Hey
NeonGhosts, just wanted to say I ended up playing the new chp 1, and gotta say... really, really, really great!

Makes Guy really sympathetic and relatable now, and makes all the player's decisions feel that much more impactful.
Awesome new characters, even the minor ones we may not see again (content w/ Glory when?

).
Everything feels believable and well-setup now.
I've made it up to meeting Ashe for the first time, so can't comment on any new additions past that, but so far, so great!
I got really high during Nicki's couch/bedroom scenes, and, well... all I have to say is you do a fantastic job of putting feels into words...

I had Nicki's mallowman voice clear as day in my head, ahaha.. I know exactly that type of chick, and we love them!
I'm very curious how Nicki's return on the dark route will feel, now, so I'll be posting again when I get there!
The only minor nitpick I suppose I have is that the whole setup, the exposition, the quick montages/flashbacks for things, when all combined and crunched in chp 1 and beginning of chp 2, feel just a tad awkward and quite a bit to absorb if someone plays both chapters at once for the first time. I typed it all out just to visualize it better:
Guy gets crypto scammed out of his life savings -> Guy's youth wasted on convenience store drudgery -> BUT.. Guy's co-worker Nicki is his best friend and secret crush! -> BUT.. she's dating his arch-nemesis co-worker, Brent! -> Guy's crypto stock wins big, thanks again Brent! -> Guy sets up his transition into the rich life, queue montage 1 and setup new major/minor characters -> Guy reconnects w/ his crush, confesses, and makes sweet, sweet love! (get cucked Brent!) -> Guy shows Nicki his rich man quarters -> Guy decides to start charity -> Guy helps the Chens -> Guy goes abroad (and fucks abroad, yeh boi), queue montage 2 -> Nicki has been gone this whole time -> oh btw, Guy has been fucking Mrs. Chen! -> the core game begins
Having said all that - I'm not sure how else it could've been done really. Regardless, I still enjoyed it immensely and it didn't ruin the experience or anything like that; as I said, nitpicks.
Thanks for all the hard work man! Looking forward to playing more later on, and especially looking forward to chp 11!
I think we need a new round of tier rankings with all the new character additions!