It has to do with different perspectives and reasons why people play a game. For many people what happens on other paths that went way faster to get into main action destroyed those girls as romantic interests. Yes they did found out what happened there and did not have to play for that. Dev disagrees with that, since for him they are different chars on different paths. Well players who disagree with that view and see them more as same girls on all paths, the way they act paths without MC interfering shows how they really are and would react in a bad period in your relation with those girls later. still see it different whatever dev thinks. It is just another way of playing and neither view is right or wrong as such
Also game did and still does not focus enough on growing a relation and interacting with those girls especially those some want most, which seems at least were not dev's intention as focus for that path. Couple with that in past it was mainly role of MC to cockblock other rivals instead of having relations himself with the girls.
Well that is not the reason why the more romantic base play a game, going icily slow with no reason why those girls would fall for Mc anyway since he hardly interacts with them in really positive ways and also not developing the romantic or even familial relation with those girls, those players just do not get what they want, even if there are many slow burn fans there for those kind of stories in the romance crowd. Those players are not looking for a fuck buddy (they fail at that as well due to slow development in that path if been there from early on in development and for a new player situation might be a lot better now), but for a long term partner you also have sex with that is hot and steamy or even outright kinky
and for those women you have other demands as someone you just have a wild night with.
That is basically the disagreement and very hard to solve in any game with an other dick path and romance path, not just in this game and is a main part of the other dick/romance debate that often gets very heated in every game that tries to do both.