This was very unexpected. I don't read the Discord, nor do I try to read between the lines of the devs comments here, so I had no idea that Freeloading Family was ending so quickly. It really came out of the blue for me, and from the comments here, I think the dev should understand that most people didn't see the end coming. At all. I know Freeloading Family has been in development for years, but why antagonize your fans by suddenly switching from continuing to develop the story for the foreseeable future (last update) to wrapping it up (this update) without setting the stage ahead of time so people know what to expect, and aren't so disappointed. I know the dev talks about 6 more updates, but each one sounds like it is going to be wrapping up a particular path, so it's basically one more update for each player's preferred path. It really doesn't look like a well though out plan. I could be completely off base, but from the player's perspective it's really seems like the dev was sitting there in the middle of developing the current update and just said, "I don't really feel like doing this anymore, so I am just going to put a message on the screen "much much later", mention that a few years have passed, and then go right to the ending choices. The years you skipped were the best part!
The Dad shows up, we have a few chats, and then all of the sudden the house is sold, Alice moves out, and years pass. Next are the 6 endings. I completely understand that the dev needs to wrap things up when he is ready, but I think he should have been wrapping it up clearly for the last 4 or 5 updates if that is what he wanted to do. We have had very little interaction with Karina, Melody just recently shared her true feelings for the MC, and even Leah has only recently really shown us how she truly feels. Why can't we go out on a date with Leah, spend some time trying to get to know Karina better, or best of all, have a more serious relationship develop with Melody. If the dev is just sick of it all or has something going on in his life so he can't work on it anymore, he should just be straight with us. I'd understand. This is a hobby that most devs do in their free time, with the hopes of getting a little extra spending money, so if he can't continue working on it due to life events, or other interests, that I completely get it, but it is definitely jarring to be playing along enjoying the story and then just see "much much later" and then be presented with a final choice screen. I think the dev is setting us all up for a My Sister, My Roommate level of disappointment here. It's unfortunate, because Freeloading Family has long been one of my favorite games here. I am totally in love with Melody and wish we could have explored a relationship with her on a more serious level for many updates to come, rather than the joking superficial level we have experienced up to now. Oh well.