Pretty good story, pretty good start.
NO, very VERY GOOD.
THAT was a quiet a lot of game, for V.1 of this game.
But because it IS so good, I will share my only two criticisms.
First and foremost... the cliffhanger is so passe a trope by now, that unless Astara is actually GOING TO DIE, which I think we all know she is NOT, then that was VERY weak ending. I honestly would suggest that escaping, and then rendezvousing with Kate back with Veronica, at some place safe, and just starting to get her story about who was involved and what happened would have been FAR better a place to end this chapter. If we ended on the almost revelation.. right when an early piece of the burgeoning puzzle was about to be dropped in to place through something Kate learnt from what happened to her... but then it ended... well THAT is how you could truly create a hunger for more, and excitement for the next chapter. This is just too good of a release, at least as just a chapter one.. to be let down by the cliche cliffhanger ending.
Two, and this might be controversial, and a lot of devs hate it when I say this, but I will die on this hill... and that is, that the A part of an AVN is THE most important part of defining the game. What do I mean by that? Ok, well perhaps you just came up with a cool story you want to tell.. and perhaps building the relationships between the MC and the supporting cast of characters is important, and perhaps some tension, so sexual attraction, some emotional complications, can add to that. Fine. But ironically, there are tropes which are GOOD for that. There is NOTHING wrong with either visual or narrative retrospective implication, or shadow play, or short soft-core montage (think something like the Brothel scenes in Witcher three but perhaps even without the nudity), symbolism, or even the good old fashioned Fade To Black. You could have all those dynamics, including the romantic/sexual elements adding depth/complication/risk/tension, and NOT need to make your story 'Adult' in the context of how that word is used for game tags, and in relation to an AVN.
Which always makes me think that either A) the Dev WANTS there to be explicit Adult scenes in the game, or perhaps there is narrative reason for it that demands it be shown, not just told (the MC is at rock bottom, after being divorced for constant philandering, and is trying to be a better man... but that ONE thing he CANNOT shake, not matter how much he grows, is voracious sexual desires, and rationalizing it away when he acts on them even if it hurts someone.. or even hurts him)... or B) they do NOT have the FAITH their story can stand on its own, narrative, merit, so decide to throw in some cheap thrills sex scenes, to be afforded the naughty tag, and suck in people who come in the hope of perversion.. because they hold the hope those people will like their story.
I am not saying this is the case, or which of A or B is the case if one is.... but I will say this: For an AVN with a chapter one THIS long and intricate, with this much happening... no actual adult scenes is, to me, a definite weakness here. This game so far, is just the initial introductory chapter, setting up the story... but it IS spread across what, 10 sub-chapters? Many of THEM are longer the some complete chapters of many AVNs. Yet in that time, we get one quickie fellatio scene, which then turns in to a c*ck-blocked scene, and what, some digital electro-clitoral stimulation?
At the very least there should have been at least ONE proper scene... from a developer standpoint to reward the players, and make the statement this IS an AVN, from a players standpoint, to be rewarded for playing the game, and to get an idea, a taste, of what thee adult content of the game will be like, and from an artistic standpoint, to commit, with some degree of sincerity, to the genre which the game claims to be.
As things stand now, as exceptionally impressed as I am with this first chapter, I am likely NOT going to continue playing this game, or bother with it at all, because I play AVNs for the A bit. There's PLENTY of just plain old VN games out there, and some even have scenes almost on par with the limited ones in this first chapter, though done JUST reservedly enough for those games NOT to have the Adult tag on most platforms, but rather a Mature Content one. As someone who is a gamer of over 45+ years experience, someone who is a Gen-One, Dawn-Of, Day 0, gamer, just me, personally, well I probably will not take this game seriously, and perhaps see it as a weaker option in the genre, because there IS, and people might argue, but I dismiss any such arguments... an IMPLIED DECLARATION of the NATURE of the game, when it uses the Adult tag, or is classed as an AVN. If a game then does not honour that implication, I either need assume it is a poor game, or I am dealing with a disingenuous developer.
Anyway, I hope you will not be offended, and take this as the constructive criticism it is meant to be.
(P.S. 3rd teeny tiny gripe... you should change Astara's motorcycle model from Sport bike, to an ADV bike or Dual Sport bike... aint no way squidy machine getting over those dunes, making it that far out in to a desert... that snapped me right out of the immersion :P ).