The problem I've found with common routes is that they are too often perfunctory. It's a means to introduce the world, the characters, the protagonist's situation. On paper, sounds reasonable; in practice, it all feels overly rehearsed and pragmatic, like an advertisement or vertical slice, unwilling to do anything truly adventurous *yet*. The action proper tends to start with the character routes, so I prefer them longer. That being said, I'm not a huge fun of games that immediately ask you to pick a LI, going by looks alone.