My looong review from someone who wanted Derek before there was even a Step 3;
I understand where some might be coming from, a bit disappointed it's not as fully fleshed out as Cove is but Derek's DLC hits HARD. Just because it's not Derek's game it doesn't mean that it isn't throughly enjoyable as it's own thing, whether you wanted to romance the spunky, sporty small gentleman, or just thought that he deserved more depth as a friend.
I played Cove twice and I sort of felt in Dreamland, I loved the character to bits don't get me wrong, but it mostly left me wondering about what life is like for people lucky enough to be raised in close knit communities, in stable, healthy families, to have someone with you through thick and thin and never having to feel alone.
Derek hits closer to home, maybe it's the eldest sibling syndrome, but even with his story not being even a half of the length of Cove's, and his being away for the whole of Step 3 basically, I felt he had a much bigger impact on me as a character. I dont want to go into the specifics to avoid spoilers, but this digged deep into what I feel is common overachiever millennial kid trauma and I want to thank the devs for portraying it so openly, and in a way that shows that even when you feel like an absolute failure, that's definitely not how the people that love you see it, and you're still worthy of good things in life.
Heavy stuff aside, I really loved the Suarez brothers' character development and dynamics, as well as the addition of lovely nonbinary representation. Started annoyed with Nico and he ended up being my favorite character 💖 It also made me a little homesick for SoCal; Knotts Soak City, Santa Monica Pier and Chula Vista are so blatantly accurate it made me laugh. I think it's been discussed before, but I have this theory that Sunset Bird is Solana Beach.
Anyways, thank you guys for your wonderful job, these are stories that will stay with me for a very long time and that I enjoyed throughly, worth every cent! 💖