Great game! I loved the art style and story! Turning my love for cats against me was an evil thing to do xD I would've loved seeing more than one "true" or "good" ending with the adorable kitty, but I love stories that play with your heartstrings... It makes them more memorable. Great work, I hope you'll release another great story like this one!
Loving a creature you don't quite understand -- it's a reality and horror we cat lovers must contend with! Usually worth it, though :D Thank you for playing my game, I'm glad you liked it!
This game is cool.... (just finished it 3 minutes ago, i'm so emotionally drained, but it is really cool! it's just much more dark then i thought, hahaha--)
This game... oogh... this game was amazing. i was NOT expecting this from a free game i found randomly on itch. it had a lot of hard work into it, and some times i actually felt scared/fearful of the "cat". probably the ending that got my hairs to go up the most would probably be the mystery food ending, ooogh... okay, but back on track, i just finished the game, and my mind is blown. i almost cried when getting my final ending. this is soooo much more than just a silly little horror game with a cat. i thought the mc was very cool too, i was very suprised when i would get little tidbits of lore from getting certain amounts of endings (in a good way!). its actually kinda connects to me too, because i also am friends with a little stray black cat who ALSO has big yellow eyes (but i guess, that cat isn't an all consuming evil creature). theres plenty more i could say about this game, but im not really that good at ranting haha- really, i got more than i asked for from this game, in a good way. 8.5/10. really, really good. (this sounds so weird, im really just some random guy online who really liked a certain game.)
Thank you so much for your kind words! The mystery food ending was one of my favorites to write -- I kept thinking "How can I make this part put a pit in someone's stomach?" I'm glad that the game was able to feel scary for you, but also that you saw more beyond the horror. I really appreciate you giving my game a try. Thanks again!
Overall the gameplay mechanics and style are wonderful. It ran perfect and I loved all the choices you were able to make in it. Lots of work went into this game, very impressive. I cant wait to see what else the dev makes.
I love this game so much like omg i would very much let a silly monster that looks like a kitty cat do all that. love the cotton-head ending it's oddly sweet ^^
sorry for spelling) Ok so i made a fanfiction, so basically in this fanfiction the cat is not evil and is corrupted and controlled by another pet, A P U P P Y ive prepared ending dialouge as well this will start at the end of do not take this cat home without further ado lets start. Cat <please.. ill be good!> ( do not take this cat home?) (Take this cat home) you<TAKES THE CAT HOME> Cat<... Thank you for your love i have been freed.. i will be able to give you information about the corruption you can now only talk to me by a RITUAL tho i love you...> you<!!!???? what!> (you ponder over the black cat seems like the corruption(BLACK STRIPES) are coming out of the cat (apperantly its name is shadow).) i got this idea because pixieliminal stated the cat TRULY loves us so im thinking the cat is magical and im thinking someones possessing them CONTROLLING him, btw I can't draw but I made a comic-style drawing of this.
(sorry for spelling) Ok so i made a fanfiction, so basically in this fanfiction the cat is not evil and is corrupted and controlled by another pet, A P U P P Y ive prepared ending dialouge as well this will start at the end of do not take this cat home without further ado lets start. Cat <please.. ill be good!> ( do not take this cat home?) (Take this cat home) you<TAKES THE CAT HOME> Cat<... Thank you for your love i have been freed.. i will be able to give you information about the corruption you can now only talk to me by a RITUAL tho i love you...> you<!!!???? what!> (you ponder over the black cat seems like the corruption(BLACK STRIPES) are coming out of the cat (apperantly its name is shadow).) i got this idea because pixieliminal stated the cat TRULY loves us so im thinking the cat is magical and im thinking someones possessing them CONTROLLING him
I absolutely adore this game to pieces!! Every route was fun to read through and although tbh 40 endings are quite a lot, I'm very happy to see how well it was wrapped up in the true ending. It was very subtle but the tiny snippets of the MC's life, personality, and the way they think I LOVEDD every part of it ESP because when they get too relatable and with the way it was portrayed I really liked,, this game is one of those that I would give anything to play again for the first time thank you for such a wonderful game <33
ok this game is 100% 50 stars i cannot stand how good this game is i thought this would be your average wholesome game but WOW THIS GAME IS GOOD but i would 478238947932492383% take this cat home also Pixieliminalm the owner of dnttch {do not take this cat home} said that the cat/it loves us just dosent know how to show it [sorry for my spelling] also i like to think its being controlled its corrupted, that the black cat (apperantly named shadow) inside is a good loving warm soul of a kitty-cat!
(sorry for spelling) Ok so i made a fanfiction, so basically in this fanfiction the cat is not evil and is corrupted and controlled by another pet, A P U P P Y ive prepared ending dialouge as well this will start at the end of do not take this cat home without further ado lets start. Cat <please.. ill be good!> ( do not take this cat home?) (Take this cat home) you<TAKES THE CAT HOME> Cat<... Thank you for you love i have been freed.. i will be able to give you information about the corruption you can now only talk to me by a RITUAL tho i love you...> you<!!!???? what!> (you ponder over the black cat seems like the corruption(BLACK STRIPES) are coming out of the cat (apperantly its name is shadow).)
That's a cute idea! Thanks for your kind comments and for trying out the game. There's no official/canon name for the cat, but Shadow is a cool choice that makes IT sound mysterious!
I absolutely loved this game. Played it for stream and we had so much fun making all sorts of different decisions and watching the story unfold. This game was so much more than I expected and I loved it. I've even suggested it to friends to play as well.
okay first of all did not expect any of this at all yeah I knew it was a scary game but it was more than that. I didn't realize how much I related to the player in the game. ngl I almost shed a tear at how much I just relate to them. the cat is cute too there were times were I just wanted to keep it but anyway the game is just overall so much fun and so much more than a horror game. I finished it all in like an hour or 2 and honestly got all the endings and was pretty proud that I did that the actual ending of the game made me tear up joyfully also it was really cute. would recommend this to anyone
I know I already wrote a review but I want to comment it here too!
The game was awesome! I had a blast playing it! Here are some of my honest opinions about this game:
The game excels in its story writing, and some of the fourth-wall breaks got me a few times. The occasional moving pictures were done really well, but I would've loved it more if there was a Gallery button where you can see all the moving & non-moving pictures!
Some of my nitpicks are that around the ending sequence where you were chased by IT, I didn't like how tedious the process was to keep repicking the move left, move back and move right options since it's just trial and error until you get to the end. But maybe it was intentional since it's to show how much the cat will go just to pursue you though...
The mirror maze was something that has something similar going on but you could pick the difficulty so I had no problem with it!
All in all, the game was still fantastic and I really love the message at the end talking about the toxic and abusive relationship that happens in life, because that was something I didn't expect in this game and thought it's just the cat killing you in different ways :)
Hopefully you make more games soon! Be it cat-themed or not~
I'm glad the difficulty level for the maze game helped it up! Maybe the endgame chase sequence could've been more interesting if I randomized the order of the dodge buttons to add more tension. I'll have to think of that if I make a game like this again, it could be fun!
I'm also glad you liked the story and its ending. The ending in particular really means a lot to me, so I'm glad it resonated with you too!
Thank you for giving the game a try and playing all the way through! I appreciate it!
I've played a lot of visual novels in my days and this is by far hands down one of the best ones I have ever played. The story was great and I just couldn't seem to stop playing until I finally got every ending done and now just stare at the final menu screen. Absolutely amazing, Highly recommend this visual novel!
The most underrated and yet scariest visual novel horror in this generation andwe will never know that abomination of a cat's nameand I love it ᵇᵘᵗ ˢᵉʳⁱᵒᵘˢˡʸ ᵗʰᵉ ᶜᵃᵗ'ˢ ⁿᵃᵐᵉ﹖ ʷᵉ'ˡˡ ⁿᵉᵛᵉʳ ᵏⁿᵒʷ
I absolutely adored this game aaa!!!! It was so fun and funny to experience it with my friends on a discord Vc! :D I just have one tinnyyyyyyy question… is there a way to restart the game and remove all your progress in order to begin all the way at the beginning with no save data? I’m just curious :p needless to say tho I loved the game so much the cat was very cute :3
Thank you! I'm glad you and your friends enjoyed the game!
If you want to play again with a full reset, you'll have to delete ALL save/persistent data from TWO files -- one in the folder where you installed the game AND one in these platform-specific locations on your computer:
I created this account in order to comment on this masterpiece and by the way, if you don't mind, asking a few questions, which left me with a certain curiosity!
First of all, the game is absolutely incredible, the grammar, the story, "the cat", the terror, the jumpscares. Everything shows that it was done with a lot of effort and it was totally worth playing!
I must admit that I like the yandere genre and this game goes beyond the typical genre and tries a completely different one which I notice was successful.
About the questions (BEWARE SPOILER FOR THOSE WHO HAVE NOT PLAYED IT)
1- I have been left with the intrigue of knowing the name of the creature and its species.
I also wondered the objective of it after meeting the protagonist... Did I enjoy watching him suffer in a loop? or was it just something like their food?
2- What kind of love was the creature referring to? And what do you think is the definition of love for the monster? In the end, if the protagonist had accepted that he was going to behave better, would he really have done it? Or would he simply take advantage of the situation?
Sorry if they're a bit long!, but I really love the game! and...I was quite scared by the screemers hehe. thank you for everything!
now I know how to be cautious before making a mistake and having a toxic person as a partner, especially if it's a cat lol
IT's name and species are never meant to be known -- I wanted to use soft worldbuilding to give IT a kind of mystery that makes its actions feel more alien and terrifying. IT is somehow able to bend reality and consume the wills of its victims to become stronger -- but there's no telling why IT does this. Is it by choice or necessity? Either way, the outcome would be the same for the protagonist which is why the MC has to make the choice to willingly become another victim or break free by defeating IT.
IT does find pleasure in messing with the protagonist -- like a cat playing with its prey before eating it. But again, since IT's motives and nature are so alien, it's meant to be impossible to tell if it genuinely enjoys the torture due to some innate instinct, or if that's just how IT shows affection or if it's just a jerk. IT's victims become food that give IT more power, but there's more to it than just that.
IT truly loves every single one of the victims IT possesses.
But IT doesn't know how to love humans.
It's not a romantic or even friendly love. It's a love that doesn't quit or let up -- a love that stifles and suffocates and obsesses and consumes entirely. IT's love can appear reciprocal at times (like in ending 22 or 27) but everything given is meant to be of benefit to itself in the long run. It's a love that is willing to give everything so long as it gets that and more in return. That's the thought I had when writing the story.
IT's love is meant to be as alien as IT's actions-- completely incompatible with humans, anyone would be crushed under the weight of that kind of love -- but it's also meant to be a little familiar too. The manipulation, the half-truths, lies, and deflection, the gaslighting and guilt-tripping, the punishments for not meeting its demands and standards -- they're things humans are familiar with, but we don't tend to apply them to any kind of healthy love.
I've seen a lot of people say that they'd want an ending where the protagonist stays with the cat, but that ending already kind of exists -- Ending 37: FOREVER. IT wants to possess the MC so wholly and completely that they lose their self and become part of IT. Nothing less than that will do.
Even in the end, IT saying "i hate you" is more than just lashing out upon being defeated and rejected -- it's one last act of manipulation aimed to hurt and guilt the MC for denying IT's love. With its dying breath, IT tries to possess the MC in any way it can.
Sorry for the long reply, but it's fun talking about the thoughts I had when writing the game!
Thank you so much for playing, I'm glad you enjoyed the game and the story!
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Great game! I loved the art style and story! Turning my love for cats against me was an evil thing to do xD
I would've loved seeing more than one "true" or "good" ending with the adorable kitty, but I love stories that play with your heartstrings... It makes them more memorable. Great work, I hope you'll release another great story like this one!
Loving a creature you don't quite understand -- it's a reality and horror we cat lovers must contend with! Usually worth it, though :D Thank you for playing my game, I'm glad you liked it!
This game is so cool, finished it minute ago
Thank you! I'm happy to hear you liked it!
This game is cool.... (just finished it 3 minutes ago, i'm so emotionally drained, but it is really cool! it's just much more dark then i thought, hahaha--)
Thank you for trying out my game! I'm glad you had fun with it!
You know, making a game where the monster is a small, adorable kitten this genuinely unnerving is a hell of a feat. Good job!
Thank you so much!
SPOILERS!!! SPOILERS WEE-OO-WEE-OO
This game... oogh... this game was amazing. i was NOT expecting this from a free game i found randomly on itch. it had a lot of hard work into it, and some times i actually felt scared/fearful of the "cat". probably the ending that got my hairs to go up the most would probably be the mystery food ending, ooogh... okay, but back on track, i just finished the game, and my mind is blown. i almost cried when getting my final ending. this is soooo much more than just a silly little horror game with a cat. i thought the mc was very cool too, i was very suprised when i would get little tidbits of lore from getting certain amounts of endings (in a good way!). its actually kinda connects to me too, because i also am friends with a little stray black cat who ALSO has big yellow eyes (but i guess, that cat isn't an all consuming evil creature). theres plenty more i could say about this game, but im not really that good at ranting haha- really, i got more than i asked for from this game, in a good way. 8.5/10. really, really good. (this sounds so weird, im really just some random guy online who really liked a certain game.)
Thank you so much for your kind words! The mystery food ending was one of my favorites to write -- I kept thinking "How can I make this part put a pit in someone's stomach?" I'm glad that the game was able to feel scary for you, but also that you saw more beyond the horror. I really appreciate you giving my game a try. Thanks again!
I enjoyed listening to you play! I hope you had fun with the rest of the game!
Found this by pure random but Slay The Princess is one of my favourite Steam games ever! This is just as good.
That is a big compliment! Thank you so much!
Can you add it to Android please?
they literally can't
good game
Thank you!
I TOOK THE CAT HOME...I'm still hiding ever since I made this video...send help
The cat is pretty hard to resist, huh? Good luck and stay safe!
这是我玩过的最好的视觉小说之一！^o^
(Google Translated) 谢谢你！我很高兴你喜欢这个游戏！
I wasn't expecting a good game, but it gave me AN INCREDIBLE experience. Such an amazing game and in love with the end.
Congratulations
Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed the game!
I ADORED it very much
Overall the gameplay mechanics and style are wonderful. It ran perfect and I loved all the choices you were able to make in it. Lots of work went into this game, very impressive. I cant wait to see what else the dev makes.10/10
Thank you so much for playing!
You're welcome!
tO MUCH DIOLOG NOT ENUF BEANS
I love this game so much like omg i would very much let a silly monster that looks like a kitty cat do all that. love the cotton-head ending it's oddly sweet ^^
That was a fun ending to write out and animate! Thank you so much for playing!
sorry for spelling) Ok so i made a fanfiction, so basically in this fanfiction the cat is not evil and is corrupted and controlled by another pet, A P U P P Y ive prepared ending dialouge as well this will start at the end of do not take this cat home without further ado lets start. Cat <please.. ill be good!> ( do not take this cat home?) (Take this cat home) you<TAKES THE CAT HOME> Cat<... Thank you for your love i have been freed.. i will be able to give you information about the corruption you can now only talk to me by a RITUAL tho i love you...> you<!!!???? what!> (you ponder over the black cat seems like the corruption(BLACK STRIPES) are coming out of the cat (apperantly its name is shadow).) i got this idea because pixieliminal stated the cat TRULY loves us so im thinking the cat is magical and im thinking someones possessing them CONTROLLING him, btw I can't draw but I made a comic-style drawing of this.
Cute!!
OMG TYYYY!!! I didn't think you would reply!
bad end theater but evil catto ):
holy shoot just wow
this is giving creepy cat in like the best way!!1!!1!!
Thank you so much!
Oh that just means that your almost at the end
ITS2 GOOD
Thank you!
(sorry for spelling) Ok so i made a fanfiction, so basically in this fanfiction the cat is not evil and is corrupted and controlled by another pet, A P U P P Y ive prepared ending dialouge as well this will start at the end of do not take this cat home without further ado lets start. Cat <please.. ill be good!> ( do not take this cat home?) (Take this cat home) you<TAKES THE CAT HOME> Cat<... Thank you for your love i have been freed.. i will be able to give you information about the corruption you can now only talk to me by a RITUAL tho i love you...> you<!!!???? what!> (you ponder over the black cat seems like the corruption(BLACK STRIPES) are coming out of the cat (apperantly its name is shadow).) i got this idea because pixieliminal stated the cat TRULY loves us so im thinking the cat is magical and im thinking someones possessing them CONTROLLING him
Yeah I have personal life (I need about hour to complete it all Xd)
hi im playing the game right now and can you maybe explain how you got the endings 7 , 23 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 and 40
Thank you so much for playing!
I'm at 32 endings out of 40 and I.... I feel oddly uncomfortable (The game is great tho keep going, 10/10)
Thank you for trying out the game!
I absolutely adore this game to pieces!! Every route was fun to read through and although tbh 40 endings are quite a lot, I'm very happy to see how well it was wrapped up in the true ending. It was very subtle but the tiny snippets of the MC's life, personality, and the way they think I LOVEDD every part of it ESP because when they get too relatable and with the way it was portrayed I really liked,, this game is one of those that I would give anything to play again for the first time thank you for such a wonderful game <33
I'm glad you liked the game and connected with parts of it. Thank you so much for giving it a try!
Omg i can relate to this game 100% i mean my cat is called shadow its a black cat A N D T U R N S I N T O A M O N S T ER whenever i try to sleep!
ok this game is 100% 50 stars i cannot stand how good this game is i thought this would be your average wholesome game but WOW THIS GAME IS GOOD but i would 478238947932492383% take this cat home also Pixieliminalm the owner of dnttch {do not take this cat home} said that the cat/it loves us just dosent know how to show it [sorry for my spelling] also i like to think its being controlled its corrupted, that the black cat (apperantly named shadow) inside is a good loving warm soul of a kitty-cat!
(sorry for spelling) Ok so i made a fanfiction, so basically in this fanfiction the cat is not evil and is corrupted and controlled by another pet, A P U P P Y ive prepared ending dialouge as well this will start at the end of do not take this cat home without further ado lets start. Cat <please.. ill be good!> ( do not take this cat home?) (Take this cat home) you<TAKES THE CAT HOME> Cat<... Thank you for you love i have been freed.. i will be able to give you information about the corruption you can now only talk to me by a RITUAL tho i love you...> you<!!!???? what!> (you ponder over the black cat seems like the corruption(BLACK STRIPES) are coming out of the cat (apperantly its name is shadow).)
That's a cute idea! Thanks for your kind comments and for trying out the game. There's no official/canon name for the cat, but Shadow is a cool choice that makes IT sound mysterious!
thanks so much!
everybody. this cats name was announced to be: Shadow
wow thats my irl cats name lol
where? you say "apparently its shadow" but where did pixeliminal say that
Go down the comments, Caphet is the closest to a name we've got as far as I'm aware >3<
I absolutely loved this game. Played it for stream and we had so much fun making all sorts of different decisions and watching the story unfold. This game was so much more than I expected and I loved it. I've even suggested it to friends to play as well.
Thank you so much for playing! I'm glad you enjoyed it!
I loved it! Even got a few friends to get it as well!
I remaked it here: Do NOT Take this cat home! on Scratch (mit.edu)
had to remove the gore
okay first of all did not expect any of this at all
yeah I knew it was a scary game but it was more than that. I didn't realize how much I related to the player in the game. ngl I almost shed a tear at how much I just relate to them.
the cat is cute too there were times were I just wanted to keep it but anyway the game is just overall so much fun and so much more than a horror game.
I finished it all in like an hour or 2 and honestly got all the endings and was pretty proud that I did that
the actual ending of the game made me tear up joyfully also it was really cute.
would recommend this to anyone
I'm glad you were able to relate to the MC and connected with their story! Thank you for trying out the game and playing to the end!
I know I already wrote a review but I want to comment it here too!
The game was awesome! I had a blast playing it! Here are some of my honest opinions about this game: The game excels in its story writing, and some of the fourth-wall breaks got me a few times. The occasional moving pictures were done really well, but I would've loved it more if there was a Gallery button where you can see all the moving & non-moving pictures!
Some of my nitpicks are that around the ending sequence where you were chased by IT, I didn't like how tedious the process was to keep repicking the move left, move back and move right options since it's just trial and error until you get to the end. But maybe it was intentional since it's to show how much the cat will go just to pursue you though...
The mirror maze was something that has something similar going on but you could pick the difficulty so I had no problem with it!
All in all, the game was still fantastic and I really love the message at the end talking about the toxic and abusive relationship that happens in life, because that was something I didn't expect in this game and thought it's just the cat killing you in different ways :)
Hopefully you make more games soon! Be it cat-themed or not~
Thank you so much for the constructive criticism!
I'm glad the difficulty level for the maze game helped it up! Maybe the endgame chase sequence could've been more interesting if I randomized the order of the dodge buttons to add more tension. I'll have to think of that if I make a game like this again, it could be fun!
I'm also glad you liked the story and its ending. The ending in particular really means a lot to me, so I'm glad it resonated with you too!
Thank you for giving the game a try and playing all the way through! I appreciate it!
At first I wasnt sure where this was headed, until the end of the game. Ngl it made me cry a little. This was a really great game
I'm glad it resonated with you in such a way! Thank you so much!
I've played a lot of visual novels in my days and this is by far hands down one of the best ones I have ever played. The story was great and I just couldn't seem to stop playing until I finally got every ending done and now just stare at the final menu screen. Absolutely amazing, Highly recommend this visual novel!
Wow, that's really kind of you to say! I'm really glad you enjoyed the game and story, thank you so much for giving it a try!
The most underrated and yet scariest visual novel horror in this generation and we will never know that abomination of a cat's name and I love it ᵇᵘᵗ ˢᵉʳⁱᵒᵘˢˡʸ ᵗʰᵉ ᶜᵃᵗ'ˢ ⁿᵃᵐᵉ﹖ ʷᵉ'ˡˡ ⁿᵉᵛᵉʳ ᵏⁿᵒʷ
Thank you so much! That really means a lot for me to hear!
do not the car
I absolutely adored this game aaa!!!! It was so fun and funny to experience it with my friends on a discord Vc! :D I just have one tinnyyyyyyy question… is there a way to restart the game and remove all your progress in order to begin all the way at the beginning with no save data? I’m just curious :p needless to say tho I loved the game so much the cat was very cute :3
YOURE GAY AS HELL BRO HOLY SHIT
shut up nuen this is why your mom doesnt love you
LMFAO
talk down about my friend again and they'll never stop finding the body
Thank you! I'm glad you and your friends enjoyed the game!
If you want to play again with a full reset, you'll have to delete ALL save/persistent data from TWO files -- one in the folder where you installed the game AND one in these platform-specific locations on your computer:
## Windows: %APPDATA\RenPy\<config.save_directory>
## Macintosh: $HOME/Library/RenPy/<config.save_directory>
## Linux: $HOME/.renpy/<config.save_directory>
ah thank u so much for the help ^^
I am one of said friends, very silly game
I created this account in order to comment on this masterpiece and by the way, if you don't mind, asking a few questions, which left me with a certain curiosity!
First of all, the game is absolutely incredible, the grammar, the story, "the cat", the terror, the jumpscares. Everything shows that it was done with a lot of effort and it was totally worth playing!
I must admit that I like the yandere genre and this game goes beyond the typical genre and tries a completely different one which I notice was successful.
About the questions (BEWARE SPOILER FOR THOSE WHO HAVE NOT PLAYED IT)
1- I have been left with the intrigue of knowing the name of the creature and its species.
I also wondered the objective of it after meeting the protagonist... Did I enjoy watching him suffer in a loop? or was it just something like their food?
2- What kind of love was the creature referring to? And what do you think is the definition of love for the monster? In the end, if the protagonist had accepted that he was going to behave better, would he really have done it? Or would he simply take advantage of the situation?
Sorry if they're a bit long!, but I really love the game! and...I was quite scared by the screemers hehe. thank you for everything!
now I know how to be cautious before making a mistake and having a toxic person as a partner, especially if it's a cat lol
Those are really interesting questions!
SPOILERS!!!
IT's name and species are never meant to be known -- I wanted to use soft worldbuilding to give IT a kind of mystery that makes its actions feel more alien and terrifying. IT is somehow able to bend reality and consume the wills of its victims to become stronger -- but there's no telling why IT does this. Is it by choice or necessity? Either way, the outcome would be the same for the protagonist which is why the MC has to make the choice to willingly become another victim or break free by defeating IT.
IT does find pleasure in messing with the protagonist -- like a cat playing with its prey before eating it. But again, since IT's motives and nature are so alien, it's meant to be impossible to tell if it genuinely enjoys the torture due to some innate instinct, or if that's just how IT shows affection or if it's just a jerk. IT's victims become food that give IT more power, but there's more to it than just that.
IT truly loves every single one of the victims IT possesses.
But IT doesn't know how to love humans.
It's not a romantic or even friendly love. It's a love that doesn't quit or let up -- a love that stifles and suffocates and obsesses and consumes entirely. IT's love can appear reciprocal at times (like in ending 22 or 27) but everything given is meant to be of benefit to itself in the long run. It's a love that is willing to give everything so long as it gets that and more in return. That's the thought I had when writing the story.
IT's love is meant to be as alien as IT's actions-- completely incompatible with humans, anyone would be crushed under the weight of that kind of love -- but it's also meant to be a little familiar too. The manipulation, the half-truths, lies, and deflection, the gaslighting and guilt-tripping, the punishments for not meeting its demands and standards -- they're things humans are familiar with, but we don't tend to apply them to any kind of healthy love.
I've seen a lot of people say that they'd want an ending where the protagonist stays with the cat, but that ending already kind of exists -- Ending 37: FOREVER. IT wants to possess the MC so wholly and completely that they lose their self and become part of IT. Nothing less than that will do.
Even in the end, IT saying "i hate you" is more than just lashing out upon being defeated and rejected -- it's one last act of manipulation aimed to hurt and guilt the MC for denying IT's love. With its dying breath, IT tries to possess the MC in any way it can.
Sorry for the long reply, but it's fun talking about the thoughts I had when writing the game!
Thank you so much for playing, I'm glad you enjoyed the game and the story!