And along the primrose path was lead a fool.
You quite literally have to play MC oblivious and dismissive of Liz to get anywhere near the Happy or NTR paths. To me, the lovers path is the most in character path, since, as you said, MC acts foolish on the others
With that said, even if I were able to cast aside everything else, the single most glaring and indeed damning point is Liz's own lack of anything resembling a guilty conscience. She is, when it comes to fidelity, an emotionally dead vessel through which the fetish can be nourished and fed. Forty-three opportunities she has taken to cheat on a man she professes to love, repeatedly. Liz appears devoid of the most important virtues that make a woman treasured and adored. And the worst part is, the most wretched of clichés, date rape and sexual workplace harassment, have become the catalyst for her affair. Then, she even has the audacity later to tell us, he isn’t “so bad” once you get to know him. We might have to add the crime of limited intelligence to Liz’s growing list of sins, since I can only assume at this point, she believes the lies herself.
I see your point, however, let's look at this from Liz's perspective on the NTR route:
She just found out that her new manager violated her and is now blackmailing her with her relationship and her job on the line. She can't tell MC the details, because they haven't been together that long, haven't even had sex. Liz is also a virgin in her early 20's, a wallflower who has little to no experience with men.
Now, when she really needs her BF to support her, he dismisses her and pushes her straight back to her abuser. He doesn't pick up on what's bothering her whatsoever.
Liz therefore learns MC is neither dependable, nor does he care enough about her to inquire about her problems.
Matt is also a very charismatic person and great lover. Why should she resist him for the sake of MC who doesn't really deserve nor care about her, from her perspective?
On the happy route I'm more with you. However, I do think she shows her disdain. She's extremely troubled when MC finds her after the club BJ with Matt.
She also really tries her best to please MC the weekend after the camping trip.
So, while I think Liz' characterization could be improved, it's nowhere near as bad as you make it out.
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And one more small point if I may, if Richard were so certain that some inaccuracy could exist in the systems being used, why are we led to believe in the beginning that they were enough to convince him of his own girl’s infidelity (which we know to be true). If he believes a mistake is possible, where is his own doubt and attempt to reconcile with his former lover? Did he follow up and discover the truth by other means? And as a hacker and since he knows of the sharespace page could he not confirm the images of his past girlfriend as well as those of Liz? I suppose the answers to these questions, like so many, remain posed behind a curtain, waiting for time to say, presto! And then out they come.
Please, do not misunderstand, I am quite fond of the game thus far, my observations and criticisms are merely a matter of singular taste and perspective, nothing more than constructive meanderings to possibly stir discussion and even express counterpoints. Perhaps I’m wrong, and/or in a very small minority of dissent when it comes to looking for good stories in such a medium. The proverbial, Diogenes with his lantern, wandering the streets of Athens in search of an honest man.
Yeah, the entire Richard and Squarespace situation is a bit of a mess. Dev is going in the right direction though, by explaining how unreliable the App is for MC since it's all AI.
Richard went through his gf's stats himself bit by bit, so he was more sure of the accuracy.
This should be explained earlier in the game though. In the beginning the App is described to be accurate, but later on suddenly as inaccurate. Should be changed.
Squarespace requires a bit of suspension of disbeliev. I think it would work better if even player's wheren't sure it was Liz and Matt unless they played with low filters.
Closeups of breasts and vagina instead of full body pics in the beginning might work on high filters. Have the full body pics only available for low filters, and not the MC
This is how you do constructive criticism.