Haven't paid attention to this game for a long time. Is it going anywhere or is it still just total sandbox without any world progression?
Yes and No.
In general
It has expended to the pace of 400-500 renders each 2-3 months.
So you can calculate the expansion from last play to now based on that
The yes and no part
The vast majority is the sandbox with no concept of time beyond the day cycle.
This was developed in the first years, the base content, 5000-6000 renders.
Since mid-2019 the development has shifted towards quests and story.
This has introduced a more advanced event and quest layer, about 1500 renders.
But this layer is an overlay to the sandbox, it does not add progression as such, only girl stories and character events.
Then there is smaller but increasing amount that has a time concept (a main story) and longer quest lines that flesh out girls (Amy and partially Yvette) which have a progression (for Amy). About 1000 renders.
However,
The next major story leap is in 2.3 or 3.0 (next release, version will depend on the leap taken)
When the lab and new girls are introduced.
Some subjective options
- Give it a try as SiJa suggests (and focus on Amy to see if you like that content) OR
- Wait until 2.3/3.0 release.
Why wait? Well, based on your choice of words, I assume you value story and world progression highly and sandbox less so. So I'd suggest waiting until 2.3 or even better if that turns into 3.0, to pick it up again (if the assumption is correct).
If at that time the world progression and Amy/Yvette content (which is the most fleshed out) does not suit your taste, then it is unlikely anything will until some final or near-final release of the game.
