Cool. You said almost exactly what I planned to write.
In a way, I agree that AC is more linear, I mean, regardless of the route you choose, the Thunderfaller will stop in the same place and with a power that doesn't vary much. No path is really favored, which I think is incredible and that POMA should do the same. As for POMA, it has lots of "paths" and choices, but many of them are just "empty" choices with no real content. As others have said, Nicky "favors" a rebel MC, disciple of Bohai and lover of He Mei, with little or no real content for MC Imperial or Neutral, disciple of Monkey God or Chu Aiguo and lover of Ai (I know there's content for Ai, here I'm referring more to the benefits) or Tigress. It's a bit disappointing really.
The author has the freedom to do what he wants, but he should never create routes that are much more favored than others, this contributes to a poor final work. I'm not saying that an Imperial or Neutral MC should receive the same benefit as the Rebel MC, on the contrary, this would remove the weight from the choices. What I am saying is that MCs on all routes should receive different, but equally powerful, benefits. For example, while the Rebel MC receives Tri Dao, the Imperial MC could train with Ruo or a Xiantian and the Neutral MC would focus on TW memories or finding the (damn) Qi Manuals.