I think most of the problem is that... there are a lot of leaps in the main characters actions.
That's why having 2 not blank slates characters are great for story telling, and bad for making certain choices believable or working.
Like, i get it, you need to get the ball rolling, but i think that Eva got herself into a corner on how "strong" those characters felt against certain situations (And i think that it is one of the main reason that the game is so good, the MC are well defined, and written with certain leeway to direct them).
But in this update some of the development felt rushed to satisfy certain kinks.
So even if the corruption path for Lena is hot, i think that only the Axel's one was greatly build up, but in the other scenario it doesn't feel that it is what Lena would do. Like letting a man redefining her conception of what she is being doing (modelling, nude posing, etc) in a span of a converstation, after knowing that he is checking her financial status, almost stalking her, i dunno. Even in my most corrupted Lena path, felt not 100% natural.
The same goes for Ian x Cindy. I like how strong the chemistry between them is. But... Ian cheating, on one of his best friends in that manner... Don't get me wrong, is one of the hottest scenes.
But for sure destroy's one of the pillars that the games was built on, that, at least for me, is that both characters felt coherent.
Lena had some flawed decisions up until this chapter (Jeremy's scene in Louise bed is another example of a scene that didn't felt 100% natural for me, and is there for the kink), so the build up to this resolution was... kind of expected.
But it seems that it was too sudden for Ian.
The Wade's party situation was more in tone of the heat of the moment.
But if you let it sink, in this update, Ian can choose to act in a way that got him mourning for a year after his ex cheated on him.
All of those is why i think that this chapter felt weaker, like some of you said, on the narrative for me. Too many leaps on how the MCs can react in contrast to what they are.
But i understand why some decisions were made.
I think that Eva felt that she needs to speed some paths to have diversity and plot points to advance. And in some scenearios she closed some plots, narrow the scope, and get the main plot that she wanted to develop further, even if it's not perfectly build up to that point.
Her only problem, at least in this update, was writting 2 great characters, and having to cater a wide audience that have interest in so many scenarios.
