I want to start off by saying that I think this game has a lot of potential and that there's a lot of really good aspects of it. The MC customization options, in terms of appearance, are varied and inclusive, the premise of the story is interesting, the agency is intriguing, the supporting characters feel like real characters and not just supporting bits for the story to progress, and the pacing is really well done. I can't emphasize enough that there's a lot going for this IF.
However, there are somethings that I've noticed that have made multiple playthroughs of this, when it was still in choicescript and now, feel like a "death by a thousand cuts" situation for me. I'll try to start with the bigger things and then go to the smaller things just to try to make things easier to keep track of.
The MC and Their Role:
This is something I've had a hard time putting into words but I think I've finally figured out how to say what I want to say. The MC in this story doesn't feel important or necessary in a way that feels natural. Your MC's skills rarely make a difference in situations, their opinion is usually asked for but then discarded when it comes to major decisions, and the MC ends up feeling like a supporting character to the characters around them.
The MC and Their Skills (Explained More In-Depth):
While I definitely understand that there are plot points that can't be changed, it would feel better as a player if your character wasn't put in a situation where they were playing to their strengths but still losing anyway. Not only does it feel like your character is just incompetent from a narrative standpoint, it gives poor feedback to the player in terms of game mechanics and makes for a poorer experience overall.
In game, the MC is described as a bit of a badass with their partner A, as both are top of their agency. However, this doesn't translate to the game that we play; any encounter with R where the MC chooses to fight/resist ends with a loss. Now obviously R has to get away no matter what but some flavor text for MCs who have combat as a strong skill would go a long way instead of the MC being completely outmatched no matter what. Cunning characters should have more "knowledge" of things like the club and how it would operate/what would be needed to get a meeting with the head of the club. (Trying not to spoil much here.) Again, just some flavor text would go a long way here.
The Stats and the Implications:
The stats themselves are very much what you might expect from an IF so this specific part might be more about IFs as a whole but it also still applies here. Some of the stats are not actually opposing when they are treated as such; for example, one can be a laidback person but also intimidating. This might be a bit of an obscure reference, but there is a character in the book Gone named Drake that is a very laidback person but is also considered very intimidating by the people around him. His nonchalance and uncaring attitude actually amplify his intimidating nature. The same could be said for Genuine vs Sarcastic; sarcastic reads more like a type of humor or temperament whereas genuine seems to be treated by the game as more like, "considerate."
The MC and Player Intention:
One thing I always look for when I play an IF is the ability to make an angry, surly, mean character. The reason I do this is not because I want to be a huge jerk, but rather I like comparing how angry MC runs hold up against MCs who are played as kind as possible. For me, what makes a game a cut above the rest is how a game accounts for a player playing an MC in a way that the author might not play themselves. With that said, this particular game offers a lot in terms of letting you play an angry character who doesn't get along with anyone and that's great and I applaud that 1000%.
However, the game lacks follow-through on this front. Just as an example, if a person is playing an MC that doesn't get along with R there shouldn't be lines where the MC is thinking about how easy it is to talk to R and how they almost feel like friends. It breaks immersion completely. Small things like this can take good games, like this game is, and make them really great games. Essentially, what this also boils down to, is adding/changing flavor text that accounts for the MC's personality and relationships with other characters would really benefit the game.
The MC and Supporting Characters:
I mentioned earlier that it feels like the MC is a supporting character rather than the main character. Now, I know how this sounds, but I don't think that a story should be wholly focused on the MC. In fact stories are often boring if the MC is treated like a god. With that being said, I'll get into the actual important things.
The MC feels like a reactive character surrounded by proactive characters. All of the supporting characters will do things despite what the MC might have to say about it. The only four times I can think of the MC being proactive in the story is their choice to either follow their own plan or trust A's, telling everyone to be quiet at the meeting if they choose to, choosing whether or not to fight R in their apartment, and choosing whether or not they want to get involved in the investigation with A. Giving the MC more choices in how they address situations would greatly benefit the story and make them feel like they were more apart of it.
General Thoughts:
I really want to preface this by saying I am not trying to insult the author or saying any of this with any negative intent. This is just how I am personally interpreting what I have read in the game and what I have read on their Tumblr.
It feels as though the author has created a world that they love and a cast of characters that they love and this love shows immensely. It's always touching to see an author who so clearly loves the things they're writing.
However, as it stands now it doesn't feel like the author loves the MC or the idea of an MC doing things in the game that they wouldn't do. Still, this is something that I would recommend playing if you've any interest it this genre at all.