Alright, let's get something out of the way right off the jump - you are not a failure and neither is this project. Sure, you might not have finished everything that you wanted during the jam, but there's a lot to be proud of from what you did produce. The world is a better place for your and this VN's presence in it, and I will not hear otherwise. Cool? Cool.
Getting more into the meat of the VN, it's clear that this was a massive step up in ambition and scope from your Novembuck, which if I recall correctly was your first attempt, and really, despite some of your concerns, I think you handled it quite well. The story has good bones - this is a really creative and compelling narrative, it just needs polish.
Breaking it down further in-depth:
Implementation of Theme:
Yeah, I think we've covered the ask here, with the incorporation of the legend of Regen and the village/cult that spawned from him. There are definitely parts of that that could be expanded on or more fleshed out (not necessarily pertaining to Regen himself, but The Way and its conflict with other sects is definitely pretty sparse), but we have folklore designed for this universe that shapes the immediate setting for the narrative and provides the basis for the plot, with Engil setting his plan in motion to, at least in his mind, purge the corruption he sees as inherent to the village.
Presentation/Writing:
I'm not going to spend a lot of time on the critiques for this section because I think you already know what the issues are. Lack of backgrounds, other images, and sounds once we get to the route split, proofreading errors on pretty much every line, some awkward and unclear phrasing, etc. I think a lot of this can be chalked up, as mentioned above, to jam constraints, but I really can't emphasize enough how much just getting a decent editor on board would take this from good to phenomenal.
On the brighter side for presentation, like the other aspects of the VN, what's there is really good! The soundscape in the first act feels inspired to me, not relying just on BGM but also incorporating some good ambient effects to sell the scenes. The art and UI look great as well - Solis and Lillia are both extremely huggable and Engil is extremely punchable. It looks like there's supposed to be another "Best Tail Wag" accolade given out for this jam and this entry has to be a frontrunner for that.
Clearly there are some moments here that could really use some imagery to support the scene (I'm thinking about finding the chief for the first time, the chaos of Engil enacting his plan, or even just setting flowers down by Regen's tree or something) but I also understand that those assets don't make themselves. Until then we can make do with Solis blushing through his helmet.
Story/Creativity:
As mentioned, it's definitely an ambitious idea, but I kinda really loved what you had cooking here. There's a lot to uncover about the world and the characters we meet within it, and I was really impressed with how you divided the narrative so things only really make sense once you've played both Solis' and Lillia's routes. One of the downsides of this structure, however, is that the endings don't entirely make sense without the full context, there will be narratively unsatisfying gaps on whichever route you pick first. For example, I did Solis first, and was utterly confused when the epilogue discussed the village changing under Lillia's leadership, since at the time
1) I didn't know what exactly in the village needed to be changed, since Engil was really the only one painted as a villain in Solis' route, and
2) I had no idea what Lillia's role was supposed to be, as she doesn't appear at all in Solis' route. In fact, judging from the broken shop window and her total absence, I thought she was supposed to be dead (for what it's worth, I also thought Solis was supposed to have been killed in Lillia's route before the epilogue).
Besides just the lack of context, the endings are definitely the weakest part of the narrative, and since that's mostly due to how rushed and incomplete they feel, I think they may have been victims of the jam timeline as well. There were several moments in each where I felt like I totally lost what was actually supposed to be happening, and, especially in Solis' route, it feels like we just cut to the epilogue without really resolving the immediate danger. It practically cuts mid-scene and then we get something along the lines of "oh and Solis rescued us but then Engil ran away, but we're good otherwise." Like much of the rest of the VN, I think those parts of the story just need more time to cook.
I'm not going to say much on the Engil route since I don't think I was actually supposed to see any of that in this release, but I will say that it did feel a bit messier and far more rushed (especially with Julius' moral shift) than the other two routes.
There's some worldbuilding stuff that feels a little underbaked here, like I mentioned with The Way above, as well as Julius' abilities as a wonder, which come off a bit more explicitly like a plot device than you may have intended (like, I know that they are a plot device, but they're only triggered at the times when it's most convenient for the plot, if you follow what I'm saying). Otherwise though, this was a really creative piece; I can tell a lot of effort went into shaping the setting and the characters, and I really hope you keep working on this after the jam so you can complete your intended vision for the project (though I also hope that intended vision includes some closure on what happened to my boy Larry).
Also, just another note here - I don't really condone violence in any form, but I will say that if you have the tremendous fortune to have an adorable chubby wolf wife and you have the utter gall to complain about it, you deserve everything that's coming to you.
Final score of 5 cute wooden figure puppet shows out of 1 secretly assembled praying mantis army.