But we do know the details. They just turn out to be wrong, but only after we already made the choice.
...Steph is struggling just as much as the PC. This reveal pretty much disqualifies every other LI.
Ok, Point of Clarification... If you "know the details" but the details are wrong, then you
don't actually know the details.
The fact that you don't learn all of the details until after you make a pivotal, sometimes irrevocable decision, well, that just life. So, yeah, you're palying a hyper cathartic game that has suicide as one of it's core driving factors, and you're complaining that its not fair that you find out that the girl you gave up on actually sacrificed everything because she really did love you, and as a reward for her sacrifice, you moved on to someone else. Sorry, but again, thats life.
IMHO It's actually more true to life that someone moves on while someone else still cares for them, than it is that an adult woman posed as a teen and found out that a high school kid was her soulmate. In reality, as a federal agent, Steph would probably have been found guilty of statutory rape and sent to prison not witness relocation. Even though you don't actually play it, only see it as a flashback, unless he was an 18 year old senior at the time, then Steph and the MC having sex in the alley would actually be Steph breaking the law. So, yeah, I didn't think of it untill just now, but its possible that Steph is guilty of Child Abuse and might ought to be a registered sex offender... I'm gonna just assume that, as a government agent, she waited till he was 18 before having sex with him, but still, to be an agent she should have finished her bachlors degree, and so would be somewhere in her mid twenties, 4 to 5 years older than him... not trying to destroy the story, I LOVE this game, I'm just pointing out that every route can be picked apart if we try hard enough. It's not about finding the "true route". It's about the dev working hard to give each route it's own enjoyable story.
Also, If the reveal that Steph struggled disqualifies the other love intrests, the only reason that would be is because Steph and the MC were together prior to him meeting the other girls. However, if thats the case, then logically it would only follow that the fact that the MC was with Linda PRIOR to Steph, AND that Linda struggled with the MC and Steph getting together because Linda still loved the MC; Linda's reveal of her feelings to the MC at Lexi's house when you get the "Go For It" option would then actually disqualify Steph's route, because Linda came first and ALWAYS loved the MC.
So, yeah, the Steph route only disqualifies the other love intrests
if you are on the Steph route.
Just like Linda disqualifies Steph when you are on the Linda route, and CeCe disqualifies all the othe love interests when you are on her route just by the deep connection that the MC has with her.
It
is posible to feel strong love for someone and even be hung up on them for a long time until sudenly someone else comes into your life who fills you with newer, stronger love than you ever felt with the other person. When that happens, the previous lover suddenly returning and telling you that they sill love you doesn't mean that you throw away the newer, stronger happiness that you found, just because things weren't
fair before.
How is that
fair to the new love intrest, the one who hasn't left you, who hasn't kept secrets from you, the one who didn't build your entire relationship on a lie?
I'm not hating on Steph, she is like my 4th favorite ending, but personally, I don't buy the idea that her suffering invalidates all the other routes.
I believe that each route has value and should be played, and for the most part, no matter which route you play, the girls you don't choose turn out ok.
