I see. That's interesting and helpful, thanks. It still feels counter-intuitive to me. I mean, I understand the logic behind friendship closing romantic doors. But the game should offer a more straightforward formula for those seeking the solo path with only one of the two girls, rather than having to play with calculations in mind. The first time I played the library scene in episode 4, back when episode 6 was the latest one, it already struck me as annoying the lack of a choice in that direction during that scene. Ideally we should be able to put our cards on the table during that scene near the end of episode 4 and have the choice of telling the girls if we have a real interest in only one of them. Anyway, thanks again for your input. I will need to reload a save prior to offering my help to Maya then.
Well, i wouldnt be that sure that DPC planned out a solo route for Josy and Maya beforehand. He pretty much planned out most of the game... but some things are clearly "winged" on the spot.
I think, intentionally DPC planned a solo path for J&M only via throuple route, so... after a while they would break up and one of them would end up with MC.
On the way maybe DPC noticed that there could be a solo path for both of them on the others route too and decided which decisions from the episodes before could lead to that. Wouldnt be surprised by that. But that is just a guess... maybe he planned the solo routes from the start i dont know, but it doesnt really feel like that.
Other than that, yeah there are a bunch choices, routes and things in the game that are not very intuitive. And yeah overall straightforward is not in DPCs DNA either. Which is the reason why i have so many different playthroughs and every playthrough has a save after each episode... makes nearly 200 savegames for being a dik now. which is kinda crazy.