well there's a reference to Mania so obviously this has to be a masterpiece right, I am very easily bribed
So I've mentioned before that I am a very "well, this might as well happen" type of person and am not very big on like. Being shocked by what a work does, it takes a ton to get that kind of reaction out of me. So as I got into part 2 of Wild World, I wasn't sure how I felt about the twist and what the story was going for. I decided to sleep on it and take some more time to think about it. I've reached a conclusion of sorts and realized that it just didn't quite work for me, but with that said, there's still a lot in Wild World for me to enjoy. I'll do my best to explain. Before anything else I'll say that I liked it overall, but it might be accurate to say I liked part 1 while part 2 kind of lost me (but I do respect what it's doing).
On the whole, I found Wild World to be a really nice experience that flowed together nicely and had a fun cast. I may not know a lot about these OCs and what their original stories are, but they clearly have a lot of thought put into them, and the interactions on a whole are fun. I was kind of mixed on the humor, but also I took a lot at another person's SoC and it's extremely obvious this is very subjective, because a joke I found not funny ended up being a massive hit with that other person (I don't know why I'm being so vague, it was Dylan's SoC and it was the Dark Age of Colton joke that didn't land for me but landed very much for Dylan). I found a fair amount of presentation issues, but those have since been fixed since my playthrough and some of them were caused by having to rehost stuff so. You know, it is what it is. Presentation game is still strong, and I imagine it'll be much smoother now that the quirks have been ironed out.
A thing I really appreciated is that I felt like I had a much firmer grasp on Colton's character compared to Sublime. He was a fun protagonist. Addeline was probably my second-favorite after him. I do feel like Dion and especially Rex could have used more, but the latter at least feels kind of intentional considering what the case is like, and part 3 has a chance to address my concerns there. I do wish there was more in the way of optional present dialogue during the investigation, but I 100% realize that that's something I'm super big on that other people don't necessarily focus on, and also comp deadline stress is very real and will consume us all ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh (that's me yelling into the void).
I've had some time to think over part 2 specifically as well as the twist of the story and realized that the story it's trying to tell isn't quite my thing, but I understand that other people will be more keen on it. For me, I think it's just that the idea of the band drama feels like a much more interesting story to me personally, and I really wanted to see more of the character drama that happened when Stella opened up about how the NDA and contract stuff made her feel. So basically I end up feeling like I'd be more interested in the "original timeline" than the meta timeline, which is an awkward position to be in considering what WW is going for. I am still trying to figure out what exactly about the meta twist doesn't quite land for me, since I've enjoyed a lot of meta works and have even made some myself. I don't want to discourage you though. You've clearly committed and I have a lot of respect for people telling the stories they want to tell.
I think my thoughts are currently kind of ??????? because I'm wondering how part 3 will tie things together. I feel like part 3 might make me re-evaluate how I feel about part 2 at least. Though even if this doesn't end up quite being my thing, I will still have found part 1 enjoyable and had a lot to enjoy.
A minor nitpick: I'll admit that I struggled a ton with the very first Dance of Deduction. The one where you're meant to present Stella's profile. This might just be me specifically but the way the co-counsel dialogue is worded made me think that the Crime Scene Notes is what I needed to present, and the idea of presenting Stella's profile never even occurred to me. It's the one time I had to consult a guide. I think a big part of this is the fact that "blunt-force trauma" is highlighted in the second statement of the CE, which inadvertantly set me on the completely wrong path. That's the best way I can explain it.
Best of luck as you continue making your thing AJ. I hope Colton becomes a pro Fortnite gamer.