Ashley has a such a bad explanation as to why they couldn't keep in contact and the MC just sweeps it under the rug while he should be mad. Especially if she tries to kiss him afterward. Not even any contact after the MC becomes an adult and lives on his own till a couple days ago. I was expecting maybe something along the lines of Gerald starting to look at sis as more than a daughter to justify it.Going into the open relationship call I was anticipating and planning on using the option to break up with Nicole. Seeing the discussion here it occurs to me that part of the reasoning for that is because I was prepared for the call based on scenes we see with Nicole. For the MC the suggestion comes utterly out of the blue during a call where they have a very short amount of time to speak with each other and he has 5 more years of history with her than we do I can see why he wouldn't immediately jump to the break up option, then he is immediately off with Vicky so there is not really time to reflect either.
I basically consider the MC and Nicole broken up at this point, just given her rules she doesn't want to hear about it until I've picked out my LI(s) to pursue. I agree with some of the comments here about how controlling she is with the MC and how uncomfortable the dynamic was with the two of them in the beginning scenes. Gerald and Nicole seem to get along better than the MC does with either of them.
Did anyone think it was weird that the MC acted so shocked that his dad might have cheated on Ashley? MC even comments about how his dad cheated on his mom with Ashley so it seemed a little odd to me.
If I could remove any character from the game I think it would be Ashley. Maybe she can decide she needs to go on another multi-month vacation and inform everyone by note. It may just be the writing but it seems weird that she is so cagey about explaining things to the MC if the only reason for the breakup was Gerald cheating. Cutting Lacey off from contacting them seems like an overreaction too and I wish the MC hadn't accepted her reasoning on that so easily.
I also find it creepy how much she is pursuing the MC. She even acknowledges that he doesn't seem interested in a few responses and she still manipulated the MC into the shower scene and kisses him on the lips. I have some suspicions that Ashley was attracted to the MC when he was 15 or concerns about the relationship between MC and the sister and that contributed to her dramatic departure and breaking off contact.
It is also disturbing that Ashley is more concerned with throwing herself at the MC and avoiding questions that would greatly improve the dynamic between the MC and sister. Her nonchalance at disappearing for months and leaving her daughter to sink or swim with a failing hotel and refusal to really take responsibility for some horrific parenting mistakes for both her daughter and the MC is off-putting.
Terrible parents do seem to be a strong theme in this game (Gerald, Ashley, Ashley's sister, their parents kicking Ashley out, orgy priest dad, psycho murder chef and maybe others I'm not thinking about now). I hope we don't get any bad revelations about Mr. Roshi, he seems pretty great.