That's mostly the case. Because of times I didn't follow the recommended order (eg Over Requiemz), I regretted playing it differently. But this time I'll blame my friend who said the order didn't matter 。:゚(;´∩`;)゚:。
Initially, it was because I liked voice acting, but back then I preferred anime and manga. Later, visual novels naturally took their place. The design and voice were also key factors that kept me here.
It depends on how I'm feeling that day. If I'm in mood, I'll play blind, if not follow a walkthrough to get full ending quickly. As for games known to be tough from the start, following walkthrough is always the right call.
I feel like each has its own merits. I enjoy stat-raising and small minigames (they're a lot of fun). But when lazy I just want to lie down and read the text.
I can't accept them. Basically, I support and follow familiar writers, artists, CVs. I want to spend my money to support the creativity and passion of real people, not unpolished products ಥ‿ಥ
I like MCs whose personalities I can find connections. It's not that I never self-insert, but having a protagonist whose personality fits the storyline really shapes gaming experience.
I usually play multiple games at once, but if come across 1 really excites me, I'll lock in and play to the end immediately, others later.
The good is it's easy to compare games, while the downside is that I'm easily tempted to start new game while still in the middle of others (must be friends...
Both, though I mostly buy digital but physical with special editions are really attractive. It feels great to hold in hand, also minimizes console memory overload.