"Don't go behind the black door."
FORESHADOWING IS A LITERARY DEVICE-
What's here is really good and engaging thus far, but it's also one of several submissions to this jam that end right as things seem about to really kick off. Being all setup and no payoff at the moment makes it a little tough to evaluate, and I'm honestly glad I didn't have to rank this against other entries, but my general thoughts are below.
Spoilers and such.
Getting into presentation first, there are a few parts that felt a bit uneven, mostly involving sound, but overall this was very impressive, especially with the limited resources that went into it. I agree with Fuze's comment below about you having a real knack for squeezing every bit of material you can out of stock jam assets, and that's on display here as much as it was in May Wolf. There are some subtle details like the Harlowes being in the background after church and filing out that didn't need to be there, but the extra effort is noted and appreciated, and incorporating the sprites in different ways like the missing poster is a clever use of what's available to you.
The visuals you added were effective as well - it was pretty clear from its introduction that the old computer game was going to be used for creepy effect later, and I think both that and the mask thing create a general feeling of dread and uneasiness without becoming repetitive or relying on cheap jump scares. As previously mentioned though, the sound feels a bit inconsistent. While several scenes are totally fine, there are others where there's no sound at all, and given those are more mundane moments rather than say, cutting the BGM to unsettle the reader and build tension, the lack of music or ambient effects doesn't always feel intentional.
Mechanically, the VN was meticulously proofread, with very few errors, and everyone's dialogue mostly felt natural, though some of the Josh and Edwin dialogue did feel a bit clunky (not that we have to worry about half of that anymore) and there appeared to be an error when a line that looked like it was supposed to be Simon's was attributed to "Lady" before church.
Story's a bit harder to get into since, as mentioned above, it's difficult to assess setups without knowing the payoffs, but so far the setups are good and succeed at building dread. One could speculate on some aspects of the sinister lurking beneath the surface (I viscerally reacted "RUN BITCH" every time someone said Theo reminded them of Thomas), but right now there's still much of the mystery to be unraveled. I do like how Bailey's parents are given some depth, and the outwardly friendly appearance of the town hiding the sinister beneath is generally a solid aesthetic. It's like Midsommar had an awkward one night stand with Far Cry 5, and I mean that positively.
Luna felt a bit weak to me, and more like an ominous plot device than an actual character. I also see where you might be going in having her be trans in that Simon was previously more progressive and open but was corrupted by the church, but with how short her tenure in the story is it felt a bit less intentional and more like defaulting to "all allies must be LGBT," which I think can be a bit restrictive.
Overall, very good so far and I look forward to seeing the finished product, whenever that may be.
(Also thank you for Puxley 2.0. You're a real one <3)