I agree that Lexi is awesome. As for Chapter 5, you can run a Lexi route without a Holly "bonus/addon", that's how I ran my Lexi route. I actually replayed it later for the Holly content and prefer it without the threesome, so I dont even look at Holly's breasts on the balcony... and yeah, she and Holly kiss on the yacht, but you and Holly kiss outside the hospital, so...
It's not quite the same, though, because at the hospital, Holly is the one who initiates the kiss and the MC is taken by surprise, while in Lexi's case it's her idea - and she runs with it twice.
Okay, the MC gives Robin a kiss in Chapter 8 and when she questions him about it, he tells her that now he's even with Lexi... but it's a quick kiss on the lips, not a make-out session.
Also, Holly immediately realizes that she messed up and runs away in shame (and earlier on the balcony, she chastises herself just for having some naughty thoughts about the MC), while Lexi never stops to question how her man might feel about what she's doing, whether it's wrong and so on. But she obviously knows that it's wrong if how flustered she gets when the MC almost catches them (and on the yacht he actually catches them) in the act is anything to go by.
Not quite what I would expect from a character whose entire arc is built around craving and looking for true, lifelong love. And when she finds it, that's what she does? If anything, I would expect her to get clingy, jealous or possessive, indicating how desperate she is to hold on to that answered prayer. Instead she starts thinking of making out with others... what?
It's not even a case of two people who love each other but have been together for a while and things got stale in the bedroom. At this point in the story, she and the MC have been together for something like 2 weeks.
I see that Steph's storyline is usually brought up when discussing the game's weaker aspects, but for me this is the low point.
Anyway, As I have said before, Cece is my fav, but only barely. Lexi is my second favorite and was my initial focus on my first play through, however I didn't finish that play through but went back when Linda professed her love at Lexi's and played through with Linda as the main girl, until Cece left her note, then I went back and played through with Cece as main LI and finished, then I finished Lexi's route and then Linda's.
Lexi's my fav not just in LoF, but in all the VNs I've played up to this point. Quite a fanboy I am.
Now, I haven't played that many AVNs (15 or so), but each one that I did play is considered a top game, and she still comfortably took the first spot in my personal ranking. Although I gotta say that she is now facing stiff competition from some of Summer's Gone's cast.
I have yet to do a Linda playthrough, but I'll get there. I just need a bit of a break from LoF after doing 5 consecutive playthroughs: Lexi, Cece, Steph, Holly, Lexi again (because I needed to mend my bleeding heart after having to reject her on the other paths).
At the moment, I am in the process of learning Daz and Ren'Py and plan to make my own VN's in the near future (I have 10 planed so far) and I hold LOF as the model to measure my own work against, which is honestly quite a high bar!
In at least three of my VN's, I hope to have some type of LOF cameo and I intend to use the Lexi Route as canon for my games. Even in the one that takes place on a small moon colony(not Earth's moon) in space in 2336.
I plan to have the MC name his ship (his final biggest ship) the Dimante after his mother's favorite Old Earth musician.
(He goes through 5 ships from a tiny 1 person craft to a large vessel with a crew compliment of 6 to 8, and I plan for his second to last ship to be named "The Sunset" as a nod to a certain yacht in another game)
In another, I intend to have the MC share a bus ride with a young black haired girl who strikes up a conversation with him because she looks in his eyes and see's that he needs... something. She sees that he is reading a newspaper article about Lexi getting married and, to break the ice, asks if he likes Lexi, and he says "Of course, who doesn't" and she says I know her, and her fiancée. So they talk and she gives him some advice that helps hm as he goes through the rest of his story. When they reach his destination, they say good bye, he gets off, and she continues on.
That's awesome, good luck with that! If you're going to set a bar for yourself, it's better to take inspiration from some of the best. It's one of the reasons I'm working my way through the list of the top-rated and most popular games. Other than having fun, it's educational in a way.
Incidentally, AVN development is something that I want to get into as well, although at the moment I'm still saving up for a proper rendering rig. It expect to have it in about 6 months' time and in the meantime I'll be doing all sorts of preparations to ensure a smoother start when I finally get my hands on it.
Also: I love the sound of "Dimante" on a capital spaceship. Seeing Cece again would be great as well!
I adored Cece but her and anyone with my issues would never work out. Whether the MC and her would work was a completely separate thing in my mind though. From pretty early on in the game it was clear to me that while often relatable, the MC was more his own character in this story rather than just a vehicle for my choices. I felt like he had the capacity, stability, and supportive nature to be the partner she could rely on.
That's a perfectly valid perspective. LoF's MC is indeed a character in his own right and even though we can shape his views to some degree, he has a clearly defined personality and set of values that are set in stone. And if I were to do another playthrough were I roleplayed as him, it's likely that I would make the exact same choice you did when it comes to his love interest. There are certainly compelling reasons for that.
Generally, when I play VNs, I tend to insert myself into the game's protagonist (you could say that
I am assuming direct control!...) and react to the choices and characters the same way I would respond to them if I found myself in such situations in real life. That gives me the most satisfaction but if the protagonist is fleshed out well enough, doing a path where I stay true to his character can be a very interesting experience, especially if he's very different from me.
