Now that the dust has settled I can tell my opinion on newest update with a fresh take as it gets since I played from very start almost every day until completion. I will pretend that the ruined saves or game breaking didn't happen.
Minigames - I like them. I could agree that they are not necessary and if it takes long time to develop I too would rather that time be spent on story/dates with lovely characters, but as they exist I don't find them too hard or tedious and definitely not boring. I did use easy/normal difficulty everywhere tho since I am kind of a casual (+ boomer).
Free roams - I don't get why people complain about this, instructions are very clear and it is easy to manouver the sandbox aspect of this game. There are times when I can't wait for next free roam to happen, because it means possibly cool new Rooster posts and I enjoy finding characters "out in the wild" as I explore areas. I read some comments about being stuck in free roam or whatever and I can't imagine how that is even possible. Also Pack Quests are cool and only very rarely I disagree with the name of the clue so it's pretty straight forward and often so clever that you can appreciate it.
Dates - Obviously I did not explore everything possible. That only further contributes why the update took so long, because there are many different options for player and I can appreciate it even if most of those options are not for me. The further I got into the updates from starting fresh, the more I entertained a thought that I should start fresh again and really commit to just 1 love interest. I have a feeling somewhere down the line it will be rewarded from development... in a same way some bad choices are punished. Obviously I really love Nicole (Envy) so hope there is possibility to build something real there. There was a bit of a contradiction there on my playthrough since in Swyper chat MC had option to say kid doesn't bother me, but in the newest date MC expresses dislike that she has a kid without choice... Maybe slight logic error there unless it makes difference if you are DIK or CHIC then I could understand that since there was also exclusive option for CHIC during that date.
Humor - As always one of the strongest aspects of this game.
Drama - Similar to humor also strong aspect of the game and feels like it crawls up on you when you least expect it to really dig deep on that emotion spectrum.
Huge thanks to
https://f95zone.to/members/sancho1969.1956589/ for allowing some players to enjoy assistance during gameplay so everyone can achieve what they want within the game without breaking it or destroying immersion with constantly looking up resources outside the game. <3
I find it interesting that one of my favorite characters and one of my least favorite characters are twins. I wouldn't mind skipping chunk of content and not be involved in Maya bullshit, I really despise her, but I guess I can at least keep a thought in back of my mind that I am helping my bro Derek.
What the hell is the problem of that cafeteria chick, don't tell me the bad food joke from earlier in the game struck a nerve with her so deep that she literally plots to destroy whole DIK fraternity. She gotta be a pawn of someone, right? Also, if DIK truly is involved in the shitstorm behind the scenes it has to be Nick unless someone is framing him (maybe Vinny?), cause all the evidence points towards him, like very obviously so. Room spared from trashing, he is in library when laptop was stolen and found in library, he is the only one who misses Vinny it seems (blames DIKs for his leave?), is in love with Heather (maybe he will frame Tommy to get rid of him to get with Heather?), also was one of the least stats for mansion rebuild (reluctant to help fix stuff, suspicious!?).
All in all I hope I am around for the next update, I have a feeling it will be a glorious one!
P.S. Since most people won't get with Nicole because of her profession and/or family, could it be possible that she stays as is or can even embrace everything further if MC chooses? I would hate for MC to get with Nicole only to start dishing out mean comments or trying to control her. If you get with Nicole you want a sexy stripper girlfriend, let us embrace it! And if her baby daddy is someone interesting or well... exotic, that would be super hot in my book at least. Here come the facepalms haha...