I think we have already agreed on several occasions that Sel's idea of gameplay is pretty bad, and he might not even necessarily disagree with the general notion that the gameplay experience could be better.
But calling it unplayable is simply unfair and untrue, both on the factual level as well as the perceived one.
It's repetitive and can sometimes feel unfair in how complicated some of the unlock conditions are for certain events, but it's definitely manageable, at least many on here did so without abandoning it.
And while I would generally agree that the gameplay can be off-putting for some players, I think the main reasons for people abandoning it are usually other ones.
However, I want to remind people that the general consensus here is that going the green route and seeing all events is the one true way to play the game as it is the author's vision and "canon". That does make sense and I can get behind that, but at the end of the day, it is up to the players to decide whether they want to do it the way the author intended or make use of other options available and risk skipping content.
Virtually the same can be said about the general gameplay loop. Sel's vision probably would be for the player to feel some form of frustration by having to figure out the correct sequence of events or finding happy scenes seemingly by random. I think the Alexis happy scene is a good recent example for this. Even potentially missing events if you fail to follow the "correct" choices gives a bit of meaning and reason for this being called a game as opposed to a kinetic novel.
However, understandably, some players want to ignore that vision and do it their way and use the guide mod to get through the game faster and without worrying to miss anything.
Personally, I haven't used the guide mod in the past, I have worked through the grind and reputative gameplay loop, knowing it will reward me with good content. I also haven't followed the green route, making decisions based on personal preferences and an interpretation of what an authentic choice for Akira would be, even if it means missing scenes.
That being said, I am glad the mod exists and have started using it during my current replay, mostly to make sure I get to see all events.
I want to stress however that there is one clear exception to all of this where I cannot possibly defend Sel:
The reset puzzles are ass and should be reworked, at least in the future. Those I am pretty sure have frustrated some of the new players enough to drop this title.
I also belong to the group of people who had to look up here or on reddit for puzzle solutions, since the experience is nowhere as fulfilling or clever as Sel probably thinks it is.
Like honestly, just make it lore-based questions or something, the girls favorite stuff or anything that would be somewhat fun to look up if you are not called aramaug, Moonflare or Deskel and know it by heart. Just not random sequences of numbers that were hidden in the corner of an obscure event or stuff you literally need to google. Or trial & error clicking things until something happens. Bad! Bad Selebus!
