Firstly want to say I love this VN, I have over 170 hours into it somehow...
And I was loving Richard's route, he was in my top 3 routes probably until some of the latest days of his...
Like some others have mentioned, it does feel like there are two different things going on, maybe that is on purpose? People IRL can do say one thing and do another... But we are over half way through his days which makes it harder to swallow. And it does feel like he is just relapsing even when you stop him...
Having Eric not confirm the messages after the picture/video, and taking away player choice for that definitely doesn't help with the way Richard responded.
Him not having set any boundaries at all when Eric sets his makes setting them feel strange.
I'm hoping that the days next will salvage it... But endings really can sour a good start. I will wait until all of his days are complete (minus epilogue) before I do his route again. Hoping for more of a focus on Richard, his children, divorce, ect and not Daniel's crush(and less of his presence since Richard said they would see each other less...)
Also is the whole him quitting the job for his friend ever going to come up? Earlier in his route when you start showing interest he mentions that he is going to stop doing a certain job for his friend(he said it was "landscaping" I think? but obviously not)... I thought that was going to lead to him being a SW but it seems like that has been abandoned and Daniel appeared instead.
(I probably won't reply to anyone being argumentative, ect. I'm not looking to argue, just put down my thoughts.)