'A Coin on His Mouth' is a thriller of inexplicable circumstance and bad people getting what they deserve. While an element of mystery and political is coursing through the undercurrent of the plot, the story is a tale of how sometimes things can't be easily explained and how sometimes we're at the mercy of the supernatural. Though striking visuals, and excellent direction, this is the kind of story that's meant to give a chill up your spine and be a little bit more tense after you read it.
The story is one of a pair of medical professionals reminiscing over a shared incident now that their country's political regime has finally switched. The two medical professionals are Jorge and Michelle, and that one night they're approached by a small group of solders looking to have a body examined. Jorge and Michelle, they are already suspecting foul play and corruption, but they relent and do as the solders say, as they currently have the power. During the autopsy, Michelle suggests to do a superstitious ritual of placing a coin in the mouth of the deceased, for if they start to bleed out, it's likely that their killer is nearby. Nothing happens at first, but when the medics are taking their breaks, stuff happens. The solders go missing, the corpses are bleeding out, random shattering of glass and the solders are spooked. In a panic, the lieutenant who was the worst of them, gets hit by a car as he flees in terror. They never could explain what happened, and we never quite either, but there's a lot to suggest that something super natural was at play.
The presentation is impeccable, even from the menu with the stylized RGB effect. All the character sprites and CGs just have so much personality to them. They're creepy and morbid, but that's what this genre is known for. The audio design is also on point, just being eerie enough to make the reader feel discomfort, without being grating. The writing is also as technical as it needs to be to feel real, but also evocative enough to instill unease in the reader. There's no big monster, just a lot of inherent creepiness, and a lot of weird clues left about to let the reader try to fill in the blanks. Though whether the reader feels compelled enough to want to put together a narrative, I think will vary from reader to reader. Some will be satisfied just reading a scary story, some I think might come away perturbed by the lack of concrete evidence of what happened and just a lot of speculations. Stuff like the money that was left, the ring, and why not just one, but two bodies started to bleed out.
The folklore aspect, I did not expect to be implemented in this fashion. Often with lore around death, they come off more magical and religious in nature, so it was a breath of fresh air to examine it from a medical/scientific perspective, even if it remained unexplained in the end. This is one of those kinds of stories where I feel like there was a lot of thought put into the world building and backstory, so that it properly informs the narrative, but then I wonder just how significant it was to the story itself. Was it actually super natural? Was it an assassination that then needed to be covered up? One big conspiracy? Unreliable narrator? I fear that perhaps this is one of those stories that doesn't have an answer and relies on the reader to satisfy themselves coming up with a reasoning that makes it all make sense.
While it looks like this was a team effort, this does also look like a first time entry for this author/team lead. All the pieces together really do elevate this visual novel into a full immersive experience. The level of polish from menus and the UI, even though I thought the moving text box did get a bit distracting as it happened. I'm surprised that the story takes place in a flash back, as it does spoil the ending on knowing that the two character at least survive, maybe softening the blow and making it a less tense read for those easing into horror stories. I know it's more of a personal bias against ambiguous plot elements, but it does feel more unsatisfying than cathartic when even how it happened is a mystery, I would've still liked to have know why it did happen. But, I will praise the strong characterization with all the fun details and the way they speak, and this really did create a tense atmosphere. With a team like this, y'all could really make some banger projects.