Or, the mix could change
The beginning of the game felt like a bang fest, women everywhere, the free roams were fun. Instantly Quinn giving a lap dance and it getting surprisingly naughty, nice.
The mix is different now, the free roams are more tedious and the interactions with women aren't as fun
The new mix might work better for some than for others. I'm not a huge fan of recent updates, but I do absolutely love everything through Ch 8.
The og reply was to the dude you've replied to, my bad.
I get your points) The atmosphere has shifted, obviously. Bud I'd say the reason for that is that the build-up phase is over.
Cake probably implies that by this time you should've been settled with your choice. And if the path with open relationship with Sage could be seen as possibility, in no damn way I see MC who settles for other four LIs to be the dude jumping for another pussy.
In simple words, if BADIK is Harry Potter, then we're at Goblet Of Fire stages of it - when things get darker and it's no longer parties and hoes only.
IMO, Cake could create some kind of forks where one path crosses with another and you can switch, but it could happen only once or twice through the game.