I enjoyed the initial plot of the game when I first played Chapter 1. Sure, there were no specifics on what happened (As far as we know, the MC got a lot of people killed), but I was willing to see where the story took it. So far, so good with the MC coming to terms that maybe staying indoors isn't all that good of an idea and attempts to build bridges once again with friends who have drifted away and thus after spending so long indoors, now has to play catch up. This is all fine and good, with characters who attend summer school all have believable reasons as to why they're there. Expect Dennis. If I'm mistaken, I might have to go back to look at the other chapters, but Dennis as a character shouldn't really be there. He's portrayed as a genius yet he's in summer school? Makes no sense to me.
Another issue is it's linear choices. Don't get me wrong, choices in previous Palmer games like DFD do matter immensely, but in this it doesn't seem like the game cares about your choice. It's shoehorning you into going down this certain path. For example, when you choose not to go on a date with Lauren yet it still forces you? It was already stated a few pages back about the possible illusion of choice and if those who say that the choices do matter down the line, then why hasn't it been shown when you made the choice in the first place? There's no point in saying it'll matter when to the player, it doesn't matter regardless of what you do. Of course, this can differ if you're working with Dennis.
Speaking of which, another confusing yet annoying issue that has appeared in the near end of Chapter 5 is that even if you refuse Dennis' deal for the second or third time, the game forces the MC to partake in voice recording REGARDLESS of all previous actions. Why would the MC allow himself to partake in this? It wouldn't make any sense and makes it out like the developers need a reason to keep Dennis in, even if you've told him to fuck off at least 100 times. It hasn't made any effort to consider the possibility that the MC doesn't want anything to do with Dennis.
Another tid-bit is when the MC meets Amy outside near the cafe. It baffles me as to why the MC wouldn't know who she is until Amy pulls up her hoddie. I get the running thing with Amy needing to show off her brand but it took me half a second to realise who she was and took the MC at least 10 seconds to, only connecting the dots when Amy pulls up her hoddie. This wouldn't make any sense in the real world.
This is just a few issues I have with the game so far. If this is the path that the developers want to go down, then I'll be solely disappointed. It has potential still, I just wish to see more in depth choices and your actions being relevant to the story.
