VN Ren'Py Not Going Back [Ch.4] [Cicada]

[Skylaroo]

Rachel and Lucy clearly have far more screen time than her—but why aren't they in this "8"?
What right does she have to join in now? She's utterly unremarkable among these women. Her appearance is so outdated.

The right of being written as a main girl by the game's creator. Not just a dude who whines on the forum.

Yea I'm interested in seeing how Cicada weaves Alice into the story. Cuz rn they (her and the MC) just run in different circles so there isn't rlly any natural points to fit her in, outside of running into her in the library or other stuff like that. Which again is very realistic, but given that she's a supposed MG, it becomes more tricky

Being in different circle is definitely the main reason why she hasn't been prominent so far, but there is the bit about Rachael wanting to get Alice to come to the Halloween party so maybe she's going to feature more in the next update. Then there's always the new subjects/class, so that's another opportunity to get her interacting with MC.

It's just the nature of the game and how Cicada does it differently than most other devs. We haven't seen that much Bonnie (to be fair, Bobbie hasn't been that prominent either), Ellie is pretty invisible so far (even more so than Alice IMO), Imogen is not really in the circle either. Some might see it as a negative, but I like it because it gives enough room for the supporting girls to shine as needed by the plot to make the story feels alive. Most other devs would just go with the standard progression where MC is doing 10 different unconnected things to develop 10 different relationships.

 

[cicadaNGB]

Tegan stole the show for me again this update. I can't help but feel like the MC has almost been friend zoned by Mia, even on her romantic path. I know she said that she wants to take things slow but still, I find that things have cooled off a bit too much for my liking. Especially since how clearly interested she was at the start.

Don't worry, there's reasons for this that will be explained! But nice to see love for Tegan too

 

[cicadaNGB]

The shortest one on the far left—I really can't see any future for her.

Some were clearly predetermined in the early plot, but as more and more female characters appeared, and they looked too outdated, it seems the developers eventually lost interest in developing them.

The one you're mentioned is the slowest burn of the main LIs. Narratively she doesn't feature much early on because the emphasis is on the frat/sorority stuff and parties, which isn't her scene. Rest assured she, and all main LIs, have fully thought out and established stories. It's just some might take a little longer to develop, as is relevant to their character.

You are right that Mia is more or less the 'main' main girl, and that's deliberate because maintaining at least a friendly relationship with her (even if you're not interested romantically) is intrinsic to the plot of the game, so she does get slightly more screen time early on to establish at least a friendship.