I read your review. While I don't, of course, agree with your assessment of the game, I appreciate you taking the time to try the game out and to give your honest opinion. Thank you. I hope you don't mind if I take this opportunity to respond. (Not trying to change your mind or persuade you to try the game again; just discussing.)
I get what you are saying... But a majority of the choices lead into something bad happening to her or do not really matter, in the short term... I do understand that you want to tell a particular story, and I never fault an artist for the direction they want to take their art... it's their baby to do with what they please... It just felt like half the time, you get the end result, in a given situation, regardless of the choice you make, so it feels pointless that a choice was even presented... Yes, some of those pointless choices basically create a minor alteration in the introduction to the static material, but it still ended up with the same result, a choice that made no real difference, in that moment... Which again feels like a pointless request for a choice from the player/reader...
As to the feeling she is pretty much screwed at every turn... Unless you make all the choices that lead to a dead end, pretty much avoiding one situation (which is not always the actual outcome) doesn't really avoid it in the long run, in some cases... Look at the Blackmail scene with the IT guy... You can opt to go with it and give him what he wants or try and negotiate out it... If you avoid it, later on it comes around to haunt her again with the photo of her holding his penis, where she is essentially being blackmailed again... So was the blackmail avoidable? Not really... She got blackmailed regardless, just maybe not by the same person... So she was screwed no matter the choice... You decide to drink wine, she gets screwed over anyway... You decide not to drink much, at the dorms, she gets screwed over anyways... And so on.... As to the boyfriend, he is the exact same free loader boyfriend as the other VN/Games, just better looking...
I understand, that it's the point of the game, a story of her descent into corruption, and I usually have no qualms with normal corruption stories... But when you play and have even the tiniest of control over a protagonist, you can't help but become invested in her well being and feel some sort of emotion over following her plight... If you're a normal human being... Usually choice laden VN/Games with corruption as the main theme, allow more control with choices of how the corruption occurs, rather then being lead down a mostly pre-set list of circumstances, many of which are unavoidable (not all, but most)... If you don't want a reader/player to think outside the box or make their own decisions that might lead them in an un-intended direction, don't bother offering a choice... Just lead them down that path... Don't offer up a choice, if you don't want them to miss something you prefer they see or experience... Because dead ends are a punishment, in the sense that you are telling the reader/player they are straying too far off the path you are setting down, and by ending it early you are pointing your finger at them and saying "this is what happens if you stray from what I want to show you, so try again or go away"... And the feeling that a choice didn't matter in the moment, feels like a pointless choice... I'm sure some choices will lead down varying story paths, that may not be noticeable or may not be noticeable right away... But a choice in the moment, that doesn't really effect the moment, feels pointless, and makes you ask why a choice was even presented at all... Regardless of later outcome...
I'm not saying all the choices presented are working out that way, but a good chunk are... As the developer, you will always have a unique perspective of your own works... Because you are the artist that has put his/her blood sweat and tears into it's creation... You know all the twists and turns and so forth... But the players/readers do not, and if the play through sometimes feels rather linear, even though many moments offer a set of choices that don't always feel meaningful at that moment, the player/reader then will begin ask themselves early on, "Does nothing I choose really matter?"... Players/Readers when presented with choices, want to feel like they are taking an active role in the characters corruption within the scope of what they are comfortable with... And when choices do hardly that much at all or nothing at all, that sense of control is essentially yanked out of their hands... Leaving them asking why a choice was presented in the first place...
Anyhow, I harped on that particular subject probably far too much... It's not just the lack of meaningful choices, but so many more things that I already mentioned in the review... And I'm pretty sure there are plenty of folks who will have no problems with how you handled it, just like with the other games... Again, best of luck...
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