I just want to say that I adore this game! I have never been so emotionally invested in a story before. I have not done any of the romances in open-ended mode, but have gone through some of the stories. Every ending and romance in story mode has been achieved, so I feel like I can give useful feedback, at least I hope it is useful.
The way I generally approach a visual novel is that I start with the path I believe I will like least, so that I can end on my favorite. In this case, I am so glad that I did because after playing through Dallas' path, I can't honestly picture her with anyone else. They are soulmates imho.
I started with Emmitt's path, not because I didn't like him, but because I have a kid his age and I felt it would be a bit awkward to romance him for me. His romance was super sweet and adorable I must say. It was also believable and as a character, he is probably one of my favorites because of how supportive he is of Robin regardless of who she is dating. He is just an absolute doll and his route did really surprise me.
I went for Beau next, for I felt, like others have stated, that they didn't have chemistry. Wow, that was a big mistake on my part and for once I was glad to have made such a huge one. I had a little more difficulty getting on board with their romance for many reasons I think. The whole fake dating thing was silly and then there were so many lies. It was believable because I have known people like them, but it was still a struggle for me to root for them until about half way through his route. The chemistry was on point though, man was his route hot!
I then trudged my way through Sterling's path and by the end I did not hate him lol. I actually felt a little badly for him. He was well-written and a nice addition to story mode. Next up was the alone ending and I loved this one. It was probably my second favorite of all the routes. I just liked the character development for everyone and how well Robin was able to let her past hurts go and move forward.
That leaves us with Dallas. I don't think even the Mass Effect Trilogy made me cry so hard so many times. His route was absolutely the most difficult to get through because of all the angst, but also the most rewarding in the end I felt. Like the poster above me, I spent a lot of time screaming at my screen "OMG, Robin just let the man love you already!!!" And there were many times I had to walk away for a while because my heart could not take anymore of them hurting each other. The ending scene was so worth all the pain and tears though. I loved that he loved her enough to leave, so she could stop hurting. And I loved how she was able to let go of all her fears and just embrace everything. Just beautiful. Very well done.
I have played through some of open-ended mode, but none of the romances because I have a hard time selecting 'no romance' on the start screen.......because Dallas!! All of the stories and romances in my opinion were extremely well-written and very believable and my favorite part of the whole game is Robin. It's refreshing to say the least to finally have a female protagonist with a personality. Albeit at times, I wanted to smack her for having such a strong one, particularly during Dallas' route. It was still a nice change to be playing what felt like a real person and not just a picture on the screen. I don't have anything negative to say at all about this game, it is hands down my favorite visual novel ever. Great job team!!