That makes me feel better, I think I’ve just been overthinking things when it comes to my work, (constantly worried that no one will like it, that it won’t go as well as I hope, etc.) Thanks for messaging me!
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I think it depends on the scope and theme of the story to consider putting parents in it, but, generally, I’m okay with them in games. I think it might be enriching to add parental and mentor-ish characters to flesh out the MCs a bit more and give them more people to interact with. It certainly works better if the protagonist is young, though.
In fact, maybe parents can work in wildly distinct stories, as long as you keep the MC on the younger side. Off the top of my head, A Midsummer Night’s Choice ,Choice of Rebels and Empyrean are all games that have very distinct worlds and voices, and I think they’re all made better by having robust parental appearences. Heck, you could say that the MC’s father is one of the most consistent hangers-on in Rebels, a game that features a large cast. 
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Ah, I knew there was at least one I was forgetting. 
Really, the storyline there relies heavily on the parents, and I think it’s an interesting example of a game where the MC has loving, but not necessarily great (or, arguably, even good) parents. Though, of course, it’s all played for comedy, so it might not work out as well in other genres.
It’s funny that you mention Rebecca. I actually didn’t like her at all. She just seems so bland. In a game that’s filled with colorful characters, Rebecca seems to just… Be there. She doesn’t really have a personality except being busy, caring about her job and occasionally about her offspring. I don’t think this is enough to really qualify as one. It also doesn’t help that most of our interactions with her are just choosing from a spectrum between ‘be an asshole and basically tell her to f off’ or ‘hug her’. And we have to do this multiple times. Like at some point I remember thinking “Again? You’re making me choose the same identical responses to my mom AGAIN? Please, I literally couldn’t care less about this woman, let me go back to the story.” This doesn’t add anything to the game in my opinion, and is a really cheap way to build a relationship between the MC and a character.
So here’s what I think a good parent character shouldn’t be. Somebody who just fills the role of your parent without having a distinct personality. Or somebody that we can’t have a genuine and interesting relationship with.
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I don’t think every game necessarily needs a major parental presence. That said, my parents are a pretty major presence in my life, and (by default) most other peoples’ lives. It can feel kinda weird sometimes when I play through a game as a character you would expect to have parents who never contacts or mentions them.
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Having “Parent” characters in a story isn’t necessarily a plus, or a detriment. What matters is what they bring to the table in terms of plot development. Someone who is ‘just there occasionally’ wouldn’t be especially interesting to interact with because it would feel like a distracting intermission more than anything else.
I can think of one WIP where parental figures weigh in heavily in the plot by design, even if they aren’t necessarily there at all times.
This story has three major types which include the ‘good parents’ who try to be a family filled with happiness even if they don’t have much, the ‘bad parents’ who view their child as a literal pawn in their power games, and a good ‘stand-in parent’ who unfortunately serves those power-play parents.
This sort of story may not be interesting to many of the readers who dislike having ‘parent’ characters in these books at all, but the value of what each character can bring to a story is often more important than the relationship they share with the main character.
So I guess I’d say I’m also of the more “ambivalent” mindset when it comes to the value of Parents in these IF books. 
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I have an exceedingly good relationship with my parents, but I generally write/play characters who don’t.
Personally, for me, since interactive fiction is all about roleplaying and having so many choices and variation, I think the best way to handle having parents in a game is to allow the player to decide the state of their character’s relationship with them. Allow them to love their parents. Allow them to hate them. It helps, I think, when the parents themselves are fully realized characters, with their own sets of flaws, as well as good qualities (even — and perhaps especially — if they’re a bad person/parent).
The inclusion of parents also really comes down to what sort of story you’re telling. If it’s a story wherein family is an important or recurrent theme, then it really helps to allow players to have various different dynamics to choose from with their parents (and siblings). If the parents are only mentioned once or twice, being as vague and generic as possible is acceptable.
Then, of course, you can choose not to mention the parents at all and leave it all up to the player’s imagination, which is an entirely valid — and sometimes preferable — approach. Again, it all depends on the story you’re telling!
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