Alright, reached end of current content.. again, Bonds.
So, here's my thoughts, for what they're worth.
By in large, the new update is great. Seriously.
Still absolutely despise Gayros, Goiros... whatever.. Muscle Merlin Mary Sue. And I generally barely even skim any content in which he's present. I just feel like he's far, far to much of a, well, Mary Sue. Literally no weaknesses or downfalls? Regenerates faster than Wolvernine, more magical capacity than Merlin, can nuke entire cities without breaking a sweat, has muscles on top of his muscles that are only on top of his muscles to help him build more muscles, and his hair is only white because he scared his hair so bad that all the color drained out? Nope, I don't like it. But, that's just a personal opinion.
The only real mechanical gripe I've got with the new content is the number of full screen.. I guess I'd call them pop-ups. Now, I don't mind reading. I actually prefer it, hence being interested in this style of game. But, there's a ton of wobbly text that's floating on the screen for several seconds at a time now. When it's just one, it's a teeny tiny bit annoying, but it's clearly part of your artistic style so I don't actually mind in the slightest. However, right at the end of Chapter 5, there's a horrifiically long, multi-pop up, basically full conversation that drones on and on for nearly two minutes. No way to skip it, and tabbing away to do something else in an attempt to just wait for all the pop-up text to finish does nothing.. It'll wait right there for you to tab back over so you don't miss a second of characters saying 2-7 words each line. That, I don't really like. Please, add add a way to disable or skip that sort of thing.
The option to go to 'sandbox?' immediately after though, right at the actual end of Chapter 5 though. I actually like that quite a lot. I've already run it enough that Liora's Stamina/MP is getting really close to 300, which seems pretty absurd, but I like feeling 'OP', so it's intentional. (How? Mana resonance event, just.. click the 'Diary + Config' button and then immediately close it to 'reroll' the event results - or list of events, if hunting for mana resonance / training - until you get the result you want. Either +10 for Liora on a 50ish roll, or +2 for Liora on a 'confusing' failure.... I consider it a feature, not a bug/expoit, so if you don't mind.. could you please not change/remove it?)
Being able to replay the end of chapter content which still continues to contribute to overall stats, affection and attraction is nice. Though, having it end with having to sit through another two minute popup extravaganza as a pink haired demon maid chants fantasy words and says to take her mana and take her life every time I (re)complete the final forest.. uh.. dungeon leading up to the actual dungeon, event.. is.. tedious to say the least. Again, I don't mind reading, I prefer reading, hence why I enjoy your game, but let me read at my pace, rather than having me go make a sandwich every time I finish some content as I wait for words to flnish flashing across my screen. Thanks in advance.
However, given that I seem to have an uncanny knack for breaking things.. I did find another bug. This one actually being legitimately game breaking; Opening the Soul Forge on the right navigation, while having the Diary + Config open from the left nav causes an infinite menu loop. Closing the Soul Forge goes back to Diary/Config, and closing Diary/Config goes back to the Soul Forge. No way to break the cycle outside of loading a previous save. Thankfully, I save obsessively, so no real progress was lost. But, figured you might want to know about that.. so more casual players don't accidentally brick their game or something.
Besides that, everything seems great! Current content is definitely teasing about how future content is going to be removing the metaphorical training wheels, there's finally a bunch of 'skip the feet' options, character/party development is coming along swimmingly, and there was even a nice preview of what femMC is going to look like in the future (with both dom as well as sub options for that). Sora seems fun (though, I'd like the option for her to accidentally lose her.. extra bits in the future, given as I'm aiming for a.. mostly lesbian playthrough, but again, that's purely a personal preference). And, Serin is finally using something other than her feet and body funk to show sexual interest with the MC. All good stuff! And, I can't wait for 0.6/0.7, for the game to really open up and get more, well, sandboxy.
Keep up the great work, hon! But don't forget about yourself along the way. You love the game you're making, and we love playing the game you're making! But it's all for nothing if you keep slaughtering yourself along the way. AAA companies already abuse game developers. I don't think any of us want to see you treat yourself the same way a gaming mega company would, without even getting a paycheck for your sacrifices.
Much love, and much respect!
Cheers!