Thank you for taking the time for the review. I hope that as the series goes on you like it more.
I am saddened to hear that you do not like the character designs, as we spent a lot of time making them and I think they're all pretty cute and I didn't get a plastic feel at any point, though I will look at them closely now.
In terms of it being linear that is one of the points I am striving for in telling this story, routes were never an option. I personally do not like route VNs as much, especially when the routes are romance based. It feels off that you choose a path with the eventual goal of 'winning' a characters love. I'm attempting in this story to show that while who you may end up with at the end is set, that does not mean, as is life, that you can't/won't have experiences along the way. Those will be the options available when we get to them, but those choices will not change the outcome of the story.
As for the other comments, perhaps we will go and look back at the pacing for the earlier chapters, though that will happen later as we forge the story ahead atm. My writing style may appear incoherent, but I can also hope you wait as more chapters fill in those blanks in the way I have designed it, and if not, my style may just not be for you.
Build 3 is in the works for release to Patreons in the next few weeks with more world building, character development and bonding, and learning. I hope you can read that and see if its to your liking.