Damn such an amazing episode, i dont get the critics at all ..
Yeah the math, science and fish minigames arent needed at all but its since ep1 like that, the "test"-minigames always were annoying and unnessecary but dpc and some people seem to like them, its not like its a big surprise.
And yeah i get the waiting time is long but 6k renders and ~335 animations arent bad numbers for one year at all, its way faster compared to Eternum for example which has waaaaaaay less branching (no hate against eternum, i love it, just to put things in perspective)
The Patrick and Steven Burke backstorys are great, really helps to humanize the antagonists. They had good intentions in the beginning and esp Patrick is just in such a shitty situation, his life sucks entirely which still not excuses being rough with your child but you can see why its just all too much for him to handle.
In case of steven its interessting too, how he was a "good guy" back in the days and got fired because he didnt want to participate in illegal activitys. Makes you wonder how he ended up with a prostitution network in college. And Jade is not innocent either.
My first path was a Others Lily/Solo Josy/Quinn/Riona/Nicole path. The lily content was quite a lot and funny, she was (with josy and sage) my fav before the update but the whole "rolling" thing felt kinda akward for me, like pretending to be a couple and kinda forced.
Very different to for example the fuckbuddy dynamic with sage in the beginning. Its more about flexing and status but she is very open and communicates her intentions with the mc which is nice.
And she explains why she cant allow herself to fall in love with someone at this point in her life, big doubts shes able to keep that up.
I love her, but at this point she feels a little bit like a discount-sage, its all about status for her and the mc could just have all this stuff but in a real relationship with sage (the hot's president) if he wants status. Lily will be the next HoT president.
The Josy solo setup was amazing, loved it, shes unable to fight her feelings for the mc and is thinking about him all the time. My guess is next episode maya's troubles with the loan will be solved and the Josy Maya breakup will happen. I think a solo relationship will be starting than or in ep 12.
The Riona and Nicole dates were decent. The Quinn "Date" was surprising, she exposed all her drug dealing secrets and connections to the mc just like that and was afraid to be rejected by him when he sees the "real" her. She even told him about her future plans and that she isnt intending to lead the hots anymore.
The Sage path was simply amazing, everything so many people missed in ep9 was there. The mc and Sage at times act as therapists for each other. Cracking the other one open and discovering their flaws and insecuritys together and tackling them together, its really wholesome. And Tommy at the start was hilarious.
I like the potrayed paralles between Jade and Sage. The MC with his (over)-emotional attitude is able to overcome sage's defense mechanisms in a way Steven wasnt able to with Jade. Imo their lacking communication killed the Burke's marriage and the MC is forcing to make sure the same thing doesnt happen to sage and him.
Surprisingly Sage was the first who was close to dropping the L-bomb but its reasonable. The mc seems to be the first thing in her life which isnt fake, who isnt pretending or tries to appease her all the time. He confronts her and pushes her out of her comfort zone which shes likes and respects. Everything else in her life is/was fake: her friends, her ex-boyfriend and even her family.
Loved that they became a couple and the small scenes like breakfast together and stuff like that.
JM-Path was fun too, not thiiiis much unqiue content but it was decent. The most fun/unique content was Tommys reaction and pouting. Tommy was hilarious in this episode all the time by the way.
Jill path was good too, i like how eager she is to explore new things and learn more about the mc's world, would have loved more stuff about mcs lineage but were not there yet.
Cant wait for Jill to meet Neil, i feel like it will be a very wholesome dynamic between the two of them and i kinda feel like that Jill maybe would be able to help Neil to feel better.
Since neil's talk with zoey in ep 8/9 i feel like he's depressed since his wife died and even more since the mc moved to college.
The whole sequence at the campfire while being on shrooms was hilarious, loved all about it.
The two most emotional scenes this episode were great too. I loved all the Zoey content this episode, Mc and zoey reading the diary together was great. Her shutting delusional jacob down no matter if you allow him to go for her or not was amazing too haha.
And her emotional breakdown was potrayed perfect (okay the running animation sucked). I feel like she shut her emotions down since her grandma died and just supressed everything including her feelings for the mc which made her took him for granted in the past.
And shes overwhelmed about the personal growth the mc made in such a short time. Its such a HUGE difference in attitude how the mc not even a year ago said bye to her at the train-station, pouting but not saying anything about it like a little bitch compared to the guy telling her he doesnt want her to leave because he considers her his future and his first true love.
If he had said the same words to her back than, she would have stayed.
Hearing these words from him, lacking any sexual/romantical interest for any other guys, seeing his confidence and being swarmed by all these sexy and fun girls just destroyed her emotional shield. Realising she may just had one shot and lost the one good thing in her life due to her own decision.
The roles are kinda reversed now, now the mc is the one who got away and her running while sobbing was her version of the mc's nostalgia bike trip to get a new phone.
The second emotional moment was the one with derek, i got annoyed with him in the past quite often and this was very redeeming and touching. It excused his clown-like behavior in the past as coping-mechanism somewhat too and my mc will now always give him space im my room if derek needs some solitude.
Sorry for the wall of text, but im really satisfied with this episode lol