(I had to write this again from memory because the first draft got deleted, hope it ends up sounding coherent)
Around the time that I reached the halfway mark of A Wolf in Charleston, I thought that there could be no way the game was going to conclude anytime soon with so many remaining plotlines to close out, and I ended up being right, with there being about forty-fiveish minutes left of reading. In spite of that, because of what the game is trying to tackle, I felt like it needed a lot more time to properly flesh everything out before the ending. Ambitious, is the word I would use to describe it.
The body horror elements are easily the best part about the game- from the extra wolf finger poking out of Oliver's hand to Luis' entire body going limp with his self ripping straight out of his back during sex- they were nasty in the most perfect way. However, I think the rest of the story could've done with a lot more subtlety, especially when it came to tackling politics and religion. I know the lack of subtlety is the point, and we're often shown horrors inflicted upon werewolves, but because of the 25k word count, the game isn't able to linger on any event for too long before having to move onto the next, and I think this also lead to a lack of perspective and reflection in the narrative. I specifically thought it strange that there didn't seem to be a single person who didn't want to immediately kill werewolves on sight, or decide to argue on their behalf, knowing that- at one point- the werewolves used to be human too, so killing them would be an injustice or immoral. That might be the point, since the game is a town filled with religious zealotry, but it left the narrative feeling too black and white for my taste- werewolves pretty much end up always being good and humans are scum sucking villains or completely indifferent. Honestly, the most gray we get from the narrative's morality, ironically, comes from Oliver's father. To me, it felt like Reverend Crane was the kind of man who was extremely religious and protective over his son, but would've been open to eventually accepting his son as a werewolf (in spite of not being able to accept himself). That might be a complete misread from me, considering the ending fight, but it's hard to say where the monster starts and where Randolph Crane ends, and that was the kind of subtlety I enjoyed.
Admittedly, I will say that I'm not the biggest fan of stories that treat gayness as analogous to monsters, so the game was fighting an uphill battle with me from the start. Knowing that about myself, I can still recognize that the story is expertly written and interesting enough to keep me invested and excited to see where Oliver and Luis' relationship was going to lead.
While I really like Luis, he ended up feeling more like a catalyst to Oliver's realization that he might be gay. He still ended up being a fully fleshed out character with his own wants/needs and opinions on humans, but I felt like he was often moved to the side, because the actual focus of the game's narrative was Oliver's self-discovery- which makes sense, as both a new werewolf and main character. I think I would've just liked to see more of both his past and more of his relationship with Oliver and/or Zizi (but that's also me just being greedy).
I've rambled on enough, so I'm just going to quickly list out some of the things I liked the most.
Like I said, the body horror was absolutely nerve-wracking to witness and read, only highlighted by the incredible art and sound direction. The game's presentation as a whole is some of the best, especially with anything related to Oliver's hands. The music stings used throughout are also a nice treat, really punctuating important moments. A lot the game's focus was put on Oliver's inner turmoil of being a werewolf and hiding that from people, which felt both realistic and gritty; his inner monologues are a particular treat for me. The game was perfectly tense all throughout and kept me on the edge of my seat, especially during any discussion related to mercy-killing, as I had a feeling where the story was going to eventually lead.
Overall, A Werewolf in Charleston is an absolutely enthralling read, mainly held back by a 25k word count. If it wasn't restricted by the Jam's rules, I would've definitely liked to see where the story could've gone and I imagine a lot of my issues with the narrative would've either been explored or non-existent. In the end, I think it's just not a story made for me, and that's okay; I just hope that it gets all the recognition it deserves and more, because like I said, what's here is more than excellent.