Got to heavily disagree with you on Mars part. Yes, he has caused a lot of problems,but he was indeed forced into this situation and has to play the cards he has. He is a flawed character who has broken many marriages and ruined many women.
He has actively and genuinely tries to help people and improve their lives for the better, which ironically ends up hurting him because his nature makes women look at their lives and realize how precious a person like Mars is. If mars had a choice, I'm 95% sure he would just live a peaceful life with Vi. Dude was programed from birth to bring as much misery as possible and even though he tries everything to avoid it, it ends up happening anyway because of how he is. He isn't a good person, but he isn't evil either. He doesn't take joy in ruining others' lives and does it more of an instinct or because he tries to break the cycle. People like Mars, regardless of what they do will always be controlled by crazy and twisted women. Some see him as a savior, some see him as a sex object, some see him as a half-blooded mutt. Only VI sees him as he truly is and possibly Elena at the end of the update. The demon king forced him to join the party and the demon queen forced him to become her boyfriend. The goddess forced this whole setting.
Like the cards are stacked against him and I believe anyone else wouldn't be able to accomplish it, but Mars has a chance to. Dude Is already in hell and I honestly wouldn't wish anyone to have to bear the burden of responsibilities he has. I want Mars and the party to have a happy ending, because they are all flawed and parts of their personalities are pretty scummy but they can change for the better. Like all things. That's what Mars journey is all about in the end, to break the cycle and change the world for the better.
This is a good discussion avenue I feel.
We are all forced into situations where we are forced to make decisions or act certain ways.
But don't we all always have a choice? The main idea behind Mars' motivation is to make sure the hero fails. This, at least, is his basis to insert himself to the party.
But as the story progressed, his motivations change as well. Obviously he is also threatened and has to adapt to survive. By the way, the small story beats where you felt Mars could be killed were fun too. It gave the idea that Mars' mission wasn't guaranteed, and he could easily be killed. Maybe dead ends where Mars is killed could be fun and immersive.
Anyway, motivation and intent is important, but Mars explicitly behaves in ways that will hurt other characters and scar them emotionally. Which is fine I think, it's also fun to explore evil in controlled settings. But I don't believe the idea of 'he was trying to help' is good enough to atone him. The last update also touches on the lore, and seems to atone him somewhat, but should he really be atoned? He still caused a lot of irreversible psychological hurt.
I think the main problem also arises from the fact that his responsibilities are not translated into gameplay elements yet, or won't be. I think the dungeon aspect or the fights could really help in this regard, with Mars (proxy for the player) working hard on strategies to overcome struggles, or maybe try to dupe the Goddess and try to redeem himself.
I think its also nice that there are different views in this regard. Different perspectives is always good