By the way I just want to ask what did you like about Zoey?
I find the story satisfying. Zoey and MC were newbies in love matters, they made some mistakes and the relationship couldn't handle long distance. It's very natural and it leaves a wide range of plausible emotions for their reunion. I like the pace of the story. Ep 1-8 build up to the moment of truth, the choice of which path to take. The relationship you are in gets more serious. It's far from done, but the chosen girl has practically won against all the competition. It's the ideal moment for the ex to enter the stage.
The ex is both an obvious character to include and very tricky to get right. Zoey has the ex's advantage of years against everyone else's mere months and she has the disadvantage of heartbreak. The advantage is lessened by the immature aspects of their relationship and the disadvantage is softened by the circumstances of the heartbreak so neither is so overwhelming that the result would be obvious from the start.
It's natural that Zoey is MC's metric for relationships. The relationship failed, so any potential relationship has to be better than that, yet it did well enough for that to be a challenge. It did so well that getting back together is not at all foolish. It's also plausible to play the story in a way that makes it clear that MC has moved on, but even if you do that the relationship is still a significant part of his past. Just about every time a player might wonder why MC is the way he is the answer is: "because Neil", "because Lynette" or "because Zoey". The kind of person Zoey turned out to be justifies that answer.
I don't mind Zoey's looks. She's at least on the same level as the majority of girl characters. The tattoos, piercings and hair are all parts of a whole that works and none of them are deal breakers for me, though I understand how they could be for some.
I particularly like the Sage vs. Zoey situation that is brewing. It's fitting because Sage is the main girl who is most like Zoey in personality. There are some big differences of course, but if you compare any of the other four to Zoey the gap is much wider than it is for Sage. Sage is competitive so she naturally will compare herself and Zoey and the similarities are bound to be worrying to her. How much of MC feelings for her are based on that familiarity? Does he do and say those things because they worked with Zoey? Is she just Zoey's replacement? Would he go back to the original if he had the chance?
On the other hand Jill is perhaps the one most different from Zoey. You can reverse all Sage's worries for Jill. How much of their relationship is based on her being the anti-Zoey? There is plenty of potential there too, but it didn't get as much attention as Sage's.
It would be really repetitive for all paths to do their version of vs. Zoey so I'm glad it's just Sage and Jill and I hope Bella, Josy and Maya won't make a big deal about Zoey's confession if MC rejects her just like I hope that Sage and Jill will make a big deal out of it.
Choosing to go back to Zoey is obviously going to be a big deal on all four main paths and I already feel guilty for what I must do for the sake of completion there, though I must admit to a certain macabre curiosity on just how pissed off Sage can get.
The only Zoey game I'm looking forward to is through Others, but I'm undecided on if it should be through the monk approach or the manwhore approach.
And that's really all there is to say. Unless you want me to go into details on what I have planned for the harem fanfiction.
