"Limelight" is a parody/homage/satire take at a classic whodunit/slasher thriller story. It's both self-aware and self-referential, yet the writing comes through as either the author hates this type of genre or is a sadist and wishes to subject readers to this story. As for positives, I think the sprites are quite attractive, though I'm surprised at the lack of variation in expressions for the characters that do exist, and the lack of sprites for characters that exist in text only. It's especially heinous since the plot loses track of how many characters there are and which characters get killed when (especially since this seems to be a first person POV and the protag is a very unreliable narrator). Even just using the provided sprites from the jam could've helped to help keep track of who is who for the named characters even with the clashing art styles from the artist (who I guess either didn't have enough time to make enough sprites for all the characters or was only commissioned for a set amount of sprites). The UI is nice enough with the film and movie theme, but some of the text boxes were long and got covered up by the menu on the bottom as well.
The writing itself is rather sloppy. Points of view changing mid-scene and getting internal monologues from the victims for apparently no other reason than to pull on heartstrings. Maybe it was a grander sense of irony being put on display. The characters aren't particularly likeable, on purpose I assume, but to what that purpose is, I don't know. 'Contrived' is the word that I would best describe how the plot plays out. When they're confronted with the killer with a knife and outnumber them, no one fights back. The plot completely forgets about the baseball team that was there in the theater at some point. I think hiding the missing body might've also been a weird oversight in logistics. The whole 'putting on the scream mask costume' also feels sloppily done (as there's usually an accomplice in these plots to help throw off the reader). Even the ending doesn't feel particularly cathartic or earned, unless the point is to get the reader to wish that the protagonist lose for how unlikable he is.
I think the hardest thing about this visual novel for me was understanding the intention and goal of the author. It's not nearly funny enough to be a full on parody, the kills aren't particularly clever or interesting enough to be a homage, and the "meta-ness" of the plot isn't subversive enough to be a satire. If this was supposed to be a comedy, then you should've really pushed more jokes and made the cast even stupider. If this was supposed to be a homage, then you could've added more spectacle to the plot (more creative kills that aren't just 'knife in the back' or 'gunshot'). If you wanted this to be more satire, then there needed to be some kind of thematic through-line through the killer's motivation that wasn't /spoilers/ "I'm in love with you" (especially when the protagonist doesn't have any redeeming qualities). Basically, this visual novel needed way more time to cook. I applaud the effort that was put into this, and I think there's some sincerity in the motivation to make this game, but it feels like the author has a personal grudge against me, the reader.