First off, as I said in the title, I'm really enjoying it. Piecing together the story is super engaging, and the acting is phenomenal and believable across the board. At the same time, there are a couple of gameplay decisions that bug me.

1. As far as I can tell, there is no option to play a clip from the beginning. I put that qualifier there because I still find it hard to believe that it's not in there. I mean, how could it not be? Since you want all the context you can get in a game like this, you're going to want to watch the videos in their entirety, and that means starting every single clip by holding down the rewind button, and it's just not fast enough.

2. There's no way to play two clips simultaneously. The first problem is worth the occasional eye-roll, but this one is a much deeper kind of frustration. The vast majority of clips seem to be one half of a conversation, and by picking out specific keywords, you're able find the other character's side. The problem is that the only way to experience this is by watching one side and then watching the other side. You're able to get the gist of a scene this way, but you're losing a lot at the same time. These clips can be several minutes long, and you might find yourself distracted, struggling to remember what the other character was doing while you're supposed to be paying attention. Wait, what is this person laughing at? How did the other character answer that question again? Stuff like that. And because the playback options are limited to slow rewinding and fast-forwarding, it's usually not worth double-checking. I think being able to link two clips together and play them simultaneously for the full context would have made for a pretty satisfying gameplay loop. It's also a shame that, even though these actors are sharing scenes, you rarely ever get to see them actually playing off each other. Like I said at the top, the acting is phenomenal, but it would be even more effective if they had their scene partners with them.

I'm no programmer, but these two issues seem like relatively easy fixes (the first especially) if the developer decides they want to patch them in. But! Maybe I'm wrong. Let me know if you guys agree or why the game is better the way it is.

The first issue is also frustrating to me, seems like an oversight that could be fixed easily (I'm a pretty bad programmer but even I can see how I'd fix it, personally).

The second one I don't mind as much, it seems more like an aesthetic choice over an oversight to me. I feel like the game wants you to have that disconnect toward the clips, I'm not saying you're inherently wrong, but for me it's fine as is.

You're point about the acting is interesting though. The game makes it so as a spectator we don't interact with the acting here that we would if it were a movie. I fast-forwarded through most of a clip because it was about seven minutes of someone watching someone else do a thing (trying to not spoil here), and I appreciate that they went the extra mile of acting parts that are essentially skippable, but from an acting perspective it feels weird. I have no positive or negative opinion on that specifically, it just seemed an interesting quirk of presenting acting in this specific format.

@fear_the_booboo: Yeah, it's definitely an intentional choice, and one I don't expect will be changed. And I think there's value in it! It's a fun mini-mystery trying to figure out what's happening when you're only seeing half of a scene and then searching for the missing half using context clues. I wouldn't change a thing there. It's specifically when watching the second half that I find myself frustrated. Like, I've found both pieces of the puzzle and the game won't let me fit them together. I mean, isn't that would this NSA woman would do? I know how to play two videos on my computer and I'm just a dude.

I think that the first is more realistic. Imagine if the video was three hours long, you would want the NSA agent to only listen to the pertinent information, which would presumably be around the keyword you searched for.

The second point I agree with. You should be able to say that clip x joins with clip y and then see them both.

I actually like the disconnected vibe of the clips as it enhances the mystery and reinforces the narrative for me. But joining clips might be a good post-credit feature just for fun.

It gives off a really artificial vibe just like the 5 video restriction but I'm willing to suspend my disbelief here. You could remove some of these restrictions after you reach the conclusion for the first time. "Her story" got rid of the limit on videos per search after you finished the game, e.g. "were satisfied" if I remember correctly.