It feels too self-conscious about its own plot to let moments sink in or for information to flow naturally.
Particularly in the class trials for each chapter, every tiny amount of bickering or doubt a character has becomes a gameplay moment that you have to get through in order to get the plot going. That makes the game a lot more draining to play than it should.
Each development in the mystery instead of making you go "oh shit that's cool" becomes a "I'm gonna have to explain the plot to this Weird Al looking dude again aren't I?".
Those are fine if you're inattentive enough to not figure out the twists before they get explained but if you're paying any kind of attention to what's actually going on it becomes grading and annoying.
The murders are kind of interesting though. They're convoluted and often times dumb but they're also enjoyable. It would be way cooler if the things you learn about the school compounded into each other as the murder trials go: The trash room, for example, is a vital element for the first murder. Going through the chapter you learn how it works, why the room is locked and that one person per week has the keys to open it and dump everyone's trash together.
That's a really important part of this school life yet they never care to use it again for the next murders, which not only is a waste of potential but also ends up making each chapter feel disconnected and repetitive.
You win a trial, the classmate that did the killing dies, you unlock a new floor and a new murder happens in one of those rooms you just unlocked.
Rinse and repeat until you're done.
If the game had more confidence to let the plot happen instead of forcing you to participate in every little thing and trying to game-ify the process of deduction the characters are going through it could be shorter and more enjoyable as a both game and narrative.
As it stands its alright.
Particularly in the class trials for each chapter, every tiny amount of bickering or doubt a character has becomes a gameplay moment that you have to get through in order to get the plot going. That makes the game a lot more draining to play than it should.
Each development in the mystery instead of making you go "oh shit that's cool" becomes a "I'm gonna have to explain the plot to this Weird Al looking dude again aren't I?".
Those are fine if you're inattentive enough to not figure out the twists before they get explained but if you're paying any kind of attention to what's actually going on it becomes grading and annoying.
The murders are kind of interesting though. They're convoluted and often times dumb but they're also enjoyable. It would be way cooler if the things you learn about the school compounded into each other as the murder trials go: The trash room, for example, is a vital element for the first murder. Going through the chapter you learn how it works, why the room is locked and that one person per week has the keys to open it and dump everyone's trash together.
That's a really important part of this school life yet they never care to use it again for the next murders, which not only is a waste of potential but also ends up making each chapter feel disconnected and repetitive.
You win a trial, the classmate that did the killing dies, you unlock a new floor and a new murder happens in one of those rooms you just unlocked.
Rinse and repeat until you're done.
If the game had more confidence to let the plot happen instead of forcing you to participate in every little thing and trying to game-ify the process of deduction the characters are going through it could be shorter and more enjoyable as a both game and narrative.
As it stands its alright.