You weren't kidding about nasty... The game is incredibly unforgiving and will punish you for the slightest error. Worse, unless there's more than one way to win the game, there's a lot of red herrings as well. Fortunately, this all makes winning the game very rewarding, & the trial-&-error method does force you to learn & is reminiscent of much older, harder games. The writing is usually well done where it counts (you know what I mean). Unfortunately, variation in character actions & responses is a bit lacking, & there are no hints, so it can pretty difficult @ times simply figuring out what to do. Also, the good ending felt cut short a bit. Overall, though, still a very good, though punishing, game & well worth your time (though probably not so for homosexuals).