The sandbox itself is not bad, just the way it works when it comes to story progression, it was fun during the early game because we had lots of open ends and the game could be approached in multiple ways but as the game advances the quantity of events available are reduced and they are often tied to each other so you get to the end of this plotline before moving to the next which is fine, continuity and all, but then you have to farm 25 points with Osako which you can only see during the weekends or you should catch up with Yumi's events before going to the bathhouse with Chika for a better outcome.
Sel has recently been trying to chain events more often to reduce the maze, but it arguably got worse since now you gotta worry about 2 separate characters for a single chain that can be activated in unexpected ways such as the examples I used earlier (Chika-Tsubasa, Yuki-Sara).
All in all, I enjoy the sandbox elements, I like seeing new locations dropping with new characters, dialogue changing as you get close to them and more options getting unlocked, even more so since lots of places changed with chapter 3, I love the dialogue between Maya and Sensei when you call her at night for example.
To reduce some of the problems with the sandbox it would be good if the characters invited us sometimes instead of Sensei having to reach out to them every single time, have Molly call to hang out during Friday, or maybe Yuki asking for help at work, it would make it more natural and fluid, instead of requiring the player to try every single possible option until you find that one specific trigger you need.
