Le Soleil's Murder (Free Mystery Adventure) - Introduction and Review

This is an article introducing "The Murder at Le Soleil," a mystery adventure game created using TyranoScript by the circle flag flag.
(The title of the work as written in the Readme is "Le Soléil no Satsujin (The Murder of Le Soleil)")
This is a closed-circle mystery set in a snowbound guesthouse.
Despite its classic premise, this mystery adventure was meticulously crafted and captivating.

The completion time was approximately 3 and a half hours.
(The stated playtime is 6-7 hours.)

Game Overview

The protagonist, Yusuke Takasugi, gets lost due to bad weather while on his way to drop off his childhood friend, Honoka Ayahara, at a ski resort.
Just when we were on the verge of getting lost, we managed to find the guesthouse "Le Soleil" and were allowed to stay there until the weather improved.

Because it was still in its pre-opening phase, the incident occurred while only a small number of guests and staff were present.
With no contact to the outside world, what kind of outcome can we expect for this case?

It's a mystery novel that follows a fairly straightforward path.
Although it's labeled as an adventure game rather than a visual novel because it includes exploration sections, I don't think you'll have any trouble progressing through it.
The only part of the game where the ending changes depending on your choices is the deduction section at the end.

There are two endings: one where the case is solved and one where it remains unsolved.

Review (no spoilers)

It was a calm and composed work, and it felt like I was reading a high-quality mystery novel at a leisurely pace.
The plot unfolds in a fairly conventional way, without any gimmicks, yet I was completely drawn in.
I'm just an amateur, so I can't judge what makes the writing so good, but I didn't feel any stress at all while reading it.
I didn't notice any issues with the way the text was broken up, the window display, the plausibility of the story's development, or the character designs, and by the time Day 2 arrived, I was completely engrossed.
I'm not sure if this is the right way to put it, but rather than the story driving me along, I felt like there was absolutely no reason to stop playing at any point.

I don't think the difficulty level of the deduction is high.
I think anyone familiar with mystery novels would be able to identify the culprit.

While the mystery was the main focus, I felt that the relationship between the protagonist and the heroine was also woven into the story.
I believe the story isn't tacked on, but rather organically connected as a whole.
I felt this was a wonderful work that left me with a very pleasant feeling after reading it.
This section won't contain any spoilers, but it's a mystery adventure that I would recommend to many people.

Various impressions (contains spoilers)

What left the strongest impression on me in this work was the relationship between Yusuke and Honoka.
When I started playing, Yusuke was listed as 27 years old, so I assumed his childhood friend Honoka was around the same age.
I thought she looked a little young for that age, so I checked the character list and saw that Honoka was a university student, which made sense.
Even though we were childhood friends, we weren't the same age; the fact that there was a bit of an age difference was refreshing.
It wasn't a casual romantic relationship, but rather a heartwarming bond like that of estranged siblings or family.

Just before it was discovered that the room had been ransacked, she hadn't woken up at all."Could it be that the heroine gets killed, and the protagonist starts taking the mystery seriously?!"I was terrified, but thankfully nothing bad happened and everyone was safe.
Although she sometimes speaks harshly to Yusuke, I found myself increasingly fond of her because of her cute gestures and conscientious personality.

In mystery novels, the characters' attributes often become symbolic or merely defined by their roles, but I didn't feel that way about this work, and I was able to simply enjoy it.
The division of roles was excellent; the protagonist, Yusuke, prevented the crime through his deductions, while the heroine, Honoka, was able to save the culprit's life through persuasion.
When you think of heroines in mystery stories, you often picture them being cowardly and useless, but I was moved by how she played an important role in the story's content.
The persuasive arguments were not superficial generalities, but rather aligned with Honoka's character as portrayed so far, so I didn't feel any sense of incongruity.

While the mystery is the main focus, I felt that the protagonist's growth was skillfully integrated into the main storyline.

My initial impression of Yachi-kun was that he was a frivolous and rough character, as evidenced by his aggressive behavior towards Iwakuma.
However, as the story progressed, I began to think that he was not a shallow person, even if he might be foolish.
I really like the scene in the screenshot above where Yusuke tells her something like, "If something happens, you're the one who'll protect her," and you can feel the joy of being acknowledged.
His charm lies in his junior-like character who looks up to him despite everything, and I'm starting to understand why Noa finds him cute.

Saeki was a difficult, artistic type of character, but I thought it was cute when he became all lovey-dovey after Yusuke praised the room that Iwakuma hadn't touched (meaning it was a room that directly reflected Saeki's intentions).
As Yusuke pointed out, even in the deduction part, it was clear that he was helping and supporting the story to make it easier to move forward, and he was a great help.

Hasegawa-san has always been a good person, and I found myself praying that she would find happiness.
I was really grateful that they accepted Yusuke and his friends, even though it must have been incredibly difficult for them to suddenly be put in charge of managing the guesthouse.
I deeply admire their unwavering professionalism and customer-first approach, even in these challenging circumstances.
It seems that the stress has finally upset her stomach, but she's trying her best not to show any signs of weakness, which actually makes me more worried.

Takeuchi-kun was a chef with strong convictions, and a genuinely likable person.
When I point out that he's the culprit, he says, "You...didn't you trust me...?" which breaks my heart.
The scenes in the deduction sequences where the culprit is wrongly identified are always heartbreaking and leave me feeling distressed.
I hope to one day own my own restaurant where people can enjoy French cuisine in a casual setting.

You can't go any further.