lots of spoilers for the story, be warned!
click here for spoilers
just feeling compelled to post some random thoughts about a point of contention i've seen floating around. some people don't like how spencer doesn't want to investigate the mystery, and that it's too "slice-of-lifey". if thats you, obviously youre valid and you dont have to agree with me. but heres what i think.yes, spencer promised to help kurt. but even in that scene, in the moment, his thoughts/narration make it clear he doesn’t want to.
i think its actually kinda really interesting for a mystery vn to have a protagonist who prefers not having anything to do with it. from his perspective, a guy who you’ve only known for a few days whose friend gets killed (someone who they’ve only known for a couple weeks btw) asks you to help him. the victim looks like spencer but spencer copes and thinks its just a random, other guy, who happens to look like him or something. then, a politician guy who’s probably a murderer, asks you to NOT stick your nose into this business. what’s more important at this point? your life, or your promise to a friend you don’t even know that well?
so the first half of the vn focuses more on the protag’s social relationships, and personally i loved that part just as much as the latter half, because i think the dialogue is so incredibly well written. its very me-coded, in a way i can’t explain, i relate to spencer in a lot of ways. the characters feel real, and the vibes are palpable.
in the 2nd half, finally the protag gets forced in a situation where he HAS to start investigating. because clearly, spencer, you are directly involved, wether you like it or not. and dealing with the fact that his friends are very much into this mystery that he prefers to stay away from, makes for an interesting dynamic.