Congrats on the release! This episode brings with it a few things to be thankful for: A label for our hero, the adorable addition of Li Mei, Naoki as himself and not an act, the return of Gurski, and the confirmation of a few vibes I picked up even as far back as that dev build of Jisei I looked over.
I'm really glad to see there's much more world building in this one, both subtle and overt. And it's really that mix of both heavy and light handed hinting that helps build up the intrigue and ramps up excitement for the rest of the series. You've really committed yourself to building a *series* with this one, and it deserves praise for that.
But consequently, that's also its biggest shortcoming. In a few ways, it feels like you focused too much on the big picture in Kansei that you forgot to make it a memorable episode. While the victim was important to the world you're creating, I'm unsure if the act and reasoning of the murder will turn out to be. In Jisei,
the revelation that Sara Blackmore was a corporate spy selling information carried weight all the way to the epilogue and created a dangling thread that'll loom over the whole series... in Kansei, the murder itself is just an inconvenience that hurries Liam's hand... the motive was ultimately too personal to the murderer to have bigger repercussions.
And with the endings themselves, the two non-true endings are actually much more interesting than the True End itself. It feels like you showed your hand too early in the other two routes that you left nothing to show in the True End. It didn't have the reward required of the time you as the author and I as the player put into it.
The differences between the goals and ends of the SD route and Killer route, and how the two parts come together when seperate was an interesting idea, almost 9 Hours 9 Persons 9 Doors-esque, but it doesn't pay off in nearly the same capacity when 'merged' into the True Route. Having the hero not solve the murder in the True Route makes it rather anticlimactic.
I'll still be playing the next entry when it's out. You did right building interest for the overarching plot of the series. But I'll be paying much attention to the branching and how the True End turns out, hoping that the future entries overcome the shortcomings Kansei possesses.
And the outtakes were hilarious. I feel a little guilty saying it's my favorite part of the game, but it's too true.
