Out of all this, I'll just point out that this game isn't, and never tried to be a parody of another game (such as RLE). It's a parody of the X-Men series.
In that sense, this game and RLE share the source material and inspiration. And while it's true that certain aspects of this game are inspired by RLE, it by no means tries to be the same of copy things. They are two very different games, each with their own space and niche. You can like one over the other, or both or neither.
I don't think you know what the definition of parody is. What you literally described is exactly what makes TNH a parody of RLE.
A parody is when you imitate something.
RLE is an obvious H parody of X-Men Evolution (Marvel in general) cause it copies (imitate) the setting, certain character design of the school and characters.
In the TNH you have shot for shot recreation of certain unique aspects of RLE such as the basic premise of the game, main character and his powers, certain game structure, dialogue, etc... those are all examples of imitation (inspiration), hence why it is a parody of RLE more than anything.
Also just because TNH is a parody of RLE doesn't mean its not also a parody of X-men Evolutions. Because if you make a parody of a parody it doesn't mean it becomes mutually excluded from being a parody of the source material of the original parody. Because you can parody (imitate) multiple things simultaneously.
Parodies don't have to be 100% the same, the point of a parody is to critique something or address its shortcomings.
Just understand that neither is trying to be a 2.0 version of the other. Imo, neither is perfect, but this one suits my tastes a lot more in both the art department and in the "dating sim" aspect it has going on over RLE.
As I said. I am fan of what this game brings in terms of world building depth. It definitely makes the game feel more alive mechanics wise. Such as having actual semi-relevant background characters like Night Crawler, and Professor X who actually interact with you other than brief one liners like "Cyclops accidently melted all your clothes in the training room". Needing to shower, being able to turn of the lights in your room, etc... just more in detail actions overall.
Art style wise don't really have any comment, since I feel like it has its ups and downs. Though all the girls suffer from having the same exact face structure, which makes it a bit uncanny.
Overall it is massive improvement to how stagnate and shallow RLE.
As for your other points, I won't argue one way or another since I feel that this game is still in it's early stages and I want to see how everything starts looking like once Chapter 2 rolls around. I see potential for TNH to be one of the best adult games ever for me, but there's always the possibility of something being implemented in just the "right" way to make my perception of the game take a U-turn.
With all that said, it's quite clear that TNH is going heavy in the direction of being a fleshed out dating sim, with a heavy focus on character.
This is exactly why I am providing the feedback now rather than later.
It is because the game is still early on, which means aspects of the game aren't set in stone and can still be changed, and isn't buried under years of spaghetti code that necessitates making a completely new game from the ground up to add or change something major,
There is 0 hope for Oni to make any significant improvement to RLE other than constantly pump out new characters at this point in RLE after he has done 3 overhauls of the code base and the game has fundamentally stayed basically the same the entire time gameplay wise.
Also I am not complain that the game is a more fleshed dating sim, cause I fully agree that is what severely lacking in RLE. The critique is about how it is implemented is overly linear with hard checkpoint requirements that don't add anything to the game. The game would be better if the dating sim part was implemented in a more dynamic fashion with soft requirements rather than hard static requirements.
For instance why is it a hard requirement for you to study with Rogue 3 times and go train in the Danger Room 1 time in particular?
Why not make it more modular and say you know go do x amount of any activities with her to slowly build up your relationship with her. Like repeatedly study, swim, train, go to the mall / movies with her. Give flesh out the significance of those actions themselves so you can organically build your relationship with the girl rather than here is a forced laundry list that you have to do.
An example of making things dynamic / modular is have conditions check whether the sum of your love and trust is greater than a certain threshold for an event to fire off, rather than just go on a date with this girl 3 times. As you can see that allow you to progress in a more free and creative way with alternative paths, rather than here is a particular chore list you have to do with only one way to progress.
