I learned to never wish for things to escalate quicker in HC games, and to enjoy to peacefulness and simple immersion in the world for as long as the game allows. Once things pick up, they accelerate fast... In both 1 and 2, by the halfway point, I looked forward to non sexual stuff, simple dialogue, exploration, non sexual drama and conflict. It gets heavy fast, and the sex scenes feel almost suffocating after a while.
Im glad for the card minigame, minigames really make for a good breather. I enjoyed them in HC2 just for that reason, especially the one where we go basically on a date with the blue haired girl.