The Cardinal Park Case is criminally underrated and the fact that this has no fandom is a crime.
This game is the poster child for the writing advice, "show don't tell" especially in regard to its protagonist, Oliver Cypress. That's one of the game's greatest strengths, actually.
...Oliver Cypress is one of the most well-written protags I have ever seen. The way he's characterized is so... good. It gets you into his head in a way I haven't really see any other game do. See, you left so many breadcrumbs of characterization...
...and you the player can piece them together. And it's these little breadcrumbs of characterization- the way he speaks of cats, his tendency to freeze up when he makes mistakes and start REALLY self-criticizing...
This game shows you who Oliver is as a character. It shows it to you; it puts you in his head. You see him. His rationalizations, his genuine care for his mother and his friend.
His characterization sings in the minutiae details: his coffee addiction, his love of cats, his self-denial... his rational-but-somewhat neurotic streak...
This game doesn't just expodump on you unnaturally. All the exposition comes through Oliver's thoughts (or the narrator commenting on them). And... that method... of simply thinking about the situation in regards to certain moments... that is such a natural way to deliver exposition or just little character moments.
...it gets you into this fictional detective's head in a way I haven't really seen anything else do. See, LiminAce, they understand how to characterize a character through SUBTLETY. THIS IS WHAT MAKES TCPC SO GOOD.
ITS PROTAGONIST. Oliver drives this entire thing forward. And LiminAce clearly understands how to characterize someone through subtlety. You're not just getting infodumps. You're getting someone's thoughts about certain things.
...this game's characterization is so high quality I genuinely have no words to describe it. But my point is, there is so much care that goes into Oliver's character. So much care. You get into his mind, you get his reactions to the case.
And you get into the mind of this... stoic, neurotic, hell maybe even a little repressed, detective.
Normally when I hyperfixate on something, I do so because there's an awesome story that could be told in that media's universe or their characters. This?
...this hooked me through the writing. LiminAce, you got me to love Oliver in a way I have never loved a fictional character before, and hate a character (not naming names, spoilers), in a way I have never truly hated a character before.
And while the writing isn't perfect... Oliver makes up for it.
10/10 for Cardinal Park Case. Absolutely 10/10. This game deserves a fandom at the very least like Dead Plate. And Oliver Cypress will forever be the best protagonist in my eyes :)
TL;DR: TCPC deserves a fandom, Oliver Cypress is so well-written, and he's one of the most well-written protagonists I've seen so far. I genuinely love him and if anybody wants to form a fandom...
I will be here, pen in my right hand and americano in my left.
And I am super stoked for the next chapter!!