Hey! Thanks a lot for the detailed feedback, I really appreciate you taking the time to write all this out!
About your points:
1: Yeah you’re totally right, the Doc’s Cure item doesn’t actually cure poison 😅 how did I even miss that? It’s already fixed and will be working properly in the next update.
2: Some other players have mentioned the same issue about getting lost or areas being too far apart. To fix that (and thanks to a suggestion from another comment here), I’m planning to add a proper fast travel system through the bus stops scattered around the city. Right now they’re only used to go to the overworld, but in version 0.1.12 they’ll let you travel anywhere directly.
3: I recently increased the relationship points you get from gifts to make things a bit faster, but I guess it still wasn’t enough. Aside from adding more gift options overall, I also plan to include a “Hang Out” mechanic where you can go to different spots in the city with NPCs to raise their relationship faster. That’ll probably come in version 0.1.13.
4: Similar to point 2
The way I tried to designed the game is so the player can pick whichever route they want, play through the 5 main events of each one, and in the end choose which route to finish with (and see the corresponding ending). So the Mr. Pig route won’t be mandatory for story progression, but players can still do it if they want before choosing another ending. Each major route (Dr.G, Mr. Pig, Tyrus, Tom, Maria) will have its own way of solving Ren’s rent problem, just in different ways.
And lastly, about Ren, deep down she’s actually super pervy but tries hard to repress it. That’s why her behavior shifts depending on who she’s with. For example, during her “prostitution job” scenes, she takes the lead with the shy guy who’s never kissed anyone, but act disgusted (while secretly enjoying it) with someone like Mr. Pig or Mr. Kuma. That’s what I tried to go for anyway, I know writing is my weakest point in the game haha.
Also, thanks again for the kind words and for playing! It means a lot!