I only recently discovered this game so I'm not jaded about it yet. Played through the most recent version and then tried some of the older ones that still had the life-sim stuff with more character customization, and while I absolutely love that kind of stuff in games and I think it could have made for an extremely good game if carried out all the way through, I will say the current game still works even without all that stuff, some of the game's potential may have been stripped but what's left now feels more polished and cohesive in some departments (although personally I still feel more affection for the original project, but it is a matter of taste).
I think the main pros of the new game are that:
The presentation is better, the old ones already had some implemented graphical elements but they weren't quite as immersive and gripping as the way it is handled in the new content.
The writing of the spy stuff and in general feels much more grounded and focused, I liked the life-sim stuff of the old content but the actual spy stuff was kinda too "porny". The new content feels more sensible about how a spy mission could end up going down this way rather than "the CIA/MI6 are purposefully training their agents to be hyper-sexual fiends and everyone is kinda horny about it".
I like the sexual progress in the new content better, although I recognize that's probably because I treated the new content as more of an adult novel than straight up porn. The progression makes more sense because the MC is better characterized as "fully prepared, but not experienced" and she plays her cover story well. Sex only happens in a "need to" basis, she's willing to trade sexual favors with her bosses when it is occasionally demanded but doesn't initially agree with being fully whored out, even though that's obviously what her bosses are slowly trying to push her towards. That fits the scenario of a somewhat "loose" girl in a difficult situation, which is her cover. I like that most of the kinkyness comes from her privately coping with the sexual stuff the mission entails rather than a "too much sex will rot her brain" porn trope.
Now the main cons of the new game:
Since the life-sim stuff was stripped, there's less backstory to make certain moments of the game more impactful, e.g I think that the first scene with Connor would have been much more impactful when he fucks her raw regardless of her asking for a condom if it had happened after the life-sim stuff where the player could have always had the MC have her way and made sure sex would only occur with a condom, it would have made for a stronger cut between "what you could do in your everyday life back home" to "what you're going to have to do and the people you will have to deal with as you play the role the mission demands".
This is a con of both versions kinda but I felt it more in the new one, I don't like when games have "pretend complexity", it just looks super ugly to me when the game has exposition for a bunch of mechanics and stats that end up barely ever being used. If you are not sure if you are going to actually use a stat or a mechanic, feel free to implement it but do it out of the player's sight as a hidden mechanic, it makes those slight differences feel neater when replaying the game since they feel more like little easter eggs. But if you start presenting a bunch of things as strategical elements of the player's choice but it ends up never used, it just feels frustrating. E.g different nationalities being said to have different perks for their agents (I think I saw a whole 1 time where an extra dialogue option popped up from being MI6), the "insights" and "reputation" mechanics also got exposition but have barely been used for anything yet and I'm wary of them being pretend complexity.
Overall it is a really good game though, I had a lot of fun playing through it and I hope development goes well.
