I am curious how everyone deal with trying to romance a specific character or more while balancing it with maintaining relationship stats with other characters that may become essential to the MC, plot and ending
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As someone who has played lots of visual novels for over 20 years, the best way to balance a single RO romance with other established character relationships is necessarily not in the choices, but in the writing. Show the readers that the other characters are aware of a growing romance, and they are incredibly supportive to the eventual couple in their own little ways.
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I’d probably refrain from making this part mandatory. How other characters react to such development can be one of good ways to establish them as individuals with their own temperament and views on these matters. Heck, some players probably would enjoy being presented with some jealousy, longing or whatever from the ones not chosen.
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If the game is well-constructed, that shouldn’t be a problem: if the characters are truly part of the story rather than just being thrown in as romance options, you’ll interact with them organically and meaningfully on multiple occasions. Games that include downtime for character interaction often allow you to choose several characters to hang out with (sequentially), so you can’t spend all your social opportunities on your love interest.
If the game isn’t well-constructed, what to do probably depends on your individual play style. If you’re a roleplayer, it makes sense to act according to your character’s preferences and priorities, and let the chips fall where they may. If you’re a more strategic player, consider alternating romantic opportunities and other interactions.
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Every individual character is going to have their own thoughts on a relationship.
In a military setting, relationships should take a back seat or even be met with suspicion depending on the ranks involved for fraternization concerns. Having characters express that or even reprimand the MC could be a solid way to reinforce the setting, though it has its own inherent risks as the majority of readers have no idea how the military works on that level.
One love interest, especially if their own relationship with the MC is also pretty high, will likely feel scorned, betrayed, or discarded if they’re the kind to be expecting a relationship after letting someone into their personal life.
Others may be supportive of a relationship. Some might try to sabotage it.
My best advice to you would be to figure out what each character’s goals are with the MC at X level of relationship and go from there. There are also plenty of unsavory people on all ends of every spectrum that might try to force a relationship (the relationship. Don’t force the… you get the idea) which can potentially be an interesting source of conflict; especially if it interferes with the MC’s professional and social life.
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I’ve never heard of anyone doing that. There aren’t walkthroughs or FAQs for the vast majority of these games.
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