After a whole bunch of playthroughs and experimentation, I'm finally taking the time to write something.
First of all, congratulations on the update! I had a great time with it and I eagerly await for the next one. Been playing since the first build and I figured it was high time I gave praise.
Your writing, characters and worlbuilding all offer a great and interesting experience. The gameplay/management elements only enhance it. I'm impressed at how well you manage to weave in and intertwine myths together in general.
The Nikos twist was cleverly executed and, in conjuction with his role in the ruthless route, he easily became one of my favourite characters.
Speaking of the ruthless route, it certainly offers a different perspective making us appreciate the good route all the more. It also isn't torture porn and focuses on telling more than that. There's a lot of interesting stuff in there, and a great further exploration of Nikos' character.
I must admit that I felt a bit ashamed for not figuring out who Jean was before the reveal. Even with my limited knowledge of Greek mythology, a lot of hints (some of them obvious) led up to it. I knew something was up with him, possibly something divine, but I didn't try to push my reasoning and research further. Lesson learned! This update did a good of pushing me to dig more into the game's secrets.
Great job with the Hinterlands as well! There's a lot to investigate and speculate on in there. You also did a stellar job with the dynamic between Pedro and Oscar. I ended up loving those two.
I must commend you on the humour too, this update got quite a few laugh out of me (yes, even the "A frenchman!" option despite being french myself). I finally gave a try to the speedrunner route and it's a quality shitpost.
Last but not least, on the topic of Asterion, I must say I am thoroughly smitten. I'm greatly enjoying the developing relationship between him and the Master. It's very heartwarming to see him coming into his own and gaining his confidence back. The old labyrinth scene was certainly one of the highlights.
I have a whole lot of theories but I'll direct them to the appropriate thread(s) later or I'd be here for days.
On a side note, following the update and after delaying it since forever, I finally read the original quest by going through the old archived threads. I'll avoid bringing up any potential spoilers from it of course, but it was a fun ride, and it was very interesting to see the initial creative process and the ways in which the VN and quest differ.
Anyway, congratulations once again! I was already hooked before but I am even more now.
Bonus: I came across this:
