The Ever17 translation is hilariously bad, so that might be part of it. The fan-translations of Never7/R11 are much better.
As for the choices...
Your inability to make informed decisions about the choices is, in fact, part of the overall plot. The Infinity series likes to play with the fourth wall, although it never actually breaches it; Ever17, in particular, is . The games of the series like to play with , so every playthrough is actually .
The game won’t be the same the second time you play through it, and eventually you’ll learn enough to understand why those choices matter. That said, I’d recommend Never7 as a better introduction to the series.
The Ever17 translation is hilariously bad, so that might be part of it. The fan-translations of Never7/R11 are much better.
As for the choices...
Your inability to make informed decisions about the choices is, in fact, part of the overall plot. The Infinity series likes to play with the fourth wall, although it never actually breaches it; Ever17, in particular, is . The games of the series like to play with , so every playthrough is actually .
The game won’t be the same the second time you play through it, and eventually you’ll learn enough to understand why those choices matter. That said, I’d recommend Never7 as a better introduction to the series.
So there isn’t anything I’d be losing by playing the games out of their published order?
I don’t think so, no.
The games may include timelines as auxilliary material, and reading those would involve massive spoilers, but it’s not very hard not to.
That said, Never7 is actually the first game. It goes N7-E17-R11.