It adds nothing, just some people thing it is the pinnacle of gaming to have to use a keyboard to walk a character from one place to another on a very outaded engine, with graphics that look really bad. Somehow that is fun for some people. I mean i am all for the additional gameplay, like walking around etc., but if it was done in some better way, not this boring, old, bad looking way rpgmaker does.
I agree, the use of RPGMaker or any equivalent software for a visual novel kind of story can be very dull. But it also can have potential. Take for istance a treasure hunt kind of game like Lust Epidemic. It's a good example of well used RPGMaker (or any other) applied to an erotic game (despite i have other issue with the game).
I just started with 4 years in Tehran, and the concept intrigues me a lot, but i already feel that the technical coices for the developement of this game might not have been the best.
Maybe if it has some degree of success the dev could find some technical help to reshape the game in a more suited form. I feel like this game has a story very worth telling.
EDIT: Short after i wrote this message i loaded my last save and i found out i was stuck in a kind of fance with a stuck NPC blocking the door. Killer bug
. This game really needs a different approach i think, and it deserves one. Wishing my best to the dev.