I don't like the new direction of late (mega long free roams, excessive use of animations, etc.), and of course the game isn't perfect, but when you say the game has many flaws, are you speaking subjectively or objectively? I'd like to see a list of the game's objective flaws to see how they stack up.
There are actually two levels of perception of the game's shortcomings here. The first level is emotional, associated with a long wait. The long cinematic animations from ep 9 can hardly be called a flaw, the game didn't get worse or better with it. This is an artistic decision on the part of DPK and he has every right to do so. When we talk about long freeroams, we should also realize that this is a way for DPC to make branching easier for himself. Instead of creating a huge amount of scenes for each girl it's easier to put them in one setting where it will be much easier to realize it. This can also include mini-games, but with some caveat. In terms of gameplay design, mini-games bring variety to the gameplay. Instead of the usual kinetic novel, we get a novel with a lot of mini-games that carry different functions. The mansion repair mini-game creates the illusion that the player is really involved in the restoration of the ruined mansion and sees his contribution to this common cause. A mini-game related to math and English adds to the immersiveness of the game.
We players feel like all of this is slowing down the development process and resent it, but probably without all of this the game would feel and play differently.
The second tier can be called objective, because if DPС fixes these flaws the game will actually get better. Freerooms, minigames, animations don't make the game worse or better.
The objective flaws I would include the following:
1) Visual bugs. These include Josy's teeth, Sage's skin, Jill's smile, poor lighting in the first few episodes, rigging errors, and cloth simulation errors. These can be fixed and they all make the game worse.
2) Plot inconsistencies. Why does MC refuse to fuck Envy and Sandy after her date with Jill, but happily fucks Riona and Cammy? Why does Jill reject MC Dik even though he went on a date with her? Why doesn't the player tell Maya that Quinn wants Maya to be a prostitute. And much more.
3) Large number of variables. I've said before that I don't see the point of a large number of endings in episode 9. Variability is good, but in ep9 both the ending with vixen and the ending with Sarah and Melanie don't make sense to me. The scene with Sara and Melanie could have happened during the party, there's no need to make a whole ending out of it( unless DPC wants to make a new trouple out of them). 9 endings lead to consequences, consequences to other consequences, and so on. The code will get more complex, the inevitable consequence will be that some variables will either be ignored or DPC himself will get confused.
4) A large number of empty scenes. Scenes of course create atmosphere and the right mood, but some of them have absolutely no sense and if you remove them the game will not lose anything. For example, the scene with the conspiracy buff at the dorm party in ep8 is one of the most boring. It was just really boring. How important was the scene with Becky in ep9 and Jacob's room. The player had to walk through the whole house only to find out that Becky fell in the bathtub. It was unfunny and a waste of time.
5)The decision to make animations at 60fps is completely inexplicable to me. But it's too early to judge yet. But so far it looks like something that will take extra rendering time.
I don't mean to say that my opinion is the truth in the last instance and it's the only correct one, it's not like that. I just try to look objectively and without emotion at the state of the game. Ep9 is a bad sample for analyzing and predicting considering that it is experimental.
