Even if we assume there is some plan that'll make some sense, I don't see why pursuing it could ever be wise. It's not only a nightmare to track and debug for the dev,
It's really not that much harder than it'd be if all options were to be available. In fact, in game dev most bugs come from variable acting unexpectedly, thus, having variables turned off can help alleviate the amount of unexpected behavior. The real challenge comes from the writing point of view, as it can be difficult to keep track of different paths the story may take if one isn't diligent. Even if it did become an issue on the programming, which it may well be as neither you and I know nothing of the coding process, I find holding more ambition in contempt for the amount of work it will lead to be... an odd stance to take. This point would hold more weight if the devs didn't update the game frequently, as it stands, the multiple paths don't seem to detriment development.
severely restricts content the average non-completionist player gains access to every update.
Putting aside the fact that there is an option to play any one mission without having to do the entire route via chapter select, I fail to see how this is any different from any other game with multiple romance options. If there weren't any gated choices, you'd still need to do all the content beforehand, the only difference being whether it's gonna be in one playthrough or another. Every player that isn't a completionist wouldn't be able to experience all the content in an update if said content is in a route they didn't do, regardless of locked content or not.
And this game splinters off so aggravatingly often that even a walkthrough seems to be a herculean task to maintain.
I think you're severely overestimating the amount of variance there actually is in the game. Most games with choices have an option X or Y, that then splinter off into XX or XY; YX or YY; XXY or XXX, and so on. This one only has three sets of X or Y choices that are mostly independent from one another, plus some other variables here and there that the game notifies you about. Doing a walkthrough of this game wouldn't be anywhere near as difficult to making one of an average rpg, or hell, a classic dating sim. And even then, you have a built in hints system to guide you and chapter select that specifically tells you the requirements and variables for a mission.
Or follow (see Twisted Fate).
Fair point my friend.
And unless the goal is to force MC into monogamy, then why enforce Flora over specifically just Jacklyn? That can't really be anything but arbitrary, in so far as MC is screwing around with the rest anyway. So if it's just to setup the emotional scenes, it seems you may as well just allow the player access to her major scenes in some other way.
Here you're repeating your point where you stubbornly refuse to consider that there might be narrative and thematic reasons behind the Jacklyn, Flora mutually exclusive content without arguing against any of our points. You present subjective opinions as objective facts and that isn't a good way to debate.
E.g. You cancel the Jacklyn date for a heartfelt moment with Flora. Sometime later when the moment has passed, you get a text message from Jacklyn where she requests help on an art project, inviting you to meet her by the bus at night. Alternatively, just save the bus scene for some other quest and have the player sacrifice a less crucial scene.
I feel that would cheapen the moment and Flora's overarching plot of losing the ones you love. But, I can see something like that working for that particular scene. The next choice in Suitable Romance would be harder to find a way around, as there Flora's problem is with the MC even going on a date, and odds are all later choices may have higher stakes and feel less arbitrary. That's the reason why I argue to wait and see with Maxine/Lindsey, the devs already showed the choices having rising importance, even if the first options seem rather small.
In a case like Maxine vs Lindsey, MC is not even given the thinnest veneer of why he needs to choose between fetching Lindsey a water bottle and looking into "ley lines".
I can see reasons. You can say that the MC doesn't trust Maxine unless he does her route, you can say that the MC finds helping Lindsey to be a matter requiring all his own efforts in saving her, a focal point in her story, you can just say that the MC plainly didn't have time to do both as he's working in bettering himself and dealing with Kate/Isabelle, the game says that the MC doesn't take Maxine's words seriously if you don't choose her and a million more. The same way you don't see a reason behind a design choice, I can see several. Besides, the MC later on does follow up on Maxine's lead if you go the Lindsey's route, so it's not like the devs didn't have this in mind.
it would actually be expected for MC to follow both leads.
Why? In that moment it didn't seem that serious. After it escalates, MC goes to Maxine like you say.
But frankly in a game with this insanely long a build up, he's the one that ironically needs to choose his story branches more wisely because every additional playthrough is an extraordinary ask.
The game is like 2 to 3 hours long at max if you know what to do, and you do since the game comes with a hint system, and you only need to do two playthroughs to see every major thing. The time investment argument seems odd to me, as if you wanted to see all content, you'd spend the same amount of hours be they in one playthrough or two, minus like 30 minutes in scenes you'll always see regardless of choices that you can skip and go through them in less than a minute.
A lot of people in here really bash this game's every attempt at trying to be engaging. Minigames are useless, exploration and puzzles are dumb and impossible, multiple playthroughs are a waste of time. It's no wonder WEGs have a bad rep if its players seem to despise when they try to be more than just sex scenes collectathons.
