The game was quite atmospheric and perplexing. On the other hand, I can’t even approach figuring out who did what after 21 questions. The main reason is, I would say, the general lack of information. Who, when, what. Also, when the detective starts his work, the criminal medics may already have some conclusions for him.
Overall, the situation you are in felt more like the Gatcha crime videos children watch online today. You are suggested to ask five correct questions and point at the murderer. It is fun, especially if you invite your child to help with playtesting. But overall, the situation feels way too complex to solve it just with some random questions.
While wandering around the mansion, we found several clues (keys, recipes, bills), but they didn’t guide us to any meaningful conclusion. They only hint at motifs. But as a detective, you need to validate the alibis and recreate the crime scene. And there was a problem here, as the character kept giving contradicting info, and the questions ran out.
Your game’s visuals are very good, and playing was a pleasure. I would only ask for some UI improvements. For example, maybe show a caret when you input text.
I agree that characters should behave more politely and stop when you talk to them. It is inconvenient.
Also, we can’t find the journalist anywhere.
But the main problem I had with the game was its ending. After all the investigation and searching, I expected to finally learn who the culprit was, but instead, the ‘chief detective’ told us we needed to wait for the 1st of May to know the result. This feels off. I didn’t even get if he meant the real-world time or game time. I guess it is the real-world time because May is coming on us. But that reallly feels strange. Or maybe it means that I was wrong in my guess? Still strange.
Maybe it would have worked better if you reduced the amount of info/number of suspects the player has to work with in his first task so that the players can understand the mechanics behind the AI talks and also get a feeling of progression and reward before diving into a more complex murder mystery.
My best wishes for developing your game!