You're ignoring the two actual native genres of good porngame gameplay
Relationsim
Trainer
These are the core Gameplay loops of every successful porngame. The "gameplay" of minigames is a degradation of this genre, as every game that uses "gameplay" other than relationsim or trainer elements to stagger content progression is taking a massive, game ruining shortcut to avoid the real heavy lifting of an adaptive dialogue system. The gameplay of subverse is effectively no different than these trash games that use minigame segments to gate scenes and progression. It is a step back, not a step forward for "AAA Hgames"
Subverse has no relationsim or trainer playloop. It is not a good porngame. It will never be a porn game without a concept up rework. Only aggravated by the PP Pandora system making it not even qualify as a porn VN
Relationship, Trainer, and a distant 3rd place management sim are the only types of gameplay that forwards a metaplot and pornplot when executed properly. The idea non porn related gameplay like conventional combat systems is desirable or necessary to a porn game for it to have "real gameplay" fundamentally misunderstands the genre.
The bar for breaking out of these three is to integrate complex relationsim or trainer mechancs into a conventional character driven openworld shooter/combat game. IE what WildLife is attempting as glacial but promising as their devcycle has become.
The Brass Ring for "First AAA porngame" is to add more indepth relationship mechanics, with sex and fetish, to an experience aping skyrim, witcher3, Fallout 4, mass effect (as promised), and DragonAge. Games with relationsims of moderate complexity integrated into their story and gameplay.
And subverse misses that fucking mark. Not just missed the bar, tripped on their shoelaces before the jump. They didn't know what they were promising in their marketing yet were so keen to drum up that hype. They deserve everything they get as that steam userscore tics ever closer to below 80 and "mixed" the more people activate their preordered steamkeys and realize what they got for their $13 and years of patience. 5000 up, 800 down currently. Descending closer to that F95 2.5/5 is inevitable the more people activate their copies.
lolno
Both combat systems are prebought modules they demo'd in the preproduction marketing in this current form. They get ZERO points for it working as someone else designed, piggybacking off mechanics someone else pioneered without a single unique take. There is less depth to subverse combat than the Summer time saga pizza delivery minigame as they couldn't handle and stripped out all mechanics from those prebought systems.
>you don't even need to scan dna, the feature their prerelease gameplay demo showcased, to find the 3rd xcom unit.
>You can win the games ship combat without upgrading a single one of the "upgrades" to the bullethell ship.
>The bronze-gold rating system is not tracked anywhere, isn't seemingly based on performance, planets aren't repeatable, and clear rating does not effect money or payout.
>only currency that actually matters in game is goodboypoints as nothing needs to be upgraded and doesn't materially do anything when you do.
>You can't use tactics in ground combat as enemy waves teleport to any free slot on the board. Doesn't matter as you can clear for the same PP payout full health or nearly team whiped.
>Only consequence of losing is the tedium of playing a segment again.
The pandora system is a crude, lazy, pathetic patchjob reducing the game to a one page Rule34 gallery/compilation video on pornhub. millions of dollars, less than 3 minutes of unique animation. They're already reusing rigging.
That makes it worse not better, the game being an afterthought so they can learn a technology on YOUR DIME.
They accepted preorders for a videogame and they failed to deliver, ran out of money, and now are trying to keep kosher with GoFundme about the amount of money the accepted with early access.
They're already gaslighting this isn't ch1/2, it's through "ch6"... which means galaxy builds... which means they're shovelwaring it to meet minimum stated goals to satisfy their GoFundMe. This is why they dumped all those pacing destroying, plot revealing, twist ruining prerendered cutscenes and VN segments in this build despite the actual "gameplay" only being the pirate plotline.
They don't get a free ride to make movies after this.