Story: So, this story actually has two endings. The bad ending, the one the game pushes you to getting first, seems like it could be the logical conclusion to the story, though it feels unsatisfying due to some questions being unresolved. The true ending doesn't leave any unresolved questions, but feels rather... out of nowhere. While there are some hints towards it, I feel like there could've been a few more. Admittedly, though, that may spoil the surprise of it, and I'm personally not sure where to add them. No matter which ending you get, however, this entry comes off as a bit... depressing? Even in the true ending, where things are a little happier, things still feel like they end on a somber note. Overall, the story, for as short as it may be, is pretty well told, I just personally found it to be rather sad.
Characters: The characters here are all fairly down-to-earth and realistic. Even the one who cracks jokes more than the rest still tends to take the situation very seriously. They match the more depressing tone of the story fairly well, and though the time with them was brief, I still ended up caring what happens to them by the end. Though, if I had one small nitpick, they seem to take the revelations in the true ending... oddly well, which is a bit jarring.
Presentation: The presentation is decent enough. I didn't really notice any typos while playing (maybe there were some that I missed, who knows), and sprites chosen match the characters' personalities pretty well. There is one moment that requires the player to pixel-hunt a bit due to something not shown on the background, but it's not too bad, and I think most players would think to look there anyways. The only glitch I came across happened on a second playthrough, where the main character told me to consult with her partner about the evidence found... even though I hadn't found all the evidence yet. But that seems easily fixable.
Gameplay: This entry is a short investigation, followed by trying to put the pieces together using the evidence. In the true ending, there's even a cross-examination sequence. While it's not super difficult, I did like how I could tackle the investigation in any order I wanted (and not in a way that felt out-of-order, unlike a certain other entry). Overall, the case logic is pretty easy, though does require a bit more outside-the-box thinking for the true ending. My only complaint is that actually getting to the true ending requires the player to do arbitrary tasks they probably wouldn't know to do without a walkthrough. I understand that I, Mr. Turnabout Turnabout, have no right complaining about that, but... at least mine was done for comedy's sake?
Theme Relevance: Yep, I'd say the true solution checks all the boxes for being both an impossible mystery and "Y happened instead". My only real complaint is that the true ending, as previously discussed, kinda comes out of nowhere, and so too does the true solution. Just a little bit more foreshadowing would've helped, in my opinion.
(if you read comp reviews early you’re already willing to be somewhat spoiled on an entry(this is basically a spoiler warning though so i kind of did put a spoiler warning in(this case is finished just wait like 15 days max for it to be released if you want to play it blind(if you want to play it blind why did you click this review(okay fine i'll put in a spoiler free review))))
