This is one of my favorite VNs/KNs I've played recently! It's so polished and well-constructed that I would consider buying it or games like it.
There are so many aspects of this project that I loved, including:
- Sprites: The appealing character designs and all the expressions and animations.
- Backgrounds: There are just SO MANY of them. I liked examining all the little details. There was always something new and interesting to stare at. I enjoyed looking at the rainy portions and even the bloody and gory parts!
- GUI: The shaky text effects and the positioning of the options.
- Music: My favorite tracks were the ones that played during the investigative and reveal portions. The song title being displayed is such a cool feature too.
- Sound design: All the sound effects plus the blips for the text and for instances when something important is mentioned.
- Title: It's unique and extremely apt. I love the logo too.
- Ending: I browsed the comments and saw that a few had gripes about the conclusion. Personally, I liked it. The tone went a bit grimmer than I was expecting, but the darkness made sense to me, given the outcome and the characters involved.
Of course, I was enthralled by the writing (I didn't spot a single typo!) and the murder mystery itself. I appreciated the clue system and the reminders to try and solve the mystery for ourselves. Regarding the reveal, I figured out the broader mystery but not the specifics. The culprit was, in fact, the one I LEAST suspected. I think I focused too much on my inventory of clues and neglected to consider that subtler tells were being planted right from the beginning.
The reaper lore was super interesting. Grea's personality was consistently engaging. It was a clever choice to portray her POV for this kind of story. Due to the nature of her work, it made sense that she wasn't afraid to get her hands dirty and wasn't prone to attachment. Overall, this world you've created has so much potential, and I'd love to see more!
(Note: Copy-pasting this comment from the Spooktober VN Jam 2023 page.)