This may get drowned in posts, but...
Considering the result from the last poll, it seems like Erik's is one of the least popular routes in the whole game now, and no wonder why. It was the update that broke the game and introduced branching paths that has no purpose other than being a nuisance. The story itself is not very pleasant, the outcome is decided by a single choice, and the outcomes themselves are not really satisfying.
The poll mentions that the route would get an improvement/rework if selected (and doesn't look like it will any time soon). I don't know to what extent it will be reworked, but here's a small idea I have:
For starters, I think the problem with the route can go down to the fact that Erik is also fucking Mrs. Johnson and I bet a lot of people, me included, didn't like that, and also the fact that the whole focus of the route is getting HIM laid. I think a different focus should help improve the story slightly. And all of this, of course, in consideration to the what the game already has, minus some things, like scenes including Erik like the threesome or repurpose the whole poker thing.
So, for the
focus, I'd say that instead of the route being about getting Erik laid, it should be about making him stand on his feet and win his mom's trust. Make it so Erik is mostly bothered/depressed about his mom pestering him about his hobbies. From this, the MC should introduce the idea of Erik getting into esports to win money for his family and show his mom that he is not a failure for playing. This allows the MC to get close to Mrs. Johnson with no weird shit like Erik fucking her, while also giving Erik a purpose and more personality. It also gives you an excuse to get close to June, so hear me out.
So when it comes to the structure of the story, I'd lay it like this, it needs 3 acts, so, in order:
So yeah, that's basically my idea on how to fix Erik's route. I'm willing to bet with this premise it will get a little bit more popular in the polls, or so I hope. I aimed to fix mostly Erik involvement in the story. This way you can have both June, Mrs. Johanson, and that yoga woman I keep forgetting about.
Or so I hope. After the shitty threesome with Tony... Eh... I guess you could still reuse the shitty threesomes with Erik as an option, but it would be ideal if the whole thing would get completely scrapped.
Dunno how many people will read this, I may join Summertime Saga's discord and post that there too, but I hope you like it if you read all this wall of text all the way here. Take it with a grain of salt, though, is only my opinion and how I believe the route can work better than what we have, and, again, seeing how unpopular it is compared to other stories in the games, this could be a good shot.
