I don't like any of the new characters. Agreed that new SOL girl is ugly. The others are not too bad, but still meh compared to his older characters.
His story ideas and new gameplay mechanics are interesting however, so I'd give him props for that.
He seems to be simultaneous working on multiple projects rather than purely focusing on doing one properly. I believe this is his main flaw. The guy gets a creative spurt, begins to work on a project for sometime, then he gets a bit bored or distracted with a new idea and it goes on and on. Everything he does begins with a good concept and intrigues my interest, but eventually falls a bit flat like there's lost potential.
I agree none of his games besides RH1 and one route in AI feel finished. They all come off as being rushed and abruptly ending. The idea of the games are good and they might even be good until halfway but the closing acts are all just bad imho.
I doubt we'll go back to the mother's storyline at this point. Probably it's just gonna be about the new girl.
This just further proves my point above. Azusa had an extremely weak and rushed story. Her arc also seemed to have had another unfinished route? Judging by the blanked out options in her story. And after all that if we get no closure it would seal his fate as a story writer for me. Then we have the girlfriend, Tsugumi. If her story is over too with no closure that again would also be terrible. You can't say you're making a long multi chapter game, but have each story be barely connected, if at all, rush them, and then abruptly end them. What's the point? Just make 3 unrelated separate games then.
I just think it's a good idea for what he does. Most of his games are single branch, straight to the point games. He doesn't like making long winded games that have a lot of alternative paths. Adelaide Inn suck him dry and he probably won't do anything to that scale for a long time. So it makes sense that he will have a few ideas lined up since Lust Voyage will probably be a "Sorry for the wait in between Winter and Spring of SoL." Like how Goblin was released before Adelaide was fully finished. The two top down games may just be a way for him to test the system and if his fans like it. Like how he tried making an Adelaide Inn 2 but it was a management sim rather than a straight visual novel.
It's fine if the games are to the point and fast. His are way too fast though for the time we see he puts in. If you say you're working on a game for 6months + but then the game moves faster than a 20 page doujin imo something does not add up in the viewers mind. If u truly need this long to release a game this short, I say he just tells his fans so it clears up confusion. His so called short games are not that much shorter than his longer projects in terms of pacing and action. That's the where the disconnect is.
For the interest gauging. He doesn't really seem to put much weight into fan interest all? He has many conflicting statements. You have statements about how he will work at his own pace and make the games he wants to. But then has posts in his fanbox saying if you're unsubscribing please explain why so I get a better grasp, or has surveys asking us how long we would like to wait between games or what kind of games we would like to see and how they are made.
Its conflicting messaging imo.
These are just my own personal observations and criticisms. Not meant to be heavy handed or anything. He has excellent art and themes/premises. Just the execution falls flat imo.
Edit:
It is truly strange. Because his older comics. Especially Awakening and Tomato have good pacing, story, and action. For some reason he can't seem to translate that into the visual novel form.
Which leaves me hesitant for the RPG games. If he only like one route, no alternative story branches and straight to the point stories. Then what is the point of an RPG? Almost every one I played has multiple endings or at least scenes u can miss. Which if he doesn't like doing things on the scale of AI anymore, I can't imagine this would be diff?
