Out of all the various dramatic plots in the game, I think the Cathy-Jade scenario was the one that had the best foundation.
Jade had told us about how her husband had drunkenly called her by Cathy's name before we slept with either of them, so we all knew that it has been a huge source of fear and insecurity for her. This means that those of us who were with both of them were knowingly setting ourselves up for disaster, which would've made the fallout hit harder because we would have a legitimate reason to feel guilty about it.
Player choice is an important tool that can draw players into the story and make the plot twists hit harder. When it's absent, things tend to fall flat. That's why so many people didn't care about the Maya-Josy reveal. We didn't choose either of them, let alone both of them, so a lot of players were annoyed that their character was making such a fuss over something that they didn't care about. Cathy and Jade are both optional paths to choose, so the only people who would see their drama unfold are the ones interested in them.
One of the things that made that particular set up so perfect was that we still had enough wiggle room to convince ourselves that maybe it would be okay. Maybe we would learn that Cathy never slept with Stephen and then find a way to tell Jade about it so the two of them would be closer then ever. Plus, it's not like we were in a traditional relationship with either of them where they would assume that we wouldn't be seeing anyone else. We could convince ourselves that we weren't doing anything really wrong, and this allows us to foolishly go for both of them.
I'm starting to worry that we will never see the Cathy-Jade set up ever pay off now that other decisions can close off Jade's route, and Cathy is barely in the game anymore. But hey, at least we got two more sex scenes with the splotchy bootleg version of Linda from Milfy City. Can't blame the developer for having priorities. After all, Madame is an established character who the MC has fantasized about since the very first episode. Oh, wait... no that was Cathy. Cathy was the one I told Derek was hotter than Jade and was the focus of the MC's dreams. My mistake. Very easy to mix the two up. They are both equally important characters. It's not like one is just an overpriced whore that was created as a simple cash grab for patreons or anything.
Anyhow, I mostly just wanted to say that I miss Cathy. She had a lot of untapped potential and I think it's a waste for her to be shoved so far into the background. Maybe we'll get lucky and see her again after we are done with the spinoff about the girl who we used to hook up with but didn't truly love, so we didn't go with her went she left town, and who we haven't spoken to for the past six months because we lost touch after she got a new boyfriend. Like I said, can't blame the developer for having priorities. The man clearly knows what is best for his game.
