Pacing is exhausting me, can someone tell me how far off I am from actually figuring out what's going on? (Spoilers, obv)

[Napolean Bronaparte]

Hey, so I'm finding the pacing of this game to be excruciating where every time we start learning a bit about the anomalies going on, the game throws another side-plot to take up several hours and I'm burnt out. I can handle slice of life stuff but how this story is being told just isn't jiving with me right now.

I made it to the ruins where buddy gets in an argument with Nicole (I genuinely didn't understand this argument) and had enough because it's been 10 hours and I just want to feel like there's progress. Can anyone tell me how far off I am from actually getting to the twist, or when the mystery aspects of the game picks up?

[Kranst]

I would not describe this game as a mystery. While the various anomalies and unexpected developments do hold narrative importance, I would not attribute them to the message of Until Then. I would recommend to continue playing even if in the end you do not emotionally resonate with the story. I have played many similar games in the genre, and not many come close to the emotional complexity that this has.

As for the argument in the ruins, it leans heavily into the theme of misunderstanding while attempting to understand. This will be expanded upon later in the story but gathering from the information currently made known to the player, Mark is intruding into an entire portion of Nicole's life that he believes he understands but is projecting from his own life experience.

[Kylnoffey]

After the first answer, there is still much more story if you are at the scene after they did the cyclebike travel, you are close to around half the game.
For when you figure things out, hard to answer without spoiling but don't expect it to be right now. If you need to maybe a break could help you enjoy it more when you continue it back, it's a chill game that makes you think/feel not one that should be rushed

[MKindy]

I stopped playing for this reason. It's not a game, it's just an anime that asks you to confirm each line of dialogue with a button press.

[Kylnoffey]

Originally posted by MKindy:

I stopped playing for this reason. It's not a game, it's just an anime that asks you to confirm each line of dialogue with a button press.

A bit too much yes, especially since players don't have any influence or real gameplay outside the minigames. But to be fair it's main tag is visual novel not an action game either

[Lenny235]

Honestly you should play a little bit further until the end of the prom. If it hasn't grabbed you by then, it probably won't later either.