It's been pointed out already, but Red String is a remastered version of Going Bad. Most of the cast are almost entirely carbon copied from it's predecessor. The karma system of "doing a good" and "doing a bad" was reworked, but the principle remained. The problem is, in Going Bad, the VN that never took itself too seriously, the porn cliches and shallow characters didn't drag the story down, since it was already on that level. Stupid footballer who never takes his hat off, the couple of gangbangers, the drink spiking rapist father of your boyfriend, your own mom - it's whatever, who cares, no judgy, it's trash, so anything goes. The corruption arc is the main driver here, so let's see how that one route unfolds.
But Red String tries to be grounded. It takes itself serious. Like a dumb person idea of HBO series. We've got drama: the main characters are wounded, betrayed people, they're in the market for some soul balm. Ian virginwalks at the beginning, skulking and everything, and Lena is whimpering outside of club, she's tired from playing a dog on a leash for her abusive boyfriend, her stupid stepdad got cancer and that deepthroat training she's submitted to probably does something bad to her singing voice. She got aspirations, y'know?
And here's the kicker: the so-called "slut route" sucks because female POV's options suck. It's been a constant source of negative feedback, but they still didn't get the necessary upgrade. What if Robert wasn't just a noodle with an apron, but actually had some personality and didn't try to lunge himself head first into Lena's pussy? What if Seymour wasn't a hand rubbing evil crime baron with a penchant for blackmail? What if Axel wasn't a turbo charged narcissist with violent outbreaks from drinking a bath full of PED's? At least Mike finally graduated from being a recolored Ian stand-in with a cheating flavor in the latest update and had a small detour that shined some light on his background and character. And that happened, what, at the end of six year of development? Did the rich guy from the Nymph event really had to be a dilapidated wrinkled fuck and not some suave hot piece of middle age ass? Not even going to mention Jeremy, because writing a not stereotypical black character is an impossible ask from Eva. I have a theory that if someone manages to show her a black individual with a small to average private parts she's going to dramatically turn to dust or evaporate into a vicious goo.
At some point you can tell the writer mentally checked out of the story, when characters and cameos started appearing in front of Lena, waving their dicks in front of her, literally asking if she's "going to be good/bad."
