You know....I hadn’t really thought of it like that. Maybe it’s just a personal misunderstanding on my end, but it does seem a lot more realistic now that I’m thinking about it. Even though I’m personally pretty much over my trauma stuff, I can remember how I acted back then....very reclusive, frazzled, and confused. With the different relationships he has with everyone, it really makes sense that some friends take more time to warm up to than others (and with these characters, hoo boy). And I agree with you on the fact that how it is now is very novel-like instead of like a TV show. I think the problem I was having was that sometimes some route specific dialogues seemed similar to other routes, but then again, the lines are quite literally coming from one mind (Dave’s), so having variety in his own dialogue isn’t realistic....or else it wouldn’t be Dave. Now that I’ve actually taken some time to lay everything, I feel kinda dumb for not doing that before. :( Thanks for the clarification!🐊
Don't feel dumb! It's questions like this that help keep my writing quality in check.
Some of the dialogue is a little same-y, so I'll give you that much as far as you're not imagining things. Granted, I think the prevalence of other VNs having wildly different narratives base on whose route you pick might be playing part in expectations being what they are.