaves it up in the air still… maybe by that point Adrian is into it? :P

edit: forgot to share my thoughts on this, but I appreciate that Nikki is given such sympathetic treatment for her relationship problems. irl I’m polyamorous, and love triangle tropes bother me b/c of the enforced monogamy, but I don’t feel any of that frustration with Nikki’s situation. like she says, she cheats on her partners because she is so used to them cheating on her. it would have been easy for the narrative to deride her for it, but I think it’s great that she comes to terms with the unhealthy cycle being perpetuated and seeks to break it. it’s a refreshing change from the binary mode I often see cheating portrayed in, as either something to be glazed over or exaggerated as inherently evil.

I really enjoyed this, even though it wasn't totally finished. Good work on it!