Each episode is going to evolve mechanically. I'm actually considering something like this for episode 5. Episode 4 will be largely linear though.
Nice!!! I love the idea of the game and dev introducing the player to the story, lore, and characters first before slowy introducing and getting the player used to more gameplay mechanics/interfaces. THIS is a very unique and an all together good idea. This also makes it so that the player gets to get situated with game world, story, and different characters before moving on to the more fun and interactive parts alongside the main character further putting the player into the main characters shoes. I could go on and on gushing about how this an amazing idea and how it makes things more engaging. But yeah this is a great idea. But I have to ask is the idea to gradually build up to a full blown sandbox VN experience for the after game or am I misunderstanding?
Nice. If you plan on making another game set in this universe can I recommend this style of gameplay for that one? keep In mind that this is just a suggestion because I believe that games are at their best when devs create what they want to create but that doesn't change the fact that constructive criticism, recommendations, and general feedback are all valuable in regards to the creative process. And in all honesty when it comes VNs I think being able to interact with the characters in and outside of the story is almost always a plus. Not to mention it's always nice to have more content. This way the content creator can experiment more with new ideas and more forms of fun and creative content and the player has more options in regards to how they can enjoy the current content as they wait for new content to be released. Again, to clarify, I'm not trying to tell you how you should or shouldn't make your games. I'm just throwing an idea/recommendation out there.