Wow, I really enjoyed this demo overall! I'm definitely interested in seeing where the finished game will go after where things were left off in the demo. I really enjoyed the feeling of building comfort in the player followed by a sudden descent into horror.
*spoilers after this point*
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I enjoyed the foreshadowing that was done, like Nao implying that you have to go through Ishida's route before unlocking the rest of the guys. Though I do wish more foreshadowing was done to build up Ishida's passing, and perhaps more time spent building the relationship between Ishida and Haru between the time they make-up and the time he passes. However, after this point, I enjoyed the sudden switches in tone in Yuusuke's route, especially in his endings. The sudden switches in tone worked way better in Yuusuke's route than in Ishida's route, since that barrier had already been broken. The way music was used in those scenes, as well as the CG of him in the hospital, definitely created an unsettling experience when coupled with the feeling of breaking the normalcy that was built.
I do think the tone after Ishida's passing could be improved upon a little, especially since I think there's a good foundation there. I think there's a sense of "fighting" between the lighthearted dating-sim tone that the "game" (the antagonist, in this context) is trying to push, and the struggles of Haru with her grief, though this could be built upon more. In the "lighthearted dating-sim" scenes after Ishida's death, there's this jarring feeling of emptiness, but not enough is done to make it feel intentional; it feels more like the player is expected to forget about Ishida and go for some other guy now. I think including some subtle horror aspects, like distorting the music slightly or making the dialogue kind of weird occasionally, would make it feel more like the player is MEANT to find this weird instead of just accepting it. I think it would make it feel more like there's something wrong with this new "reality" where Haru is suddenly an otome protagonist with a harem of guys to choose from, and it'd tie into the scenes where she experiences grief instead of just feeling like her pain is sudden.
Some post-epilogue scenes could be tweaked a little since they don't make as much sense with Yuusuke out of the picture, like Haru apparently not knowing her bff has a sister???? I think this segment can use more of the horror aspect as well to change up the scenes, since rereading scenes that are largely the same can get a little tedious.
There are two things I'm confused about. In the demo, it seemed like only that last choice with Yuusuke's sister mattered, and the rest of the choices didn't matter much. Will there be more impactful choices in the full game? Also, I don't understand what happened in the scene with the flowers (right before Ishida's death) AT ALL :'). Am I the only one confused about that scene?? I tried to reread it, and I still couldn't make head nor tail of it...
Overall, it's a really fun demo and I found myself hooked and wanting to see more! I'll definitely be keeping an eye on the project for updates, because I'd love to play the release!
Edit: You may be aware of this already, but Ishida's ear disappears and reappears in some of his sprites!