Does this mean there's a version of Reginald out there that is a 100% unproblematic fave?
In all seriousness, it's a major compliment to your character writing that Reginald was not my favorite person in the game by default (though he still wound up being my favorite). Save Twyla and possibly Netina, who manages to still be pretty charming despite her malicious streak, every character in the game is extremely likable and gives the player enough reason to sympathize with them as people. Jaxter, Mitzi, Mary, Zapara, and Vasilis were particular standouts for me. Vanilla is also easy to like as an MC, which kind of makes the big reveal even more of a knife in the gut.
That point takes me to the gameplay itself. It's hard to say that visual novels ever make a really satisfying game experience; in most of them, I tend to think the decision-making is an arbitrary mechanic that holds the story back from players for no good reason. (I'm pretty much a slave to game guides and walkthroughs, lol.) This game is an exception. Not since Ace Attorney have I felt so proud of myself for fumbling into the bad ending, trying again, and narrowing down my options til I get it right. Clearly designating the right and wrong choices really helps to make things feel less frustrating.
Plus, there's another level of satisfaction to be had from a game that centers on the conceit of making people like you. In life, I am a socially awkward semi-loner who seldom leaves her comfort zone. I would be too scared to approach the likes of Crowven and his friends, fearing we'd have nothing in common, I'd say something wrong. I'd never go near Reginald, because he's too well-dressed, or Mitzi, because she (or they?) seems too cool, so I figure they'd want nothing to do with me. But seeing Reginald go from making someone cry to picking a fight with you to treating you like an old friend in two chapters hits differently than having him as a gentleman right at the start. A game with a self-insert player character and transparent mechanics that lets you figure out the "right" things to say to different kinds of people--the kinds of people you would love to get to know, at that--is rewarding in a way that goes beyond the game itself. It makes the friendships of your wildest dreams feel somehow within reach.
The fact Vanilla isn't actually a self-insert character somewhat throws a wrench in that experience. Like I said, your characters are imminently likable. I don't just want to be their friends; I want to see them all live their best lives and be part of it. It seems like Vanilla wants that, too, until the twist. The foreshadowing on this is pretty solid, so I have no issue with it on the writing front. It just feels like a betrayal of the things I liked most about this game. In hindsight, it was also a very poor choice on my part to make *this* game the one time that I gave my own name to the main character. I took a little break upon seeing the first cruel decision, but decided I wanted to see how the story played out anyway. I tried to choose options that seemed the least mean or the most honest, but every choice made me feel guilty.
On the bright side, I for one have no major complaints about the ending; if you don't want to see the characters you've come to care about suffer, it is absolutely the ideal outcome. It also gives reason to actually like Twyla: sheer strength of personality. That was one hell of a gambit, and she nailed the landing. (Hopefully, she didn't also nail the bat... but then again, Vanilla deserves to be hit with embedded bits of metal.) It does render the decision-making of the previous chapter moot, which might feel unsatisfying to players who want to feel their choices matter. Unless it's a kinetic novel, part of the VN experience is about having the power to affect a story, so it's natural that some players will be disappointed when the illusion is shattered, so to speak. On that level, I wouldn't have minded seeing where my decisions led, but mostly I'm just here for the story itself. Plus, I feel like maybe the real point of those options was just to establish how thoroughly loathsome Vanilla's character is before the final smackdown, and for that purpose, it works flawlessly.
I also want to comment on how interestingly this game connects to Cemetery Mary. I was caught off guard when, in Crowven's chapter here, he says he barely knows Mary, since their relationship was so integral to the last game. It surprises me how well they work on their own. Or that Mary is still so Mary without the cemetery (though hopefully she gets a graveyard scene in your next story; that's too unique a character trait not to take advantage of). And, again, I'm shocked that Reginald can seem so normal in another game's context. Can't wait to see what you do with him in Blackout Hospital.