So I just finished reading the first Occultic;Nine light novel on J-Novel Club.
The novel has much better pacing and development. I had a better feel for the characters and the overall setting, as they actually spent time with just about everyone. The 9 characters don't all get equal attention (Kiryu is mostly ignored, and Yuta still takes up a majority of the attention), but it's still more manageable than what the first episode presented. I actually care a lot more about the characters now that they've all had
some development and actual introductions. The timeline of events is actually coherent, rather than a mess of scenes strung together. There's actually a lot more intrigue and other mysterious things going on that make you care about the story and what happens next. They explain or at least hint at why characters gravitate toward each other, and what motivates them.
After episode 4, I fell behind with the anime, so I decided to start from the beginning again. Rewatching the first episode after reading LN1, it's more bearable, as I actually have a feel for the characters from the novel, but it's still a mess. The first episode is basically the rushed cliffs notes version of the first novel. Some of the first novel spills into episode 2 and even a bit of 3, but they basically rushed through everything to get to new content. They should've just split the episode up to make it more coherent and take the time to introduce and make the characters more interesting from the start.
For the anime, I do still like the characters and elements of the plot, and I hope this turns out well. Even more so now after reading the novel. But I think it has a very weak intro. I heard things get really good around episode 6, so hopefully they can finish strong.
Kinda sad that the novels are stuck in limbo (likely cancelled) as I currently prefer reading the series.