Even if you can smell the looming submission deadline (there's a noticeable amount of typos and text blocks in need of line editing), Ugolino in the Tower has some of the sharpest writing in the competition. It's no-nonsense pacing never slows down after the great opening line; the atmosphere is all in the action, and bits of worldbuilding are incorporated with a careful eye for both the clarity and the stakes of the story and the flow of the narration on the whole. More than just making the work pleasant to read, every quiet moment feeling pointed and weighty does a lot to sell the urgency of the situation.
The imagery is sharp, with the game's particular focus on the physicality of lycanthropy conveying the social situation of the protagonist so well that laying it out explicitly feels almost extraneous. Equally stylish and meticulous is the presentation; a scene of two characters enjoying a conversation provides some of the most striking imagery in the VN. Heavy use of negative space and silhouettes also just matches the mood the narration establishes perfectly! Not a single visual element feels out of place, although some of the assets themselves could use a little polish – unaltered photographs feel slightly out of place with the game's striking aesthetic, and zoom-ins on the sprites' eyes are distractingly low-quality.
When it comes to what could easily have been the most disappointing aspect: the game convinced me of its episodic release model better than any other unfinished work in the jam with its insanely good final stinger. Honestly, I'm pretty content lingering in the excitement of the next part for now, like how good TV used to work before bingeing came along.
Excellent as a jam entry (the weak link probably being the implementation of the theme) and a thrilling start for a VN in general. We'd be looking at a breakout hit if the plain Itch page and the sort of messy, muted thumbnail didn't undersell the game's strong visual sensibilities.