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I want to like this, but so far it's just too opaque. The first thing that threw me was the fact that there is no actual phone book, despite the explicit description that there is. That is misleading at best and it took me far too long to just try entering a name to call, especially when there were hints by the computer about copying and pasting information, and that doesn't work either.


The gathering information by searching is sort of Roottrees-like, but also much more opaque. No words are highlighted, so it's difficult to know what's important and what isn't. Out of dozens of queries I tried, only a handful yielded any response at all, most of which were just general information, like the definition of "Jane Doe" or the location of the occipital bone, which I already know. Tell me something I don't know! That's why I'm searching.


And the reports give very little information to even work with, so they're not very realistic. Who was the coroner who did the autopsy? When was it done? What newspaper published the article about the incident? Who was the mother? We're not told, and so there's nothing to dig into as far as searching for information. I have searched for every content term I can find, and I have searched for and tried to call every proper name I've seen (all four of them), and I've only come up with a blank wall of opaqueness after talking to only two people.


Clearly I've missed something along the way, but it's hard to see where since I've read through the reports so many times. I did glance at the walkthrough, but the very first item mentions something I've not even seen and have no idea how to get, so in the interest of avoiding spoilers, I didn't read much farther. I think it needs a little more detail to be helpful, especially for someone stuck early on. What comes before that first item? How do you get it?


Spoilers on the two calls I was able to make:


-Silverleaf Cemetery (received the report on funeral photos)

-Loretta Hester (but she wouldn't tell me anything further about the autopsy or the death or the funeral)


Spoilers on some additional names I tried to call that got me nowhere:


-Police Station

-Willowbrook Police (Station)

-Willowbrook Coroner

-Examiner

-Boss

Hello! Quick question: where did you get the name Willowbrook from? The town's name is Whitebrook and I need to make sure I didn't make a typo anywhere.

Sorry! My mistake, it probably is Whitebrook everywhere and I typed it wrong when I was compiling my comment. I will double check later when I'm not on mobile. I did try the terms without the town name too. (Game loads just fine on mobile and I can view documents, but the typing doesn't send letters to the entry field, so I can't actually play. I was warned it wasn't meant for this kind of device though.)

I confirm, everywhere I would have gotten it from, it says Whitebrook, so that was just my mistake. (There are other typos I've seen, but that's not one of them.) Either way, though, those terms I tried didn't work.

The second item in the walkthrough did help a little, and I managed to get one more thing, but that didn't really lead to anything else that I can see.

Minor spoiler on what I tried next:


I did notice that the courthouse was mentioned in the town search result, and there's even an explicit hint that I can call it, but no variation of "courthouse" or "Whitebrook Courthouse" that I tried works to make a call, so I am again puzzled by what the game seems to want me to do vs what it will actually let me do.

Did you try the full name of the courthouse?  Its: Juvgroebbx Pbhagl Pbhegubhfr  (ROT13)

Thanks, I eventually found the source that gave me the full name. But I think you can see by now how I'm getting tripped up by trying to follow the clues I have. There's a disconnect between different sources, and there's just no way to know that you haven't found the exact right information except that you're stuck. So many relevant queries/attempts just return absolutely nothing and give no indication of why.

At this point, I have finished the game, so I know what you were going for, and the tone by the end is quite effective. But it could be even better with more proofreading and playtesting.

Even with the "walkthrough" I struggled, because sometimes I had no idea what specific thing I was missing or hadn't tried. A walkthrough should include all the specific actions needed to complete the game, not just ask vague questions about what the player has considered. Those are just hints. Hints are good, and there were times when they were helpful, but that's not really a walkthrough.