Played this game for the first time when I was 14 shortly after I played 'Undertale'. Back then, I thought that a game's story had to be a fictional and quirky to be good. That the characters had to be likable caricatures based on tropes that we like in media to be loved. That the game overall has to be a gameplay-experience to be a game.
But this game changed my perspective on all of that.
The story, atmosphere, characters, aesthetic, and everything else feels so much like real life and home to me, and has been so for 3 years.
No other video game made me connect, relate to, and feel as the characters could actually be real like this one did. No other video game made me connect to a main protagonist as though I felt my life, growing up was their's.
This wasn't just a game, it wasn't just an experience either. It was an experience that connected me to characters, taught me about life, and changed the way I see many things.
All the while, still maintaining a decent gameplay, great music, fleshed-out writing, and an absolutely amazing graphical style that I can't commend enough.