Until the fifth chapter I was convinced that the solo routes didn't make sense at all, both because it was too early (and this is still true now) and because in the story it was "normal" for Mc to have different relationships and experiences.
but I'm changing my mind and not because the two previous reasons are no longer valid, but the story makes much more sense if MC behaves in a 'faithful' way.
the whole rebound boyfriend thing with Sage only makes sense if Sage is "his great love", otherwise why would he give up sex with her? when apparently being her fuck buddy has worked out well for him so far
Jill's story even more than the others, an MC who is interested in other girls would have neither the time nor the desire to keep up with the little princess' dreams, he would choose 99 times out of 100 to "not fight for her" (what a strange scene...). hers is a particular story (which i can also accept) that lived together with the others becomes quite indigestible
That's more or less how I felt back in Chapter 4. After going through all that drama there was no way in Hell I was going to take the three-way relationship lightly. Strings or no, my MC is only pursuing the two of them. (Granted, I like Maya and Josy, so it was easy for me to buy into trying for something more.)
From there, it was pretty easy to make a solo Jill route too, since it feels downright knavish to romance her openly while ploughing the field; admittedly, this was before we realized she probably thinks babies are delivered by stork, so perhaps I'd be less forgiving now. Bella would have gotten a solo path too, if I could stomach the MC's borderline harassment of her.
Sage was the only one who made sense as part of a multi-girl run, given her personality and the way their relationship started. Even then I figured I'd make a solo run for her if she ever broke up with Chad and became available, so she'll probably get one soon.
I have other runs that fool around more, but they feel very much like alternate history to me. The game takes the relationships with the main girls too seriously for me to feel comfortable taking them for granted.
tbh, I can't wait to see the well earned Josy-Maya birthday gift... and the "walk of shame" where they both give the middle finger to their (step)brothers.
I keep hoping the MC will tell the DIKs to knock that shit off, but it never happens. Sadly, I suspect it will only end when Jill is subjected to it and the MC will have the chance to prove he isn't afraid to be himself and defend Jill's honor. So yeah, I think I'm going to be stuck with it for a while.
I feel like a big revelation is waiting for MC at the end of Lynette's diary. I can feel it.
Lynette was Neil's sled all along?!? Mind. Blown.
just mod it or change it in console, I did that especially for that. I have 4 saves with different routes here and there but for some reason in all 4 of them I accepted Cathys offer. I mean who the hell would expect that to have so much consequences? I dont know but that move from Bella kind of makes no sense at all. Its way to final and way too sudden. And just because of some panties? Maybe u can even go back on her path in epsiode 8 or so, but the way she made it sound its final...
Playing it all over again because of that is a not acceptable. But the game is fun and if u havent played the earlier episodes for a long time it might be worth it.
Or just go back and play the game in a way that you feel comfortable defending.
One of the things I noticed about
Where The Heart Is is that the devs always say there won't be any harem endings and eventually a cheating MC will crash and burn, but despite being 20 episodes in they still leave a way for the player to wriggle off the hook. I take the devs of that game at their word that it will eventually end badly, but I think they would save themselves a lot of grief if they had forced the player to face a few (minor) consequences for cheating early in the game.
In my view, Cathy's telltale panties serve that function here. While it seems arbitrary, it is a plausible outcome for the situation and proves that you can't always talk your way out of a situation. Better to learn that now than much later on.
The scene does play. Had the time to try that just a few minutes ago. The girls don't recognize, but the rest of the scene plays normally. Shame
I tested this myself with an MC that had avoided Josy and Sage until Episode 7; neither mentioned the MC's name during the interruption. The scene in the bathroom only triggered when the MC had pursued Sage at the party. Perhaps it's different with DIK affinity, but as a CHICK Jill and Josy had a short conversation in the hall, then the game cut away.
