Eh, I thought the Interlude was fine. It does have its drawbacks, but overall I felt it did accomplish its goal to introduce Zoey as a likeable character and establish a believable conflict in the MC when she returns.
I found the main positive to be the story-telling, which portrayed quite a lovely relationship between the MC and Zoey. In my opinion, Zoey was a fun character, and I really enjoyed the dynamic between her and the MC, with her getting him out of his shell a little bit and trying new things. It was also nice to see her gradual realization of how much their relationship actually meant, naturally supported by the parallels in Emma and Bret's relationship. I do agree that the tattoo choices were a bit bold, and that her more subdued personality after moving to San Diego are weaknesses, but in general, Zoey has now been established as a sympathetic character that is not as easy to immediately disregard.
The main issue with the Interlude, is the fact that it was unnecessary. Even though I certainly did not mind it and thought it was relatively fun, the time would have been much better invested in the main story, completely cutting Zoey out of the game. This would not have had any negative impact, and saved plenty of development efforts. Not excluding elements that only play a small role in the game, is one of DrPinkCake's problems as a developer. There are a lot of examples of this; DnG, mini-games, massive free roam events and now the Interlude. These factors only act as a bonus, but are virtually meaningless in the grand scheme of things. Considering that the game will not be finished until 2026 given the current development cycle, it would be advisable to reduce the scope a bit.
When it comes to how forced the MC's internal conflict will be upon Zoey's return, I can say this: DrPinkCake has made it explicitly clear that the MC is not a blank slate - he is his own person, not matter how much the player wants to self-insert. Clearly, Zoey leaving did affect him a lot; he was in love with her and was forced to move on, and it is therefore unrealistic to expect her return to not have an impact on him. This being said, the game starts out with the MC having a crush on Josy, and we have spent eight episodes forming new bonds and banging anything that moves, leading us to believe he has managed to move on. I therefore parrot other people's worries about how this will force conflict upon us, that will negatively affect other relationships, and I welcome all choices that allow us to immediately shut down the prospect of getting back with Zoey. Even if there is forced conflict, one would have to assume that it will be better than the atrocity of the Maya/Josy drama, which is probably the worst part of Being a DIK.
A discussion of the MC/Maya/Josy situation is also how I want to end this post. Not only was that a completely nonsensical point of drama (seriously, all it required for the MC's hissyfit to be ridiculous was for you to be uninterested in either of the girls, or both of them. And honestly, what did he want them to say? "I have a girlfriend who lives near you - her name is Josy and I just want to tell you that in case she is the one you have a crush on"?), but it has also had a tragic impact for everyone who likes one of them but not the other. You have now been locked out of content with them for four episodes, even though Josy is the girl the MC supposedly has a crush on and has spent a large portion of the game thinking about. It is clearly the most reasonable choice to not get involved in their relationship if you are only interested in one of them, but you are being severely punished for this. It would be truly calamitous if this doesn't change soon.
