I've only played Gray's route so far. When I initially started the route, I was put off by the high school gang story line. It felt very teen drama. This eased later on in the game as the story progresses into the adult years. Regardless, you may have to use your suspension of disbelief for some of the later gang related story lines. It is difficult to imagine professional adults referring back to their teenage gang days, and keep in mind it has a BIG impact on the story.

Yes, some of the writing is a little heavy handed or leans too much into romantic literature tropes. But because the protagonist has a strong personality, and a strong story of her own, rather than viewing it as a self insert I became invested in the story, world, and more importantly her relationships.

Now, the actual boutique aspect. I guess you could call it a mini game but there are certain outfits you HAVE to make to continue the story. I found it useful to take a screengrab of the outfit before going to the shop to purchase what you need. I also found it useful to grind the absolute hell out of the client requests early on so I didn't have to do them later on and could just read the chapters.

The customisation is welcome, and I appreciate the story acknowledges your chosen hair and eye colour, but it is kind of hard learning curve to handle the client requests. You'll spend a lot of time squinting to discern shades.

There's SO much in this game. It's longer than you think, but it's good. Every time I thought the route was ending, it didn't. And I was very happy to keep reading!

I have no idea how the other routes will play out, but I'm looking forward to finding out.

Also, don't name your boutique or gang name something dumb. You'll regret it when you have to read the dumb name over and over again.