So, now that Chapter one is finished and the plot holes are supposedly filled in, I'd like to ask what the point of chapter one was. Sure, we met Daughter, grew closer, became "lovers" and then Daughter and side content (Elena) got taken away. But, what was resolved in this chapter?
Because, as it stands, you could jump into chapter 2 and not really miss a thing. The story could easily be, I love my daughter and I'm going to get her back. We don't need to see Chapter 1 to understand that. We haven't really had a strong connection between F and D. They've just been mostly bumming about on holiday. The hospital scene, after F gets punched, probably remains as the one genuine moment that connects the two characters.
Every chapter of a story is meant to resolve something, bringing us closer to an inevitable end. Yet, it feels like we got more problems without solving any old ones; presumably Lucas isn't going to be a problem in Europe. But, that's not a resolution to the threat he posed, that's just forgetting he's there. It's the RWBY style of story-telling, create more problems and make them bigger; so that your audience forgets about the old problems. Now, I don't think dating my daughter is as bad as RWBY (I don't hate characters I'm supposed to like, in DMD). But, I do feel that Chapter one has been a huge waste of time.
Will I still continue DMD? Of course, because humans are magpies and plot intrigue is something shiny. But, intrigue isn't development and that's going to hit very hard if the following chapters are anything like this one.
As one of the writers of the game, my answer is: the main "plot point" of chapter 1 was to make the MCs fall in love with each other in a "believable" way - not so simple in an incest story. There might have been a bit of cunning from F especially at the beginning (something quite common in any legit seduction game I guess), but on the whole, I take some pride in the fact that everything has been consensual and respectful, immersed in a sweet caring atmosphere, and yet still sexy and naughty when the erotic tension arose. If FALLING IN LOVE (not to mention, passing from awkward hugging to horny mutual masturbation) is not a big step towards the completion of the story, I don't know what it is.
As for the fact that there is "no strong connection between F and D", I don't know what game you've played. I am genuinely taken aback by such a statement. Th game is stacked with bonfing moments: the Cupid Game when D tell F that she loves him... like, really... and kisses him...and it feels somewhat different; the nudist beach scene, when D hides behind F's back while confronting Koko; the fight with Lucas...! Really, the "selling point" of DMD as a whole, what makes it stand out ion comparison to other games, is precisely the strong connection between the MCs - that's something the fans tend to agree on. So, building that connection was another objective of this first chapter, and I'm surprised you didn't feel it. It might happen, sure, everybody "clicks" differently, but please be aware that you are definetely in a minority on this specific issue.
So, I have tackled the "plot developments" issue. As for characters' development, well, to start with, we get introduced to a lot of minor characters: Elena, Georgina, Jennifer, Richard, Lucas, Martin, Olivia, Graham, Koko, Riccardo, Margo, Rachel etc. Some of them were not "deepened" as we would have liked - didn't have time - but still, some others got a decent characterization while still keeping the sportlight on the MCs - again, no easy feat, given that many people got terribly angry as soon as D lost the tiniest bit of focus ("the game is titled dating my daughter, not dating my daughter's friend or dating my secretary"). Now we have a crowded cast of differently motivated character to play with, introducing them little by little was an objective of this first chapter.
As for the MCs, well the father can't really be developed that much, since it is supposed to stand for the player and cannot become too "specific" without losing its potential for identification. Also, he is already in his late 30s/early 40s, his potential for growth is not that much. We tried to depict his doubts about falling in love with his own daughter, how he eventually overcame them, his concerns about "raising" her at the best of his possibilities, and his guilt over cheating on her. Not much, I agree, but again, "fleshing" him was never the mainj point.
D is a different discourse though. You say you didn't notice her growth as a character, well I am very sad about that. We tried to depict how she got more and more confident throughout the game. The scene where she speaks with Rachel on Skype, the scene the scene where she reassures dad during a pause in the photo shoot with Richard (demonstrating to be more mature than him, still too jealous!), all her "alcohol aprrenticeship", her coming to terms with her body image, all these things stand for her growth and strenthening as a character. The arriving point of this process is fittingly the (almost) final scene of the chapter, when she has her very first orgasm. I think it is a defining moment: up until now, D was mostly "passive" in sexual matters because, well, she didn't really appreciate what was at stake. XD Now, she will be much more proactive, and enthusiast about discovering herself and her relationship with F. It seems to me a momentous event, and a worthy climax (wink wink) for D's character growth.
So, did we resolve something in ch.1? Sure, we had the MCs fall in love and decide to find a way to live together. We had a "final boss" (Lucas) defeated (actually a minion, the real obstacles are yet to come as you correcty said). And we had a general transormation of the character that gives the title to the game. So no, ch.1 was not useless, EVEN THOUGH when we decided to split the game into different chapters, we did think that it would have been a good thing if someone discovering the game for the first time could have started playing chapter 2 without feeling completely lost.
The way I see it, chapter 1 was about setting the general tone of the game, introducing the characters, and giving them something to fight for - their budding love; chapter 2 will be the "conflict chapter" where the MCs will have to really earn their happiness, afinding a way to live their love; and chapter 3 will be the "sandbox chapter" where players will have to decide which kind of "happy ever after" they want for this story. Many things are still to be decided, and I am only one of the writers (plus I won't collaborate to chapter 2 much), so don't take what I'm saying as definitve (especially about the chapter 3), but this is my general understaning of the DMD project. We'll see how it goes.
