Variant is just an undercooked concept like deep dungeons

For one variant actions are completely worthless because there is absolutely no decision making in them, there is only one correct answer
-healers will always bring spirit dart and rampart
-tanks will always bring spirit dart and raise if there is a healer, cure if not
-DPS will always bring rampart and raise if there is a healer, cure if not

Incense is useless because rampart is so strong

Why use this crappy underbaked system when you could literally just copy bozja’s lost action system and let people go ham with whatever build they want

There is also just no reason to care about other routes unless you want the secret 12th route, but the twelfth route isn’t actually locked behind the other 11 it just has slightly more obtuse spawn conditions

I’d take half the routes to make them twice as complex, have the decisions be more meaningful than “push the rock or the tree stump to change one mechanic on the boss”, not have the first boss be the same on all 12 routes and maybe have a rougelike progression system that allows you to progressively unlock more powerful lost actions